Ghost Ship: A Port Chatham Mystery (24 page)

Chapter 17

I continued to ask throughout the night, but there was no indication that Jesse had survived,” Charlotte told them, swiping at tears. “The first mate and another member of his crew walked the five miles back to a farm on the headlands, to notify the authorities of the shipwreck. It took until almost dawn, but more help did eventually arrive.” Her expression reflected the rigors of that long, freezing night spent on the beach. “And along with help, of course, came the press.”

“Eleanor Canby was there?” Jordan asked. “She must have been devastated by the news of her son’s death.”

“No, her reporters were at the scene of the wreck, but Eleanor didn’t learn of Jesse’s death until around dawn, when we were all brought back to Port Chatham. Until we were all gathered together on Union Wharf, even I wasn’t willing to accept that Jesse hadn’t made it out alive.” Charlotte pressed her lips together for a moment before continuing. “I’ve never seen Eleanor so hysterical. She was raging at anyone who came close to her. When she saw you being lifted off the rescue boat, Michael, she became incoherent, ranting about how it was all your fault, that you were the reason her son was dead.”

“She must have loved him very much,” Hattie mused, “even though she professed to have disowned him.”

“So perhaps you were the unconscious man the crew first carried to the beach,” Jordan told Seavey.

He shrugged. “Obviously, I have no recollection of the event.”

Jordan turned back to Charlotte. “Think, Charlotte. Can you tell me exactly who you saw on the beach that night?”

“There were so many people rushing around, what with the reporters trying to get us to tell our stories, the local farmers trying to help the injured, and others arriving in boats to transport us back to Port Chatham. Captain Williams wanted to go back on board, to see if he could find more survivors, but the rescuers felt the ship was too unstable. All I remember is being horribly cold, and feeling a terrible sadness. I didn’t want to believe that Jesse might truly be gone.”

“You cared a great deal for him.” Hattie said it very softly.

“Yes. Though Jesse struggled with his own demons, he was a true friend to me during that time. I’ll always remember him with great fondness.”

Hattie hugged her, saying, “I’m just glad you survived.”

“So pardon me for being the one to point out the obvious,” Jordan said, “but we still don’t know who murdered Michael, and I still don’t have the information I need about Sam Garrett.”

Frank roused himself from where he had been standing throughout Charlotte’s story. “Indeed, I doubt anyone truly cared whether Seavey lived or died, or even the manner in which he died.”

“Frank!” Hattie exclaimed, scandalized. “Michael is right here, you know.”

“His insults fail to disturb me,” Seavey replied mildly. “And as I’ve indicated, I’ve no wish to know the exact circumstances surrounding my death.”

“Well,
I
do,” Charlotte insisted. “And so does Hattie. You were kind to me, Michael, when I needed the help.”

“That’s a wonderful sentiment,” Jordan remarked, “but unless someone can give me a clue how to go about this, we may be at a dead end.”

“Good God, woman,” Frank protested. “Your humor leaves much to be desired!”

“Pardon?”

“Even
I
wouldn’t make fun of a man’s death by indicating that he had arrived at a
dead
end!”

Jordan closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “What I meant,” she explained, very carefully, “is that I may have run out of leads to investigate, to determine how Michael really died.”

Charlotte jumped up, hissing, and began to fly around the room.

“Oh, for …” Jordan began, exasperated.

“He’s
back
!” she screamed.

“What?”

“
Danger! Danger!
”

She meant the burglar, Jordan suddenly realized.

Giving the others a hand signal to stay put and remain quiet, she rose from her chair and crept over to the door that opened onto the hall and listened.

“Another human has broken into your house?” Seavey inquired from right beside her, causing her to jump out of her skin, swallowing the scream that bubbled up.

“
Don’t
scare me like that!” she whispered.

From down the hall, she heard a distinctive thump and a muttered oath.

Unbelievable
. She pulled her cellphone from her pocket and hit speed dial. “The son of a bitch is back,” she said to Darcy, sotto voce.

“What?” Darcy sounded alert, even given the lateness of the hour. It must be a talent developed by all law enforcement, Jordan reflected. “Who? Your intruder?”

“Yeah.”

“Where are you?” she asked, all business.

“Kitchen.”

“
Shit
. Go out the back door,
now
. I’m on my way. And hang up and dial Jase. He should be home by now.
For once, do not argue with me. Just do it
.”

