36
Cassandra
I dropped the long-lost aunt and nephew back at Sister Bernadetta’s car—after stopping for a can of gasoline—and reassured Christopher that Gypsy would be well taken care of.
When I cruised up the lane after a quick stop for groceries on my way back, I found Laura sitting on the porch with Gypsy.
“Thanks for letting her out,” I said while carting the grocery bags up the steps.
“She really is a sweetheart.” She stood and took one of the bags from my grip. “I wish she wasn’t so scared of Whistler.”
“I suppose, like the rest of us, she comes with her own baggage.” I set the bags on the counter and tossed her a dog a treat, which she gobbled up and nudged my hand for more. “How was your walk with Sister Bernadetta?”
“Interesting,” Laura answered as she helped me stash the food purchases. “After hearing the story of Percy and Celeste, she asked if we could visit your family burial grounds.”
“You didn’t mention knowing anything about her previous visits?”
“Of course not.” She held up a box of Cap’n Crunch cereal. “Seriously?”
“Daniel’s breakfast of choice.” I pointed to a high cupboard. “I make him work for it.”
“Anyhow, she was drawn to the graves of your baby brothers. I didn’t share anything with her, but she understood the tragedy behind those tiny markers. She kneeled at the graves and prayed for a while.”
“She’s a nun. I’m fairly certain that’s what they do.”
“I guess. But it made me wonder if there was a similar loss in her past that caused her to seek a life as a nun.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time tragedy brought a woman to seek a cloistered spiritual life.”
“She also wanted to know about Barnacle Boy.”
Finished with stowing the groceries, I wadded up the cloth bags and stashed them in the pantry. “Everyone does.”
“True.” She nodded. “But …”
“But what?” I leaned against the counter and folded my arms.
Laura plopped down in one of the kitchen chairs. “Remember how someone left a bunch of wildflowers on Barnacle Boy’s grave? Mostly butterfly weed with a little Queen Anne’s lace.” They grew abundantly on the Cape in the summer.
A little chill came over me as the otherworldly scents of Percy and Celeste arose to confound me.
“You think she’s the one who left them there?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you just ask her?”
“I should have, right? I felt kind of uncomfortable grilling a nun. Probably my own upbringing by a Baptist minister.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I thought I saw her pluck one of those withered blossoms and tuck it into her Bible.”
Laura was chewing her thumb as she reflected.
“I know that look,” I accused.
“Promise not to tell Daniel?”
“O-kay.” I narrowed my eyes.
“The DNA results are in.”
“What difference does it make now that Lucas has been found?” I was only aware of samples taken from his little sneaker and the boat Christopher had sailed.
“I’m talking about the murder. From the rug Lee Chambers’s body was rolled up in before being tossed into the dumpster?”
Oh, I mouthed.
She pursed her lips before adding, “The results were rather interesting.”
“How on earth do you know this already?”
“I cannot reveal my sources.”
“Your sources? Or your unscrupulous ways?”
“I may bend the rules a bit, but I do have my principles.” She waggled a finger and grinned mischievously. “Regardless, I can’t tell you how I came upon the information.”
Came upon? Now that was rather telling.
“Okay, protect your sources if you must, but surely telling me doesn’t go against your anemic principles.”
She began finger-doodling the wood pattern of the table, making me wish I hadn’t insulted her integrity.
“Wes Creed’s DNA was found on the rug,” she told me at last.
“Interesting.” I automatically thought of Robyn, which brought to mind her lost keys, and an idea began to percolate.
“Along with DNA from Helene Kleister.” Hearing this reminded me again of seeing Wes and Helene together, but I lost that thread when Laura said, “Also Nicholas’s.”
That was unexpected. How were Helene and Nicholas Kleister connected to Lee Chambers? Had he been Helene’s supplier?
“Not Matthew?” I asked, unsure of how far-reaching Laura’s sources were.
“Nope,” Laura continued her finger-doodling.
“I can’t imagine the Kleisters consenting to giving their own DNA samples.”
