Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) (9 page)

“What are you doing? She’s bound to notice
that her ammunition is missing.”

“Maybe so, but I feel better knowing that
her claws have been pulled.”

Elise stared at it, and then said, “We could
just take the gun ourselves.”

“I’ll confiscate her bullets, but I won’t
steal her gun,” Alex said.

“That’s an awfully fine line.”

“I agree, but it’s as far as I’m willing to
go.”

Elise frowned. “What if she has more
ammo?”

“Then we’re in trouble, because that means
I’ve misjudged her. I can see Monique carrying this with her for
protection, but from everything we’ve seen, can you imagine that
she had the forethought to plan anything as rational as packing
extra ammunition? If she’d brought a gun with her to kill Tony, I
have a feeling she would have used it. It wouldn’t surprise me at
all if we find out Jackson’s got a weapon himself, along with who
knows what else in his arsenal?”

“I don’t disagree with that, but if we’re
wrong, the learning curve is going to be kind of steep.”

“We could always hide it under the bed,”
Alex suggested.

“How could that make any sense?” Elise
asked.

“If she asks us about it, we can say we were
making the bed and her purse fell off it. The gun could have gotten
accidentally kicked under the bed and out of sight.”

Elise shook her head. “That’s an awfully big
line of coincidences, don’t you think?”

“It’s not all that important
that she believe us,” Alex said. “What matters is that it
might
be true, and the
shadow of that doubt is all we really need.”

“We can’t do that,” Elise said. “I don’t see
how she could believe it for a second.”

“Then we’ll have to be happy doing this.”
Alex pocketed the bullets, and then started to reach for Tony’s
ring.

Elise noticed him hesitate. “Go ahead and
take it. It’s rightfully yours.”

“Not if Tony really gave it to Monique. It’s
not mine, legally or morally.”

“Alex, did your brother even have a will?”
Elise asked.

“I have no idea how current it might be.
Uncle Jase wrote wills for both of us when our folks died, but
mine’s changed since then, and I can’t imagine that his hasn’t as
well.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Six months after we met, I made
you my sole beneficiary. If something happens to me, Hatteras West
is all yours.”

Elise took the news like a blow to the
chest, reeling back a step before catching herself. When Alex
looked at her, it appeared that she was crying.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean
to saddle you with this place. It’s just that it was clear that you
loved Hatteras West just as much as I do. I thought of Emma and
Mor, but they aren’t suited to be innkeepers, and besides, I’m
leaving all of my books, my tools, and a nice piece of change for
Mor. But you get everything else.”

She was openly sobbing now. Alex put his
arms around her, and then said, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Just hold me,” she said, and he did as he
was asked, taking in the smell of her hair, the way she felt in his
arms.

After a few moments, she pulled away. He
said lamely, “I really am sorry. I thought it was a good idea at
the time.”

“Trust me, it does. It means more to me than
your marriage proposal,” Elise said simply.

“I’m not sure how to take that, to be honest
with you,” Alex said.

Elise just laughed. “Alex, I knew in my
heart that you loved me, but to entrust Hatteras West to me says it
more than a thousand poems and a million boxes of chocolate.” She
kissed him, long and soundly, and then said, “I love you, too.”

“That’s good,” Alex said. “For a second, I
thought I might have blown it.”

“My dear Alex, I’m not sure you could if you
tried, but do us both a favor.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t try,” she said with a smile. “Now,
back to your brother.”

“I’m not sure Tony had anything to bequest,
so it may be a moot point.”

“Is there any way to find out?” Elise
asked.

“I’m not sure. Why, do you think it’s
important?”

“It could be,” she said. “Who stands to be
better off with Tony dead?”

“Hello?” they both heard a familiar voice
call out from downstairs. “Is anybody here?”

It was the sheriff, and knowing him, he
wasn’t there to compliment them on their new drapes.

Chapter 8

Elise started jamming everything back into
Monique’s purse as she said, “Go talk to him. I’ll be down in a
minute.”

Alex did as she asked, and he found Sheriff
Armstrong standing there with his hand on the front door.

