by K. A. Davis
“Holy hell, Diane. How long have you had that?” Claire inquired.
“Over ten years. I travel alone a lot and decided I didn’t want to be on the road without some kind of protection.”
“Guns scare me,” Jill said, looking uneasy and taking a step back.
“It’s really okay, Jill. I’m quite experienced. I shoot at a range every month to make sure I don’t get rusty. I just want to make sure, if there’s someone in the house, we’re protected.”
Finding nothing on the second floor, Ike continued his quest on the third floor. His only interest was the locked room.
“Do you think we should break the lock and see what’s in there?” Caroline asked.
“No. I don’t want to be arrested for destroying someone’s property,” Claire answered. “We’ve never heard any movement, so there’s no reason to think someone’s in there.”
“Well, Ike sure thinks there’s something funny about it,” Jill said.
“Look, he’s not carrying on, he’s just doing his sniffing thing,” Claire pointed out.
With all the doors and windows secure, the foursome decided to double up in the large beds on the second floor with Ike standing guard at the top of the stairs.
“Ike, stay,” Claire ordered, before saying goodnight and going into Diane’s room.
Caroline and Jill closed the door to their room and all four settled in for a restless night.
Chapter Six
Wednesday
Ike announced dawn with a loud woof.
Claire rubbed her eyes wishing she had gotten more than two hours sleep. Carefully, not to wake Diane, she moved to the edge of the bed and stood up.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Diane asked, in a throaty whisper.
“Ike needs to go out.”
“Wait for me,” Diane said, throwing back the quilt and hastily pulling on jeans and a sweatshirt.
“Diane, really, do you think that’s necessary?”
Diane looked at her friend and nodded. “Yes, Claire, I do. It’s easier to go with you now than to explain to Spence later why we let you go out at the crack of dawn, with a stranger’s dog, and never came back.”
Lacing up her sneakers, Claire shook her head. “Okay, then, come on.”
In the kitchen Diane started coffee. “Do you think the bakery in town is open this early?”
“I don’t know, but I could sure go for some cinnamon buns. We have to walk Ike anyway, so let’s go that way.”
“I’ll leave a note for Caroline and Jill,” Diane said, pulling paper and a pencil out of a kitchen drawer.
Claire snapped Ike’s leash to his collar and retrieved slickers from the hooks beside the back door. The early morning fog crept into the house as they let themselves out the front door and locked it behind them.
Ike, anxious to get to the grass tugged hard on the leash pulling Claire off balance. The porch was slippery from heavy dew and Claire had to grab the back of one of the rockers to stay upright. “Geez, Ike. Slow down. Diane, be careful the porch is slippery.”
Diane looked at the porch floor and pointed. “Look Claire.”
Claire’s gaze followed Diane’s finger to footprints in front of the windows. “Oh crap. It’s not our imaginations. We’ve had, at the very least, a peeping Tom.”
“Diane, Ike needs to go. You follow the footprints around the porch… I’ll come along on the ground with him.”
Thinking it was a game, Ike took off with a jerk and received a swift snap of the leash from Claire in response. “Damn dog, slow down.”
Following Diane around the side to the back of the house Claire asked, “Do they go the whole way around, Diane?”
“No. They fade out right here where the dew isn’t so thick,” Diane answered, at the back porch.
“Can you tell anything about the footprints?”
“Well, they’re not Jimmy Choo’s, that’s for sure.”
Claire couldn’t help laughing. “Seriously, Sherlock, are they men’s or women’s?”
“Definitely men’s. My feet fit inside these with a good inch to spare the whole way around.”
“Look,” Claire said. “They come down the steps and head toward the beach.”
The wet sand held the impression of the prints making it easy for Claire and Diane to follow.
“They’re going in the direction of Drew’s cottage,” Diane noted.
“Maybe he came by to check on us,” Claire said.
“Let’s hope that’s it.”
“Diane, are you suspicious of Drew?”
