Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) (6 page)

“I’ve got a man looking for her right now,”
Armstrong admitted.

“Then, how about the guy in the sharp suit
he was talking to just before that happened? I got the impression
he wasn’t exactly an upright citizen.”

“Would you brother get involved with someone
like that?” the sheriff asked.

“If he thought he could make a quick buck, I
don’t doubt it for a second.” Alex felt somehow disloyal speaking
that way about his last living kin, but what choice did he
have?

“Any chance you caught his name?”

“I think my brother said it was
Jackson.”

“First or last name?”

Alex shook his head. “That’s all I got.
Sorry I can’t help you.”

Armstrong nodded. “I’ll take a look myself.
Is there anything else you want to add?”

Alex remembered the torn paper in his
pocket. “Mor and I found this behind a dead receptacle in the room
where Tony was killed.” He handed it the sheriff, who took it and
then studied it for a few moments.

Armstrong shook his head. “There’s no reason
to think this was related to his murder,” he said as he handed it
back to Alex.

“Not even from where it was found?”

“It sounds like it was hidden pretty
carefully by someone. Alex, that doesn’t jibe with the knife
someone used on your brother. It was a murder of opportunity, and
maybe even passion. This is just a dead end, trust me.”

Alex was about to argue with the sheriff
when Elise came hurrying up to them. “Alex, we need to talk.”

The sheriff smiled slightly, but he was
careful not to let Elise see it. “That’s never good coming from a
woman, is it?” he asked softly.

Alex was in no mood for the sheriff’s humor.
“Are we finished here?”

“For now. I’m sorry, but I’ve taken over the
Main Keepers’ Quarters. It shouldn’t be more for than a day or
two.”

“Take your time. We don’t have any guests
scheduled for four days,” Alex admitted.

“Why’s that?”

“We were going to be on our honeymoon,” Alex
said simply.

The sheriff looked embarrassed about his
lapse. “Sorry. That’s right. I’ll be in touch.”

He tipped his hat to Elise, who had stood a
little back so they could finish their conversation.

Elise hurried to Alex and said, “I don’t
know what to say. My father had no right--.”

Alex cut her off, “To try to protect his
daughter? He had every right. Elise, I don’t blame him for telling
the sheriff what he saw.”

“You’re kidding, right? I’m furious with him
myself.”

“If your dad hadn’t told the sheriff about
what happened, I was going to do it myself. We both know from
experience that there can’t be any secrets when it comes to a
murder investigation.”

“He still shouldn’t have just volunteered it
like that,” Elise said.

“If you were my daughter, I would have done
the exact same thing.”

“I’m still making him apologize,” Elise
said.

“I’d really rather you didn’t,” Alex
said.

“Too late,” Elise said as her father walked
toward them. He started to speak, but Alex beat him to it. “Sir, I
appreciate you telling the sheriff what you saw last night. If you
hadn’t, I would have done it myself. For what it’s worth, I didn’t
kill my brother, but you were well within your rights to say what
you did to the sheriff.”

Mr. Danton looked taken aback by Alex’s
statement. “Elise seems to feel otherwise.”

“You did what you thought was right by her,
even though it couldn’t have been easy for you,” Alex said. “I
respect that.”

Something seemed to dawn on the man’s face.
A few moments later, he said, “And I respect your attitude. I must
admit I had my doubts about Elise marrying her boss, but you’ve set
them all to rest. Welcome to the family. I’d be honored to give my
daughter away to you tonight.”

“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen,”
Alex said. He turned to Elise and added, “Didn’t you tell
them?”

“I didn’t have time,” she admitted. “Dad,
the wedding’s off.”

“For good?” the man asked.

“No, just until we find Tony’s killer,”
Elise said.

“You know I don’t like you meddling in
murder,” Mr. Danton said.

“Respectfully, I’m a grown woman. This
involves Alex, and that means it involves me.” She tried to smile
as she added, “Clearly our honeymoon is off as well. Alex and I
would love it if you and Mom would take our trip instead.”

“That’s out of the question,” Mr. Danton
said.

