Sweet Vows and Promises (A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 10)

by J A Whiting

  “It does,” Angie said. “Rachel’s father’s name was Milton Marsten. He was an attorney who handled divorces, finances, wealth management. John Smith-Higgins was a childhood friend of Milton Marsten. Smith-Higgins supposedly contacted Marsten out of the blue and asked him to come up to Marion Island. Smith-Higgins needed Marsten’s help with something and wanted someone he could trust. What did Chief Martin ask you?”

  “He asked if Smith-Higgins had ever been in for dinner.”

  “Has he?”

  “Sure. Not often, but he isn’t around here very much. He’s been here with business associates, his wife a couple of times.”

  “Did the chief ask specifically about a certain date that he might have visited?”

  “He asked if we had records going back six years.”

  “Do you?”

  “No, we don’t keep information like that. It was a long time ago. We’d just recently expanded the resort. I told the chief that if they knew anything about Marsten’s credit cards, they might be able to get that information from the credit company.”

  Angie’s and Josh’s meals were brought to the table and they sat quietly eating their food for a few minutes.

  Josh looked across the table at Angie. “Does the chief think that Smith-Higgins had something to do with Marsten’s death?”

  “Marsten told his wife he was meeting Smith-Higgins here at the resort for dinner. She never heard from him again.”

  A look of horror washed over Josh’s face. “I wonder if he was here that night. I wonder if Marsten met Smith-Higgins here or did Marsten never make it. The chief won’t be able to talk to Smith-Higgins. The guy was involved with some illegal scheme and fled the country.”

  “When did this happen?” Angie asked.

  “About six years ago. What about the man who owns the property where the body was found?”

  “The owner is recently deceased.” Angie let out a sigh. “Was that car in the garage for six years? That’s when the coroner thinks the man was killed and it lines up with the time Marsten disappeared. Was Marsten in the car in that garage for six years?”

  Josh put down his fork and leaned back. “How could no one discover the man? For all that time? It seems impossible to hide a body in a garage for that many years. Do you think he was in there since he was killed?”

  “It’s possible.” Angie took a sip from her glass and stared out the window to the grounds shrouded in darkness. “But why? Why not bury the body? Why leave it in the car?”

  Josh turned a palm up in a helpless gesture. “I can’t come up with any ideas. I can’t wrap my mind around it. It’s just too strange.”

  “Rachel is going to take the body back to West Virginia for burial next to her mother.”

  “I’m glad she’s able to do that. It must be terrible to always wonder what happened to someone you love.”

  Angie smiled at the man across from her. She loved Josh’s kind heart and sincere concern for others. “Why don’t we talk about happier things?”

  “Good idea. How about a romantic walk along the point under the stars?”

  Angie and Josh left the dining room hand in hand and headed out of the lobby to follow the walkway along the lushly landscaped grounds to the edge of the point. Angie could feel the spirit of her grandmother floating on the air and moving through her veins.

  The waves crashed against the beach below the bluff and the moonlight spread across the sea like a silvery, shimmering path. Strolling along, Josh slipped his arm around Angie’s waist and pulled her close.

  “If we got married, where would we live?” Josh asked.

  Angie’s heart nearly stopped from surprise. “Ah, um, I don’t know.”

  “Would you want to live here at the resort or would you prefer to be close to the bake shop? Is there room for us to live in the Victorian?”

  Angie was so shocked Josh was asking such questions that she could barely think straight. “There’s plenty of room.”

  “Could we make an apartment on the upper floor?”

  Angie chuckled. “You’d have to kick Courtney out of her room to do that.”

  “Would she agree? Could she move into your room on the second floor?”

  Angie turned to Josh and looked up at him with a grin. “Why are you asking? Do you have something in mind that I don’t know about?”

  Josh ran his finger along Angie’s cheek and jawline. “Well, you know how I love Victorian houses.”

  “I didn’t know you had your eye on my Victorian.” Angie chuckled.

  “Actually, my eye is on something else.” Josh leaned down and kissed his sweetheart just as her phone buzzed.

