Murder Checks Inn (Book 3 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) (8 page)

Suddenly Alex felt some of the
claustrophobia Mor had mentioned. If he was strictly honest with
himself, at times he felt trapped by the responsibilities of
running the inn. So why not take a few hours off? They were mostly
caught up on their work, and what they hadn’t done together, Elise
could surely manage on her own. Since he was going to be inn-bound
for the evening, there was time to go into town and see what he
could learn about Jase’s death. After telling Elise his plans, Alex
got into his truck without a single glance back at the inn or the
lighthouse above him as he headed into town.

Alex found Nadine Crowley working at her
desk in Jase’s office as if nothing had happened to the elder
Winston. Then he saw the shredded tissue in one hand as she tried
to file with the other. Jase Winston, a most conservative man, had
obviously carried his tastes to his office more than his home,
filling the law practice with somber emerald carpets, heavy woolen
drapes and fine leather furniture.

“
Hi, Mrs. Crowley ...
Nadine,” he added quickly. She’d been his teacher in elementary
school, and it had been nearly impossible to break the habit of
calling her by her last name, no matter how much she
insisted.

“
Hello, Alex. I’m so sorry
about your uncle. I know how close you two were.”

Alex said, “Thanks. What are you going to do
with yourself now?” Nadine’s husband had dropped dead at her
retirement party a few years earlier, and she’d been forced to go
to work for a shady realtor. When he passed away as well, Nadine
had ended up working for Jase.

“
I’m afraid to think about
it right now. I haven’t had much luck working in the private
sector. I may just face it and retire in earnest.”

Alex tried to buoy her with his words. “Come
on, you’ve got a lot still to contribute to the world. Don’t give
up now.”

She patted his hand. “You always were such a
sweet boy. Now, what brings you here, Alex? Oh, that’s right.
You’ve inherited your uncle’s possessions, haven’t you?”

Alex said, “That’s what Sandra said, but I’m
not here to take an inventory. I wanted to ask you about what
happened the other day.”

Nadine selected a fresh tissue after
discarding the shredded mess in her hand, then said, “Alex, I’ve
been over this a dozen times with Sheriff Armstrong. Must I go
through it all again with you?”

Alex said, “Of course not. I know you’ve
been through a lot. I won’t add to your grief.”

Nadine’s gaze sharpened suddenly. “You’re
trying to solve this yourself, aren’t you?”

“
To be honest with you, the
thought had crossed my mind. Nadine, Jase wasn’t just my uncle; he
was a lot more than that to me.”

Nadine nodded. “Alex, of
course I’ll help you. Jase was a good man and the best boss I ever
had. It’s only fitting that you try to find his killer.” She
stroked the edge of her nose, thought for a few moments, then said,
“Let’s see, Jase had the reading of the Trask will scheduled for
later that morning. As a general rule, your uncle didn’t sleep in.
He was often here well before I started at eight
a.m
. every day. I wish I
could tell you what happened, but no one else was here by the time
I arrived.” She started to cry but fought back the tears as she
added, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget how he looked
just lying there with that lovely lighthouse you’d given him there
beside him on the floor.”

Alex realized how hard it must have been for
Nadine to find Jase’s body like that. He quickly switched tracks.
“Nadine, tell me this. Why did Jase keep the Trask will in his
safe? Was that normal procedure for him?”

Nadine said, “Heavens no, Alex, I’d never be
able to find anything if he did that. No, Jase told me last week
that the situation was a ticking time bomb, and that he’d better
tuck the folder away where nobody could get their hands on it.
Evidently it stood to shake things up quite a bit, but that’s all
he would say.”

He nodded. “That explains why it was under
such tight security.”

“
Oh, Alex, that’s what’s so
tragic about it all. The thief didn’t have to kill Jase; that safe
hasn’t worked in donkey years. All you have to do is wiggle the
handle, and it opens right up. It was more of a hiding place than a
safe. Jase was always meaning to get the safe repaired, but he used
to claim that he never had anything valuable enough to store in it
to justify the expense. I don’t have to tell you that your uncle
was a careful man with his money.”

