Armstrong hung his head. "Nice of you to say so, but I can"t say I"d agree with it. I shouldn"t have been so bent on pinning the murder on Yadkin. I made a mistake there, one I won"t likely repeat."
"It"s okay," Alex said.
Armstrong nodded, then said, "I just found out where Marilynn Baxter was hiding out. Her neighbor Ruby Garnet came into the station an hour ago and told me she"d been helping Marilynn lie low. Ruby feels something awful about letting her go back alone when she was still so distraught, but she couldn"t have known."
"The only thing she"s guilty of is having a big heart," Alex agreed.
Armstrong said, "On the way to the station, I asked Jenny about breaking into Jefferson Lee"s shop. Seems Jefferson had himself a Polaroid Camera, and he liked to use it when they were, uh, you know, together. Jenny said she found the pictures and burned them before she came after you. She kept saying you were her last loose thread. You"re lucky to be alive, Alex."
"Don"t I know it," Alex said as he got up, holding his arm gently. "Thanks for the update, Sheriff, I truly do appreciate it, but I really need to go home."
Armstrong made a motion to pat Alex"s shoulder but stopped abruptly. "I"ll be out at the inn later to check on Irene. She"s working the crime scene."
Alex almost tripped over Elise as he opened the door to leave.
"Alex, I was so worried about you. Are you all right?"
He lifted the sutured arm gently in the air. "I"m just glad I"m left-handed, or I would have never been able to throw those rocks at Jenny. I think that"s what saved my life."
"I"m so sorry I wasn"t there for you, Alex. You needed me, and I let you down."
As they walked toward the clerk"s desk to settle his bill, Alex said, "You had to go back for your father, Elise. You don"t owe me any apologies."
"Well, I"m here now." She paused, then asked, "What"s going on with Mor and Emma? They were out in the waiting room with me, then all of a sudden they started arguing about something in whispers. The next thing I knew, they both just got up and left."
"They"ve been trying to iron out the differences in their relationship over the past couple of days. I think they"re either going to break up after all this is over or get engaged."
Elise said, "Which one are you pulling for?"
Alex sighed. "That one"s easy. Whichever solution makes my friends the happiest."
Elise nodded. "Well said. Alex, why don"t we get you back to the inn, and I"ll fix you a nice dinner. How does that sound?"
"That"s the best offer I"ve had all day." He knew Hatteras West"s lobby would still be in the middle of Irene"s crime scene investigation, but he didn"t care.
All Alex really wanted to do was to go home. He drew energy from the lighthouse, from Bear Rocks, from all of The Hatteras West Inn.
Having Elise there with him again was more than he could ever ask for.
It was time to go home.
And now a peek at Murder Checks Inn, book 3 in the Lighthouse Inn mysteries by Tim Myers.
Murder Checks Inn
By Tim Myers
Chapter 1.
"I still don"t know why we had to come all the way out to the middle of nowhere to read Father"s will," Ashley Trask-Cooper said impatiently, smoothing the invisible wrinkles from her pantsuit with abbreviated flicks of her hand as she spoke. It was readily apparent that Ashley wasn"t used to waiting for anyone. She had asked her mother and brother the same question a dozen times since they"d recently arrived. It was obvious the Hatteras West Inn was the last place in the world Ashley wanted to be.
Alex Winston looked up from his position behind the check-in desk at the people who had been fidgeting in the lobby of Hatteras West for the last forty minutes. Though they hadn"t introduced themselves upon their arrival, it hadn"t been all that difficult for Alex to match names with faces.
When no one deigned to answer, Ashley continued, speaking loud enough for everyone in Elkton Falls to hear. "Only Father would book us into a lighthouse motel in the North Carolina mountains!"
As the owner and innkeeper of the "lighthouse motel,"
Alex had to fight to hide his smile. He knew how unusual most people found it to see a lighthouse in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but to him, the original structure on the North Carolina Outer Banks was the one that looked oddly out of place without the lush green hardwood forest and the mountain"s foothills surrounding it.
Cynthia Shays-Trask, the matriarch of the clan, was a slim older woman stylishly dressed in a designer outfit and sporting a graying closely cropped haircut. She said curtly, "Ashley, we are here because your father demanded it. That obese nightmare of a man has found a way to continue to spoil my life even beyond the grave."
