I glanced at Madison, who said, “I guess that’s up to the police to figure out.”
“How did you happen to choose Hailey as a teaching assistant?” I asked, taking the opportunity to learn more about the young woman’s background. “I understand she grew up around here somewhere.”
“She did.” Lukas cupped an elbow with a hand, resting the other on his chin. “Hailey and Theo were both exchange students in Belgium last semester. When Hailey applied for the position, her knowledge of Maine’s ecology was a strong point in her favor.” Regret and sorrow shone in his eyes. “What a tragedy. She had a bright future ahead of her.”
Before I could probe further, Anton huffed his way back up the cliff. Although he was in great shape, his heavy uniform, duty belt, and boots made hiking difficult.
After he caught his breath, he said, “We need to do a technical recovery. Which means ropes and so forth.”
“I can help,” Lukas said. “I’ve been on rescue teams in the Alps.” He gestured. “Ropes and pulleys and all that.”
Anton shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, Dr. de Wilde.” His firm tone discouraged any argument. “But as Miss Piper’s supervisor, I’m going to need a statement from you ASAP.” He turned to Madison and me. “And both of you as well. A team is meeting me at Shorehaven, so let’s talk there.”
* * *
Eleanor was setting a table on the pool terrace when we pulled up, Anton’s unmarked vehicle in the lead, followed by Madison’s Mini and me in Beverly. Today Eleanor wore a pair of white clamdiggers topped with a striped blue-and-white seersucker blouse—classic coastal wear. Squinting at us, she paused, clutching a handful of spoons, and watched as we parked beside Craig’s sedan, got out and slammed the car doors in unison, and strolled through the gate. Lukas had ridden with Anton, in the cruiser. Ian was still with the recovery team at the cliffs.
When Eleanor’s gaze focused on Anton, she dropped the spoons with a clatter. “I’ve been paying my lodging tax,” she said. Her hands fluttered. “If you give me a minute, I’ll get my checkbook and prove it.”
He settled his hat more firmly on his head. “I’m not here about that, ma’am.” He hesitated, then said in a gentle voice, “I understand Hailey Piper was staying with you?”
One fluttering hand went to Eleanor’s mouth. “Hailey? Yes, she—” Then her eyes widened. “What do you mean, was?” Shock washed over her face.
“I’m sorry, Miss Brady,” Anton said, pulling out a chair and helping her to sit. “But Miss Piper has met with an accident.”
“An accident?” Eleanor began to wring her hands. “But she was fine a few hours ago.… I saw her leave the house.”
“What time was that?” Anton’s tone sharpened. He pulled out a tablet, ready to take notes, and sat at the table. At his gesture, the three of us also took seats.
“Sometime before dawn. Around four thirty, maybe?” She grimaced. “I’m up several times a night. I happened to look outside and I saw her going toward the shore path.” She waved in the general direction of the shore. “I installed motion detector lighting in the gardens for the safety of my guests.”
That impressed Anton, I could tell. “Did you see anyone else out there?” His face drooped in disappointment when she shook her head.
“No, I got back into bed and tried to sleep.” Eleanor leaned forward, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Please tell me, what happened?”
Anton regarded her with compassion. “She fell,” he said, his tone gentle again, “while climbing at the state park.”
“Oh no,” Eleanor cried. “That sweet girl.” She burst into tears. “She was an orphan, you know. All alone in the world.”
My heart ached at seeing Eleanor’s distress. And poor Hailey. I pushed back in my chair. “I’ll go make some tea.” Wasn’t tea with sugar good for shock?
Madison decided to go with me while Anton continued to question Eleanor and Lukas about Hailey’s movements. Inside the door to the sitting room, Madison tugged at my arm to stop me, putting a finger to her lips. She tilted her chin toward the open pocket doors to our left.
Eleanor’s nephew Craig, Dr. Ruben Janssen, and Patrick Chance, seaweed farmer with man bun, were seated around a table, cups of coffee in hand and papers scattered in front of them. “If I can free up some cash, I’ll definitely be interested,” Craig said. He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Ruben. “But I do have a question.”
