The Inn at Holiday Bay: Haunting in the Hallway

by Kathi Daley

  “Did Lonnie give you any sort of a timeline for having the apartment in the basement ready?”

  “He needed to talk with the plumber and the electrician, but the ceiling and floor are already in, so he thinks he can get the place ready in about a month, maybe less if he can hire a few extra laborers. That should give Jeremy and Annabelle time to get their stuff ready to move. It’d be nice to have the extra help before the holidays.”

  “I spoke to Tanner, and he said if the apartment isn’t ready when Jeremy is ready to start work, he could let him use one of the cottages he sometimes uses for his out-of-town trainers. They’re empty until the next training boot camp, which isn’t until January.”

  I couldn’t help but feel warm to my core. “It was nice of him to offer. We really do have the best friends and neighbors.”

  “That we do. It means so much that everyone is supportive and willing to jump in to do whatever needs to get done.”

  “Do you need anything from town while I’m there?”

  “No, I think I’m good. If I think of something, I’ll text you. Although…”

  “Although?”

  “Velma mentioned they had pomegranates at the farmers market. I have a wonderful salad recipe that uses pomegranate seeds and pistachio nuts. I have the greens and ingredients for the dressing, so if you are in the area, you might want to pick up a half dozen large pomegranates and a bag of pistachio nuts.”

  “I can do that. The salad sounds delicious, but isn’t Jeremy cooking? Maybe you can serve the salad on Sunday.”

  “The pomegranates and pistachio nuts will keep, and I always have fresh greens on hand, so I can even make it next week if the weekend doesn’t work out.”

  The farmers market in Holiday Bay was one of my favorite places. It was open from April through November and carried a variety of fruits and vegetables, nuts and sauces, jams and jellies, homemade baked goods, as well as a good selection of fresh-cut flowers. I stopped there first and then headed toward the office supply store, where I needed to buy ink for my printer as well as a fresh supply of pens and notepads for the rambling thoughts I tried to capture throughout the day.

  “Abby?”

  I smiled and turned to greet a woman I’d met just once at the local merchants meeting. “I’m sorry; I’ve forgotten your name.”

  “Ida. Ida Robertson.”

  “That’s right. You own the little sewing supply store in town. It’s nice to see you again.”

  “And it is nice to run into you as well. I hear the inn has opened.”

  I nodded. “We did a soft opening in July, but we are fully operational now. We’ve even started our weekend events for the holiday season. If you have any free time, you should come out. Tomorrow we have wine and music on the lawn. If you wouldn’t mind passing out flyers in your shop, we would appreciate it.”

  “That would have been a pleasure, but I’m afraid I closed my sewing supply store since I last saw you in the summer. I work here now, and unfortunately, I work every weekend.”

  My smile faded just a bit. “I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t realize the store had closed. It seemed when we last spoke, you even had plans for expansion.”

  “When I met you, I had been planning an expansion. Then, in August, I went to the bank to see about a loan. I met with the young Mr. Hamilton, who took one look at my application and told me that the block of storefronts where my shop was located had been sold and was due to be torn down. I reminded him that not only did I have a long-term lease for my shop, but had an option to take over the one next door as well. He didn’t seem to care about that. He just said I had been late on a few rent payments in the past, and even though I’d gotten caught up and was doing well at the moment, that gave him the right to cancel my lease whenever he wanted. He told me that he had a buyer for the entire block and was terminating all the leases.”

  “The Bank of Holiday Bay owned all the shops on that block?”

  She nodded. “All but one. Originally, the six storefronts were all owned by different people. The shop I was leasing was actually owned by an investor operating out of Baltimore. I had a long-term lease with him, but after young Mr. Hamilton took over the bank from his father, he bought the storefront I was leasing, as well as the one next door, which I’d been planning to lease to use for my expansion. My lease had already been transferred to the bank. When Mr. Hamilton had those two storefronts, he turned his sights to other shops whose owners were in debt to the bank. Three of the shops on that block fell into that category, and all three of the shop owners had missed at least one payment at some time in the past, which provided him the option of calling in the loans in full with only thirty-days’ notice. All three properties ended up being foreclosed upon, giving the bank control of five of the six shops on the block. The only shop not currently owned by the bank is Sam Trotter’s place.”