  Angie groaned. “I’ll ignore it.”

  Running his hand over her soft hair, Josh said, “You’d better check it.”

  Reluctantly pulling the phone from her purse, Angie read the text. “It’s Chief Martin. He’s interviewing the tenant who moved out two weeks ago from the rental property where the body was discovered. He wants me and Courtney to sit in on it.”

  “Why does he?” Josh held Angie’s eyes and pushed a strand of hair from her face. “How do you help him?”

  Angie swallowed hard.

  “Tell me.” Josh’s voice was gentle. “Can you tell me?”

  Angie stared into his eyes, her heart pounding, and made a decision. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something, something you might find hard to believe.” She took hold of Josh’s hand and on weak legs led him to a bench near the top of the bluff where the two sat down together under the stars.

  It was time.

  No more secrets.

  16

  When Angie walked into the kitchen with a dreamy smile on her face, Courtney looked up from her cereal bowl and narrowed her eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”

  Angie startled. “Nothing. Why?”

  Standing at the stove making blueberry pancakes for the B and B’s guests’ breakfast, Ellie, holding a spatula aloft, turned around to stare at her sister.

  Mr. Finch added a slice of lemon to his cup of tea. “You look quite happy this morning, Miss Angie.”

  Euclid trilled from the top of the refrigerator as Circe swished her black tail back and forth.

  “You should all be detectives,” Angie said while reaching for a box of cereal on the cabinet.

  “Well, technically,” Courtney said, “we are detectives.”

  Finch’s eyes twinkled. “Do you have something to tell us?”

  Ellie flipped the pancakes. “Just spill it, will you? I almost burned the pancakes.”

  Angie carried her bowl to the kitchen table and sat down across from Courtney and Mr. Finch. “I told Josh.”

  “Told him what?” Courtney spooned some cereal into her mouth.

  A sly smile formed over Angie’s lips. “You know. About us.”

  Ellie whirled around. “What do you mean about us?”

  Chuckling, Angie said, “You know very well what I mean. I told him about our skills.”

  “It must have gone well if you are smiling, Miss Angie.”

  “It did go well.” Angie’s voice sounded light. “I decided to tell him on the spur of the moment. At first, he thought I was kidding with him, and when it dawned on him that I wasn’t, his face went blank and my heart dropped into my stomach. I thought he was going to get up and walk away.”

  “But, he didn’t?” Finch buttered a slice of toast.

  “He stayed.” Angie’s smile lit up the room. Josh thought it was remarkable, his word. He seemed proud of us, excited. He said he always knew we were special.” Tears of joy and relief welled in Angie’s eyes and she dabbed at them with her napkin. “I’m so happy.”

  Mr. Finch rose from the table, walked to Angie, and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m very pleased for you, Miss Angie. And for us, as well. We are now able to share things about the cases with your intended.”

  “We aren’t engaged, Mr. Finch.” Angie grinned.

  “Yet.” Courtney raised an eyebr
ow. “I’m glad Josh knows. It’s such a pain not to be able to talk about cases when he’s around. It’s too soon to tell Rufus, but I’ll be so relieved when he knows.”

  “I’m pleased that Josh knows, too.” Ellie lifted the pancakes onto a platter. “I’m so happy that Josh didn’t …you know, freak out. I’m terrified to tell Jack about it.”

  Someone knocked on the doorframe between the kitchen and the back hall and everyone turned to see Ellie’s boyfriend, Jack, standing there. “Tell me what?”

  Ellie blushed and stammered, “What? Well, aren’t you bright and early.” She blinked wondering why Jack had come to the Victorian so early in the morning. “Why are you here, Jack? It isn’t even 6am yet. Is something wrong?”

  “Oh, it’s almost six?” Angie jumped up. “I’m late for the shop.” Pausing before hurrying to the door that led to the bake shop, she waited to hear why Jack had come to the B and B.

  “I have an early appointment in Salem so I stopped to get a takeout coffee at the shop. I thought I’d pop in for a minute to say hello.”

  Despite her fluster, Ellie took Jack’s arm and gave him a kiss. “I’m glad you did.”

