15 Minutes of Flame

by Christin Brecher

  “Like what?” said Emily.

  I looked at Victoria and thought of Mary Backus’s journal entry. She mentioned the offspring of the Coopers.

  “What if Patience had a baby?” I said. “I mean, if Jedediah was a killer, he had probably shown his true character beforehand. If she had a baby, she might want to protect it from Jedediah. In her diary, Mary Backus said that Nancy looked forlorn after her friend disappeared. She probably knew something bad had happened. I mean, her friend would never leave her baby behind.”

  “I like it,” said Emily. “I mean, that’s something that could drive a person down a well. And it would explain why she took the map with her. She wouldn’t want it to ever get into Jedediah’s hands. She wouldn’t want him to find the baby.”

  My phone rang at that moment. I looked at the screen to see my cousin Kate’s name.

  “Hi,” I said, but my words were ill-timed.

  At that moment, Victoria turned over and in doing so was roused from her impenetrable slumber. The sound of my voice, one other than her mother’s, perhaps one tinged with concern, woke her, and sent her into a flood of tears that I could have taped and played in the haunted house.

  “Can you hold?” I said to Kate, not waiting for her answer before I put the phone over my chest to block the noise.

  “Sorry,” said Emily, lifting her baby.

  In one second, it was as if I had disappeared from the room. Whatever fatigue Emily was feeling from her own illness had left her. In its place was a mother in full-on action. She rocked Victoria and said comforting words to her, while simultaneously feeling her forehead for a fever.

  I rose and waved, the phone still over my chest. Emily gave me a half-hearted wave as I left the room and headed downstairs.

  “Hi,” I said to Kate.

  “Boy, that kid has lungs,” said Kate.

  “I know,” I said, waving to Neal as I opened his front door.

  Neal waved. I thought it was funny as I left that he didn’t seem to notice the volume. Then I noticed his earplugs.

  “Robert Solder’s body just arrived,” she said.

  “Did you find out anything interesting?”

  “I was able to take a quick look at the file,” she said. “Death by strangulation. There was a hit on the head too, but it was not deadly. The coroner believes it was inflicted by someone rather than from the deceased hitting his head during strangulation. Something about the angle.”

  “Anything else?” I said.

  “Nothing yet, but he just got here,” she said. “I’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks so much,” I said.

  I hung up the phone and checked my watch. It was going on four o’clock, but already the skies were dimming. Before I knew it, the cold days of winter would be here, and I’d find out if Peter could take a quiet winter on the island. I shook off the thought. Winter hadn’t eclipsed the sky yet.

  At the intersection of Main Street and Pleasant Street, I saw Ted and Docker’s truck slowly bumping down Main Street’s cobblestones. I knew that the brothers would never take money from anyone to make a curious cut into a tree, but Kyle Nolan was right. Murder had to be taken seriously and all avenues had to be investigated.

  “Hey,” I called, and honked my horn.

  Docker, who was driving, saw me. He slowed down so I could pull up next to him. We both lowered our windows.

  “Howdy,” he said. “Want one of Agnes’s lemon bars? We have three left, and we’re arguing over the last one.”

  “No, thanks,” I said, looking up at their truck from my small Beetle. “Can you pull over a minute?”

  Docker looked into his rearview mirror. A car was coming up behind them, so he pulled to the curb while I parked and got out.

  “I spoke to Kyle and Clemmie Nelson,” I said when I got to the truck.

  “Why?” said Ted, his brow furrowing.

  “Because I wanted to know if he had a hand in making that extra notch on the tree,” I said.

  “And?”

  “He said he didn’t, and I believe him.”

  “You should,” said Docker. “It’s a ridiculous idea.”

  “He also said I should ask you about some extra money you came into in the last couple of days,” I said.

  Ted and Docker looked at each other. I could see they were both furious that Kyle had mentioned the money and unhappy to have to talk to me about it.

