A Perfect Case of Murder

by B. T. Lord

  “Do you know if she was planning on maybe renting it out?” Jace asked.

  “I can’t imagine why. She certainly didn’t need the money.”

  “Maybe it was for a member of the family, or maybe she realized she needed help up there and decided to hire someone?”

  “If this last figure is anything to go by, she put a lot of money into it to then turn around and use it for hired help.” Cammie commented. “Could be she was building it for Abby. Not only as a spot to escape to, but as a place to paint. She did say how much she loved it up there.”

  “I’m one step ahead of you, Sherlock,” Doc replied. “I called Abby. I even called Eliot, Shirley and Bitsy. No one knew anything about this cabin.”

  “You didn’t try Lily?” Cammie asked, a wry smile on her face.

  “Until I have a conversation with her that begins with the words ‘I’ve instructed my bank to transfer into your account…’ she won’t speak to me. Especially after the scathing phone call I received soon after her pleasant visit a few days ago.”

  Cammie lifted an eyebrow. “Let me guess. Mantree hauled her in for questioning.”

  “He personally drove all the way down to Brookline to interview her himself.”

  “Oh boy. I probably should have warned him what he was in for.” She put the bill back into the envelope and handed it back to Doc.

  “Of course,” Doc continued as he took the envelope and shoved it into his pocket. “There’s always the possibility she built the extra cabin as part of a project to give underprivileged children a place to go to experience nature.”

  “Isn’t that what you’re going to do with Helen’s cabin?”

  “Yes. It’s nice to think I’m in sync with what she already had in mind.”

  “So what are you going to do about the cabin?”

  “There’s only one way to discover what this is all about.” He stood up and poked his finger into Cammie’s chest. “We are going to take another trip to Allagash and find this place. I did call the construction company and they informed me they started building last year. Helen paid in installments. When I asked for the amounts, they correspond nicely to four out of the five sundry items we found in her ledger, totaling $450,000.”

  “That leaves the fifth sundry item of $500,000. Do you know the date of that one?”

  “Yes. That was the last payment made in mid-March.”

  “So who the heck did she pay $500,000 to? According to Lily, Helen refused to pay one more cent to Charles.”

  “Maybe she changed her mind,” Jace suggested. “I mean, if these criminals weren’t going to get the money from Charles, maybe they threatened Lily.”

  “It’s a possibility that I brought up to Lily.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She was adamant that her mother would never have allowed that to happen. However,” she continued, “Charles owed them $4 million. Would a mere $500,000 be enough to call those goons off? Nor can I wrap my head around the fact that she didn’t label the other payments as construction costs in her ledger. She was so meticulous about everything else.”

  Doc shrugged. “Maybe you’ll find your answers in the cabin. The man I spoke to today told me they built a primitive road out to the cabin, which is deep in the woods. He gave me a general idea where it is. I’m sure with your eagle eye, we’ll have no trouble finding it.” He brushed past her and walked towards the front door. “Of course you’re more than welcome to come along, Jason. You were so invaluable the last time you came up.”

  “Doc, I don’t think…” Cammie began, only to be interrupted by Doc.

  “We’ll leave in the morning.” He opened the front door. “By the way, if I were you, I’d change the location of the bathroom to the east side of the addition. There’s nothing like the morning sun streaming in when you’re taking a long, relaxing bath.” He started to leave when he turned back. “Actually, I’ll make a list of suggestions and give those to you when I pick you up tomorrow morning. Good night.” And with that, he was gone.

  Cammie stood in the middle of the living room, listening to him pull away. When it was silent, she turned a frustrated eye towards Jace. “He’s really starting to piss me off.”

  Jace shrugged. “He’s always pissed you off. You’ve just been more patient in the past.” She returned to her spot on the couch. “You have to admit, it is a bit curious why Helen would build another cabin when she obviously didn’t need one. Or why she hid the construction costs under the heading sundry items.”

  “Tax reasons maybe? As to the cabin itself, maybe she was going to rent it out to other rabid environmentalists. Start a colony of what Will Sackett called “crispy critters.” Or, despite what Doc says, she could have been planning to surprise Abby with it. Wherever it is, I’m sure it’s in a beautiful location that would serve as the perfect inspiration for Abby’s art. Whatever the reason, the rich live in a world all their own. They make decisions not always based in-”

  Her words trailed off when she noticed Jace wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he was intently studying the blueprints in front of him. “You know,” he said, “I think the bathroom would be better facing the east.”

  Her response was to smack him in the arm.

  The next morning, just as the sun was peaking over the horizon, a bleary eyed Cammie found herself back in Doc’s Navigator as they started the five hour trip to Allagash. Jace had unfortunately decided against going. He was up to his elbows in work at the garage and couldn’t find the time.

  At first convinced this was a wild goose chase, as she became more awake and more coherent, she had to admit, her curiosity was aroused by the discovery of another cabin. She and Doc tried different scenarios to explain why Helen would have gone to such expense to construct another building on her property.

  Passing through Houlton, Cammie was tempted to stop off and see Mantree. However, knowing how angry he probably still was at her, she decided to forgo it. Besides, they were just driving up to find a cabin Doc’s late aunt/mother had built. It had nothing with do with the investigation.

