Sandrift: A Lin Hanna Mystery (7 page)

An hour and
several filled grocery bags later, they pulled into the driveway at
Kate’s.
 
Eloise was in her yard,
apparently waiting for their arrival; she hurried over to introduce herself.

Lin introduced
Neal, explaining that he would be visiting through the holidays.
 
She caught Eloise’s expression of
approval as she gave the handsome professor a broad smile.

Glancing at the
grocery bags, Eloise spoke quickly, “I do hope you haven’t been buying fixin’s
for Thanksgiving.
 
I was hoping the
two of you could join me.
 
It won’t
be a big party—just me and
my friend, Tom Miller
.
 
He and I are both alone now, since he
lost his wife a few years back, and we often share holidays when we aren’t with
family.
 
You’ll enjoy Tom; he’s a
historian and has written several books about this area.
 
He loves to talk about this place and
he’ll welcome a new audience.”

Lin caught
Neal’s eye and he nodded his assent, “We’d love to come Eloise.
 
It sounds like fun and we’d both enjoy
hearing more about this place.
 
Can
I bring something?”

“Just
yourselves
—Tom’s doing most of the cooking,” Eloise
responded as she turned back toward home. “We’ll eat late.
 
I’ll look for you about four and we’ll
have drinks on the porch if it’s not too chilly.
 
I’ll bring Sparky over in a few minutes.”

Lin realized
that she hadn’t mentioned the “dog sitting” part of her arrangement to Neal
earlier. “Hope you like dogs,” she grinned as she grabbed a stuffed grocery
bag, “we’ll have to take a walk as soon as these groceries are stashed.”

“Love’em,” Neal
grinned as he grabbed two of the bags himself.

They made short
work of putting their purchases away.
 
As Lin reached for Sparky’s leash, Neal grabbed the keys to the Jeep
from their hook beside the back door, “Let’s head to the beach.
 
We still have a couple of hours of
daylight.”

Sparky barked
his approval jumping into the Jeep as soon as the door was opened.
 
Soon they were busy playing catch as
Sparky romped in and out of the ebbing surf.
 
The chill of the morning had given way
to a warmer afternoon. Gulls were pecking in the damp sand while the
ever-present pelicans skimmed the breaking surf in their hunt for fish.
 
It was a perfect fall afternoon.

***

After they’d
returned from their outing and enjoyed a light supper, Lin made some coffee and
they took their steaming mugs out to the porch that spanned the sound side of
Kate’s house.
 
It was a chilly
evening so they sat at the end of the porch that was glassed in to form an
outdoor room.
 
Neal turned on the
gas fireplace that had been installed along one wall and the area was soon nice
and cozy.

“This place
reminds me a little of Arizona,” Neal said, “it was warm at the beach this
afternoon, but when the sun goes down the temperature really drops.”

“True,” replied
Lin, “but there wasn’t much wind today either.
 
It can be quite chilly on the beach this
time of year when there’s a strong wind.
 
Sometimes there are full-scale winter storms too.
 
Usually, it’s fairly mild though. The
ocean has a moderating effect on the overall climate.”

Looking around
at the comfortable, and now cozy, glassed porch area Lin smiled as she realized
its usefulness, “This will be a perfect spot for the kids to sleep.
 
Sam and Emma can ‘camp out’ here with
sleeping bags.
 
It’s plenty warm and
they will love being able to see the stars and the moonlight on the sound.
 
I’d been wondering where to put
them.
 
This will let their parents
have some privacy.
 
There are two
guest bedrooms here on the main level but they aren’t huge…”

“And where will
I be,” Neal interrupted.

“Come in and
I’ll show you,” Lin gave him a wink, “WE will be happily ensconced upstairs in
the master suite.
 
Wait till you see
the nice office up there also.
 
It’s
the perfect spot for you to get some work done.”

Neal grabbed
the suitcases that had been left in the entryway earlier. Lin directed him
upstairs as she grabbed his carry on bag.

“This is nice!”
Neal exclaimed as they arrived on the second floor.
 
Lin gave him the grand tour pointing out
the spacious office area where Kate had already cleared the desk for their
use.
 

“This office
doubles as a den, also,” Lin explained.
 
“We can get away for a bit when we’ve had enough ‘kiddo’ time.”

Neal had
already crossed the hallway to the spacious master bedroom and its adjoining
bath. “The whole arrangement is perfect,” he said turning to her with a
somewhat sheepish grin, “but what will your kids say about their mother sharing
her sleeping quarters.
 
They might
not approve.”

