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

She said, “Alex? Is this a bad time?”

“
No, Ma’am. What can I do
for you?”

“
When I first arrived, you
promised me a personal tour of your lighthouse. I was hoping you
could take me to the observation platform and show me the
mountains.”

Alex glanced at his watch. He had indeed
promised her a guided tour, but this wasn’t the greatest time to
leave the front desk.

Lenora caught his expression. “If now is not
convenient for you, perhaps we could schedule it for sometime
later,” she said, letting her words trail softly away.

“
No, now
is fine.” He was an innkeeper first and foremost, and this was
definitely part of his job. Alex put up a sign that
said
back in thirty
minutes
, then led Lenora out the door. Doc
Drake still hadn’t arrived on the scene, so Alex still had plenty
of time to act as a tour guide to one of his guests.

As they climbed the steel staircase inside
the lighthouse, Lenora let her fingers trail along the whitewashed
wall inside the tower. “Such fine character it has.”

“
I like to think so. It’s
been a part of my family for generations.”

“
It is a part of you as
well, Alex. I can feel it in you both.” Her words were spoken like
a declaration.

Alex said, “I can’t deny it. After all, I
was born at the bottom of these steps.”

Lenora said, “Would you tell me the story as
we climb?”

It was a good thing Alex made it a point to
climb the steps on a regular basis. Otherwise he wouldn’t have had
the spare breath to talk on their ascent. Lenora must have been in
great shape; the climb didn’t seem to faze her at all.

Alex said, “It was on a Halloween night
thirty-odd years ago. Hurricane Abby took a freak turn and headed
up through Charlotte, then Hickory, and finally straight through
Elkton Falls. My mother was nine months pregnant with me, but she
refused to evacuate. I don’t doubt Dad realized from the start that
getting her to leave was not a battle he could win. Anyway, her
water broke about the time the first edge of the storm hit, and he
delivered me himself right here.”

“
I would think your family
would head for a basement, not a tower, in a hurricane.”

Alex said, “Hatteras West is nearly an exact
replica of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on the Outer Banks. These
lighthouses were built to withstand the punishment of the
storms.”

They ascended to the top, and Lenora gasped
as she took in the views of the mountains in one direction and the
foothills in the other. It was breathtaking at the top, a view Alex
could never grow tired of. He only wished there was a fog rolling
in for Lenora’s visit. It was truly spectacular watching the bands
of gentle whiteness engulf the land below while staying high above
it all.

After naming several of the nearby mountain
ridges, Alex saw Doc Drake’s car pull up beside Mor’s truck below
them.

“
Lenora, there’s something
I need to take care of. Are you interested in coming back down with
me?”

She shook her head. “I want to stay up here
and soak this all in, perhaps do a few sketches. You go ahead,
Alex. Thank you for the tour.”

“
My pleasure. If there’s
anything else I can do to make your stay a more pleasurable one,
just let me know.”

She smiled slightly, more in her eyes than
her lips. Lenora said, “There will come a time when I do just that,
but it is not here yet.”

Now what in the world did that mean? “Just
let me know,” Alex said as he jogged back down the steps.

He didn’t want Drake to get out of there
without giving him a clue as to what exactly had killed Toby
Sturbridge.

An ambulance had pulled up behind the
doctor’s car as Alex trotted down the steps, and Drake was already
in the process of examining the body slumped behind Mor’s steering
wheel when he caught up with him.

Doc Drake was a wiry little man with more
energy than four normal folks. There was a look of intense focus on
his face as he concentrated on the body.

Alex asked over the doctor’s shoulder, “Any
luck yet?”

Drake shook his head, still partially inside
the truck examining the body. Irene stood nearby, filming the
examination for her own records.

She said, “Step back, Alex. You’re blocking
my shot. What the eye might miss, Irene would have on tape.

After his preliminary examination, Drake
muttered, “I can tell you this, there’s nothing all that obvious
that just jumps out at me.”

He started shaking his head as he kept
looking, checking the eyes, the rigidity of the body, and a dozen
other things Alex couldn’t begin to interpret.

