Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale)

by Tim Myers

  Something seemed to dawn on the man’s face. A few moments later, he said, “And I respect your attitude. I must admit I had my doubts about Elise marrying her boss, but you’ve set them all to rest. Welcome to the family. I’d be honored to give my daughter away to you tonight.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen,” Alex said. He turned to Elise and added, “Didn’t you tell them?”

  “I didn’t have time,” she admitted. “Dad, the wedding’s off.”

  “For good?” the man asked.

  “No, just until we find Tony’s killer,” Elise said.

  “You know I don’t like you meddling in murder,” Mr. Danton said.

  “Respectfully, I’m a grown woman. This involves Alex, and that means it involves me.” She tried to smile as she added, “Clearly our honeymoon is off as well. Alex and I would love it if you and Mom would take our trip instead.”

  “That’s out of the question,” Mr. Danton said.

  “I’m really sorry you feel that way. I hate the thought of just throwing that money away. We worked too hard to just let it go to waste,” Alex said.

  “I just wouldn’t feel right benefiting from your misfortune,” the man said.

  “You’d be doing us a favor,” Alex countered. “You’re an innkeeper too, so surely you must understand. We all work hard for our money, and when we get the opportunity, we should get some joy out of it, don’t you agree?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, though it was clear he was torn.

  Alex tried his best to smile. “I know it’s an imposition, but it would mean a lot to me, to us, if you’d help us out here.”

  “Fine, we’ll accept your generous offer,” he said. “I’ll go clear it with Mrs. Danton.”

  After he left, Elise asked, “How did you manage to do that? I wouldn’t have been able to do that in a million years.”

  “We’re not that different, you know.”

  “Us?” Elise asked as she touched his chest.

  “Us,” Alex said as he pointed to her father, and then to himself.

  “You’re different enough,” Elise answered.

  “We are both innkeepers, and we both love you. Do you need anything else?”

  “No, that’s enough for me,” Elise said. “I suppose we should get the word out that the wedding has been canceled.”

  “Postponed, you mean,” Alex corrected.

  “Absolutely. We’ve got cake, food, people coming, and permission to turn on the lighthouse light. It’s a shame to let it all go to waste.”

  “We can give the cake and the food to the family shelter,” Alex said, “and folks will understand. One thing, though. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to go ahead and light the light when it gets dark enough. For Tony.”

  “Of course,” Elise said. “I’d better get inside. I have some telephone calls to make.”

  “I’ve got a better idea. Let’s tell Emma, and she can handle it for us. Then we can go to Bear Rocks while there’s still light, and try to forget for a few minutes that this ever happened.”

  “I like it,” Elise said. “Meet you back here in three minutes.”

  Elise was as good as her word, and until the sun went down and it grew too cold, Alex and Elise spent the rest of the afternoon talking about everything in the world except their postponed wedding, and Tony’s murder.

  Chapter 6

  It was only when they were walking back to the Duel Keepers Quarters that Elise brought it up. She stopped and took Alex’s hands in hers. “It’s almost time to light the beacon, but before we do, I want you to promise me something.”

  “Anything,” Alex said.

  “We’re going to solve Tony’s murder, and we’re going to do it together. I wasn’t his biggest fan, but whoever did this stole the most important day in my life from me, and even if it weren’t your brother who was murdered, that makes it personal.”

  Alex chewed it over in his mind, as he’d been doing all afternoon despite his attempts to forget it, and he’d come to the same conclusion that they’d have to solve this crime themselves. “I promise.”

  “Good. I can’t wait to marry you. I know it might be old fashioned, but I want to be Mrs. Alex Winston, and no murderer is going to stop that.”

  “I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you say that.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Emma asked as she approached them, hand in hand with her husband.

  “How much we want to be married,” Alex said.

  Mor nodded. “Don’t worry, you will be. And when all of this is over, we get to do everything again.”

