by Tim Myers
“Sometimes I think about traveling,” Elise admitted.
“So where would you go if money were no object?” Alex asked. “France? Ireland? Australia?”
Elise said, “No, there’s too much in America I haven’t seen. Do you know what I’d really love to do? There are so many wonderful lighthouses in our country; I’d give anything to see them all.”
Alex laughed. “You’re worse than I am. Do you know where I went on my last vacation?”
“I didn’t think you took vacations,” Elise said.
“It’s tough with the inn and all, but three years ago I shut down for a week and drove to the Outer Banks. I spent all my time haunting the lighthouses out there. I even made a new friend on the coast with his own lighthouse inn.”
“I think that’s a perfectly sensible vacation.”
Alex said, “Tell you what, next time you can go with me.”
“Perhaps,” Elise said.
“Hey, that wasn’t a proposition. I was just making conversation.”
Elise bit her lower lip, then said, “Can you finish up here? I just remembered something I need to take care of immediately.”
“Absolutely.”
After she was gone, Alex wondered what he’d said to set her off. There was no doubt about it. Since their disastrous date, things had taken a decidedly awkward turn between them, and no matter how hard he tried to break the ice dam, he couldn’t manage more than chipping a few small chunks away at a time.
Elise came back just as he finished folding the last sheet.
“Your timing is perfect,” Alex said. “I just finished.”
From the expression on her face, Elise was in no mood for joking. “Alex, something’s happened. Somebody just tried to break into Mrs. Nesbitt’s room.”
Alex said, “In broad daylight?” As he hurriedly left the laundry room, he asked, “What happened?”
“She’s in the lobby. You need to talk to her yourself.”
As Alex and Elise rushed out into the lobby of the Main Keeper’s Quarters, they found Mrs. Nesbitt sipping a cup of hot tea in one of the rockers near the windows in front
Alex said, “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Honestly, I hate to be causing such a fuss. It was probably nothing.”
Alex took the rocker beside her. “Tell me what happened.”
“I was going to go out for a walk, I even got on the path to Bear Rocks, when I suddenly changed my mind and decided a nap would be more in order.” She looked apologetic as she added, “I can still do nearly anything I set my mind to, but sometimes I need a little more rest than I used to.”
Alex smiled. “I’ve seen you on your walks. I couldn’t keep up with you.”
She answered his smile with one of her own. “I know better than that; running an inn is hard work. My sister worked an entire summer at an inn in Nantucket in the fifties.”
Elise prompted her. “Tell him what happened.”
Mrs. Nesbitt said, “As I said, I decided to rest, so I went back up to my room and stretched out on my bed for a quick nap. I had just fallen asleep when I heard someone trying my doorknob. At first I assumed it was either you or Elise, but you both knock before you try your key. When the door started to open, I’m afraid I screamed.”
Alex suddenly went cold. “Are you certain your door was locked when you laid down?”
Mrs. Nesbitt said, “I’m positive. Alex, I’m not about to take a nap with an unlocked door anywhere but in my home.”
He patted her hand. “Would you be more comfortable switching rooms? I might be able to talk the newlyweds into swapping with you, if you’d feel more comfortable somewhere else. They mentioned an interest in this building.
She laughed gently. “It will take more than that to drive me out of my favorite room. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She sat there a moment, then added, “You know, now that I think about it, perhaps I did forget to latch my door. Yes, I suppose it could have happened that way.”
Alex said, “Just in case, I’ll take a look at the door and make sure there’s nothing wrong with the lock.”
She patted his hand. “You’re a good man, Alex. Thank you for catering to an old woman’s frailty.”
Alex looked around the room. “Old woman? Where?”
She laughed again. “Oh, you two are good for me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I never did get that nap.”
After she was gone. Elise said. “Alex. I’ve got something to confess.”
“You were the one trying to break into her room.” he said lightly.
Elise looked grim. “No. but I left my key on the cart, and when I checked on it, it was gone. I swear I wasn’t away from it for more than ten seconds.”
This was serious business. “Elise, you know you’ve got to keep that master key with you all the time.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I made a mistake, Alex.” She looked as if she was ready to cry.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure it will turn up.” he said, trying to reassure her. It would be an expensive process to have Mor or a locksmith retool all the locks at the inn, but if the master key was floating around somewhere, he didn’t have any choice.
He added, “Before we do anything rash, let’s go see if we can find it.”
“Don’t you think I looked?” Elise asked. “I was still hunting for it when Mrs. Nesbitt screamed.”
“You didn’t see anyone nearby, did you?”
“No, but I heard a door slam in the hallway just before I got there,” Elise admitted. “I must have just missed whoever it was.”
“Who is close by?” Alex asked.
Elise ticked the guests off on her fingers. “Corki and Jan are up in that part of the inn, the newlyweds are there, I just moved them this morning as soon as a room opened up, and Greg and Denise are there, too. I can’t imagine any of them trying to break into Mrs. Nesbitt’s room. What in the world could anyone want with that sweet old woman?”
“I don’t have a clue,” Alex admitted.
