by J A Whiting
“Did the factory workers work down here?” Lin asked as she walked around the basement.
“No, the factory was set up on the first floor. This area was used for some storage of extra equipment and parts. That’s what I was told, anyway.”
“When you brought Maura down here, did she make any comments? Did she know much about the factory that used to be here?”
“She didn’t say much.” Patricia shrugged. “I guess she had an interest in the silk factory since she was researching the island’s economy. Shall we go back up?”
Lin nodded and thanked the innkeeper for showing her the basement. Patricia started up the stairs with Lin following, but before she took more than two steps, Lin was engulfed by cold air. Stopping, she looked across the space.
The ghost stood in the middle of the cellar staring at Lin. She wore the same light blue dress and the silver necklace around the collar. One glistening tear trailed down her cheek, and then she slowly faded away.
Sadness pulled at Lin’s heart and she had to blink to keep her own tears from forming. What happened? What made you so sad?
“Lin?” Patricia called from the top of the stairs.
Lin swallowed hard to clear the tightness from her throat. “I’m coming.” When she reached the back hall off the kitchen, Lin thanked Patricia once again and headed up to her room.
Viv opened the room’s door just as Lin was about to put her key in the lock. “Where have you been? I was about to start a search party,” Viv asked pulling her bathrobe around her.
Returning to their guest room, Lin told her cousin about talking to Patricia and being shown the basement.
“I’m glad I wasn’t with you. Basements are creepy.” Viv removed her robe and climbed under the bed covers.
“I saw the ghost down there. She was standing in the middle of the space. A tear rolled down her cheek. It made me so sad, I could barely climb back up the stairs.”
Viv had her hand on her chest and a worried look on her face. “What happened to your ghost?”
“We need to figure that out. And we need to know if my ghost has some link to Maura Wells and Warren Topper.” When Lin reached up and touched her horseshoe necklace, it felt slightly warm against her fingers, but she ignored the feeling since she felt chilly from the air conditioning.
“How are we going to do that?” Viv asked. “How will we figure out any of it?”
“First, we need to find out if Warren Topper was descended from one of the factory owners. Anton will have that information soon. Then we need to look through old newspapers from the time to see if an accident happened at the factory. Patricia told me that Maura Wells said she was going to the Athenaeum and to the historical museum on the afternoon she died. We should go there and ask if Maura had come in that day. If she was there, we could stop in at the cafes and restaurants in the area to see if Maura stopped in for something to eat or drink.”
“Okay.” Viv nodded. “Good ideas. The police probably have done that already.”
“We’ll ask Libby if her detective friend has shared any information with her.”
With a plan set in place, they turned off the lights and the cousins prepared for sleep, but rest eluded Lin and she ended up staying awake for a long time.
The image of the ghost in the basement with a tear running down her cheek kept appearing in Lin’s mind … and it tore a mighty hole in her heart.
10
It was late afternoon by the time Lin finished with her landscaping customers. She and Nicky arrived at Anton’s antique Cape-style house just as Viv was biking up to the driveway. Inside, Anton sat hunched at his old wooden kitchen table staring at his laptop with books and folders spread out over the surface.
“Come in,” Anton called when he heard the rapping on the screen door off the deck.
Lin and Viv took seats at the table as the dog wagged his tail and nudged at the island historian’s leg. Nicky’s efforts were rewarded with a pat on the head and a scratch behind the ears.
“I’ve discovered some interesting information.” Anton looked up at his guests. “Oh, there’s a pitcher of ice water and a jug of iced tea in the fridge.” He stood to get some glasses from the hutch while Viv retrieved the jugs and poured.
“What did you find?” Lin asked the man.
Anton placed a plate of cookies on the table. “Some things about Maura Wells’s lineage.”
Lin bit into a chocolate chip cookie and mumbled, “What is it?”
Anton shifted a large piece of paper so the young women could see better. “Ms. Wells is descended from two different natives of Nantucket.”
“Two different ancestors?” Lin said with surprise.
“That’s right.” Anton adjusted his eyeglasses and pointed to the sheet of paper on the table. “Here. See? On her father’s side, Ms. Wells was descended from Garrell Williams.”
“One of the owners of the silk factory,” Viv noted.
“And, see right here? On her mother’s side, she was descended from a woman named Elise Porter.”
“Did Williams and Elise Porter stay on Nantucket their whole lives?” Lin asked. “Is there any information on those two people?”
“Not in these databases. We’ll have to look elsewhere, but we already know some things about Garrell Williams. A prominent businessman on the island, he didn’t seem to suffer any lasting harm from the factory failure. He went on to form other investment groups and start other businesses. He died a very wealthy man. He lived his entire life on the island.”
“Do you know if Mr. Williams had a bad reputation? Did people have bad things to say about him?” Viv asked.
“Some disagreements with associates here and there, but nothing glaring in the news accounts from back in the day,” Anton said. “A few dissolved business arrangements. Nothing that particularly stands out. Nothing to indicate the man was underhanded in his dealings.”