“They didn’t. The police got them from their water bottles the day they met with the team at the gallery. Apparently, Lu was clever enough to put them aside for Brooks to bag and test.”
“I think CSI used to be her favorite crime show.” I deadpanned. “What about Nicholas? Wouldn’t parental permission be required to swab a child?”
“His grandfather provided the sample.”
I digested all this for a moment, trying to envision a scenario in which these three individuals would have been standing on the same rug with Lee Chambers. Where could such a rug even have come from?
I was puzzling on this when Laura dropped another bombshell.
“Christopher’s DNA was also found.”
Whoa! “Christopher?” Hearing her owner’s name, Gypsy’s canine intuition kicked in, lifting her head to lick my hand. First Zach Renner misidentifying Matthew as Christopher; now Christopher’s DNA, not Matthew’s, found with Lee Chambers’s body?
“Stay with me.” Laura snapped her fingers in front of my eyes.
“Sorry, I was just thinking. What were you saying?”
“I was saying that this poses quite the conundrum for the police, since Matthew Kleister was arrested today for the death of Lee Chambers.” She peered closely at me. “You don’t seem surprised. You already knew this, didn’t you?”
I nodded. I wasn’t going to reveal my sources either, and I was relieved when she didn’t ask.
“What do you think? Is Matthew Kleister capable of killing someone?” she asked.
“I don’t know him well enough to answer that. Wouldn’t anyone be capable if the circumstances were dire enough?”
Laura lifted her shoulders and checked the captain’s wheel clock. “I need to go pick Jason up at the station. He’s actually working a normal shift today.”
“Here’s an idea. Why don’t the two of you join us for dinner?”
“I don’t want you going to any trouble,” Laura insisted.
“How hard is it to make veggie and swordfish kabobs and a salad? Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” I said, stealing one of her own favorite phrases.
She giggled and texted Jason, who responded promptly. “We’re all set,” Laura said. “Jason will get a ride over with Daniel later.”
As we assembled the kabobs, Laura and I continued to talk through the possible scenarios for how the DNA from four different individuals ended up on the rug that had been used to dispose of the victim’s body.
“Maybe we’re going about this all wrong,” I suggested. “Let’s start with the victim. What do we know about him? Why would someone want to kill him? What was the relationship between Lee Chambers and the Kleisters?”
“To start with, we know he was a small-time drug dealer who’d been hanging out at the party house,” Laura began. “And we know that Helene Kleister is a drug user. We also know that Lee was chummy with Wes Creed, so he also might have known Robyn.”
I didn’t betray my conversation with Robyn, though I would need to pass on to Brooks what I’d learned. I poured the marinade over the kabobs, placed the pan in the refrigerator, and then gathered the salad ingredients.
“I did find out a little tidbit about the key evi
dence. Remember telling me that the label had the initials ‘LEC’ on it?”
“Right, which led us to assume the key chain belonged to Lee Chambers.”
“Maybe not. I saw a photo of the label, and it looks more like this.” I grabbed a pencil and a piece of scrap paper and printed “LE” on the first line and “C” on the second. “Part of that second row had been rubbed out.”
“Hmph?” Laura chewed her lip for a minute then shook her head. “Guys at the party house claimed to have overheard Chambers tell Wes Creed that Helene Kleister was his new client.” She began chopping a tomato. “Which could also give her a motive.”
A puzzle piece clicked into place for me. “That’s probably how Nicholas recognized his mug shot.”
“He did?” Laura stopped mid-chop. Obviously, an unknown detail to her, leaving me kicking myself for slipping.
“Not to be shared with anyone.” I pointed a severely warning finger at her.
She held up surrendering hands. “Yes, it’s true. I’m the new pariah of Whale Rock.”
“Sorry.” I reached over and gave her arm a pat. “I can’t afford to have Daniel find out I told you, or for Brooks to learn Daniel shared it with me.”
“I get it, I really do.” She smiled and scooped the tomato into the salad bowl.
