The Rhinehart

Chapter 14


The driver pulled up in front of Connie’s and Ian was definitely unwilling to leave without a promise to see her again.
“The lads and I are off to Vancouver late Friday afternoon and I’m looking forward to seeing you again,” he said. Connie was more than slow to answer. She started to speak but caution stopped her. However, Ian wasn’t going to be deterred.
“You have to know I’m keen on ya, lass. I know I can come off a bit on the scruffy side as Darren puts it, but I really would like a chance to get to know you a bit more before I leave. What do you say to dinner tomorrow night?” Ian asked.
Connie put her hand on his thigh as she leaned forward. Cocking her head slightly to one side, her eyes crinkled as she gave him a warm, wide smile.
“I think that would be quite fine, come by at 7:00pm and leave the reservations to me,” said Connie.
Realizing the late hour, Ian opened his door and went round to Connie’s side. Holding her door open, he waited for her to swing her shapely legs out of the car to stand almost eye to eye with him. Walking her the short distance to her door he waited for her to make the final move. Connie lightly placed her hand on his arm and with eyes slightly upturned she thanked him again.
“Thanks for the great evening,” she said as she lightly brushed cheeks with him. Unlocking her entry door, she added, “I was thinking something on the casual side, so no suit and tie for tomorrow. See you then!” The front door closed behind her as she headed to the elevator.

****

Thursday morning Tyson was roused by a request from headquarters to meet with Dr. Taylor at the Coroner’s office. Other than confirming the odd traffic fatality, most of which are taken directly by ambulance to Calgary, Dr Taylor usually only had 2-3 skiing or recreational deaths and a handful of deaths by natural causes to confirm per year. Although it was a rather small office next to the morgue at Banff Regional Hospital, it was equipped with the newest technology and computers. He motioned for Tyson to join him at one of the computer stations.
“Morning Constable Stonechild. I want to thank you for coming in on you morning off,” said Dr Taylor.
“No problem, doctor. I must admit you’ve got my curiosity up,” said Tyson.
“Well then, I’ll get right to the point. Do you remember the night that young lady broke her neck at the Rhinehart residence a few weeks back? Haley Saunders? Well, ever since that night I can’t seem to shake the events of that night from my mind. Something just didn’t seem to add up. Then early this week, Calgary sent back the synopsis of my findings from the scene,” said Dr. Taylor.
Tyson pulled up the chair that had been offered, to view the screen as Dr. Taylor manipulated the keys to produce a 360 degree composite of Haley’s bedroom, the key fixtures and their relation to the room.
“If you examine the main components relevant to the situation, it becomes more clear. Look here. You have the bed. The light above the foot of the bed and the book on the bed. The stool with the steps facing back towards the door, and the dresser along the wall forming a lane between it and the foot of the bed. All the fixture covers and hardware as well as both sets of bulbs, one of which is still in the wrapper, all situated neatly on the end of the dresser, nearest the door. Now let’s put Miss Saunders into the room,” said Dr Taylor.
Tyson examined the images, which mirrored the scene that was burned in his mind from the evening it occurred. He scoured the picture and hummed gently, as he did when he was deep in investigation. He made a mental checklist of his conclusions. First, with all that was needed for the repair and all that had been removed and neatly placed on the dresser, there was no reason for Haley to be up on the stool. Next, if she was standing on the stool the way it was positioned, that would put her facing the window. The blow to the side of her face was on the left side, indicating that she would have done a mid-air 180 degree turn in order to hit her left side rather than her right.
And the most curious of all was the heavy bruising on the back of her right calf and lower thigh. It was all very puzzling to Tyson, who hummed gently and furrowed his brown in concentration. Dr. Taylor broke the silence and added a few thoughts of his own.
“If you take into consideration that with the bulbs and such at one end of the dresser and the stool mid-way down a 5 foot long dresser, it is as though she was startled and stepped back or was pushed backwards. In order for her to end up in her final position and to sustain those injuries, it would have taken a fair bit of force to push her that far back, not merely gravity. However, there is no evidence at all of the frontal bruising that would be conducive to a struggle or being forcibly pushed. If one attributes it to accidental death, well, what an incredible set of clumsy maneuvers,” he said.
“Hmm, thank you for your input, doctor,” Tyson said as he shook Dr. Taylor’s hand goodbye.
It was with a heavy heart that Tyson made his way back to the detachment offices to begin his shift. For the remainder of the day, the computer images kept being pulled from his memory, spinning and fluxing from one perspective to another. The visuals were nagging and almost taunting him, repeating, “LOOK! Just LOOK! IT’S THERE! CAN’T YOU SEE IT?”

