Page 42 of Spark
Sophie blinked. For a ninety-year-old, Mr. Ornelas was in remarkably good shape. His angular features were deeply lined, and his silver hair was thinning, but he projected an air of vitality that belied his advanced years.
In fact, Sophie had been advised that he was in the middle of his daily yoga class when she had arrived at the senior center to interview him.
Ariela had texted her this morning that she’d contacted her great-uncle and he’d said that he’d be happy to talk to her after lunch.
When he finally arrived at the senior center’s comfortably-furnished lounge, Mr. Ornelas listened alertly to Sophie’s explanation of why she wanted to write about Laura Tringstad’s long-ago murder, and her suspicion that the killing was connect to Javier’s collapse and the many strange events at the Bearpaw Springs Resort.
He nodded when she finished speaking. “I bet Eddy’s having a fit right now. He hates it when anyone mentions that his hotel is haunted.” Mr. Ornelas chuckled, sounding a little wheezy.
“Do you have any proof that Laura’s relatives might have been the murderers?” Sophie asked, intrigued. “And who it might have been?”
“Proof? Hah!” Mr. Ornelas’s veined hands clenched on his knees. “I can tell you this: Silvio and Laura started receiving threats on their answering machine and by mail almost immediately after they announced their mating. All anonymous, of course. But we knew who was behind it.” His mouth twisted, as if the words tasted bad. “And I heard through the grapevine that Laura’s Uncle Sven—Svenhard Tringstad—do you want me to spell that for you?” he interrupted himself.
“No, that’s fine, thank you,” Sophie said quickly. She was recording the interview on her tablet, and would run it through a transcription app later on. “So, Sven wasn’t happy about Laura marrying Silvio?”
“He was hopping mad that Laura had turned down that prime match from the Rio Grande Wolf Pack. I think it was him who killed her—him and those no-good girls of his. Laura thought that asking them to be her bridesmaids would help make peace with that side of the family.”
“But you don’t have any actual proof that her family did it?”
Of course he doesn’t,Sophie thought.Or Laura’s murder wouldn’t be a cold case file right now.
“No. And even if I had proof that Sven and his girls did it, it wouldn’t have mattered, not with all those Jacobsens at the police department,” Mr. Ornelas said. “Those wolves were only interested in protecting their own and pinning the blame on poor Silvio.”
“But I heard that both your clan wasn’t happy about Silvio and Laura getting mated, either,” Sophie ventured.
“A shifter mating outside his own lineage just wasn't done back then,” Mr. Ornelas pronounced. “But Silvio was a stubborn young fool, and a mating is a mating. When all was said and done, the Ornelas Clan stood ready to welcome Laura as one of our own.” He sighed, and suddenly looked every minute of his nine decades. “Their deaths were such a waste, Ms. Markidis. Such a terrible, terrible waste. Things are better these days, believe me.”
“Do you know of anyone else I could talk to about Laura and Silvio?”
Mr. Ornelas snorted. “Why don’t you try interviewing Svenhard and his daughters?” he asked, sarcastically. “I’m sure they’d have a lot to say about Laura’s murder.”
His suggestion clearly wasn’t serious, but it was a good idea. It would make for a more balanced article, if nothing else.
“Have you spoken with Javier?” Mr. Ornelas asked suddenly.
Sophie shook her head. “He was discharged from the medical center on Thursday, but he hasn’t responded to any of my texts asking him for an interview.”
“Hm.” The old man’s eyes narrowed. “And you were there when he collapsed? What happened?”
Fair is fair,Sophie thought.
She told him what had happened at her birthday dinner, and what she’d seen. But she omitted her conversation with Silvio’s ghost, figuring that it might be a painful subject.
When she had finished speaking, Mr. Ornelas nodded. “So, you think it’s Laura, taking her revenge on my family?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Sophie told him.
“Well, I wish you luck. Let me know when your article is published, and I’ll read it.”
“Thank you.” Sophie rose and extended her hand. “And thank you so much for your time, Mr. Ornelas. I appreciate your willingness to talk about such painful events.”
“It's always a pleasure to speak with a pretty young woman, and heck, I’m retired. I have nothingbuttime.” He chuckled and gave her hand a surprisingly strong squeeze.
Sophie drove back to the Grizzly Creek Ranch, mulling over the possibility that Laura’s murder might have actually been an honor killing, when someone phoned her.
She glanced at her touchscreen, and didn’t recognize the number. On impulse, she decided to hit the answer button on her steering wheel anyway. “Hello?”
“Hi, Sophie, it’s Annika Tringstad,” said the deputy. “How’s your investigation going?”
