by J A Whiting
The doorbell rang and Ellie went to answer it. An older man who looked to be in his early seventies entered the foyer, shaking a bit of snow from his shoulders. The cats leapt down from the cabinet and raced into the foyer where they sat on the steps in the middle of the staircase to observe the new guest.
“Bitter cold,” the very large, heavy, bald man sputtered. “I don’t know why I travel in the winter. I’m Mel Abel.” The bald man introduced himself in a loud voice as he rubbed his hands up and down his arms. “It’s frigid out there.” He looked at Ellie with clear blue eyes and a slight smile. “I could use a hot drink. A hot toddy would do the trick.” The man folded his coat and placed it over the top of his suitcase.
Mr. Finch rose from his seat at the dining table. “I would be happy to prepare some hot toddies. Who would like one?”
The new guest shot his hand into the air just as Orla raised hers.
“Off I go. Back in a flash.” Finch took his cane and headed for the kitchen to make the warm drinks.
Courtney started for the office for the keys and reservation forms when the front doorbell rang again causing her to glance back over her shoulder. “You’re kidding me,” she muttered.
Angie opened the door this time. A petite, slender woman in her early to mid-forties entered the Victorian. “I have a reservation, but I wondered if I could keep my departure date open-ended as I’m unsure how long I’m going to stay. Do you have a vacant room that might be open for at least a week?” Since people were arriving like waves upon the shore, Angie looked to Ellie for an answer.
Ellie nodded. “Yes, we have a room you can have for the week. We can probably accommodate you for an even longer visit, if necessary.”
The short woman wore her light brown hair in a chin-length bob. She told Angie her name. “Cora Connors. I’m most grateful.” The new arrival’s coat seemed too thin for the weather and she carried a worn, battered duffel bag. A look of weariness pulled at the woman’s shoulders and at the corners of her mouth. Angie imagined that a great weight had settled over Ms. Connors causing her a heavy sense of fatigue.
“May I?” Cora pointed at the dining room.
“Yes, please. We’ll bring in some more drinks and snacks.” Angie turned for the kitchen just as Courtney came into the dining room from the office carrying keys and forms. When she noticed Cora, her eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Another guest.” Courtney went back down the hall to get more forms.
Angie took a look at the cats as she left the foyer. Euclid had a scowl on his face as his head swiveled from new guest to new guest. Circe sat beside him on the step gazing at the new people in the house. Angie caught their eyes and gave a little shrug. Entering the kitchen, she met Mr. Finch who was busying himself making the hot drinks.
“The new guests seem pleasant enough.” Finch took glasses from the cabinet. “Perhaps trouble will pass us by today.”
“Maybe.” Angie arranged some cookies on a platter. “Except for one thing.”
Finch faced the young woman with a questioning expression.
“When Orla O’Brien took out her credit card, another card slipped onto the table. She picked it up and shoved it back in its place.”
“So?” Finch cocked his head.
“It was a driver’s license. With Orla’s picture on it.”
Finch waited.
“Only the name on the license was not Orla O’Brien.”
3
“Are you sure it was our guest who was in the license photo?” Finch pondered. “Perhaps it was her sister or someone else in her family who looks just like her?”
“It was definitely Orla.” Angie was sure of it.
“Most interesting.” Mr. Finch’s bushy gray eyebrows squeezed together. “Why would she have two licenses with different names?”
“I can’t come up with a good reason.” Angie folded her arms over her chest.
“I can see that she might have changed her last name due to marriage or what not.” Finch arranged the drinking glasses on the wheeled beverage cart. “But why would she change her first name as well?”
“It doesn’t make any sense.” Angie pushed the cart towards the hallway. “Keep your eyes on her, Mr. Finch.”
“Where are the cats?” Finch looked about to see if the animals had come into the kitchen.
“They’re at the front of the house with the guests listening to every word they utter.”
