A Timely Vision (14 page)

As Kevin took up his chosen post, Agent Walker and several of his officers walked into the office. I had to give the same speech all over again, minus the marmalade on my mouth. I suggested we all sit down, and Nancy brought in coffee for everyone. I was never so happy to see a cup of coffee in my life.

“I’m glad to see you’re all right after everything that happened last night, Mayor O’Donnell,” Agent Walker said.

“Call her Dae,” Tim offered. “Everybody does. We aren’t too formal here in Duck.”

Agent Walker cleared his throat. “I hope you’re not too uncomfortable,
ma’am
. I didn’t foresee having such a large audience for our interview.”

I could tell Agent Walker was having a bad day too. I took a sip of Nancy’s awful coffee, then put down the cup before I spilled it and managed to look even more ridiculous. “As I said, Agent Walker, I apologize for the delay in the interview. The audience doesn’t bother me. I guess you can consider them advisors.”

He lifted his eyebrows before he put on his reading glasses but didn’t comment further. “Mayor, if you could describe the attack when you had your purse taken. Include where you were at the time, your reaction and everything that ensued until the arrest of Brian McDonald.”

So that’s the name of the young man.
I settled myself in my chair and told him what had happened from the time Brian McDonald had pushed me into the side of Missing Pieces until Tim jumped on him from the boardwalk in the parking lot. “He didn’t have time to take anything.”

Agent Walker scribbled my words into a notebook. “Did you ever notice him around town before that event?”

“Yes. He came to my shop on the Fourth of July and asked about a job. I told him I didn’t have anything.”

“So we know McDonald was hanging around the area, scoping out his prey.” Agent Walker looked up at me. “Was Mrs. Simpson in the habit of walking through town with her purse?”

“I never saw her without it,” I answered. “Not until that night when Mr. Brickman and I found her in the dunes.”

He nodded. “Did you feel threatened by the purse-snatching incident, beyond losing your purse?”

“I suppose so. He shoved me pretty hard. Mostly I was angry and determined to get my purse back.”

“I’m sure Chief Michaels and Officer Mabry have both scolded you for chasing McDonald. It ended well this time, but it could’ve ended badly for you.”

“I know. Several people have mentioned it.” I glanced at Kevin. “More coffee, Agent Walker?”

“No, thanks. Mayor, I’m going to tell you something that can’t leave this room. It would jeopardize our investigation if it got out to the media.”

I sipped my coffee. “I understand. I won’t tell anyone.”

He removed his glasses. “We believe Brian McDonald may be responsible for Mrs. Simpson’s death. Our scenario is that he came upon Mrs. Simpson. She fought him for her purse, and he hit her with something. Then he buried her in the sand.”

“How awful.” I thought about what Shayla had said. “Do you think she was dead when he buried her?”

“We don’t have that information yet,” he admitted. “We found his motel room in Kill Devil Hills. He had a lot of purses stashed in there, hundreds of them. We’re still going through them, hoping we find Mrs. Simpson’s. That would connect him to the crime without a confession. If not, we may have to charge him on the strength of the circumstantial evidence. Either way, we may need you to testify against him.”

I swallowed hard. “Of course. Whatever I can do to help.”

He leaned toward me. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Can
you
find the purse?”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Obviously he was alluding to my gift. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way. I would have to be able to
touch
Miss Elizabeth to find something she lost.”

“We could drive up to the morgue today.”

That
made me uncomfortable. This was definitely not what I’d expected from him. “I think she’d have to be alive. In order for me to find a missing object, the person who’s looking for it has to be thinking about it. I know it seems complicated, but I didn’t make the rules. I think I came with them.”

“Have you ever tried touching someone who
wasn’t
alive, you know, to experiment?”

“Just a thought.” He pulled out another notebook, identical to the first one—black, cheap and a little worn. “As to this new development, I assume Mr. Brickman filled you in on the identity of the dead man found at his establishment.”

I glanced at Kevin. He didn’t appear to be upset that Agent Walker knew he’d told me—not to mention Tim and Shayla—about Johnny. “Yes. I could hardly believe Wild Johnny Simpson came back to Duck to die.”

“It wasn’t quite as simple as that, Mayor. Someone
killed
Mr. Simpson. It was a long time ago, but there is no statute of limitation on murder. He was shot in the head. Do you think his wife might have been responsible?”

“I don’t know.”
Miss Elizabeth as a murderer?
“I guess anything is possible. Isn’t it ironic that she was killed before we could ask her?”

“Ironic . . . or
timely,
at least for her?” Agent Walker put away his black notebooks and got to his feet. “Thank you for your help, Mayor O’Donnell. We’ll be in touch. And if you change your mind about wanting to try out your talent on Mrs. Simpson, give me a call.” He handed me his card.

I didn’t tell him there was no chance I would change my mind, but there was no chance. I smiled, nodded and saw him to the door. His men followed him out.

Chief Michaels closed the door after them. “Well that was a fine howdy-do!”

“That fella sweeps in here from Raleigh and takes over not one but
two
homicides. My boys and I could’ve handled the situation. We’re trained. I was with the Dare County Sheriff’s Department before Walker was old enough to carry a gun. I’ve been chief here in Duck longer than most people can remember. I
know
what I’m doing.”

Tim laughed a little at the chief’s humor. “That’s right. Who collared that boy for them anyway? Without me and Dae, they’d still be out knocking on doors looking for Miss Elizabeth’s killer.”

I wasn’t sure how much of that was true. As far as I knew, the Duck Police Department had never investigated a murder. I wasn’t sure they had the manpower to do everything that needed to be done. But I smiled and nodded, wishing they would be on their way. I wanted to sit on the boardwalk for a while before I had to open the shop. It was nice outside. Warm, with a steady breeze blowing off the sound.