  “Sam Trotter owns the butcher shop?”

  “That’s right. The shop has been in Sam’s family for three generations, and he owns the property outright. Hamilton was trying to pressure him into selling so that he would control the entire block, but Sam refused. According to him, Hamilton had a buyer for the block who was willing to pay top dollar, but the buyer wanted the entire block, or the deal was off. I’d heard from some of the others that Sam was offered a ridiculous amount of money for his property, but he’d dug in his heels and refused to budge. It didn’t seem that Hamilton had any leverage over Sam to get him to sell because the bank didn’t hold a loan, but then, seemingly out of the blue, the bank started foreclosure procedures on the home of one of Sam’s children. Sam’s son swore he had never been a single day late with any mortgage payments, but Hamilton claimed to have proof otherwise. He basically told Sam that unless he wanted to work out a deal for both the son’s house and the butcher shop, his son and his family would be put out on the street.”

  “Had the son contacted an attorney?”

  “He had, but Hamilton had paperwork seeming to prove late payments. Unfortunately, Sam’s son made several of his payments in cash, so he didn’t have canceled checks to use to back up his claim. My personal opinion is that if the case went to court, Sam’s son would probably win, but neither Sam nor his son could afford the attorney fees. Sam makes a decent living, but he certainly isn’t flush with cash.”

  “Couldn’t the son refinance the house?” I asked.

  “He tried, but with the house already in foreclosure, he wasn’t able to get a loan. Of course, Sam was about as angry about the whole thing as anyone I’ve ever seen. He is a gruff man to begin with, but throw in the fact that Wesley threatened both his son’s house and indicated his determination to close down his only source of income, and you are left with a man who seemed to be willing to do anything to get the leech who seemed to have attached itself to him off his back. When I heard that Wesley had been murdered, I just assumed Sam did it.”

  Could Sam have killed Wesley in a fit of rage? He certainly seemed to have a motive to do so.

  I left the office supply store and headed toward Colt’s office. I hadn’t seen him since Tuesday and had only chatted with him on the phone briefly. I’d intended to stop by to say hello anyway, but now, while I was at it, I’d ask him what he knew about Sam Trotter. Colt had said he’d already interviewed and cleared almost everyone he considered to have a motive to kill Wesley based on their business relationship, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask a few questions to catch up a bit.

  “Is Colt in?” I asked his receptionist, Peach.

  “In his office. He was on the phone, but the light just went off, so I’m guessing he’s free.”

  It seemed to me she should buzz him to ask first, but she hadn’t taken the initiative to do so, and I really wanted to speak to him, so I headed down the hallway. When I arrived at the door, I knocked even though it was open. Colt turned and smiled.

  “Hey there, stranger. I was just about to call you.”

  “You were?” I asked.

  “I wanted to l
et you know that I’ll be out of town for a few days. My uncle is visiting my parents, and they want me to come for the weekend. I managed to arrange coverage, so I decided to go. I leave this evening and won’t be back until late on Sunday.”

  “It’s great you are able to visit with your family, but that means you’ll miss the event at the inn tomorrow.”

  “I know, and I feel bad about that, but my mom doesn’t ask a lot of me, and I haven’t seen my uncle in years.”

  “It sounds like a good opportunity for you, and we are going to have a lot of other events that you’ll be able to attend. Say hi to the kids for me,” I said, referring to Colt’s niece and nephew, who’d been living with their grandparents since the death of their parents. “It was good getting to know them this summer. They’re great kids.”

  “They are great kids. They’ve had a lot to deal, but they seem to be dealing with the death of their parents as well as can be expected.” Colt handed me a file folder. “This is the information I dug up on Jeremy. I told you most of what is here on the phone, but I thought you’d want to have it in writing.”