While the trio was preoccupied, we quickly and quietly slipped past the open doors. Once out in the entrance hall, I released my held breath. “Whew. I really didn’t want to talk to Craig.”
“He is an ass, isn’t he?” Madison said, her voice a whisper. “Which way to the kitchen?”
“Probably off the dining room.” After a couple of false starts, we found the dining room at the end of the hall, adjacent to the formal living room. The pocket doors at that end were closed, so the men didn’t see us slipping through the swinging door into the kitchen.
The old-fashioned kitchen was cavernous, painted pale green, and had tall windows overlooking an enclosed garden. The smell of something on the edge of burning leaked from the massive six-burner range. I grabbed a potholder and opened the oven door, then pulled out what looked like a breakfast casserole and set it on the stovetop. The cheesy eggs were studded with tomatoes, mushrooms, and green peppers.
“Yum, that looks good,” Madison said, her belly giving an audible rumble. “We never got to have breakfast.” We had planned to eat after finishing the climb, a cold meal of yogurt parfaits and muffins. “Maybe Eleanor will take pity on us.”
“Hopefully.” I eyed a pan of gently sizzling sausages with longing as I picked up a huge kettle. I carried it to the sink and filled it while Madison turned off the heat under the sausages and moved them to a platter, then found foil and covered the food to keep it warm.
After the water boiled, I made a pot of tea and Madison put mugs, milk, and sugar on a tray. “We make a good team,” I said, picking up the tray.
“We sure do,” she agreed, pushing open the kitchen door for me.
As we entered the hallway, Theo came thumping down the stairs. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Several police cruisers just pulled up.”
My instinct was to blurt the bad news but I choked back the words. Let Anton handle it. “I’m not sure,” I hedged. But why were more cruisers arriving? I glanced at Madison, who appeared equally mystified. “We’re taking tea out to Eleanor. She’s on the terrace.”
He decided to tag along, so I took advantage of the opportunity to ask him a question. “I saw you taking pictures up on the cliffs earlier,” I said. “Did you get one of me, rock climbing?” Had he seen Hailey up there, maybe with someone? I was dying to know but didn’t dare ask directly.
“Oh yeah, maybe,” he said, glancing at my periwinkle shorts. “Your outfit looks familiar. I’ll check and see if I got a good one.”
Before this happened, I might have liked a memento of my one and only climbing adventure. Now I never wanted to think of it again.
Out on the terrace, Anton was talking to the new arrivals, a flock of men and women in blue. My heart thumped and my last hope faded when I noticed Detective Dennis Varney from the Maine State Police among them. If the state police were involved, that meant Hailey’s death was considered suspicious. As in murder.
Spooked at this further confirmation of our worst fears, my hands shook when I set the tray on the table, making the dishes rattle. Eleanor glanced up at me with frightened eyes. Her fingers on my wrist felt like ice. “Hailey didn’t just fall, did she, Iris?” she whispered.
Not trusting myself to speak, I shook my head. Lukas, sitting beside Eleanor, groaned softly and muttered under his breath. He pulled out his phone and began to tap at the screen. Notifying people about the situation, maybe? I didn’t envy his situation. Beyond the tragedy of losing a young student, what would happen to his project now?
Theo, avidly watching the activity, p
ulled out a chair across from the professor, next to Madison. “What do you mean, Hailey fell? Is she okay?” His glance around the table was frantic as he looked to us for answers.
“No, she isn’t,” I said, since the truth was out now. “And I’m so sorry to tell you that.” To forestall the questions brimming on his lips, I added, “The police will fill you in.” While cross-examining you thoroughly, I hope. But I didn’t say that part. Now that it was all but certain someone had sent Hailey to her death, I knew I couldn’t trust Theo. After all, I’d seen him myself just moments before spotting Hailey’s body.
Theo’s face went pale. “Oh no. How awful. Poor Hailey.” He slumped down in his seat, a hand to his face.
The group of officers dispersed and headed into the house, except for Anton and Detective Varney. The team was going to search for evidence under a search warrant, I guessed. Moving on autopilot, I poured Eleanor a mug of tea and added milk and sugar, whether she wanted them or not. As I set the mug in front of her, Anton and Detective Varney started walking toward us.
