The Ghost and the Mystery Writer (4 page)

Anxiously, the chief looked at Danielle. “What is it? Do you see something?”

“She's right there,” Danielle whispered, motioning to the hovering spirit.

“Ask her; find out who killed her,” he urged.

“Jolene,” Danielle called out, “can you tell us who killed you?”

Jolene continued to ignore Danielle. Instead, her eyes fixed on the chief while she frantically pointed down to the water along the edge of the pier.

“What did she say?” MacDonald asked.

Jolene disappeared.

Danielle let out a deep breath—one she hadn't realize she had been holding since asking Jolene the question. “She's gone, Chief.”

“Gone? What do you mean gone? Did she say anything?”

Danielle frowned and looked over the railing at the ocean below. “In a way.”

“What do you mean?” he demanded.

“I think there's something down there she wants you to see.”

“
A
re
you sure they're hers?” Brian asked MacDonald. He and Joe sat in the chief's office, looking at the nine diamond rings strewn across the desk. An hour earlier the jewelry had been discovered tangled in a fish netting hanging off the side of the pier.

“I emailed a photograph of the rings to Melony, and she says they look like her mother's. Several rings have engraved initials—JC. Jolene normally wore ten rings, so either the killer kept one as a souvenir, or it didn't make the netting and ended up in the ocean.”

“If he tossed the rings, that can only mean one thing,” Joe said.

“This wasn't a robbery,” Brian answered.

“Whoever killed her wanted everyone to think this was a robbery, but he…or she…did not want to risk being caught with the rings,” the chief summarized.

“I can't imagine the killer intentionally put the rings in that netting,” Joe said. “Not a particularly safe place for a thief to stash his loot. One good wave and those rings could have been washed away.”

“I agree,” MacDonald said. “By the way they were positioned in that net, looked as if someone had dropped them over the side of the pier.”

Brian eyed Jolene's rings. “So now the question, who had a motive to kill Jolene?”

“She hasn't been back in town long. Did she make an enemy since she returned, or is her killer someone harboring a grudge from when Jolene used to live in Frederickport?” Joe asked.

“We need to get a team over to Jolene's house. If this was someone she knew, maybe we'll find something in her things that'll lead us in the right direction.” The chief opened a small notepad sitting on his desk and flipped to the third page. He read it quickly and then looked up at Joe and Brian. “We also need to interview everyone who was in Pier Café last night, and see if we can find out who was on the pier fishing. According to Carla, she closed up about an hour after Jolene left. Jolene paid by credit card. So I'm pretty confident about that time frame.”

“Do we know who left the restaurant right after Jolene? Maybe whoever it was saw something. Maybe noticed Jolene meeting someone on the pier,” Joe suggested.

“We don't know who left right after she did. I'm counting on the other customers to fill in the blanks. According to Carla, the last customers to leave the restaurant last night were a young couple; he works at one of the local gas stations. This was about a half hour before she closed up. She can't remember when everyone else left, and they all paid in cash. Carla didn't ring up any of their bills until everyone was gone, so there's no way to be certain who might have left right after Jolene, but hopefully the customers we interview can give us answers, and maybe one of them saw something that will help,” the chief explained.

The desk phone began to ring. Brian and Joe quietly waited while the chief took the call. When MacDonald finished and hung up the phone, he looked at Joe and Brian and said, “Well, I know who we'll interview first. Adam Nichols.”

“Adam? Why Adam?” Joe asked.

“Results on the wine bottle are back. The blood and hair found on the bottle were Jolene's, and they found a fingerprint. One that's in our system.”

“Adam?” Joe asked.

“Yes. No doubt about it. We can connect the murder weapon to Adam Nichols,” the chief explained.

“I know Adam was pissed at Jolene for trying to claim the treasure, but kill her over it?” Joe asked.

“Not saying he did it, just that his fingerprint is on the murder weapon,” the chief said.

“According to Carla, Adam was at the diner with Bill, and he stayed after Jolene entered and Bill left,” Brian said.

“What I don't understand, if Adam did kill Jolene, is he really so stupid to drop the murder weapon by the body and just take off? I would have given Adam more credit than that. If he took the time to drop the rings in the ocean, why not get rid of the murder weapon too?” Joe asked.

“Adam's prints weren't the only ones on the bottle. Whoever they belong to, they aren't in our system. It looks as if someone wiped down the bottle's neck. Adam's print was found just below that.”

“Like he tried to wipe off his prints and didn't do such a terrific job?” Joe asked.

The chief nodded. “If it was Adam, my guess, they happened to hook up after they both left the diner. Maybe they were each taking a walk on the beach. They exchanged words, and in the heat of the moment, Adam grabbed the first thing he could find and attacked her. We all saw how angry he was at her for treasure hunting on one of his properties.”