Finally, Drake said to the two attendants
waiting nearby, “Okay, let’s take him out of the cab.”

As they gently eased the body out of the
truck, Irene zoomed in for a closer look. It wasn’t work for the
fainthearted, that was certain.

After Sturbridge was on the stretcher, Drake
gave the body a more thorough examination. Finally, he raised his
head and made eye contact with Alex. “If you want my professional
opinion, I don’t have a clue. There are no obvious signs of trauma,
at least nothing I can find out here. Alex, it could have been a
dozen things, including natural causes. I need to get him to the
hospital and take a closer look.”

Irene had vanished, and Alex saw her zooming
in on something under Mor’s front seat. He looked and spotted a
dozen red roses pushed under the seat.

Irene said, “I wonder if these were from
Mor, or from old Toby over there.”

Alex said, “I don’t have any idea. Is there
a card with them?” He started to bend down to get a better look
when he heard tires crunching on the gravel drive nearby.

Sheriff Armstrong was back, and for a man of
his bulk, he joined them with astonishing speed.

“
What’s going on?” he
asked, fighting to catch his breath.

“
We just found something,”
Alex said.

Armstrong said, “Alex, why don’t you leave
this to the professionals? I’ll come find you when we’re done and
bring you up to speed.” He forgot about Alex instantly and turned
back to Irene. “Now show me what you’ve got.”

Alex stepped back a few paces, but he wasn’t
about to leave. After all, whatever had happened to Emma’s
ex-husband had happened at Hatteras West on Winston land, and he
had a right to know what was going on.

Alex glanced over and saw the body being
quickly loaded into the ambulance as Doc Drake headed for his
car.

Alex caught him before he could drive away.
“Are you still stumped?”

Drake admitted, “They’re not all as obvious
as a knife wound in the back of the neck, Alex. This one’s going to
take a little time.”

Alex asked softly, “Doc, give me a call when
you find anything, will you?”

Drake said, “Did you know the man, Alex?
What’s your interest in this case?”

“
He’s Emma Sturbridge’s
ex-husband, and she and Mor are most likely going to be the
sheriff’s main suspects. Besides, this happened on my land. I feel
responsible for it.”

Drake thought about it for a few moments,
then said, “I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not making any
promises.” As Drake got into his car, he added, “You know how the
sheriff gets when you snoop, Alex.”

Armstrong tried to catch the doctor’s
attention before he could leave, but Drake was deep in conversation
on his cellular phone as he drove away.

“
Blast it all, I was
expecting a report,” the sheriff said.

Alex replied, “He doesn’t know anything yet,
just that there’s no obvious trauma.”

Armstrong said, “Alex, I don’t like hearing
it secondhand from you. I told you before, I don’t want you getting
involved in this.”

“
I’m not sure I’m going to
be able to oblige you, Sheriff. Your two main suspects are both my
friends.”

Armstrong said, “I’m not so sure that buys
you a ticket to the dance. Tell me the truth. Mor asked you to poke
around in this, didn’t he?”

“
He might have mentioned
it,” Alex admitted reluctantly.

Armstrong shook his head. “He’s going to
make this a hundred times harder than it has to be, I just know it.
He’s already screaming about bringing in the State Police, and we
don’t even know for sure what happened out here today.”

“
Is he still in custody?”
Alex asked warily.

“
He was never in custody,”
the sheriff protested. “I wouldn’t even have bothered taking him
downtown if he hadn’t goaded me into it with that grandstanding of
his. You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was doing it
to protect Emma.”

Alex felt the relief flood through him. “So
he’s not one of your suspects, then.”

“
First why don’t we let Doc
Drake figure out exactly what happened to the man before we start
lining up suspects. There will be plenty of time to worry about who
did what after that. For right now, though, Emma and Mor are free
to go about their business, just as long as they don’t plan to take
any trips out of town.”

Alex said, “They’re getting married in a
month. I’m guessing they’ll be taking a honeymoon right after that.
Most folks do.”

“
Truth be told, if I don’t
have this wrapped up in a month, I might not be able to stop them,
but I’m going to try.”