Before Angie and Finch reached the dining room with the drink cart, they could hear the amiable chatter of the people sitting around the large table. Angie placed the hot drinks in front of Orla and Mel. Finch carried his glass to the table and sat down. Cora sat meekly at the far end of the table clutching a mug of tea and listening to the two other guests discuss their travels to different parts of the world.
Angie chose the seat next to the woman and started a conversation with her. “Do you travel much?”
Cora seemed slightly startled to have been spoken to and she looked at Angie with wide, dark brown eyes. “Me? Oh, no. I haven’t had the opportunity to do things like that.” She took a swallow of tea. “Though I would love to.”
“Maybe one day.” Angie smiled. “What brings you to Sweet Cove?”
Cora’s fingers seemed to shake slightly when she let go of her mug. “A friend and I were going to meet for a few days and stay at several bed and breakfast inns along the coast. We hadn’t seen each other in a long while. Her plans changed and she couldn’t make it, but I decided to come anyway.” The woman gave a shrug of her shoulder.
“Are there things in particular you’d like to see?”
“I want to visit Salem and the Witch Museum.” Cora accepted a bowl of soup from Courtney. “I’m not sure what’s around here to see.”
When Cora mentioned the Witch Museum, even though Orla was deep in conversation with Mr. Abel, she flashed the woman an odd look. For a moment, Angie caught Orla’s gaze and when the two made eye contact, a shiver ran through Angie’s blood, unnerving her.
Angie turned to Cora. “Ellie has lots of brochures on the historical sites, the museums, and the shops in the Sweet Cove area. She can help you plan your visit.”
“I’ll ask her for suggestions.” Cora nodded and dipped her spoon into the pea soup. “Wonderful soup. So flavorful.”
Mel Abel turned his big, pumpkin-like face to Cora and Angie. “Why so quiet down that end of the table? Nothing to contribute to our conversation?”
Cora lifted her eyes to Mel for just a moment, and then quickly looked back to her soup not replying to the man.
“We’d be happy to join in.” Angie deflected the attention away from Cora. “What are you talking about?”
“Politics and religion.” Mel let out a belly laugh. “The two topics that no one should ever discuss.” He smiled. “In fact,” we are not talking about those subjects. I like to pull people’s legs. We’re talking about traveling.”
Angie asked, “Where is everyone’s favorite place that they’ve been to visit?”
The question started a round of discussion about where people had enjoyed visiting. Mel spoke first in his booming voice. “My favorite trip was to New Zealand. Can’t beat the scenery.” The man winked. “And Paris, too. Loved the shopping.”
“How about you, Ms. O’Brien?” Finch asked. “Do you have a favorite place that you’ve visited?’
Orla gave Finch a nod. “Ireland. When I’m there, I can feel the spirits of my ancestors rising in the mists and in the beauty of the landscape.”
“Well said.” Finch smiled.
Even though Orla had voiced a lovely sentiment, her words seemed to pinch at Angie’s skin. The ring of the front doorbell caused Angie to nearly jump out of her seat and to cover her anxiousness, she stood up. “I’ll get it.”
Opening the door, she was surprised to see Jack Ford standing in the glow of the porch light. Snowflakes were sprinkled over the shoulders of his black woolen coat and his navy blue bowtie peeked out at the neck.
Angie blinked. “Jack. I didn’t know you were coming.”
Jack entered the foyer, rested his briefcase on the floor, removed his coat, and nodded to the people at the dining table as Ellie rushed over to her boyfriend. “Is everything okay? I wasn’t expecting you.”
Jack reached for his leather briefcase. “Everything’s fine.” He gave Ellie a warm smile and a hug. “I’m meeting a client.” Jack, a Sweet Cove lawyer, brushed some snow from his hair.
“A client? Here?” Ellie turned towards the new guests who were all staring into the foyer.
With a blush coloring her cheeks, Cora Connors rose from her seat and walked slowly towards Jack. “It’s me. I arranged with Attorney Ford to meet me here.” The petite woman shook hands with Jack and introduced herself.