Lin hoped that
she wasn’t blushing as she replied, “I think…er, I’m sure that they both
understand that we are…” she struggled to find the right words.

Neal came to
her rescue, “That we are more than simply friends, we are lovers.”
 
He drew her to him in a warm embrace. “
I hope that doesn’t bother or embarrass you,” he murmured in her ear as he
stroked her hair.

She pulled back
and gave him big smile. “Not at all,” she said, “but I do appreciate the
privacy this suite gives us—especially with so many coming for
Christmas.”

“Me too,” he responded.
“Now, I’m going to unpack my things and get settled.
 
Then I think I’ll be ready to call it a
day.”

“I’m going down
to finish cleaning up in the kitchen,” Lin answered, “
Then
I’ll be up.
 
We have a busy day
tomorrow.”

“Oh, yes.” Neal
turned to her, “I’d almost forgotten about our date with the local sheriff
tomorrow morning.”

“And I have a
few other things to show you, when we go to Manteo.” Lin smiled as she headed
downstairs.

***

Later, as she
lay in Neal’s arms drifting somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, Lin
thought about her conversation with the Johnsons and her promise to talk to
them about what she learned when she talked to Sheriff Midgett.
 
She had not yet mentioned this promise
to Neal and she wasn’t sure how he’d react to her agreeing to do this.
 
From their earlier conversation she had
picked up on the fact that he didn’t relish the thought of her becoming more
deeply involved in this incident.

Well, she had
no intention of becoming deeply involved in anything.
 
After all, Dorrie’s death had already
been determined to be an unfortunate accident, and the murder of Liz Frazier
happened more than ten years ago.
 
Maybe Dorrie had been involved in some way.
 
In any event it was probably too late to
learn much new information about what happened.
 
She did understand how Matt and Sara Johnson
felt.
 
They couldn’t reconcile
themselves to what they’d been told about the earlier crime.
 
Perhaps when they learned more, they
could better accept what might have happened.
 
I’ll simply give Matt Johnson a call and
tell him what the Sheriff says—then it will be over.
 
I can put the entire episode behind me
and get on with planning for a wonderful holiday.
 
We can discuss all this over breakfast,
Lin thought as she drifted off to a pleasant sleep snuggled next to Neal.

Sheriff Midgett
was waiting when Lin and Neal arrived at the coffee shop the next morning.
 
It was sunny but a bit cool for sitting
outside so they chose a table by the windows that overlooked the harbor
area.
 
The water was a deep blue,
and the sky was clear.
 
A variety of
watercraft bobbed lazily at the adjacent pier.
 
There were only a few customers in the
shop as it was already mid-morning.

“I hope that I’m
able to answer some of your questions and concerns Ms. Hanna,” the Sheriff
pointed to a fairly thick folder he had placed on the table. “This is the
information we have on the Frazier killing.
 
I’m sure that finding Dorrie Johnson’s
body was a shocking experience for you, and I hope learning more about this
story will help you to find some sense of closure.”
 
Midgett turned to Neal, “I don’t believe
I’ve had the pleasure.”
 
He extended
his hand.

“Neal Smith,
I’m a close friend of Lin, I’m here for the holidays and thought I would come
along this morning.
 
This is a beautiful
spot,” Neal shook hands with the Sheriff and they seated themselves.

“Indeed, it
is,” Sheriff
Midgett
agreed.
 
He was a big man, more than six feet
tall and likely close to 300 pounds.
 
He probably played football in high school, Lin thought.
 
He began to arrange the papers from the
folder on the table as the waiter brought steaming mugs of coffee.
  
“How ‘bout some of those good
pastries, Jerry?
 
Breakfast was early
for me today,” the Sheriff turned to Lin and Neal, “They’re home made
here—delicious,” he offered, “Will you join me?”

“Not me,” Lin
replied, “I just finished a huge omelet.
 
We had breakfast before leaving the beach.”

Neal declined
more food also.
 
Lin felt that his
mood was a bit cool and standoffish.
 
At breakfast she’d told him of her promise to share information with
Matt Johnson.
 
While Neal didn’t say
anything about that, didn’t try to talk her out of it, she sensed that he wasn’t
fully convinced it was a good idea.
 
Now he sat back, sipping his coffee and listening intently as Pete
Midgett began to fill them in on the story of Liz Frazier.

Lin took out a
pen and a small note pad and began to jot down some of the basic facts of the
case.
 
She realized that Pete
Midgett had paused and was watching her.

“It helps me to
focus on what you are telling us,” Lin explained. “I just want to be sure that
I understand what happened.
 
