Room for Murder (Book 4 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) (25 page)

“
Perhaps we’ll be able to
do business,” Elise said. “First we need to discuss prices and
delivery schedules though.”

Alex said, “Why don’t you two use my office?
I’ve got some work to do out here anyway.” It was no hardship for
him to give up his office to them. Alex had been pestered
throughout the day by guests treating his private space like some
kind of lounge. He’d found Reston Shay there waiting for him that
morning, and then not an hour later, after answering a summons from
one of the suites, Alex had returned to find Melva Flump tapping
her fingernails on his desk, demanding postcard stamps and maps to
area attractions.

As Elise and Fiona disappeared inside the
office, Alex took another bite of the pumpkin muffin. It was just
as good as the first had been. He saw Elise’s blueberry muffin
sitting on the registration desk and decided to sneak a bite to see
if it matched his own.

It turned out that Elise had missed her
calling; she should have been an actress. The blueberry was very
nearly better than the pumpkin.

He trusted Elise to make the best deal for
them, but even if she decided Fiona was too expensive for the inn,
Alex knew he wouldn’t be able to resist buying one now and then for
himself.

Twenty minutes later, with the Muffin Lady
long gone and the final work for the day completed, Alex found
Elise taking inventory in their supply room.

“
Busy?” Alex asked as he
watched her go through the checklist on her sheet.

“
Give me one second,” she
replied as she continued with her work. Alex smiled in admiration.
Elise’s inventory system was part of their increased efficiency at
Hatteras West since she had come onto the scene. Alex shuddered
slightly as he remembered life before her arrival. Elise’s
predecessor—her cousin Marisa—a born crier if ever there was one,
had nearly driven him crazy with her constant tears. With Elise on
the scene, his world had settled into a blissful routine of
competence. However, his heart had been thrown into turmoil since
then, too. They had tried a disastrous date the month before, a
debacle that still stung. There was still something between them,
there was no doubt about that, but finding their way to what it
might be was more perilous than he’d expected. Dancing the fine
line between love and friendship was proving to be difficult.
Someday, someday soon, he was going to ask her out again, and this
time he planned to be better prepared for it than he had been
before.

At last she finished her list. “Okay, what
can I do for you?”

Alex said, “I wanted to see if you were
interested in one last look at the Carolina Rhapsody before Reston
gets here.”

“
You never get tired of
staring at it, do you? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get one more
look.” As she spoke, there was a loud clamor out front, and Alex
realized they’d waited too long.

Reston was in the lobby, along with his
entourage.

The dapper fellow said, “There you are.
We’re getting ready to move the stone for the final time. Want one
more peek before we do?”

“
That would be
great.”

Reston offered Elise his arm, and she smiled
slightly as she took it. It was obvious the older man still
considered himself a temptation. As Alex followed behind them, he
heard Reston say to Elise, “If you’d like, you may hold the emerald
for a moment.”

“
Thanks, but I’d be too
afraid I’d drop it.”

“
Nonsense,” Reston said,
“If something should happen, which I’m sure it won’t, the emerald
is fully insured. I insist.”

Elise nodded. “I’d love to, if you’re
sure.”

“
Absolutely,” Reston said
as they neared the room.

One of his escorts went through the door
first, and Alex saw the man’s entire body stiffen.

“
What’s wrong?” Alex asked
as he tried to see around the bulky form.

“
Call the police,” the
guard said as he hurried into the room.

Alex held off obeying the order. After all,
he couldn’t bring Sheriff Armstrong up to speed if he didn’t know
what had happened himself.

Reston looked ashen as stumbled into the
room, Elise’s arm released and forgotten. Alex saw Cliff’s body
lying on the floor at the base of the pedestal. An object he was
well familiar with was protruding from a sharp angle out of the
guard’s chest, a stain of blood slowly spreading on the uniform.
The murder weapon was a lighthouse letter opener sent to him by one
of his guests.

Buried to the hilt in the man’s chest, it
looked as if the lighthouse, or at least the image of it, had
played a part in another victim’s demise.

“
The emerald is still
there,” Alex heard one of the guards say as his partner checked for
a pulse.

The man kneeling beside Cliff shook his head
after finding none. “He’s dead.”

Alex decided it was time to make that call
to the police. He found Sheriff Armstrong in his office, and
quickly secured the man’s assurances that he’d soon be out there
along with Doc Drake and Irene Wilkins, Elkton Falls’
beautician/crime scene specialist. Alex hung up and returned to the
room where the emerald was being displayed.

As Alex walked in, he heard Reston saying,
“This is all my fault. I never should have taken the Carolina
Rhapsody out of the vault. It’s cursed.”

One of the guards said, “Cliff knew the
risks of the job. I’m disappointed in him, though,” he added as he
looked down on the body.

“
Why is that?” Alex
couldn’t help himself from asking.

“
The blade went into his
chest. He let his guard down with the wrong person. It was
obviously someone he knew.”

Alex agreed with the logic of it. “Are you
an off-duty cop or something? You don’t look familiar.”

The big man shrugged. “My name’s Skip
Foreman. I was a deputy sheriff in Mecklenburg County before I
retired up here for the peace and quiet.”

The other guard said, “Skip, come take a
look at this.”

“
Excuse me,” the big man
said as he joined his partner.

Reston was standing by, staring at the stone
with a grim expression on his face.

Alex patted him on the shoulder. “It wasn’t
your fault,” he said.

“
That’s not it. Something’s
wrong.”

“
What do you mean?” Alex
asked.

Instead of answering, Reston stepped over
the rope and plucked the stone off its pedestal. Reston examined
the gem a moment, then said, “Somebody stole the Carolina
Rhapsody.”

“
It’s right there in your
hand,” Alex said.

“
This is a fake,” Reston
said, his voice shaking. “The real emerald is gone.”