by J A Whiting
Finch said simply, “It’s written on your face.”
Angie folded her arms and leaned on the table. “I was at the market this morning. One of the town cab drivers was there. He told me that he picked you up at the train station two days before your brother’s murder.”
“Ah, I see.” He nodded his head slightly. “But what is your question?”
“Were you in Sweet Cove two days before the murder?”
His answer was straight-forward. “Yes.”
“But you told me you had just arrived in town the morning that your brother died.”
“I had.”
Confusion furrowed Angie’s brow. She tipped her head forward keeping eye contact with the older man. She waited for Finch to clarify.
“I arrived in Sweet Cove by train and a cab took me to the resort. I ate lunch there. Then a cab took me to Marblehead where I stayed for two nights.”
“Why did you go to Marblehead?”
“I wasn’t ready to see my brother. I didn’t want to stay in Sweet Cove because I didn’t want to run into him. It took me a couple of days to pluck up my courage.”
“Was that because you hadn’t seen him for such a long time?”
“That, yes. But for other reasons.”
Angie’s mind raced. Does he mean he needed time to gather the courage to kill his brother? “Then what happened?”
“I thought I might just leave the area and return to California without making contact with Thaddeus, but then I berated myself for being so foolish. I had come all this way. I made up my mind that I would leave Marblehead and return to Sweet Cove so I called and made the reservations to stay here at the B and B. Then I decided to go to the candy store.”
“Did your brother know you were in town?”
Finch shook his head vigorously. “No.”
Angie said, “And when you arrived at the candy store…?”
“I found out my brother was dead.”
Angie said, “I don’t mean this to sound disrespectful … but it didn’t seem like you were upset.”
“I was shocked. To think, the very day I came to see him, my brother is killed. It’s been fifty years. I didn’t know him anymore. He was someone from my past. I felt sadness, but not grief.”
Angie sighed. It made sense. “Why did you decide to seek out your brother now, after so many years had passed?”
“Because. We’re old.” He touched his index finger to the water glass and traced along the side. “My brother wasn’t a nice person.”
Angie’s eyebrows went up. She was surprised to hear this from Finch. She’d assumed that the candy store owner had soured over time … that some disappointments or upsets had changed who he was, slowly, the way wind and rain wear down the side of a cliff. But here was Finch reporting that his brother hadn’t been a nice person from the very beginning.
“Not only was he not a nice person, he was mean,” Finch said. “He could be cruel. And, selfish.”
Angie’s heart felt heavy.
Finch put his hands in his lap and leaned against the chair back. He was quiet for several moments. Angie thought he must be reflecting on the past.
Finch looked across the table at Angie. “You handed me my cane earlier this afternoon.”
Angie sat up straight. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. “Yes.” Her voice was small as she recalled the vision.
Finch scrutinized Angie, and then seemed to make a decision. “I fell down a staircase, a long time ago. The fall almost killed me.” He glanced at his cane which leaned against the chair next to him. “That’s the reason I use the cane. People think it’s because I’m an old man, but I’ve had to use it for over fifty years.”
Over fifty years. The same amount of time that Finch had been estranged from his brother. A chill trickled down Angie’s back.
Finch lowered his gaze to his hands. “My brother … Thaddeus … he pushed me down the stairs. He tried to kill me.”
Chapter 12
When Angie realized her mouth was hanging open, she snapped it shut. “He pushed you? It was intentional?”
“Yes.” Finch’s facial muscles drooped and his skin was tinged with a gray pallor as if the blood had drained away.
Angie couldn’t believe this awful news. “Why? Why would he do such a terrible thing? He was your brother.”
Finch looked across the room at nothing. A heaviness seemed to settle over him causing his head to hang forward and his shoulders to sag. At last he spoke. “My brother was a miserable person. I’ve spent a good deal of time reflecting on this. I believe he was born with a nasty temperament and it only got worse with time.”
Circe came into the room from the hallway, crossed to where Finch sat, and leaped onto his lap where she settled.
“Oh,” Finch said. The suddenness of the cat’s action surprised him. He instinctively ran his hand over the soft fur and the feline purred.
Angie thought the cat sensed Finch’s distress and offered comfort by snuggling on his lap. “Mr. Finch,” Angie said gently. “Could I wake my sisters? I’d like them to be part of this conversation. It might give us some details that could help solve the murder.”
“I don’t mind if you do.” His hand slid over the cat’s black fur.
Angie roused the girls from their slumber and the three of them stumbled with sleepy eyes down to the dining room where they gathered around the table. Courtney couldn’t suppress a yawn. She apologized.
Jenna blinked from the bright lights. “Angie told us that your brother pushed you on a staircase. Is it possible it was an accident?”
Finch’s eyes flashed. “It was no accident.”
Ellie pulled her robe around her. “Can you go on with your story, Mr. Finch? Can you tell us what happened?”
Finch gave a slight nod. “Thaddeus and I grew up in Chicago. I was the oldest by three years. He was often in trouble. He caused great turmoil in the house. My father died right after Thaddeus was born. My poor mother had a difficult time trying to raise my brother. I had a job in a factory. Thaddeus couldn’t keep a job because of his temper. I wanted to help him … and to give our mother some peace of mind. She always worried about what would become of Thaddeus, and so I proposed a business deal with him.”