“Right now, I’m suspicious of anyone who has a foot bigger than mine and had no business being on our porch.”
“Whoever it was, had to have been there within the last few hours when the fog rolled in.”
“How far do you want to follow the prints,” Diane asked, glancing at Claire and then back at the footprints.
“Well, we’re this far, we may as well see where they go.”
Heads down, they followed the prints halfway to Drew’s cottage before the incoming waves erased them.
“Dead end,” Diane announced. “Let’s go to town and see if the bakery and the police station are open.”
“We can probably kill two birds with one stone,” Claire said. “They’re usually one and the same.”
Diane laughed. “You’re probably right. I didn’t see a Dunkin’ Donuts so that only leaves the bakery.”
The bakery’s red neon, open sign was a blinking beacon in the mist guiding the two women and canine to “The Corner Bakery” located dead center on Main Street. As predicted, two squad cars were parked in front.
Claire bumped Diane with her elbow. “Told ya.”
Laughing as they approached they found two policemen sitting at one of the sidewalk café tables with coffee and donuts.
“Diane, you go get something good and I’ll talk to the officers.”
Claire watched as Diane entered the bakery, and smiled at the tinkle of the old-fashioned bell that sounded every time the door opened. Tightening her grip on Ike’s leash, she approached the men.
“Good morning,” she smiled.
The two policemen nodded and warily looked at Ike.
Must have had a few run-ins with dogs thought Claire as she walked closer. When she reached the table she commanded, “Ike. Sit.” Instantly, Ike obeyed but not without just the hint of a snarl and a curled lip.
“Hi. My name is Claire McPherson. My friends and I have rented Windward Cottage, out on The Point. We were wondering if you have had any reports of break-ins in that area.”
The officer closest to Claire stood up. Claire thought he was going to offer his hand in introduction, but instead he put both hands on his hips and said, “I’m Hank Peterson, Chief of Police here in Haworth, and this is Deputy Kevin O’Reilly.”
Chief Peterson was six feet four inches and a good forty pounds past his fighting weight. Claire guessed his age to be just south of sixty.
Peterson glanced from Claire to Ike, and back again to Claire.
“Why do you ask?”
Claire was five feet eight inches tall but a man this size still made her feel small. Tilting her head back to meet his gaze she responded. “We’ve had some strange things happening over the past few days and, this morning, we found footprints going around the porch as if someone was looking in the windows.”
Peterson looked at O’Reilly with what could easily be interpreted as a smirk. “Na, we never have any trouble out there. Good neighbors and they’re careful who they rent to.”
His tone and demeanor left Claire with the distinct impression he was inferring she may not be up to snuff for the neighborhood. Refusing to be put off, she continued. “Well, there’s a first time for everything isn’t there?”
Ike inched a bit closer to the officer. Claire took up the slack in the leash letting Ike know he needed to stay where he was.
Chief Peterson nervously shifted his weight to his other foot farther away from Ike. “We�
��re just changing shifts. After O’Reilly and I review the night calls, I’ll stop out and take a look around. Windward Cottage you say?”
“Yes. We’ll look forward to your visit,” Claire said, with just a touch of irony in her voice to let him know she hadn’t missed his innuendo.
Diane exited the bakery with a large, white box just in time to hear the tension in Claire’s voice. “Hello,” she said, sweetly extending her hand to Chief Peterson. “I’m Diane Fuller. I see you’ve met my friend.”
Reluctantly, the chief took her hand and gave it a mushy squeeze. “Understand you think someone was on your porch this morning.”
“Why… yes,” she said drawing out the short sentence to its fullest. “There were very, distinct footprints that we followed down to the beach. We would appreciate any insight you might have.”
“Like I just told her,” tilting his head toward Claire, but not looking her in the eyes. “I’ll be out after I finish up here with O’Reilly.”
Diane bent to the side and looked around Peterson’s bulk to smile at the deputy. “Hello. Nice to meet you.”
