Murder Checks Inn (Book 3 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) (6 page)

Sandra continued. “To my nephew Alex, I
leave my most prized possessions, including my collection of books
as well as the entirety of my remaining real property. I’m sorry
it’s not more, but remember this always, Alex; our bond always went
beyond money.”

Tony slapped Alex on the shoulder. “Sorry
about that, Alex. Well, at least you get twenty-five grand out of
the deal.”

Sandra frowned gently, then said, “I’m sorry
Alex, but that’s not the case. Jase willed the remainder of his
money to the Elkton Falls Preservation Society. You know how much
he loved this old town.”

Tony stood and said, “Jase was something,
wasn’t he? Alex, are you ready to go back to the inn? We can deal
with the other stuff later.”

“
Why don’t you head back
without me, Tony? I’ll catch a ride and be out later.”

Tony slapped him on the shoulder. “Come on,
don’t be a sore loser about this. I’m sorry you got screwed, but
that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Sandra piped up, “Tony, why don’t you do as
Alex suggests and go on. I’ll give him a ride out to the inn
myself.”

Tony shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself.
See you there, Alex.”

And then he was gone. Alex wouldn’t have
been surprised to see him skipping as he left the office.

Sandra said, “Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry. I
tried to talk Jase out of this division of property, but he was
adamant about setting things up this way.”

Alex sat there staring at his hands, and
then a slow smile spread across his face.

Sandra said, “What in the world do you have
to smile about?”

Alex chuckled softly. “It just hit me. You
read the will yourself, Sandra. Jase gave Tony the money because
that’s all he ever cared about. You know how Jase felt about his
books! They were his pride and joy. No, I’m satisfied with the
will.”

Sandra looked at him a long ten seconds,
then said, “Alex, you’re truly something, you know that?”

Alex laughed softly, “Thanks, Sandra, I
appreciate that. You don’t have to give me a ride out to Hatteras
West, I know how busy you must be. I’ll find a way to get back out
there.”

She shuffled a few papers on her desk, then
said, “Nonsense, I’d love to take you home. In fact,” she said as
she stood, “I’m ready to go, if you are.”

Alex said, “That’s just it. I’d like to
spend a little time at Jase’s first, by myself. To be honest with
you, it might help me say good-bye in my own way. I’m not sure I’m
all that comfortable with the party he’s planned, so I need to do
it my way first.”

Sandra sat back down in her chair. “I
understand completely. Let’s do this. I’ll give you an hour over
there, and then I’ll come by to pick you up, and we’ll eat at Mamma
Ravolini’s before we head back to the inn. My treat. What do you
say?”

“
I say it sounds great, but
I have an inn full of people at the moment. I don’t feel right
about just leaving them alone.”

Sandra said, “So let Elise take care of
them. You deserve a break, Alex. Can you even remember the last
time you took a day off, let alone a vacation?”

Alex found himself agreeing, as Sandra
handed him a set of keys. “These are to the house. I’m afraid
you’ll have to have everything out in five days. The lease is up,
and I couldn’t get the landlord to extend it for you. He’s got a
hot prospect who’s buying it from him.”

“
That’ll be fine. I’m not
going to move anything today. I just want to look around a
little.”

“
See you in an hour then,”
Sandra said as Alex headed out.

He stopped at Sandra’s secretary’s desk and
asked to borrow the telephone.

Elise answered on the second ring.

“
Hatteras West Lighthouse
and Inn,” she said. He never tired of hearing her say
it.

“
Hi, it’s me. Can you
handle things there for a while? I’ve got some things in town I
need to take care of.”

“
How did it go with
Sandra?”

Alex took a deep breath, then said, “Tony
got the money, but I got Jase’s books.”

Elise said, “Oh Alex, I’m so sorry.”

“
I’m not,” he said. “Things
couldn’t have gone any better.”

On the way over to Jase’s cottage, Alex
realized that his uncle had indeed given him the perfect gift. Long
after Tony had spent every dime of his inheritance, and Alex knew
that wouldn’t take long, given his brother’s propensity to burn up
cash, Alex would have Jase’s presence still with him, in the form
of the books they both so loved.