“Here I am,” Alex said.

“I was about to give up on you.”

“Rooms need to be cleaned and chores have to
be done, no matter what else is going on around here,” Alex
said.

“Understood.” The sheriff
stared down at the hardwood floor, and then said, “I just got the
report from the coroner’s office. Your brother was killed between
one and three
am
.”

Alex realized that it had to
have been Tony leaving the inn. That door slam had marked the
beginning of the end for his brother. What if he’d gone out into
the night looking for him? Would his brother still be alive, or
would Alex have joined him in death? As he considered the
ramifications of what he
hadn’t
done, Alex realized that the sheriff had asked him
something, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember what it had
been.

“Excuse me?”

“Are you going to make me say it again?” the
sheriff asked.

“I’m sorry, I zoned out there for a
second.”

The sheriff took in a deep breath of air,
let it out, and then said, “I don’t mean to be indelicate, but I
have to ask you this question. Can anyone confirm where you were
between one and three the night of the murder?”

“Elise can,” Alex said.

The sheriff actually blushed slightly as he
nodded. “I’ll have to have her confirm it, there’s no easy way
around that, but it’s good enough for me. Ordinarily it wouldn’t be
any of my business.”

Alex couldn’t believe the man. “We were
sitting on the couch the entire time drinking hot chocolate and
reminiscing about our lives since Elise came to the inn.”

“That was about the time that Reg Wellington
was murdered, wasn’t it?”

“Exactly that time,” Alex replied, surprised
that the sheriff had remembered Elise’s first days at the inn. Then
again, when it was tied so closely with a murder, it made perfect
sense.

“She’ll be able to confirm that?” Armstrong
asked.

“Confirm what?” Elise asked as she came down
the steps and joined them.

Alex started to explain when Armstrong held
up a hand. “Alex, I need a minute with her. Go out on the porch.
Now.”

He was about to ask why when he realized
that the sheriff was trying to confirm his alibi. Alex didn’t want
there to be any hint of suspicion, or impropriety, about what
they’d been doing the night before, so he nodded and did as he was
asked.

A minute later, the sheriff came out and
rejoined him. “Where’s Elise?” he asked.

“She had to answer a phone call.”

“Did she back me up?”

“To the T,” Armstrong said. “It was off just
enough to be convincing.”

“What parts didn’t we agree on?” Alex
asked.

“Doesn’t matter. I believe you both, that’s
all that counts. It looks like you’re in the clear.”

“That’s good to hear,” Alex admitted. He’d
been under the sheriff’s scrutiny before when it came to murder,
and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Well, I won’t trouble you anymore,” the
sheriff said.

Alex thought about telling him about their
two guests, especially since they’d found the gun in Monique’s
purse, but something made him hold the information back. This was
his brother’s murder he was investigating, and he couldn’t just
hand it all over to someone else.

There was one thing he could ask, though.
“Sheriff, I need to know something, and I’m hoping you can tell
me.”

“Depends on what it is,” the sheriff said.
“I can’t reveal much about an ongoing police investigation, so if
it has something to do with the case, I can’t tell you much.”

“It’s personal,” Alex said. He had a ready
excuse as to why he wanted the information, and only part of his
rationalization was a lie. “Have you found Tony’s will? We’ve never
been close, but I’d always hoped that someday we could work things
out. Finding out he thought of me, if only for a moment, when he
was making out his will would make all of this a little easier to
take.”

Armstrong nodded. “It’s perfectly
understandable. From what I understand, he didn’t have much, but
what he did have is coming straight to you.”

Alex wouldn’t have guessed that answer with
a thousand tries. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, that’s why I came out here hoping you
had an alibi. If it does turn out that Tony was worth something,
your reasons to be a suspect just doubled.”

“I’m glad Elise and I had a craving for hot
chocolate last night,” Alex said.

“You can say that again. It probably kept
you from going to jail today.”

As the sheriff drove off, Elise joined Alex
on the porch. “Did he believe us?” Elise asked.

