by Glen Ebisch
Clarissa nodded. “A Monica Becker. She apparently sees the Captain about as often as I see you, only he doesn’t have as much to say.”
Ashley grinned. “My conversational skills are part of my charm, Boss. I bet Lieutenant Baker will have a swell time interrogating her.”
“Some of the others aren’t much better when it comes to personality.”
“So what do you think happened?”
“If we leave Captain Boudreau out of the equation, I’m guessing that either Tracy, Sylvia’s granddaughter, lied about being pushed, or Denise Lambson, the guest who claims to have been shoved, is lying.”
“So you think one of them pushed the other? What about the possibility that some third person shoved them both? Someone dressed up as Captain Boudreau.”
Clarissa nodded. “It’s possible. I think until we have a motive, we’re not going to know what’s going on.”
“Any ideas on that?”
“Not really. I’ll have to think about it,” Clarissa said, turning and heading toward the back. “I’ll be in my office working on this week’s sermon if anybody calls.”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
Clarissa had no sooner glanced over her notes, trying to recall her theme for this Sunday when her phone rang.
“Tyler Hamilton is on the line,” Ashley said.
Clarissa sighed to herself and told Ashley to put him through. The last thing she wanted today was any further drama, but she couldn’t very well refuse to talk to a guy who was in a heap of trouble.
“Hi, Clarissa,” Tyler said, sounding considerably happier than the last time they had spoken. “I’m out on bail.”
“Well, congratulations.”
“Andrew did a great job.” Tyler paused. “He also told me that you put up the money for my bond. I want you to know that I really appreciate that, and I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. The most important thing at the moment is to prove that you’re innocent.”
“If I could talk to Sam Cryer’s mother, maybe I could find out what was bothering him.”
“That’s not a bad place to start, but I don’t think you’re the one to do it.”
“Yeah, I guess she wouldn’t be very pleased to see me if she believes that I murdered Sam,” he said.
“Did Andrew give you any advice as to what to do?” asked Clarissa.
“He told me to go home and stay out of trouble.”
“That sounds like good advice. Leave this to your lawyer.”
“And to you?”
“I’ll help Andrew in any way that I can.”
“So I guess the two of you will be working closely together?” he asked suspiciously.
“If it helps to get you off, is that a problem?”
“No, I guess not,” he replied after a long moment. “I suppose I should be thankful that I’ve got a girlfriend with a nose for detection.”
Not sure she really wanted to be called his girlfriend, Clarissa kept quiet.
“I appreciate that you’re helping me,” he finally said. “I know I can be a bit of a pain once in a while, but I really do thank you. I don’t want to end up in prison.”
“I’ll do my very best to keep that from happening.”
Tyler sighed. “I know you will. Say how about we get together for dinner tonight. I’ll take you to the nicest restaurant in town.”
“Maybe it would be better if you kept a lower profile. Everyone in Shore Side will know by now that you were arrested. Wouldn’t it be better to avoid controversy.”
“Better for me or better for you?” he asked sharply.
Clarissa was about to say “better for you,” when she realized that it wouldn’t do her reputation any good to be seen out on the town with an accused murderer. It wasn’t so much her personal reputation that she was worried about, but whatever she did reflected on Shore Side Community Church. When you were a minister, you represented something larger than yourself and had to be aware of that fact.
“Better for both of us,” she finally replied. “Until all of this is settled.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be talking to you,” Tyler said and hung up in a huff.
Clarissa stared at the receiver for a long moment, thinking how Tyler was never going to change, then she decided that she’d better actually do something to help him, so she called Andrew to set up a plan of action.
“So you’ve probably already heard from Tyler that he got sprung,” Andrew said, answering the phone.
“Yes, thanks for taking care of that.”
“No problem. It went pretty easily once I told the judge that Tyler was an ordained minister. How did he seem when you spoke with him?”
“Moody.”
“Well, spending a night in jail will do that to you.”
“I think it was more that. He didn’t like my refusal to go out to dinner with him.”
“Going to dinner with him anywhere around here would be a very bad idea. Even if Tyler eventually gets off, it wouldn’t be good for you to be seen with him while he’s under indictment. And what if he’s found guilty, you could be jeopardizing your position and the reputation of the church.”
“That’s pretty much what I told him, and he wasn’t happy about it.”
“Well, he has to learn to think about someone other than himself.”
“That’s a bit harsh.”
Andrew just grunted.
“I promised Tyler that we would be looking into his case. Do you think it would be possible to talk to Sam Cryer’s mother to find out if Sam was involved in something dangerous?” Clarissa asked.
“I’ll call her tonight after work and see if we can arrange a time to meet.”
“How about if I give Tyler’s place of work a call and see if we can visit there?” Clarissa said. “They might know something about what Sam was up to, and they would also have some sense of his relationship to Tyler.”
“Tyler said his boss’s name is Matt Cross,” said Andrew.
“Okay, I’ll give him a call right now and try to set something up for tomorrow. Is your calendar free?”
“There’s nothing I can’t change. Let me give you the number of The Mission Center for Educational Assistance. That’s the full name of the place where Tyler worked.”