It was worth more to him than ten times what
Tony had gotten, and Alex wondered if Tony would ever realize just
how much he’d lost today.

Probably not, and that was the saddest part
of all.

Chapter 6

The first thing Alex did when he got to
Jase’s rental house was to open the windows and let some fresh air
in. Jase liked to keep things closed up, but Alex needed the warm
breezes and sunshine. Located just two blocks from Sandra’s office,
the house was a quaint little cottage that had seen better days,
tucked among businesses and houses alike in a mishmash that was
much of Elkton Falls. The town had been nearly built by the time
the elders got around to thinking about zoning. It made a happy
mix, as far as Alex was concerned.

With just four small rooms, the cottage had
most likely been perfect for the widower Jase. The elder Winston
had rented it furnished with simple but serviceable furniture, and
the only real way to tell that Jase had lived there at all was the
explosion of books everywhere. Alex had only spent a handful of
hours there since his uncle had moved back to Elkton Falls. Jase
had loved the lighthouse so much, he was always eager to come out
to Hatteras West.

Surveying the sheer volume of books around
him, Alex realized it was going to be an arduous task to pack up
all of Jase’s books and personal items, but he’d worry about that
after the send-off. For the moment, he just wanted to be near his
uncle’s things. Alex moved into the tiny bedroom to find the room
curiously nearly devoid of books. The place was neat, the bed was
made, and there was no mess in sight. It was almost as if Jase had
known he wouldn’t be coming back.

There was a thick accordion
folder full of papers on the room’s simple desk, and Alex decided
he should take those
back to Hatteras West
with him when he left. There might be something important that
needed to be addressed. He also found Jase’s collectibles box,
something he’d seen around his uncle his entire life. Alex lifted
the lid with bated breath as he stroked the sides of the box, made
from the now-gone American chestnut tree. He was tempted to sit
down and go through his uncle’s treasures. At the top, Alex could
see a Confederate bullet, a few Indian arrowheads, and the fragment
of meteor Jase had. There were chips of emerald there, of no real
cash value, but ones Jase had found himself in Hiddenite. There
were, just like the last time Alex had seen the box, a handful of
the steel pennies Jase loved. It was a box full of memories, more
than anything else. He could spend all evening going through it,
but there wasn’t time at the moment. Alex tucked the box under one
arm and walked over to the nightstand. He picked up the last book
Jase would ever read. It was titled The Treasure Below. Just then,
he heard someone else in the house!

Throwing the book on top of the bed, Alex
moved quickly toward the door. As he approached, he heard something
fall in the living room.

“
Who’s there?” Alex shouted
as he raced through the doorway, the papers, the collection box and
the book now forgotten.

He got into the hallway just in time to see
the front door slam shut. Running to it, Alex tripped over a pile
of books that had been upset by the intruder. By the time he got to
his feet and jerked the door open, whoever had invited themselves
in was gone. There were a dozen stores nearby that the intruder
could have ducked into, and Alex knew he’d never find the
interloper.

As Alex stepped back inside, he wondered why
anyone would just walk into Jase’s house uninvited. What could he,
or she for that matter, have been looking for?

Alex started leafing through the books that
had been disturbed. There was nothing out of the ordinary that he
could see as he restacked them. Had it been an accident that they’d
been spilled, or had the would-be thief been looking for something
in particular?

He was still on his knees in the living room
when there was a knock on the door.

It was Mor, standing just in the shadows, a
weary frown on his face.

Mor said, “Listen, I hate to interrupt you,
but do you have a second? I really need to talk to you. I know the
timing stinks, but it’s important.”

Alex felt his heart race. “Is something
wrong?”

“
No, no. At least I don’t
think so. Not yet, anyway. Well, maybe, it depends on how you look
at it.”

“
That certainly clears
things up,” Alex said with a smile.

His best friend didn’t respond to the jab,
and that’s when Alex knew just how serious Mor was.