  “I do. Thank you.”

  “So, does it look like you are going to offer him the job?”

  “I’ve already spoken to him, and he seems to be thrilled with both the job and the accommodations we are offering him and Annabelle. If he can cook like he says, I think he will be perfect.”

  “Are you sure that three employees for six guest rooms isn’t too much?”

  “Not really. Georgia spends a lot of time planning events and taking care of the marketing, ordering, and bookkeeping. She has such good ideas that I don’t want to cut into that time by asking her to make beds every day, which is where Nikki comes in, or shovel walkways when it snows, which is where Jeremy comes in. The events at the inn have been so well received by the community that we’ve begun to look at them as a second revenue source in addition to the rooms. Nikki only works part-time, and Georgia takes part of her salary in the form of room and board. I made a similar offer to Jeremy, and he was pleased to have it. He was much less concerned about the salary because his sister sends him money every month to support her daughter, so I think I can afford to pay them all. If that turns out not to be the case, I can make adjustments in the future.”

  Colt leaned back in his chair. “I hope everything works out. I spoke to Jeremy at length on Tuesday, and he seems like a nice guy who is just looking for a way to make things easier for his niece, who is having a hard time since her mom left.”

  “I still don’t fully understand that, but I guess there are all sorts of people, and not everyone puts being a mom first. I was a little worried about Annabelle at first, but she seems to be excited about moving to Holiday Bay, and you know if she and Jeremy do end up moving into the basement, Georgia will end up being a second mom to her. Georgia likes to ‘mom’ everyone. For someone who never had children of her own, she certainly has a strong maternal instinct.”

  “It does seem like she likes to take care of everyone in her charge. Even Gaylord seems to consider her to be the granddaughter he never had.”

  “I honestly don’t know what I would do without her.” I paused while Colt answered a quick phone call having to do with a court date. “So, how is the Hamilton case coming along?” I asked after he’d hung up and returned his attention to me.

  Colt blew out a breath. “I’ve had what I thought were some really strong leads, but none of them have panned out. I’m still waiting to hear who the second body in the grave belonged to. We’ve exhausted missing persons in Maine, so we are widening our net to include other New England states. Maybe something will turn up there. At this point, I don’t even know if the two deaths are related, although I don’t see how they couldn’t be. Two different killers who had the same idea for a burial site would be absurd.”

  “Yeah. And if the first guy wasn’t local, that would eliminate suspects whose motive might have been Wesley’s business practices.”

  “There are a lot of those.”

  “I spoke to someone I met a while back at a business owners meeting just now, and she told me that Wesley had kicked out the tenants of a whole block to sell the land.”

  “Yes, I’ve spoken to those tenants, and none of them were happy. Not that I blame them. I think they might have grounds for a lawsuit against Wesley and the bank.”

  “I understand that one of the businesses on the block is a butcher shop that had been a family business for generations.”

  Colt bobbed his head. “Trotter’s Meats. I buy my steaks there all the time. I’m hoping now that Wesley is no longer in the picture, Sam can work out his son’s mortgage without having to sell the shop.”

  “Is Sam one of your suspects?”

  “He had a motive, that’s for sure, but he provided an alibi for the day Wesley disappeared that I am still waiting to confirm.”

  “Do you have any strong suspects at this point?” I asked.

  “The current suspect list consists of five people. I still have not been able to definitively eliminate Alton West because he can’t provide an alibi. I don’t necessarily think he did it, but for now, he has to stay on the list. I found out that the assets Wesley inherited from his father, including the stock in the bank and the estate up on the hill where he lived with his fiancée and Patrice, have all gone to his cousin, Oswald, the eldest son of his father’s younger brother. Wesley’s other assets—cash, a vacation home in Florida, and personal possessions including an art collection—went to his mother.”

  “So Patrice’s nephew now owns the house she lives in?”

  “That’s the way it looks. I spoke to the nephew, who informed me that he is working on a plan to sell the house and land to Patrice, who will buy it with the cash she inherited from her son.”

