Toni Petti - Horse Girl Homicide

Chapter Fifteen

Hunched over and hiding his face, Mr. Brummel fiddles with his Nokia 2.4 phone. When I snoop, he shows me its screen. He has downloaded some media and I recognize Lisa Laflamme at the CTV National News desk. I'm a television news junky - one glace and I'm hooked.

"...Tanya Brummel, fourth ranked equestrian in Canada and the 2019 Gold Saddle recipient was critically injured while rehearsing with other members of Canada's Olympic Team today. The accident occurred at Brummel Equestrian, a horse farm and riding facility one hour north of Toronto. The twenty-one-year-old Queens University student is presently receiving emergency care at Sunnybrook Hospital where she's in critical but stable condition."

Critical but stable condition is good news. Tanya is going to survive.

"For anyone not familiar, equestrian eventing is a discipline which involves dressage, cross country and show jumping." Lisa LaFlamme explains, "and the Brummell family is well known in the world of horseracing and horse breeding. They operate a leading bloodstock company which carries their name."

The broadcast switches from the anchor desk to video of the emergency vehicles at the farm, taken from the road. That means the camera operator I glimpsed down there earlier was indeed a freelance videographer or stringer as we say, shooting footage on-spec to sell to the highest bidder. That affects me because it's exactly what I'm trying to do downtown. Lisa's voice is heard over these visuals, "...the dressage element had been jumped by three other riders before Tanya, and there'd been no problems." She continues, "the incident has experts scratching their heads and investigators asking what happened."

CTV news anchorwoman's voice-over continues, "No one is more upset than Tanya's mother, 1994 Grand Prix winner, and famed A-circuit coach, Candace Brummel. Full disclosure, Candace and I are friends. We met in Seoul, South Korea when I covered the Canadian Equestrian Team at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Candance Taylor as she was known then, placed fourth in individual dressage and won a bronze medal in team dressage. A two-second clip shows a teenage Candace bending her neck to receive a medal in a stadium filled with spectators.

The video cuts to present-day Candace in a glass solarium filled with tropical plants which must be Sunnybrook hospital's guest lounge. She looks stressed and overtired.

"Sometimes horses make mistakes," Mrs. Brummel says, "and when they do, it can be catastrophic."

"Equestrian Canada says that counselling services have been arranged for teammates and attendees," Lisa concludes and Terrence's video ends when the news broadcast continues to the next story. Counselling services? I wonder where they got that? Nobody has contacted me regarding any counselling.

"You know more than you're saying..." Mr. Brummel retracts his phone and waits for me to confess. I just shrug and he continues, "which is understandable. But... Please help me get to the bottom of this."

"I will," I put my hand on his shoulder. Despite his wealth and gruff demeanor, I'm comfortable around him. Terrence may be a master conman, as both Ainsley and Monica allege, but he's never wronged me.

"Good night."

The old man clambers toward the wraparound porch on the front of the house. He grasps and clutches the handrail as though in a hurricane. Right on cue, a strong breeze rustles the leaves overhead. The weather is turning stormy, it's overcast and feels like rain. The police are going to charge me if I try and run from here, so there really is no escape. All I can do is persevere.

I open my creaky cabana door and rescan the room. I'll sleep in this bed tonight and the sun will come out tomorrow; I'll catch the poisoner, regain my laptop and carry-on with my life.