A Haunted Theft (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 4)

by J A Whiting

  “Not in so many words.” Anton took a long swallow from his glass.

  “So they aren’t charging you. Good.” Lin made eye contact with the historian. “It might be a good idea to talk to a lawyer.”

  Anton stopped breathing for a few seconds, and then he blinked and nodded. “Yes. I’ll do that.”

  “It will make you feel better to have advice and representation.” Viv gave the man a smile. “You haven’t done anything wrong, but I understand how upsetting it might be to be falsely accused.” Several months ago, shortly after Lin returned to the island, Viv was questioned by police about the murder of a Nantucket man and she worried that she would be arrested for his death.

  Viv’s phone buzzed with an incoming text. She read it and looked up, surprised. “It’s from John. He’s just leaving the office. He’s on his way over. He says he has some news to tell us.”

  “News?” Lin’s face lit up. “Maybe there’s been an arrest. Maybe the case is solved.” She smiled at Anton. “Then your worries would be over.”

  “John can’t get here fast enough.” Anton stood up and started to pace around the deck.

  Lin and Viv chatted nervously to pass the time until John arrived. They tried to draw Anton into the conversation, but he only replied to their comments and questions with a few words.

  After ten minutes had passed, Nicky and Queenie darted across the deck to the door leading to the living room and stared through the screen into the house.

  Viv turned to look. “It must be John.”

  “The front door’s unlocked,” Lin said.

  John rushed through the house and out to the deck.

  Anton said nothing, just stood waiting for John to tell the news.

  “Is the case solved?” Viv walked towards her boyfriend and took his hand. “Do they know who stole the basket?”

  “What?” John looked confused for a moment. “No, it’s not solved at all.”

  Lin’s heart sank.

  “What do you have to tell us then?” Anton asked. His face was pale.

  “Someone from the museum was found dead.”

  Lin leaped to her feet as she, Viv, and Anton all spoke at once.

  “What?!”

  “Dead?”

  “Who?”

  “It’s that woman who worked there. She’s dead.” John looked around at the three faces staring at him. “It’s Martha Hillman.”

  13

  Lin, Viv, John, and Anton sat down at the deck table. John removed his tie, shoved it into the pocket of his suit jacket before slipping it off and hanging it over the back of his chair. Picking up Viv’s empty wine glass, he poured some from the bottle, and took a swallow.

  “Who told you?” Viv questioned. “Your friend at the police station?”

  John nodded. “Ms. Hillman was found at home. I don’t know how long she’d been dead.”

  “I saw her this morning going into the museum so it had to have happened sometime today.” Anton’s hand was shaking as he sipped water from his glass.

  “Was it a heart attack?” Lin folded her arms on the tabletop and leaned forward.

  John took a breath before answering. “No.” He shook his head. “She was found in her garage.” He looked at each person around the table. “The car was running.”

  Anton sucked in a quick breath and moaned. “Suicide?”

  “Oh, dear.” Viv’s hand flew to her cheek. “Oh, no.”

  “Suicide?” Lin’s mind was racing. “That makes it seem that she was running away from something … or that she couldn’t face something.”

  Viv’s eyes widened. “The basket. Either Martha stole it or she knows something that she couldn’t deal with.”

  Anton looked like he’d shrunk in his seat. His shoulders drooped and his head tilted forward as he looked down at the deck flooring in a spaced out state.

  Lin put her hand on the man’s arm. “I’m sorry. You’d known her for many years.”

  Anton’s lower lip trembled. “We weren’t friends, really, only acquaintances, but friendly to each other.” His hand passed over his face. “What in the world would cause Martha to do such a thing?”

  Lin could think of a couple of things, but decided not to voice them.

  “Who found her?” Viv asked John.

  “The man who did her lawn. He arrived to cut the grass. He was running late, but since it was still light out, he decided to catch up on some of his work. The man heard the sound of a car engine running in the garage. The door was down and closed. He looked in through the garage window and called the police.”

  “Ugh.” Viv shook her head slowly. “What an awful thing to find.”