  “I heard you say my name. What are you afraid to tell me?” Jack’s face seemed to have paled and his jaw muscles looked tense.

  Courtney noticed Jack’s expression and said, “Just tell him. He thinks you’re about to dump him.”

  “No, oh … no. Jack. That’s not it at all.” Ellie put her arm around Jack’s waist.

  The tension in the attorney’s face lessened a bit. “What is it then?”

  “Why not take Jack into the family room, Miss Ellie?” Mr. Finch suggested gently. “Miss Courtney and I will tend to the guests’ breakfasts. We have time before we have to be at the candy store.”

  Ellie had a deer-in-the-headlights look and for a moment, Courtney was sure her sister was going to faint, but Ellie took a deep breath and pushed her shoulders back. When she took Jack’s hand and led him towards the room at the back of the house, the two cats jumped down from the top of the fridge and raced after them.

  The three people still in the kitchen stared at each other.

  Courtney watched the two felines dart away. “I wish I was a cat, then I could be in the room when Ellie lays this whopper on Jack.”

  Angie groaned as she rushed to the door to the bake shop. “I have to go to work. One of you, please, let me know what happens.”

  “Jack is a logical man.” Finch reached for his tea cup. “He will accept the news with grace and understanding.”

  “Really?” Courtney shook her head. “Jack’s reaction was the one I worried about the most. He’s so logical, I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to believe this … or accept it.”

  Finch glanced at the clock. “Time will tell, Miss Courtney. Time will tell.”

  As she snapped a lid on a takeout latte and handed it to the customer, Angie took a quick look at the bake shop’s wall clock for about the ten-thousandth time in the past hour. Her heart beat wildly from thinking about how Jack might take the news of the family’s skills and she wished that one of her special talents could be making things turn out happily for everyone.

  With a big grin on her face, Louisa, Angie’s employee, walked over to ring a sale into the cash register. “Looks like your sister is having an extra nice morning.”

  “What do you mean? Which sister?”

  Louisa motioned toward the window and Angie followed her gesture to see Ellie and Jack standing on the porch engaged in a long kiss. Some of the bakery customers noticed the passionate embrace and a man knocked on the glass to tease the couple.

  Jack and Ellie broke from their hold, horrified that a few of the bake shop customers had seen them kissing. The three people sitting at the table directly in front of the window chuckled and applauded causing Ellie and Jack to dash from the porch to the front lawn.

  Courtney stuck her head into the shop and, with a wide grin, said to Angie, “I think Jack is going to be late for his meeting in Salem.”

  With her nervous heart settling back to its normal rhythm, Angie returned her sister’s smile. “I saw.”

  “Nothing but peace, love, and understanding around here.” Courtney gave Angie a thumbs-up. “Mr. Finch and I are going to the candy store now. I’ll see you this afternoon. We’re meeting Chief Martin at 4pm?”

  Angie gave a nod and feeling like the weight of the world had dropped from her shoulders, she took the next person’s order with a contented smile. The rest of the morning flew by with Angie and Louisa chatting with the customers who were enjoying sweets and drinks at the tables, replenishing the shelves, and placing tins of muffins and breads into the commercial ovens.

  Angie was in the middle of clearing one of the tables when Louisa gave her a playful nudge. “Here comes that handsome guy of yours.”

  A flush ran through Angie’s body when she saw Josh come into the bake shop, but when she noticed the expression on his face, her stomach dropped.

  Josh hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Do you have a minute? Can we sit? I have to tell you something.”

  Gesturing to the table by the window she’d just cleared, the two took seats. Worry lines creased Josh’s forehead as he reached shakily across to take Angie’s hand. “I was in the storage room going over the supply lists with the chef. The television was on. I heard the news reporter talking about the body in the garage and when I looked over to the TV, the artist’s sketch of the dead man was on the screen.” Josh’s breathing was fast and shallow. “Angie. I saw that man. I talked to him. It must have been the night he disappeared.”

  “When did you see him? You remember seeing him?” Angie’s heart pounded crazily.

