by J A Whiting
“Do you know where he moved to?” Lin hoped Olive could answer her question.
“I don’t know. Hopefully, far, far away.”
“Do you know what he did for a living?”
“CPA. Certified Public Accountant. Some of his mail got delivered to our house by accident and that was printed after his name. Jonas Bradley, CPA. I wouldn’t go to him to have any of my accounting work done, I’ll tell you that.”
Leonard removed another brownie from the plate. Olive wrapped the remaining treats and handed the plate to Lin. “Here, you two enjoy the rest. Drop the plate off to me someday. I better get back. Lloyd will think I left him for someone else.” She gave a shake of her head. “I don’t know what that man would do without me.” Olive waved and headed back through the bushes to her own house.
Lin looked at Leonard. “A serial killer.”
Leonard guffawed. “I wonder what she tells her husband about us.”
“She doesn’t need to tell him anything about us.” Lin took a sip of water. “I bet old Lloyd has plenty to say about us on his own.”
“What are you thinking about this renter guy? Jonas Bradley. Are you thinking he has something to do with these bones?”
“Not necessarily, but remember I told you that Olive was sure Jonas was skulking around back here one night long after he moved out? It would be interesting to talk to him.” Lin grinned. “Then I could see if I thought he was a serial killer.”
“Well, you better not go talk to him alone.” Leonard was only half-kidding.
“If I can find him, I’d just like to ask if he ever noticed any suspicious activity back here when he rented the place.” Lin held her phone in her hand and moved her fingers over the screen. “I’m looking him up.” She stared at the screen for a few seconds. “Look at this.” A smile spread over her face. “What luck. Jonas Bradley has an office in town.” Lin raised an eyebrow at Leonard. “I did have some questions about filing taxes since we just started a new business. I guess I’ll make an appointment with Mr. Bradley.” Her eyes twinkled.
Leonard picked up the shovel to return to work. “Well, go in the daylight. Don’t meet him in the evening. Or take the dog with you for protection.”
Nicky looked pleased by Leonard’s comment.
“You want to come with me?” Lin asked Leonard. “Find out how to file our taxes considering we just started the business together?” Lin brushed some dirt from the seat of her jean shorts.
Leonard headed for the new flower bed he’d been working on. “I trust you’ll tell me what to do.” He paused, grinned, and added, “As usual.”
15
Walking down the brick sidewalk into town, Lin was so distracted by her thoughts that she turned her ankle on a loose brick and had to perform wild gyrations to keep her balance and prevent a crash to the ground. She muttered a curse under her breath. Wearing a red and white summer dress and a pair of sandals with a small heel, she realized that she had to be more careful strolling over the bricks. She’d been so used to spending her days in sneakers or work boots that she was feeling like a bit of a klutz in her new sandals.
A smile spread over her face thinking about sprawling onto the cobblestone street in front of Jeff when she went to meet him for lunch after her appointment in town. Just call me grace, she’d tell him. Lin couldn’t wait to meet her boyfriend. She was looking forward to having some time away from bones and ghosts and trying to figure things out.
The reason for her mid-day meeting in town was two-fold. She wanted some tax advice since she’d recently started the landscaping business with Leonard, but talking to the accountant about the farmhouse and his time renting it was the first priority. Lin carried a leather folder containing a list of questions for the meeting and some blank paper to write notes.
Hurrying along one of the side streets in town, she looked for numbers on the front of the buildings and found the one she wanted. Inside, she climbed the stairs to the second floor office of Jonas Bradley, Accountant and Financial Advisor, and entered the small, but tastefully decorated waiting area. The receptionist’s desk was empty. A wooden nameplate on the desk had “Chloe Waring” engraved in gold letters. There were signs that someone had been working at the desk so Lin looked around the space while waiting for the person to return. Diplomas and certificates attesting to Mr. Bradley’s achievements lined the wall on one side of the room.
A tall, blonde, curvy woman in her twenties scurried in from the hallway and took her place at the desk. “May I help you?” she asked in an official tone, her posture straight and erect. The girl’s long lashes framed her big blue eyes and the black and white dress accentuated the receptionist’s figure.
Lin told Chloe who she was and that she had booked an appointment with Mr. Bradley.
“Mr. Bradley will see you.” The blonde stood and escorted Lin down the hall to Jonas’s office, opened the door with a flourish, and announced the client.
Lin had to bite her lip to keep from chuckling at the young woman’s formal and forced behavior. It was like she was play-acting the role of a secretary-receptionist and her performance was way over the top.
Wearing what looked to be a very expensive business suit, Jonas Bradley stood and shook hands with Lin, his facial expression blank and emotionless. He gestured to the leather and chrome chair in front of his glass desk. Everything in the office was sleek and modern and Lin suspected that a decorator chose the things without input from the accountant who gave the impression that he might fit better with more traditional furnishings.
The man was exactly as Olive Sawyer described him. In his thirties, with deep-set eyes, a wide bridged nose, and dark hair, only it wasn’t cut short any more. Lin wondered if someone had suggested that longer hair would better suit him.
