Door County, Before You Die

by Mary Bowers

  Having completed the coffee run, Nettie went across the room clucking and turned the switch to put the gas fireplace on.

  The Sheriff decided it was time for him to go. “Thanks again for your help, all of you.” He “Sorry, ma’amed” me again and left.

  * * * * *

  After that night, without discussing it with me, Nettie slept in the bed by the window. She also put a safety pin in the edges of the curtains. It was sweet of her, and I was over it by then, but I didn’t argue. If people want to be nice to you, it’s unkind to try to stop them.

  Chapter 18 – The Detectives Dig In

  I may have been a damsel in distress, but nobody was fooling me. By the next morning, I was clear-headed and steady, and I knew that not all of the cryptic remarks at the pizza party had been explained by Matthew’s perverted tendencies.

  Nettie went so far as to suggest I stay in that day, having breakfast in bed, being given aspirin and extra blankets, and generally taking advantage of the situation to get all the sympathy I could get.

  “You know, Logan is very concerned about you,” she said, as if that weren’t the whole idea. “I think he’s taken a liking to you.”

  “We’re already on second base,” I told her, as if she didn’t already know.

  “Second base, is it? Well, be careful he doesn’t think you’re too fast. Boys don’t like that, no matter what they say.”

  She’s a very loving aunt, but when she gets all lavender-and-lace on me, I’m at my most suspicious. Logan was a generation younger than Nettie, but he was hardly a boy. No, she and Henry had formed a team, and I figured she wanted me out of the way while they snooped around, and Logan would keep me busy and happy and out of their hair. She couldn’t fool me.

  Still, she managed to maneuver things and passively get her way over breakfast the next morning.

  Logan was our new fourth at the breakfast table, since Gail was spending most of her time now with the Klausen family inside the house. Evaline was even letting Gail help her in the kitchen. I thought it was a great idea; it would keep Gail from being able to think about her daughter too much.

  Nettie’s big idea was that Logan and I would go off and “have fun” while she and Henry did their own thing. She was getting rid of me and I knew it, but I had my own agenda, and I wasn’t telling her what I was up to, either. Logan and I could cover angles that Nettie and Henry might have missed, and I was pretty sure they’d missed at least one. We agreed to our separate plans for the day with glossy smiles on the surface and ulterior motives below.

  “Hell of a night last night,” Henry said in his usual laconic way. He gave me a quick, comprehensive look and said, “Get any sleep after we left?”

  He looked a little worse for wear, and looking around I realized that we all did.

  “Oh, sure,” I told Henry. “Let me see, I slept for a good solid . . . one, two, three . . . three hours. You?”

  “Nah,” Henry said. “After a good hard look at the bed, I decided not to bother. After I got back from your cabin I took a long, hot shower, shaved up and made myself human again. Then, like yesterday, I sat out on the porch and waited for the sun to come up. Eventually,” he added, “it did.”

  “You should have sent me a text,” Nettie told him. “I would have come over and joined you. All I did was toss and turn and try not to wake Paige up.”

  “I didn’t want to wake you up if you’d managed to get to sleep somehow. What about you, Logan?”

  “I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I slept just fine, for those same three hours. Darn near four, now that I think about it. Yes, nothing is more peaceful than the sleep of the just,” he added with a touch of whimsy.

  “Playing Sir Galahad agrees with you?” I asked.

  “I guess so.” Modesty overcame him, and we let it drop.

  As usual, Faye and her parents came in a little after we did, and seeing the girl, I was surprised at how quiet she’d become. She wasn’t a wreck, by any means, she just wasn’t the chatty child I remembered from the day before yesterday, full of questions about trolls and stories of her grandmother’s second sight.

  She had actually talked to Gerda on the night of the murder, and she had been the one to bring her parents down by the bay where they found the body. I wasn’t sure how much a 10-year old would be capable of grasping, but she was bound to be brooding about at least some of it.

  I tried hard to listen to the conversation at that table, which was right behind ours, and I was able to catch enough to reassure me. Faye was still worried that the trolls would be blamed for the murder, which was charming, in a way. It kept her mind busy with little-girl things, which was how it should be.

