Лейганн Доббс - A Purrfect Alibi

Ed O’Hara, the elderly carpenter I’d hired to do the renovations, was skim-coating the joints on the sheet rock covering the wall inside of which we’d discovered Jedediah Biddeford’s skeleton.

“Great, I see there’s no evidence of what happened here before.” Myron crouched down, his face inches from the wall and then put the paper and pen down on the floor so he could run his fingers along the joint. “That’s good, no sense in scaring future guests off by making it obvious that there was a skeleton in the wall.”

Even before he’d lent me the money, Myron had been a bit disturbed that we’d uncovered the skeleton. But now that I’d taken out the loan, he seemed to be getting kind of bossy about the whole thing. I get that he had an interest in the cash flow of the Oyster Cove Guesthouse and my ability to make payments, but I didn’t want him telling me what to do with my business. Then again, maybe his constant trips over to check up on progress really were about his having a crush on me. I shuddered to think of it. Myron definitely was not my type. Ed met my gaze over Myron’s head and rolled his eyes. I liked Ed, and even though he’d been spending a lot of time in my kitchen eating when he should be working, he was still worth the money I paid. I also felt a little guilty that he’d been one of my suspects during the most recent murder and I was trying to make up for that by giving him extra baked goods. Those that were edible, I mean. I could tell that Ed saw right through Myron but knew enough to be patient and play along with his twenty questions.

“I got it all patched up now like nothing ever happened,” Ed said. “In fact, I have an appointment with the building inspector in five minutes to inspect it and make sure we can move on to the next stage.”

Oh, no… Mike was coming too? The day was really going downhill and it wasn’t even noon yet.

“Well, hello, Sunshine.” Mike Sullivan appeared in the doorway, smiling at me. Speak of the devil. I returned the smile. It wouldn’t do to be inhospitable to the building inspector, and besides, Mike was kind of easy to smile at with his tall, broad frame and whiskey-hazel eyes.

Though I had to admit, it did irritate me when he called me Sunshine. That was a nickname he and my brother had given to me when I was younger and it wasn’t as complimentary as it sounds. However, since I’d moved back to town, I’d learned to just ignore him when he used the nickname because whenever I got riled up about it, it caused him to use it even more.

“I’m here to inspect the wall. Myron, what brings you here?” His eyes flicked between me and Myron as if he thought I’d invited him. Mike was probably wondering why Myron was crouched on the floor.

“Just checking up on my investment.” Myron stood and made a show of brushing off his slacks. “Now, Josie, I don’t know about these psychics and all this talk about speaking to Jedediah’s ghost. Maybe it’s not a good idea to encourage that sort of thing. Rumors could get out about the guesthouse being haunted and that might affect bookings.”

“You mean it might affect her ability to repay your loan,” Ed said bluntly.

“I’m only thinking of Josie’s best interests,” Myron said.

“I didn’t have anyone else booking the rooms and I figured there was no harm in it. Maybe they actually will dig up the treasure and solve the mystery.” Did these guys think I needed them to look out for me? I could take care of myself and decide who to book as a guest in my own guesthouse.

“Treasure? Mystery?” Mike asked. “Is that why Anita Pendragon is lurking around outside?”

My eyes jerked to the window. Is that who I’d seen fluttering around out there? Anita was a reporter who worked for the Oyster Cove Gazette . She was always looking for the “big scoop” that would make her famous. I’m sure it was no secret that I had a guesthouse full of mediums who wanted to talk to Jed’s ghost. Maybe she’d smelled her big break and was spying on us to see what was going on.

“She was outside?” I asked.

“Yeah, I caught her taking pictures through the window.” Ed nodded toward the big window on the east side. “I shut the shade. Wouldn’t be surprised if she snuck in here though. I heard someone up on the third floor where those old servants’ rooms are near the attic, but when I went up to look no one was there.”

Thunk!

A hammer landed on the floor beside Ed’s toolbox. Ed picked it up. “Huh, that’s weird. Guess I didn’t set that squarely down on the box. Good thing we don’t have those oak floors in yet, might have made a mark. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Myron was peering out the window, hands cupped over his eyes, looking for Anita presumably. “If Pendragon gets word about this kooky plan to find the Biddeford treasure, she’ll blab it all over. You have to do something about this, Josie.”

“What do you want me to do? Kick them out? Have Anita arrested for trespassing?” I know I said I was trying to play nice with Myron, but I just didn’t like the idea of anyone telling me what to do. “They’ll only be here for a few more days. I’m sure it’s all harmless. You don’t really believe Jed’s ghost is hanging around here waiting to talk to them after all this time, do you?”

Myron moved back from the window. I guess Anita wasn’t out there after all. “I suppose not.”

“Of course not. Hopefully they’ll just try to communicate with him for a few days and then get bored and leave when he doesn’t show up. No harm done,” I said, ushering Myron toward the door. He could be a bit of a fussbudget and I didn’t need him messing around with any of my bookings. I wasn’t about to kick out paying customers, especially now that I really needed the money.

Mike and Ed started the inspection of the repairs Ed had done to date and I walked Myron back down the long hallway. The front door stood open, giving a nice view of the birch trees on the side of the driveway. We were almost at the front door when a loud clapping sounded from the parlor.

Myron pulled up short and looked in. Madame Zenda was standing next to the window, which had been pushed open even further. Was it stuffy in the guesthouse? I didn’t think so— even though it was late summer—we did have air conditioning. And right now, most of it was going out the window. I made a mental note to tell the guests to keep the windows shut.

Madame Zenda clapped her hands again, pulling my attention from the window.

“People! People!” she yelled, leaning toward the window. “I have exciting news! Jedediah Biddeford has contacted me from beyond and he says he’ll be giving me the answers to everything we seek tonight when the moon kisses the ocean.”

The others murmured and looked at her skeptically. I could feel the disapproval radiating from Myron.

Madame Zenda continued, “After tonight, not only will I know where the treasure is, but also what happened to him three hundred years ago!”

Three

“When the moon kisses the ocean? What’s that supposed to mean?” Marlowe asked half an hour later when she and Nero were catnapping in the conservatory. The conservatory had yet to be fully renovated, other than some replacement windows that Ed had put in as a surprise for Josie. That’s why the cats liked it so much. No one ever went in there and there was always a pool of sun to lie in. The hand-carved trim that Ed had added around the windows as a surprise for Josie didn’t hurt the ambiance any either. They could see Oyster Cove from an east-facing window and Nero enjoyed watching the lobster boats hauling in their catch, the waves crashing against the jagged rocks and the seagulls circling above. He didn’t particularly like seagulls though, because they often dive-bombed the cats, but they were fine to watch from afar. He was glad to see the population was making a resurgence after an incident a few months ago that had caused a number of gull deaths.