Murder on the Lost Coast (He said, She said Mystery Series Book 2)

by Jeramy Gates

  I straightened, my mind awhirl. I pinched my forehead between my thumb and forefinger. “All this property will go to Gerard?”

  “Every acre. Charlotte didn’t have any kids, and both her parents are dead. As far as I can tell, nobody else even has a claim to this land. I could sue, of course, but it would be a waste of time. By the time the lawsuit’s over, the opportunity will be gone.”

  “Do you know what this means?” I said.

  “Of course I do. It means I’m out forty million dollars.”

  “No, it means Gerard had a motive to kill Charlotte. A huge motive, and not just her shutting off his propane.” I started for the door. “I have to tell Joe.”

  “Wait! What about the proof you came for?”

  “It’s not here,” I said, glancing around the room.

  “What is it?”

  “A black book, or a binder,” I said, holding up my hands to show him the size. “About ten inches tall.”

  “Is that it?” He pointed to the top of the bookcase. There in the corner, barely visible in the shadows behind a potted ivy plant, rested the book. I practically tripped over the chair in my haste to retrieve it. Blake came to my side as I opened it up and started flipping through the pages.

  “Well?” he said. “What is it?”

  “A photo album.”

  “What kind of photos?”

  I paused on a picture of Charlotte. She looked ten years younger in the photo, standing arm-in-arm on the docks with Gerard. He looked strangely clean-cut and well-dressed. An older gentleman with dark hair and broad shoulders stood on Charlotte’s left.

  “That must be her father,” I said, pointing at the dark-haired man. “He died a few years ago. And that’s Gerard. This photo must have been taken right after they bought the place. It was taken down on the docks.

  “That’s Gerard? He looks so… normal.”

  “You don’t think Charlotte would have married him the way he is now, do you? That’s why they’re divorced.”

  “Good point. Is there anything else in there?”

  I flipped the pages. “Not that I can see… a concert stub, a wedding invitation. Lots of pictures.” I slammed the binder shut. “I don’t get it. It’s just a regular photo album.”

  “Maybe it’s the wrong one,” Blake said. “That can’t be the only black book lying around here. Like you said before, maybe she took it to her room.”

  “I suppose,” I said, placing it back where I’d found it.

  “What are you going to do now?”

  “I think its time Joe and I had a talk with Gerard.”

  Chapter 14

  Joe

  When Tanja came back to the lounge and told me all she’d found was an old photo album, I couldn’t hide my disappointment. The others seemed just as let down.

  “It doesn’t make any sense,” Dana said. “Why would Charlotte go back to the lighthouse for that? Are you sure she didn’t take something else?”

  Tanja glanced at me. “I don’t know… we really can’t be sure. It was dark, and it all happened so fast.”

  “Then we’re stuck?” said Miguel. “We’re all just going to sit here and wait for the sheriff to show up? That might not be ‘till Monday!”

  “One of us will have to go up on the roof and try to fix the CB antenna,” said Blake.

  Tanja shook her head. “Not while this storm is blowing. We’ve already had two deaths this weekend; we don’t need another. There is something else we should discuss, though. We may have figured out who killed Charlotte.”

  She went on to tell us about the situation with the sale, and how Gerard stood to inherit the entire property upon Charlotte’s passing. She left out the bit about the fortune Blake would have made, of course, but she told me about it later when the others couldn’t hear.

  “That’s definitely a motive for murder,” I said. “And considering what Gerard said down on the beach…”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  “That’s great!” said Miguel. “We don’t have to do anything. We’ll just wait for the sheriff to arrest him.”

  “I’m not so sure,” I said. “If Gerard had something to do with these murders, we can’t give him a chance to cover up the evidence. Somebody needs to go up there and confront him.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” said Blake. “The guy seems like he might be dangerous.”

  “Leave it to us,” said Tanja. “We’re trained for this sort of thing.”

  “What if something happens?” said Dana. “How will we know you’re okay?”