  Evaline had a worried look that morning as she served breakfast, which wasn’t surprising. It’s never good for business to have customers hear about other customers being murdered on the premises.

  Her brother, Karl, wandered out to the porch after her, not to help Evaline but to assume a lord-of-the-manner pose. I thought it was a lot of nerve, since his father’s big disappointment in life was the fact that Karl wasn’t interested in the family business. I was already taking a disliking to him. In my younger days, I would have scolded myself internally, pushing for fairness. But when I turned thirty, a couple of years ago, I decided to start trusting my instincts. They’d been dead-on, at least most of the time.

  “Dad’s got a new girlfriend,” Karl said with a slight eyebrow wiggle. He leaned himself against the breakfront opposite our table, as if he were settling in for a good gossip. Evaline glared at him, then had to edge around him to get back into the house with the O’Neil family’s breakfast order.

  “How do you like Gail?” Nettie asked him.

  Karl shrugged. “She’s pretty hot. You know, for her age.”

  “She’s very attractive,” Nettie agreed. “But how do you like her, personally?”

  “Doesn’t matter what I think,” he said, letting his eyes wander off to gaze through the window. “It only matters what Dad thinks. What’s that kid doing now?” he interjected in an irritated voice.

  I turned for a look and saw Justin outside, arguing with one of the Sheriff’s deputies. He was holding the handle of a shovel, which appeared to be dripping wet.

  “Justin!” Faye cried, as if she’d spotted her last friend on earth. For the first time that morning, she was animated. She jumped up from the table to run outside and her mother had to hold her back to put a coat on her.

  “Now you come back when I call you,” Gillian told her. “It isn’t nice to have people make food for you and then run away and not eat it.”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  As soon as the coat was halfway buttoned, she was off, and when she got outside Justin looked her over as if recent events might have left physical marks. Then he set the shovel down on the ground, knelt in front of Faye and finished buttoning up her coat. Loki, who was frisking around beside Faye, began licking her face, making the little girl laugh.

  The lady deputy looked down at the girl and the dog with a kind of adoration. Faye really was a pretty little thing, with her elfin face and her silky blond hair ruffling in the wind. And poor old, fat Loki was way too out of shape for the kind of wild affection he was giving Faye, but he just couldn’t hold back.

  Nettie took the opportunity to ask Mark how Faye was handling everything that had happened.

  “She never saw the body,” he told us quickly. “Gilly took her a few steps back and turned her away.” He looked out the window at the protective way Justin was hovering over the child. “I think maybe we’ll keep her in with us today. She doesn’t need to tag along after the handyman, no matter how fascinating his job may be.”

  “Don’t you have to work today?” his wife asked him coldly.

  There was an uncomfortable pause.

  “I just have to finish up that report. It’s cold today anyway. We can spend some family time in the cabin, put the fireplace on, play some games with Faye.”

  �
��Are you going to be seeing her?”

  Mark sagged a little. “I have to. You know that. But we’ll keep it short. I promise. And we’ll never do this again.”

  “Do what again?” she asked sharply.

  He blew out an exhale. “This. Bring along the whole family. I didn’t know when I booked this trip . . . here’s our food. Why don’t you go call Faye in.”

  Karl observed all this without even trying to be discreet. When the tense exchange was over, he looked at us and raised his eyebrows, as if he expected us to comment.

  Gillian was back with Faye by then, and Karl stood where he was, in their way, and let them squeeze around him.

  “How is Justin today?” I asked Faye as she went by.

  “He’s mad! Somebody’s been using his stuff from the toolshed. They threw one of the shovels into the bay, and now the sheriff’s people took his ladder away. That bad man was going into Justin’s toolshed and using his stuff, and now the cops won’t give his ladder back. It’s evidence.”

  Evaline was topping up the coffee cups, and she told Faye, “They’ll give it back to us when they’re done with it. They promised not to keep it long.”

  “They better not,” Faye said. “Justin needs it.”

  Karl simpered at her, and then at us.