  Josh ran his hand over his face. “I was working at the resort. I’d just finished graduate school and had joined my brother to run the resort. The first wedding we ever held there was scheduled for that night and we wanted everything to go well. You know how my brother is … Davis didn’t just want things to go well, he demanded that everything be perfect.”

  Louisa brought over a mug of coffee and Josh took a long swig. “Things were in place, the room looked beautiful, guests began to arrive. I stepped outside to be sure the valet parking was going smoothly.” Josh took a deep breath. “There was a man standing off to the side, he looked like he was waiting for someone. He looked so distraught that I went over to talk to him. I thought he was one of the wedding guests. If my brother saw a guest upset, he would have had a fit so I knew I had to fix whatever was bothering the man.”

  Josh looked out the window. “The man’s worry stuck out so much from the joyful mood of the other guests that it buried in my memory. I remember what he looked like. He had red hair, narrow features, he looked almost bird-like. He was wearing an expensive suit. I went over and asked if there was something I could do. He looked at me so forlornly that I almost stepped back. The man forced a smile and said, ‘There’s nothing anyone can do, I’m afraid. Nothing.’ He noticed a car approaching and excused himself to go meet it. I forgot all about the interaction ... until I saw the drawing on the news this morning. It was him that I talked to that night. The dead man from the garage. It was Rachel’s father, Milton Marsten. From what you told me, that must have been the same night he disappeared.”

  17

  Courtney and Angie walked next to Chief Martin as they made their way down the hall to the police station’s conference room with Angie relaying what Josh had told her several hours ago about having met Milton Marsten.

  “Josh called me after he talked to you,” Chief Martin said. “I’m going down to the resort to see Josh after we talk to this man.” He pushed the door open and they entered the harshly-lit room. “These are the consultants I told you about,” the chief addressed the middle-aged man who had stood up when they entered. The chief introduced the two Roseland sisters. “This is Matthew Harding. He rented from Leon Drapper for several years.”

  Everyone took seats around t
he white plastic table.

  “Can you tell us how long you rented the ranch from Mr. Drapper?” Chief Martin asked.

  The man who appeared to be in his late-forties cleared his throat and shifted his gaze between the chief, Angie, and Courtney as he talked. He was slim, with dark hair and brown eyes and his hands looked calloused indicating he probably did some type of manual labor. “I lived in the ranch house for five years. I finally saved up some money and my girlfriend and I bought a small house of our own up in Silver Cove.”

  “And you rented the ranch from Leon Drapper?”

  “We did.” Matthew nodded and then shook his head. “I can’t believe that body was in the garage the whole time we lived there. It creeped us out, I can tell you that. I work construction. Once, I asked about leaving some of my equipment in the garage. I got a flat out ‘no’ from old Leon. Guess we know why now, don’t we?”

  “What did you think of Mr. Drapper?” Angie asked.

  “As long as you paid the rent on time, Leon was fine. He didn’t bother us. Came by now and then to fiddle in the garage, make sure the lawn guy was doing the mowing, check the place out. My girlfriend didn’t like him.”

  “Why not?” Courtney eyed the man.

  “She said he was a creep. She said he was rude, said Leon made her uncomfortable, that he stared at her. Donnalee didn’t like to be home alone when he came around.”

  “Did Mr. Drapper do anything specific to your girlfriend?” Courtney questioned.

  “Nah, nothing like that. He made some comments about her appearance that she didn’t like.” Matthew shrugged. “Leon seemed like he didn’t know how to talk to people. Anyway, Donnalee told him off. She said she didn’t care if he kicked us out of the house. Leon left her alone after she cussed him out.”

  Courtney decided that she liked Donnalee.

  “Did Leon ever stay in the apartment on the other side of the ranch?” the chief questioned.

  “I never saw him stay over. Mostly, he’d come by, do some stuff in the garage, look around to see if everything was okay. I think he showered in there once or twice. Sometimes he’d go in to eat his lunch. He never stayed long. The side where the ranch meets the apartment shares a wall. It’s paper thin. We would’ve heard if Leon was in there.”