  “We’ll borrow one of the two-way radios. That way, if we’re not coming back right away, we can let you know we’re safe.”

  “Good idea!” said Miguel. “I’ll go get them.”

  I cleared my throat. “While you’re at it, why don’t you grab the four-wheeler keys, too?”

  He grinned. “Sure thing, Jefe.”

  It seemed like I’d just gotten used to being warm and dry when we left the shelter of the inn and began the trek up the hill to the shed where the four-wheeler was stored. Tanja held an umbrella over the two of us, but it collapsed as soon as the wind hit it. She pulled her hood up over her head. I tried to pull my hood up, but the wind blew it right back down, and I had to keep one hand on my cane and the other free to balance myself, so I didn’t bother fighting with it. The raindrops splashed on my shaved head, forming into rivulets and cold streams that went running down my face, into my ears, and down the back of my neck. In seconds, I was completely soaked.

  Tanja paused to fuss with the umbrella, trying to form it back into shape. “Forget it,” I said. “Just keep moving.”

  She tossed the broken umbrella aside. We continued on our way, slipping and sliding up the hill, the cold wind battering our faces and the icy rain finding its way through every seam and opening in our clothes. We hurried past the tennis courts and I stood back as Tanja dialed the combination into the shed’s lock. She pulled the door open, and there sat the big green ATV.

  I couldn’t help admiring the machine as we walked into the shed. It was a beautiful, perfectly-maintained vehicle. It looked almost new. It had luggage racks on the back, a tow hitch, and enough lights on the front to guide a plane in for a landing. The big, knobby tires looked like they could climb straight up a cliff, and just looking at them made me want to test that theory.

  I grinned as I crawled onto the seat and turned the key. The engine fired up instantly, making a wonderful rumbling sound. I turned on the lights, and night turned into day inside that little shed. I glanced over my shoulder and nodded for Tanja to crawl on behind me.

  As she settled into position, I popped the ATV into reverse and backed out into the rain. I made a quick turnaround and then gunned the throttle, heading for the trail. Tanja let out a scream as we took off and threw her arms around my waist.

  “Joe, slow down! Slow down!”

  “It’s great isn’t it? I’ve always wanted to go mudding on a four-wheeler like this!” I swerved at the bottom of the slope, throwing out a spray of mud behind us. I guided the ATV up the Jeep trail. It was steep, but nothing that a four-wheeler couldn’t handle.

  “No, it’s… not… great,” Tanja shouted, punching me in the back to accentuate each syllable. “Slow down, or I’m walking!”

  I eased back on the throttle. “You take the fun out of everything,” I grumbled.

  “I’ll remember that next time you ask to take a shower with me.”

  I scrunched up my face. “It always comes down to that, doesn’t it?”

  She didn’t answer.

  The drive to the top of the hill didn’t take long, but by the time we arrived, my clothes felt like they were made of lead. My wool coat under the parka had soaked up so much water that I was tempted to take it off and leave it hanging from the ATV rack, just to be relieved of the burden. I could feel the water sloshing around in my boots, squishing between my toes, and I could barely use my cane because the mud was so deep.
>
  We had to park at the edge of the property because the ATV wouldn’t fit through the gate. Thankfully, we were only a few hundred feet from the house. As we entered the property at the top of the hill, the trees thinned out and the trail merged into a cobblestone pathway. Knee-high fences lined the path and spread out around several small gardens. Most of the crops had been cleared out for the winter, save for a few cornstalks and a section of tall sunflowers that didn’t seem to be doing so well.

  An old barn stood off to our left, past the gardens and right up against the redwoods. Directly across from it sat a two-story log cabin. The porch light was on, and we headed in that direction.

  We must have made a pathetic sight, the two of us trudging along the path, soaked to the bone, our pant legs covered in mud, me limping along, trying but not really succeeding to leverage my weight on my cane. Mud and water sloshed off our boots as we climbed onto the porch, and my soaking wet socks made an unpleasant squish-squishing sound.