“Technically, his grandmother's,” Brian reminded him.

MacDonald shrugged. “Same thing to Adam.”

A
dam Nichols sat alone
in the interrogation room. Yawning, he stretched his legs out under the table, leaned back in the chair, and glanced at his watch. In the next moment, Joe Morelli entered the room.

“How long is this going to take, Joe? I have a crap load of stuff to do today.”

“You don't seem surprised we called you in.” Joe tossed his notepad and pen on the table and sat down across from Adam.

Adam shrugged. “I heard about Jolene Carmichael this morning. Figured you had talked to Carla by now and would be interviewing everyone who was at Pier Café last night. But I'm sorry to tell you, I really didn't see anything when I left the restaurant. Nothing that can help you. But I did notice Jolene's car in the parking lot when I left. At the time, I really didn't think much about it. Figured she was still on the pier.”

“What was your relationship with Jolene?” Joe asked.

“You want me to be honest?”

“No, Adam. I asked you to come in so you can lie to me,” Joe snapped.

“Okay…okay…I understand this is serious. A murder and everything. You know, this is not terrific for me either. A murder on the beach can really screw with the vacation rental business. I want the killer caught as much as you do.”

“My question again, your relationship with Jolene?”

“I was going to say I thought she was a bitch. But the woman was just killed, so I guess that's cold. I really didn't have a relationship with her, but I've known her for years.”

“So she made you angry?” Joe asked.

“You mean when she broke into the house Ian's renting? Damn right. Maybe she didn't break in exactly, but practically. Of course, that didn't work out so terrific for her…or for me. Looks like Danielle scores another one.”

“But you suspected the gold might be hidden in the house. If Jolene hadn't found it, you might have, and then you could have kept it for yourself. I could see how that would piss you off.”

Adam shrugged. “Maybe I would have kept it, maybe not. I've never been terrific at keeping secrets, and the minute Grandma found out about the gold, it would have gone straight to Danielle anyway. So I suppose Jolene saved me some aggravation.” Adam paused a moment and frowned at Joe. “Hey, what's this about? You don't think I had something to do with her murder, do you?”

“We're just trying to figure out who might have had a motive to kill Jolene.”

“I thought this was a mugging? Someone killed her for her rings.”

“Where did you hear that?” Joe asked.

“Grandma told me.”

“Your grandmother? How did she know about Jolene's missing rings?”

Adam laughed. “Seriously, Joe? You know Grandma. Ask her yourself.”

“I will,” Joe mumbled.

“So can I go now?” Adam started to stand up.

“Sit down, Adam,” Joe ordered. “We're not done.”

Reluctantly, Adam sat back down in the chair and glanced at his watch. Letting out a sigh, he leaned back in the seat and looked at Joe. In the next moment, Brian entered the interrogation room, carrying a clear plastic bag—it contained an empty wine bottle. Without saying a word, Brian set the bag on the table before Adam and took a seat. He and Joe watched Adam.

Staring at the bottle trapped in the clear bag, Adam's eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”

“You recognize it?” Brian asked.

“It can't be the same one.” He looked up at Joe and Brian and frowned. “What's going on?”

“Tell us what you know about this bottle,” Brian said.

“I bought one just like it.”

“You touched it?” Brian asked.

“Of course, what kind of question is that?”

“This is what killed Jolene Carmichael,” Brian explained.

“Wow, your killer has expensive taste!”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Joe asked.

“I bought a bottle of wine just like that. Bought it in Portland; you can't get it in Frederickport. It's pricy.”

“Where is the bottle now?” Joe asked.

“I assume it's still sitting over at Gusarov Estate.”

“Gusarov Estate?” Brian asked.

“A closing gift for Chris. He's not back yet, so it's still over there. Why?”

“Can you explain why your fingerprint is on this bottle?” Brian asked.

Adam bolted up straighter in his chair. “What do you mean? That's impossible.”

“Like we said, this is the murder weapon. We found Jolene's hair and blood on the bottle,” Brian explained.

Adam cringed. “I don't even want to think about that.”

“It also had your fingerprint,” Joe reminded him.

“Then it has to be the bottle I bought. Holy crap, that means someone broke into the Gusarov Estate!”

I
nstead of returning
to Marlow House after meeting MacDonald at the pier, Danielle decided to run some errands in town. Everywhere she stopped, people were talking about Jolene, and everyone assumed she had been murdered for her jewelry, which Danielle now believed was untrue.

Danielle kept asking herself,
Who wanted Jolene dead?
When she finished her errands, she decided to make one final stop before returning home—to Marie Nichols's house. If anyone in Frederickport knew who had been harboring a lethal grudge against Jolene, it would be Marie. Marie knew all the town's sordid secrets.

