Лейганн Доббс - A Whisker In The Dark

“Flora? No way.” Her eyes narrowed. “Do you think that person was trying to divert suspicion away from themselves?”

“Possibly.” I picked a candy out of the bowl that sat on top of the counter. Hershey’s Kisses. If I had that on my counter the bowl would be empty in about five minutes. “What are people saying?”

Jen shot me a mischievous look. “First tell me what’s going on with you and Mike. I heard he was the one who discovered the body so that means he must have been at your place very early this morning.”

I rolled my eyes. My mother and Millie weren’t the only ones meddling in my non-existent love life. Jen had been wanting to see Mike and I get back together since I moved back to town. Not happening.

“Yes, he was there.” I let my voice trail off and gave her a coquettish look just to yank her chain. I almost felt bad at the hopeful gleam in her eye.

“I knew it! Did he stay over?”

I drew it out, popping another Hershey Kiss in my mouth and pretending to be too busy chewing to answer. Jen was practically jumping out of her black government-issued shoes with anticipation.

I swallowed and smiled. “Nah. He was just there to inspect the toolshed. That’s why he was down near the pond.”

“I heard it was in the pond. But you’re sure he didn’t fall in and drown on his own?”

“Nope. The back of his skull was crushed.”

I gave her the Reader’s Digest condensed version of finding the body and what had gone on this morning, with Seth interrogating people and how Paula had claimed to see Flora coming up the path from the pond.

“Flora? She wouldn’t harm a fly. She’s a great-grandmother, for crying out loud.”

“I know.” I pressed my lips together. Of course Flora wouldn’t kill anyone. She was loyal, trustworthy and a good worker. Okay, scratch that part about a good worker. She was loyal and trustworthy though. And I couldn’t picture her bashing someone over the head with a shovel, especially with those scrawny arms of hers. But still, something didn’t sit right. There were a few disturbing, unanswered questions when it came to Flora.

“She has been acting a little odd lately. Did you hear anything about her going on a trip?” I asked.

Jen shook her head. “But I wouldn’t necessarily hear about that.”

“True.” Not everyone gave Jen their itinerary, though most people going on a trip had their mail stopped. Flora lived in an apartment and would probably have a neighbor or her landlord collect it. So, unless Flora was going with someone who might create a scandal, the post-office grapevine would find her trip uninteresting.

“Do they have any other suspects?” Jen peeled a stamp off a stamp sheet and pressed it onto an envelope, then tossed the envelope into a mailbag.

“I’m not sure. Seth probably suspects me, though.”

Jen laughed. “What motive would you have?”

“None, but he was looking at me with suspicion. Remember he thought I killed the last person too.”

“Only because you own the guesthouse now and were out of town for a long time and he thought you killed the last victim because he was going to give the guesthouse a bad review. But it really does come down to motive, doesn’t it? I heard that Seth thought perhaps someone killed Bob to take the treasure away from him. Do you think he dug something up?” Jen asked.

“Did you hear anything about any treasure through the grapevine?” If someone had the treasure, chances were someone else knew about it and sooner or later that person would talk. I doubted there actually was any treasure though or that Bob had dug it up. If he had, wouldn’t the hole—or at least evidence of digging it—have still been there?

“You don’t really believe that whole treasure curse thing, do you?” Jen asked.

“No. You?”

“Nope. But some people do. I’ve heard a few people say that old Jedediah killed Bob to make good on his curse.”

“If that were the case, then Bob would still have had the treasure in his possession. Unless they think a ghost took it away.”

Jen laughed. “With some of the folks here, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“No, I think this murder was done by someone on the earthly plane. Someone closer to the victim.”

“You mean like his family?”

I nodded. “Bob had threatened several of them. The business isn’t going well and apparently they were all at odds.”

Jen nodded. “Typically the victim knows the killer.” She watched a lot of crime shows on TV.

“You haven’t heard any rumors about anyone in town knowing Bob from before, have you?”

Jen slapped another stamp on an envelope and tossed it in the bag. “Nope.”

“Anyone come to town asking around for him? He’s getting a divorce, but his wife is supposed to be in Europe.”

Jen’s left brow rose. “An estranged wife? Sounds like a person with a motive. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard of anyone looking for him. The only people asking about the Biddefords are those interested in the skeleton you found. That seems to have raised everyone’s curiosity. Even Myron Remington was in here asking about the investigation.”

“He was asking me too, but Sheriff Chamberlain isn’t going to investigate Jedediah’s death. I mean, how can he?”

“The clues are too old and a fresh murder would take priority, I imagine,” Jen said. “Myron’s family has history here. Maybe he was more interested in the historical aspect or maybe he’s one of those creepy serial-killer ghouls who is fascinated with skeletons and bodies.”

Jen had an excited look on her face as she said this. I started to worry that maybe she’d been watching too many crime shows.

“He always was a little weird. I think he might have only been feigning interest so he could make googly eyes at Stella Dumont.”

“He was making googly eyes at Stella?” The dramatic look on Jen’s face was replaced by skepticism.

“Millie said she saw them together last night on the grounds when everyone was digging.”

Jen waggled her brows. “Together, together?”

The thought made my lips purse like I’d eaten a sour lemon. “Ugh… did you have to put that image in my head? I think they were just talking. She seemed to imply they were an item but then today Myron denied even being there. Said it was beneath his dignity and he had plenty of money already.”

“Sounds like something he would say. He always acted superior especially since he went to a better college than the rest of us. Maybe his business isn’t doing well and he needs an influx of money but doesn’t want anyone to know. He always was worried about appearances.”

“Or maybe he wanted to hide the fact he really was with Stella.”

“Well I wouldn’t be surprised if Stella was trying to hook Myron. He has the money and you know how she likes to go for that.”

“True.”

“At least she won’t be going for Mike if she’s after Myron. Not that Mike would give her the time of day,” Jen said slyly.

This time I didn’t bite. “Well, I better get going. During the interrogations someone got Millie’s grandmother’s doily dirty and I want to make sure it’s clean before I get home.”

“Shouldn’t Flora do that?” Jen asked.

I raised my eyebrows in response and she laughed. “Oh yeah, what was I thinking?” She picked up her big pile of envelopes as I turned to leave. “Well one thing at least, you won’t have to worry about people coming over to dig more holes in your yard tonight.”

That was welcome news since I was starting to worry about how to control the hole diggers. I didn’t need another one ending up dead. “Why is that?”

“Everyone is scared off because of the curse. I told you, a lot of folks think Jedediah Biddeford made good on his promise. They think he already killed one person digging up his treasure and no one else wants to be next.”