Murder Checks Inn (Book 3 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries)

by Tim Myers

  “There was a fire at the place she was staying. She was nearly killed.”

  Cynthia stood. “But she survived.”

  With some satisfaction, Alex said, “The doctors say she’s going to be fine. Let me ask you something. Have you considered the possibility that Julie really is Mathias’s daughter, that she deserves to be included in the inheritance?”

  “My husband was many things, Alex, but even he wasn’t scoundrel enough to pop this on us without warning. I wouldn’t believe a DNA test at this point. There’s something suspicious about this entire scenario.”

  She started to leave as Alex asked, “What do you think was in the stolen will?”

  “How should I know? My husband was famous for his erratic behavior his entire life. The ‘sound body and mind’ clause is enough to have the entire document disputed, even if the will is found. One thing you may bank on: my children will be provided for; I’ll make sure of that.” Cynthia hesitated at the door, lost in her own thoughts. After a few moments of silence, she added, “We won’t make any agreements with this usurper. My children will not be denied what is rightfully theirs.”

  After Cynthia was gone, Alex stared at the door after her departure. The woman was single-minded about protecting what she thought of as rightly hers and her children’s. He couldn’t help wondering if she would go so far as to try to use a match and a can of gasoline to settle the dispute once and for all.

  Elise came in a few minutes later. “Well, that was useless. Steven would barely talk to me. I could hardly get a word out of him when his mother stormed out, accusing me of browbeating her son. I hope you managed better than I did.”

  Alex said, “I’m not sure.” He shared Cynthia’s comments and his theory that she might have taken matters into her own hands.

  “Alex, I have a hard time believing she would go that far. We don’t even know how much money Mathias left behind. How can we possibly know if it was enough to kill for?”

  Alex leaned back in his chair. “I don’t think it matters all that much to Cynthia. I believe she considers it a matter of principle.”

  “So where does that leave us in our investigation?”

  Alex stood. “There’s nothing we can do here at the moment. Why don’t we head over to the hospital and see if Julie saw something Amy might have missed. I particularly want to ask her if she remembers hearing a car pull up, or if the arsonist was on foot.”

  “Let’s go,” Elise said.

  “Aren’t you worried about our guests?” Alex said with a smile.

  “They can take care of themselves,” she said.

  They found Amy stationed just outside Julie’s room. Someone had cleaned her face and tended to the cuts on her hands where she’d tried to break out of the barn, but she hadn’t changed clothes yet.

  Elise said, “Amy, I didn’t even think about what you’d wear. Can I run back to your house and get you something to change into?”

  “It’s kind of you to offer, but I’m fine.”

  Alex asked, “Any news about Julie?”

  “The doctor’s in with her now. Armstrong came by ten minutes ago. He wanted to know if we heard or saw anything unusual before the fire.”

  “And did you?” Alex asked.

  “No, neither one of us had anything to tell him. It just kind of happened, do you know what I mean? I was caught completely off guard.”

  “I can only imagine how frightening it must have been for you two in that barn,” Elise said.

  Amy sighed, still hoarse from the smoke she’d inhaled. “Do you want to know the truth? All I could think about was that it was all my fault.”

  Alex asked, “How can that possibly be true?”

  “I knew Julie was in danger. I should have been taking more precautions than I did to protect her.”

  Alex asked, “What are you talking about?”

  “Come on, it sounds like there is a ton of money at stake here, and people go crazy sometimes when that much temptation is involved. What was I thinking, trying to protect her all alone? I’ll never forgive myself for what happened.”

  Elise leaned over her and hugged Amy. “How could you possibly know that some maniac would come after her? Amy, you saved both your lives today, you know that, don’t you? If you hadn’t covered yourselves with those soaked tarps, you’d both be dead.”

  Amy said, “What if it wasn’t enough? She’s not completely out of danger yet.”

  The door opened, and a doctor in a white lab coat stepped out. He approached them and said, “Amy, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, Doctor. How is she?”

  “Better, actually. I increased her medication, and she’s sleeping now.”