With the salad finished and the kabobs marinating, I filled two glasses with ice. “Tea or lemonade?”
“Lemonade,” she answered, then suggested, “It might be cooler outside, with a sea breeze.”
But when we took our cold drinks out to enjoy on the porch rockers, the air was still and heavy. Gypsy nestled at my feet and sighed deeply, probably wondering where her master was.
“Is this heat ever going to end?” Laura held the cold, sweating glass to her neck. “Boy, could I go for a nice cold beer right now.”
“You said it,” I agreed.
“Go ahead,” she urged. “Why should you suffer just because I can’t drink?”
“I’ll refrain in solidarity.” I asked, “So have you told Jason yet?”
“No, but maybe tonight if he doesn’t fall asleep before his head hits the pillow.” She offered a sad smile, then pretended to nod off, adding a comical snore. “We knew his rookie year would be tough. The only positive note I can find is that it does allow me time to work on my reporting.”
A minute later, Daniel’s Land Rover rounded the curve in the lane. Our two guys stepped wearily onto the porch. Gypsy stood and then, with her tail tucked low, resettled herself behind my chair.
“You a one-man woman, Gypsy?” Daniel didn’t miss much, but went on to say, “Some more good news.”
I leaned forward, anticipating something related to the murder case.
“There’s an all clear for Whale Rock Beach.” Bacteria levels had risen from storm water runoff into the ocean, closing all the nearby beaches.
I sneaked a peek at Laura, who was frowning her disappointment.
“This is great news for local businesses,” Jason said, collapsing into one of the porch rockers as Daniel got them two frosty brews, clinking his bottle to Jason’s. “People should be flocking back now, with this heat.”
Daniel settled into the last of the porch rockers and took a long swig before adding, “Mitchell Whale Watcher Boat Tours has three cruises this week, and my guess is we’ll be back to a full schedule next week.”
“Glad to hear it. Now, if only this spell of good news could carry over to the Lee Chambers investigation,” I ventured, hoping for a hint of an update.
“If only,” was all Daniel said on the matter, while Jason remained mute and avoided eye contact with his wife.
“Laura and I had an eventful afternoon,” I told them, recognizing a dead end when I saw it. The two of us took turns telling the guys how we had finally managed to track down Sister Bernadetta and what had transpired between her and Christopher.
“That’s unreal,” Jason said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“No kidding,” Daniel agreed, doing the same. “Too bad nobody recognized Christopher earlier. Where are they now?”
When I told him they were on their way to New York, he and Jason exchanged a look. I knew better than to try to pry anything out of them now, especially with Laura’s reporter’s nose picking up the scent.
I searched for a safe topic of conversation, which brought to mind my chat with Edgar and Jimmy earlier today. After telling them about Jimmy’s shiny new ride, I also shared, “Edgar brought up the subject again of exhuming Barnacle Boy’s grave.”
“What does he hope to achieve?” I couldn’t tell from his tone whether Daniel approved. Having been a solver of crimes, I thought he’d enjoy seeing a solution to a cold case.
“He’d like to have DNA testing done. The boy was discovered long before it was being used to identify victims.”
“Edgar really hopes to solve the mystery,” Laura added. I knew how badly she also yearned to discover the truth behind what happened to the poor lost boy.
“I don’t see the point. After all, he’s writing a novel that’s only inspired by the story.” This from Jason.
Daniel nodded his agreement, then added, “Even if he exhumes the body and submits it for DNA testing, it would be quite an involved project trying to track down a match from back then. Not to mention the cost.”
“Edgar’s willing to foot the bill.”
“Another challenge lies in the body having been in the ocean for who knows how long before it was discovered,” Daniel pointed out. “A corpse suffers a great deal of trauma in the ocean, not to mention what damage can be caused by sea creatures.”
The story of Barnacle Boy was starting to get under my skin as well. I tried to imagine what had happened to him. Who was he? How did his little body end up in Cape Cod Bay? Why hadn’t anyone come looking for him?
