Money, Marbles and Murder

by Mary Frances

  On the East side of the island, one could see part of the house through the trees. Wilma was pointing and Margaret was hanging on to the handle on the dash. Both Sandy and Dallas were grinning. The path went around the island and then turned sharply on itself and the climb began again. As they broke through the trees, the house came in full view. Dallas stopped in the middle of the path to look at his new house. Sandy looked behind her and noticed small lights hidden along the path. Dallas started again and she followed. The path finally led up to the west side of the house and leveled off at a small garage door. Again, Dallas punched in a code in the pad and the door slid up. Lights went on immediately as he drove his cart in. Sandy followed. When they had the carts parked, Sandy stood looking at the woods around the house. Wilma grabbed bags and started to unload the cart. Margaret merely sat and stared.

  “I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to this,” she said. Dallas helped her out of the cart and led everyone into the house.

  The small cart garage was built into the side of the house and as you walked through, you came directly into an enormous living room. Full windows at the east end showed the lake, decks and woods. Margaret walked to the glass doors and stared for a full minute. Dallas joined her. To the right side of the room was a hall that led to two bedrooms and a bath. On the left side of the room was another bedroom, the master suite, the kitchen and dining room. A stone fireplace filled the right hand corner of the room. The house was open and airy. Dallas opened the sliding glass doors that led to the deck and walked outside. The huge deck had a small stone fire pit in the center and heavy wooden chairs and chaises spread about. The main deck had a low rail along the edge and was open in the front. Dallas went down the three steps onto the sun deck. A pair of deck chairs sat on each end. Another set of steps took you down further to a large walkway that led to a dock. Dallas followed it to the water and stood looking out over the rail. Margaret took her cane and stepped carefully behind him.

  “Where’s the pool?” she asked after a long moment of silence. Dallas turned to look at her and when he saw her smile, he knew she was just teasing.

  “Why, Margaret. I just bought the biggest pool in Michigan!” he said.

  “Well, I love it,” she told him. Dallas led the way back to the house. Sandy and Wilma had gone through the house and looked in each room. Their bags sat by the door waiting for Dallas to decide what they would do next.

  “Is this what you expected, detective?” Sandy asked when he came back inside.

  “More than I could have ever imagined,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. Wilma went to the kitchen and opened the cupboards and fridge. “There isn’t a lick in these cupboards,” she said. “If you want me to cook while we’re here, I’ll need a ride to a store.”

  Dallas slapped his hands together and took a deep breath. “Okay,” he started. “How about this? Sandy, you and Wilma go to the grocery store and load the cupboards, while I get Margaret into a room and a fire going in the fireplace. It’ll be dark in a few hours and I think I better find out where everything is before then. There is no phone working here until later this week, so we’ll have to rely on cell phones for now, but the electricity is on and…” He waited for a moment, looked around and when no one said anything, he handed the keys to Sandy. “Ready?”

  he asked He gave her the security code and after he showed Margaret into a room of her own, he went back down to the car with Sandy and Wilma.

  Dallas saw the women off and went back up to the house. When he came back in, Margaret was still in her room. He walked around the outside again and then inside. After he was familiar with the floor plan, he carried his bags into the master suite. The room had its own set of glass doors that led out onto the deck. Dallas opened them and let the cool air come through. He went into the master bath and turned on the light. The room had a very large shower, garden tub and double sinks. As he looked around the room, he smiled to himself. Retirement, now, was going to be a little better.

  When he came back into the great room, Margaret was sitting on the sofa staring out the sliding glass doors. “I’d offer you a glass of something, Margaret, but I am afraid I am out of everything,” he said.

  Margaret broke into a grin. “The last time we were together, you were prepared, detective,”

  she said.

  Dallas’ face reddened. “Let me see if there is anything here,” he said as he went into the kitchen. Margaret heard his voice as he said, “aha!”

  In three minutes, he came back with two cups of coffee on a tray. He set it down and retreated back into the kitchen. Margaret loved coffee and as Dallas came back into the room, her eyes lit up when she saw the small box of sugar in his hand.

  “They had an ‘open house’,” he said as he offered the sugar. Margaret, of course took it and poured some into her cup.

  “I’m out of creamer,” he said as he stirred her cup for her.

  “Let’s have this out on the deck, shall we?” she suggested. Dallas took the cups outside and after Margaret took a seat, he handed hers back to her.

  The two sat quietly for a long time just staring out at the lake and listening to the birds in the trees. Neither one spoke a word until they had finished their coffee. Dallas went back into the house and in minutes, had two more cups. Margaret spoke first.

  “Detective,” her voice was almost a whisper. “I do need this vacation. Thank you.” Dallas didn’t answer. He knew where she was headed in her conversation.

  “The children. How long?” she asked. Dallas waited a full minute before he could answer her hidden question.

  “They think it took three days for everyone to die,” he said.

  “Please don’t spare me,” she said. “Would I have mattered, had I been there with the right clue?”

  Dallas stared into the cup in his hands. “Margaret. They were most likely gone when you got there. But I, on the other hand…” His voice faded. Dallas put his head down and he stared at the toe of his boot. Margaret reached a gloved hand out and lay it on his arm.