They walked back to Elise’s cart, and Alex glanced down at a load of towels. He reached under one edge and plucked out a tarnished old key on a wrist bungee.
“Is this it?” he asked as he held it up to her.
“You know it is,” she said, grabbing the key from him. “Alex, it wasn’t here before. I swear it.”
Alex said, “There’s no chance it could have fallen into the towels when you moved your cart?”
Elise frowned. “I don’t think so, but even if it did, how do you explain someone trying to break into Mrs. Nesbitt’s room? I don’t believe in coincidences, and I know you don’t, either.”
Alex said, “Well, she said she was trying to take a nap. Is there any chance she dreamed it? I’ve had some pretty realistic dreams in the past myself.”
“I heard the door slam myself, Alex. She didn’t dream that. Someone was trying to get into her room.”
Alex said, “Tell you what, why don’t we keep an eye on her in the meantime. Elise, have you seen anything suspicious about the other folks staying with us?”
“Odd, yes, but suspicious? No, nothing I can put my finger on.”
Alex tried to break the tension as he said, “If folks were arrested for being odd, we wouldn’t have any guests left at Hatteras West.”
Elise wasn’t buying it, though. “I still don’t like this,” she said.
“There’s nothing we can do now but keep our eyes open,” Alex said.
Alex had been right about the slow grindings of the law. Emma had to spend one night in jail while Sandra worked at securing her release.
At Sandra’s urging, he called Mor Pendleton the next day. “Mor, Emma’s going to be out this morning. Why don’t you go pick her up?”
There was silence on the other end of the line, then Mor said, “I can’t make it. Alex, I’m buried with work right now with Les out of town.”
Alex said, “You can put that stuff off, Mor, and you know it. Emma needs you.”
Mor exploded. “She thinks I killed him, Alex. Can you imagine how that feels?”
Alex said, “Mor, I know you have every right to be upset, but she did it for you.”
“That’s just it. She was so sure I killed that snake that she confessed to killing him herself.”
Alex said, “She knows she made a mistake. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’ll apologize if you just give her the chance.”
There was more silence, then Mor said heavily, “It’s too late for that, Alex.”
Elise had been standing near the telephone listening to Alex’s side of the conversation. As he hung up, she said, “I don’t even have to ask how that went. He’s pretty upset, isn’t he?”
“That’s putting it mildly. A friendly face should be there to pick Emma up, don’t you think?”
Elise said, “Why don’t you go down to the station and take her home? I can handle things here.”
“Would you like to go yourself? She might need a shoulder to cry on, and you’re better at that than I am. I don’t mind doubling up out here.”
Elise asked, “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Emma needs you right now more than Hatteras West does.”
She kissed him on the cheek and said, “Thanks, Alex. I’ll try not to be gone too long.”
Alex smiled softly to himself after she left. Elise was starting to try to make things right between them again. At least that was something. Blast it all, he still knew in his heart that they belonged together.
So how could he convince her of that?
He’d have plenty of time to think about it during his updated cleaning schedule. There was enough work to keep him busy till twilight.
Greg and Denise, the rockhound couple, checked out of the inn a few minutes before Alex’s noon cutoff time. He had to hustle to get their room ready for his next guests, Harry and Barb Rush. The Rushes hadn’t said anything about their seven-year-old triplets when they’d made their reservations, or their need for three of the inn’s cots.
“Just sign here, Mr. Rush,” Alex said as the rambunctious boys carried on a game of “cowboy” in the lobby, each taking turns dying dramatically on the chairs and the floor.
“Boys,” Mrs. Rush snapped at them, with absolutely no discernable effect.
Harry Rush said, “They’re a little keyed up right now, but don’t worry, they’re as quiet as cobwebs at night.”
Alex knew better, but he kept his comments in check. At least the Rushes were going to be there for just one night.
After he showed them to their room, Alex beat a hasty retreat to the laundry room. It was past two and there was still no sign of Elise. A lunch break had been completely out of the question, and Alex felt his stomach grumbling as he did the laundry. Once everything was going, he stole away to his room just long enough to make a sandwich. When he got back, Alex found that his own master key was suddenly missing.
Alex raced upstairs and found the key in Mrs. Nesbitt’s lock, her door standing ajar.
Pushing the door open, Alex felt his pulse pound in his throat. If something had happened to that sweet old lady with his stolen key, Alex would never forgive himself.
The room was blessedly empty; no sign that anything untoward had happened there.
Alex was just leaving the suite when he heard a man’s scream of outrage come from the newlyweds’ room.
Alex knocked on their door. “What’s wrong? It’s Alex Winston. Open up.”
Paul Jones came to the door, his camera in one hand and a dangling roll of film trailing from the back of his camera. “What happened?” Alex asked.
“Some juvenile delinquents broke in here while I was in the bathroom and ruined my film,” he said as he held the camera and dangling film aloft.
Mr. Rush opened the door on Alex’s first knock. “Sir, I’m afraid one of your boys may have wandered into another guest’s room.”
His face was ashen at the news. “Oh, no. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
Paul held his camera up. ‘They trashed my film.”
Mr. Rush said, “I’m truly sorry. May I replace it for you?”