“Archie told us the boy had been buried with it,” Laura said, interrupting my thoughts. I’d caught the tail end of her recounting what Edgar had learned from the minister’s records and what our subsequent discussion with Archie had revealed about the medal that had been discovered with the child’s body.
“Edgar should talk to Teddy,” Jason suggested.
“Why is that?” I asked.
“He’s thinking of becoming an underwater criminal investigator.”
“Really? I didn’t even know it was a thing,” Laura said.
“It’s not a huge leap. Teddy’s been part of the search and rescue dive team for the past year while also taking classes in marine biology.”
“What’s involved?”
“He’ll need to become either an emergency first responder or a law enforcement officer before he can even be admitted into a certification program,” Daniel answered.
“Wouldn’t it be great if he could join the WRPD too?” Laura smiled at Jason.
“I’m not sure if there are any plans for expansion,” Jason said, wiping the sweat from his beer bottle onto his pant leg before taking a swig. “Besides, he’s getting a lot of grief from his mother about this new career direction.”
“That’s true,” Daniel agreed. “Brooks mentioned something about Ted coming to him for advice. Apparently, he asked Brooks to talk to her on his behalf.”
My ears perked up at these references to Theo Howell, considering she’d been a recent topic of conversation with Zoe, and I was now very curious about the woman.
“Anyone else starving?” Daniel asked as he stood and walked toward the grill.
The conversation mute button was turned on as we enjoyed our meal out on the porch. Though we all cleared our plates, exhaustion had set in, and both men were fighting to keep their eyes open.
As soon as we were finished, Laura tugged Jason to a standing position. “Time to go.”
He followed and called out over his shoulder, “Thanks for the grub, Cassie.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Laura added.
I waved them off, clipped the leash to Gypsy’s collar, and suggested to Daniel, “
Why don’t you go on up? I’ll meet you on the sleeping porch in a few minutes.”
He stood and stretched. “Sounds good.”
“See you in five.” I barely got the words out before Gypsy dragged me off the porch, making a beeline for the carriage house, probably hoping to find Christopher there. I couldn’t help but wonder about the family secrets his mother had kept from him. Didn’t we Mitchells know all too well about those?
The spare carriage house key was peeking out from its hiding place, so I tucked it back under the mat. This brought my thoughts back to the Lee Chambers case. The label on the evidence key had an “LE” and a “C” on it. “LE”—Land’s End? “C”—Cottage? If I was on the right track, what would this mean for Christopher or Robyn or any number of people who might have had a copy of that key?
By the time I made it back upstairs, Gypsy following so close she nearly tripped me, I found Daniel splashed out on the bed, still fully clothed. As I was yanking off Daniel’s boots and humming softly in harmony to his gentle snoring, something else Laura said earlier finally registered with me. My mind had been wandering elsewhere when she was talking about Edgar and Barnacle Boy, but now her words had come back to me: “Archie told us the boy had been buried with it.”
What Archie had revealed to us when we visited his shop last week was that Barnacle Boy’s little body had been discovered with a chain carrying a medal around its neck—the one Edgar hoped to find if I allowed the body to be exhumed. Archie mentioned something about the medal being a protective patron saint. Could it have been the same medal as worn by Christopher that had provoked such an emotional reaction from Sister Bernadetta? Was that what Percy and Celeste had been trying to get through to me?
Daniel must have brought my laptop up with him, for it was on the dresser, whirring to life and opening to the email from Dr. Zane.
“I’ll call tomorrow,” I whispered to the spirits in the room and shut the computer down.
Whimpering came from the corner of the room where Gypsy was cowering.
“It’s okay, Gypsy girl.” I kneeled beside her and rubbed her ears as I’d watched Christopher do, hoping to calm her, all the while inhaling the familiar scent of Percy and Celeste. I’d once read that dogs were highly perceptive of ghosts and spirits. “Don’t worry, Sweetie. They’re harmless.” When they aren’t stirring up mischief for me, that is.
Storm of Secrets Page 26