  “Very dignified,” Tanja said, glaring at me.

  I shrugged. “Next time we go on vacation, I’ll remember to bring my hip-waders.”

  “Don’t even start with me. This little getaway was your idea, remember?”

  “Somehow I have the feeling you’ll never let me forget.”

  About that time the door opened, and we found ourselves face to face with an attractive woman in her thirties with long auburn hair and dark, mysterious eyes. I stared at her a moment, slightly taken aback. I hadn’t expected anyone else to be living there. I’m not sure why, but I had assumed Gerard lived alone. Maybe it was because of his personality.

  The woman wore a long dress that looked like it had been sewn out of canvas or some other rough material. She had decorated it in patches of color that resembled crude cave drawings. I could only presume these colorations were the result of a dye made from berries or some other archaic method since her clothes were clearly homemade.

  “Greetings,” she said with a welcoming smile. “I am Willow Moon. I welcome you to our home. Please, come in.” Willow’s voice was soft, almost like a whisper. It gave me the impression that she hadn’t raised it in years.

  “What a terrible night to be out,” she said as we followed her in and she closed the door behind us. “Why don’t you undress, and I’ll find you something warm and dry to wear?”

  Tanja and I exchanged a glance. “We’re not… we’re not staying,” she said.

  “As you wish.” She turned to face the staircase. “Gerard, your company has arrived.”

  “You sound like you’ve been expecting us,” Tanja said.

  Willow smiled knowingly. “We are one with the universe. We openly and gratefully accept its gifts, and its challenges.”

  Tanja looked at me and I could almost hear her thinking: I wonder which one we are.

  The cabin’s interior was purposefully rustic, with knotty pine paneling, hardwood floors, and lodge-pole furnishings. A staircase rose in front of us, a long, narrow kitchen to the left, and a sunken living room off to our right. The kitchen and living room met in a dining area with a long pine table.

  I heard giggling, and looked up to see several pairs of young eyes staring down at us. Like their mother, the children were dressed in crude and simple clothing, but they seemed otherwise healthy and happy. I heard a sound in the kitchen, and Gerard appeared behind Willow. He put his left arm around her as he looked us up and down.

  “Haven’t we met?” he said.

  “I’m Tanja,” my wife said. “And this is my husband Joe. We’re guests at the inn this weekend.”

  Gerard shook our hands. “Yes, I remember. I’m sorry, I must apologize for what happened yesterday. I didn’t mean to frighten anyone. It’s just that the heat wasn’t working, and as you can see, I need to keep my family warm.”

  “I didn’t realize you had a family,” I said.

  “He adopted us,” Willow said with a grin. “We handfasted at a Wiccan ceremony last spring.”

  Tanja frowned. “Handfasted? Is that a sort of wedding ceremony?”

  “Yes, of course!” said Willow. She pulled Gerard close. “We are one, now! He has accepted my children as his own.”

  I exchanged a glance with my wife. “Gerard, aren’t you still married to Charlotte?” she said.

  “That is an earthly marriage,” Gerard said. “It doesn’t represent spiritual reality.” He paused, looking back and forth between us, and his eyes lit up. “Wait a minute! That’s why she sent you up here, isn’t it? She’s trying to get me to sign the divorce papers again!

  “Actually, that’s not why we’re here,” Tanja said. “I don’t suppose you have a phone we could borrow?”

  “I’m afraid not,” said Gerard. “We don’t believe in the trappings of modern consumerism. We have no phones or radios, or even televisions. All of these things go against our beliefs.”

  “But what if there’s an emergency?” said Tanja. “How do you contact the outside world?”

  “We have faith,” Willow said, smiling. “We know that in our time of need, the Orinians will come.”

  “Orinians?”

  “The Elder Race,” Gerard explained. “You see, humans were a seed colony planted on this planet fifty thousand years ago. It is our task to evolve into higher beings. Unfortunately, we have failed. When the Orinians return, I’m afraid they won’t find many followers worthy to return with them to the stars.”