  “Listen,” I said, “if you didn’t know you were abetting a murderer, you aren’t going to get in trouble. Did someone ask you to make the notch?”

  “No!” said both men in unison. Ted looked angry. Docker looked horrified. Both seemed to answer from the heart.

  “We have some money, but it has nothing to do with the well,” said Docker. “Jeez, I wish you’d never called us into the project. If the police start snooping around, this is going to be a real headache for us.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, aware, once again, that my discovery of Patience Cooper had led to problems for so many. “But you can tell me. We’re family. Is there something you haven’t told the police?”

  Again, the men looked at each other. Then Ted looked out of his window at me.

  “You don’t have anything to worry about,” he said. “We’re good. Really.”

  And with that, my cousins drove away. I watched with some concern as their truck rumbled down Main Street.

  I had looked into the break in the tree, to decide if Robert Solder’s murder was premeditated. The immediate suspects had vehemently denied having any hand in the matter, and I could not see why they would not tell the police if they had unwittingly helped. Until something about the tree made sense, I decided to leave that mystery to the police. I had other leads that interested me much more.

  As I turned back to my car, I heard my name.

  “Is it true that the archaeologist was murdered?” said Brenda Worthington, coming up the street toward me. “I knew it. Patience told me herself it would happen.”

  Chapter 14

  Early yesterday morning, the top story in Nantucket had likely been the humorous anecdote of Stella Wright’s broken kitchen window. I still couldn’t believe that between then and now, our island’s news had marched from shattered glass to a murdered man. I couldn’t deny, however, that the chain of events was connected, and that I had had a hand in all of it. I’d be damned if I didn’t stop these calamities before they got worse. Therefore, when Brenda Worthington told me that Patience Cooper had told her from the grave that Robert Solder would die today, I didn’t walk away. Or try to have her see a specialist.

  “Thank goodness she decided to speak to you,” I said without batting an eye. “Were her predictions specific?”

  “Not specific enough,” she said. “If I’d fully understood the magnitude of what she was saying, I’d have gone straight to the police. Although I doubt they would have believed me.”

  She had a point.

  “I believe you,” I said. “When I discovered Patience’s body, I felt a chill inside The Shack. Even Tinker felt it.”

  “That was her spirit,” said Brenda. I noticed that she was quivering. It was a bit chilly out, but her body language seemed to be the result of emotion rather than the forces of nature. “Before I was interrupted by your reporter friend this morning, I connected with her. She had so many questions. I tried my best to answer them.”

  “Like what?” I said. “What did she want to know?”

  “She asked how she died,” said Brenda, tilting her head in a manner that expressed real sympathy for Patience’s spirit. “I told her you might have that answer. She might try to connect with you about that at a later point.”

  “Huh,” I said. I wondered how that would happen. Would I have to be in The Shack? Would her image pop up in the bathroom mirror at the Morton house while I was brushing my teeth? Would she knock on the door or scare me half to death? I confess my imagination got the best of me for a moment. I had the sudden worry that she’d show up in the mid
dle of tomorrow’s Girl Scouts meeting and put an end to Friday’s fund-raiser for the town’s neediest, once and for all.

  “She also asked about her legacy,” Brenda said.

  “Did she tell you how she knew there was going to be a murder?” I said.

  “For Quakers, death is not an end but a beginning,” she said. “She told me that. And then she said to me, ‘There’s a map and a murder, but the two will be separate.’ Does that mean anything to you?”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “She mentioned a map? She actually said something about a map?”

  I took a breath and decided that Brenda could have heard about the map from Agnes, Flo, or Cherry, and it might be the sort of detail to settle into her imagination and take root. I hoped her comment was no more than the result of her overactive imagination because by her logic, that meant that my theory about Patience and Nancy leading to Solder’s death was wrong. If I believed in her ability to converse with the dead, of course. Which I did not.

  My phone rang before I could ask Brenda anything more. Once again, it was my cousin, Kate.