  “And Kendall?”

  “I guess whether she stays in the house will be up to Patrice.”

  Talk about a complicated mess.

  “Okay, so you have Sam Trotter, Alton West, and Oswald Hamilton on your list. Who are the other two?”

  “Preston Montgomery and Ashton Fitzgerald.”

  “Ashton was Wesley’s best friend until the two had a falling out, right? And he moved to Boston,” I said.

  “That’s right.”

  “And Montgomery?”

  “Wesley’s college roommate. Or at least he was his roommate until they pledged rival fraternities. It seems Wesley and Preston remained friends despite the rivalry, but I thought I’d dig a little deeper to see what I came up when the bank customer angle wasn’t getting me anywhere.”

  “So that’s it? You just have these men on your list right now?”

  “There is a third dark horse that might end up in the race. Wesley was engaged once before he proposed to Kendall. Her name is Alisha Riverton, and she was Wesley’s high school girlfriend. I don’t know that she cares about Wesley one way or another these days, but I plan to look her up.”

  “Have you eliminated Kendall as a suspect?”

  “Eliminated, no. When I spoke to her, however, I didn’t pick up on any indicators that she was the killer.”

  Chapter 9

  Jeremy chose to serve a tender burgundy beef over seasoned mashed potatoes for his audition dinner. Accompanying the hearty meal were grilled autumn vegetables, a colorful salad that coincidentally featured pomegranate seeds and toasty nuts, much like the salad Georgia had asked me to purchase ingredients to make, and crusty, homemade rosemary bread. Based on the empty plates by the end of the meal, it seemed as if everyone enjoyed Jeremy’s choice on what had turned out to be a chilly and overcast fall evening. For dessert, Jeremy had prepared a praline pumpkin torte with fresh whipped cream that was to die for. Afterward, not only was everyone’s appetite satiated, but the group who had gathered was chatting and sharing news of their day, much like a family would.

  “Are you in town for business or pleasure?” I asked David and Barbara Danson, the couple who had checked into unit four just before dinn
er.

  “We’re in town to visit family. David’s youngest granddaughter plays the piano and has a recital tomorrow evening,” Barbara informed me.

  “It’s so nice that you are able to attend,” I said.

  “Hannah is just eight,” David added. “She has been playing the piano since before she could walk. My son, Adam, began playing at a young age as well, but he seemed to lose interest once he hit his teens.”

  “That’s wonderful. I’ll be busy with the event on the lawn tomorrow, but it would be wonderful to hear her play someday. Maybe I can make it to a future concert. I assume that the family lives in town?”

  David nodded. “Adam was born in Holiday Bay. He married his high school sweetheart and has made a good life for himself. After his mother died, I needed a change of scenery, so I moved to Connecticut, where I met and married Barbara.” David smiled at the woman who was, I now realized, his second wife. “We visit as often as we are able.”

  “I know a woman named Faith Danson,” Georgia said.

  “Faith is Adam’s wife and Hannah’s mother,” David confirmed.

  “Hannah must be the adorable little girl with long dark ringlets who hangs out in her mother’s bakery most afternoons,” Georgia said.

  David smiled. “Yes. That is my Hannah. She looks just like her grandmother, for whom she was named. Her brothers are much older than she is and they have all their own activities, so Hannah hangs out with her mom in the bakery after school until Adam picks her up when he gets off work.”

  “That’s one of the things I love the most about small towns,” Dixie said. “Everyone seems to know everyone else, making the world seem smaller and more intimate.”

  “Faith is a wizard when it comes to baked goods,” Georgia said. “Her pies are some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Even better than mine. I’ve been trying to get her to share her secret for making pie crust as light and flaky as hers, but so far she isn’t sharing.”

  “Faith’s grandmother was a French-trained baker,” David provided. “She taught Faith everything she knew before she passed away. I don’t think Faith is being unkind by not sharing her secrets. I think it is more that she is protecting her grandmother’s legacy.”