by Tim Myers
He closed the lighthouse door softly behind him, and then locked it.
It was a good thing he had. Ten seconds after he dead bolted it, the handle jiggled a little. “This stupid thing is locked,” Jackson said from the other side of the door.
“What of it?” Monique answered him.
“What kind of lighthouse stays locked all day so the guests can’t get in?”
“You can check it out later,” Monique said. “We don’t want to look suspicious.”
“I could break into this door with a credit card in three seconds,” Jackson said.
“Let’s just go,” she answered. “We don’t want to make them suspicious.”
Jackson’s laugh was cold and full of scorn. Alex had no trouble believing that he was a cold blooded killer. “Neither one of them has a clue. The only we’ll get caught is if we get sloppy, or they get lucky.”
After the voices were gone, Alex hurried up the steps to the first window. As he looked out, he saw them going their separate ways. Jackson got into his car and drove off, while Monique walked into the inn.
“Let’s go,” Alex said.
Elise followed, and as they were hurrying back to the Dual Keeper’s Quarters, she said, “We can’t just walk in the front door now. She’ll suspect we were eavesdropping.”
“We can go in the back way, though.”
They made it around the inn without being seen, and walked out into the lobby, where they found Monique at the desk, repeatedly ringing the bell there.
“Sorry, we were doing inventory in back,” Alex said, trying his best to slow his breathing.
“We were counting towels,” Elise said. “As a matter of fact, we left some extra in your room a little earlier today.”
Monique was not at all pleased by that news. “You were in my room?”
“It’s a part of the service we offer here,” Alex said as smoothly as he could manage.
“I’m a very private person,” Monique said. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go in there again during my stay.”
“What about to clean the place, swap out the towels, and change the sheets?” Elise asked.
“If I need anything, I’ll let you know.”
Alex nodded. “Whatever you’d like.”
“Good. Now, is there anyplace to eat in town? No offense, but I need to get away from the inn for awhile. Too many memories, you know?”
“We have a nice place in Elkton Falls called Mamma Ravolini’s,” Alex said. “It’s got all kinds of charm, and good food, too.”
“Where exactly is it?” Monique asked.
Alex offered, “Drive into town. You can’t miss it. Tell Irma we sent you.”
“The woman’s name is really Irma Ravolini?” Monique asked incredulously.
“No, it’s Irma Bean. She thought Ravolini sounded more exotic when she first opened the place.”
Monique merely shook her head. “Whatever.”
Alex hated the expression, but he kept that fact to himself. If it were true that Tony had proposed to this vapid woman, he wouldn’t have been surprised. She seemed to be his type, a little flash, and even less substance.
“If I don’t go there, is there anywhere else to eat?”
“You could always go to Buck’s Grill. They serve diner food, and their meatloaf is particularly good.”
“Okay, I’m sure I can find something at one of those places.”
She started to head upstairs, and Alex couldn’t help asking, “I thought you were going out?”
“Not this early. I may take a nap, so don’t disturb me.”
“No, ma’am,” he said.
After she was gone, Alex said, “She’s checking on her gun right now.”
“If you were dealing with Jackson, wouldn’t you want to be armed? The real question is, is she looking for her ammunition, too? What if something happens to her because we stole her bullets and she couldn’t defend herself?”
“Should I give them back? How is that going to work out?”
“Let’s wait and see if she says anything about them being missing.”
“I have a feeling if she discovers they are missing, we’ll know about it in a minute,” Alex said. He started straightening magazines in the lobby while Elise pretended to dust the furniture. After ten minutes, Monique didn’t reappear, so they decided that they were safe. It had been a rash act stealing the bullets, and Alex knew it. Not only did it give away the fact that they’d been snooping in her purse, but it also showed they knew she was armed. He just hoped that he didn’t live to regret the impulse. Even worse, if something happened to Monique, Alex wasn’t sure that he’d ever be able to forgive himself.
Later that afternoon, Alex and Elise were lingering in the lobby, waiting for something, anything, to happen. They both heard Monique’s door close upstairs, and as she walked down the steps, they both pretended to be busy.
“I’ll see you later,” Monique said as she reached the door. “And remember, my room is off limits while I’m a guest here.”
“Got it,” Alex said.
They waited until she was gone, and then Alex asked, “Should we take one more peek at her room? Jackson didn’t even have a bag, so there’s nothing to see there.”
“I think we should stay out, for now,” Elise said.
“Why, do you think she’s coming back?”
“No,” she admitted, “but it’s not worth taking the risk.”
“Let me just be sure that she’s gone.” Alex walked out onto the porch, looked around the parking lot, and saw that they were truly alone. When he got back in, Elise had poured two glasses of iced tea for them.
“Hope you don’t mind, but I thought we could use a cool drink.”
“Sounds great,” he said as he killed half of it on the spot. He wasn’t at all certain how she did it, but Elise’s brew was as close to Evans Graile’s tea as any he’d ever tasted.