  Emma looked sternly at her husband, and with a new bit of happiness in his voice, he said, “And when this is all over, we get to everything again.” After he said it, he looked at his wife for her approval.

  “That’s better, Mor.” She kissed him, and it was one of the few times that Mor looked smaller than he usually was.

  To take the focus off of him, Mor looked at Alex and said, “We’re solving this thing, right?”

  “It’s not going to be easy,” Alex said. “Our two suspects aren’t staying at the inn. I’m not even certain that they’re still in Elkton Falls.”

  “They’re somewhere though, and wherever that is, we’ll find them,” Elise said. Alex loved hearing the determination in her voice.

  “What’s our first step?” Emma asked.

  “We light the beacon, for Tony,” Alex said simply as the last of the daylight faded.

  They all nodded, and set about lighting Hatteras West to mark the passing of a Winston.

  Alex offered to stand by the switch, but Emma offered instead. “You should go outside and look at it,” she said. “You can’t see it all from here, and if you’re on the observation deck upstairs, it doesn’t look like much, does it?”

  “Thank you,” Alex said, and hugged Emma. He sometimes forgot how strong she was under her extra weight, but Emma was solid muscle.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Coming?” Alex asked Mor.

  “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll stay right here.”

  Emma didn’t protest, so Alex and Elise walked out into the night. They went back to Bear Rocks, and from their vantage point there, they could see the light shining out into the valley and hills that surrounded them. It never failed to take Alex’s breath away, seeing the lighthouse lit. To her credit, Elise didn’t say a word as they watched in silence. Her hand tightened around his, though, and he felt great comfort from her presence.

  As soon as the allotted time was up, the light flicked out of existence.

  “We should have brought a flashlight with us,” Elise said.

  “We don’t need one. I grew up on these rocks, remember, and there’s not a soul that knows them better than I do. They’d released their hands for a moment, but Alex reached again for Elise’s, and gently guided her back to the path that led to the inn.

  Mor and Emma were waiting for them at the base of the lighthouse. The four of them stood there in silence, as though they were afraid to break the mood that seemed to surround them all. It was as though the lighthouse beam had muted even the night sounds around them.

  Mor finally said, “Well, if we’re going to get an early start on our hunt, we’d better call it a night.”

  He shook Alex’s hand, waved to Elise, and then started to walk to his truck.

  “Should we stay here with you tonight?” Emma asked. “You might need to have friends around you at a time like this.”

  “No, we’ll be fine,” Elise said. She hugged her friend, and then Emma joined her husband. Elise’s parents were on the road headed for Williamsburg, and the other family and friends who’d come for the celebration had left as well. It appeared that no one wanted to linger at the inn, and Alex was glad for it. This was a time of mourning, not just for his brother, but for the loss, at least for today, of the wedding he’d so desperately hoped to have.

  He and Elise walked inside, and A
lex offered, “Should I light a fire to take the chill off?”

  She shook her head. “Not tonight. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll turn in a little early.”

  He was disappointed to hear it, but he tried not to show it. “I understand.”

  She turned to him and asked, “Do you, Alex?”

  “I get it, Elise. You’re as sad as I am,” Alex said.

  “I wanted with all my heart to be Mrs. Winston by now,” she said.

  He wrapped her up in his arms. “It’s just a delay, Elise.”

  She looked up at him. “Do you promise me that, Alex?”

  “With every fiber of my being,” he said. “Nothing else matters right now than finding Tony’s killer. The second we do, I’m proposing to you again.”

  Elise smiled up at him. “Not necessary. You have a standing yes anytime you want to cash it in.” She kissed him, and then pulled away. “I don’t know how you do it, Alex, but you always seem to know how to make me feel better.”

  “What can I say? You bring it out in me, too.”

  “Good night, my love,” she said.

  He smiled at her. “Good night. I do love you.”

  Elise nodded gently. “I’m depending on it.”