  Something about the whole thing picked at Lin. “It certainly makes Martha look guilty or at least, involved in some way in the theft of the basket, doesn’t it?”

  Anton gave a little nod and said sadly, “It does indeed.”

  “Hmmm.” Lin tapped the tabletop absent-mindedly with her index finger.

  “What?” Viv turned towards Lin and then her eyes narrowed realizing what her cousin might be implying. “Oh.”

  Lin’s jaw muscle gave a slight twitch. “What if it’s supposed to look like a suicide?”

  A puzzled expression creased Anton’s forehead and then his confusion lifted. “Oh, my.”

  John looked at Lin. “Huh. Interesting. A definite possibility.”

  Lin voiced what now everyone was pondering. “Someone may have killed Martha. Someone involved in the robbery could have staged the whole thing to look like a suicide. Maybe Martha knew who stole the basket. She could even have been involved in the theft in some way and her partner wanted to get rid of her. Maybe she was about to go to the police. Who knows? But her death may not have been suicide at all.”

  “Wow,” Viv said softly. “What in the world is going on?”

  “More questions and no answers.” Lin let out a sigh. The case was becoming more complicated by the day. “If the medical examiner rules it a suicide then Martha will be considered the thief. But where’s the basket?”

  “Martha could have sold it already,” John surmised.

  Viv offered a possibility. “It could be hidden somewhere.”

  Feeling a chill, Lin rubbed her arms and glanced around to see if any ghosts were making an appearance, but no shimmering spirits could be seen. “If Martha was murdered over the antique basket, it makes the robbery much more serious since someone is willing to kill for it.”

  “The whole thing is giving me a headache.” Viv got up to go inside to the kitchen to get another bottle of seltzer and a glass.

  When Viv returned to her seat, Lin spoke. “We were talking earlier.” She looked directly at Anton. “A number of names have come up in connection to the cultural museum … it’s founding, the exhibition, and the robbery. We wondered if someone might bear a grudge against one of the people involved with those things. Could someone from the founding committee be angry over an issue from the past? Has someone held a deep-seated resentment that has built up over all these years? Could a member of the group be a target for some reason?”

  Anton winced at the thought. He looked weak and frail. Lin’s words seemed to fall over him like a heavy weight. One of his skinny shoulders shrugged. “I need to think. I’m good for nothing at the moment. I need to go home and rest. Then I’ll be able to put my mind to it.” Anton pushed himself from his seat.

  Nicky whined at the man.

  John stood. “I’ll drive you home.”

  Anton was about to protest, but was too low in energy to argue so he and John left the girls standing on the deck. Lin and Viv wished the historian well and thanked John for ushering Anton to his home. They cleared off the table and went inside to make tea.

  Sitting at the kitchen island, Viv sighed. “What a mess. The whole thing is so complicated.”

  Lin set the tea kettle on the burner. “I was feeling pretty sure that Martha Hillman was responsible for the theft. I suppose it’s still possible that sh
e stole the basket, especially if she committed suicide.” Removing two mugs from the cabinet, she turned towards her cousin. “I don’t know why and I don’t have anything to base my idea on, but I think Martha was murdered.” Lin’s eyelids looked heavy.

  Viv stared at Lin for a few seconds. “I would never doubt your feelings.”

  “I didn’t like the woman.” Lin took milk out of the fridge. “She seemed cocky and superior. Anton said she could be abrasive. But none of that is reason to kill her.”

  “The reason she’s dead must have more to it than Martha having a snotty personality.” Viv had a weariness in her voice. “She either did something or knew something.”

  The corners of Lin’s mouth turned up. “That narrows it down.”

  Realizing that what she’d said covered every possibility, Viv smiled. “How are we going to figure this out?”

  Lin’s blue eyes widened. “Remember when we were in the hall outside Martha’s office and we heard her say things about someone she fired?”

  Viv perked up. “Right. If we can find out who got fired, then we can talk to her, find out what she knows.” She frowned. “The person who got fired could be the one who killed Martha.” Viv looked over her shoulder into the dark living room.