“I’m really sorry you feel that way. I hate
the thought of just throwing that money away. We worked too hard to
just let it go to waste,” Alex said.

“I just wouldn’t feel right benefiting from
your misfortune,” the man said.

“You’d be doing us a favor,” Alex countered.
“You’re an innkeeper too, so surely you must understand. We all
work hard for our money, and when we get the opportunity, we should
get some joy out of it, don’t you agree?”

“I don’t know,” he said, though it was clear
he was torn.

Alex tried his best to smile. “I know it’s
an imposition, but it would mean a lot to me, to us, if you’d help
us out here.”

“Fine, we’ll accept your generous offer,” he
said. “I’ll go clear it with Mrs. Danton.”

After he left, Elise asked, “How did you
manage to do that? I wouldn’t have been able to do that in a
million years.”

“We’re not that different, you know.”

“Us?” Elise asked as she touched his
chest.

“Us,” Alex said as he pointed to her father,
and then to himself.

“You’re different enough,” Elise
answered.

“We are both innkeepers, and we both love
you. Do you need anything else?”

“No, that’s enough for me,” Elise said. “I
suppose we should get the word out that the wedding has been
canceled.”

“Postponed, you mean,” Alex corrected.

“Absolutely. We’ve got cake, food, people
coming, and permission to turn on the lighthouse light. It’s a
shame to let it all go to waste.”

“We can give the cake and the food to the
family shelter,” Alex said, “and folks will understand. One thing,
though. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to go ahead and light the
light when it gets dark enough. For Tony.”

“Of course,” Elise said. “I’d better get
inside. I have some telephone calls to make.”

“I’ve got a better idea. Let’s tell Emma,
and she can handle it for us. Then we can go to Bear Rocks while
there’s still light, and try to forget for a few minutes that this
ever happened.”

“I like it,” Elise said. “Meet you back here
in three minutes.”

Elise was as good as her word, and until the
sun went down and it grew too cold, Alex and Elise spent the rest
of the afternoon talking about everything in the world except their
postponed wedding, and Tony’s murder.

Chapter 6

It was only when they were walking back to
the Duel Keepers Quarters that Elise brought it up. She stopped and
took Alex’s hands in hers. “It’s almost time to light the beacon,
but before we do, I want you to promise me something.”

“Anything,” Alex said.

“We’re going to solve Tony’s murder, and
we’re going to do it together. I wasn’t his biggest fan, but
whoever did this stole the most important day in my life from me,
and even if it weren’t your brother who was murdered, that makes it
personal.”

Alex chewed it over in his mind, as he’d
been doing all afternoon despite his attempts to forget it, and
he’d come to the same conclusion that they’d have to solve this
crime themselves. “I promise.”

“Good. I can’t wait to marry you. I know it
might be old fashioned, but I want to be Mrs. Alex Winston, and no
murderer is going to stop that.”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you
say that.”

“What are you two talking about?” Emma asked
as she approached them, hand in hand with her husband.

“How much we want to be married,” Alex
said.

Mor nodded. “Don’t worry, you will be. And
when all of this is over, we get to do everything again.”

Emma looked sternly at her husband, and with
a new bit of happiness in his voice, he said, “And when this is all
over, we get to everything again.” After he said it, he looked at
his wife for her approval.

“That’s better, Mor.” She kissed him, and it
was one of the few times that Mor looked smaller than he usually
was.

To take the focus off of him, Mor looked at
Alex and said, “We’re solving this thing, right?”

“It’s not going to be easy,” Alex said. “Our
two suspects aren’t staying at the inn. I’m not even certain that
they’re still in Elkton Falls.”

“They’re somewhere though, and wherever that
is, we’ll find them,” Elise said. Alex loved hearing the
determination in her voice.

“What’s our first step?” Emma asked.

“We light the beacon, for Tony,” Alex said
simply as the last of the daylight faded.

They all nodded, and set about lighting
Hatteras West to mark the passing of a Winston.

Alex offered to stand by the switch, but
Emma offered instead. “You should go outside and look at it,” she
said. “You can’t see it all from here, and if you’re on the
observation deck upstairs, it doesn’t look like much, does it?”