“He didn’t have much choice. You turned out
to be a very good alibi.”

“Glad to be of service,” Elise said.

“Who was on the phone?”

“My folks. They wanted to thank us again for
their vacation.” She laughed a little.

“What’s so funny?”

“We booked the honeymoon suite, remember?
Dad can’t get over the round bed, and it appears that Mom won’t get
out of the heart-shaped bathtub. They’re thinking about putting a
honeymoon suite in their inn back home.”

Alex laughed, happy for the momentary break.
“We’re not making one here, though, are we?”

“No, I think we’re good, at least for now,”
Elise said. “What should we do now?”

“I keep wondering where Mr. Jackson slipped
off to. His car’s in the lot, so he has to be on foot
somewhere.”

The wind blew a particular way, and Alex and
Elise heard a man’s voice say, “Why should I share any of it with
you? The gold’s all mine. I already paid for it.”

Alex took Elise’s hand, and the two of them
left the porch to see who exactly was arguing over what they
believed was real gold.

“The coins are mine,” Monique said. “And I
have no intention of sharing any of them once I find them.” Alex
and Elise heard her talking near they lighthouse, so they moved
along the red brick base until they could hear better without being
seen.

A man’s voice that Alex recognized as
Jackson’s said, “I don’t care if you killed him for them. It
doesn’t matter to me. I just want what’s mine.”

Monique sounded shocked as she replied, “I
would never kill him. I loved that man. Besides, Tony promised them
all to me as a wedding present.”

“Why would he do that? You weren’t even
engaged,” Jackson said.

“We were so.”

“Then where’s your ring?” he asked.

“It’s in my purse. Tony couldn’t afford the
kind of engagement ring he wanted to give me just yet, so until he
could make one last deal, he gave me his college class ring
instead.”

“Why would you keep it in your bag?” Jackson
asked.

“What am I, in high school? Did you expect
me to wear it on a chain around my neck like some silly
schoolgirl?”

“I don’t care where you wear it, the gold’s
mine. I don’t care what he promised you. I already paid for it, and
the crook cheated me.”

Monique laughed without joy. “That’s rich.
You’re calling Tony a crook? I know all about you. He told me about
you and your employer, and how you’ve been putting the squeeze on
him for months. He was getting out from under you, so you killed
him, didn’t you? It wouldn’t be the first time you stabbed someone
with a knife. Tony told me that was your style.”

“How stupid do you think I am?” Jackson
asked. “With him dead, there’s no way we get our investment
back.”

“My employer,” Jackson said. “That’s why I’m
here looking for the coins. He had to have stashed them somewhere
around here.”

“Well, I’m not going to help you look.”

Jackson barked out his next words. “Do you
think that crazy innkeeper’s going to turn them over to either one
of us when he finds them? He may be a hick, but I doubt that he’s
that big a moron. I’m betting if we keep standing around here
debating it, nobody’s going to make out but him.”

Alex shook his head at the words of derision
aimed at him, and Elise patted his arm. He wanted to protest, but
he knew it would be exactly the wrong thing to do.

“If I find them first, I’m keeping them all
for myself,” Monique said.

“Good luck with that.”

“Finding them, or keeping them?” Monique
asked. Alex could hear a taste of fear in her voice. She truly was
frightened by Jackson’s presence, and he couldn’t blame her. The
man seemed ruthless, willing to stop at nothing to get what he
thought belonged to him.

“Both,” Jackson said.

“
What if we worked
together?” Monique asked, unable to keep the angst out of her
voice. “How could I ever trust you?” she asked him, which Alex
thought was a perfectly reasonable question.

“The same way I have to trust you, on
faith,” Jackson said. “We’ll split what we find, right down the
middle.”

“
I don’t know,” Monique said
hesitantly.

“I don’t have all day, lady. What’s it going
to be? Yes or no?”

“Yes,” she said. “Do you have a plan?”

“I’ve been thinking about breaking into the
other building again, but I don’t want to get caught doing it this
time. They nearly nailed me before. That’s where you come in.”