Alex tried to fight the impulse to say that
Tony was reaping the benefits of that tendency now. He had to
remember that he’d inherited exactly what Jase had wanted him to
have.

“
So who do you think killed
him, Nadine?”

She looked down at her desk, shook her head
and said, “I wish I knew, Alex, I truly do. I firmly believe you
have to consider the Trask will as the catalyst in all of this,
since it’s the only thing I can find that’s missing. Taking that
into account, it could have been Trask’s ex-wife or either of his
children. It could have been Julie Hart, for that matter. The
sheriff called a few minutes ago and had me check Jase’s personal
appointment book. Julie was scheduled for an appointment the night
before he died, but I didn’t know anything about it. Sheriff
Armstrong is coming over here for the book.”

Alex asked, “Was that unusual for Jase to
add appointments to the schedule without telling you about it
first?”

Nadine frowned. “As far as I can remember,
it’s never happened before. Our appointment books were usually
identical.”

“
Could you check and see if
there were any other odd entries you can’t account for?”

“
Of course. His book is
still on his desk.”

Alex followed Nadine into Jase’s office. He
could almost feel his uncle’s presence in the room, with its
overstuffed chairs and the walnut desk that stretched nearly across
one side of the space.

She picked up a leather appointment book and
opened it to the day before Jase died.

Her voice was sharp and immediate as she
said, “Alex, this isn’t right.”

“
What isn’t?” Alex asked as
he hurried to her.

“
This notation for the
appointment with Julie. It’s not in Jase’s handwriting. I knew
there was something wrong about it before, but I couldn’t put my
finger on it.”

Alex couldn’t believe it. “So whoever killed
Jase was trying to set Julie up?”

“
It looks like it to me. I
was so rushed when the sheriff called, but I can’t believe I didn’t
spot it right away. What are we going to do about it?”

Alex studied the entry and said, “It’s close
enough to fool just about anybody. I can see how you missed it the
first time you looked at it, Nadine. You need to point out the fact
that the entry is a forgery when the sheriff gets here.” Alex
closed the leather-bound book and handed it to her.

Nadine said, “Alex, now that I know this is
such an important clue, I can’t stand the thought of it being here
with me. What if something were to happen to it?”

“
No one’s going to come
looking for it,” Alex said. “Especially the forger. They want this
appointment found, remember?”

“
What if the killer gets
cold feet and wants to retrieve the evidence? Alex, would you take
it to the sheriff for me?”

He started to refuse the request, but one
look at Nadine’s face told him that she was honestly in fear for
her safety. , He reached for it and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll make
sure he gets it.”

Her relief was obvious. “Bless you,
Alex.”

As Alex tucked the appointment book under
one arm, he added, “Do you have any idea where I can find Julie
Hart?”

Nadine said, “From what I understand, her
location is supposed to be a secret.”

Alex said, “Nadine, you’ve known me all my
life. I shouldn’t have to assure you that I’m not going to hurt
her.”

Nadine studied him a moment, then said, “I
know you’re not, dear boy. She’s staying with our resident
sculptor, Amy Lang, but don’t tell her I’m the one who told
you.”

“
My lips are sealed.
Thanks, Nadine, you’ve been a big help.”

“
Your uncle deserved a
better ending than he got. I just hope you catch whoever did this,
Alex.”

“
Me, too,” Alex said as he
headed out the door.

Stopping at the police station, Alex was
told that the sheriff was at his usual hangout, Buck’s Grill.

Sally Anne, Buck’s daughter, met him with a
forced smile.

Alex asked gently, “Hi, Sally Anne. How are
you doing?”

“
I’m better, Alex, thanks
for asking. Dad’s still in a stormy mood, though.” Sally Anne’s
boyfriend had proposed to her, and three months later he’d broken
their relationship off with her entirely. The two of them had been
planning to hold the wedding at Hatteras West, with Alex’s
heartfelt approval. He loved it when the inn served as a chapel for
local couples. His own parents had been married at the top of the
lighthouse, and if Alex ever found someone of his own, he planned
to do the same.

