Текст книги "A Haunted Murder"
Автор книги: J. A. Whiting
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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 9 страниц)
Chapter 18
Lin tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep so she reached for one of her puzzle books. She tried to work on a crossword, but she couldn’t concentrate so she closed the book and returned it to the side table. Moonlight filtered in through the open window and pooled on the floorboards. The sheer curtain rode a puff of night air, floated away from the sill, fluttered, and then rested back against the edge of the window. Lin ran her hand over the sleeping dog’s fur. Nicky, stretched out on the double bed, snuggled comfortably next to his owner.
The simple furnishings and the peacefulness of the room soothed Lin’s frayed nerves. The events of the past weeks bubbled up in a disorganized and unrelated sequence as she tried to put order to the mess.
She pushed back the sheet, slipped her bare feet over the edge of the bed, and padded to the window. The yard was quiet and still, no one rustled through the bushes at the edge of the property or shuffled around the shed. Lin stared at the old structure at the end of the driveway. She wondered if it was built at the same time the house went up.
After staring at the shed for several minutes, Lin straightened and turned for the bedroom door. The dog lifted its head from its comfortable spot and watched his owner leave the bedroom. He stood up, stretched, and jumped off the bed. Nicky followed Lin down the stairs, through the dark house to the kitchen, and out the back door to the deck.
In her long T-shirt, Lin walked barefoot down the steps and around to the shed. She hopped on one foot when she stepped on a large stone and let out a mild curse. Nicky sniffed around the wooden outbuilding and then headed off to the edge of the lawn.
With just the light of the moon to brighten the backyard, Lin made a careful circle around the shed stopping at the locked door. She lifted the metal padlock and gave it a yank, but it remained in place, solid and strong. There was nothing to indicate that it had been tampered with by the nighttime intruder.
Lin stepped back and eyed the roofline and the construction of the walls. As the dog returned from the far end of the yard, Lin moved forward and placed her palm against the shed door.
A few seconds passed and the skin of her hand began to tingle, but instead of pulling away, she pressed harder on the rough wood. Zings of electricity danced through her hand and up inside her forearm. She dropped her arm just as a whoosh of cold air blew around her like a blast of winter wind.
Lin could see that the dog was looking behind her. His wagging tail pulsed against the worn grass causing puffs of dirt to rise in the air. Slowly, she turned around fully aware of what she would see.
The ghost stood about ten feet from her, the closest he had ever been. His face was solemn. Lin could see that his long bony nose had a bump near the bridge. “Hello, Sebastian.”
The translucent specter lifted his eyes to the young woman’s face. As little zaps of energy passed between them, Lin realized that she wasn’t uncomfortable anymore and she tried to open her mind to the message the ghost seemed to be trying to send her.
Images from the past danced in her brain, but they were wavy and unfocused. She kept her eyes linked with the ghost and just as things in her mind began to clear, Viv stepped from the back door of the house onto the deck. She flicked the light of a flashlight around the back garden and called for her cousin.
Lin heard the spirit say her name, Carolin Witchard Coffin. He raised his arm and pointed across the yard beyond the deck and then whatever the ghost was made of separated into a million silver particles that sparkled and disappeared like the tail end of a firework.
What had passed between them tugged at Lin’s heart and for the first time, she was sorry to see him go.
She shook herself and wrapped her arms around her shivering body. “I’m here, Viv. By the shed.”
“Are you okay?” Viv’s voice shook. “Why are you out here? Did you hear someone in the yard?”
Lin and Nicky climbed the steps to the deck. “I had the urge to come outside.”
Viv looked dumbfounded. “It couldn’t wait until morning?”
Lin sat on one of the deck chairs. “I was in bed. Ideas were running through my mind.” She glanced over her shoulder to the yard. “I got a feeling about the old shed.”
Viv sat down. “What kind of a feeling?”
“I thought that what Greg Hammond was looking for was inside that shed. But now, I’m not so sure.”
Viv’s jaw dropped. She looked wide-eyed at the structure through the darkness. “What could be in there?” Her voice trembled.