  At least she hoped not. God knew what his reaction would be if, once again, Cammie intruded on his turf, however innocently that intrusion would have been.

  The drive up was uneventful. Rather than stopping at the inn which was beginning to feel like a second home to the two, they continued on to Helen’s cabin.

  They stopped in front of her home, its features already taking on a forlornness, as if it knew its mistress was gone, never returning to a place that had made her happy.

  Cammie climbed out of the Navigator and grabbing a pair of binoculars from the back seat, scanned the meadows where Doc indicated the construction company had told him to look. She saw nothing. On a hunch, she strode down across the meadow close to where the stream was.

  The weather was perfect and the wild flowers were beginning to bloom. The roaring sound of the water was both loud and soothing as the last of the snows melted.

  Cammie looked about her and took in a lungful of clean air. If Helen hadn’t built the cabin for Abby, she should have. The sheriff was no painter, but the view was enough to make her want to take up a brush and canvas to try and capture its beauty.

  She once again peered through the binoculars, carefully canvassing the entire area. Just as she was about to quit, she discerned what looked like an opening in the woods at the far side of the meadow. She wasn’t sure if it meant anything, but it was worth investigating.

  She walked back up to the cabin, finding Doc sitting on the wicker rocker on the front porch. “You look like something right out of a Winslow Homer painting,” she laughed.

  He blinked at her. “There are depths to you, my girl, that I never imagined. First a reference to Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and now to Winslow Homer.”

  “It’s amazing what you’ll find on a bubblegum card,” she grinned.

  He sighed. “I thought it was too good to be true.”

  “There’s an opening in
the woods over there in the general direction the construction company told us to look. Let’s check it out.”

  The Navigator bumped over the terrain and as they drew closer to where Cammie had seen the opening, they were amazed to find a path wide enough to accommodate a vehicle disappearing into the forest. On either side were tree stumps that had been sacrificed to create the primitive track.

  “Stop here,” Cammie ordered. As Doc slowed to a stop, she jumped out. She looked back in the direction of Helen’s cabin, then began to walk down a road a bit, peering down as she made her way through the grass that reached up to her thighs. After a few moments of investigating, she returned to the Navigator and climbed in.

  “Did you see anything of interest?” Doc asked.

  “I’m not surprised we didn’t see it from Helen’s cabin. The grove of trees make a natural bend, so unless you walk into the meadow like I did, you’d never know it was here. When I walked ahead, I could just make out tire treads here and there.”

  “You think they’re from the construction crew?”

  “Probably. Now I’m really curious to see what Helen did.”

  But they didn’t move. Doc remained still, staring down the path that lay in front of them. Cammie reached out and gently rested her hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Doc,” she whispered.

  “Is it?” he replied. “I’m not sure I want to see what’s down there. I grew up thinking Helen was my aunt. Then I discover she’s my mother. Then I have to grapple with the thought that she willingly hid Lily’s appalling behavior by using her wealth to shut people up. Now…”

  “We have two choices. We can turn around right now and never go down this road. Or we can move ahead. The first choice is safer, but you’ll always have uncertainty hanging over your shoulder. The second choice is riskier, but you know, it could reveal that it’s just another cabin built to house guests.”

  “Or it could be an answer to a question I don’t even want to ask.”

  “I can’t help with the decision. But I support whichever way you decide to go.”

  Doc hesitated, then put the Navigator into 4 wheel drive. “What is that saying you always use? Shoot, shit or dismount?” Cammie nodded. “Well, looks like we’re going to shoot.”

  They slowly made their way down the bumpy and pot marked path for almost ten minutes. Surrounding them was a deep, dense forest that made them feel very isolated. And vulnerable.

  “Now I know what Lewis and Clarke felt like, taking off into lands unknown,” Cammie said as they hit another pothole that sent her flying out of her seat.

  “What the hell was Helen thinking, putting a cabin all the way out here?” Doc complained as they took another deep bump that smashed their heads against the roof of the Navigator.

  “Well, it doesn’t make sense she’d stick a guest all the way out here. If anything happened to them, she’d never know. It’s like something out of a horror movie where kids go into the forest to camp and never come out.”

  Doc threw her a disdainful look. “We have enough on our hands getting down this road in one piece without you scaring us half to death.”

  She chuckled. “You know, maybe she really did build it as part of a plan to have kids from the inner cities come up here. If you ignore how creepy it must be at night, it is a pretty cool place to run around in.”

  “Oh yes. Instead of dodging drug dealers and gangs, they’d dodge bears, coyotes and deadly snakes,” Doc groused as they once again hit a deep pot hole that sent them bouncing out of their seats.

  Five minutes later, they emerged from the woods into a small circular clearing. In the center of the clearing stood the finely crafted cabin. It was smaller than Helen’s, though both Cammie and Doc could see why it had cost so much. Helen’s eye to detail was evident in the large farmer’s porch and the smoothly hewed logs used for construction. To the right of the steps leading up to the porch sat a year old Dodge truck. A lean-to was filled top to bottom with carefully cut cords of wood. To the left of the steps, a small shed had been constructed that housed a generator, a necessity this far out into the wilderness.