“Hold on!” a man shouted. One arm waving, Craig Brady crossed the terrace as fast as his short legs could carry him. Ruben watched from the doorway, Patrick hovering behind him like a shadow.
Anton and Detective Varney waited politely for Craig to reach them, although I could sense Anton’s impatience in his stance. But his tone was perfectly polite when he asked, “How can we help you?”
Craig jabbed his finger at the house. “By telling me what’s going on in my house.”
Eleanor rose to her feet. “You mean, my house, don’t you? They are here with a search warrant, and needless to say, I am cooperating fully.”
“A search warrant for what?” Craig’s bulldog face turned a nasty dark red. I was afraid he was going to have a heart attack right on the spot.
An officer opened a French door, one down from where Patrick and Ruben were standing. “Chief. I’ve got something,” he called.
“Excuse us,” Anton said. He and Detective Varney shouldered the obstructive Craig aside and hastened to join the officer.
They conferred inside the sitting room for a moment, and then Anton strode back across the terrace. We all watched him approach, Madison and I with interest, the others with frank trepidation. Eleanor took my hand again.
“Dr. Lukas de Wilde.” Anton dipped his head in a brusque nod. “Will you please join us?” Despite the courteous words, it wasn’t a request.
CHAPTER 7
Madison and I gawked at each other with open mouths, shocked by this turn of events. Did they really suspect Lukas of killing Hailey? I shifted in my seat in discomfort, remembering his disagreement with the young woman at the Grille. Had the animosity between them gone deeper than I knew?
Lukas stared at Anton for a long moment, his expression stoic. Then he pushed his chair back and stood. “Whatever I can do to help, Chief.” He didn’t look back as he followed Anton into the house.
Once the men disappeared inside, Theo let out a bark of disbelieving laughter. “Wow, that was intense.” He ran both hands through his curls, making them stand on end. “Do they seriously think Dr. de Wilde had something to do with Hailey falling?”
A heavy silence fell over the terrace. Theo obviously hadn’t connected all the dots about the fall being no accident and I wasn’t going to enlighten him. Neither was anyone else, apparently.
After a moment, Patrick and Ruben sauntered over to Craig, who had plopped down at the table with us. “I’m going to head out,” Patrick said to Craig. “Catch up later?” He patted Ruben on the shoulder. “Sorry to hear about your student. See you at the lab.” To us, he said, “The lab is where we grow the baby seaweed before planting it out in the bay.”
“Wonders never cease,” Eleanor said faintly. “We used to try to get rid of seaweed, not encourage its growth.”
“I hear you, Eleanor,” Patrick said. “This morning I noticed you’ve got a great crop on the rocks down by your dock.”
“You used a boat to get here?” I thought of the wooden lobster boat I’d seen chugging past the cliffs, heading this way.
“Of course,” Patrick said with a shrug. “It’s how I get around most days.”
“I think we saw you when we were climbing,” I said. “Is your boat pale green?” At his nod, my pulse gave a leap. He might have witnessed something important from the water. I made a mental note to tell Anton we had seen him near the cliffs.
Speaking of which, I glanced discreetly at my phone. When was Anton going to have time to take my statement? The shop was supposed to open in an hour. If I wasn’t going to make it, I needed to give Grammie a heads-up.
“Oh my.” Eleanor jumped up with a gasp. “I forgot all about breakfast. It must be burned to a crisp.”
Madison gave her a reassuring smile. “Iris and I took care of it. In fact, we’d be happy to bring the food out here, if you’d like.”
“What a great idea.” I stood, happy for an excuse to go inside and maybe find out what was going on. “You just sit back and relax.”
Eleanor sank back into her chair. “You really don’t mind? There’s plenty. Maybe those nice police officers would like something.” As we headed off, she called, “Coffee is ready to go. Just flick the switch.”
Lukas was being questioned in the formal living room, and when Anton saw us enter the house, he came out, closing the pocket doors behind him. “What are you two doing?”
“Taking care of breakfast at Eleanor’s request.” Madison’s tone was bright. “What are you doing?”
Anton made an odd sound, somewhere between amusement and annoyance. “I need to speak to both of you before you leave.”