Lin didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know, but when I put my hand on the shed door, I could feel little jolts of electricity. Then the ghost showed up and pointed away from the shed.”
Viv’s hand flew to her mouth.
“The ghost was trying to tell me something, but it didn’t come through.”
Looking around the yard, Viv clutched her arms around her. “Is he gone?”
Lin nodded. “Nicky can see him, too.”
“Oh.” Viv gave the dog a look like she thought he might have come from another world.
“What do you know about the shed?” Lin asked.
“Nothing. It’s just a shed. It’s been there all my life.”
“Was it built around the same time as the house?”
Viv shrugged. “I have no idea. Remember Gram used to refer to it as “the barn.”
“Right.” Lin stood, picked up the flashlight, and walked back into the yard. She pointed the light all over the shed. “Maybe it was originally a barn? Maybe over the years it was made smaller?” She wandered around the structure checking the construction of the walls and scrutinizing the ground to see if there was any indication that the building was once larger than its present size. After ten minutes, she returned to the deck. “I don’t think the shed has our answers.” Lin looked at her cousin. “I’m going to search the internet to see if there’s any information about the house online.” She headed inside with Viv hurrying after her.
“Now? Can’t it wait until morning?”
“I also want to search on our family names to see what information is online. Maybe we can find something on one of those sites that track and list people’s ancestry. Why didn’t I think of this before?” Lin stopped and turned. “I forgot my laptop is at my house.”
“Use mine. It’s in the dining room.” Viv yawned. “I’m going back to bed. I have to get up in two hours for work.”
***
Lin was sitting at the kitchen table with her eyes glued to the laptop screen when Viv stumbled downstairs early in the morning. She rubbed her eyes while she put the coffee on. “Did you find anything?”
“Yes.” Lin’s voice bubbled with excitement. “Most stuff we already knew.” The rims of her eyelids were red from staying awake most of the night. “But here’s the interesting thing.” She pulled up a news article on the screen. “It’s a story about an open house that was held at the historical museum last year. There were displays set up explaining the island’s history and material set out about the early founders.”
Viv settled into a chair cradling her coffee mug.
“In one part of the display, there were letters from Sebastian Coffin written to his brother on the mainland and some notes he had written to his wife.”
Viv’s forehead creased. “So?”
“So,” Lin leaned forward. “During the open house weekend, those letters were stolen.”
“Why would anybody want those old letters?”
Lin closed the laptop and grinned at her cousin. “That is what I intend to find out.”
Chapter 19
Lin opened the door to the old brick building that housed the historical society and glanced around looking for someone who might help her. A short, older man wearing glasses and carrying several books came around the corner and nodded at the young woman.
“I’m looking for someone I could speak to about some archival documents that went missing from here last year.”
The man gazed at Lin over the tops of his glasses. “Are you a reporter?”
“I’m related to Sebastian Coffin and Emily Witchard. I was wondering what was in the old letters and why someone might steal them.”
“Come and sit down.” The man led Lin to a table at the back of the room near the windows.
“You read about the theft in the news?”
Lin nodded. “I was looking for information about my ancestors and came upon the article. I’ve just recently moved back to the island.”
“The only reason someone would want those letters would be to sell them to a collector. They really weren’t valuable.”
“Do you recall what the letters discussed?”
“They were simple correspondence between Sebastian and his brother, Nathaniel. They were written after Sebastian lost his standing in the community.” The man raised his eyebrows. “You know the story?”
“I do.” Lin nodded.
“Very unfortunate. His reputation was ruined after the robbery.”
“I don’t understand why he didn’t regain his reputation after the real thief was discovered.”
“The thief was discovered, as was most of the loot, but many items were not recovered, a substantial amount of money, jewelry. People still believed that Sebastian Coffin was the mastermind behind the heist.”
“What do you think?”
The man shook his head. “Well, I suppose anything’s possible.” He gave a shoulder shrug. “Sebastian was probably accused by someone with whom a business deal soured. Sebastian is the only one who knows the whole truth regarding the robbery.”