“What sort of deal?” Courtney asked.
Finch said, “When I was in my twenties, our grandmother died. She left me her book of recipes. She’d been a baker and a confectioner in her native Sweden. I enjoyed trying out the recipes and working on them until they tasted like the ones Grandma made. I worked double shifts at the factory to save money to open a bakery and candy shop. When I wasn’t at the factory, I worked on the recipes.”
Jenna said, “You asked your brother to go into business with you?”
Finch nodded. “Thaddeus got into trouble with the police, for breaking and entering. He served a year in jail. I offered to teach him how to bake and make the candy. I told him that when he got out of prison, I would have enough saved to finance a business for the two of us.”
“Did he agree to work with you?” Ellie asked.
“He did. He seemed excited about the possibility.” Finch went quiet. He looked down at his hands and rubbed the skin of his wrists. Circe was still in his lap.
“What happened?” Angie watched Euclid sitting beside Finch’s chair.
“I lived with our mother. She passed away two months before Thaddeus got out of jail. She left the house to us. We agreed to put the house up for sale and it sold quickly. The money was placed in the business account I’d set up at the bank under both of our names. I put all the money I’d saved in there as well.” Finch swallowed. He made eye contact with the four girls. “You can guess what happened.”
Courtney sat up, her blue eyes blazing. “Thaddeus stole the money?”
Finch’s eyes misted over. “After the closing was complete with the new owners, I went to the house to pick up a few of my belongings, my grandmother’s recipe book and a small painting she’d left me. Whe
n I entered the house, I heard a noise upstairs. I thought Thaddeus must have come to say goodbye to the house.” Finch snorted. “I was such a fool. I went up to the second floor. I called his name. He came out of my room. He was holding the recipe book and the painting.”
Finch took a drink from his glass. “I’ve never told anyone this.” He sucked in a breath and went on. “I asked Thaddeus what he was doing. His face twisted with rage. He told me he was taking the things. He hated me. He hated our mother. He charged at me and hit me in the chest. I fell. Backwards.” A tear fell from his eye and plopped onto Circe’s fur.
“How terrible,” Ellie whispered.
Finch swallowed hard. “I was unconscious at the bottom of the stairs when the new owners came in late that night. I was in the hospital for a very long time. I discovered that my brother had emptied the bank account and had disappeared. I was penniless. I had no way to find him. I went to the police, but nothing ever came of it. He was gone.”
“What did you do?” Courtney asked.
He gestured at his cane. “Because of my injury, I couldn’t go back to work at the factory.”
“So you became a teacher? You told us you’d been a math teacher.” Angie shifted in her seat.
Euclid let out a small hiss.
Finch gave a half smile to the orange cat. “I believe Euclid is on to me. I only say that I was a teacher because it’s easy for people to believe.” He reached down and scratched Euclid’s cheek. “However, it seems certain orange cats don’t believe that story.” Circe jumped down from the man’s lap and sat beside Euclid. “I discovered that after my fall, I had a certain gift.”
Ellie’s eyes widened. She glanced at her sisters. “What kind of gift?” She braced for the answer.
“I sometimes could see things. Premonitions, if you will.”
Ellie looked like she might faint.
Courtney leaned forward. “That’s so cool.”
“So I set up a business in my apartment. I gave readings to people.”
“You can see the future?” Jenna asked.
“No. It’s not like that. I get a small sense of people. It’s only little things that I see or feel, nothing major or life-altering. People seem to like it though, that I know some slight thing about them.”
Courtney had a thoughtful expression on her face. “I think everyone wants to be known to someone, however little the knowing is.”
The four sisters sat in silence thinking over what they’d learned about the Mr. Finch sitting at their table and the dead Mr. Finch.
Jenna asked, “What was the painting that your grandmother gave you? That your brother stole from you?”
“It was an abstract, by a Swedish painter. Grandmother knew that I loved to draw. Any chance I got, I would spend hours painting and sketching. I’ve always loved colors and shapes.”
“I wonder what happened to the painting.” Ellie absent-mindedly twisted the long locks of her hair.
Finch said, “It’s hanging on the wall of my brother’s living room.”
Chapter 13
It was late when they finally went to bed. No one slept very soundly except for Finch. Angie thought that Mr. Finch seemed lighter after he revealed the details of his estrangement from his brother. She wondered if releasing the story from his mind had helped him in some way.
The alarms woke the four sisters early and none of them had much energy when they first arrived downstairs for breakfast. Mr. Finch, however, was bright and happy. Mr. and Mrs. Foley joined Finch at the dining room table and told him they were sorry he had been unwell the previous day and that they were pleased that he had made such a quick recovery. Angie whole-heartedly agreed with them.
Courtney pulled a gallon of milk from the refrigerator. “Can you imagine your own sibling hurting you like Mr. Finch’s brother hurt him?”
“What a terrible, terrible man.” Ellie was placing dishes in the dishwasher. “We knew he was an angry, miserable old thing, but I had no idea.” She shook her head. “It’s mind-boggling how cruel a person can be.”