  Rolling to a stop, Cammie was taken by the quiet stillness of the area. Except for the chirping of birds and the occasional rustling of the trees as a breeze blew up, she felt they were truly out in the middle of nowhere, cut off from everything and everyone. Yet, there was a comfort here. A place of retreat, of sanctuary. Of awe inspiring beauty.

  Cammie stifled a gasp as a thought occurred to her.

  This was also a wonderful place to hide.

  Without thinking, she slowly unsnapped her holster.

  “So what do we do now?” Doc asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Ring the doorbell and announce we’re door to door salesmen with a deal of a lifetime?”

  “I don’t think we need to do that.” She jerked her head towards the cabin.

  Doc turned and peered through the windshield. The front door was open and a figure emerged. He was tall and painfully thin under clothes that hung on his emaciated frame. Even from where they sat, they could see how sick he was, his pallor gray and pasty. Despite the warm temperatures, he was dressed as though it was still winter.

  He stood at the top of the steps, his hand shading his eyes as he blinked down at the Navigator in astonishment. It was obvious he wasn’t expecting anyone and he didn’t seem to know what to do. Doc stared back at him, his brow creased in confusion. Then, his jaw dropped as he sucked in his breath.

  “That’s impossible,” he replied, his owlish eyes widening in shock and dismay.

  “That’s Charles Evans, isn’t it?” Cammie asked, as all the pieces finally fell into place in a case that had been frustrating and bewildering from the very start.

  Doc remained staring at the man. “I –I-” He stammered. Then with his mouth set in a thin line, he opened his door and stepped out. “I think I need to introduce you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “I feared this day would come. I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone stumbled upon my hidey hole,” the man replied in a thin, reedy voice that was the result of either his illness, or from living so isolated and away from human companionship. “I just never thought it would be you. How are you, Sam? The years have been kind to you. I wish I could say the same for myself.” Doc was flummoxed, unable to speak as he continued to stare. The man saw his expression and chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m not a ghost. Not yet, anyway.” He looked beyond the Navigator to the road. “How did you find this place?”

  Doc finally found his voice. “Helen’s last bill with the construction company was sent to me.”

  “Ah, done in by my insatiable need for comfort. Now that’s what you would call an ironic twist of fate.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why don’t you both come inside? Unless you prefer speaking from your vehicle.” He offered them a wry smile. “Or are you convinced that once you enter my home, I’ll overpower you.” Once again he laughed as he turned and re-entered the cabin.

  Cammie withdrew her pistol as she stepped out of the Navigator. “I’m not taking any chances. If that guy did kill Helen, he could easily kill us and dump our bodies in these woods. It would be Doomsday before anyone found us.”

  Doc shook his head from side to side, trying to clear his befuddled thoughts. Finally he spoke. “I don’t think you need to worry about Charles harming us.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that’s not Charles.” He looked back towards the cabin. “It’s Tom Hightower.”

  “You were reported lost and presumed dead in the Amazon,” Doc asked when they were seated in Tom’s living room.

  Cammie was still in shock.

  She’d stared at Doc in disbelief as he slowly walked up the porch steps and entered the cabin. She debated what to do, afraid that even though Tom looked like he was about to die any moment, they would still be at a disadvantage once they entered his home. It didn’t take a lot of strength to hold up a pistol and pull the trigger.
Nor could she call in reinforcements. She didn’t need to look at her cell to know there would be no signal this far out in the woods.

  The alternative was to cool her heels outside and leave Doc unprotected. Unwilling to do that, and still reeling from the discovery, she had no choice but to go inside. She now sat staring at a ghost who wasn’t a ghost, her hand visibly resting on the butt of her gun.

  The living room and kitchen took up most of the downstairs, with its plush, comfortable furnishings and a large wood stove that could easily heat the whole cabin. There was a closed door to the left that Cammie presumed was a bedroom. Helen’s love for fine workmanship was evident in the rafters that crisscrossed the ceiling, and in the wide planked floors.

  Doc and Tom sat on the wide, light grey couch while Cammie sat in a comfortable armchair in front of the two men. His clothes were so baggy, he could easily have a pistol hidden within its folds. She therefore remained alert, her eyes never leaving him.

  “I know,” Tom responded sadly.

  “Have you given no thought to your family? They’re devastated by your loss.”

  “I think about them every day.” He glanced at Cammie and saw her hand resting on her pistol. “You don’t need to worry that I’m going to hurt either one of you. As you can tell, I’m not up to doing much of anything these days.”

  “How long do you have?” Doc asked, his medical training already telling him the sorrowful truth.

  “If I’m lucky, two months at most.”

  “What is going on, Tom? Why did you fake your death? Why did Helen build you a cabin out here?”

  “Can I at least offer you and your companion a cup of coffee or tea before we start?”

  “What I want are answers. Especially about Helen’s death,” Doc snapped, his surprise gone, replaced by his irascible impatience.

  Tom sat back on the couch and crossed his legs. “There really is nothing diabolical about all of this, Sam, despite what it may look like.”

  “I’ll withhold judgment until you’re done.”