“Do you recall what was written in the letters that were stolen?”
“Sebastian discussed the routine of his days, what he was reading, how the new house had come out. The letters would really only be of interest to a historian or a descendant.” The man got a faraway look in his eyes. “There were some sweet letters to Sebastian’s wife professing his love for her and praising her tenderness and devotion to him. Remember, this was after he lost his position and was thought to have been the one behind the bank heist. The unfortunate events did not hurt their love for one another. Who knows? Perhaps the adversity they faced drew them closer together.”
Lin thought sadly of the unfair turn that Sebastian and Emily’s lives took.
The man smiled. “Sebastian called his wife his “treasure.”
Lin’s eyes narrowed. “Did he write that in the letters?”
The man folded his hands together and placed them on the table. “Oh, yes. He mentioned his “treasure” quite often in the letters to his brother.”
“Do you recall some of the things he wrote?”
The man thought for a moment. “He mentioned that he’d had a room built in the storage barn for himself as a sort of reading and writing room. A place he would go to contemplate and think.” The man chuckled. “He told his brother in one letter that the true treasure of his life, his wife, encouraged him to sit and work among his riches.”
Lin’s head tilted to the side. “What did he mean by that?”
“I assume the riches of his life were learning, studying, thinking, reading.” The man stood up. “We have one of Sebastian’s letters here. It was not displayed the day the things were stolen. It was written to a friend of Sebastian, a Quaker minister who lived on the mainland.” He led Lin to a back room full of cabinets. “It can’t be removed from here, of course.”
Pulling open a long, shallow drawer, the man removed a document that had been enclosed in some sort of protective cover. “Most of it has faded and a good part of the letter has been lost, but you can see here where Sebastian speaks of his wife. This was written shortly after Emily passed away.” The man read aloud. “My true treasure has passed from this world, but I will keep her locket beside me, in the place where the riches of our lives remain.”
A zing of electricity shot down Lin’s spine. She lifted her gaze from the old letter and shifted her eyes about the space wondering if the ghost had made an appearance, but she and the man were the only ones in the room.
“A similar sentence was written in the stolen letter to Sebastian’s brother.” The man closed the cabinet drawer. “Have you heard the rumor that Sebastian had some pirate treasure hidden in his house?”
“Pirate’s treasure?” Lin’s eyebrows went up.
“Sebastian had many contacts and interactions with different people. The rumor is that he was once paid for services in the form of pirate’s loot.” The man smiled. “No valuables have surfaced yet, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything.” He paused and gave a shrug of his shoulder. “But I do enjoy old tales and I like to think it’s possible.”
After several more minutes of conversation, Lin thanked the man for both the information and for his time and she left the building hurrying down the granite steps.
***
Holding her phone to her ear, Lin scurried along the sidewalks of town. “So that must be why Greg Hammond wanted your house so badly. Remember Jeff told me that Hammond loved diving and treasure hunting? Hammond must have thought that Sebastian Coffin had some loot buried somewhere on the property.”
The chatter of the bookstore café could be heard in the background before Viv spoke. “Good work. Now we have a pretty good idea why Hammond wanted my house. He must have been sure that Sebastian buried some massive treasure in the shed or the house which is kind of stupid because wouldn’t it have been found by now?”
“Who knows? If it was well-hidden, maybe not.” Lin laughed. “Maybe you ought to hurry home and start digging.”
“I can’t believe that Hammond would want to buy my house to get his hands on some imaginary treasure. He must have lost his mind.”
“Anyway, it’s a possible reason why he was so adamant about getting his hands on your property.”
“It isn’t the answer to our most pressing question, though. Who killed Greg Hammond and why? Actually if we know who did it, I don’t really care why they did it.” Viv asked Lin to hold on for a second and she could be heard talking to a café customer. When she returned to the conversation she asked, “And another pressing question is who was sneaking around the yard last night?”
Lin sighed. “Only one question per day, please.”