“I’d like to know who murdered dead Finch.” Jenna sat at the kitchen table eating an egg and toast. “I’d like to know why.”
“Finch must have been awful to plenty of people. There must be a life-time’s worth of angry people. It could be anyone who killed him.” Courtney poured milk into her cereal bowl. “It could be someone from his past come to get even with him.”
Angie sipped from a mug. “I wish we could help figure out who committed the crime. Even though dead Finch was a monster, people can’t take things into their own hands. There’s a killer on the loose around here.”
“It won’t do the town any good to have an unsolved murder.” Ellie was scurrying around the kitchen. “This is supposed to be a lovely, peaceful place to live and vacation. Townspeople are on edge. The killer has to be caught.”
Courtney tipped her cereal bowl to her lips to get the last of the milk. She set the bowl down on the floor and Circe and Euclid took turns licking up the last drops. “We should go talk to the candy store’s other employees.” She looked at Angie. “You and I are the only ones who don’t have jobs now. Let’s go see what we can learn about dead Finch.”
“I’d be glad to assign you some tasks to do around here.” Ellie glanced at her two sisters as she filled a basket with muffins.
Angie smiled. “I think solving the murder is a higher priority.” She winked at Courtney. “Let’s get ready.”
Courtney didn’t need to be asked twice. “I’ll meet you at the front door in fifteen minutes.”
Ellie stacked some clean plates on the counter. “Attorney Ford is coming by soon to drop off some paperwork about making the B and B an official business. It will help with taxes and insurance and liability. We can go over it later today. He’s also meeting with Mr. Finch.”
Angie did not want to see Attorney Ford. “Thanks for the warning.”
She and Courtney made eye contact with each other.
“I’ll meet you at the door in five minutes.” Courtney hurried out of the kitchen with Angie right behind her.
***
The girls walked down Beach Street side by side. Puffy white clouds floated against the bright blue of the sky. The sun’s rays announced the approach of the summer season.
Courtney said, “Let’s go see Mr. Adams. He worked at Finch’s candy store for about two months. After the murder, he got a job working the reception desk at the Blue Waves Inn on the beach.”
Angie said, “Maybe he has some insight.”
Courtney narrowed her eyes. “Maybe he killed Finch.”
Angie chuckled. “I love how you never dismiss anyone as innocent until proven so.”
“Hmmph.” Courtney grunted. “I’m just careful. People can surprise you.” She watched a blue truck drive up the street towards them. “There’s Tom.” She waved.
Angie waved too and looked over her shoulder. “He’s stopping at the Victorian.”
“He’s doing a lot of that lately.” Courtney gave an impish smile. “Whatever could be the attraction there?”
“Hmm.” Angie stroked her chin pretending to ponder that question. “Could it be someone with long, light brown hair and blue eyes?”
“Someone who designs and makes jewelry? Could that be the reason Tom is drawn to the house?” Courtney smiled.
“It’s possible.” Angie’s eyes sparkled. “Maybe we should question Tom about the reason he stops at the Victorian for coffee almost every day.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it.” Courtney snickered. “Just wait until Tom’s doing the renovation work at the house. We can tease him about Jenna every day.”
“I can’t wait.” Angie rubbed her hands together.
As they walked down the slight hill, the girls looked out over the wide, white sand beach of Sweet Cove. Some people were leaping in the waves, and others sunned themselves on blankets or in beach chairs. Children threw Frisbees and flew kites. A sailboat bobbed on the o
cean.
Right before the beach, on the left side of the street, stood a small hotel, an inn, two restaurants, a convenience store, and a snack counter. A little kid sat on a bench in front of the stores swinging his tiny legs back and forth, licking an ice cream cone.
Angie wanted to join the little kid to sit in the sun and eat ice cream. “Want to sit for a few minutes before we go in? The sun feels good.”
The girls took a seat on a bench near the beach. They watched the ocean waves and the people enjoying the sun.
“Tell me about Mr. Adams,” Angie asked.
Courtney rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. The day was turning out to be warmer than expected. “Mr. Adams is retired. He’s had a small house here in town for years. He moved in permanently after retiring from his job. He told me he likes to work part-time to get out, see people. He used to come to Finch’s store for the three to nine at night shift. I sort of envied him because for the last two hours of his shift, Finch would leave the store for the day and go home. Mr. Adams would lock up. He had some peace for a couple of hours without Finch glaring at him and watching everything he did.”
“That’s what Finch was like when you worked there?”
“Oh, yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised if Finch had security cameras trained on us so he could observe what we were doing in the front of the store while he was making the candy.”
“It wasn’t just you and Mr. Adams working at the store, right? He must have had other employees.”
Courtney nodded. “Every summer Finch hired students from abroad to come and work there. They had summer work contracts otherwise I don’t know how any of them would stay for four months working for him.”
“Had they arrived yet?”
“Yes. Two of them had arrived. Mr. Adams was training them.”
“So they weren’t ever there alone with Finch?”
“Not yet. Finch had the Walsh sisters working there too.”
“I forgot about the Walsh sisters.” Angie’s eyebrows went up. “They must be in their late eighties.”