  “When can we see her?” Alex asked.

  “She’s not up for visitors,” the doctor said. “Until and unless her family arrives, I’m restricting her visitors to Amy at the moment.” He turned back to the sculptor and added, “You can go back in, but don’t wake her. She needs her sleep.”

  “I won’t say a word,” Amy said as she slipped back inside.

  Alex said, “How’s she really doing?”

  “May I ask your connection with the patient?”

  Elise said stiffly, “He pulled her out of the burning barn. Doesn’t that give him the right to some answers?”

  The doctor nodded, a slight smile spreading on his face. “Not officially, but it certainly does in my book. I didn’t know. I believe Ms. Hart should recover completely, given that she’s young and strong.” He turned back to Elise. “Amy told me about you as well. Her description was flawless. I’m assuming you were the one who administered CPR.”

  “I did,” she said simply.

  “Nicely done. You saved her life today, there’s no doubt in my mind.”

  As the doctor walked away, Alex saw movement down the corridor in the other direction. A masked male doctor was hurrying away from them, and Alex wouldn’t have thought a thing out of the ordinary if he hadn’t noticed the man’s shoes.

  They were thick-soled boots, not the shoes he’d expect from a doctor on duty at all.

  Alex rushed down the corridor, but by the time he turned the corner, whoever had been there was gone.

  “What was that all about?” Elise asked as she caught up to him.

  “It’s not important,” Alex answered. “My imagination must be on overtime.”

  Elise said, “So where do we go from here?”

  Alex thought about it a moment, then said, “I think it’s time we head back to the inn. I’ve got the germ of an idea on how to get the real killer out into the open.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “If I tell you now, you’ll just try to talk me out of it,” Alex said with a slight smile.

  “So it’s dangerous. Are you going to at least tell Sheriff Armstrong what you’re up to?”

  “He’d just try to stop me, too.”

  Elise looked at him solemnly. “If I promise not to interfere, would you tell me then?”

  Alex thought about it a moment, then said with a grin, “Tell you what. Maybe you can even help, if you’re interested.”

  “Count me in.”

  Chapter 19

  As they drove back to Hatteras West, Alex explained his plan to Elise. “I’m going to spend some time going through the boxes from Jase’s office. At just the right moment, I’m going to find a copy of Mathias’s will.”

  Elise protested, “But how can you do that? Cynthia’s going to demand to see it.”

  Alex said, “I’ll pretend to call Sandra, then lock it up somewhere I can keep my eye on it. Then we’ll see who comes after it.”

  “It sounds dangerous to me, Alex.”

  “What choice do I have? Armstrong’s not going to let Tony out, he doesn’t believe the arson and murder are related, based on the phone conversation we had earlier. I know better than anybody else how strong the evidence is against my brother. That anonymous caller really got to him.”

  “Alex, yo
u believe me when I say it wasn’t me, don’t you?”

  He risked a quick glance at her. “Of course I do. I just wish I knew how Armstrong got the information.”

  “You should try calling Nadine again.”

  Alex said, “You know I won’t carry a cellular phone; I don’t want to be accessible all the time. It can wait till we get back to the inn.”

  He swung the truck up Point Road and saw the parking lot in front of the inn sported all the cars in question. “Looks like everybody’s here. Are you ready?”

  “I’m still not sure about it, but I’ll do all I can to make it work.”

  He patted her shoulder. ‘‘Don’t worry. It’s going to be fine.”

  After they were inside, Alex checked the answering machine and saw he had one message. It was Mor. “Alex, we need to talk. Fighting that fire really brought things to a head for me. I’ve made my decision.”

  When Alex tried to call his friend back at Mor or Les, there was no answer at the handyman’s shop. Instead of playing telephone tag and leaving a message, Alex hung up. His friend would just have to wait.

  The lobby was empty, so Alex made sure his door was open as he and Elise started going through boxes. Elise said softly, “Do you really think they’re going to buy this?”

  “It’s the only thing left I can do,” Alex said. “We just have to wait a little longer, then we’ll be able to start the show.”