  “Talk to me,” she whispered.

  Dallas got up slowly and walked to the side of the deck. He looked out into the beautiful woods and then back at his feet. Margaret had to strain to hear his voice.

  “I stood on that hill on Thursday and I didn’t hear them. I stood on that hill on Friday and again, I didn’t hear them.” Dallas threw his coffee cup high into the air, out into the woods. “Had I been you, I would have heard them,” he said.

  Margaret saw his shoulders shake as he talked. She set her cup down and got up.

  “I carried the burden for over twenty five years. The fact that I couldn’t save them almost killed me,” she said. She pulled his arm to turn him so she could look into his face. His eyes were wet.

  “We couldn’t save them, but we did bring them home. I couldn’t have done it without you and you couldn’t have done it with me. Don’t let this eat at you as it did me,” she said. “Look at me.” She shook his arm.

  He did.

  “I am just a few years older than you and look at what it did to me.”

  “You’re a beautiful woman, Margaret,” he whispered. “You always have been.”

  Margaret shook her head. “I look more like eighty than sixty-six.”

  Dallas pulled his arm away and looked down at her hands. She still had the gloves on. Had she had them off, she would have been able to ‘read’ him. What she had said was one of his private thoughts earlier.

  “Don’t be so paranoid,” she said, her smile widening. Then, she looked off into the woods and pointed. “Now, go get that cup and fill ‘em up again.”

  Sandy and Wilma returned with a cart full of bags. As they parked in the small garage, Dallas had a fire going in the fireplace and Margaret was back in her room. Wilma went into the kitchen and once again, became the housekeeper and cook. While Sandy unpacked in the second room, she chose the bed close to the window. She and Wilma would be sharing the room for the week. D
allas busied himself at the fireplace and when they finally sat down to eat, the sun had already gone down behind the house.

  “It is hard to imagine,” Sandy said as she buttered her dinner roll, “that one could be so safe and secure in one place.” Margaret nodded. She was busy chasing her food with her bent fingers. They had forgotten her special utensils at home. Her arthritis made everything difficult. Her fingers were distorted so much that they went out at the joints and to the sides instead of straight. Without a word, Wilma left the table and went into the kitchen. As the others talked about the house and the woods around them, Wilma slipped back in and exchanged Margaret’s plate with foods that she could manage without embarrassment.

  “If I may ask, detective,” Margaret said, “what would a place like this cost, should I want one?”

  Sandy looked up. When they had looked at the virtual tour on the computer, the price was in full view. She knew Margaret already knew what the asking price was. Dallas smiled and after chewing his food and swallowing, he cleared his throat and smiled.

  “They were asking six, but when I called to make arrangements, they changed it to fourfifty,” he said. Sandy looked up at him. The six hundred thousand had been the asking price.

  “Why so low?” she had to ask.

  “It has been on the market for over a year,” he answered and went back to his dinner. In between bites, he managed to throw in some more details. “Seems they wanted out quickly and didn’t want me to change my mind, I guess,” he said. Margaret just listened.

  “They had an attorney waiting when I made my deposit. They said if I could close within twenty four hours, they’d throw in all the furniture and golf carts. I sent the money and it was a done deal.”

  “What about disclosure?” Sandy asked.

  “Mmm…” he said and swallowed again. “The house is fine, no known problems, plus a one year home warranty, so that’s not a problem, but the owner, well, the money goes to a trust. He’s dead.”

  The women stopped eating and looked at him. Dallas looked up and one by one, looked at each.

  “What?” he asked.

  Margaret looked at Sandy and then back at Dallas.

  “You bought a dead man’s house?” Margaret asked. She lifted a glass of water and waited. Dallas set his fork down and leaned back in his chair. “It’s not what you’re thinking, Margaret,” he said. “The house is exactly what I have always wanted and dreamed of owning and I can’t help it if the guy died and they put it up for sale.”

  “Who is the trust for?” she asked and sipped her water.

  “I think he had a son, under age.”

  “And how did he die?”

  “They don’t know. They haven’t found him yet.” Dallas picked up his fork again. As he bent over his plate, he looked up at Sandy and then at Margaret. “Not really!” he laughed. “The man had an accident.”

  After several sighs of relief from Sandy and Margaret, Dallas continued. “No, ladies. This is NOT a case I am working on. This house has nothing to do with that. I am retired and that’s all,”

  he said and put food in his mouth. Then he looked at Wilma and tipped his fork at her. “Great dinner, Wilma. Thank you.”

  Wilma smiled then left the table. Again, she became the housekeeper and as she cleared the table around them, she closed her ears and went about her chores. Everyone slowly left the table and after finding sweaters for the night air, went out onto the deck and sat around a small fire in the open pit on the deck. Margaret sat wrapped in a blanket and stared into the flames. She had said it was one thing she looked forward to. Dallas kept the flames dancing in the pit and every once in a while would stir the logs to send sparks into the night air. Sandy sat over the rim of the pit and for the first time in months, didn’t think of anything. Dallas played for a bit and after a while, everyone sat staring into the flames. Even Wilma came out and soon found solace in the small fire on the deck.