“Thank you,” Alex said, and hugged Emma. He
sometimes forgot how strong she was under her extra weight, but
Emma was solid muscle.

“You’re welcome.”

“Coming?” Alex asked Mor.

“If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll
stay right here.”

Emma didn’t protest, so Alex and Elise
walked out into the night. They went back to Bear Rocks, and from
their vantage point there, they could see the light shining out
into the valley and hills that surrounded them. It never failed to
take Alex’s breath away, seeing the lighthouse lit. To her credit,
Elise didn’t say a word as they watched in silence. Her hand
tightened around his, though, and he felt great comfort from her
presence.

As soon as the allotted time was up, the
light flicked out of existence.

“We should have brought a flashlight with
us,” Elise said.

“We don’t need one. I grew up on these
rocks, remember, and there’s not a soul that knows them better than
I do. They’d released their hands for a moment, but Alex reached
again for Elise’s, and gently guided her back to the path that led
to the inn.

Mor and Emma were waiting for them at the
base of the lighthouse. The four of them stood there in silence, as
though they were afraid to break the mood that seemed to surround
them all. It was as though the lighthouse beam had muted even the
night sounds around them.

Mor finally said, “Well, if we’re going to
get an early start on our hunt, we’d better call it a night.”

He shook Alex’s hand, waved to Elise, and
then started to walk to his truck.

“Should we stay here with you tonight?” Emma
asked. “You might need to have friends around you at a time like
this.”

“No, we’ll be fine,” Elise said. She hugged
her friend, and then Emma joined her husband. Elise’s parents were
on the road headed for Williamsburg, and the other family and
friends who’d come for the celebration had left as well. It
appeared that no one wanted to linger at the inn, and Alex was glad
for it. This was a time of mourning, not just for his brother, but
for the loss, at least for today, of the wedding he’d so
desperately hoped to have.

He and Elise walked inside, and Alex
offered, “Should I light a fire to take the chill off?”

She shook her head. “Not tonight. If you
don’t mind, I think I’ll turn in a little early.”

He was disappointed to hear it, but he tried
not to show it. “I understand.”

She turned to him and asked, “Do you,
Alex?”

“I get it, Elise. You’re as sad as I am,”
Alex said.

“I wanted with all my heart to be Mrs.
Winston by now,” she said.

He wrapped her up in his arms. “It’s just a
delay, Elise.”

She looked up at him. “Do you promise me
that, Alex?”

“With every fiber of my being,” he said.
“Nothing else matters right now than finding Tony’s killer. The
second we do, I’m proposing to you again.”

Elise smiled up at him. “Not necessary. You
have a standing yes anytime you want to cash it in.” She kissed
him, and then pulled away. “I don’t know how you do it, Alex, but
you always seem to know how to make me feel better.”

“What can I say? You bring it out in me,
too.”

“Good night, my love,” she said.

He smiled at her. “Good night. I do love
you.”

Elise nodded gently. “I’m depending on
it.”

After she was in her room, Alex wondered if
he should turn in himself. This day had turned into an awful
mockery of what they’d had planned, and he remembered one of his
favorite sayings. ‘Man plans, God laughs.’ It was never more true
than it was right now.

Alex would have been pleased the next
morning if he’d woken up to rain, sleet, snow, or even hail. It
would have done much better to match his mood than the bright
sunshine peeking in through his window. What right did the world
have being happy on a day he should have been on his honeymoon? He
got ready quickly, and walked out front, wondering what he needed
to do to go in search of the suspects he’d met yesterday. They had
to have a plan, but so far, Alex was stumped. Even the sheriff
wasn’t at all certain he’d be able to track down the man and woman
from the rehearsal dinner. What chance would the four of them
have?

Alex was still wondering about it when there
was a knock at the front door. It was too early for Mor and Emma,
and Alex wondered who it might be. If it was a wandering tourist
looking for a place to stay, Alex was going to have to disappoint
him.

To his shock, it was the man Tony had gotten
into an argument at the dinner. It was all Alex could do not to cry
out. “May I help you?”