Jonas Bradley was of average height, Lin estimated about five foot ten inches tall, and had broad shoulders which gave the sense that he worked out. There was something that Jonas gave off that made him seem uncomfortable in another person’s company. Lin could see why Olive had felt uneasy with the man.
“So you’re here for some tax advice.” Jonas asked some questions and made notes on a pad of paper. His questions were business-like and to the point. There was no chit chat or idle pleasantries to put his client at ease. The man was straightforward and had a brusque manner that suggested that he subscribed to the adage that time was money.
When questions were clarified and advice given, Lin attempted to make conversation. If she couldn’t engage Jonas, then her most pressing purpose for coming to the office would be a failure.
Lin smiled. “I understand you rented a farmhouse out in Cisco for a while about a year ago.”
The observation was so unexpected that Jonas’s bushy, dark eyebrows shot up.
“The farmhouse has new owners. My partner and I have contracted to do the landscaping.” Lin bumbled on not wanting Jonas to end the meeting. “I met the next door neighbor. She mentioned your name when I said I was in need of an accountant.”
“You’re the one who found the bone?” Jonas’s eyes narrowed.
Lin swallowed. Her name hadn’t been reported in any news stories, only that a landscaper made the discovery, so Jonas assumed that it must be her.
“Actually, my dog found it in the dirt.”
“An unfortunate occurrence.” Jonas looked like he might stand up so Lin quickly spoke.
“People are speculating about how the bone got there. A police search was conducted, but no other bones were found. I wonder how it happened to be on the property.” Lin looked the man in the eyes.
“That is the question, isn’t it?” Jonas’s voice was steady and disinterested.
“It’s very odd.” Lin asked bluntly, “How do you think it got there?”
“That’s for the authorities to determine.” Jonas closed the folder in front of him. “Gossip and speculation are useless.”
Lin groaned inwardly. “I suppose that’s true.” She nodded. “What was the backyard of
the farmhouse like when you rented the home?”
Jonas stared at her. “Like?”
“You know, was there landscaping? Flowers?” Lin knew her questions were veering into nonsense, but she was desperate to keep the conversation going.
“I don’t recall. I guess grass. I didn’t spend any time in the yard.”
“No? You didn’t have to mow or do the outside upkeep as a renter?” Lin acted like she was fascinated with the man’s experience living in a rental property. She knew he must think she was a nut.
Jonas frowned. “If that was expected, I would have found a different place to live.”
“Who took care of the lawn then? Who did the mowing for you?” Lin questioned.
“A service came once a week.”
Something flickered in Lin’s mind. People from a lawn service had access to the farmhouse’s backyard. A worker could have hidden the bone there. “Do you recall what company it was?”
“I do not. The owner of the house made those arrangements. I had no interaction with the service.”
Lin made a mental note to ask Olive if she knew the name of the landscaping company that took care of the yard when the farmhouse was being rented.
“May I ask why you moved out?” Lin smiled sweetly.
For a few seconds, the man looked like he wouldn’t answer, but then he said, “It didn’t suit my needs.”
Lin wondered what that meant and what needs of Jonas’s the house didn’t meet. She decided that if she inquired about it then their meeting would probably come to an end so she kept the question to herself.
“You have a lot of questions about the farmhouse.” Jonas’s tone was almost accusatory.
A flash of annoyance shot through Lin’s chest. She straightened in her seat, her expression serious. “I found a human bone in that yard. I held someone’s bone in my hand. I think it only natural to have some curiosity and some questions about how it got there. Whose bone is it? Was foul play involved? Where are the rest of the person’s bones?” Lin swallowed. “I think anyone who found a piece of a human being would wonder such things. Any compassionate person, anyway.”
“Yes, well….” Jonas pushed some things around his desk top.
“While you were renting the farmhouse, did you ever see anything suspicious in the backyard? Someone trespassing? Anything that seemed odd?”
Jonas leveled his eyes at Lin and he blinked several times, his lids slow and heavy. “Why don’t you ask the neighbor? Why don’t you ask Lloyd Sawyer what he was doing in the yard one night?”
“Lloyd was in the yard?” Lin asked, and then remembered that Olive had told her that Lloyd went over to the farmhouse one night when he thought someone was prowling around back there. “Did Lloyd suspect someone was trespassing?”
“You’ll have to ask him.” Jonas checked his watch. He stood up. “I’m expecting another client now.”
Lin got up from her chair. As she was walking to the door, she stopped and turned back. She wanted to see Jonas’s reaction to her final question. “Olive mentioned that she thought she saw you one night behind the farmhouse. One night after you’d moved out.”
“It may be that Olive has some trouble with her vision.” Jonas’s face hardened. “It had to be someone else, because it wasn’t me. Perhaps her husband paid another visit to the rear yard after I moved out.”
“Maybe so.” Lin gave a quick nod and a forced smile. “Thank you for your time.”
Lin showed herself out and hurried down the staircase to the first floor. Outside on the sidewalk, in the fresh air with people bustling around, she breathed a sigh of relief to be away from that man.