“That reminds me.” Chief Michaels put down his empty coffee cup and looked at me. “I had a call last night from Millie. Seems she’s been seeing her sister’s ghost over at the house. I told her to go back to sleep and call in the morning. She called again at six A.M. on the dot. I guess I’ll go over and check on her.”

Tim volunteered to go over for him. “You shouldn’t have to do something like that, Chief. Let me take care of it.”

“No, that’s okay. I offered to go, and you know what she’s like. I’ll end up over there anyway if I let you go.” The chief looked at me again.

“Would you like me to go with you?” I offered, even though I knew I should be getting over to the shop to open up for the day. But the chance to talk to Miss Mildred about her ghost was too tempting. Treasure hunters would have to wait until I got back.

“That would be real nice of you, Mayor. I’m sure she’d like to see a friendly female face too. Losing someone in your family does strange things to you. But I don’t have to tell you that, do I?”

I didn’t comment on his remark. I’d had a few bad times after my mother died. As long as I lived here, there were going to be people reminding me of it.

Kevin came out of the corner and smiled at me as though he understood. He couldn’t possibly, of course. He hadn’t been here, and I felt pretty secure that no one had told him about it yet. If he stayed for a while, he was bound to hear about those times. I didn’t fool myself into thinking otherwise. “If you don’t need me to be here anymore, I’m going home to work on the roof,” he said.

“Need
you
to be here?” Tim asked. “She has me and the chief. We’ve known her all of her life.”

I extended my hand to Kevin. “Thanks for coming. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Even with that part about touching dead people to find their stuff?”

“Even with that.” I shivered. “No way that’s going to happen.”

“I figured as much. I’ll talk to you later.” He nodded at Tim and the chief. “Gentlemen.”

The chief nodded back, but Tim looked away. When Kevin was gone, he had his say. “I can’t
believe
you asked him to be here.”

“He was with the FBI.” I defended my action. “I thought he might know more about the way the SBI does business.”

“More than
us?
” Tim followed the chief and me out of the office. “Come on, Dae. You wanted him around because he’s new and all mysterious and everything. I saw the way Shayla was with him last night.”

“I’m not Shayla.” I turned to the chief. “Are you driving?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He took my hint and told Tim to go out on patrol. Then the chief and I headed to the parking lot and got in the car. It was already hot as only July can be in the South. “You know, you should give that boy a break, Mayor. He’s loved you all his life. Why don’t you make an honest man out of him?”

I was used to people in town talking to me about personal things. They’d been doing it since I was born. “I’m not ready for anything like that, Chief. Tim’s nice, but he’s not for me.”

“And Brickman is?”

“I didn’t say that. I don’t know what Tim’s talking about. I was with
him
last night. Shayla was with Kevin. We were all together at the inn to look for the key. That’s it.”

The chief nodded and smiled as he turned out of the lot and headed toward Miss Mildred’s street. “So he’s
Kevin
now, huh? I guess you two are moving fast. Poor Tim. He never saw it coming.”

I didn’t answer that. Thankfully, we were in Miss Mildred’s driveway before he could think of anything else to say. It’s not that I mind people discussing my personal life. Well, I do, but short of moving away, there’s not much I can do about it. And not that I don’t talk about other people’s lives. But I wasn’t really ready to share any more information about Kevin. Not that there was any more to tell.

Andy Martin of Andy’s Ice Cream was trimming the hedges in Miss Mildred’s yard. He shut off the electric trimmer when he saw us. “I’m glad you’re here, Chief. Miss Millie has been frantic for you all morning.”

“I know. I brought the mayor with me to help with the situation.”

Andy smiled. “Better the two of you than me. Miss Millie can be hard to handle, bless her heart. And she
did
just lose her sister. Is it true you all found Wild Johnny Simpson up at the Blue Whale yesterday?”

“That’s right,” the chief responded. “Does Millie know about it yet?”

“Probably. She still reads the paper. That’s where I got it.”

“Damn newspaper people!”

“Think they’ll have a reunion since both of them are dead now?”

“Doubtful. Johnny has been dead a good thirty years, according to the SBI. Don’t start spreading rumors, Andy. Mayor, let’s go inside.”

I knocked at the big front door, bougainvillea draping across it in pink splendor. I didn’t hear any movement inside, so I turned the handle and pushed it open. “Miss Mildred? Where are you?”

The front hall closet door opened, and she popped her head out. “Do you see her out there?”

“There’s nobody out here but me and the mayor, Millie,” the chief assured her. “Come on out of there.”

Carefully looking around the room, the old lady did as he requested. “Thank God you’re finally here, Ronnie. Lizzie has been here all night long. She probably heard you pull up, and it scared her off.”

“Come and sit down, Miss Mildred,” I coaxed. “Have you eaten? Let me make you some tea.”

“Tea?”
She made a spitting sound. “Child, I need some strong coffee with a little brandy in it. It keeps my heart beating.”

“I’ll get that for you, if you’ll eat something. I don’t think you should have brandy on an empty stomach.”

We all walked into the spotless, sunlit kitchen. Lines of copper pans hung alongside large copper utensils on the yellow wall. I found some eggs and butter, then slipped bread into the toaster. Chief Michaels helped her sit down at the wooden table, then sat beside her.

“I know you’re going to think I’m crazy,” Miss Mildred began, shaking her head.

“I don’t think any such thing,” the chief assured her. “You’re just agitated. Who wouldn’t be with their sister dying that way and all?”

She sniffed. “And Dae still hasn’t brought my watch back. You know, this whole thing started when I asked her to find Mama’s watch.”