A Spirited Gift (8 page)

“Is she alive?” Nancy asked when she finally reached me.

“I don't know,” I answered. “Did you see anyone else when you came out here?”

“I think everyone else left the inn. I guess they'll come back for their stuff once they think about it. There might be a few left lingering at the bar. They'll be lucky if they can walk out here on their own after they've been drinking all night.”

“Did you
hear
anything?” I asked as we moved the lumber away from Sandi.

“The ocean,” she replied. “Dae, we have to call someone.”

“I know. Any ideas? There are no phones—no radios.”

Officer Randall was obviously born with perfect timing.  He came around the side of the Blue Whale and picked up speed when he saw us by the remains of the shed. “I'm calling EMS,” he said after we'd explained to him about Sandi. “I hope they can send someone right away. Things are really backed up.”

With Scott's help, we were able to reach Sandi in no time. I knew when I saw her blue-tinged face and white lips that there was no help that could reach her. Scott checked for a pulse, then shook his head.

“I'm sorry, Mayor O'Donnell. I managed to get in touch with her husband in Manteo. He's on his way up here anyway.”

“I hate these storms that come up so fast,” Nancy said, her hands shaking. “Why can't they give us better warning? You'd think after all these years there'd be a better way.”

I looked at the generator shed only a few feet from the collapsed shed that had killed Sandi. It was in good shape, not even a board missing. It was amazing how the fury of the storm could pick and choose what it was going to take.

Kevin had heard the call as well and got back to the hotel a little after EMS workers officially declared Sandi dead. They were putting her body on a stretcher as he ran back to where we were standing. “Can you tell what happened?” he asked the paramedics.

“The storm must've collapsed the shed,” one EMT said. “There's a lot of tissue damage from the boards and nails. We'll have to wait for word from the medical examiner. But that's the way I see it.”

“What was she doing?” He looked at me and Scott. “Did anyone know she was out here?”

Scott shrugged. “I don't know. I got here after Mayor O'Donnell realized she was missing.”

I quickly explained the night's events to Kevin, but I had to agree that Sandi being out here in the shed didn't make any sense—unless my vision of the gun meant someone had forced her out here so the gunshot wouldn't be heard.

After the EMS team had left and Scott was busy typing his report into the computer in the police car, I took Kevin aside and told him about the items I'd found at the inn.

He listened calmly, as he usually did. “So you think this man who was working with her did this?”

“I don't know. I don't see him out here collapsing a shed on top of her. But I did see a gun.”

“Has anyone searched him for a gun?”

“We searched his room. At that time, I wasn't even sure that what I'd seen in my vision was something that had happened recently. I didn't want to say anything to Scott about it.”

“Matthew could've killed her and put her body in the shed. The storm might have done the rest of the work for him. It was dark when we were in the lobby. He could've moved her and no one would've known.”

We were still standing outside the inn, looking at the angry gray ocean as it tried to settle down after the storm. The generator hummed in the shed that was still standing. I thought about the strange voice I'd heard while I was trying to uncover Sandi's body. I decided not to mention it. It was kind of crazy anyway and nothing to do with what had happened.

“It was so dark out here when I came out to turn on the generator,” Kevin said. “I never even noticed the garden shed was down.”

“I guess the ME should be able to tell what happened if they do an autopsy, right?” I asked him.

“Yes. Scott said her husband is on his way here. Do you want to tell him what you know about what happened?”

“But not about her affair with her assistant, right? Because I'm not telling Sandi's husband that his dead wife was cheating on him—even though he probably knows already.”

“I only asked because you know them. And maybe that would motivate him to demand an autopsy. With everything that happened last night, it would be easy to overlook evidence. I'm sure the medical examiner's office will have their hands full anyway.”

I really didn't want to be the one to tell a grieving husband that his wife was dead, possibly murdered by her lover. I wished someone else could get that job. But Kevin was right. Gramps always said bad news was best gotten from friends instead of law enforcement.

Kevin and I went inside to take a look at the damage the storm had done to the inn. Scott's police car was gone from the front, but Barker and David were still holding on to Matthew. The two mayors weren't so drunk that they didn't hurriedly hide the scotch bottles they'd emptied during the night when they saw Kevin.

“I'm surprised you're still here,” I said to them. “Weren't you worried about your homes and families?”

Both the older men shrugged. “Not so much,” David said. “My wife is in Florida with the grandkids this week.”

“And my wife is busy working on the divorce papers with her lawyer in Raleigh,” Barker explained with a sigh. “If the storm wrecked the house, maybe Loraine won't want it. I hate living in hotel rooms.”

Matthew stood up. “I'm getting out of here. You have no right to hold me. I don't know where Sandi is, but she's not my responsibility either.”

“Kevin, this is Sandi's assistant,” I explained. “Probably the last person to see her alive.”

“Alive?”
Matthew stared at me. “What are you saying? You finally found her?”

“Yes,” Kevin answered. “EMS took her a few minutes ago. Her husband is on his way. He doesn't know she's dead yet. I think you should stay.”

“No way! He's not the forgiving type. Sandi said so. And don't try to make it sound like I had anything to do with killing Sandi.”

“Who said anyone killed her?” I asked him.

“I assumed you wouldn't try to keep me here if you thought it was an accident.”