“What about Warren Topper?” Lin asked. “Was he related to one of the factory owners?”
“Mr. Topper was not descended from any of the factory owners. His ancestors were from the mainland in Massachusetts, Maine, Canada.”
“So he wasn’t killed as revenge for something the factory owners might have done,” Viv noted. “That theory is out the window?”
“It seems the theory does not fit the evidence.” Anton slid the paper with the family trees into a folder. “Libby was reluctant to give up on the idea of revenge, but she let it go after seeing Topper’s family information.”
“Where does that leave us then?” Lin asked.
“With the need to come up with other ideas.” Anton reached for his glass of iced tea and took a swallow.
“Could Maura Wells and Warren Topper have been killed by two separate people?” Viv questioned. “Are the murders not related?”
“Unlikely,” Anton said. “Two people killed in two days? Both poisoned? No, it has to be the same killer. Most murders are not committed with poison.”
Lin said, “The question is … what links Maura Wells and Warren Topper?”
“That’s easy,” said Viv holding a cookie. “A common enemy.”
Lin crossed her arms and leaned on the table. “I guess people who don’t know each other could have a common enemy. Couldn’t they?”
“I suppose,” Viv said slowly. “How though?”
“You could be in a grocery store, you wouldn’t know most of the people who shop there, but a killer could target you and someone else because you both frequent the same market.”
“In that case, there would be no personal link between the victims,” Viv said. “People could get killed only because they shop in the same store. But….”
“But what?”
“There has to be a smaller thing in common in this case. Topper and Wells were on an island, they got killed a day apart, they were both poisoned. The example you gave seems too random. These two people must have some kind of connection, more than just two people who happen to be on the same
island.”
“Well, they don’t work together,” Lin said. “One is an academic and the other is an investment banker and advisor.”
“So no job connection,” Viv said.
“They are not the same age,” Anton said. “They’re fifteen years apart in age which means they couldn’t have known each other in college.”
“Could they be from the same town?” Lin asked.
“They did not grow up in the same town, nor in the same state,” Anton told them.
“What about charity stuff?” Lin’s eyes brightened and she made eye contact with Anton. “Libby said you two and Maura Wells often attended the same fundraising or charity events.”
“However, I never saw Warren Topper at one of those events.” Anton shook his head.
“Topper and Maura might have attended a fundraiser that you didn’t go to,” Viv pointed out.
“True, but how would they have crossed paths?” Anton asked. “One lived in New York and one lived in Chicago.”
“There is transportation between those two cities,” Lin said with a crooked smile.
Anton raised an eyebrow. “And what? They met at an event? A person who knew them from an event decided to kill them both? Why? What outrage could have been committed at a charity event?”
Viv shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe neither one donated enough?”
Lin gave her cousin a look and ignored her comment. “I think Topper and Maura had to have known each other, and someone else had to know both of them. Something angered that someone, and he hatched a plan to kill them.”
“I don’t know,” Anton said adjusting his glasses. “It seems too cloak and dagger.”
“Why does it?” Lin asked. “Do you have a different explanation?”
“Not yet,” Anton said. “But, I hope to offer an explanation after more internet sleuthing.”
“How is my ghost connected to Maura Wells’s and Topper’s murders?” Lin asked with a questioning expression.
“Perhaps it isn’t connected,” Anton said.
“The ghost is a she, not an it,” Lin corrected.
“She,” Anton said. “Maybe the she-ghost has no connection to the murdered people.”
“She does though. I can feel it.” Lin ran her finger over the wooden tabletop, thinking. “She wears a necklace, the same one all the time. Every time I’ve seen her, she’s had it on. Just like me and my necklace.”
“She always has on the same blue dress, too?” Viv asked.
Lin nodded. “That’s right.”
“Is there anything about her appearance that gives a clue as to who she is?” Anton asked. “For example, she isn’t wearing a uniform, like a nurse would. Is there anything about the way she looks or dresses that makes you know more about her?”
After a few moments pondering the question, Lin said, “I don’t think so. She wears a dress typical of the times. She doesn’t look poor and she doesn’t look wealthy. She looks average.” Lin reported to Anton what happened during her and Viv’s stay at the inn. “I saw the ghost twice when we were there. She carries a heavy burden of sadness. I have to figure it out so I can help her.”
“Have you seen the spirits of Maura Wells or Mr. Topper?” Anton asked.
“No, only the ghost at the inn,” Lin said. “We need to learn more about the old factory. Who worked there? Who was in charge? What were the conditions like? My ghost stays around the inn. Why does she? Something happened at that factory that keeps her there.”
“We haven’t found anything about an accident there,” Viv said. “We’ve looked through those old news articles and we haven’t found a word about an accident in the factory.”
“Then something else happened in there. Let’s go to the historical museum tomorrow. The curator or the librarian might be able to help us,” Lin said. “I also think we should go back to see Mrs. Topper to ask her about charities she and her husband were involved with. Maybe she can think of another way her husband and Maura might have met.”