“Are you playing detective?” Marie asked Danielle with a chuckle as she led her to the kitchen. When Danielle had arrived a few minutes earlier, Marie had asked her if she'd had lunch yet. When Danielle said no, Marie told her she had just mixed up a fresh batch of egg salad and insisted Danielle join her for a sandwich.

“It always makes me nervous when someone I have an issue with gets murdered,” Danielle said, only half in jest. She sat at the table and watched as Marie prepared the sandwiches. Danielle had known the elderly woman long enough to know that any offers to help her prepare the food would be met with opposition.

“You plan to get your ducks in a row in case Edward comes gunning for you?” Marie teased.

Danielle laughed. “I don't think the chief will try to pin this one on me. But I am curious. Do you have any suspects?”

Marie stood at the kitchen counter; two freshly made egg salad sandwiches waited for her to cut them in half. She paused a moment and glanced over to Danielle. “I thought this was a mugging? You don't think so?”

“I guess…umm…some new information has come up. They suspect someone Jolene knew may have killed her. But why? Any ideas?”

Marie cut the sandwiches in half and set each one on its own plate. She had already added potato chips, pickles, and a cookie to each dish. She carried the plates to the table and set one before Danielle. “There were times I wanted to wring her neck.”

“Yeah, me too.” Danielle shrugged. She watched as Marie set the second plate on the table and then poured them each a glass of lemonade before sitting down.

“I suppose that's not exactly a kind thing to say about the poor woman. She is dead.” Marie sighed.

“I didn't like her, but I certainly didn't want her dead. I assume that goes for most people who felt the same way about her.” Danielle took a bite of her sandwich.

“I'm sure a few of the people her husband's law firm cheated might be holding a grudge. With Clarence dead, maybe one of them went after her.”

“I was one of those. I mean, not that I wanted to vent my anger on her. But I obviously had an issue with Clarence.”

“True, dear. But you ended up winning at the end—financially, that is. I suspect Jolene had far more reason to kill you than the other way around.”

Danielle cringed. “I guess you're right.”

“Word around town, Jolene was having serious money problems.”

“I've heard that too. Which seemed odd, considering those rings she wore. If it was me, the first thing I'd do is sell off the jewelry.”

“Yes, but you're not pretentious like Jolene was. Jolene liked to think of herself as Frederickport royalty. Absurd notion, really. She'd been wearing those rings for so long, removing them—selling them—to Jolene that would be as shameful as begging on the corner. No, she'd be kicked out of her house before she would've pried those rings from her fingers.”

“Well, someone pried them from her fingers,” Danielle muttered before taking another bite of her sandwich.

Marie sipped her lemonade and then said, “Whoever killed her, I don't imagine it was premeditated.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Think about it. From what I heard, she was hit over the head with a bottle. The police have it. They found it by the body. It had fresh blood on it—probably Jolene's blood.”

“How did you hear that?” Danielle asked.

Marie smiled and took another sip of her lemonade.

“Keeping secrets?” Danielle prodded.

“My friend Eleanor, her daughter works at the coroner's office. She called me this morning, but you can't say anything. I don't want to get her in trouble.”

“Okay, but how does that prove it wasn't premeditated?” Danielle asked.

“If your intention is to kill someone, are you really going to rely on an empty wine bottle? It's always possible it'll break before it finishes the job. And then what do you do? Stab your victim with shards of glass?”

Danielle wrinkled her nose and set her sandwich down. “Ewww, please. I really did not need that visual.”

Marie shrugged. “Well, you did ask, dear. No, you're planning to kill someone, you bring along a gun or knife. Something to get the job done.”

“So you're saying the bottle was simply a weapon of opportunity?”

Before Marie could answer Danielle, her phone began to ring.

“Excuse me, dear,” Marie said as she stood up to answer the phone.

Danielle picked up her sandwich and started eating again, paying little attention to Marie's phone call. Yet, just moments after answering the phone, Marie cried out, “Oh no!”

Setting what was left of her sandwich back on her plate, Danielle watched Marie's obvious distress as she talked to whomever was on the phone. Finally, Marie hung up.

She looked at Danielle. “They've arrested Adam for Jolene's murder!”

“Adam? Why would they arrest Adam?”

“That was my friend Eleanor. She just talked to her daughter, who told her they found Adam's fingerprint on the wine bottle that killed Jolene!”

Danielle stood up. “What do you want to do? Do you want me to take you to the police station?”

Frantic, Marie shook her head and began pacing in front of the kitchen counter. “No, no. I can't do that. I'm not supposed to know about the arrest. And if I go down there, they'll know, and I'll get Eleanor's daughter in trouble, and if they arrested Adam, I need to have someone on the inside who can tell me what's going on!”

“Marie, I'm sure there's a logical explanation. I can't imagine Adam killed Jolene.”