Viv had to get back to work so the girls ended their conversation just as Lin turned the corner to Viv’s house so she could get Nicky and take him home. Her eyes widened and her heart jumped into her mouth when she spotted two police cars parked at the curb next to her cousin’s house. Several police officers clustered near the property boundary between Viv’s home and the neighboring house.
A small group of people stood on the opposite side of the road. Lin picked up her pace and as she passed Viv’s Cape house, she could see the small faces of Nicky and Queenie in the living room window peering out at the commotion.
Lin joined three of the neighbors. “What’s happened?”
A young mom who lived across from Viv looked pale and nervous. “The Walkers.” She pointed at the house next to Viv’s. “Mr. Walker couldn’t sleep last night.” She couldn’t finish her sentence.
A gray-haired, trim-looking man took up the story. “Andy Walker couldn’t sleep. He thought he heard some noise outside. He got up and looked out of the bedroom window, saw what looked like two guys scuffling in the bushes. He came downstairs and looked out the dining room window, but didn’t see a thing, everything was quiet, so he went back to bed. Early this morning, he got up and came out to walk along the property line where he thought he saw something last night. He noticed a foot sticking out from under the bushes. When he got closer, he saw a guy under the rose bush.”
“His face was bloody,” the young mom said. Lin wondered why the woman was able to chime in at that point in the story.
“The guy is dead?” Lin questioned.
“No.” The gray-haired man continued. “When Andy turned to go inside to call the police, the guy pulled himself up off the ground, limped across the front lawn and down the street. By the time, the police came, he had disappeared.”
Lin’s heart pounded. The altercation was what she and Viv had seen and heard last night. Her throat constricted. Did the injured guy ring their doorbell for help last night? Lin’s head buzzed with guilt. The man must have been under the bushes all night.
A surge of anxiety flooded her body. Were the two guys fighting over what they think was supposed to be hidden on Viv’s property?
Lin wanted to stay longer to hear if any more information would come to light, but she was already way behind schedule on her gardening jobs for the day. She jogged to Viv’s house to pick up Nicky. When she hurried through the front door, Lin stopped short as an idea flashed in her brain. What if it wasn’t two guys fighting last night? What if it was a guy and a woman?
Lin called to the dog so that they could hurry home and get the truck. “Come on, Nick. We have an important stop to make.”
Chapter 20
Lin stopped the truck a block away from her intended destination. She and the dog got out and walked down the street. Lin carried her gardening tool bag in case they were found out and questioned. They stopped one house away from Anton Wilson’s home.
“You need to stay quiet.” Lin held the dog’s eyes. “We need to approach slowly. I don’t want anyone inside to see us. We’ll go around back and I’ll try to peek in some windows. Try to see if Anton Wilson is hurt inside.”
The two made their way to the house and slipped around to the back. Just as Lin was about to press her face to one of the windows, a voice spoke behind her and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“It isn’t polite to peer into people’s windows, Carolin.”
Sweat trickling down her back, Lin turned slowly to see Libby Hartnett standing next to her. Lin babbled. “I rang the bell. No one answered and I….”
Libby’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t polite to lie, either.”
The two women stared at each other for a few moments, and then Libby sighed and started toward the back door of Wilson’s house. “Come inside. There are some things that I need to talk to you about. I hoped to have this conversation later, but you need to know some things.”
Lin hesitated. She was about to whirl and run away when Libby said without turning around, “Don’t bother to run, Carolin. I’m faster than you.”
Anton Wilson was sitting at the kitchen table when the women entered and he jumped up out of his seat. “Carolin.” He gave Libby a look of surprise.
Libby waved her hand in the air. “We need to talk to her. She needs to be told some of it.”
Anton looked from one to the other. “But….”
“There aren’t any buts. Miscommunication is causing problems.” Libby sat at the table. She gestured for Lin to sit.
Lin eyed Wilson. “I see you haven’t been stabbed.”
Wilson’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“You don’t know? I’m surprised. I thought the two of you knew most everything that went on in town.”