“I’m already halfway out the door,” Jordan assured, tiptoeing over to hold the door open while the ghosts floated through. She softly whistled for Malachi, who woke up instantly and trotted outside. Belatedly, he caught the sounds of more movement in the library and turned to let out a growl. Jordan shushed him and dragged him outside by the collar, which earned her a look of total canine outrage.

Ignoring him, she called Jase and quickly explained the situation. He hung up without bothering to reply, but not before she heard him running. Turning to peer through the darkness at Amanda’s tent, she saw nothing stirring inside. No help from that front.

“You should confront this person,” Seavey said beside her. “Never back down when facing your enemy. It merely encourages them to act more boldly the next time.”

“You’re absolutely right.” She was sick and tired of people breaking into her home and threatening her. Threatening her
family
.

A baseball bat landed at her feet, with Charlotte zooming up to hover above it. “Use this, Jordan.”

Hefting it in her left hand, Jordan stalked around the side of the house toward the scaffolding. She heard swearing coming from just above her. Looking up, she saw feet dangling from the hole above the French doors. The bastard was trying to crawl through.

Scrambling onto the first level of the scaffolding, she leaned over the metal pipe railing and swung the bat with both hands so hard her feet momentarily left the platform. It connected with a loud crack.

The intruder screamed, teetering for an instant on the header over the French doors. Then he fell backward. Grabbing for the metal crossbars holding up the scaffolding, he missed and fell to the ground below Jordan, arms and legs flailing. He hit the pile of siding, glancing off and toppling with it. Landing with a thud on the rock pavers, shingles falling around him, he let out a howl of pain, holding his ankle.

Malachi planted both paws on his chest, growling. The man went silent midshriek just as Jase skidded to a halt next to him.

Peering over the railing with bat still in hand, Jordan got her first good look at her burglar.

“Good Christ!” Michael Seavey said from the patio’s edge. “It’s that obnoxious little man who makes such a nuisance of himself in my hotel.”

Chapter 18

Y
OU
broke my ankle, you
bitch
!” Clive Walters screeched.

“Shut up.” Jase pulled a still-snarling Malachi to the side and flipped Walters over on his stomach. Unconcerned with his injured foot, Jase rammed a knee into the middle of his back.

“Ow, ow, ow!”

Darcy, who was now walking across the yard toward them, tossed Jase her handcuffs.

“Bravo!” Seavey applauded, hovering at the height of the scaffolding and bowing to Jordan.

“Yes!” Hattie smiled up at her from below. “Well done, Jordan.”

Charlotte made enthusiastic clapping motions, glaring at Frank until he followed suit.

“I assume you’re okay?” Jase asked Jordan, craning his neck to glance up at the bat she still gripped.

“I’m fine. Really, really pissed, but fine.” She climbed down to the ground and walked over to Walters, who was whimpering in pain. “What gives you the right to break into my home and terrorize me, you asshole?”

“And terrorize
us
,” Charlotte reminded Jordan stoutly.

“Arrest her!” Walters screamed at Darcy. “She assaulted me. And get me an ambulance right now! I need to go to the hospital.”

“He certainly is a distressingly unappealing man, is he not?” Hattie asked.

“Yes, my dear, he is,” Seavey replied gently. “He gives respectable criminals everywhere a bad name.”

Jase got to his feet and yanked Walters upright by his arms, which set him to wailing again when he landed on his ankle.

“Get her away from me!” he yelled, eyeing Jordan wildly while he held his injured foot in the air. “She’s going to
kill
me!”

Jordan looked at the baseball bat, seriously contemplating his suggestion. Then, with a sigh, she dropped it on the ground.

“Shut the hell up,” Jase told Walters, “or
I’ll
kill you.”

“Did you hear that?” Walters asked Darcy. “He threatened me! I don’t have to take that!”

Darcy rolled her eyes.

“How many times do I have to tell you,” Jordan snapped, “I didn’t steal your goddamn papers!”

“You did, too! You and Stilwell both thought you could make money off items that belong to
me
.”

Jordan gaped. “Why in the world would you think
that
? I didn’t even know what was happening until I found Holt’s body.”

“You and Holt were in on it together from the very beginning!”

“What ‘it’?” she asked. “You’re making no sense at all.”

“You planned to steal the papers, then find and sell off the items listed in them.”

“Do you even know what is in the papers?”

“Things that belong to
me
, that’s what!” Walters snarled.

“I beg to differ—items from the Cosmopolitan Hotel belong to me,” Seavey interjected. “This ill-mannered
squatter
has absolutely no claim to them.”

“Let’s not go there,” Jordan told Seavey.

“Go where?” He looked confused.