  Lin couldn’t help a chuckle escaping from her throat. “I don’t think the person who killed Martha is lurking in my living room.”

  Viv batted her hand in the air. “You know how I am.” She checked over her shoulder one more time. Lowering her voice, she asked, “Did you see any ghosts when we were all outside talking about Martha?”

  “No, nothing.” Lin shook her head.

  Viv harrumphed. “Why can’t they be more helpful? The ghosts should show up and nod when we’re on the right track.”

  Lin poured the tea and carried the mugs to the kitchen island. “I don’t think we can hope for help like that.” Climbing onto the stool next to Viv, Lin let out a sigh. “I haven’t seen the Wampanoag ghost since I was in the garden of the cultural museum talking to Nathan Long about the landscaping job.”

  “He’ll show up again.” Viv added milk and sugar to her tea. “They always do.” She sipped the hot beverage. “Have you heard from Nathan about whether or not you’ve got the job?”

  “He’s supposed to let me know tomorrow. The board supposedly voted this morning.”

  Viv lifted her mug. “Martha must have been there for the vote. Anton said he saw her going into the museum this morning.”

  “I’m sure she voted against,” Lin said. “She thought spending money on the garden was wasteful.”

  “Do you think that her negative vote might have been the last straw? Maybe someone on the board had enough of Martha obstructing their ideas.” Viv eyed her cousin. “Maybe Martha’s death has absolutely nothing to do with the stolen basket.”

  “I didn’t think of that.” Lin blinked. “Could a person be that angry with a board member that they would commit murder?”

  “Crazy things happen. I don’t think it can be ruled out.”

  The girls sipped their tea in silence for a while.

  “I’m feeling antsy.” Lin slipped off the stool. “I feel like I need to be doing something.”

  Viv didn’t respond, but shifted her eyes suspiciously to her cousin afraid of what she was going to say next.

  “Want to go for a drive?” Lin asked.

  “Where to?” Viv’s voice sounded hesitant.

  “Want to ride by Martha Hillman’s house?”

  Viv groaned. “Why? You won’t be able to get near it. The police will be all over the place.”

  “I know. I just thought if I drove by, maybe I’d pick up on something … or see something.”

  “I suppose that would be okay.” Viv drank the last of her tea.

  Nicky had been listening and let out a woof of agreement.

  “Just don’t go dragging me through the woods to get to the back of Martha’s house.” Viv looked at the dog. “If that’s what your owner wants to do, then it’s your job to go along. The cat and I will stay in the truck.”

  Nicky woofed again.

  Lin used her phone to search for Martha’s address. “Got it. She lives just outside of town off the road to Madaket.”

  “Great,” Viv deadpanned. “The last time you went to a house off of that road you found a dead body.” Viv was referring to a previous case that they’d stuck their noses into about a month ago. Rinsing her mug in the sink, she added, “You might want to stay off that road from now on.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Lin chuckled as she led her cousin, the dog, and the cat out of the house and into her truck.

  14

  “We could have walked over.” Viv watched the scenery go by as Lin drove her truck to the neighborhood just outside of Nantucket town.

  “I thought of that, but we have the cat and I didn’t want a dog to bother her and besides, we can sit in the car and watch what’s going on.”

  When they were getting close to Martha Hillman’s Cape-style house, Lin and Viv could see the blue lights of a police car flashing up ahead. Lin pulled the truck to the curb behind a line of other vehicles a few houses down from Martha’s. Small groups of people had formed here and there on the sidewalks to watch the proceedings and gossip.

  “News travels fast,” Viv observed.

  “We can’t get any closer with the truck. I think we’ll have to get out and walk up the street.”

  “Nicky and Queenie will be fine.” Viv looked at the dog and cat. “Guard the truck, you two. We won’t be long.”

  Lin and Viv approached the first cluster of gawkers. They didn’t recognize anyone they knew. Viv asked for news even though she knew the basics of what had happened. People supplied some information.

  “A woman committed suicide.”

  “Her lawn guy found her in the garage.”

  “She worked at the cultural museum.”