Kevin O’Reilly, was considerably younger than the chief and considerably better looking. The junior officer reminded Diane of her son, young, strong, and good looking. His hat lay on the table in front of him revealing blond hair streaked by the sun and warm, brown eyes. Kevin looked like he spent his off time either surfing or working out in a gym; Diane decided it was both.
Officer O’Reilly stood and smiled. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Claire was starting to get impatient when Diane took her arm and gently pulled her toward the street. “You too officer.” Looking back at Chief Peterson she added. “We’ll see you later then.”
When they were out of hearing range Diane said, “Claire, the air was so thick back there you could cut it with a knife. What in the world did you say to piss him off?”
“I guess I threatened his authority, or his ego, simply by asking if they had had any trouble out at The Point. For crying out loud, what’s wrong with that?”
“I don’t know but he sure was exhibiting a crappy attitude, wasn’t he?”
“I thought so. I don’t think he believes there’s anything going on. Or, he’s just fat and lazy, and doesn’t want to be bothered. You did a good job smoothing his feathers.”
“It comes naturally in my line of work. You try to make a good impression, make the client feel important, then you give your presentation and go in for the kill.”
“Apparently, it works with policemen too,” Claire said.
***
Back at Windward Cottage, the four friends sat around the kitchen table savoring the delicacies from the bakery. A sudden rap on the back door made them all jump and Caroline slosh hot coffee down the front of her T-shirt.
Drew Carson stood at the door with a wide grin on his face. “Oh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
Diane walked to the door and unlocked it. “Come in Drew. Would you like some coffee and pastries?”
“Thank you, but I can’t stay. I need to go to Boston on business and was wondering if I could leave Ike with you?”
“Sure,” Claire answered, quickly. “We like having him as our guest.”
“I was hoping you would agree, so I brought extra food for him.”
Jill’s face dropped as she took the bag of dog food from Drew and asked, “How long will you be gone?”
“I should be back tomorrow evening. If I have to stay longer I’ll give you a call and make further arrangements since you’ll be leaving on Saturday.”
“Oh,” Jill said, dejectedly. “I’ll walk you back to the cottage.”
Shortly after Jill and Drew left there was a knock at the front door.
“Geez, this is like Grand Central Station today,” Caroline said, soaping up one of the breakfast dishes.
“It’s probably Chief Peterson,” Claire said, cleaning the coffee maker. “You go Diane, he likes you better than me.”
“Who doesn’t?” Diane snickered, walking through the kitchen door to the parlor.
“Ike does,” Claire yelled, at her friend’s back.
When Caroline and Claire had finished cleaning up the kitchen, Caroline picked up her sketch pad and walked to the back door. “I’m going down to the beach.”
“Okay, but don’t go far. We’ll join you when Peterson leaves.”
As hard as it was going to be, Claire decided to be as pleasant as possible with Chief Peterson. She locked Ike in the kitchen and set a fake smile on her lips before entering the parlor.
Diane looked up from her seat opposite the policeman. “I’ve explained to Chief Peterson about the foot prints and the fires.”
“And?” Claire asked, looking at the officer.
“We haven’t had any calls from out here about prowlers or break-ins this year. Probably just some neighborhood kids playing pranks.”
“We haven’t seen one kid since we’ve been here,” Claire responded, quickly.
Diane intervened. “Chief, perhaps you could look around the house for us and see if you pick up any clues?”
Claire made a face at Diane and mouthed the word “clues?”
Diane shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows as if to ask, “What did you want me to say?”
Chief Peterson had a little trouble getting his mass out of the over-stuffed sofa prompting Claire to turn away to hide her pleasure in his discomfort. Once on his feet, he slowly examined the parlor and then moved into the dining room. “Well, here’s your problem ladies,” he said, pointing to a lock on one of the dining room windows. “This here lock’s broken. Someone has access to this house any time they want. You better get that fixed. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get back to work.”