****

Shannon arrived one hour late for her shift, but not in bad shape at all, considering what time she went to bed. As she was laying out her knife set, it was apparent that everyone had basically stopped what they were doing and were waiting for her. She looked up from her task knives with a big smile on her face.
“What?” she said. Chef Marquat entered the kitchen from his inner office.
“So Shannon, how was your big night out?” he said.
“Oh, Chef, it was absolutely excellent. The Tipsy Laid was definitely one of the main highlights,” she said giving Carla, an appreciative nod. “We were all in the Grande Dame Suite and everything was so perfect. It was almost surreal. All the food was totally amazing. About twenty people showed up, and while nothing was over the top, it was a really great time,” said Shannon.
“You’re a very lucky young lady,” said Chef. “My wife has always wanted to stay in one of the suites. I told her perhaps next time we win the lottery I’ll give it some serious consideration.” The staff in the kitchen had a good laugh, because no one there could ever afford to stay there unless it was a very special occasion.
“Well the Lottomax is nearing 40 million this week, Chef,” said Shannon.
“There you go! But really, she has no idea that it’s on the top of my list for the start of our 25th anniversary celebration.”
“25 years!” said Chef Vaughn “Congratulations, and when does this take place?” he asked.
“The end of September,” answered Chef Marquat. “From there we’ll be heading to Paris then down into the southern provinces to visit family.”
The focus had been shifted off Shannon and on to Chef’s much-needed upcoming holiday. Shannon was grateful for the diversion, since the true highlight of the evening wasn’t the lovely surroundings, but rather the way everything had changed between her and Kyle. She now realized that what her Mom said about his potential underlying reasons for not speaking up had held some truth. And although she knew that she loved Kyle too, she was oblivious to the fact that the glue that made her relationship with Jake somewhat work was Kyle. Kyle had always been there to be the man that Jake wasn’t prepared or capable of being.
She continued her morning warm in the fact that not much had shifted in the way she felt about Kyle. Now it just had a new name. It had just made her open up her eyes and her heart to a new and exciting aspect of their friendship and relationship. It was now something that had limitless potential. There was no fear, for this was Kyle. Her Kyle. Her best friend.


Nomi had been clock-watching all morning. Jen had popped her head in earlier to confirm that a1:00pm lunch was still going to work for her. They had made loose plans at the end of the evening and Nomi knew that Jen was as excited as she was, to hear all the after-party details.
“Just about ready?” said Jen as she gently tapped on the glass of Nomi’s office door, letting herself in at the same time. Nomi gave a few final taps to her keyboard. She looked at her watch.
“Perfect timing,” she said as she filed away the folders she had been working on. “Are you okay with down by the pool? Or maybe down by the lake?” she asked.
“The lake, please,” answered Jen as she held the door open for Nomi. They made their way out through the lobby to the rear entrance and followed the path down to the lake front.
“So,” Jen continued, “I want details, you know.”
“Oh my God, Jen. Darren is so amazing. We just sat and cuddled, and then we kissed,” said Nomi. Jen stopped and spun Nomi around to give her hug.
“Oh Nomi! I can’t believe it!” Jen said. “That Connie, she’s always right.”
“Connie?” asked Nomi.
“Do you remember the night we all went to The Ridge? Well Connie noticed that there were definitely sparks flying between you two. No one else saw it, and we were like, ‘Ok, what did we miss?’. Connie just gave us her smirk and said, ‘See if I’m not right’ and she was. Oh, I’m so happy for you!” She gave Nomi another hug before they continued on their way to their favorite spot.
“And Tyson?” asked Nomi.
“He is such a gentleman. I think he’s maybe a little bit concerned about my virtues,” said Jen, to which she gave a bit of a giggle, and caught Nomi’s exaggerated eye roll in response. “But he’s definitely worth the wait. We held hands and just chatted a bit and watched the moonlight shimmer on the lake. He asked me out to dinner this Saturday, and mentioned a possible outing on Sunday, if I was into it.”
“Definitely sounds like it’s a happening,” said Nomi. “We’ll have to call Shannon out on her ‘Kyle and I are just dear friends’ routine. Looked like way more than friends to me. They barely left each others side all evening.”
“I know,” said Jen. “I think something has been going on lately. Can’t wait to hear what’s been happening. And Connie texted me this morning to say she was having dinner tonight with Ian. She said she’d catch up with us girls this weekend.”
“What do you think, Jen? I mean, we’ve both seen Connie in her man-mode before. Is it just my imagination, or does it feel different this time?” asked Nomi.
“Oh no, it’s not your imagination. I can tell when there’s genuine interest. She’s interested. But no matter how charming Ian may be, none of us really know much about him. Being relatively famous must have that effect on people; it gives the impression that we know them better than we do. Anyways, one thing I’m positive about is that Connie won’t be doing anything if she thinks she’s being played. Absolutely not,” said Jen as they finished of their lunches.