Clarissa jotted it down and told Andrew she’d call him back once she had scheduled an appointment.
When she called the number, a woman answered, and Clarissa asked for Matt Cross.
“I’ll see if he’s here,” the woman mumbled.
“Hello,” a deep male voice answered a few seconds later.
Clarissa explained who she was, and what she wanted.
“I’ll be happy to meet with you and Tyler’s lawyer, but I’m not sure there’s much I can tell you. Tyler hasn’t worked here long, and Sam Cryer had only been involved in our activities for a couple of weeks. Tyler isn’t here at present. We had to suspend him without pay pending the outcome of this investigation. We’re all pretty upset here about what happened.”
“Without pay?” Clarissa asked. “Isn’t that a bit harsh?”
“He’s still within his probationary period, so that’s the policy.”
Clarissa arranged for Andrew and herself to meet with Cross the next morning at eleven, then she called Andrew back and told him the time of the appointment.
“Sounds great. What do you say we go out to dinner tonight?” Andrew suggested.
Clarissa sighed to herself. “I think until Tyler’s case has been settled, I should be living the life of a nun rather than a minister. You are Tyler’s lawyer after all. Being seen in public with you isn’t much different from going out with Tyler.”
“I’m not sure it’s similar, but I can see your point. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at ten-thirty. Okay?”
Clarissa agreed and hung up the phone. She went into the outer office just as Ashley was carrying Paul’s cage toward the door, getting ready to leave for the day.
“Bad company ruins good morals,” Paul proclaimed.
“That’s one my aunt could get behind,” Ashley said.
“Every mother has said something like that at one time or another,” Clarissa said. “We are judged by the company we keep. Even after we become adults.”
“A pretty depressing thought.”
“Women, do not wear gold or pearls,” the parrot intoned.
“As if I had any,” Ashley muttered.
“Is he going to be with us tomorrow as well?” Clarissa asked.
“Nope. I’m putting my foot down and telling my aunt that he stays home until we can teach him some more appropriate quotations.”
Clarissa stared at the bird, who seemed to give her a judgmental avian look.
“Good idea.”
Chapter Six
Clarissa had hardly settled in at the kitchen table the next morning before Mrs. Gunn put a cup of coffee in front of her and exclaimed, “I can’t believe that anyone would think Tyler Hamilton is capable of doing anything illegal, let alone killing someone. He wouldn’t harm a hair on that poor boy’s head. I don’t know what Josh Baker is thinking. The police should be out looking for the real killer.”
“He was found standing over the body with the murder weapon in his hand,” Clarissa pointed out.
“Surely you don’t think . . .”
“Of course not. Tyler is no killer, but I can see why the police had to arrest him.”
“You’re going to do something about this, aren’t you?” Ms. Gunn said, giving her a hard stare.
“I’m certain the police will find out who did this.”
“Do you think they’d have solved the last murder in town if you hadn’t gotten involved?”
“I’m sure they would have . . . eventually.”
Mrs. Gunn gave her a long look until Clarissa began to feel guilty at withholding information.
“Andrew Corrigan and I are going to see what we can find out.”
“Why is Andrew involved in this?”
“Andrew is his lawyer.”
Mrs. Gunn didn’t look any happier. “I know Andrew is a nice boy, but are you sure he can be objective? After all, they are both beaus of yours.”
“I’m sure Andrew can be objective. He takes representing his clients very seriously.”
“Well, if you’re sure.”
“I am,” Clarissa, said a trifle curtly, and neither one of them spoke for the rest of the meal.
As Clarissa walked across to her office, she felt bad about being so abrupt with Mrs. Gunn and promised herself she would apologize.
When Clarissa opened the door to the church office, Ashley looked up from her computer with a concerned expression on her face.
“You got a call from Sylvia about ten minutes ago. There was another attack at the inn last night.
Clarissa sat down in the creaky plastic chair on the other side of the desk from Ashley. Former pastor Hollingsworth’s renovations had been confined to his private office, while the outer area remained a mishmash of salvaged pieces.
“What happened?” Clarissa asked.
Ashley paused to consult her notes. “According to Sylvia, one of the guests, Miranda Dobbs, was sitting downstairs by herself in the parlor last night at about ten o’clock. Her husband had already gone to bed, but she had taken something for a headache and was waiting for it to work. She heard a noise that sounded like someone coming in the front door. When no one walked down the hall to the stairs, she went out to investigate in the front lobby.” Ashley glanced up from her notes. “A brave woman.”
Clarissa pictured the stern-faced principal. “She probably couldn’t imagine that anyone would dare to attack her.”
“Well, she was wrong. Someone came up behind her, pushed her into the hall coat closet, and locked the door.”
“How long was she in there?”
“She got lucky, relatively speaking. Around midnight her husband woke up and wondered where she was. He came downstairs looking for her, and heard her banging away on the closet door. Fortunately the key was in the lock, and he let her out.”
“So she was in there for a couple of hours.”
“Long enough to be pretty ticked. Because she immediately hoofed it up to Sylvia’s room on the third floor, and informed her that they were leaving in the morning and expected a full refund.”
