by Joyce Lavene
Jake was arguing with Tom Watts. It was about the excavation. Tom was convinced they would get more donations for the wild horses with the horse cult tie-in. Jake was equally adamant that nothing good could come from it.
“You’re just worried about losing your land,” Tom accused.
“Yes, I am. I don’t want those freaks digging everywhere until there’s no room for the horses. Why can’t you see that?”
“It’s not that. You don’t care about the horses.” Tom pushed his pudgy finger into Jake’s chest. “It’s all about you.”
“Get out of here,” Jake yelled as he pushed Tom away from him. Tom had been wearing a plastic name tag that broke as he fell. A splinter of it lodged between the floorboards and had been ignored by the crime scene team.
The experience was just like being there in the room with the two men arguing, but it wasn’t so involved that I couldn’t shrug it off.
Kevin was staring closely at me. I jumped when I opened my eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I was until I saw you standing there.” I sat down in a chair and tried to catch my breath. “It’s just as well for Jake that the crime scene people didn’t find this. It was just him and Tom arguing. Nothing useful to us at all, but could look bad for him.”
“I know you don’t want to hear it but—”
“I don’t.” I put my hands over my face. “I don’t believe Jake killed Tom. If it had been during this big argument, maybe. They were both really hot. But I didn’t sense anything like that from the plastic.”
Kevin shrugged.
“Besides, maybe there’s something to what you said about the single hoof print. How can there be one hoof print?”
“I don’t know, but I agree that it doesn’t make sense.”
“Why are you helping me try to prove Jake is innocent?” I eyed him suspiciously, putting my hand on his chest as I moved in close. “You hate Jake.”
He put his arms around me. “It’s true that I don’t like Jake Burleson, but I can see that we’re not going to be able to talk about anything but him until we figure this out.”
“You mean because you want to talk about the wedding?”
“No.” He kissed me. “Because I want to talk about Christmas, and new things you find for Missing Pieces, and everything else, except Jake. I’m really fine with not planning the wedding yet. I wasn’t kidding.”
“Thanks, Kevin. Mary Catherine was right—you are a great catch.”
Duran walked in, looking for us. “Why are you in here?”
“Mayor O’Donnell wasn’t feeling well. We stopped in here so she could use the restroom.”
Duran glanced around. “This is a crime scene. The police don’t want anyone here.”
“We were just leaving.” I wished I’d thought to take pictures of the room. “When did you and Dr. Sheffield leave Duck after the party?”
“What are you insinuating, Mayor O’Donnell?”
“Nothing. I know the police are looking for other people who may have been on the road that night. You had to come right by that spot to come home. Maybe you saw something important and didn’t realize it.”
“We’ve already spoken to the police,” he said. “And we didn’t see anything. I think you should leave now.” He held the door open.
His familiarity with Jake’s house was irritating. He didn’t knock to come in, and something about the way he held the door seemed possessive to me. He and Dr. Sheffield were already counting on Jake losing the house, and what was left of the land being excavated.
Kevin and I walked outside. Mary Catherine and Chief Palo were returning from their tour of the site. I apologized to Dr. Sheffield.
“That’s quite all right,” he said with an engaging smile. “I’d be happy to take you on a personal tour anytime, Dae. It will have to be soon, though. We’re planning on sending the big horse to Raleigh for further study.”
Kevin’s eyes narrowed when Dr. Sheffield used the word personal.
I ignored it. “Thank you. Maybe I’ll take you up on that when things settle down. What’s next for the site?”
“We’ve done some satellite imagery. We know there are pieces buried under the barn and the house. It’s unfortunate about what happened to Jake and Tom, but our research may be the recipient of their quarrel. I’ve applied for a grant to purchase this entire tract of land.”
“Don’t you think you should wait until a jury finds Jake guilty before you take his property?” Kevin asked in an unpleasant voice.