Steven Trask, a young man in his mid-twenties with neatly trimmed hair and a runner"s physique said, "Mother, I won"t have you speak of him that way, do you understand? It"s time to put the past behind us." Unlike his sister and her outfit, Steven looked at home in a nicely tailored suit.
"Oh please, Steven," Ashley said. "It didn"t do you the slightest bit of good being his favorite while he was alive, and it matters even less now. He can"t hear you." All three shared the same hooked nose and prominent chin; the family resemblance was undeniable. Alex would have known they were related even without having the reservation book open in front of him. Though they were booked at the inn for the entire week, the group had refused to check in until Jase Winston, Alex"s uncle and an attorney in town, arrived on the scene.
Jase had just recently moved back to Elkton Falls after retiring from a big law firm in Charlotte, and Alex had been glad for the chance to get reacquainted with his father"s brother. Since Alex and his brother Tony had lost their parents, Jase had done his best to serve in their stead. Alex was glad his uncle had grown bored with retirement and had hung out his shingle in town. The man was coming alive again with cases to keep him occupied. He"d confided to Alex that the two of them were a lot alike; they both dealt with the public and tried their best to serve them. Alex wondered if that was what his uncle had in mind when he"d gotten himself involved with this family.
Ashley rubbed her hand hesitantly across the top of an ornately carved black urn sitting on the table between them. "This is just like Father, popping up like this. It smacks of his annual Christmas postcards to the family. The only way he comes back to us from South America is in a jar full of ashes. He had some kind of nerve, leaving us all behind and sending a card once a year just to gloat about his new life."
Steven"s face turned red as he snapped, "He just wanted us to know he was okay!" It was obvious his sister knew just what b.u.t.tons to push to get a reaction from him.
Cynthia said sadly, "Steven, you always were such an innocent."
Ashley said, "He"s not all that innocent. I could tell you stories about your precious little boy that would curl your toes, Mother."
Alex could tell that Steven was trying his best to ignore his sister"s jab. "Can"t we all just get along until Jase Winston gets here and reads the will?"
Ashley said, "Don"t hold your breath hoping for family harmony, Steven. I for one refuse to honor a man who deserted me." Ashley frowned, then added, "I still don"t understand why Donald and the children couldn"t come with us this week. They"re my family; they have every right to be here, too."
Cynthia said, "We"ve been over this a hundred times. The instructions stated clearly that no spouses or children were to attend. Your father wanted this to be just the three of us."
Alex had dusted the same spot on the front desk for the seventh time when Elise Danton came up behind him.
"Alex, I need you outside."
Elise served as the head of housekeeping at Hatteras West. It was a glorified t.i.tle, since there were just the two of them on staff, but Alex knew he couldn"t run Hatteras West without her. He"d discovered that quickly enough when Elise"s father had suffered a major heart attack, and Elise had been called back to his side. He hoped her parents enjoyed good health for a long, long time. Alex was not at all certain he could go through running the inn by himself again.
"Is it important?" he asked. Alex would never have admitted to her that he"d been eavesdropping, but he couldn"thelp himself. It was one of the fascinations of running the inn, meeting such a vast variety of people.
"I don"t think it can wait," Elise said as she motioned him to the rear of the building.
When they got to the back hallway, Alex said, "Elise, you aren"t going to believe our newest guests. I was under the impression that this was just going to be a normal family reunion when Jase booked their rooms, but they"re here for the reading of their father"s will. And from the sound of it, n.o.body but the man"s son is all that upset he"s gone."
Elise said, "Alex, I honestly don"t care if they"re here to hold a seance to bring him back; they"re paying guests, and we need all of those we can get right now."
Alex knew too well how true that was. They"d nearly finished rebuilding the Main Keeper"s Quarters a few months before when they"d run out of the money raised from the sale of emeralds found on the property. Unfortunately, Emma Sturbridge, their staff gem hunter, still hadn"t been able to locate the source of the main vein of stones, if in fact one even existed. The original discoverer had taken that secret with her to the grave. Because of that, Hatteras West, so named because of the exact replica of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse built beside the two keepers" quarters that served as the inn, was heading dangerously close to being in the red again.
Alex asked, "What"s so important?"
"It"s Vernum. I can"t get the man to hold still long enough for me to have one word of conversation with him. You"re the only one he"ll talk to."