  After she was in her room, Alex wondered if he should turn in himself. This day had turned into an awful mockery of what they’d had planned, and he remembered one of his favorite sayings. ‘Man plans, God laughs.’ It was never more true than it was right now.

  Alex would have been pleased the next morning if he’d woken up to rain, sleet, snow, or even hail. It would have done much better to match his mood than the bright sunshine peeking in through his window. What right did the world have being happy on a day he should have been on his honeymoon? He got ready quickly, and walked out front, wondering what he needed to do to go in search of the suspects he’d met yesterday. They had to have a plan, but so far, Alex was stumped. Even the sheriff wasn’t at all certain he’d be able to track down the man and woman from the rehearsal dinner. What chance would the four of them have?

  Alex was still wondering about it when there was a knock at the front door. It was too early for Mor and Emma, and Alex wondered who it might be. If it was a wandering tourist looking for a place to stay, Alex was going to have to disappoint him.

  To his shock, it was the man Tony had gotten into an argument at the dinner. It was all Alex could do not to cry out. “May I help you?”

  The man nodded. “I need a room, and I was wondering if you could help me.”

  “I’d be delighted. How many nights will you be with us?”

  “As long as it takes,” the man muttered under his breath. Alex heard it, anyway.

  “As long as what takes?” he asked.

  “What? Never mind, I was just talking to myself.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of bills. “Will this do for now?”

  Alex nodded as took the cash. He would have offered the man a free room if it meant getting him to stay at the inn. At least one of their suspects was going to be right under their noses.

  “Here’s the register. You need to sign in.”

  The man didn’t look all that pleased about it, but he took the pen and wrote something in the book Elise liked keeping up front. She thought it gave the place a certain amount of charm, and Alex had to agree with her.

  Alex studied the quickly scrawled handwriting to confirm what he’d heard the night before, and then said, “Welcome to Hatteras West, Mr. Jackson.”

  “Sorry about your brother,” he said as he looked around the lobby. “Do I have to stay in this building, or can I bunk over there?” he asked as he pointed to the Main Keeper’s Quarters.

  “Sorry, it’s not available.”

  Jackson just shrugged at the news, as though he’d been expecting it.

  “May I help you with your luggage?” Alex asked, a clear shot since the man wasn’t carrying so much as a notebook.

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll get it later.” He reached for the key Alex was holding out to him.

  “I’d be glad to show you your room,” Alex said.

  Jackson frowned, and then said, “I’ll see it later. For now, I’d like to walk around some.”

  “Fine. If you need me, just ring the bell.”

  Mr. Jackson reached down and pushed the bell once, then went out the door.

  Alex debated waking Elise to tell him the news, when he was surprised to see her coming down the stairs along.

  “I didn’t even realize you were up,” he said.

  “I’ve been up for an hour. I didn’t want to wake you. I was just seeing about our guest.”

  “He just left,” Alex said. “How did you know about that?”

  “It could be because our ‘he’ is really a ‘she’.”

  Alex was confused now. “There’s no way that was a woman who just walked out of here.”

  “I’m talking about Monique Combs. I just checked her in and got her settled in the Carolina Jasmine suite.”

  Alex bit his lower lip. “I didn’t think we were taking on new guests.”

  Elise looked excited as she said, “She’s the woman from the rehearsal dinner, the one who slapped Tony.”

  Alex didn’t like that a bit. “And I just checked in the man he had an argument with.”

  “It’s a little too much to take as coincidence, isn’t it?” Elise asked.

  Alex nodded. “Don’t kid yourself. They’re here looking for something, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s that little piece of paper that Mor and I found in the Main Keepers’ Quarters.”

  “I looked at it, too, and it looked like nothing special to me.”

  Alex just shrugged. “Then maybe there’s something else they’re after, but at least we won’t have to go hunting for them now. They came to us.”

  Elise nodded. “It’s handy that we can grill them right here.”

