He sighed. “OK. I don’t have a car anyway and don’t plan to go anywhere.” Plus he could take care of himself.
“It will be interesting to see if Stonefish contacts us again,” Darcy said.
“Yeah. We should all be alert in the meantime.” He moved to the door. “We’ve finished the funeral arrangements, haven’t we?”
Georgie nodded.
“Can you show me the records?” he asked Darcy. The sooner they got answers the better.
Ed also stood. “I’ll see what I can find out about our current guests and Amy.”
“Bring any info to me,” Brandon told him.
“Us,” Darcy corrected. “This is family business and we should all be part of it.” He glanced at Matt.
“That includes Matt,” Georgie said.
Matt smiled. “I’ll ask my folks if they heard any motorbikes at night over the past few days,” he said. “I’ll tell you if I find out anything.”
For the first time since Brandon got the news of his parents’ death, he felt like he was doing something useful. “Great. Let’s go.”
He followed Darcy down the hall to the foyer by the front door. When he’d lived at the Ridge, they never used the area. Everyone went around to the kitchen door when they visited, even though there was a path from the front gate. Darcy had converted the area into a small reception with a desk and chairs set out in such a way that they blocked the way into the rest of the house. Darcy handed him a notebook. “Dad wouldn’t approve the spend on a computer for the trial so everything is on paper. That’s the guest registry.”
His father hadn’t been a fan of computers anyway, so it wasn’t surprising. Brandon flicked through the first couple of pages. Names, addresses and dates of stay. A decent amount if they’d only been open a couple of months. He sat at the desk. “I’ll go through it now while Amy’s with Lara.”
Darcy pursed his lips. “Just for the record, I agree with Georgie. I don’t think Amy is related to any of this. If I had any concerns about the type of person she was, my daughter wouldn’t be alone with her right now. But I get that you don’t know her like we do and you need to check into her.” With that Darcy walked away.
Brandon blew out a breath. He hadn’t considered it from Darcy’s point of view and hoped Amy wasn’t involved. She had charmed him when she’d been so helpful in deflecting questions about his absence, but he had to consider all options. He grabbed a pen from the drawer and went through the list of guests, making notes of anyone who had stayed in the past week, as well as those who had stayed more than a week.
He had to start somewhere.
***
The chocolate cake layers were in the oven, the bread cooled on the bench and Lara stirred the cream filling. In the background Cyndi Lauper sang about girls just wanting to have fun. The cake would be enormous, but Lara was loving every second and Amy appreciated the distraction. It reminded her of Beth, felt as if they were honouring her memory together.
Her mobile’s shrill ring caused her to jump. Very few people had her number so it had to be for the camp grounds. She’d agreed to use her number on the website which advertised the station. If the trial became permanent, then they’d get a separate number. “Retribution Ridge, Amy speaking.”
“Hi! I want to book a camp site for next month,” a perky female voice said. “Do you have any vacancies?”
They hadn’t discussed what would happen with the campgrounds now. Amy opened the junk drawer for a notepad and pen and asked, “What dates did you want?”
The woman told her. “Is there a discount for long stays?”
“Yes,” Amy said, writing the details. “I’m not in the office at the moment so can I get your name and number and call you back later?” Hopefully Darcy could give her an answer when he finished in the lounge.
“Sure.” The woman rattled off her information.
“I’ll call you back soon.” She hung up as Georgie walked into the kitchen, looking a little tired. “How did things go?” Amy asked.
“The funeral is here on Thursday morning at nine,” Georgie said. “Ed’s in charge of food and I’ll scan the photos.”
She’d check the weather forecast, but it shouldn’t be too hot. “Do you need me to arrange shade or seating?”
“I’ve already arranged chairs to be delivered Wednesday afternoon, but I guess we’ll need a hand setting everything up.” Georgie sniffed. “Something smells good in here.”
“There’s chocolate cake in the oven,” Lara told her.
“And pea and ham soup for dinner,” Amy added.