“There’s no need to be snippy.” Libby looked at Lin with kind eyes. The corners of her mouth turned up in a soft smile. “I can see how you might feel distrustful of us, but honestly, we’ve had your best interests at heart.” The woman sighed. “We’re thrilled to have you here on the island, Carolin. Truly.”
Wilson said, “I hate to interrupt, but what’s this business about being stabbed?”
Lin explained about the altercation in the tree line between Viv’s property and her neighbor’s land. “I thought it might have been you two fighting.” She looked at Wilson. “I wondered if you had been stabbed by Libby.”
“Why would we be fighting?” Wilson eyed Lin.
“Because you know that there might be something valuable on Viv’s land. You must know that I saw the hand-drawn interior of Viv’s house that you had.” Lin wanted answers. “What do you think is hidden there? Part of the old bank heist from hundreds of years ago?”
Wilson snorted. “That isn’t what we care about.”
“What do you care about?” Lin faced Libby. “And why are you so happy to have me on the island?”
Libby paused for a few beats, and then she reached out her hand to the young woman sitting next to her. “Take my hand.”
Lin was about to scoff at the odd request, but something stopped her. Gingerly, she lifted her arm, hesitated for a moment, and then placed her hand on top of the older woman’s palm.
A rush of calm and ease flooded Lin’s body. She experienced a feeling of safety, of being protected. A picture formed in her mind and it was like she was watching a movie or was peeking in on someone’s life through a window. The edges of the images were ragged and unclear, but she could make out the scene.
The rocking motion of a boat caused her to feel slightly unsteady. A man stood at a small stove moving a fork over something in the frying pan. The smell of onions and garlic reached her nose. Footsteps approached. A man’s voice. Angry words. A shout. The thrust of a hand holding something sharp. A grunt. The man falling to the floor.
Lin shuddered and pulled her hand loose from Libby’s grasp. “What was that?”
“I’ll tell you what you probably saw.” Libby recounted the images that had flashed through Lin’s brain.
“How?” Lin’s eyes were wide. Her hands trembled. She was ready to bolt from the house.
Libby folded her hands in her lap. “You and I are related, although very distantly. We are both descended from the Witchard family. Some of the Witchard women have special gifts. It took us a while to determine if you had skills.” Libby made eye contact with Lin. “You’re one of us, Carolin. You’re not alone. Not anymore.”
Lin gaped at the woman. She couldn’t believe her ears. There were other people on the island with similar skills to her own? Her heart nearly burst with joy.
“You can see things?” Libby asked cautiously.
Lin swallowed hard. She didn’t answer.
Libby phrased her previous question in a different way. “You can see the spirits of those who have passed?”
Lin gave a slight nod. She had never met anyone else who had special skills. Her head was spinning, a million questions swirling in her brain.
“We suspected you could. You feel a cool breeze when a spirit is near?”
“Yes.”
“Recently, Anton and I answered a question that you asked us in the same way,” Libby said. “We wanted to see your reaction when we mentioned a cool breeze was what we heard at the docks. We were trying to determine if you could see the ones who have passed. I sensed that you could.” Libby’s expression was serious. “It’s very powerful to have both Coffins and Witchards in your blood. And to be firstborn magnifies any skills that you have.” Libby cocked her head. “You’ve seen spirits recently?”
“Yes.” Lin’s voice was soft.
Libby’s eyebrows went up, revealing her excitement. “Have they spoken to you?”
“I see the ghost of Sebastian Coffin, when he decides he wants to be seen.”
Wilson let out a gasp. His eyes were wide and a huge grin spread over his face.
“He never speaks. He just looks at me.” Lin’s forehead creased. “Although, the last time, it seemed that he was trying to communicate something to me, but without using words. It was all fuzzy and I couldn’t understand it.”
“If it happens again, just let it flow. Don’t try too hard,” Libby said. “Relax. Just be open to the messages.”
“Why am I seeing things now? When I was young, I could always stop it from happening. Now, no matter what I think or try, I can’t stop ghosts from appearing.”
“I’m not sure I have an answer.” Libby leaned slightly forward. “Perhaps if a child says no, then the request is respected, but an adult, well, if a spirit has a message of importance….”