“Oh, well then. Good.” Ellie pushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Why don’t you take the sunroom. No one is using it. You can close the doors between the sunroom and the living room for privacy.” Ellie led them out of the foyer.
When Angie turned around, everyone at the dining table was still staring her way. With her mind racing, wondering why Cora needed to meet Jack, Angie cleared her throat and headed into the dining room. “Can I get anyone anything else? Another drink?” She bustled about clearing away dirty plates and glasses.
Courtney caught her sister’s eye and raised an eyebrow.
Mel Abel voiced what the others were thinking. “Why would the woman want to meet with an attorney here? While on vacation?”
Angie smiled, trying to deflect attention away from Cora’s and Jack’s meeting. “Maybe it was the most convenient time for her.”
“What?” Mel snorted. “No lawyers where she’s from? It seems fishy to me.”
“I’m sure it’s all above-board,” Mr. Finch said reassuringly. “Perhaps Ms. Connors wanted to speak with Attorney Ford because Jack is an expert in certain areas. She may have traveled to Sweet Cove just to be able to meet with him.”
“Still seems fishy.” Mel downed the remaining liquid in his glass and set the tumbler on the table with a flourish. “I suppose it’s none of our business.” He stood up. “I guess I’ll head up to my room. I’d love a shower and to change out of these clothes.”
Courtney led the man to the second floor guest rooms just as Jenna was coming down the staircase. Introductions were made, Jenna continued down the stairs, and seeing Angie standing in the dining room, she headed that way. “I thought I heard voices down here. I didn’t realize that guests had arrived.” Jenna spotted Orla O’Brien sitting at the table. “Oh, hi.”
Orla smiled warmly. “Hello.”
Jenna’s eyes widened. The way that Orla looked at her and said hello made Jenna wonder if they’d met before. Angie thought the same thing and spun around to look at Orla with a quizzical expression on her face.
With his tail twitching back and forth, Euclid looked down from the China cabinet with a scowl on his face.
“Have we met?” Jenna stepped further into the room.
Holding Jenna’s eyes, Orla shook her head. “No, we haven’t.”
“Oh.” Jenna returned the woman’s smile, but Angie could see how stiffly her twin sister held herself. “How long will you be staying in Sweet Cove?”
“I haven’t decided that yet.” Orla stretched to get the kinks out of her back. “We’ll see how things go.”
“You’re planning some sightseeing?” Jenna didn’t know why she felt so uncomfortable in the woman’s presence.
“Some.” Orla stood up, stretched, and picked up her bag. “I’ll head up to my room now. All this traveling makes me tired. Thank you for the soup.”
Courtney led Orla O’Brien to the second floor.
Jenna plopped in the chair next to Mr. Finch. “What’s this all about?”
Finch and Angie caught Jenna up on the three new B and B guests. “Ms. Connors is meeting with Jack right now in the sunroom.”
Angie explained in a hushed voice how Orla had a second license in her purse and that the photo was of Orla, but the name did not match how she’d introduced herself to the family. Euclid let out a low growl.
“Weird.” A cloud had settled over Jenna’s face. “And she seemed like she knew me. The way she greeted me made me think we’d met before or she knew me from someplace. It made me feel weird.”
“That woman makes me feel like I need to be cautious around her.” Angie sat, put her elbow on the table, and rested her chin in her hand. “When she talked about Ireland and her ancestors, a strange feeling shot through me. I didn’t like it.”
Courtney, her honey-blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders, came back downstairs. “What’s up with these guests? Sheesh. They’re getting odder and odder.”
Angie told her sister about the license that fell out of Orla’s wallet.
“Huh.” Courtney looked off across the room. “What’s up with that? Can anyone think of a legitimate reason why someone might have two licenses with two different names?”
Jenna offered an idea. “She works for the government? FBI? CIA?”
“You’d think a government agent would be more careful about having her alternate ID card slip from her wallet.” Courtney shook her head. “Maybe she’s in a witness protection program?”
Several suggestions were considered and discarded. No one could come up with any ideas that made sense.