“I’m sure Sylvia wasn’t happy to hear that.” Clarissa glanced at her watch. “Did Sylvia mention whether the Dobbs have left yet?”
“Apparently Sylvia called Lieutenant Baker first thing this morning, and he said that nobody is to leave until he’s had a chance to speak with them.”
“What time is he going to do that?”
“He plans to be there at about nine-thirty this morning. Sylvia was hoping that you could be there as well.”
“That should please Lieutenant Baker,” said Clarissa with a sigh.
“He might be glad for your help on this one. It sounds weird.”
Clarissa looked at the clock on the wall. “I’ve got fifteen minutes to make it to the inn. I’d better leave. Andrew is picking me up here at ten-thirty. If I’m a few minutes late, ask him to wait.”
“A few minutes of conversation by myself with a handsome hunk. How ever will I stand it?” Ashley said with a wink.
“When all this is over, Tyler might be free. You’ll have a chance,” Clarissa said, surprised to realize that it might be true.
“Nah, I don’t think so. He’s good looking all right, but getting involved with him would just be too . . . fraught.”
Clarissa nodded, thinking she might be right.
*****
Sylvia greeted her at the door with a giant hug, permeated with the scent of lavender. “I’m so glad you were able to come. It’s been just horrible. They want their money back. Can you imagine?”
“Well, she was locked in a closet for two hours,” Clarissa said with a gentle smile.
“But that wasn’t my fault. I can’t control what a ghost does.”
Clarissa reached out and touched her arm. “I thought we agreed yesterday that this wasn’t being done by a ghost.”
Sylvia’s face grew red. “Okay, but who did it then? It has to be somebody with a key to the door. We keep the front door locked with the bottom lock all the time. Only guests can get in. After eleven we throw the deadbolt, and only my granddaughter and I can open that from the outside. All the guests were inside by ten o’clock last night—at least that’s what they’ve told me—and my granddaughter and I were upstairs in our rooms. How could someone just march in and shove Miranda in a closet?”
“You said that all your guests have a key to the bottom lock on the door, and that’s the only one locked until eleven o’clock.”
“That’s right.”
“Well, Miranda was pushed into the closet at ten.”
“Yes, but all the guests were already in their rooms.”
“But what’s stopping a guest from making a copy of the key and passing it along to someone else? You don’t use electronic keys, do you?”
“No, of course not; a bed and breakfast can’t afford extra expenses like that, but we do put a metal tag with the name of the inn on every key. No hardware store would copy a key with a tag on it unless the inn’s owner requested it.”
“Can the tag be removed and then reattached?”
Sylvia frowned. “I suppose someone could do that with a pair of pliers. If it were reattached carefully, I don’t think I’d notice.”
“Then, in fact, any former guest could be walking around with a key to the bottom lock of the front door.”
Sylvia turned around and marched into the lobby where she slumped down on an upholstered chair.
“How will we ever find out who is doing this?” she moaned.
“What would happen if these attacks continued and became public knowledge?” asked Clarissa.
“I’ll go out of business. A wandering ghost is one thing, that’s charm. A ghost that attack
s people, that’s a threat. No one would want to stay here.”
“So who would want to see you go out of business?”
Sylvia wrinkled her brow and stared across the lobby. “There are over forty bed and breakfasts in Shore Side. We all compete with each other to provide the best services and rates, but generally it’s a friendly competition. I can’t think of anyone who would stoop this low to get a competitive edge.”
“Can you think of someone else who might want to destroy the inn? Someone who dislikes you?”
Sylvia gave Clarissa a weak smile. “I know I can be a bit emotional and over the top at times, but I can’t imagine that I’m annoying enough to make someone want to ruin my business.”
“Even so, you might consider getting your front door lock changed.”
The front bell rang and Sylvia stood up to answer the door. Lieutenant Josh Baker and Officer Roger Rudinski were standing on the porch. When they came into the lobby, the Lieutenant gave Clarissa a neutral glance, so she figured he wasn’t too unhappy to see her at his crime scene.
“We’d like to speak to the victim,” Baker said to Sylvia.
“She’s in the parlor,” Sylvia replied, and led the way to the front room. Clarissa followed along next to Officer Rudinski, who gave her a shy smile. She figured she’d have a good chance of getting more information if she listened to the Lieutenant question Miranda Dobbs.
Miranda and her husband Jeff were sitting next to each other on a Victorian love seat talking in soft tones.
“It’s about time the police got here,” she said more loudly when she saw Baker and Rudinski. “The only thing keeping me in this place another minute is waiting to give my statement.”
“Were you injured in any way?” Baker asked. “Would you like to go to the hospital to be checked over?”
“Of course not. I’m perfectly all right,” the woman said as if everyone should know that it took more than being shoved into a closet and imprisoned for a couple of hours to bother an elementary school principal.
“Perhaps you could lead me through the events?” the Lieutenant asked.
Miranda Dobbs sighed as if to say there was hardly any need to go over it all again. She then recited an account that pretty much matched what Clarissa already knew.