I find
that sometimes I can easily forget details if I don’t take notes.
 
That isn’t a problem is it?”

“Not at all,
I’m a note taker myself,” Midgett replied.
 
He continued to review the story.
 
Lin had read much of it in the newspaper account of Dorrie’s death, but
she did note some interesting items of information, and she had some questions.

“It seems that
robbery was the motive for Liz’s murder.
 
What is this jewelry that you keep mentioning?”

“That is not
entirely clear,” the Sheriff replied. “Apparently, Liz claimed to have found a
diamond ring, pendant, and earrings while searching a wreck uncovered near
Hatteras Point during a heavy gale. I realize you folks are relative strangers
to this area, but shipwrecks of all sorts have happened here for
centuries.
 
The shipping lanes are
better protected now, but in earlier days ships often went aground on reefs
just offshore.
 
Even smaller boats
could be caught when trying to navigate the inlets and sounds.
 
The sands here are always drifting.
 
A boat grounding during a storm can be
pounded to destruction quickly.
 
Nowadays storms come through and the sands shift; wrecks are uncovered
on or near the shore only to be re-covered by a later storm.

“Liz was a
treasure-hunter in her spare time.
 
Lots of folks do that as a hobby. They search the sands for lost
items.
 
They especially like to hunt
for things around the remains of old wrecks that are uncovered.
 
It is rare to find anything much of
actual monetary value, but it does happen.
 
Unfortunately, Liz was also a partier and a heavy drinker.
 
Apparently she bragged to her friends
about the find.
 
Some folks believed
her and some didn’t.
 
Most had not
actually seen the stuff but…”

Lin
interrupted, “So, the motive for Liz’s murder was robbery; someone wanted that
jewelry?”

“That’s the
most likely scenario,” Midgett replied. “Dorrie was Liz’s housemate at the
time.
 
Liz usually rented out a room
to help meet expenses.
 
It’s likely
that Dorrie had the opportunity to see the jewelry and realize it was
valuable.
 
Of course, she also
disappeared about the time Liz was killed.
 
We never located her, and we never found the jewelry either.”

“Who else might
have known about the jewelry, might have seen it? You must’ve had other
suspects, at least at first.”
 
Lin
probed for more information.

Pete Midgett
bristled a bit at the implication and sat back in his chair, “We most certainly
did a thorough investigation.
 
Liz
had bragged at Tim’s Bar and Grill. We talked to Tim and to as many of his
customers as we could locate.
 
None
of them claimed to know anything about the jewelry except what they heard from
Liz. Most of them probably didn’t even believe her.”

“Billy Thornton
runs the local pawn shop in Nags Head.
 
We checked him out too.
 
He
said Liz showed him some fancy stuff, said it looked pretty valuable to him and
he wouldn’t handle it for her.
 
Billy said it was ‘too rich for his blood.’
 
He told her to talk to folks here in
Manteo, some of the dealers who knew about jewelry and such.
 
He thought it might have been antique
just from looking.
 
We checked with
everyone we could think of but none of them had seen Liz, or her jewelry.”

“So, any of the
guys at Tim’s bar or even Billy Thornton could have committed the crime?” Lin
supposed.

“ Well, you can
say that, but we checked everyone out, alibi’s and all.
 
There was no supporting evidence for
anyone.
 
That left us with
Dorrie.
 
She had knowledge,
opportunity, and she ran off and hid somewhere.
 
Everything we had pointed right at her.
 
I just regret we never found her, but I
guess that doesn’t matter now—we can close this case, finally,” Pete
Midgett placed the papers in his folder and sat back.
 
He picked up a large cinnamon roll and
took a bite.

“I have one
more question,” Lin looked up from her note taking, “well, two really.
 
Did Liz Frazier have any family who
might have known about the jewelry? Why do you think Dorrie Johnson came back
here, back to the scene of this crime she had escaped from all these years?”

“Liz’s mother
and sister were here and they still are.
 
Her sister claimed to have seen the jewelry once, but she didn’t know
what Liz was planning to do with it.
 
As far as Dorrie coming back goes, who knows—maybe she wanted to
‘test the waters’ see if folks were still talking about the case.
 
Maybe she hid the jewelry somewhere and
came back to get it.
 
We never found
it.
 
Maybe because it wasn’t in
circulation—wasn’t sold anywhere.
 
Maybe she thought it was safe now to cash in—I really cannot say.
 
There are a lotta ‘maybes’ here.”
 
The Sheriff shifted in his chair,
pushing to his feet as he grabbed another cinnamon roll to take with him.
 