Dr. Sheffield’s gaze lighted on him. “Not really. We were headed in that direction anyway. The common good, and all that. This is an important find, Mr. Brickman. I’m sure Jake can buy another piece of land with the money we’ll pay him for this one—if he’s not in prison.”
“How very practical of you,” Mary Catherine said.
Dr. Sheffield loved it. “Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, we have a lot of work to do preserving the big horse and getting it ready for transport. I’ll be accompanying it, but I’ll be back.”
“What do you think the ancient people did out here with all the horse statues?” Chief Palo asked. “How does it relate to the horses on the island?”
“That’s exactly what we’re trying to find out,” Dr. Sheffield answered. “It was nice meeting all of you. Please feel free to visit again.”
I noticed that Osisko was close by listening to our conversation. I didn’t know if he could understand us the way I could understand him, but there was something to learn from body language. His presence made me question my grandmother’s words about not being able to move forward beyond our times. Osisko had a physical presence—he’d touched me. How was he able to come forward to our time?
It seemed unlikely that I would be able to have a conversation with him that would answer those questions. He might not even know. But I was curious.
We started back to the truck and the police car. Chief Palo glanced back at the retreating figures of Dr. Sheffield and his assistant. “You know, there’s something about Sheffield that I don’t like. I think I’m going to do some digging of my own, and find out what there is to know about him. I’ll catch you later.”
Chapter Seventeen
I glanced back as Kevin drove the truck out of Jake’s drive. There was no sign now of Osisko. I wondered what it was like for him to see the big horse unearthed again after so many years. Did he still feel responsible? It had to be frustrating for him after he’d given up his life to keep the demon horses from returning.
“That place gave me the willies.” Mary Catherine shuddered. “I’m glad to be out of there. One way or another, I agree with the horses. We have to find a way to bury the site again, and end this excavation. That man has no idea what he’s digging up.”
“I’m hoping we can prove he’s actually the one who killed Tom,” Kevin said. “I like him even less than I like the cowboy.”
“And that’s saying a lot.” I studied the side of his face. “It was the personal tour thing, wasn’t it?”
He raised his brow. “What do you think? It took a long time for me to work up the courage to ask you to marry me. I think you saying yes takes any personal tours with that jackal off the bucket list.”
Mary Catherine laughed. “Good way to put it. Where are we off to now?”
“I have a Santa, sleigh, and eight reindeer waiting for me to put them on my roof,” Kevin said. “I’m hoping to win grand prize for the best decorated business.”
“What’s that?” I asked. “A free dinner or something?”
“No. A free ad in the Outer Banks online and print editions of their magazine. I’m surprised you didn’t know that before me. You’re usually up on these things.”
“Wow. I don’t have a sleigh and reindeer. What’s second prize?”
“Dinner at an oyster bar in Manteo.” He grinned. “Planning on taking second place?”
“Maybe. I haven’t even looked through my Christmas stuff y
et. That’s what I’m going to do when we get back.”
“You want to meet for lunch?” he asked. “I hear the Blue Whale is serving delicious homemade soup and their awesome grilled cheese sandwiches today.”
“If that includes some yummy dessert that the famous chef at the Blue Whale Inn has cooked up, I’ll be there.”
“Me too,” Mary Catherine chimed in. “I love soup.”
Kevin dropped us off at the Duck Shoppes. I felt a little guilty leaving Treasure at the house since Mary Catherine had Baylor with her, but I hoped it was going to be a busy day. Besides, Treasure wasn’t as sedentary as Baylor. Sometimes he tried to run out of Missing Pieces. He could learn a few things from Mary Catherine’s cat. I’d apologize to him later.
Everyone along the boardwalk was decorating their shops. August Grandin was adding lights to his Christmas duck menagerie. Trudy was getting help from Tim putting up sparkling, lighted snowflakes on her big windows.
Mary Catherine and I stopped to admire her snowy windows.
“When are you putting up your decorations, Dae?” Trudy asked.