Alex found Sheriff Armstrong on a stool near
the back, deep in conversation with Hiram Blankenship, his one-time
rival for the sheriff’s elected office. Hiram was the town barber,
a man who had the unfortunate habit of waving his hands wildly in
the air whenever he spoke. It wasn’t so bad when Hiram held a sweet
roll in his hand, but he could be frightening with a pair of
scissors or a straight-edge razor slashing through the air.

“
Hiram,” the sheriff said,
“what you don’t know about the law could fill an ocean.”

“
I still say I would do a
better job than you, you old goat,” Hiram said, narrowly missing
the sheriff’s nose with a barrage of icing.

“
The people of Elkton Falls
didn’t think so,” Armstrong said as he leaned back on his stool to
get out of harm’s way.

“
This time.” Hiram
gestured, stabbing at the sheriff with his roll. If it had been a
sword, Elkton Falls would have needed a new sheriff after all. A
smudge of icing stained the front part of Armstrong’s
uniform.

“
You’re going to pay for
cleaning my uniform,” Armstrong snapped as he pointed to the spot
on his chest.

“
The way you’ve been
eating, who’s going to notice one more stain?”

Alex knew he couldn’t wait for the two men
to wind down; they might be at each other the rest of the day. He
said, “Sheriff, I need to talk to you.”

Hiram snapped, “You’re wasting your time,
Alex, he’s more interested in harassing taxpaying citizens than he
is in solving crime.”

Armstrong started to say something in reply
when Alex added, “It’s important.”

The sheriff tried to tuck in his massive
belly as he stood and faced Hiram. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got
police business to see to.”

“
There’s no excuse for
you,” Hiram added just as they left the diner. Alex caught a broad
grin on the barber’s face as he managed to get the last jab
in.

Armstrong said, “One of these days he’s
going to push me too far, Alex, you mark my words. Now what is it
that’s so all-fired important?”

Alex held the appointment book firmly in his
hands. He wasn’t ready to give it up until he made his point with
Armstrong. “Nadine was too jumpy to keep this at the office.”

The sheriff asked, “And how did you just
happen to be there, Alex?”

“
I inherited Jase’s things,
remember? I’ve got to start an inventory to see what I’m looking
at.” He had decided from the start not to let the sheriff know
about his own investigation if he could help it.

“
Sorry,” Armstrong
mumbled.

Alex said, “But since we’re talking about
the appointment book anyway, there’s something you should know.
Nadine swears the entry about Julie isn’t in Jase’s handwriting.”
Alex flipped the pages randomly and said, “See? She’s right. None
of the other entries match it, though it’s pretty obvious somebody
tried.”

Armstrong picked right up on it. “So someone
wanted to direct suspicion away from themselves, is that what
you’re thinking, that this is a frame-up?”

Alex nodded. “Exactly.”

“
I talked to Julie this
morning,” Armstrong admitted. “Of course, she denied ever making
that appointment, but what would you expect her to say?”

Alex said, “But why would she forge her own
name and not someone else’s?”

“
Hold on a second, Alex.
What if Julie Hart is the real killer? She could have planted this
to make it look like she was guilty at first, knowing the entry
would never stand up in court.”

Alex shook his head. “Sheriff, you’ve been
watching too much television.”

Armstrong bristled at the comment and
grabbed the book. “First Hiram and now you! Alex, you need to leave
the detecting to me. You’ve got an inn to run.”

Alex knew from the tone of Armstrong’s voice
that he had overstepped his bounds, and he had to keep the
sheriff’s good will if he was going to get any information from him
in the future.

“
I guess you’re right.
Maybe I’d better get back to Hatteras West, then.”

When the sheriff saw that Alex wasn’t going
to argue with him, he said kindly, “Alex, I’m sorry you lost your
uncle. Believe me, I’m doing everything in my power to find the
killer.”

As Alex left, he nearly added, “So am I,”
but he kept that last remark to himself.

Alex had done as Nadine had requested and
delivered the appointment book to the sheriff. It wasn’t time to
head back to Hatteras West yet, though. If he pushed it, he still
had time to pay a visit to Julie Hart out at Amy Lang’s homestead
near Hatteras West. It was possible that there was something she
wasn’t telling him, and he was bound and determined to find
out.