16
“What did the police say when you reported what we saw at the cemetery?” Viv carried a plate with sliced mozzarella, crackers, olives, and cherry tomatoes to the deck.
“They wrote down my concerns and thanked me. That was it.” Lin had stopped at the police station to talk to them about seeing the man enter the mausoleum and finding the broken lock which then had been replaced the next morning. She placed small plates for the appetizers onto the deck table.
“They weren’t suspicious about why we were at the cemetery so late at night?”
“The officer didn’t bring that up.” Lin slipped napkins under the plates. “They must hear all kinds of nutty stories.”
“You think the officer was doubtful about what we saw?”
“He probably wonders how in the world the lock could have been replaced so fast.” Lin heard her front door open and Jeff call hello. “Which is what I wonder, too.”
“At least you reported it.” Viv scratched Queenie’s cheek. The cat sat in one of Lin’s deck chairs enjoying the sun. “Maybe the investigating officer will take it seriously.”
Jeff came out to the deck carrying a bottle of homemade sangria and a six-pack of craft beer. He kissed Lin and greeted Viv, Nicky, and Queenie. Lin brought out glasses and they sampled the tasty sangria.
“Where’s John?” Viv looked worried. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, John burst into the house and practically raced to the deck to join the others. He had a look of triumph on his face as he rushed to gather Viv in his arms and dance her around the deck. “I just closed on a deal,” he announced as he twirled his sweetie around.
Sensing the happy mood, Nicky danced beside the couple and Viv giggled. She was happy and relieved to see John in such high spirits.
“It’s a huge place out in Surfside.” John beamed with joy. “Which means a huge commission for me.”
Congratulations were given and the girls hugged him while Jeff shook John’s hand.
“Too bad we don’t have any champagne,” Lin lamented.
“Homemade sangria will do the trick.” John reached for the bottle and a glass. They all clinked their glasses together and settled into the cushioned deck chairs to chat and sample the appetizers. Lin had prepared a pasta salad with veggies and had chicken breasts baking in the oven. Viv had recently taken up bread making and she’d made fresh rolls which would be popped in the oven as soon as the chicken was roasted.
John told them all about the deal. “Now I’m thinking of getting a bigger boat.” He grinned at Viv and waited for her to admonish him for being extravagant and not putting the money into savings.
His jaw dropped when Viv said and meant it, “Do whatever makes you happy.” She smiled at John and hugged him. They all knew that Viv and John would marry one day, the couple just hadn’t made it official yet. Viv and John had wanted to save money and grow their businesses before walking down the aisle.
“I wasn’t expecting that.” John chuckled, amazed at Viv for giving her blessing about a new boat. “It must be a trick of some kind.”
Everyone laughed.
Conversation turned to island news and the new gig that Viv and John had secured to play once a week for the rest of the summer and into the fall. The manager of a downtown pub had caught a recent set that Viv and John’s band played at a club and offered them a contract for the next eight weeks.
When Lin carried out the dinner and the four of them were enjoying the food, John brought up the bones. Viv glanced at him, surprised that he was the one who initiated the subject. She was pleased that his anxiety over finding the murdered young man in the empty house last month seemed to be coming under control.
Lin and Viv relayed their suspicions that a grave robber was at work and told about their cemetery adventure of the other night leaving out the part about Emily Coffin making an appearance.
John and Jeff stared at the girls with their mouths open.
“Grave robbing?” Jeff was appalled.
“It can be lucrative from what I’ve read.” Lin passed the pasta salad to John. She told them the dollar figure that could be had for a skull and a full skeleton.
John was about to make a joke about quitting real estate to go into the bone market, but he was interrupted by Viv. “Please don’t make a joke. It’s just too awful.”
&nb
sp; “It’s too bad you didn’t get a good look at that guy at the cemetery.” Jeff was still shaking his head. “Or at the car he was driving.”
Lin told them about her visit to Jonas Bradley’s office and her conversations with Olive and Lloyd Sawyer.
“It seems Jonas and Lloyd have something in common,” John said. “They both have rotten personalities.”
“And they both seem suspicious of each other.” The sun was almost fully set and shadows had fallen over the deck, so Lin lit the candles in the center of the table. “From Jonas’s comments, it makes me think that he and Lloyd had a run-in of some kind, but Olive didn’t allude to anything like that when she was going on about how she didn’t like Jonas.”
“It seems Olive would have said something if there was bad blood between her husband and Jonas,” Jeff said.
“From what Lin tells us about Olive, I don’t think the woman would hold back about a disagreement or whatever happened between Jonas and Lloyd.” Viv reached for the platter of chicken breasts. “Olive seems pretty forthcoming.”
“You know,” John held up his glass of sangria and swirled the liquid around absent-mindedly. “I’m thinking about suspects.”
“What are you thinking?” Viv’s eyes met John’s.
“I was giving the case some thought.” John put his glass down and rested his arms on the table. “Who would have chosen the backyard of the farmhouse and the cellar of that house I was showing to hide bones? There are probably other places with bones hidden, too, but thinking about these two places specifically made me realize something.”
“Tell us.” Lin was eager to hear John’s idea.