The Haunted Bones (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 3) (13 page)

L
in had arranged
a meeting time with Quinn to take a look at the truck he had for sale. Jeff had to work on the other side of the island so he was going to meet Lin there. The road to Quinn’s place went right by the farmhouse where Lin and Leonard had been working. The landscaping was almost complete and they were quite pleased with the way it had turned out.

Lin drove along thinking about the case and wondering if there would be anything at Quinn’s house that might be used to tie him to the grave robberies. She knew it was a long shot since she couldn’t just wander off by herself while she was there, but she hoped she might see or sense some small thing that could lead to evidence.

A half-mile from the farmhouse, the truck sputtered and wouldn’t respond to Lin pushing on the gas pedal. Giving a few sporadic lurches, the engine let out a gasp and gave out. Lin braked and eased the old truck to the side of the road. Letting out a couple of curses, she turned the key in the ignition a few times only to be met with a grinding sound and then nothing.
Bah.

Lin reached for her bag and took out her phone. She sent a text to Leonard asking if he was working at the farmhouse. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel while waiting for a reply. When he didn’t answer, she texted Jeff to let him know that the truck had died and that she was going to walk to the farmhouse to see if Leonard might still be working there. Lin would let Jeff know if she could get a ride from Leonard to meet him at Quinn’s house. Setting down her phone on the passenger seat, she removed the keys from the ignition and put them in her bag.

Lin covered the half-mile quickly and walked down the farmhouse’s long driveway. Leonard wasn’t there. Sighing, she reached for her phone to text Quinn that she’d be late. Her hand fished around in her bag searching for the phone when Lin realized she’d left it in the truck.
What else can go wrong?

She headed for the Sawyer’s house next door to borrow their phone to call Jeff, and then she’d walk back to the truck to wait for him. Lin pushed through the brush and low-hanging branches to cut over to the Sawyer’s house.

Clouds had rolled in blocking the sun and making the early evening darker than usual. A sense of unease pinged at Lin as she climbed the steps to the Sawyer’s front door and pushed on the doorbell. Usually Olive opened the door within a few seconds which always made Lin feel like the woman had been spying on her, but today no one answered.

She pushed the bell again and waited. Nothing. Lin walked to the end of the porch and looked down the driveway. The two usual cars were parked in front of the garage.

Lin walked back to the door and knocked on it in case the bell didn’t chime when she’d pushed it. The door opened a crack from the force of the knock. Lin’s throat tightened. “Olive?” When there was no response from inside, Lin put her hand on the door and opened it a few inches. “Lloyd? Is anyone home? It’s Lin Coffin.” She peeked inside.

On the pale blue foyer floor tiles, were several large drops of blood. Lin sucked in a quick breath. “Olive?” She stood quietly at the door listening. The house was as quiet as a tomb.

Although Lin’s first instinct was to run away as fast as she could, she worried that Olive and Lloyd were hurt inside so she took a hesitant first step into the entryway. She thought of finding the house phone and calling the police, but since she’d contacted the police twice already in the past days she thought she should look around first in case one of the Sawyers had only cut themselves and might be resting somewhere at the back of the house.

Lin wished Nicky was with her as she moved quietly into the living room. Drops of blood on the wood floor led back out into the central hallway and Lin, with her heart pounding like a sledgehammer, followed them like breadcrumbs on a trail. She swallowed hard and moved down the hall looking in each room she passed on the way to the back of the house.

“Olive?” Lin’s voice came out like a squeak. A trail of blood spots led to a room on the left off of the hallway. The door was closed. Lin knocked.

A creaking noise caused her to whirl around. The hall was empty and she let out a sigh. Old houses were always squeaking and groaning. Turning back to the door, she took hold of the knob and steeling herself to what she might find, pushed it open and stepped in. The room was beautifully decorated with expensive-looking cherry wood furniture and plush formal chairs. A massive desk stood in front of a huge window. Vases of flowers had been placed around the room.