  “Hello?” I said, mouthing my apologies to Brenda for cutting her off.

  “Leigh Paik is awake,” said Kate. “I wouldn’t bother you except she’s been asking for you.”

  “Really?” I said, surprised.

  “She said she needs a friend,” said Kate.

  “Me?” I said. “OK. Tell her I’ll be there shortly.”

  I hung up and noticed Brenda was studying me carefully.

  “Is that the woman who got caught in the well?” she said. “I hope she’s doing OK.”

  “She’ll be fine,” I said.

  “Can I go back to the Morton house and talk to Patience again?” she said.

  “How about early tomorrow morning?” I said. “Come before I have to go to work, so I can join you. I’d like to say hello to Patience too.”

  “Early morning is a good time for the spirits,” she said. “That would be fine.”

  “I’ll bring something for you to wear,” said Brenda, eyeing with sympathy what she seemed to view as my pitiful modern garb. “I think if you show up in jeans, with your hair all a mess like that, you will scare her. She might think you are a witch.”

  Brenda picked up a pebble on the ground, rubbed it in her hand, and headed down the path. I’d learned by now that there was no need for a big good-bye with Brenda. She was in her own world.

  I went on to the hospital. I had spent time there not long ago, when my mother had been visiting. Before that, I had been there to visit Emily when she had given birth to Victoria. Needless to say, my feelings about the place were mixed by now.

  I met Kate at reception. She looked like she was holding up without her caffeine fix, but I felt badly coming empty-handed, so I rummaged through my bag for a few Tic Tacs to give her a humble sugar fix.

  “Did you find out anything else about Solder?” I said as we headed down the hall.

  “They found a small thread, linen of some sort, under one of his fingernails,” she said.

  I stopped in my tracks.

  “I knew it,” I said.

  “What?”

  “Long story,” I said, “but this is very helpful.”

  Why would Solder have a thread of the map under his fingernails unless he had struggled to keep it from someone? I remembered the strange way Solder’s arms had been positioned in death, and decided that he had been trying to protect the map. I was on the right track, in spite of Brenda’s assertion that the spirits claimed that the map and the murder were not connected.

  “I’m losing it,” I said to Kate, as I realized I was feeling defensive about the opinions of spirits.

  Kate, thankfully, said nothing.

  As we entered the ER, I noticed a police officer posted in the hall.

  Kate pushed open a curtain to reveal one of the beds.

  Leigh was resting in it. There was an IV in her arm and a bandage around her elbow and foot. Perhaps she’d had several visits from doctors and nurses at this point, but I was impressed by how little the movement of the curtain distracted her. Instead of looking up, she stared at her phone. I watched her finger glide up the screen and gathered that she was scrolling through her social media. Maybe the drugs had mellowed her, but there were no tears now. I’ve heard there are a few stages to grieving. I wondered if she was passing from one to another.

  “Hi,” I said.

  When Leigh looked up at me, a tear sprang to her eye. I reached out and gave her a hug. I wasn’t sure if she’d fall apart again, but she kept it together.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said. “I didn’t know who to turn to.”

  “I’m always happy to talk,” I said. “If you want me to call your family or a friend, let me know.”

  “I’ve got friends,” she said. “They’ve been texting and Snapchatting with me. But I wanted to talk about the murder. I’m remembering a few things. I can’t figure out what’s useful and what sounds crazy. I thought if I spoke to you, we might be able to figure it out.”

  Leigh looked up at Kate, who was still standing at the curtain, glued to the story. Realizing she was not wanted there, however, she pushed her glasses to her nose.

  “Let me know when you’re finished,” she said, and then left.

  With Kate gone, I pulled up a chair and sat by Leigh so that our heads were at the same height. This way, we could speak softly. I pulled a tissue from the box by her bedside and handed her one.

  “Thanks,” said Leigh.

  Rather than wipe a tear, she blew her nose. The action seemed to give her strength.

  “So here it is,” she said. “I think I saw a ghost.”