“Right now, I hope. I might have to go to the store to get some things. I know I’ve taken in some used Christmas decorations during the year. I’m not sure exactly what they are.”
“Where were you this morning? I thought you’d be here before me.” Trudy gave an extra spritz of fake snow to the large plate glass window.
“We went out to see Jake. Mary Catherine talked to the horses, and we had a short tour of the horse cult excavation out in Corolla,” I told her.
“She talked to the horses?” Trudy asked. “How did she do that?”
“It’s something I was born with,” Mary Catherine explained as hundreds of sea gulls landed around her on the boardwalk rail and the rooftops of the shops. “Horses are very easy to communicate with. They have a kinship with man, much like rats, dogs, and cats. They understand us, as opposed to a whale.”
Trudy’s perfectly made-up eyes widened. “You talk to whales?”
“I have been known to have a conversation with one from time-to-time. They are very noble creatures with a large world view, not surprising I suppose.”
That was almost too much for Trudy.
Tim and I glanced at each other. He knew how she felt about these things too, and changed the subject. “I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, Dae, but Sheriff Riley had to release your friend Jake right after he got him to Manteo.”
“What? Are you sure? That’s great! What happened?”
Tim took his time relating the tale. “Jake has an alibi for the time the ME puts on Tom’s death. He was drinking with some friends at a bar in Southern Shores. His buddies, and the bartender, vouched for him. Sheriff Riley was really mad.”
This was great news as far as I was concerned. “Does he have any new suspects in mind?”
“Not that I’ve heard. He’s meeting with Chief Michaels and Chief Palo to see what else they can figure out.”
“But the crime scene is at Jake’s house, right?”
Tim shrugged. “That’s what I heard, Dae. I haven’t been out there. Maybe you should ask Sheriff Riley what he thinks.”
“What about the hoof marks that were on Tom?” I continued, though I could see it was distasteful to Trudy. “Is that what killed him?”
“The ME said that was odd, now that you mention it,” Tim said. “He said all the hoof prints came from one hoof. Crazy, huh?”
That made sense with what Kevin and I had seen at the crime scene too. But the question still remained about how a horse could use only one hoof. “Thanks for telling me. I’m glad Jake is out of the picture.” I’d feel better though when the picture was clearer and we knew what happened to Tom.
“I don’t know,” Trudy said with a deep frown between her brows. “It kind of makes me scared to think that the wild horses are out there trampling people. When did they start that? They’ve always been gentle and shy when I saw them.”
How to tell her that it probably wasn’t real horses, but some kind of demon/ghost/hybrid that was intent on destroying things? Probably not a good idea.
“Everybody thinks it’s a one-time thing, Trudy,” Tim said. “Tom’s blood alcohol was high. He could’ve easily passed out or fallen down on the road and the horses just ran over him. They didn’t know any better.”
Mary Catherine didn’t like the sound of that. “We can’t allow those wonderful creatures to be blamed for the supernatural evil coming from the excavation site. Perhaps we should speak to the sheriff about what’s really going on.”
I took her arm, and waved to Trudy. “We’re going to look for Christmas decorations now. I’ll see you later.”
Trudy let Mary Catherine’s dark words pass right over her. She was good at that. “Good luck with the decoration contest, though I think none of us have a chance against Wild Stallions.”
I followed her gaze and saw Cody and Reese Baucum working on the restaurant at the end of the boardwalk. They were putting up lighted dolphins that appeared as though they were jumping from the water to the roof. A lighted Christmas version of Neptune, King of the Seas, was waiting for them with his holly encrusted trident.
“Wow! Where did they find something like that?”
“They probably had it specially made,” Tim said. “I don’t know if anyone can beat it.”
Mary Catherine and I continued down the boardwalk to Missing Pieces. It looked odd on the other side of my shop to see Shayla’s place empty and dark. The blinds were drawn, and there was a note on the door that said Mrs. Roberts Psychic Reader was closed.