Lin glanced about and then gasped. Lloyd was face-down on the floor to the left of the desk. Blood showed on the back of his head. She ran to the man, called his name, and gently shook his arm trying to rouse him. Putting her fingers on his neck, she felt a pulse and exhaled in relief, but then her heart sank.
Where was Olive?

Lin stood, her eyes flashing about the room looking for the woman. On a plush high-backed chair that was facing towards the fireplace, she could see an elbow on the armrest. Waves of fear and anxiety washed over Lin and her head started to spin. She put her hand on the desk to steady herself. “Olive?” The word was barely audible.

Stepping closer to the chair, Lin could see lit candles of different sizes arranged inside the fireplace.

Her head spinning, she moved around the chair and what she saw caused her to stumble backwards so fast that she almost toppled over and crashed onto the fireplace hearth.

A skeleton sat in the chair wearing a long, worn, faded high-collared dress.

Lin had her hand over her mouth. She wasn’t sure if she’d screamed or not. Staring at the body, her breath came in gasps and she blinked hard several times to be sure that what she thought she saw was really in the chair.

She careened like a drunken man to the desk and reached for the phone. Her hand froze. Out of the corner of her eye, Lin saw someone step into the room. “Olive.”

Olive had a crazed gleam in her eye. “Don’t touch that phone. Move away from the desk.” The woman wore a black hoodie. She moved into the center of the room, holding the fireplace poker in her bloody hand. Lin thought Lloyd must have put up quite a fight.

“Lloyd’s hurt. We need to call for help.” Lin eyed Olive’s other hand to see if she carried a gun or a knife. The hand was empty.

Olive cackled. “
I’m
the one who hurt him.” Her face hardened as she looked at the man sprawled on the floor. “He couldn’t let me do this. He had to interfere.”

Lin wanted to get Olive talking, try to distract her. “What do you mean?”

Olive’s wild eyes locked onto Lin. “You found my bone. You had to put your nose into my business. I wasn’t hurting anything.”

“You took the bodies from the mausoleums?” Lin tried to figure out how to get past Olive and out the door.

“It wasn’t easy.” Olive huffed. “But I did it.”

“Why?” Lin shuffled a foot away from the desk.

“I honor the dead.” Olive’s chest was rapidly rising and falling. “It’s my religion.”

Lin gestured to the body in the chair. “Do you have others?”

“I’m leaving. I’m taking the precious ones with me. You can’t stop me.”

“I won’t.” Lin shook her head. “I won’t stop you.” She hoped Olive would take the skeleton and just go, but she knew in her heart that Olive wouldn’t leave without trying to hurt her … or worse. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Olive narrowed her eyes and took two steps forward. Lin’s eyes darted around the space trying to figure out which side of the room she should run for.

“I know you’ll tell,” Olive sneered.

In a split second, Olive rushed forward. Lin grabbed a paperweight from the desktop. She hurled it at the charging woman, dashed around the back of the desk, jumped over Lloyd’s body, and raced for the door.

Olive screeched like a banshee.

Lin bolted down the hallway to the front door, hurtled across the porch, and smacked right into Jeff just as Leonard crashed through the brush from the backyard of the farmhouse and ran across the lawn to them.

L
in
, Jeff, and Nicky walked under the white arbor covered with pink roses and up the steps to Viv’s lovely gray-shingled Cape-style house. The door was open and Lin led the way inside carrying a veggie casserole. Leonard had arrived just before them and he stood with John admiring the antique map that Viv recently had framed and hung on the living room wall. The map was one of several found in Viv’s storage room, hidden there hundreds of years ago by Sebastian Coffin. The maps were thought to have belonged to a famous pirate and supposedly showed where his loot was still hidden. The treasure was estimated to be worth a fortune in today’s dollars.

Viv carried a drink to Leonard and took the platter he’d brought with him. “Someday Lin and I are going to go find that treasure and become billionaires.”

“Yo ho ho. Try and stop us, matey.” Lin sidled up to them to look over the map. “The map looks fabulous. The framing came out great.”

She glanced at the tray in Viv’s hands and then looked at Leonard. “You made these?”

Leonard gave a nod. “Mini spanakopita triangles.”

