Лейганн Доббс - A Whisker In The Dark

“Never mind about that.” I glanced back out into the hallway to make sure none of the Biddefords had followed me in. “I think I’ve discovered something.”

“Do tell,” Millie said.

“Remember how Myron lied about being here the night Bob was killed?”

“Yep.” Millie tasted the batter I’d mixed, then puckered her lips and rummaged in the spice drawer.

“Do you know where he went to college?”

Mom huffed. “Who could forget? He went to Yale. His father always made a big deal out of that, making the rest of us feel like our kids were inferior.”

“Why do you ask?” Millie sprinkled some cinnamon into the batter, grabbed a spoon and mixed it in.

“Well, Carla went to Yale too. She even has a mug that she makes me wash out so she can drink out of it. That’s how I put two and two together when I washed the mug this morning.” I hadn’t done that all on my own, though. Nero had practically pushed that mug off the counter. Had he been trying to point me in the right direction? Or had he just been trying to smash the mug on the floor because he also thought it was ridiculous that Carla brought her own mug?

“So you think they knew each other?” Mom asked.

I nodded and opened the oven door for Millie to slide in the two tiny loaf pans she’d filled with batter. I made a mental note as she set the timer to thirty-five minutes.

Millie shut the oven door, a twinkle in her eye. “We found out something about Myron last night too. His ancestor was Jedediah Biddeford’s butler.”

“I found that too! In the history book that you wanted me to bring for the table at the town celebration.” The cats had been interested in that book as well. Except it had seemed like they didn’t want me to read it. Maybe I was reading too much into their actions?

Millie’s face fell in disappointment. “You already knew?”

I nodded, pushing down the pang of guilt at Millie and Mom’s looks of disappointment. Investigating was a source of pride for them and they clearly didn’t like the idea that I’d also discovered their key clue.

Millie broke into a genuine smile and turned to my mother. “Josie is turning into a good detective. We should include her in all our cases.”

Cases? It sounded as if they were contemplating becoming private investigators or something.

I held my hands up in front of me, palms out. “I think I have plenty to do just running the guesthouse.”

Mom looked me over as if I were an unworthy job applicant. “I don’t know. I suppose she might come in handy to drive us around while we interrogate suspects and look for clues.”

“Can we stick to the problem at hand?” The last thing I wanted to do with my days was drive my mother and Millie around. Hopefully this would be the last murder Oyster Cove would see for a long time and there would be no need to investigate anything in the future anyway.

Millie pressed her lips together. “Fine. Myron might have gone to school with Carla and his ancestor was Jed’s butler. Why would they kill Bob?”

“Well, I was thinking that a butler would know all the secrets of his master and maybe Myron’s ancestor knew where the treasure was buried. Maybe that information got passed down in the family and Myron came to dig it up.”

Millie and Mom looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Maybe Josie isn’t a good fit for our investigative exploits after all,” Mom said.

“Yeah, your theory is full of holes,” Millie added.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “How so?”

“Well, for one, if Myron’s family already knew where the treasure was, why wouldn’t someone have dug it up before?” Millie asked.

“And for two,” my mother added. “Why would he need to combine forces with Carla?”

They had a point, but I wasn’t letting go of my theory that easily. “Maybe the family didn’t know where the treasure was all this time, but the discovery of Jed’s skeleton and the curse rumor resurfacing prompted Myron to look through some family documents and he found something that made him think he knew where the treasure was.”

“He did seem awfully interested in that skeleton,” Millie said.

“And he did lie about being here, which means he was up to something,” Mom added. “But what’s the connection to Carla?”

“Maybe they were rekindling an old affair,” I suggested.

Millie leaned in toward us and lowered her voice. “Can’t say as I’d blame her, her husband doesn’t seem like much fun.”

“And Bob did threaten to tell on her about something. But why wouldn’t she just divorce Henry then? Bob outing an affair doesn’t seem worth killing over,” Mom said, then added, “I have another theory, maybe whatever Myron found wasn’t a precise location and he needed some family information from Carla to narrow it down so they partnered up.”

“And Bob found out and was going to steal the treasure so they did him in,” Millie added. “That makes sense.”

“Do you think there really is treasure then?” Mom asked.

Millie shrugged. “Good question. I doubt it because if Myron and Carla dug it up, they’d have taken off together, wouldn’t they?”

“Treasure or not, it’s something to look into,” Mom said. “Flora is still a suspect and we need to help Seth close this one fast before those rumors about this place being haunted spread too far and hurt bookings.”

Millie tapped her finger on her lips. “Indeed. But how can we approach Seth with this? He’s already suspicious of any clues I give him because he thinks we are biased as to Flora’s innocence.”

“I know the dates that Carla and Myron were at Yale, which proves they could have known each other,” I said.

“Yes, but that’s not concrete evidence. We need something more.”

Mom snapped her fingers. “The shoes! Paula saw fancy Italian leather shoes. Earl was wearing Nikes but he’s not the only one who likes to dress fancy.”

Millie put her hands on her hips. “Those could have been Myron’s shoes she saw.”

“So all we have to do is get Paula to identify the shoes, preferably while Myron is wearing them and in front of Seth Chamberlain so that he’ll have his physical evidence,” I said.

“Easier said than done,” Millie said, peeking into the oven to check on the loaf cake. “We need to get Paula to run into Myron somehow when Carla isn’t around.”

“I know how we can do it,” Mom said. “The beer tent is open today and they’re having free samples. All we have to do is mention that to Paula and drop the hint that we are on our way to the beer tent, then offer to give her a ride.”

Millie nodded. “And once we’re down there, we will just take a little stroll past Myron’s bank table. I know he’s there today trying to trap tourists into investing in something at the bank.”

“But how do we get Seth in on this?” I asked.

Millie whipped out her phone. “Easy. I’ll call him and bribe him to come and meet us there. I just happen to have some of his favorite cookies in the car.”

Twenty-One

“I think the beer tent is over there.” Paula twisted around, pointing in a direction behind us and almost stumbling as she pulled her heel out from where it had sunk into the grass. I grabbed her elbow to steady her.

“I know. We’re just going this way to get our free tickets,” Millie said as we propelled her toward Myron’s tent.

Millie glanced at me behind Paula’s back and grimaced for telling the lie. A little white lie was necessary sometimes in an investigation. Still, Paula wouldn’t miss out on her free beer—she’d be well rewarded after she identified Myron’s shoes to Seth. Hopefully Myron would be wearing the same ones, or at least something similar that Paula would recognize and spark Seth’s suspicions.