As Alex sat on the couch, something poked him in the back. He’d forgotten all about the catalogue he’d taken from Monique’s room, still stuffed in the back of his jeans. Flipping through it, he studied the marked items.
“What have you got there?” Elise asked.
“It was in Monique’s trashcan. There’s a pattern here that’s interesting.”
“What’s that?”
“All of the items that are circled can be counterfeited,” he said, showing her not just coins, but other monies and a painting as well.
“Do you think this was Tony’s?”
Alex flipped through the pages until he found a small notation, written in pencil in a particular hand. It said, “Do the rewards outweigh the risks?”
“It’s Tony’s,” Alex said. “I’d know his handwriting anywhere.”
“What was Monique doing with it, then?”
“Beats me. After overhearing that conversation at the lighthouse base earlier, I can’t imagine that she has any idea that the coins we found are fake.”
“All but one,” Elise corrected. “It’s an important distinction. If she knows they’re fake, all she’s interested in is the one legitimate coin.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“She agreed to the split, didn’t she?” Elise asked.
“Not so fast, though. What if she agreed just to get her hands on the real one? If Jackson let her sort them, she could put the real one in her half. No, we can’t count her out yet. She could be a dupe, but she could also be a coconspirator. Odds are, though, one of them did killed Tony.”
“I think so, too” Elise said.
Alex chewed his lower lip. “Maybe we should turn this over to the sheriff right now. After all, we’ve narrowed it down quite a bit.”
“Is that what you truly want to do?” Elise asked.
“What I want to do is find Tony’s killer, so he can get some justice, and we can get married.”
“Then I vote that we stick to the plan, at least for now,” Elise said.
They both heard a car drive up. “I w
onder if Jackson is back from his drive.”
“Maybe Monique just came back to check on us. I have a hunch she doesn’t trust us.”
Alex grinned at that. “Imagine that.”
Then, to their surprise, it was neither one of their suspects.
Mor and Emma were back, and what was more, they were each carrying a suitcase.
Chapter 9
What’s with the luggage?” Alex asked as they opened the door.
“I was a little peckish, so I thought I’d pack a snack,” Mor said with a big grin.
Emma slapped him playfully. “Can you give a straight answer to a question for once in your life, Mordecai?”
“Yes,” he said solemnly without adding any inflection to it at all.
After a moment’s pause, he added, “See? That was no fun at all.”
Emma looked at Elise and asked, “Do boys ever become men?”
“I don’t know, but I kind of like these two just the way they are.”
Emma just shook her head. “Sometimes you are as bad as they are.”
Alex said, “I’d love to stand around and chat about my shortcomings, but we have things to do. What’s going on with the bags?”
“We’re checking in,” Mor said. “Emma here thought it might be better if we were on the scene, in case you needed us.”
“You’re checking in?” Elise asked.
“If it’s okay with you.”
“The more the merrier,” Alex said.
Mor nodded. “Were you able to discover anything while we were gone?”
“Quite a bit, actually, but before we get into that, how did the coins turn out?”
“You tell me,” Mor said as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a felt bag. He handed it to Alex, who opened it and spilled the coins into his hand. From close up they most likely wouldn’t fool anyone, but at first glance, they looked real enough. Not as good as Tony’s counterfeits, but they couldn’t use them. If this didn’t work, Alex wanted to be able to present them to Sheriff Armstrong without having touched them since he and Mor had found the coins.
“These are nice,” Alex said. “I can’t even spot the real one.”
“That’s because it’s here,” Mor said, and held up the one true coin in their possession.
Once he saw it, the validity of the other coins was clearly debunked. “Don’t worry,” Mor said after seeing Alex’s face. “They won’t have this one to compare these with, and if we do this right, they won’t have time to look too closely.”
“Do you have any ideas?” Alex asked. He’d come up with, and discarded, several plans during the day, but he hadn’t been completely satisfied with any of them.
“Not really.” Mor took the coins from Alex and returned them to the pouch he’d brought them in.
“I hope you didn’t make them in vain,” Alex said.
“Are you kidding? I had a blast doing it.” He handed the tied bag to Alex. “Besides, you’ll come up with something.”
“I’m glad you have faith in me,” Alex said, “because I’m not sure I’ll be able to think of anything at all.”
“We have believe in you,” Elise said, and Emma nodded as well.
“Then I don’t have much choice, do I?” Alex’s stomach rumbled. “Is anyone else hungry?”
“I could go for a bite,” Mor said broadly.
Emma patted his stomach. “Why am I not surprised to hear you say that?”
“Hey, I have a high metabolism,” Mor protested.
“It goes along nicely with your cholesterol level,” she said.
Elise said, “I could make something here so we can keep an eye on things.”
“I’ll help,” Emma said.
“What should we do in the meantime?” Alex asked.
“Figure out how to trap the killer,” Elise said as she kissed him lightly.
“Is that all?”
She patted him on the chest. “You can do it.”