“Okay. We have a plan,” Viv said. “Tomorrow, the museum, and one day soon, we’ll meet with Mrs. Topper again.”
“Does Libby know the names of the men Topper met for lunch?” Lin asked.
“I can ask her,” Anton said.
“We can also ask Mrs. Topper about the men when we see her.” A thought flitted through Lin’s brain. “Our theory about someone out for revenge on the descendants of the three factory owners has been abandoned, but the note found in Maura Wells’s hand can’t be dismissed. ‘One down, two to go.’ Then Topper was killed. So now there’s one left. The killer is planning to murder one more person. What’s the link? If the police don’t discover the link between these people, someone else is going to die.”
“We’d better find that link soon,” Viv said.
Sitting by the screen door so he could look outside, Nicky turned his small brown head towards the three people at the kitchen table and woofed at them.
“We’re trying, Nick,” Lin said. “We’re trying.”
11
The historical museum’s librarian, Felix Harper, greeted Lin and Viv when they entered the stately old building and made their way to the library section of the museum.
“Doing some research today?” Felix asked. The man was a wealth of information about Nantucket history. Tall and thin, with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes, Felix was always dressed in understated, but fashionable clothing. Today he wore well-tailored navy slacks, a crisp white shirt with a red tie, and a fitted blazer.
Lin explained what they were looking for. “We’re wondering if there was ever an accident in the old silk factory in the mid 1800s.”
Felix furrowed his forehead in thought. “I don’t believe so. Nothing was ever reported, not during the building of the place and not while silk production was underway. No accidents of note.”
Lin’s shoulders sagged in disappointment.
Viv asked, “Is there any information about the people who worked at the factory?”
“I believe there is an incomplete list of factory employees dating from the early 1840s. It might take me a while to get my hands on the document.” Felix looked from Viv to Lin. “This is the second time in a few days that someone has inquired about the factory and its employees.”
Lin asked, “Who else asked about it? Did you know the person? Was it an island native or a tourist?”
“It was the woman who recently passed away.” Felix’s lips tightened in disgust. “I should say the woman who was poisoned. Nasty business,” he groaned.
“Did Maura Wells say why she wanted the information?” Viv asked.
“She told me she was doing research on the island’s economy,” Felix said.
“Ms. Wells was descended from two island natives,” Lin said. “Garrell Williams and Elise Porter.”
“Williams was one of the owners of the silk factory,” Felix said.
Lin nodded and told the librarian, “Mr. Williams and Ms. Porter were not related. Mr. Williams was Maura Wells ancestor on her father’s side and Ms. Porter was on her mother’s side.”
“How interesting. She didn’t mention those facts to me.” Felix looked slightly put out. “If you’d like to look through what we have, I can set you up on the computers and point you to the digital newspapers from the time the factory was in operation.”
“That would be great,” Lin smiled.
In a few minutes time, Viv and Lin were seated in front of computers and were scrolling through the news of the day in the Nantucket papers from 1835 to 1844.
“Look for anything indicating an accident or an injury at the factory,” Lin told Viv. “Or a fight or an altercation or an incident of any kind that happened there.”
Two hours passed, and Viv leaned back in her chair. “I haven’t found a single thing. No accidents, no nothing. No reports of trouble.”
“Same for me.” Lin stretched and rubbed the back of her neck. “What if we switch to reading articles about the three owners?”
“How will that help find out why your ghost remains at the inn?” Viv asked.
“I don’t know. I guess it won’t help.” Lin rested her arms on the edge of the tabletop.
Felix walked over to the table where Viv and Lin were working. He waved a piece of paper at them. “I was able to locate the list I was looking for.” He placed the paper on the table between the two young women. “These are the first twenty women who were hired to work at the silk factory, and at the bottom, it lists the owners and some of the others who had supervisory or related jobs there.”
Lin thanked the man and scanned the list. Her eyes went wide when she saw one of the names. Elise Porter. The woman who was an ancestor of Maura Wells. “Look.” Lin’s voice held a tinge of excitement.
“Well, I didn’t even notice that,” Felix said.
“Maura Wells’s great-great-great-grandmother worked at the factory?” Viv added, “I wasn’t sure how many greats to add to the word grandmother.”
Lin looked across the quiet room in thought. “Maura Wells might have been researching her family line in addition to the Nantucket economy. Maybe she knew she had a relative who worked at the factory and wanted to know more about her.”
“Maura was writing a book on the island economy,” Viv said. “Two of her ancestors were involved with the silk factory. That’s pretty cool.”
Lin clicked on the computer keyboard. “Let’s look up Elise Porter on the internet.” Plenty of articles mentioned a woman by that name, but none were the person they were searching for.
Felix sat down next to Lin and logged into another computer. “I’m going to access several different databases.” A few minutes passed and the librarian said, “Well, this is interesting.” He adjusted the screen so that Lin and Viv could see. “Here’s an old article from the Nantucket newspaper dated September 3, 1843. It reports that a woman named Elise Porter went missing. Her picture is right here. This is the woman Maura Wells was descended from.”