“Coincidence is a strange thing, isn’t it?” Mary Catherine was looking at the shop too. Baylor lazily raised his big head to take a peek. “Shayla leaves Duck as I arrive. I wonder what the significance is in that.”
I opened the door to Missing Pieces and went inside despite the dipping, swirling gulls that seemed like they wanted to get face-to-face with Mary Catherine. I wasn’t afraid of birds, but I wasn’t crazy about one flying in my face either. “I think I put all those old decorations in the closet in case someone wanted them for the holidays.”
“How do you decide what to keep and what to throw away?” she asked as she sat on the burgundy brocade sofa.
“I can’t explain it. There are some things that I find, or that make their way to me, that I know someone will be looking for. These decorations, and some of the used clothes I take in, are more for people who might need them, but are low on cash. I give a lot of things away or there wouldn’t be any room in the shop.”
The box of Christmas decorations had come from a woman who’d moved to Duck over the summer from somewhere in New Jersey. None of them had been made in the last ten years. The lights were large, colored bulbs. There were spinning circles made from gold and silver foil, and a dozen or so old fashioned ornaments.
“I think this is all I’ll need for the shop.” I sighed as I glanced around. “I wish I had an original idea to go with this stuff. I can’t think of anything except hanging it all up and seeing how it looks together.”
“Since your friend Trudy decorated her window, maybe you should decorate your door,’ Mary Catherine suggested. “Nothing says welcome like a well-decorated door.”
“I suppose that’s true, and it will maximize my decorations too.”
We tacked the big lights around the door frame and then strung the gold and silver foil spinners on the Missing Pieces sign. The ornaments wouldn’t stay on the sign or the doorway. I brought them inside and hung them from the ceiling around the shop.
“That looks lovely.” Mary Catherine clapped when I turned on the lights.
“I wasn’t planning on winning anyway. I just want the shop to look like Christmas. Maybe we should put a decoration next door on Shayla’s shop, too, for the same reason.”
A woman with long, curly reddish hair and wonderful blue/green eyes came in before we could leave. She was carrying a large box in one hand as though it was
very light.
“Hi. I’m April. We had these extra decorations left over at the church, and I thought maybe you’d know someone who could use them.”
I peeked in the box. There was a large array of Christmas decorations including some wonderful old carved Christmas elves and a large, lighted eight-point star. “Great. Thanks. I might use some of them myself, if that’s okay.”
“Oh, sure. I knitted some of the ornaments in there.” April began wandering through the shop with an eagle eye, looking for treasures. I’d seen her in Missing Pieces before but she’d never purchased anything. “I’m looking for something for my grandmother for Christmas. She’s got everything, you know? It’s always so hard shopping for her, but I don’t want to give her a gift card either.”
“I know what you mean. Take a look around. We’re going to put up a few of these decorations next door. If you see something you like, let me know.”
“Thanks. I love looking around in here, but I usually can’t afford to buy anything.”
Mary Catherine and I put up a few tin stars around the doorway of Shayla’s shop. I thought about Mary Catherine’s observation regarding Shayla and the shop. It did seem odd that she’d arrived at the same time that Shayla had been called home. It had been a similar circumstance when Mary Catherine had decided to leave and Shayla had arrived. Maybe she was right about coincidences.
“That looks very nice.” Mary Catherine watched the tin stars moving gently in the breeze from the Currituck Sound. “A bit whimsical and old fashioned.”
“Something wrong with old fashioned?” August Grandin asked as he wandered toward us from the Duck General Store. “I like old fashioned. At least I’m not overwhelming the boardwalk with all that junk Cody and Reece are putting up. I think that helps me make my decision about being on the town council.”
“I thought you never wanted to be part of the politics that ran Duck,” I reminded him of his words from when he’d turned down a chance to run for the first town council after Duck had incorporated.
“A man can change his mind, I believe. That still one of our inalienable rights, isn’t it?”