“
Are you at least finished
with Mor’s truck? He won’t

be able to work without it.” Mor, along with
his partner Les Williamson, owned and operated Mor or Les, Elkton
Falls’ premier handyman service.

“
I have half a mind to
impound it, he’s being such a thorn in my side. But I’m not about
to do that,” the sheriff added, killing the protest just breaking
Alex’s lips. Armstrong called out to Irene, “How much more time do
you need with the truck?”

Irene considered the question for a few
moments, then said, “I could do a better, more thorough job if I
had it in the police garage. Get a tow truck, Ducky, and let’s haul
it in.”

Alex protested, “Is that really necessary? I
mean, you always do a good job in the field.”

Irene said, “I’ve got the time to be
thorough, Alex. Mrs. Harper cancelled her perm appointment, so I’m
free the rest of the day.”

Armstrong said, “Irene, you don’t have to
justify your request to Alex. You want Mor’s truck towed in, then
that’s the way it’s going to be.” He saw someone driving up to them
and said, “Now what’s the mayor doing out here at this time of
day?”

Grady got out of his car and approached
them. “Hi all. I was out this way running an errand, so I thought
I’d come by and see if you’ve made any progress yet.”

Armstrong said, “I’ve got my crew hard at
work on it.”

Grady nodded to Irene. “Ma’am.”

“
Mr. Mayor.”

Armstrong said, “I told you, as soon as
we’ve come up with something, I’ll let you know.”

Grady nodded, then patted Alex’s shoulder.
“So, have you thought any more about going into politics?”

Alex said, “No, sir, I’ve got my hands full
just being an innkeeper.”

Grady said, “You can do both, Alex.” He
started back for his car, then said, “Talk to you all later.”

After the mayor drove off, Armstrong headed
to his squad car to call for a tow truck on his radio.

Alex said, “Irene, do you really have to tow
Mor’s truck into town?”

Irene said, “This will save Mor a trip out
to the inn. He can walk over to the police garage and pick it up in
an hour.”

Alex nodded. “I never thought about that.
Irene, I’m not asking you to put your neck on the line, but do you
have any idea what happened?”

“
A man died, Alex, that’s
all I can say. Don’t worry, we’ll know more soon
enough.”

After the tow truck came and hauled Mor’s
truck off, there was no reason for Irene or the sheriff to hang
around Hatteras West. They got back into the cruiser and Alex
watched them drive away.

He couldn’t imagine what Irene might find
upon taking a closer look at the truck.

Alex just hoped if anything did turn up, it
wouldn’t point to either of his two friends.

Alex was back at the main desk trying to get
a handle on having a full house of guests again when he looked up
from the inn’s registry to find the two ladies sharing Room 16
approach.

He greeted them with his best innkeeper’s
smile, then said, “Good afternoon, Ladies. We were beginning to
worry about you.”

Corki stifled a yawn as she admitted, “To be
honest with you, we’ve needed our rest. I never imagined this tour
of inns would be so exhausting.”

Jan added, “I never worked so hard in my
life as we did at that place in Pennsylvania. Magdalena nearly wore
us out with that true Amish experience.”

Alex smiled softly to himself. He’d met
Magdalena Yoder years before at an innkeepers affair, and she’d
bragged about her penchant for keeping her guests busy with chores,
even paying for the privilege. Alex wished wistfully that he’d have
the nerve to do that himself.

Well, it was worth a shot. Alex said, “If
you two decide you want to get the authentic Lighthouse Experience.
I’ve got plenty of rags and cleaners, and the glass around the lens
could use a good scrubbing.”

Corki held her palms up in the air. “No more
work for me. All I want to do is eat and sleep. I’m ready for a
real vacation.”

Jan chimed in, “Absolutely. Alex, we came
down for directions to Mama Ravolini’s. We’ve heard great things
about the restaurant. Is it far?”

Alex took out a highlighter and traced the
route on a photocopied map of Elkton Falls for the ladies. As he
handed the sheet to them, Corki said, “Don’t wait up. We’re going
to see every bit of nightlife Elkton Falls has to offer.”