  Chapter Four

  The first night on the island found Margaret asleep before nine and Sandy yawning at ten. Wilma went to bed early and left Dallas on the deck, alone with Sandy.

  “Your house is wonderful, detective,” Sandy told him. “I am sure you’ll love it here, after you settle in.”

  Dallas stirred the hot coals and spread them out. The fire was slowly going out. “I only plan on coming here in the late spring through the fall,” he said. “The winters here are brutal. After that, I will be in New Mexico.”

  “Are you really retired now?” she asked.

  Dallas snickered. “I have enough money and if I need more, I’ll just find a case and do it for the reward, I guess.”

  “That sounds rather crude.” Sandy pulled her sweater closer as she talked. “But after New Mexico, I can see why anyone would. Three million dollars is a lot of money.”

  Dallas got up and filled a small bucket with water and slowly poured it over the hot coals. A light plume of smoke and steam went straight into the cool air.

  “You wouldn’t believe how many people do that,” he said as he stirred the coals again.

  “There are a lot of people out there with money to spend. They all want to know what happened to someone or something and they’re all willing to pay.”

  “Is this the first reward you received for solving a case?” Sandy asked. Dallas nodded. “I wasn’t eligible for rewards when I was in the force,” he told her. “It was considered part of the job. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. I had spent most of my savings on my move to New Mexico and all the traveling I did out there, I paid for, myself. So this, is my reward for all those years, I guess.”

  Sandy watched the man as he put the fire out and cleared the deck. When he was sure the fire was out for good, he headed for the door.

  “You can sleep out here, if you want,” he said. “It’s safe, you know. No one can get on the island without the alarms going off.”

  Sandy got up quickly and followed him into the house.

  “What alarms?” she asked as she locked the sliding door behind her.

  “The whole place has security alarms. If someone tries to come in from the lake, the lights will go on and flood the area. If someone tries to get into the garage down on the road, an alarm goes off in the house and more lights come on. Once I set the alarm, anyone walking within twenty feet of the house will set off an alarm and again,” he added, “more lights.”

  Sandy looked out the widows into the dark woods. “Won’t the deer set off the alarm?” she asked.

  Dallas went to the panel near the door and set the alarm.

  “Guess we’ll just have to wait and find out, won’t we?” he said and walked toward his room.

  “Good night,” he called over his shoulder.

  Sandy went into her room and settled in for the night. Seconds after lying on her bed, she fell asleep. No one saw the lights flickering along the paths in the woods and the alarm did not go off in the night. As the stars winked in the sky above, the house slept in the woods. Wilma woke early and started in the kitchen. For her, a vacation meant working in another kitchen, in another house, on an island. Sandy grabbed a hot cup of coffee and still in her pajamas, went out onto the deck. Dallas was already out and dressed. As she took a seat by the cold fire pit, she watched him as he leaned over the rail down on the dock. He had a cup of coffee in one hand and a fishing pole in the other.

  Margaret came out of her room in her bathrobe and walked through the house. After pouring her coffee, she too found herself standing in the cool morning air out on the deck.

  “Good morning,” Sandy said as Margaret came out.

  “I know we are supposed to be on a vacation,” Margaret said, “but, I do need to ask you to do something for me while we are here.”

  Sandy waited. Margaret was watching the detective out on the dock.

  “I need to know why they sold him this house so fast and so cheap.”

  “Is that really any of our business?” Sandy asked over the rim of her cup. Marg
aret took a seat and holding her cup close to her lips answered. “It is because we are here and he is our friend and…” she hesitated a fraction, “I heard voices last night.”

  Sandy set her cup down. “Coming from?”

  Margaret watched as the detective turned and waved. She raised a hand and smiled to him. Dallas was coming back up the wooden path toward the house.

  “This house has secrets. I am not even sure if he knows about them yet,” she said. Dallas was grinning as he stepped onto the deck.

  “Good Morning, Ladies,” he said with a grin. “Sleep well, everyone?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Sandy said and as she got up for more coffee, she held out her hand to collect any empty cups. Margaret and Dallas handed theirs to her. She retreated back into the house.

  “I slept wonderfully,” Margaret told him. “By the way, detective, how did the last owner here die?” she asked.

  “He was the only owner, not the last,” he said pointing to the dock area. “Down there was an electric lift and dry dock for a boat. They said he was out on the dock, lifting his boat out of the water and one of the straps gave. It slapped him in the head, killing him instantly.”

  “There was no wife or family?” Margaret asked.

  “He had a son. Only about seven or eight years old. His wife had died just a few days before him,” Dallas told her and turned to look at her closely. “I didn’t bring you and the others here to work a case, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he added.

  “Oh, I am sure you didn’t,” Margaret said as Sandy came back with more coffee. Margaret sat up and took her cup in her hands. As the hot cup settled between the palms of her hands, she smiled into the coffee.

  “The only things these hands want to hold for the next week is this coffee and maybe a fishing pole,” she added with a laugh.

  “What brought that up?” Sandy asked as she handed Dallas his cup. He shrugged and sipped from his cup.

  “Well, Margaret. If you want to try your hands at fishing, then just let me know and I’ll go dig up some worms for you.”