Gunpowder Chowder (12 page)

When Jack returned, his face was pinched and pale. “Pam just called. Noah is missing.”

“Missing? Like, ran away?”

Jack nodded. “That’s what Pam is afraid of.”

All of Hannah’s fears bubbled over with Jack’s words—seeing kids on the beach the night before Vern was killed, finding Noah’s gold chain, the bag from the chocolate shop, the path through the trees—everything pointed to Noah, and with his disappearance, Pam was put in a terrible situation.

A car door slammed in front of Jack’s house.

Chapter 14

Hannah looked at Jack. Nellie woofed and ran to the front of the house.

“Dad? Where are you?” Pam called.

“Maybe I’d better leave. I’m not on your daughter’s best friend list,” Hannah said.

“That’s ridiculous. Pam might not know it, but she needs a friend now more than ever.”

Just as those words left Jack’s mouth, Pam rounded the side of the house. Her long strides stopped and a scowl covered her face when she saw Hannah. “What are
you
doing here? Whenever there’s trouble, you seem to be in the middle of it.”

Hannah’s eyes shifted from Pam to Jack, unsure of what she should do.

“Let’s go inside and have some coffee, I know
I
can use some,” Jack said, deflating the tension. Slightly.

Hannah and Nellie were the last to walk through the door. What was going through Pam’s mind?

Pam slumped onto one of Jack’s kitchen chairs with her arms resting on the table and her head bowed forward. “With Noah missing, I can’t concentrate on the murder investigation. I have to find out why he ran away, make sure he’s not involved in the murder.” She mumbled more to herself than to Jack and Hannah.

Jack got the coffee brewing and rustled through his cupboards for something to eat. “Slim pickings here. Anyone want an oatmeal granola bar?” He put the box on the table, along with sugar and cream. “Help yourselves.”

“Do you have any idea where Noah might be?” Hannah quietly asked Pam, feeling out whether Pam was ready to accept Hannah in the conversation.

Pam shook her head. She raised her head and her eyes only showed exhaustion. “He doesn’t have much money, though, so he couldn’t have gotten far.”

“Do you think he’s alone? What about his girlfriend?”

“Who? Tasha? Her mother keeps a close watch on that girl. She’s always working at the chocolate shop or helping at the Inn.”

Jack poured three mugs of coffee and sat between Pam and Hannah. He put his hand on Pam’s arm. “I know you work incredibly hard which means Noah has a lot of unsupervised time.”

Pam sat back, pulling her arm away from her father’s hand. “What are you trying to say? You think I’m a bad mother?”

“No. You have a difficult job and you can’t be in two places at the same time. This is hard for me to say, but considering the situation, we have to put all our cards on the table. Hannah saw some kids near the cottages the night before Vern was shot.”

Pam shrugged. “Big deal. Kids were always using those cottages after Caroline died.”

“Well, I thought it wasn’t anything either. Until Hannah’s niece found Noah’s gold chain in the sand. I know he was wearing it the day before.”

Pam stood up so fast her chair tipped over. “You think Noah’s the murderer?” She paced across the kitchen, three long strides one way, then back again.

“Try to calm down. To answer your last question, no, I don’t think he’s a murderer but there are too many clues pointing to him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, here’s the important question, Pam. Was Noah home on Saturday morning?”

“You mean, did he have an alibi when Vern was shot?”

Jack nodded.

Hannah held her breath and squeezed her hands so tight her nails dug into her palms.

Pam sat down, her shoulders drooping. “I don’t know. I wish I checked his room before I left for work around seven thirty, but I didn’t. His car was in the driveway, but that doesn’t mean he was home. He doesn’t have an airtight alibi.”

Jack opened a drawer and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. “Here’s what we’re going to do.” He slid the paper in front of Hannah. “Let’s make a list of everything we know. If we’re going to help Noah, we have to consider every possibility.”

Pam chewed on her bottom lip. “I don’t like having
her
hear all this information.” She tilted her head in Hannah’s direction.