  “Some people think she was the one who stole that valuable basket.”

  Viv asked, “When was she found?”

  “A few hours ago.”

  “Have they taken her away?” Lin wondered if Martha had been left in the car where she’d died as the police investigated the scene.

  “An ambulance drove away about an hour ago.”

  Viv nodded at the people and she and her cousin moved down the street to get closer to the house.

  “There aren’t many streetlamps. It’s hard to make out who’s hanging around out here in the dark.” Lin linked arms with Viv.

  As they walked, they looked from side to side trying to see who was there. When they were almost across from the house, Viv stopped short. She nodded to a spot across the street. “Isn’t that Nathan Long?”

  Lin squinted. “It looks like him.”

  Nathan was swaying slightly from foot to foot while speaking intently with a tall, lean woman. Occasionally, they would glance up the driveway to Martha’s house. The tall woman had a white tissue in one hand and she dabbed at her eyes every few seconds. A police officer walked down the drive towards Nathan and the woman, said a few words, and then led them up to the house.

  “Huh,” Lin said. “Why are they being taken inside?”

  “Maybe Nathan saw Martha earlier in the day. Maybe the police want to ask for some details.”

  LIN NOTICED a woman with a long black ponytail straddling a bicycle. “Isn’t that Mary Frye?” Lin and Viv walked over and said hello.

  “How sad,” Mary commented. “I can’t believe it. It’s a terrible shock.”

  “How did you hear?” Viv asked.

  “I stopped in town to buy a water bottle. People in the store were talking about it. At first, I thought they must be wrong.”

  “It’s an awful shock when someone you know dies,” Lin said.

  “It’s not just that.” Mary switched off the blinking light on her handle bars. “Ms. Hillman is the last person I would ever think would take her own life.”

  Lin tilted her head. “What w
as it about Martha that made you think that way?”

  Mary looked at Lin. “She was … forceful, confidant.”

  “She may have been depressed for a long time and hid it well from everyone,” Viv said softly. “I guess we don’t always know someone or what they might be feeling.”

  Mary seemed to be processing what Viv said. “It doesn’t fit though.” Mary gave a shrug. “It just doesn’t fit.”

  Lin took a step closer to Mary. “Who was the person who got fired recently from the museum? I know Martha let someone go not long ago.”

  Something flickered over Mary’s face. “I didn’t know that someone got fired.”

  Lin wanted to sigh, but took a different tack. “Maybe I’m wrong then. Didn’t someone give notice? Someone resigned?”

  “Oh. Is that who you mean? She didn’t get fired. She left for a different position.” Mary nodded.

  “Who was that?” Lin gave a gentle smile.

  “Avery Holden. She’d worked at the museum for quite a while.”

  “How did you like her? Did she work well with everyone?” Lin kept her innocent smile on her face trying to encourage Mary to be forthcoming.

  The same fleeting look that had flickered over Mary’s face earlier showed itself for a second and then was gone. “Sure. I liked her a lot.” Mary turned her handlebar headlight back on and changed the subject. “Will you be taking the other weaving class I’m giving next week?” She perched on the bike seat.

  “I think so.” Viv smiled. “I loved the last class we took.”

  Mary said goodbye and rode away on her bicycle.

  “Do you think Mary knows that Avery Holden got fired?” Viv asked her cousin.

  “I sure do,” Lin replied. “What do you think?”

  “I agree with you. It might be time to look up Avery Holden.”

  Lin watched the activity still going on up by the house. “Anton must know Avery. I’ll ask him.”

  The girls stood watching for a few more minutes when a woman walking past bumped into Lin and started to apologize profusely until she recognized who she’d run into. “Oh. Lin.” Claire Rollins’s blonde curls bobbed on her head shining under the light of the streetlamp. The young woman’s face muscles were taut and her eyes looked red-rimmed. “I was driving home. I pulled over.” She waved her hand and pointed down the street. “Nathan Long called to tell me what happened.” Her trembling fingers pushed a stray curl out of her eye. “I can’t believe it. Martha killed herself?”