  “Interesting,” I said. “Gerard, where were you earlier this evening? Around nine-thirty?”

  “He was here,” Willow said, coming to Gerard’s defense. “Why do you ask? Is something wrong?”

  I looked Gerard in the eye. “Your ex-wife has been murdered,” I said. “Charlotte is dead.”

  I watched his features, hoping for a sign that would give him away. Instead, his face went pale, and he took an unsteady step backwards, bumping into the wall. Willow caught him by the arm.

  “Gerard, are you okay?”

  “I think I should sit down,” he said in a trembling voice.

  Willow helped him into the living room, where he settled down in an old rocking chair. His hands shook visibly as he put them to his face. He took a moment to steady himself. He took a deep breath before speaking:

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t expect this. I suppose you never do, but you never really stop loving someone, you know? Charlotte and I were married for eight years. Even though we grew apart, we still loved each other.”

  As much as I didn’t care for Gerard, I had a hard time believing his reaction was an act. I glanced at Tanja and saw from the look on her face that she felt the same way.

  “We’re sorry for breaking the news like this,” Tanja said in a reassuring tone. “Joe didn’t mean to upset you, but we had to be sure you weren’t the killer.”

  Gerard looked at her. “You don’t know who killed her?”

  “No. It’s most likely the same person who killed Jacob.”

  “Jacob?”

  “The lighthouse manager,” I said. “He died last night.”

  “We believe he fell off the cliff,” Tanja added. “Whoever did it made sure it looked like an accident, but Joe and I believe he was murdered.”

  Gerard sat silently for a moment, considering all that. “Why?” he said at last. “What possible reason could someone have to kill the two of them?”

  “We don’t know,” said Tanja. “Unfortunately, our radio was damaged in the storm so we can’t even call the sheriff.”

  “And you don’t know who the killer is?” said Willow. “You’re saying there’s a murderer among us?”

  “I’m afraid so,” I said.

  They fell silent. Gerard still appeared to be in shock, but Willow was a quick thinker: “You didn’t come up here to tell us that, did you?” she said. “That’s why you asked where Gerard was this evening. You think he might be the killer. Why do you think that?”

  “He does have a motive,” I said. “With Charlotte gone, Gerard stand
s to inherit the entire resort.”

  “But I would never kill her!” he said. “I wouldn’t ever dream of doing something like that.”

  “But you did threaten Charlotte,” said Tanja. “Everyone saw it.”

  He sighed. “That was not a threat, it was a warning.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “I didn’t mean I was going to harm her physically. I meant that I would sue her, or quit paying my bills. I simply meant that there would be consequences.”

  “That may be the case,” said Tanja, “but it’s the sheriff you’re going to have to convince.”

  We stood on the front porch a few minutes later, speaking in low tones. Tanja radioed the inn to let them know we were on our way back, and I stared out into the mist, inhaling the scent of firewood and dark, rich earth. The storm had died down a little -not enough that I was in any hurry to get back into it, but at least the wind had slowed down a bit. It was a rather beautiful night. Clouds of low-lying fog drifted across the mountaintop and through the tops of the trees, lending a dimension to the view that was both breathtaking and spooky all at once. The ground fell away in every direction, and I had the feeling that if it weren’t for the storm, we’d be able to see for miles. Instead, all I saw was rolling layers of fog and darkness that left me feeling slightly dizzy and wondering what was really out there.

  “Well that didn’t work out the way I thought it would,” Tanja said as she tucked the radio into her parka.

  “No kidding. I wonder why nobody bothered to tell us he was married.”

  “I wouldn’t call that a marriage,” Tanja said. “Besides, it was pretty obvious that something was going on.”

  I stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “You couldn’t tell from the way Charlotte behaved around him yesterday? The way she moved her body, the way she reacted with such vehemence to his presence? She was stark raving mad with jealousy.”

  “She was?”

  “Of course.”