Jack held Hannah’s arm so she couldn’t get out of her chair. “She’s staying. Hannah has a lot at stake with Vern’s murder. She doesn’t need this cloud over the cottages, or her reputation, for that matter.”

“Okay.” Pam sighed. “Kelley has an alibi. She was at Simply Sweets with Tasha making chocolate whales and shells. So Tasha has an alibi, too. Cal and Chase were both on the beach around the time of the murder. Monica said she was at home.” She looked at Hannah. “You were in your cottage, the closest to the crime scene, but no trace of you ever being inside cottage number four. Your fingerprints are on the murder weapon.”

Hannah jotted down all the details before looking at Pam. “I discovered something interesting today. There’s a trail on the edge of my property beyond cottage number four that goes through the trees to the road. It’s how Monica got herself to my cottage in her wheelchair earlier today. There’s a clear view of cottage number four from the trail.” She paused. “And someone could have seen the gun leaning against my cottage, cottage number one. Anyone could have easily spied on the cottage, totally unseen. Maybe someone who knew Vern was using the cottage? Kept an eye on his activity and waited for the right moment to shoot him.”

“Poor timing if you ask me. Why didn’t they shoot him before you moved in?” Pam said.

Hannah shrugged. “No one knew I was moving in. It could have been a desperate move before they realized the cottages would be getting busy again. Or, whoever shot him didn’t know I was there.”

Jack nodded and pointed to Hannah. “Nothing looked different. You didn’t come in a car. Vern and Chase argued with you that first night after you left my house. And they both saw the gun, but no one else knew you were staying in the cottage.”

Hannah sipped her coffee. “So, does that give Chase an excuse for not being the murderer? He knew I was there?”

“Not really. He had a motive, he was on the beach, he knew the gun was there. I always suspected those two would come to some sort of problem over Caroline’s land,” Jack summarized.

Pam rubbed her chin. “This is all interesting, but it’s not helping to find Noah. That’s where my priority is now.”

Jack carried the empty mugs to the sink. “You’re right. You should go talk to Tasha. Did you know she has the same gold chain and medallion that Noah lost in the sand? I think those two were a lot closer than you realize.”

“I saw Tasha wearing the medallion when I was in the shop yesterday. When I asked her about it, she tucked it inside her shirt. And I got the feeling she and her mom aren’t particularly close,” Hannah said. “Also, it was odd when I was in Simply Sweets. Kelley wanted to make me an offer on my property.”

Pam stopped on her way to the door. “Too bad she has an alibi. Vern’s death has made her a wealthy woman. And suspicion always falls on the spouse first.”

Jack peeked out the window and Hannah heard the crunch of tires leaving Jack’s driveway. “Good. She’s got Noah to focus on and she’s out of my hair. Now, we get to work.”

Hannah’s forehead puckered. “What kind of work, Jack?”

He sat at the table across from Hannah. “You know that shark Cal told you about?”

Her eyebrows raised even higher. “Missy Sharpe from the T.V. station? How do you know about that?”

Jack waved his hand dismissively. “Cal told me. But I have a plan. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Come on, let’s go.”

Hannah planted her feet firmly on Jack’s linoleum floor. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me about this plan of yours.”

“We can walk and talk. You know, T.V. reporters love to interview local characters, especially an old guy who loves to share too much.” Jack opened the door for Hannah and Nellie. “I figure I can beat this Missy busybody at her own game. And maybe it will help Ruby at the same time.”

“Help my sister? You’re talking in riddles.”

Jack chuckled. “Not much gets by an old timer like me in this little town. Ruby doesn’t want to be part of anything to do with Missy Busybody
Shark
. Of course, she doesn’t know that yet, so I’m aiming to make all this work in our favor and not Missy’s.” They headed toward Hannah’s cottage. “She won’t know what hit her when she decided to come to Hooks Harbor.”

“Why are you doing this? You barely know me and you know Ruby even less,” Hannah asked.