“Did you notice what the other name was?” Mr. Finch asked Angie.
Angie frowned recalling the incident. “It happened too fast. I saw the photo and noticed that the name was too long to say Orla O’Brien, so I squinted at it. It looked like Carleen or something like that and the last name was not O’Brien. I’m sure of it.”
Courtney leaned forward and used a conspiratorial tone. “Maybe we can get Ellie to check out Orla’s wallet when she goes to clean the room tomorrow.”
“You know Ellie won’t do anything like that. She’s made that clear in the past.” Angie rubbed her chin. “That would be an invasion of privacy. We’ll have to figure out another way to see the other license.”
“What do you have in mind, Miss Angie?” Finch asked.
Angie groaned. “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”
Courtney glanced over her shoulder to the staircase. “We’d better be on guard around these people.” She sighed. “It’s certainly not how I expected it to show up, but our anticipated trouble may have just arrived at the B and B.”
4
When Jack and Cora Connors emerged from the sunroom, Ellie showed Cora to her room and Jack went into the dining room to join Angie, Mr. Finch, Jenna, and Courtney at the table. The four faces stared at Jack as he took a seat.
Jack looked from one to the next. “You know I can’t reveal anything Mrs. Connors talked to me about. Client confidentiality has to be upheld.”
Euclid let out a howl from atop the cabinet causing Jack to jump. “Euclid, gee. What’s wrong with him?”
Courtney scowled. “He doesn’t like people keeping things from us.”
“Is everything okay with Mrs. Connors?” Angie questioned. “She seems quiet and worried.”
“I can’t speak to that.” Jack glanced up at Euclid bracing himself for another howl.
Jenna leaned forward and made eye contact with Jack. “Is she in any danger?”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up. “Danger? Why would you say that?”
Courtney brought a plate of cookies from the buffet and set them in the center of the table. “Because. Cora Connors shows up at a bed and breakfast inn and wants to speak to a lawyer? It’s a tiny bit out of the ordinary.” Lifting a cookie from the platter, Courtney bit into it and brandished the remaining part of the cookie in the air. “Something tells me the woman is trying to hide something or maybe she’s afraid of something or….”
Mr. Finch looked over the rims of his eyeglasses at Jack. “If Mrs. Connors is in danger, then we might be in danger as well. Are you able to warn us if something is amiss?”
Ellie came into
the room and put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Don’t badger Jack. As a lawyer, he has certain standards he must hold to. He can’t be blabbing confidential information to other people. Imagine being in the client’s position. You wouldn’t want your private concerns aired to a bunch of people you don’t even know.” Ellie leaned down and kissed Jack’s cheek before taking a seat next to him. “Jack is an honorable man.”
Jack blushed and the corners of his mouth turned up.
“We all know Jack.” Courtney fussed. “We all know he has integrity and we aren’t asking him to compromise that. We are asking if Mrs. Connors might be in any danger … which could result in putting all of us in danger since she’s staying here at the inn.” She looked from Jack to Ellie. “Warnings can be on a need-to-know basis. We aren’t asking to be told the woman’s problems, we’re asking if those problems might become our problems and if they might compromise a safe environment in our home. That’s all we want to know.”
“Fine.” Ellie stood. “Jack and I are going out for a little while. All the guests I was expecting to arrive have checked in. Things should be quiet. Call me if you need me.” Ellie and Jack went to the foyer closet, put on their coats, and headed for the front door.
Courtney whispered to the others with a wicked grin. “We all just got back from vacation, but Ellie and Jack need to go out together again.” She formed her fingers into a heart and placed them against her chest.
“I heard that.” Ellie opened the front door.
Jack was about to follow Ellie out onto the porch when he hesitated. Turning back to face the people around the table, he said quietly, “You might want to keep your eyes open.” Jack headed out of the house with Ellie, leaving Mr. Finch and the three Roseland sisters sitting in the dining room with open mouths. Even Euclid was too surprised to hiss or howl.