He tucked his papers under one arm.

“I’ve spent
enough time out of my office; I hope I’ve answered your questions and you can
now feel some peace about all of this, Ms. Hanna.
 
Mr.
Smith,
pleased to meet you too.
 
Hope you
enjoy your stay.”
 
He extended a
beefy hand and Neal rose to shake it.

“Thanks Sheriff,
for taking the time to talk to us.
 
Mind if I ask you a question too?
 
Have you learned anything about what Dorrie was doing while she was
here? Where she went and so forth? I’m sure her family would be interested in
any information they could get,” Neal asked.
 
Lin tried not to show her surprise at
Neal’s speaking up.
 
He had remained
quiet throughout the conversation up to this point.

“Sure, we’re
looking into it, but there really isn’t much to go on so far,” Midgett was
obviously ready to end the conversation.
 
“We’ll certainly contact the family if we come across anything of interest.
 
That’s our job,” he replied abruptly.

“Well, thanks
again, Sheriff,” Neal placed his chair under the table.
 
He turned to Lin as he watched Pete
Midgett walk toward the door, his expression somber. “I can certainly see why
you’d have questions about his case against Dorrie Johnson,” he spoke in a low
voice so as not to be overheard, “ The investigation of this crime seems pretty
thin to me—at least he didn’t share much in the way of concrete evidence
with us.”

 
By this time they had reached the boardwalk
area outside the shop and were heading toward the parking area.
 
Pete Midgett was nowhere in sight.

“ I certainly
agree,” Lin responded, “and am I correct in thinking that you agree that Matt
and Sara Johnson need to know what Sheriff Midgett did have to say to us?”

Neal paused
before opening the car door, “I’ll have to admit that I can’t object to your
sharing this.
 
They’ve lost their
daughter; they don’t need to live with the idea that she was a cold blooded
killer.”

“But she could
be involved in this crime,” Lin insisted. “ We can’t really know what happened
more than ten years ago.”

“That’s
certainly true enough,”
Neal
said, “but the case hasn’t
been proven and I doubt it could be, given what the sheriff shared.
 
Dorrie’s parents could, at least, take
comfort in that.”

“ I told Matt Johnson
that I ‘d call today and I will, but first I want you to see something here,”
Lin changed the subject as she got into the car.

***

As they pulled
into the parking lot at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Lin turned to
Neal, “You’re going to love this place.
 
It marks the location of the first attempt by the English to colonize…”

“The Lost
Colony,” Neal interjected, “I’m familiar with that story. Still a mystery.”

“Yes, it’s both
an interesting and beautiful place.
 
Grab your jacket, we’ll want to walk through the grounds and it’s a bit
nippy.”

They walked
through the trails surrounding the visitor center.
 
Giant hollies—true trees, not
shrubs—dotted the area.
 
Loaded with red berries they made the grounds appear as if they were
decorated for the upcoming holiday.
 
They explored the outdoor theater, where the story of the colony was
performed in a drama each summer, taking the stage and pretending to be actors,
enjoying each other’s company.
 
They
ended by visiting the reconstructed earthworks of the fort before returning to
the visitor center.

“I almost wish
it were summer so we could see the play,” Neal said.

“I saw it once
years ago,” Lin replied. “You’ll just have to come back to visit again,” she
responded a bit flirtatiously.

Neal put his
arm around her shoulder and pulled her toward him. “You won’t have to beg me,”
he smiled, kissing her gently on the forehead.

The warmth of the
visitor center felt good after their walk outside.
 

“I want to talk
to the ranger on duty,” Lin said, “Kate volunteers here sometimes and suggested
that I might fill in for her if they need extra help.”
 
She headed for the desk while Neal
decided to browse the exhibits.

Fortunately the
lead interpretive ranger was on duty.
 
Lin introduced herself and filled him in on her previous training and
experience as a park volunteer.
 
She
explained that she was house sitting for Kate Jarman who had suggested they
might need extra help.

“How do you
feel about school groups?” the ranger asked. “We get very busy with field trips
during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

“ I was an
elementary school principal in Charlotte for more than fifteen years,” Lin
offered, “ just retired last year.
 
I’m very comfortable with kids. I’d enjoy sharing with them and I’m sure
I can manage behavior.”

The ranger
smiled, “The teachers usually have the groups well in hand, but they do welcome
our help sometimes.
 
I think you’re
hired Ms. Hanna—you’ll need to complete a volunteer application form for
our records, and if you can wait a moment, I’ll get one for you.
 
Mind if I bring our schedule too?
 
We have trips starting next week.”