“No, no. He wouldn't. I know that. But he was pretty angry with her, and they've never liked each other. And if they bring up all that stuff about Adam and Melony, well, they could pin this on him!”

“Melony? Isn't that Jolene's daughter?”

Marie nodded, still pacing.

“You need to calm down, Marie.” Danielle took Marie's elbow and guided her to the chair at the kitchen table.

“I can't deal with Adam getting arrested for murder
again
.”

“You want me to go down there? See what's going on? I could make some excuse. I wouldn't have to say anything about knowing about Adam's arrest. I think the chief will talk to me.”

“Would you, dear?”

“Of course.” Danielle leaned to Marie and gave her a hug. Gently patting the woman's shoulder, Danielle couldn't help but notice how fragile the elderly woman felt in her arms.

“
W
hat does
it prove if there's no bottle of wine at the Gusarov Estate?” Brian asked the chief.

“I was curious when Adam confessed to recognizing the wine bottle. When he started talking about how pricy it was, I decided to do a quick Google. That wine goes for over three hundred dollars a bottle,” MacDonald explained.

Joe let out a low whistle. “I never figured Adam for some wine connoisseur.”

“I don't think he is. Like he said, he bought it as a closing gift for Chris. Considering the commission Adam earned on that sale, he probably figured it was a good investment.”

“I still don't understand what we hope to prove by going over there,” Brian reiterated.

“We know Adam didn't have a wine bottle with him when he left Pier Café after Jolene. If he did kill her with it, I have to believe he found the bottle on the beach. Yet it's been my experience, the type of people who litter the beach with empty wine bottles normally don't drink the expensive stuff.”

“He could have grabbed it from a trash can when he followed her under the pier,” Brian suggested.

“True. It's always possible we had a tourist with expensive wine tastes. In that case, it doesn't look good for Adam. But if Adam can prove he really did purchase that wine—and the bottle has gone missing—then he has a reasonable explanation for his prints showing up on the murder weapon.”

A call from the front desk interrupted their discussion. Danielle Boatman wanted to see Chief MacDonald.

“Have her wait in my office. I'll be right there.” The chief hung up the phone. He looked at Joe and Brian. “This works out well; Danielle's here.”

“That's convenient. And if she verifies Adam's story?” Joe asked.

The chief headed for the door. Before opening it, he looked back at Joe and said, “Then I guess you'll be taking a run over to the Gusarov Estate.”

W
hen MacDonald reached his office
, he found Danielle waiting for him. She sat in one of the chairs facing his desk.

“Hi, Chief,” Danielle greeted him without standing up.

“What do I owe the honor?” MacDonald asked as he sat down behind his desk.

“I was just heading home. Thought I'd stop by and see if there were any new developments.”

“I was hoping maybe you'd seen Jolene again.”

“No…umm…I thought I saw Adam's car in the parking lot. Is he here?”

“Yes. We brought him in for questioning. He was at the diner last night when Jolene was there. He's in the interrogation room now.”

“So that's why he's here?”

MacDonald studied Danielle for a moment. Finally, he said, “I need to ask you something.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“According to Adam, he left a bottle of wine over at the Gusarov Estate for Chris, as a thank you gift. He said you had to let him in because he didn't have the keys anymore. Said he had given them to you. Is that true?”

“Yeah, a couple days ago, why?”

“Do you remember anything about the wine?”

“What do you mean? It was a bottle of wine. What's this about?”

“Do you know if it's still there?”

“I hope so.” Danielle laughed. “Chris hasn't gotten back yet. And I sure didn't drink it.”

“Do you remember what kind of wine it was?”

“I know it was a red wine, because I teased Adam about taking it home and keeping it in my wine chiller.”

“You don't chill red wine.”

“Exactly. That's what Adam reminded me. But sorry, I didn't recognize the brand. Why?”

“Can you describe the bottle, such as what kind of label it had? This is important.”

Danielle considered the question for a moment. “I'm pretty sure it had a house on the label, more like a chateau. Why? What is this about?”

“We're going to need you to take us over to the Gusarov Estate and let us have a look at that bottle.”

“Do you have a search warrant?”

MacDonald's expression went blank. “Are you serious?”

“Sure. I mean, I can't just let you go into Chris's new house because you want to check out his wine. Not without a search warrant. Of course, if you tell me what this is about, then maybe I can work something out.” She smiled sweetly.

“I really don't want to get into it now.”

“Then you better get a search warrant.”

“Are you blackmailing me?”

“Chief, that would be illegal, wouldn't it?”

MacDonald let out a sigh. “Fine. Adam's fingerprints were found on the wine bottle that killed Jolene. He claims the only bottle like that he touched was the one he left at the Gusarov Estate. We need to go over there to see if the bottle is still there. If it isn't, and if you can confirm he left it there, then we won't be holding him.”