Claire rolled her eyes and somehow found the will power to keep her mouth shut.
“Thank you, Chief,” said Diane. “I bet you’re right. We’ll call the real estate office right away and get that window fixed.”
“Diane,” Claire said, sharply, “did you tell him about Wendell.”
“What about Wendell?” Peterson asked.
“He drives past here at least two or three times a day and….”
Before Claire could finish her sentence Peterson looked at her strangely, “I should hope so. He lives down the road and has to pass here to get to town and his customers.”
Claire decided they were beating a dead horse so she shut her mouth and let Wendell’s peculiar behavior go unmentioned.
Returning to the parlor Diane was the peacemaker once again. “Thank you very much for coming, Chief. We’ll get that lock fixed. I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“Sure hope so,” Peterson said. “I have more important things to do than come out here.”
Just to annoy the officer, Claire opened the kitchen door and Ike burst into the room and went straight for the policeman. Claire grabbed Ike’s collar, ruffled his neck, and spoke to him as if she was talking to a baby. “Isn’t he a sweetheart?” she said, looking up at Chief Peterson with a dumb-witted look.
Peterson was already on the other side of the screen door with his foot braced against the bottom of the door. “Keep that dog under control. If I get any reports that he’s been a nuisance I’ll have him taken away.”
Claire opened her mouth to say something but Diane quickly clamped a hand on her arm to stop her.
“No worries, Chief. He’s just playing. Thanks again for coming.”
Waving as the officer backed his patrol car out of the driveway Diane said, through a clenched smile. “What the hell is wrong with you Claire? You deliberately let Ike out to antagonize that man.”
“Yeah, well. He’s a moron.”
“That may be, but he’s the law around here.”
“Diane, you know very well he was just patronizing us. He didn’t take one thing we said seriously.”
“And that, my friend, is why I let him out of here so quickly. He wasn’t going to help so there was no
need to waste any more time with him.”
“Diane, do you remember that lock in the dining room being broken?”
“No, and we’ve been checking the doors and windows every night.”
“Strange. I’ll get a hammer and nails from the shed and make sure no one opens that window again.”
“Don’t you think it would be better to call the realtor?”
“Nah, they might send another Wendell and you’re running low on underwear,” Claire chuckled.
Chapter Seven
Discovery
Claire and Diane walked down to the beach to find Jill sitting next to Caroline as she sketched. Ike searched the dunes for a stick returning to lay one proudly at Claire’s feet.
“How did it go?” Jill asked.
“Waste of time,” Claire answered, throwing Ike’s stick into the water.
Caroline looked up from her work. “Really? No answers.”
Diane sat down next to Caroline and looked at her sketch. “That’s good Caroline! Nope, no answers. He wasn’t taking us seriously.”
Leaning back on her elbows Jill looked up at Claire. “What do you make of it?”
“Diane’s right. He wasn’t interested. I got the distinct impression he thought we were just menopausal maidens with nothing better to do than interrupt his day.”
“What do we do now?” Caroline asked.
“We only have a few more days here, let’s just continue to be cautious and keep Ike as long as we can,” Diane answered.
The morning passed with the four taking turns throwing the stick for Ike while Caroline sat sketching. Each woman remained quiet, lost in her own thoughts.
Shortly before noon Jill stood up and dusted the sand off her clothes. “Let’s pack a lunch and go for a bike ride. There are plenty of places to explore.”
“Good idea,” Caroline agreed. “My butt’s sore from sitting so long.”
Ike pushed past Claire as she opened the kitchen door, and raced through the kitchen and up the steps barking loudly.
“Oh geez, what’s wrong with him now,” Caroline asked.
“I don’t know,” Claire said. “Just ignore him.”
Jill opened the Kelvinator and removed meat and cheese for sandwiches while Diane packed the picnic basket with napkins, apples and the leftover pastries from breakfast.