Town In a Lobster Stew (2 page)

Pulling the back door closed behind him, he carefully stepped down off the porch and began to cross the yard.

The grass was moist and fragrant, wearing the deep, glowing green of midspring. He loved this time of year in Maine. Many his age fled south in their later years, but he held steadfast to this close-knit coastal village, unwilling to abandon it because of something as inconsequential as cold weather, or mist or fog, or the dampness that went right to the bones, or the fierce storms coming in off the deep, cold ocean. For he knew that after winter came the season of growth and renewal, when the foliage around Cape Willington sent out those tight, lime-colored buds, which, during one glorious week in May, burst open as shiny new leaves unfurled from twigs and branches.

He approached her home slowly, his gaze scanning the structure from end to end. He spotted nothing out of the ordinary. That eased his concern some, but he remained determined to investigate.

The three-story house, which included two floors of living space as well as a full attic, loomed dark and silent above him as he approached it. Gingerly he climbed the three wooden steps onto the back porch.

He stooped forward slightly and peered in through the thick glass of the back door, but it took him a few moments to realize something was askew. The door stood ajar, opened an inch or two. That made him uneasy, and he took a step back, steadying himself with his cane as he pondered this incongruity.

Had she left it open by mistake? Or had someone entered the house after she had gone, leaving the door ajar to make good an escape?

His heart quickened its beat as his mind worked. Something in the heavy silence spooked him, and he nearly turned and fled back to the safety of his own place. Better to call the police and let them handle the matter. They could search the home faster and more effectively than he could.

But he dismissed that idea almost at once. He would not let himself be rattled like a child. He thought of her and pushed at the door.

It hinged open with a faint, elongated squeal. He stayed on the porch for a few moments, his gaze sweeping the gloomy interior. Nothing looked wrong so far as he could see.

He stepped inside, leaving the door open behind him.

The sound of his breathing was raspy in his ears now, but it was the only sound he heard. He took a few more steps, putting out a hand to lean on the scrubbed wooden table at the center of the room. She had set the table for two, with rose-patterned porcelain plates, fine polished silverware, crystal goblets, and a cream-colored candle at the center.

His head swiveled toward the sideboard on his right, where she kept the dinnerware as well as a dozen empty ketchup bottles, lovingly displayed, a small portion of her vast collection. These were some of her most prized bottles, dating back decades, to the early years of the previous century. A warm swell of emotion flowed through him as he fondly recalled what had started her obsession with those bottles so long ago. They were scattered all over the house now, on shelves and in cupboards, arranged carefully in glass cabinets, and many more stashed away in closets and cardboard boxes.

Probing slightly ahead of him with his cane, as if he were looking for soft spots in the floor, he moved forward, through an archway and into the living room. Here the ticking of the ornate grandfather clock in the corner filled the silence in an almost intrusive manner. He was tempted to shush it, to tell it to quiet down. Instead, he pursed his lips in annoyance and looked around. The faded, overstuffed sofa and armchair were carefully brushed, fluffed, spotlessly clean, and decorated with large white doilies, which she had made herself back in the sixties, she’d told him once with not a hint of pride. Photographs in mismatched frames stood on a side table against one wall. Many of them showed her with her husband, a tall, gaunt, dour gentleman who never smiled in the photos and always wore a coat and tie. In the photos, he had noticed years ago, husband and wife stood side by side but rarely held hands or touched.

He shook his head sadly, thinking of what might have been.

There were photos of her as a young woman as well, including one taken up north with the Lodge in the background. But there were no photos of him in her collection. He had checked, many times.

He crossed the room and passed under another archway into the hall, which stretched from the front entry to the kitchen at the back. A formal dining room with a large mahogany table and high-backed chairs was directly in front of him. To his right was the staircase to the second floor, with its polished dark-wood banister.

Sighing, he took a few steps along the hallway, toward the back of the house. The place was empty. There was no one here. He had been mistaken.

He was about to call out, just to make sure, when he heard a noise from above his head. A creak, as if someone had stepped on a loose floorboard.

He froze. His head tilted back slowly as his gaze followed the rise of the stairs. Was someone up there? He swallowed hard. He half expected an attacker to come racing down the stairs toward him. But the landing at the top was shrouded in darkness. He saw no one there.

He heard the footsteps then, as abrupt as gunshots in the stillness. Someone was crossing over his head, walking from the back of the house to the front.
To the spare bedroom
, he thought. He’d been in there a few times. There was another display cabinet in that room for her ketchup bottles, he recalled. And a twin poster bed with a white coverlet. An antique floor lamp with stylized crystal droplets hanging from the edges of its shade. Her trusty old Singer sewing machine, vintage 1960s. And, of course, the magnificent wall-length shelving unit, with its secret document drawer.

He felt a chill go through him.
Could that be what the intruder is looking for? The ledger?