  While Karl made a few ain’t-that-a-cute-kid remarks about Faye, I nudged Logan and whispered, “What would Matthew have been doing with a shovel? The ladder I get, but a shovel? And why would he throw it into the bay?”

  He gave his head a tiny shake, and we dropped the subject.

  With deep concern on her face, Nettie asked Evaline, “Is Gail all right this morning?”

  “She seems a little better today. We’re trying to keep her busy. My Dad’s inside with her. When you’re done with your breakfast, why don’t you come inside and see how she’s doing for yourself?”

  “Are you sure your father wouldn’t mind having guests coming into the house?”

  “Don’t be silly. You’re welcome in my house any time, Nettie Tucker. You know that.”

  “Oh, Evaline, how sweet you are to me. But are you sure your father wouldn’t mind . . . having more people around when he’s, you know,” she paused delicately, “entertaining a lady?”

  Evaline either didn’t catch on or she didn’t want to. She just said, “Of course not.”

  “Well, if it’s all right, I’d love to,” Nettie said. She turned to us, her tablemates, and said, “I think I’m done here. If all of you will excuse me?”

  Henry nodded, I told her to say hi to Gail for us.

  “Come on ahead,” Evaline said, and she led the way.

  “We consider our guests members of the family, here at Trollhaven,” Karl said in a tone just short of sarcasm. He moved to the table and sat down in Nettie’s chair.

  “I hear you’re working with the cops,” he said to Henry.

  There was a stiffening at Faye’s table, but I didn’t catch who had had a reaction.

  “Not really,” Henry told Karl. “I began to suspect that Matthew guy. He seemed kind of secretive, and he had a weird way of looking at Paige, especially when she wasn’t aware of it.”

  Karl took the opportunity to give me the slow once-over. “Nothing strange about a man looking at her,” he said in a smarmy voice.

  I managed to force a simper, but I couldn’t think of anything appropriate to say. I managed to swallow the inappropriate things before they could get out.

  “Don’t you agree, Professor Wagner?” Karl said suddenly.

  “Huh?” Logan had his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. He set it down, looked at me and said, “Yeah, she’s kinda cute.”

  I gave him an “Oh, really,” look, and Karl picked up on the vibe between us.

  “You do know he’s a boring professor, don’t you?” he said to me.

  “That’s right,” I said. “You two were in college together.”

  “Not taking the same classes, though,” Karl said with disdain.

  “Karl was studying more fascinating subjects, like ancient Greek philosophy, as I remember,” Logan said. “You might want to ask him about it sometime, Sleepy, when you’ve got a moment to spare. A lot of moments to spare. Greek philosophy is complicated, you know. Takes a while to explain.”

  “Ah, Greek philosophy,” Karl said, as if those had been the good old days. “Only some of us grew up and realized our majors were pointless.” He stared at Logan. “And some of us didn’t.”

  He seemed satisfied with his parry. Dropping any show of interest in Logan, he turned to Henry.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, sir, but you and that lady who just went into my house make a comfy pair.”

  “She’s very comfortable,” Henry agreed.

  “Known her long?”

  “Not really. It’s great being here with her, though. I’m getting to know her better.”

  “Yeah, this is that kind of a place,” Karl said, drumming his fingertips. Then he shrugged. “You know, except when perverts come to stay. They took our special guest up to the Sheriff’s office in Sturgeon Bay for more interviews. Are you going to be helping with that?”

  “Me?” Henry said. “I’m on vacation.”

  “Oh, yeah, right. And what about those saddlebags? Have they found them yet?”

  “I wouldn’t know. Like I said, I’m on vacation.”

  “But the tip came from you, right?”

  Henry merely raised his eyebrows.

  “Well, Trollhaven thanks you,” Karl said. “We can’t have that kind of thing going on here. We like to have happy people all over the place, having a good time under the watchful eye of the good master.”

  “Your father seems like a good man,” Henry said.

  “Yeah, he does.” Karl got up abruptly. “He seems like a good man.”

  He left, and I thought I detected the odor of spoiled brat in the air behind him.