“Thanks. I just hope your faith isn’t misplaced.”
The last word triggered something in his mind, and Elise saw that he’d come up with something. “What is it?”
“I’m not sure yet. Mor, let’s go over to the Main Keepers Quarters.”
“I’m with you,” he said.
“You two be careful,” Emma said.
“What possible trouble could we get into?” Mor asked.
“Knowing the two of you, I don’t even want to begin to speculate.”
He laughed, kissed his wife, and the two of them started to leave the Dual Keeper’s Quarters when they noticed two cars coming up the drive. Monique and Jackson were coming back, and they shouldn’t see Alex and Mor.
It was starting to get dark out, and there was a chill in the air that promised the cooler temperatures that were surely to come. The leaves were starting to fade away and fall, but there were enough still on the trees to rattle as the wind blew through them.
As the two men hustled to the other building trying not to be seen, Mor said, “It’s getting cold out.”
“We’re due, don’t you think?”
As Alex unlocked the main door to the other building, Mor asked him, “What exactly did you have in mind?”
“I can’t say until I see that room again,” Alex said. He hoped Mor wouldn’t ask him any more questions. He had a thought, more of a wisp of an idea, and if he gave it too much consideration, Alex knew that it could easily vanish.
His hand shook a little as he opened the door to the room where Tony had been murdered, but it was less now than it had been before. He wasn’t exactly getting used to being there, but at least he could reenter the room without balking at the threshold.
Alex looked around the room, took it in, and then nodded.
“I was right.”
“About what?” Mor asked.
Alex held a hand up to silence his best friend as he tried to decide if he could use this new information as a way to trap the real killer.
Finally, he spoke. “I had it, but it’s gone.”
“Don’t worry, it will come to you.”
Alex shook his head. “But maybe not tonight. We need to find a way to keep either one of our suspects from sneaking in here tonight.”
“I’ll stay here,” Mor said.
“I can’t ask you to do that,” Alex said. There was no way he could expect his friend to stay in a room where a murder had so recently occurred.
“You’re not asking. I’m volunteering. We can spring our trap tomorrow night.”
“What makes you think I’ll be able to come up with something by then?”
“However long it takes,” the big man said. “There’s no time limit on my offer.”
Alex couldn’t bear the thought of Mor staying there. “Hang on. Let me think a minute.”
Mor asked softly, “Would it help if I waited outside?”
“Do you mind?”
“I’ll be on the other side of the door. Call me if you need me.”
After he was gone, Alex looked around again. How could he trap the killer with the coins Mor had so carefully crafted? There had to be a way, if he could only see it.
And then it hit him. They were all being too clever. What mattered was that the murderer got the chance to come back to the scene of their crime. What if, as crazy as it sounded, the killer wasn’t really after the coins, but something else? Say the piece of paper they’d found? Or even something else. There was only one way to find out. Alex took a towel from the bathroom, opened it, and tucked Mor’s coins inside, still housed safely in their bag. After putting the towel back in its place, he walked out to speak with Mor.
In a low voice, he said, “You need to go back to the inn and tell the ladies that I need to be alone. Tell them I’m going for a long drive and won’t be back tonight. Make it convincing, and do it loudly enough so that Jackson and Monique can hear you. I know that you can bellow, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“What are you going to really be doing?
”
He pointed across the hall at the linen closet. “I’ll be hiding in there, watching to see what happens. Leave the main door unlocked when you go. We want to make it easy on our suspects, and we need them to come in that way,”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Alex put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but you can’t. I’m counting on you to make up for my absence. Be loud, be funny, and most important, be noticed.”
“Got it,” Mor said.
Alex watched his best friend leave, and then he stepped into the closet. If he moved things around a little, he could see all the way down the hallway. If someone tried to get into the room where Tony had been killed, Alex would see it.
He passed the time remembering the times he and Tony had in the past. There weren’t a lot of good memories, but he cherished the ones he had. Tony hadn’t been much of a brother, but he’d stood up for Alex a few times, and Alex realized that he’d never thanked his brother for that, at least. And now it was too late.
Alex knew that Jackson was supposed to come while Monique distracted the others. At least that was the theory. Sure enough, Alex saw the hallway door open, and Jackson walked in as though he owned the inn. Going straight for the room where Tony had been killed, Alex waited for him to find the coins. The man was a real pro, and entered with a blade of some sort in his hand. Alex pulled back a little and watched him go into the room where Tony had been killed. Ten minutes later, Jackson came out with the bag, the knife put away. Alex was about to jump out when he realized that didn’t mean anything. Not only was he unarmed, but it still didn’t prove that Jackson was a murderer. He could have met up with Tony there to discuss their business arrangement before the murder. Instead of leaving, Alex kept his vigil, and in less than five minutes, it was rewarded. The hallway door opened again, and this time Monique came through. Alex watched her, and to his surprise, he saw her going into the room next door, not the place where Tony was killed. What was she doing? And then he thought he knew.