“
Why not go there?
” Walters retorted. “There’s no honor among thieves. You stole the papers from Stilwell, then killed him.”

“Okay, that’s it, you are officially insane. I had absolutely no
reason
 …” Her voice trailed off as the clothing Walters was wearing—a dark hoodie and jeans—finally registered. “You broke into Holt’s house looking for the papers, didn’t you? And when I arrived, you shoved me down the steps, because you didn’t want me to know you were looking for them.”

Jase yanked Walters’s arms higher into the small of his back, causing him to yelp. “You shoved Jordan down
concrete steps
?” he asked in a deceptively soft tone.

“Jase,” Darcy warned quietly. “Give him to me.”

“Give me five minutes alone with him,” Jase growled.

“No.”

Jase held on to Walters a moment longer, then with a sound of disgust shoved him at Darcy.

“I did
nothing
wrong,” Walters sniveled. “I’m entitled to take back and protect what’s mine.”

“That refrain is getting old,” Hattie observed. “Can’t you encourage your friends to escort him off our property?”

“I’m working on it,” Jordan replied grimly.

“Working on getting away with murder, and blaming
me
for it!” Walters whined.

Before Jordan could point out the sheer idiocy of that statement, another patrol car and an ambulance pulled up, lights flashing. They were attracting a crowd—several neighbors had emerged from their houses, looking bewildered.

“I glimpsed a gun lying on the floor of the conservatory,” Frank told Jordan. “He must have dropped it when you hit him with the bat. I suspect it may be .22 caliber.”

“I’ll go get it!” Charlotte volunteered, sounding excited.

“
No!
” Jordan said hastily, envisioning a gun going off randomly. “Leave it alone; I’ll get it.”

“Get what?” Darcy asked, confused.

“He left a gun in the conservatory,” Jordan explained.

“I did not!” Walters yelled. “It’s
hers
, I’m telling you! How would she know it was there unless it was hers?”

Darcy sighed. “Leave the gun where it is. I’ll have one of my deputies bag it for evidence. We can test it to see if his fingerprints are on it.”

“I don’t own a gun, and I didn’t bring one with me!”

“We’ll see if it matches the bullet we pulled from Holt,” Darcy informed him.

“You know, I just don’t get it,” Jordan said. “Why are you so hell-bent to find those papers?”

“Oh, come
on
,” Walters sneered. “Everyone knows you and Stilwell were looking into the murder of his ancestor. And that you’ll do just about anything to solve murders for the ghosts in this town. But it’s bad for business, don’t you see? I
need
Seavey’s ghost to hang around—he brings in more than half my bookings! I couldn’t have either of you figuring out what happened, so that Seavey would have crossed over permanently, now could I?”

Jordan gaped at him. “You’re shitting me.”

“Good Christ!” Seavey remarked. “Does he
really
think I would cross over and leave
my
hotel in
his
hands, to be run into the ground? The man is truly delusional.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Well, congratulations, Clive. You just got yourself arrested for attempted armed robbery.
And
provided an excellent motive for why you killed Holt. You’re going away for a very long time, which means you won’t be around to worry about the bookings in your hotel after all.”

“Thank goodness,” Hattie said. “I certainly wouldn’t wish his continued presence on Michael.”

“It’s not robbery if I’m retrieving what
she
stole in the first place.” Walters’s tone was sullen.

“That’s not how it works, pal. I have two witnesses who can testify that you attempted to break into Jordan’s house, armed with a handgun.”

“She has
six
witnesses!” Charlotte corrected.

“You can’t testify in a court of law,” Jordan pointed out.

“Sure I can—why couldn’t I?” Jase asked, then clued in. “Oh, got it.”

“Got what?” Walters asked suspiciously. “You can’t talk like that in front of me. That’s entrapment!”

Darcy closed her eyes, obviously reaching for patience. “Why don’t you save us all a lot of time, Clive, and just admit that you killed Holt?”

“
She
killed Holt, I’m telling you!” he raged, spittle flying.

Darcy motioned to a deputy, handing Walters over to him. “Go with him to the hospital,” she told the deputy crisply. “After they set his ankle, move him downtown to a holding cell. I’ll be in tomorrow morning to take down his confession. Oh, and don’t forget to read him his rights. The good news, Clive, is that you’ll have plenty of time in jail to read law books and figure out how clueless you are about the justice system.”

“I’m not confessing to anything!” he snapped. “I want a lawyer.”

“In
that
regard, it appears that he is
most
knowledgeable,” Frank observed.