Lin removed one from the plate and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes closed as she chewed. “These are amazing.” She tilted her head, a wide grin on her face. “You never cease to surprise.”

Leonard’s cheeks tinged pink.

Everyone went out to the deck where appetizers were set up on a side table and drinks were arranged on a glass cart. The table was set with blue and white plates, blue napkins, and crystal glasses. Viv said, “We’re celebrating the end of that awful case.”

John was manning the grill and Jeff and Leonard stood on either side of him.

Viv rolled her eyes. “It must hark back to the days of early man. Light a fire outside and men must cook something.”

Lin chuckled as she filled her small plate with appetizers. She watched Nicky and Queenie chase each other around the yard.

Viv spoke softly. “You should have seen those two when you were at the Sawyer’s house. They acted crazy. Jumping at me, Nicky whining, Queenie hissing. I thought they’d contracted rabies.” She shook her head. “Then I figured you must be in trouble so I called Leonard and said I was worried. I told him that you were supposed to call me and I hadn’t heard from you. I’d been calling and calling you and you wouldn’t answer. He called Jeff and the two converged on the Sawyer place.”

Lin hugged her cousin. “Thank you.”

“Thank those two nutty animals.” Viv narrowed her eyes and whispered. “They must be psychic or something.”

Jeff checked the meat on the grill. “Boy, that Sawyer woman was as crazy as an old bat. Imagine her breaking into tombs and removing bodies.” He made a sound of disgust. “You wouldn’t catch me within a mile of that sort of thing.”

Libby Hartnett and Anton Wilson came down the driveway. Libby carried two homemade pies and Anton held a bag containing three kinds of ice cream and whipped cream.

Anton agreed with Jeff. “I am with you on that. Grave robbing. Ugh.” His body gave a shudder.

Viv took the treats into the house to place them in the fridge and returned with cocktail glasses so that Jeff could make drinks for Libby and Anton.

“Just give me whiskey on the rocks.” Anton sank into a deck chair. “I need a stiff drink after hearing what Olive Sawyer did.”

A news conference had been held earlier in the day and the information had spread like wildfire all over the island. It seemed to be all anyone was talking about.

Libby repeated what she’d heard. “Mrs. Sawyer wanted the bones as part of some religious thing she was into. She’d been reading up on ancient religious practices.”

“She completely skewed what she read. She came up with the crazy idea of honoring the dead by keeping bones in her house.” Anton shook his head and took a long swallow from his glass. “It is a misguided notion with no relation to anything except what she’d concocted in her head,” Anton sputtered. His face was almost white.

“Olive was the one we saw at the cemetery that night.” Viv turned to Lin. “She was driving an old car that Lloyd kept in their garage. She was wearing a hoodie. She saw us there so she pulled her car over on the fire road and came through the woods to see what we were up to. She saw us at the mausoleum. Then she drove on the fire road to the back of the cemetery office and went in to get the key to the crew’s storage building where she got a new lock to put on the mausoleum. She changed the lock and put the new key in the office with the other crypt keys.”

Lin added, “She also confessed to going into the cemetery office to access the files so she could figure out which mausoleums were old and probably contained the remains of people with no living relatives. That way there would be less chance that someone would notice the damaged locks.” Lin sighed. “It wasn’t hard for Olive to access the office since the key to the cottage was in the flower box at the back door.”

Leonard asked, “Did Lloyd know what his wife was up to?”

“No,” John answered. “Mr. Sawyer told police that his wife seemed to be becoming more and more obsessed with reading about different religions. She’d set up candles at what he described as make-shift shrines or little altars. He had no idea that she was out robbing graves. Mrs. Sawyer initially kept the bones in an old barn at the rear of their property. She also hid some in the farmhouse’s backyard. Lloyd saw her over there one night and later went to inspect, but didn’t find anything. He came home the other day to find a fully-clothed skeleton in his den. That’s when Olive attacked him.” John removed the grilled meat and vegetables and put them on a platter. “By the way, Olive’s friend was a Realtor. That’s how Olive knew that the house Lin found the partial skeleton in was empty.”