Lin thought about that. It seemed to make sense.
“When I held your hand, could you make out any of the words spoken between the men in the vision?”
“No. I could just hear the voices and the angry tone.”
“Did you get a look at the killer’s face?”
Lin cringed and shook her head. She wished she could be of more help. She glanced at Wilson and then back at Libby. “Why were you at the docks that day?”
“Every morning, my friends and I meet at your cousin’s bookstore. We heard your cousin and her employee discussing Greg Hammond’s harassment. I had a premonition of trouble. Anton and I worked to figure out why Hammond was after that particular house.”
“We make a good team.” Anton smiled at Libby. “With my historical knowledge and Libby’s skills, we’ve been able to figure some things out.”
“Despite Mr. Hammond’s desperate pursuit of your cousin’s house, I sensed that he was in danger,” Libby said. “Anton and I visited the docks that morning. We called on Mr. Hammond at his boat, but he wasn’t there. We waited for a short time and then we decided to walk around in the hopes we would run into him.” Libby sighed and looked down.
“We were a bit too early.” Anton’s face was tense. “Mr. Hammond returned to his boat after we had left. Unfortunately, the killer had better timing than we did.”
Lin’s expression was serious. “Do you know why Hammond wanted Viv’s house so badly? Did he think there was something valuable hidden somewhere on the property, maybe money from the supposed involvement in the bank robbery? I heard recently that there was a rumor that Sebastian had some pirate’s loot. ”
Wilson’s eyes widened. “You know that rumor?”
Lin said, “I talked with the man at the historical society.”
“I don’t believe Sebastian was involved in the bank robbery,” Wilson said. “Some people on the island believed that Sebastian and Emily took in people who had run away from the mainland because they were afraid of being accused of witchcraft. Believe it or not, some of those people were very wealthy. Speculation was that Sebastian may have received valuables for helping people escape from persecution. My research indicates that Sebastian and Emily received gifts from the people they helped, some very valuable gifts.” Wilson paused. “Have you heard of the pirate, La Buse?”
Lin shook her head.
“La Buse was born in Calais in the late 1600s. He was a naval officer who later became a pirate. He’s known for hiding one of the biggest pirate treasures in history. It’s never been found. Today the treasure would be worth well over a billion dollars.”
Lin’s eyes bugged out.
“It is possible that Sebastian received some items thought to be from La Buse’s treasure as well as some documents with instructions indicating where the full loot is buried in the Seychelles. Sebastian wrote to his brother about the gifts he’d received saying he felt obligated to accept them, but that he would never sell the items. He did not want to benefit from someone else’s misfortune. We assume that Greg Hammond was aware of that information.”
“How would Hammond know all of this?” Lin was puzzled.
“I wrote about it in one of my books. A long time ago.” Wilson folded his arms over his chest. “If some items of value are hidden on your cousin’s property, it would add to the historical record of what we know of Sebastian and Emily Coffin.”
Lin was about to ask a question when Libby’s phone chimed and the woman stood to take the call. After a few moments, she clicked off. “Anton and I have an appointment we must get to. Can you meet me at the bookstore in the morning so that we can continue our chat?”
Lin agreed and a time was set to gather at the bookstore early the next day.
“We need to figure out who killed Greg Hammond.” Libby’s face clouded. “There is a dangerous person lurking on our island. He wants what isn’t his. He has to be found.” The woman put her hand softly on Lin’s arm. “If you’re willing to help, we can talk tomorrow about how best to join forces. We need you, Carolin.” Libby studied Lin’s face and smiled. “I can sense your grandfather’s love all around you.”
Lin’s heart swelled and she blinked back tears. She’d finally found someone like her. There was so much to know and discover and she couldn’t wait to fire questions at Libby. She could barely squeak out the words from her emotion-filled throat. “I want to help.”
Lin and the dog left Wilson’s house and headed up the street to her truck. With misty eyes, she looked down at Nicky trotting along beside her. “I’m not alone, Nick. I’m not alone.”