  “Of all the old fraternity buddies to run into,” Logan murmured beside me.

  “He was trying to pump Henry for information,” I said. “You’d think as the son of a local businessman, he’d be in the loop with the Door County Sheriff.”

  “He doesn’t spend much time around here anymore,” was Henry’s only comment.

  We took our time over coffee, and finally Logan asked me if I was finished.

  “Yeah, I think I am. I don’t want to leave Henry alone, though. Are you sure you want to wait here until my aunt comes back, Henry?”

  He cradled his coffee cup. “Oh, there’s no hurry for her to come back. I’ll just sit here and have another cup of joe.”

  “Why don’t you go inside and see how Gail is for yourself?”

  “No, I think I’ll let Nettie handle this one. She’s got the perfect touch. You kids go have fun.”

  It all seemed to make sense to Logan, and once we were outside I asked him, “What are those two up to?”

  “You know your aunt better than I do,” he said cryptically. “She did help her husband out from time to time with difficult subjects, didn’t she?”

  “You’re right. Arnie can be difficult.”

  “Arnie? She went in to check on Gail.”

  “With my aunt, there’s always something going on under the surface.”

  “Well, whatever she’s after, she managed to get into the house. Oh, there’s Paula. I want to ask her something.”

  For once, I understood what he was after. Henry’s and Nettie’s agenda had gotten beyond me, but I was right there with Logan, hot on the trail of the mysterious woman who was causing all the trouble between Faye’s parents. Whatever promises I’d made, things were coming to a head, and I wanted to know who that lady was. We hadn’t even gotten a description of her the day before, but we were going to get one now. With all the cops milling about, many of them women, both in and out of uniform, we needed something to help us recognize Mark’s mistress. We didn’t even need to talk about it, I realized, and it gave me a good feeling.

  We caught Paul
a coming out of the O’Neil’s cabin.

  “You’re going to be getting home early today, aren’t you?” Logan asked cheerily. He gestured at Matthew’s cabin. “They’re not letting you in there, are they? And I believe they have given our cycling friend other accommodations for the near future.”

  “You’re right, they wouldn’t let me in, but they had the nerve to ask me about what I’d seen in there. They’re looking for some of his biking gear, and the way they ask, you’d think they suspect I took it.”

  She was hustling along, heading for Cabin 4, Gail’s cabin. Cabin 6 had been Gerda’s, and Paula wasn’t going to be tidying up that one, either. We fell in step beside her.

  “Doesn’t Matthew know what happened to his stuff?” Logan asked.

  “He says they must have been stolen. He had a set of saddlebags when he got here, and now they’re gone.”

  “Who would have been able to get at the master key to the cabins?” Logan asked.

  “Anybody who works here. There are two master keys up in the office in the main house. One stays there in case of emergency and I’ve got the other one while I’m working. When I’m done, I return it to the office. So not that many people could’ve gotten in there, and even I didn’t go in. I was under orders from him not to do his room. Like I already told you, he’d leave his dirty towels on the porch for me, and he didn’t want his sheets changed. So they want to know where the saddlebags went and I told them, I – don’t – know.”

  “Isn’t Matthew upset that they’re gone?” Logan asked.

  We had reached Gail’s cabin, and since we couldn’t follow her inside, we were standing in front of the steps to the porch, watching Paula climb up with her gear.

  With her back to us, she said, “Ask the cops. I wasn’t the one who asked him about it.”

  I shrugged at Logan, then told Paula to give our regards to Napoleon. “Did he eat the curtains, by the way?”

  “Nope,” she said over her shoulder. “He ate an old throw pillow.” She turned inside the porch and looked at us through the screen. “It’s not that I mind the pillow so much. It was ugly anyway. I won it at bingo. But he had plenty of time to get the stuffing out and scatter it all over the place, and I had to clean up the mess, after I just spent all day cleaning here. You’re right, I won’t be late today, though. Two less cabins to clean, and the lady in this one’s working on moving into the big house, from the looks of it. That makes three less tips, probably. This place is going to hell . . . .” We didn’t catch the rest because she was still talking to herself after she went inside the cabin.