  She looked at me as if expecting me to laugh or call the cops. Instead, I nodded.

  “I know it’s crazy,” she said. “When I climbed out of the well, I happened to look into the brush, to my left. It was foggy and wet, and my eyes hadn’t entirely adjusted to the light, but I really felt that there was a presence to my left. Not so much like noise of another person moving around, but just, like, a presence. So I looked, you know?”

  A tear dripped down her cheek, and Leigh rubbed her hand through her hair before letting out a deep sigh. I could tell that she felt crazy having said what she’d said and frustrated that it made no sense to her.

  I handed her another tissue.

  She wiped her cheek.

  “I think you should tell the police,” I said. “Every little clue can help.”

  “But what if it’s some sort of post-traumatic stress kind of thing?” she said.

  “Do you remember what happened next?” I said.

  “I unhooked my belt from the ropes, and I started to walk down the path to you guys.”

  “Did you see anyone then?”

  “No.” She shook her head empathically. “The next thing I knew, I looked up to see a tree falling toward me. I should have jumped aside, but I was so surprised, I sort of stopped and watched it happen.”

  “I’m sure I’d have done the same. Was the apparition you saw on the same side where the tree fell?”

  “I don’t know which side the tree fell from,” she said.

  I in no way believe in ghosts, despite the fact that several people had claimed to have seen, and even spoken to, one today—and that I, myself, had been invited to speak with one tomorrow. I had to remind myself of that point, however, at this moment in our conversation.

  “There’s one more thing,” she said, swallowing hard. “It’s about Robbie.”

  I tried to stay calm, but I could feel a new clue coming.

  “He hadn’t been himself lately. I can’t explain it, but he’d seemed secretive. I thought he was holding back from me about something.”

  Suddenly, I felt as if Leigh might be trying to play me. Had she realized that we might have heard her on the walkie-talkie, fighting with Solder? Was she using me to create a back story she could refer to if the police’s interest in her increased?

  I
nodded, however, as if I understood completely. After all, anyone who has ever been in a relationship that’s flopped has had that moment where you know something isn’t quite right.

  “Do you have any idea what he was holding back on?” I said.

  “No,” she said. “This morning, I walked in on him in our room, and he was on the phone. He was smiling. But when he saw me come in, he quickly hung up. I asked him who he’d been talking to, and he said it was about the excavation, but I just didn’t believe him. I mean, I doubt it has anything to do with someone murdering him. Right? He was smiling. He didn’t look scared. He just seemed... deceitful.”

  “Right now, I think anything that could be a clue, or even lead to a clue, is important to think about. You should keep doing what you’re doing. And you should tell the police.”

  “Why did we take this stupid job?” she said. “It’s my fault. I’ve been telling Robbie that we needed to step into the limelight. Robbie was a genius, but he wasn’t ambitious enough. He knew I’d be angry if he didn’t agree to explore the well. And now he’s dead because of it.”

  “I think they’re going to kick me out of here soon,” I said. “You should try to get some rest. But I do have one more question.”

  “What?” she said.

  “What was on the map?” I said.

  “A picture of the island, I think. There were a couple of X marks and a phrase across the top. I never really examined it,” she said.

  “Did you bring it up from the well with you?” I asked.

  “No,” she said. “It was with Solder. We were going to bring it up after I got the new batteries. Why?”

  “I wanted to see it,” I said.

  “Well, I’m going back down the well tomorrow,” she said. “I spoke with the Historical Association and the police. They said that as long as I’m the only one on-site, along with your officer friend, then I can. I’ll take a look for it then.”

  “You’re very brave,” I said.

  I gave Leigh one more hug, pulled the covers up over her, and slipped behind the curtain into the rest of the Emergency Room. The nurses at the station looked up when I appeared from behind the curtain, as if to see if I’d gathered any good intel, but I kept my word to Leigh. I smiled but said nothing. Then I headed out the door.