“You can’t replace the pictures I took,” the newlywed said angrily.
Mr. Rush replied, “I don’t know what else I can do.”
Alex said, “I hate to do this, but—”
Mr. Rush cut him off. “Please don’t throw us out. We haven’t had a vacation in three years. I’ll keep a better eye on them. I promise.”
The desperation in the man’s voice was overwhelming.
Alex said, “Okay, but I’ve got to warn you, one more incident and I’m going to have to—”
Rush cut him off again. “I understand. Thanks.” He turned to Jones and said, “I really am very sorry.”
Alex turned to the newlywed and said, “I’d be happy to buy you another roll of film myself.”
The man just grunted as he stomped back into his room, slamming the door in Alex’s face.
Alex took his master key and went back to the laundry room, relieved that nothing worse had happened.
Chapter 11
Mrs. Nesbitt came back from her walk and found Alex in the laundry room.
“You wanted to see me?” she asked as she held aloft the note he’d left her.
“Yes, Ma’am. I don’t know how to tell you this, but somebody took my key and used it to get into your room while you were out.”
She went white. “Why is this happening, Alex?”
He said, “I wish I knew. Let’s go upstairs and see if anything’s been disturbed.”
After a quick inspection, Mrs. Nesbitt said, “Nothing’s out of place. I can’t imagine what I could have that anyone else would be interested in.”
Alex said, “I don’t know what to say. I was careless with my key. Tell you what. I’ll be glad to find you other accommodations in Hickory and refund your bill if you’d like.”
Mrs. Nesbitt said, “Don’t be so melodramatic, Alex, no harm was done here. I’m perfectly content to stay in this room. It has a warm presence that I find somehow comforting.”
Alex neglected to mention the fact that a woman had started her descent into suicide in that room, and that another previous tenant had been killed at the top of the lighthouse. If she found comfort there, more power to her. It was one of Alex’s favorite rooms as well, despite its troubled history.
Mrs. Nesbitt said, “Don’t give it another thought, Alex. I’m sure I’ll be quite safe now.”
“If you need me any time, call me,” Alex said, feeling more concerned about the incident than he cared to admit.
“Posh and tish, I’ll be fine.”
Regardless of what she said, Alex promised himself to make every effort to ensure the woman’s safety while she was staying with him at Hatteras West.
Elise came back to the inn an hour later. From the expression on her face, things had not gone well with Emma.
Alex asked, “Was it as bad as all that?”
Elise said, “Believe me, you don’t want to know. I’ve always thought of Emma as a rock, but this thing has really gotten to her. And Mor still won’t talk to her.”
“I figured as much. He can be as stubborn as an old goat when he puts his mind to it.”
Elise said, “Alex, you’ve got to talk to him. Emma’s tearing herself up with remorse for what she did.”
“I tried, remember? He wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. The only thing that’s going to help Mor is time. He just needs to get over the fact that Emma thought he was capable of murder.”
Elise said, “That’s not it at all. She was just trying to protect him.”
“I know that and you know that, but to Mor, it looks like a real slap in the face. If Emma still needs you, I can manage around here.”
Elise shook her head. “After she got all those tears out of her system, she was exhausted. I put her to bed, and I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t sleep through the night. How are things?”
Alex said
, “We’ve got triplet boys upstairs in Number 5, and they’ve already managed to destroy the film out of the newlyweds’ camera. What in the world made them think it was okay to go into another guest’s room?” Alex paused, then added, “That’s not all.” He hated to confess the new break-in to her. “Somebody was snooping around in Mrs. Nesbitt’s room again. They took my key to do it.” Before she could say anything, he added, “Don’t worry, I found it still in her door. She was out on her walk, but I told her what happened the second she got back. Believe it or not, she wants to stay in that room, after all that’s happened.”
“What’s going on, Alex?”
“I wish I knew,” he said.
“It sounds like we’re going to have to keep watch on everyone,” Elise said.
“We can just add that to the joys of innkeeping,” he replied.
Much to Alex’s relief, the night passed without further incident. Bright and early the next morning, after tearing through the breakfast line like a herd of wild dogs, the Rushes checked out and were on their way to their next stop. It took Alex and Elise both to clean the room after they were gone. It never ceased to amaze him just how much of a mess some folks could make in one night. Some of his fellow innkeepers had long ago instituted a “no children” rule, but Alex couldn’t bring himself to do it. There were too many well-behaved kids out there who loved lighthouses as much as he always had. If it meant suffering through a few stays like the one they’d had the night before, it was worth it.
At least that’s what he kept telling himself as he scraped modeling clay off the honey-toned hardwood floor.
Things were quiet around the inn over the next few days. Alex and Elise managed to slip back into some of their old routines, but there was no doubt something subtle had changed between them. Where there’d been light banter between them before, there was now a forced formality that Alex had tried in vain to ease. He seriously considered turning the lighthouse beacon on again, just to see one of Elise’s smiles.
The phone rang while Alex was dusting the front desk, and he answered before it had a chance to finish its first ring.
“The Hatteras West Inn,” he answered automatically.