Alex walked out onto the abbreviated porch
with Mor close behind, and the two men sat on the steps out front,
avoiding each other’s gaze.

Mor said, “Sandra told me I could find you
over here, but she didn’t want me to come. She said you needed some
time alone. That woman’s an overprotective hen when it comes to
you. I don’t remember her being so careful of your feelings when
the two of you were dating.”

“
Sandra means well, but I
don’t have to have perfect solitude to say good-bye. What’s
up?”

Mor took a deep breath, then said heavily,
“It’s Les. He’s talking about retiring again.”

Alex knew Mor’s partner talked about
quitting their business a dozen times a year. Though the man was in
his early seventies, he could probably run circles around folks
half his age. “Mor, he’s been threatening to quit forever. What
makes this time any different?”

Mor rocked back as he said, “This is the
first time he’s ever been serious enough to offer to sell his share
of the business to me. Seems he’s found a new girlfriend, and he’s
thinking about leaving Elkton Falls with her and seeing the
world.”

That was news to Alex. Normally, in a place
as small as Elkton Falls, it was as tough keeping a secret as it
was to repeal the law of gravity. The kudzu vine was faster than
any regular grapevine known to man.

“
So who is this mystery
woman?” Alex asked.

“
I have no idea,” Mor
admitted, “but I think she lives in Saint Dunbar.” Saint Dunbar was
a town twenty miles away, closer to the mountains than Elkton
Falls. It was in such an odd place geographically that it could be
raining in Elkton Falls and snowing up a storm in Saint Dunbar.
That could explain the mystery. Saint Dunbar was far enough away to
be out of the reach of Elkton Falls radar. The kudzu vine only
traveled so far when it came to gossip.

“
So, what are you going to
do?”

Mor scratched his chin. “I can come up with
most of the money, but Les would have to take a note for the rest.
Not that he’d mind, but I hate carrying paper like that. But that’s
not the real problem, Alex. To be honest with you, the whole thing
is just too permanent for my taste.”

“
What’s Emma think about
all of this?” Since Mor and Emma had started dating, she’d become a
very real part of the handyman’s life, Alex knew.

“
She doesn’t know about it,
and I’m not sure I want to tell her. Not just yet, anyway.” Mor
stared at his hands a moment, then said, “She’s already been
badgering me about my lack of commitment to anything, and now this
comes up.”

Alex patted Mor’s shoulder. “So where does
that leave you?”

“
Alex, I swear I don’t
know. When I lost that scholarship and came back home, I kind of
fell into working with Les by accident more than design. Even
though he made me partner a few years later, I still felt like I
could pick up any time I wanted to and leave, do you know what I
mean? Is Elkton Falls all I’m ever going to know? There’s a whole
world out there, my friend, and I’m afraid I’m missing it, staying
in one place my whole life. What would you do if you were in my
shoes?”

Alex shook his head. “That’s the whole
point, isn’t it? Mor, I’ve seen some of the world, and for me, it
just isn’t the same as home. Tony still thinks I’m a fool for
taking Hatteras West instead of the money when our folks died, but
for me it was the only decision I could make. That lighthouse is a
part of me. I could never leave it.”

Mor nodded. The usual jocular tone of their
talks was gone completely, replaced by a heaviness that hung in the
air between them. “Don’t get me wrong, Alex, you know I love Elkton
Falls. But what I’m worried about is, will it be enough?”

“
I wish I could answer that
for you, Mor, I honestly do. I can tell you this. When I’m faced
with a tough decision, I draw a line down the center of a sheet of
paper, with pluses on one side and minuses on the other, just like
Ben Franklin used to do. Sometimes I know the answer before I even
finish my list. You might want to give it a try. It’s worth a shot,
anyway.”

“
I guess so.” Mor looked
back inside the small cottage. “Jase was just renting the place,
wasn’t he?”

“
That’s right. In fact, I
have to move all his stuff out to Hatteras West in five days.
Somebody’s buying the cottage.”

“
You need a hand? With both
our trucks, we should be able to make it in one trip.”