Viv said, “And Olive tried to make you suspicious of Jonas Bradley to divert attention away from her.”

“It worked, too,” Lin groaned. “Then we got suspicious of Quinn. I feel really badly about that.”

Jeff carried a platter of grilled chicken and beef to the deck. “It turns out that Quinn was buying Chloe’s boat from her. It was a surprise gift for his wife.”

Lin buried her face in her hands and muttered. “I’m ashamed for suspecting them.”

“Thank God is what I say.” Libby sipped her drink. “I always liked Quinn. I was so disappointed that he might be involved in this grave robbery crime and was cheating on his wife. I’m going to maintain my trust in humanity by focusing on Quinn being a good person and chalking up the acts of Olive Sawyer to mental imbalance.”

“Why was Quinn really making those trips to the mainland?” Leonard asked. “He’d told Lin he was taking care of business for some elderly people.”

John chuckled. “He actually was. His father set up a foundation while he was alive to assist elderly people who had no family. Quinn was going to some meetings since he’d recently been named to the board of directors.”

“I was wrong about everything,” Lin said. “I’m never getting involved in a case again.”

Viv made eye contact with her cousin knowing full well that if a ghost required help, then Lin would do whatever she could to assist.

“The case is solved because of you.” Leonard raised a glass and Lin reluctantly clinked with him. “Maybe you didn’t figure it out, but because of your involvement those bones and skeletons are back where they belong.”

“Here, here.” Anton raised his glass. “To Carolin, Nantucket’s honorary snoop … I mean detective.” He grinned.

Jeff put his arm around Lin and gave her a sweet kiss. “The only thing that matters is that she’s safe and sound.”

Everyone gathered around the table and dug into the delicious food. Conversation flowed from one topic to another and laughter filled the night air. Nicky and Queenie ate cut up pieces of grilled chicken from blue plates that Lin had set in the grass by the deck. After putting down the plates, she gave each of them a cheek scratch and whispered, “Thanks for watching out for me.” Lin could have sworn that the gray cat gave her a wink.

When the meal was over, they all pitched in carrying leftovers and dirty dishes into the house. Dishes were rinsed and placed in the dishwasher. Libby took the ice cream from the freezer and removed the pies and whipped cream from the fridge. Anton put coffee on and set a kettle on the burner for tea.

Lin carried a tray of dessert dishes and napkins outside to the deck. As she was setting the table, a freezing whoosh of cold air swept over her. She turned slowly and looked across the yard. Six ghosts stood shimmering in the moonlight with Emily Coffin in the middle of them. They all made eye contact with Lin and one by one, nodded their heads to her. Lin’s eyes filled with tears and she blinked them back so she could watch the ghostly atoms swirling faster and faster until they all disappeared.

Lin brushed at her eyes. Turning to go back inside, she caught sight of Leonard standing at the corner of the house holding Queenie. Nicky sat at the man’s feet. The three of them were staring at the spot in the backyard where the spirits had just appeared.

“Leonard?” Lin said.

“Oh, Coffin.” He carried the cat up to the deck and set her down. Nicky ran up the steps and sat next to Queenie. “When I brought the mugs and tea cups out, I wondered where the animals had got to. Viv said she wanted them to stay in the yard, so I went around the house to the side yard to look for them.” Leonard smiled at Lin. “And here they are.”

Lin stared at the man wondering why he and the dog and the cat were looking into the rear yard at the very moment the spirits made their appearance. She cocked her head suspiciously at Leonard and was about to question him when he spoke.

“It’s chilly now,” Leonard said. “I think I’ll get my jacket from the house.” As he was passing Lin, he gave her a smile and his eyes twinkled. “Come on, Coffin. You better get your sweater. You never know when a cold breeze might come through.” Leonard went inside leaving the young woman staring after him.

Through the open windows, Lin could hear everyone chatting happily in the kitchen as they cleaned up and got the dessert, coffee and tea ready. The sound of them made her heart swell.

Before going in to join the others, Lin took one more look to where the ghosts had stood in the yard, and she smiled.