  “Only they shouldn’t know they’re being questioned,” Alex added.

  “This isn’t my first time investigating a murder, remember?”

  He laughed at that. “Don’t remind me. How many times have we come close to getting caught snooping by one of our guests?”

  “I try to forget things like that,” she said with a grin, “but the answer is too many, I can tell you that.” She looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and asked softly, “Should we search Jackson’s room for clues?”

  “That would be kind of pointless, since he hasn’t even been there yet. He got the key, and then decided that he wanted to take a walk.”

  “You don’t think he’s out strolling around though, do you?” Elise asked.

  “No,” Alex admitted. “I wanted to give him time to go over to the other building before I surprised him.”

  “Let’s go, then,” Elise said.

  Alex shook his head. “It might be dangerous. You should stay here. Call Sheriff Armstrong if something happens to me.”

  Elise shook her head resolutely. “You’re not going anywhere without me, mister. If one of us goes, the other tags along. I’m not about to lose my groom before we’ve had a chance to say our vows.”

  “Then technically, I wouldn’t be your groom yet, would I?”

  Elise didn’t respond, just headed for the front door. “Do you want to stand here and have a debate, or should we start snooping?”

  “I vote for snooping,” Alex said.

  “That’s the man I want to marry,” she said, and the two of them left the Dual and headed for the Main.

  Alex tried the main door, and found that it was still locked.

  “It doesn’t mean he didn’t find another way inside,” Elise suggested.

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  They used his key to open the main door, now that the police tape was gone. The sheriff must have moved quickly to search the building, and Alex wondered if perhaps the search had been done too hastily. There was a great deal of space there, and he believed that it was possible that he and
his force had missed something. If they had, he was sure that he and Elise would find it. After all, no one knew the inn as well as they did.

  After a quick inventory of the rooms, Alex said, “It’s pretty clear that he’s not here. Should we go looking for him outside, or look around a little more carefully while we’re here?”

  “I vote we inspect the building before anyone else can get in,” Elise said.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Alex answered.

  “Why, because you like agreeing with me?” she asked with a smile.

  “It doesn’t hurt, does it? Besides, that’s as good an idea as any.”

  “Then let’s start our treasure hunt. What exactly are we looking for?”

  “Anything that doesn’t fit,” Alex said. “And we should start in the room where Mor and I found Tony.” Alex hated the thought of going back in there, but he really didn’t have any choice. Sooner or later he’d have to face the memory of seeing his brother in the bathtub, and the quicker he could put that image behind him, the better.

  They pulled the mattress off the bed, looked behind the lighthouse painting on the wall, even checked under the bed.

  Elise frowned at Alex. “Nothing’s out of order,” she said. “The floor needs a good waxing, doesn’t it?”

  “And the drapes need to be replaced too.”

  She looked at him quizzically, and he explained, “I had some time on my hands waiting for the sheriff to take my call.”

  “What should we do?”

  “We have to keep looking, no matter how painful it might be,” Alex said. He couldn’t believe that Tony could be killed so easily without at least one clue being left behind. He’d tried to put it off, but he finally forced himself to walk into the bathroom.

  Elise touched his hand, and then took it in hers as they went inside. Alex felt a rush from her touch, and a new determination to push his way through this.

  He looked around the bathroom, trying to take everything in. It was odd what the police had confiscated. Two towels were gone, he still couldn’t find that blasted mat, the shower curtain was missing now along with a complementary bottle of shampoo as well, but the packet with a shower cap and razor were still there, along with an unwrapped bar of soap in the shower, an unopened bar of soap by the sink, and a wrapped roll of toilet paper on the back of the toilet. Elsewhere on the sink, he did a quick inventory of the mouthwash, hand towels, facial tissues, still there, but all out of their regular order. The towels had clearly been unfolded, and then folded back up, but nothing else looked as though it had been touched. Still, nothing stood out as he purposely kept his glance away from the tub as much as he could.