“We can all talk about that when Chief Michaels gets here,” I said. “Until then, I think you should stay here as a guest.”

“You can't make me,” Matthew charged.

“Yes she can,” Nancy reminded him as she walked by. “I told you, in the absence of the police chief, the mayor can assume his authority. If she says you stay, you stay. Anyone want some iced tea?”

Matthew sat down again. He stared out of the window in the bar. He seemed to finally realize that this wasn't something that would go away quickly.

I wondered, looking at him, if he was the kind of person who could've killed Sandi and tried to cover it up by putting her body in the shed. There was no way to know for sure, but he didn't seem the type to me.

Of course my mind jumped ahead to other questions. Why didn't he walk the extra few hundred yards to the edge of the ocean and dump her in? That was always an easy way to explain any mysterious deaths that happened this close to the water.

But there had to be other variables too—she looked awfully heavy for his meager frame to carry very far. Maybe he got as far as he could. Maybe he was scared to get that close to the ocean during the storm. I felt sure there was no way anyone could have known that shed would collapse over her.

I knew from years of listening to Gramps talk when he was sheriff that these things didn't always make sense—until all the pieces fit together. It would probably be the same way with Sandi's death. We wouldn't know for sure what had happened—but we'd find out eventually.

“You think he's okay there with the mayors?” Kevin asked me as we walked into the kitchen. “Otherwise, I can lock him up in the root cellar out back.”

“He's been there all night. I think Barker and David can handle him.” I was glad to see the kitchen was in order—though lacking most of the fresh food that had been there when Kevin left.

From there, we headed to the flooded ballroom. The look on Kevin's face when we walked in was heartbreaking. Knowing how hard he'd worked on the old inn made me feel even worse. I watched him slog through the water and debris to stare out of the big, broken window.

“What a mess,” he said. “I'm glad I have good insurance.”

I took a deep breath, not realizing until that moment that I had been worried he might not want to clean up and start over. Not everyone did. Some people came to live in Duck and didn't make it past the first storm. Kevin had staying power. He was a keeper. That made me smile despite everything that had happened.

I helped him put boards across some of the windows upstairs. There weren't any pieces of wood big enough to put across the window in the ballroom. We put a few tarps over it until repairs could be made. At least the damage wouldn't get any worse.

I really didn't want to be at the inn when Sandi's husband got there. But I felt like I owed it to her. I was the one who noticed she was gone—and had found her body. I hoped that obligation didn't include telling him about Matthew. It seemed like too much for a person to hear at one time.

By lunchtime, the inn was cleaned up and all the holes were patched, at least temporarily. With no supplies coming from the mainland, we were going to have to make do for a few days. I knew from past experience that it would be a rough time for everyone, but we'd get through. We always did.

Some of the mayors came back to the inn, since they couldn't make it through to their homes and there was nowhere else to go. Motels were full up with refugees. We'd heard stories about houses with roofs missing, cars upside down in the middle of Duck Road and electric poles down across the island.

The Blue Whale had become a refuge for stranded travelers and local residents whose homes were badly damaged. They kept coming and Kevin found places for them. At lunch, we put together a meal for over two hundred people, many of them strangers. It was one of Duck's finest hours.

We were joking around in the kitchen when Shawn Foxx arrived with his two little girls. I knew him right away even though it had been a few years since I'd last seen him.

“I heard my wife is missing,” he said. “I hope you have some news for me.”

Chapter 9

Althea, who was used to dealing with small children at the library, took the two little girls into the next room, promising them ice cream. Everyone else cleared out of the kitchen, leaving Kevin and me to talk to Sandi's husband.

I wanted to tell Kevin that he could leave too. This wasn't his responsibility. But I knew when he pulled up a chair for Shawn and then sat down opposite him that he wasn't leaving. I was glad to have him there. I'd been mayor of Duck for two years, but I'd never had to tell anyone that their wife was dead. I wouldn't be involved now except for that feeling inside that I should be the one to break the news.

“I don't know if you remember me, Shawn,” I began. “I'm Dae O'Donnell. Sandi and I went to a few conferences together.”

“Sure. I remember you. What's this all about, Dae?”

There was no easy way to tell the story. I told him that I'd noticed Sandi was missing during the night and that we'd found her this morning. “I'm so sorry.”

He took it well. The only sign that he was upset was a tightening around his eyes and mouth. Of course he'd been a marine for many years. He probably wouldn't break down and cry in front of us.

“What happened?” he asked, glancing at Kevin. “What was she doing outside during the storm anyway?”

Kevin introduced himself and shook Shawn's hand. “We're trying to figure that out. Everyone else was in the lobby, since we felt that was the safest place. We don't know how she got outside.”

Shawn's gaze flickered over us. “What are you saying? You mean someone might've
taken
her outside? What aren't you telling me? Exactly how did my wife die?”

At this point I thought it was a good idea to be a public official. “We don't really know yet. EMS took her to the hospital. I'm sure they'll do a full autopsy. All we know right now is that Sandi died during the night and we found her outside in a shed. Again, I'm so sorry. If there's anything we can do—”

“Can I see her?” he asked.

“I'm sure you can, but they moved her to the hospital. I'm sorry.”

“What about her assistant?” Shawn asked. “She didn't come here alone. Maybe her assistant knows something about what happened. Where is she?”