"Is there a problem with him?" Alex asked. Vernum, an older, rail-thin man with a heavy, flowing shock of white hair and a beard that bushed all around his face, had shown up at Hatteras West the week before, offering to do yard work and landscaping in exchange for one meal a day and a place to sleep. Alex had seen Vernum around Elkton Falls for the past few months, one day sweeping the parking lot at Buck"s Grill and the next unloading trucks at Shantara"s General Store. Sheriff Armstrong had talked to Vernum extensively upon showing up in Elkton Falls and had p.r.o.nounced him harmless.
Alex had turned down the offer of landscaping, though he gave the stranger a good meal before he left. Instead of leaving, though, Vernum grabbed a pruning saw from the storage shed near the lighthouse and transformed some gnarled old oak trees Alex had been meaning to convert into firewood into beautifully sculpted showpieces.
Alex was convinced, and Vernum moved into the shed after refusing to sleep in any of the inn"s empty rooms.
"There"s no problem with Vernum," Elise explained. "I just hate the thought of him sleeping on a cot out in the shed."
"It"s his choice, Elise. He seems happy out there. I can"t make him come inside."
"Would you at least talk to him about it again? He listens to you."
"I will if I can find him," Alex said. He knew there was no point arguing with her. Once Elise made up her mind about something, it was nearly impossible to get her to change it. He had to admit she"d come up with many improvements since she"d arrived at the inn, none more popular than the continental breakfasts they now served every morning.
As Alex walked the grounds, he marveled at the work Vernum had done in the short time he"d been at Hatteras West. The unofficial arborist had thinned and pruned the stand of oak and hickory trees that had grown up around the lighthouse"s base, transforming the area into a park-like setting, revealing rather than obscuring the stone and brick foundation. Even the copse of trees between the lighthouse and Bear Rocks had never looked so good.
Alex finally found Vernum thinning the plantings around the inn"s main building.
"Got a second?" Alex asked.
Vernum looked startled as he realized Alex was standing so close by. The man never failed to remind Alex of a spooked horse, afraid to stay in one place too long, especially if anyone else was around.
"What can I do for you?" the man grumbled as he started to move away.
"Elise is worried about you sleeping out in the shed. Are you sure you don"t want to move into the inn while you"re working here? We"ve got plenty of room right now."
Vernum called out over his shoulder, "I"m fine where I am, thanks," as he disappeared into the copse of trees that led to Bear Rocks.
Alex didn"t have time to chase him down. He had an inn to run. Peering inside through the gla.s.s, he could see the Trask family still gathered around the patriarch"s urn. It was time to finish dusting that desk.
Hopefully, he hadn"t missed much.
"Where is that man? Honestly, he shouldn"t be wasting our time like this," Cynthia said as she looked at her watch for the hundredth time in the last fifteen minutes.
Steven asked, "Is there somewhere you need to be, Mother? I thought we were all going to be staying the entire week."
"We are. That was your father"s last request, and goodness knows, he"ll probably come back and haunt anyone who tries to leave early. It"s hard to imagine this dreadful town was his boyhood home. He never showed any interest in coming back while he was alive, so why in the world did he feel the need to drag us all here against our wills? I just wish we could get this part of the ordeal over with."
Ashley said, "Do you think it"s possible he actually left us something valuable? The attorney hinted as much when I spoke with him on the telephone last week. Maybe he still has his stamp collection. That was worth a fortune twenty years ago."
Steven said, "I"m not so sure any of us deserve his money or anything else. He was gone a long time. Father carved out a new life for himself."
Cynthia said, "Donate your share to the poor if it eases your conscience, Steven. I for one earned every dime coming to me."
"We all did," Ashley said.
Steven stood abruptly. "It"s getting a little stale in here. I need some fresh air."
Ashley snapped, "You"ll just have to get it later, little Brother. n.o.body"s going anywhere until this lawyer shows up."
Alex watched openly as Steven and Ashley locked glares. The older sister ultimately won as Steven reluctantly slipped back into his seat.
Alex was so caught up in the exchange between the brother and sister that he was startled when Sheriff Armstrong walked into the inn. Normally, Alex knew it whenever a car approached on the gravel entrance outside. As the sheriff headed straight for Alex, the innkeeper had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was there to deliver bad news. Armstrong didn"t come to Hatteras West on many social calls; something had to have happened to dynamite him off his barstool at Buck"s Grill.
"Afternoon, Sheriff," Alex said, trying to act more casual than he felt.
"Alex, I"m afraid I"ve got some bad news."
"What is it?" Alex asked as a wave of dread swept over him.
"It"s your uncle. I"m afraid he"s dead."