“Well, Caroline took care of me after my wife died. She refused to let me stay depressed and mope around. Instead, she challenged me to stay strong for Pam and Noah. I miss Caroline, but when I saw you standing in front of her cottage, well, it was almost like she was back. The way you looked me right in the eye and tossed your long braid over your shoulder was a flash of the young Caroline I met years ago. You didn’t have the luck to know her like I did, and that’s a shame, but you are as close to a clone of Caroline as anything I can imagine. By helping you, I’m paying back some of my debt to her.”

Jack looked away from Hannah but she couldn’t help but notice how he quickly wiped his cheek. A tear? Probably.

Hannah put her arm around Jack’s shoulder. No words were needed. They were a team, and right about now, she was happy to have someone watching out for her.

“Time to channel some of Caroline’s toughness. The media circus has arrived,” Jack whispered to Hannah.

Chapter 15

Hannah squared her shoulders and felt a surge of adrenaline make her fingertips tingle. This wasn’t exactly what she would label as fun but it was exciting.

Ruby appeared at her side within seconds of spotting Hannah. “Can you keep an eye on Olivia for me? I’m not working but Missy wants me to observe her technique.” She leaned close to Hannah. “You’re not going to mess this opportunity up for me, are you?”

“I hope not. I think this drama has taken on a life of its own and I’m not sure what to expect,” Hannah answered honestly. What she didn’t say to Ruby was that she was keeping her fingers crossed that Jack knew what
he
was doing.

Missy snapped her fingers and signaled for Ruby to hustle over to her side. She handed Ruby her coffee mug then pushed her off to the side like a piece of trash.

Hannah shook her head and bit her tongue. What she really wanted to do was walk up to Missy and shove her right into the ocean. Her mouth curved into a smirk at the image of Missy sputtering like a drowning rat with her perfectly coiffed bleached blond hairdo dripping salt water and seaweed. And the look on her face would be priceless.

The camera crew was done setting up and Missy, off to one side, was mumbling to herself, probably practicing her story and waiting for the live segment to begin.

Jack inched his way toward Missy, and before anyone noticed, he was standing next to her, whispering in her ear. She smiled and pulled him toward someone else. Missy’s hand flew in every direction and her face held the excitement of someone who just won a multimillion dollar lottery ticket.

Ruby’s eyes locked onto Hannah’s. Her head dipped forward, then tilted toward Jack and Missy, sending a silent question to Hannah to explain what the heck was going on. Hannah shrugged, her forehead creased indicating ignorance of the situation.

They didn’t have long to ponder what Jack was up to before a microphone was in front of his face and the cameraman had his lens focused on Jack and Missy.

With only the sound of the surf behind Jack’s words, Hannah couldn’t believe her ears.

“Well,” he said into Missy’s microphone, “I’m sure, without a shred of a doubt, that Caroline Holiday murdered Vern Mason. Yep, shot him right in the chest with her own shotgun.”

“Mr. Jackson, Caroline Holiday is dead.” Missy shot a glance in Hannah’s direction. “Or, was that all some sort of fake death so the contract between Caroline and Vern was invalid and the property would instead go to her great niece, Hannah Holiday?”

Jack shrugged like a little boy. “Maybe so. She told me the contract to sell her property to Vern was no good if she died before the closing, and she did will her property to her great niece.”

The crowd that was gathered around the filming crew gasped.

Hannah’s eyes blinked and her mouth fell open.

Missy shoved Jack closer to the camera. “Tell us, when did you last see Caroline Holiday?”

“She came to visit me the night before Vern was murdered.” He put his finger to his cheek and puckered his lips. “So, I guess that would have been two nights ago.” He lowered his voice a tiny bit. “We have been very close.” He winked at the camera. “If you get my drift.”

Missy spoke into the microphone. “There you have it, folks. Caroline Holiday faked her own death and came back to kill her enemy, Vern Mason. What a clever plot. Who would suspect a dead woman of murder? You heard it first here, live on the Coastal Chronical.”