  Alex and Elise kept digging through the boxes of books. At first, Alex thought he might have actually found a single copy of the will serving double duty as a bookmark, but it turned out to be a detailed letter from one of Jase’s clients firing him. There was the oddest collection of documents Jase used to mark his place from whatever was handy. It was a glimpse inside his uncle’s life as he moved from book to book, more for the flotsam and jetsam than from the actual reading material. Alex took one legal-sized envelope and found a canceled Deed of Trust in it. The envelope itself was blank, so Alex scrawled something mimicking Jase’s handwriting on the front and showed it to Elise. “What do you think?”

  “It either says, ‘Last Will and Testament of Mathias Trask’ or it’s a party announcement for an eleven-year-old girl named Emily Hannah.”

  Alex smiled, “Good enough. We want to leave things as vague as we can.”

  Alex heard someone moving around on the porch, then the front door opened. Cynthia and Steven walked in, and Alex winked at Elise. “It’s show time.”

  “Here it is!” he shouted. “I found it.”

  “Oh my goodness. What are you going to do?” Elise asked in a like voice.

  “I’ve got to call Sandra. It’s a legal document; she’ll know what to do with it.”

  Alex pretended to dial the phone and watched as Cynthia hurried toward them. As she reached the door, he said into the dead telephone, “I found the will.”

  After a pause, he added, “Can’t you come out and get it now?”

  Cynthia said, “What’s going on here?”

  Alex held his hand up, then said, “I understand. I’ll keep it safe out here and bring it to you in the morning. Thanks.”

  After he hung up, Cynthia spied the document in his hand. “What have you got there?”

  “It’s Mathias’s will,” he said proudly. “I found it in one of the boxes of Jase’s things.”

  “Give it to me,” she demanded as she tried to snatch the document out of his hands.

  “I can’t,” Alex said, moving away from her. Cynthia’s sharp nails clamped down on air, but just barely. “Alex Winston, you are an innkeeper, not an attorney. As a representative of my late husband’s estate, that document belongs to me.”

  Alex shook his head. “As much as I’d like to oblige, Cynthia, Sandra instructed me to hold onto it until tomorrow, and since she’s taken over Jase’s cases officially, she’s the executor of Mathias’s will.” Alex didn’t know or care if he was technically right; it sounded good and would mostly likely be enough to satisfy Cynthia.

  He was wrong.

  “I’m calling my own attorney. I won’t tolerate this for one moment. Do you understand me?”

  Alex said, “Is the call long distance?”

  “Of course it is. Do you think I would ever agree to use an attorney in this backward little town?”

  Alex said, “Sorry, then, you’ll have to use the telephone in your room. It’s the only way I can bill it out properly.”

  Cynthia started to burn when Steven said, “You want privacy anyway, don’t you, Mother? Why don’t you walk out onto the porch? You can use my cell phone.”

  She agreed and stormed off outside after grabbing the telephone from her son’s hand. Alex hoped the attorney was out of the office. He’d waited as long as he could, but there was a chance his plan would be thwarted before it had time to work. It would be embarrassing admitting that he’d lied, but if it helped save Tony, it would be worth it.

  Steven drifted upstairs, no doubt to avoid his mother’s foul mood, and after they were both gone, Elise said, “So what do we do now?”

  He tapped the document with his finger. “There’s nothing much we can do but wait.”

  Half an hour later, Steven and Ashley came downstairs together, with Ashley holding the urn full of their father’s ashes. Cynthia had stormed upstairs long ago. Evidently, her lawyer was already gone for day, just as Alex had hoped. Steven was carrying the urn that held his father’s ashes. “Alex, do you have a minute?”

  “I’m sorry, Steven, but I can’t give you the will any more than I can turn it over to your mother. Sandra’s instructions were firm.”

  “That’s not it at all,” Ashley said. “Steven and I were so impressed with the ceremony scattering your uncle’s ashes hat we wondered if we could do the same with our father.”

  “I don’t know if I’m up to another send-off, Ashley, and I know the town council won’t approve a lighting so close to last night.”