Determined to find out what was going on, he returned to the foot of the stairs, clamped his hand tightly on the banister, and slowly started up, half pulling himself as he went, coaxing his tired legs to take the steps one at a time.

He’d climbed only a half dozen steps when he started breathing heavily. He stopped midway to catch his breath, and paused again a few steps from the top.

As he climbed, he could hear someone opening a drawer, closing it, opening another, moving things around.
Looking for something
, he thought. His anger grew, propelling him up the last few steps to the top. He stood on the landing, huffing, and clenched his cane tighter in his right hand. At least he had a weapon, and he intended to use it.

He stepped from the landing into the hallway. It was directly above the one below, connecting the bedrooms at front and back. Still breathing heavily, he first looked right, toward the back of the house, then left, toward the front bedroom.

The room was shadowed with the oncoming of night. He squinted into the swirl of grays and blacks, trying to make out anything that looked familiar. He could still hear faint sounds as someone rummaged around in there. He moved his foot a step forward and put his weight on it. Beneath his shoe, a floorboard creaked loudly, amplified by the long narrow hallway.

He looked down, horrified, and when he looked up again a figure stood silhouetted in the doorway at the end of the hall. The figure remained there for a moment, as if appraising him, and then ducked back into the room.

His heart jumped in his chest. “Hey, who are you?” he called, starting toward the room. “What are you doing in there?”

He thumped at the floor with his cane. His anger was becoming physical. He stopped a few steps from the bedroom door, which was half-open. Cautiously he craned his neck forward, trying to peer inside, but he saw nothing. He lifted his cane, placed its tip against the door, and pushed.

As the door swung open the shadowy figure came swiftly toward him. He yelped in terror and fell back, struggling to stay on his feet as the figure came closer, adding substance, becoming something more human, more like . . .
him
.

He stared in disbelief. It was as if he were looking into a mirror. He let out a gasp of surprise. The intruder wore a light gray sweater, just as he did, over a white shirt and baggy brown trousers, just like his. Black shoes. Gray hair.

A wig, he realized with a start. His eyes studied it in fascination. It was well made and looked almost authentic. Even the part was in the right place. His mouth fell open.
Who would do such a thing?

“What . . . what’s going on here?” he sputtered. “Who are you?”

“Who do I look like? I’m
you
!” the intruder said in a voice he vaguely recognized.

That brought him back to reality. He focused his gaze. It took a few moments but finally his eyes widened in recognition. “Hey, wait a minute. I
know
you,” he said emphatically. The anger returned, flashing through him. He poked at the air with his finger. “I know who you are! You don’t belong here. This isn’t your home. You need to get out of here right now!”

In indignation he lifted his cane, brandishing it at the intruder like a sword. “I’m going to call the police! I’m going to call them right now!” He turned abruptly and started toward the stairs. But a hand on his shoulder pulled him back.

“Wait a minute, old man. You’re not going anywhere.”

He jerked his shoulder forward, out of the intruder’s grasp. “Let go! I’m calling the police.”

The hand returned to his shoulder, and having had enough of this nonsense, he turned and lashed out with his cane, swinging it toward the intruder. But there was no power in the attack. The intruder raised an arm and batted away the cane with a grunt, knocking it out of his hand. It clattered to the floor.

The face under the wig hardened. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I’ll stop you if I have to. This is her house. You have no right to be here.” He swung out with his fists.

But the intruder backed away, out of his reach.

Seeing his chance, he turned and scurried toward the stairs, but the intruder followed, grabbing at his sweater and pulling him off balance. He tumbled toward the banister, his legs going out from underneath him. He grabbed for a handhold, but his aim went high. Unable to restrain or protect himself, he fell forward, slamming his head with a dull
thunk!
into the hard wood banister.

He crumbled, a thousand pinpricks of light shooting into his eyes. His ears were ringing, and his elbows and knees hurt. The side of his head felt numb.

For a few moments he lay there, unmoving, groaning. Hands reached out toward him, taking him by the arms, but he swatted at them furiously, driving them away. Gasping, he reached up for the banister, finally grabbed hold, and tried to pull himself to his feet. He needed to call the police. He needed to get help. He needed to get rid of this intruder and get back home where he was safe.

Safe. In his own home. That’s where he needed to be. He needed to get back home!

He got his legs under him and started for the stairs, but the intruder was on him again, and he fell forward awkwardly, over the edge of the top step.

He let out no sound as he fell. The stairs rushed up to meet him too quickly.

I’ve failed.
The desperate words flashed in his frantic mind.

He landed once hard and bounced, landed hard a second time, bones twisting and snapping inside, shattering his life. His body broken, he tumbled and slid to the bottom, where he lay in an unmoving heap.

A final thought flicked through his brain.
My lovely Wilma Mae . . .

Then, only darkness.