“How long will it be?” I asked. “If I’m going to be late, I need to let Grammie know.”
“Another half hour, I’m guessing.” Anton glanced over his shoulder. “After we’re done talking to the professor.”
I saw my opportunity. “You should talk to Patrick Chance. He went by the cliffs in his boat this morning. And I saw Theo Nesbitt on the shore path, really close to where Hailey fell. He took a picture of me rock climbing. Maybe he took one of the killer too.” Maybe he was the killer, I added to myself.
The chief shook his head, a bemused expression on his face. “Iris,” he started. Then he cleared his throat. “Thank you for that information. I’ll take it under advisement.”
“Oooh,” Madison hooted. “I love it when you get all official.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest as if swooning.
Anton’s complexion now rivaled that of Craig’s earlier. “I’ll talk to you later,” he finally said, before whipping the pocket doors open and stepping inside. They shut with a decisive click behind him.
“You’re so good for him,” I whispered to Madison as we scurried toward the kitchen. “He’ll never get too pompous while you’re around.” We’d gone to school with Anton and while he was a very nice guy, he tended to take himself too seriously at times. We thought of it as our duty to prevent that.
Lukas strode into the kitchen while we were loading two trays. “Is that coffee I smell?” He beelined to the coffee maker and poured a cup. “Oh my, what a morning.”
“So they didn’t arrest you?” I blurted. “I was worried when they came to get you.” I added a plate of buttered toast to my tray, which held the casserole and the sausages. Madison had dishes, silverware, and napkins.
His hand lurched and coffee splashed onto the floor. “What? No.” He grimaced as he reached for a paper towel. “But they took my jacket into evidence.”
We exchanged looks of confusion. Lukas was still wearing his windbreaker. “What do you mean?” I asked.
He pulled at the jacket. “This isn’t my coat. I thought it was this morning when I grabbed it from the pegs near the door.” Still talking, he bent to wipe the floor. “But they found mine in my room, complete with ink stain and a ripped pocket. Which meant something to the police, the rip that is, not the stain.”
I knew
exactly what it meant. The piece of cloth in Hailey’s hand must have come from Lukas’s jacket. “Was yours identical to the one you’re wearing?”
Taking in what we were doing, Lukas threw away the paper towel then began to load mugs on a tray. “Everyone involved in Farming the Sea has the same jackets. The same size, even, except for Hailey and Jamaica’s.”
So had someone taken his jacket by accident or on purpose? Putting the ripped one in his room certainly seemed like a malicious act to me.
“I think someone is trying to frame you,” Madison said, expressing my thoughts aloud.
His features creased in confusion. “Do you really think so? Maybe someone just found my jacket and put it back in my room.”
Madison patted him on the shoulder. “You’re so sweet, Lukas. Stick with us and we won’t let you get railroaded.” She pointed to the tray of mugs. “Do you mind carrying that out for us?”
A few minutes later, while we were eating breakfast on the terrace, I remembered the jewelry tucked in Claudia de Witte’s clothing hems. I opened my mouth to mention it before remembering that Craig was sitting right there at the table. I certainly didn’t want him getting wind of the jewels. Then I had an idea. “Eleanor, are you free for dinner tonight? Grammie would love to catch up.” I turned to Madison. “Let’s make it a girls’ night.” Meaning we’d invite Sophie and Bella, too.
“I’m in,” Madison said.
Eleanor’s eyes lit up. “I would love to have a girls’ night. Would you be able to come get me? I don’t drive at night anymore.”
I had no idea she was still driving, since I hadn’t seen a car. Maybe it was parked in the small barn I’d spotted near the rear of the property. “We’d be happy to. How does six sound?”
Naturally Craig overheard the conversation. “I think it’s about time for you to give up your license, Aunt Eleanor. I’d be happy to sell the Caddy for you.” He grinned. “Or drive it. That sweet baby blue 1969 DeVille convertible.”
Eleanor gripped her fork as if she wanted to stab him with it. “I am not giving up my license, Craig. Or Marilyn, either. How will I run my business without a car?”
Thread and Dead--The Apron Shop Series Page 6