  Steven said, “We don’t want any of that. We just wanted to make sure it was okay with you if we did it ourselves at the top of the lighthouse, just the two of us.”

  Elise said, “Don’t you want to ask your mother to join you?”

  “No, she doesn’t have a sentimental bone in her body,” Ashley said. “Steven and I want to do this together.”

  Alex looked at them intently, then said, “Let me ask you this. If Julie’s truly his daughter, too, doesn’t she have a right to be there as well?”

  Ashley said, “Steven and I grew up with him. She knows him through a single letter. Even if they share DNA, he’s still not her father. Please.”

  Elise said, “She’s got a point, Alex.”

  “Go ahead then,” Alex said. “Put this sign up when you go in. Everyone around here will respect it.” Alex dug through a drawer and pulled out a Lighthouse Closed sign.

  “Thanks, we greatly appreciate it,” Ashley said as an errant tear ran down her cheek.

  “Are you all right?” Elise asked her.

  “Excuse me,” Ashley said as she hurried out of the room.

  Steven lingered behind. “Ashley’s been really feeling Dad’s absence lately. This is all too much for her.”

  “Funny, she said the same thing about you, Steven,” Alex said.

  “Sure, I was upset, but she was his favorite, no matter what she says. I’d better get up there. She shouldn’t be alone.”

  After Steven was gone, Elise said, “So, where’s your safekeeping spot?”

  Alex moved over to his bed and pulled out one of Jase’s books on hidden treasures from beneath it. It was the volume he’d taken from his uncle’s desk in his office. “It’s kind of appropriate we use this as a bookmark, don’t you think?”

  As Alex opened the book to put the document inside, a single sheet of stationery fluttered out. Alex retrieved it, and as he read, his face went white.

  “What is it?” Elise asked as Alex bolted for the door.

  “Call Armstrong, Elise. I know who killed Jase, and if I don’t
act fast enough, somebody else is going to die.”

  Alex heard voices above him as he raced up the lighthouse stairs. He had to get to the top before something happened! For one of the few times in his life, he cursed every one of the 268 stairs that led to the top of the lighthouse. As he raced upward, Alex’s heart pounded in his chest. Would he get there in time, or would another victim be taken at the top of the lighthouse he so loved?

  No, he couldn’t let that happen.

  Not again.

  Chapter 20

  “Go ahead, Ashley, pour the ashes out over the edge.”

  “Steven, you should help me, too.”

  “Okay, I’m coming,” Steven said as Alex burst through the door.

  Ashley saw him and said, “We’d really rather be alone right now, if you don’t mind.”

  “Yes, Alex, this is a private ceremony,” Steven said in a hard voice. Alex saw he was two steps from his sister as he said it.

  “That’s close enough,” Alex said. “Ashley, move away from the railing.”

  Steven saw the look on Alex’s face and knew instantly he’d been discovered. Taking a bold step, he moved toward his sister, pinning her against the narrow railing.

  “Steven! What are you doing?”

  “Shut up, Sister dear. You’re going to have a little accident up here.”

  “Have you lost your mind?” Ashley yelled.

  Steven put more pressure on her, and Alex could see

  Ashley beginning to go over. There was no safety net below, and if she went off the side, it was a 200-foot drop.

  “Are you going to push us both over, Steven?” Alex said, stalling for time.

  “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. You’re going to fall trying to save her. Sadly, I couldn’t get to you in time,” Steven said. “Congratulations, Alex, you’re going to die a hero.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Ashley cried.

  “Stop your whimpering,” Steven said. “Good old Alex finally found the will, so as soon as I take care of you both, I’m going to go to his room and destroy it. I just happen to know where Dad’s old will is. Mother keeps a copy in her desk at home. She thinks it’s useless, can you believe that? I slipped a look at it, and guess what? If either of us dies before the will’s read, that share is gone, whether we have children of our own or not. I tried to take care of Julie before it became an issue, but she’ll just have to wait. I have to kill you now, Ashley, before the old will is legally entered into the record.”