Letters in the Attic (3 page)

“I didn’t get a chance to look into the marriage records yet. But I’ll see what I can find out at home. Grace was really helpful in showing me where to look, though. I may have to go back to the library. We’ll see.”

“Isn’t there someone else in Susan’s family you could contact? A niece or an uncle or a cousin or something?”

“I don’t think so.” Annie took a bite of the cookie she had taken. “Delicious as always.”

“Thanks.”

“Anyway, I don’t think Susan had any family. I don’t remember her talking about anybody but her mom and dad.”

“Didn’t she—?”

“Her aunt!” Annie clasped one hand to her forehead. “Of course, the one she stayed with when she lived in New York. It’s so obvious, it never even occurred to me. Her return address has to be on some of those letters Susan sent me back in school.”

“See? That haystack just got a lot more manageable. All you have to do is get back on the Internet and do a reverse lookup on that address, and more than likely it will tell you the name and telephone number of whoever lives there. Easy peasy.”

“Easy for you, maybe. But thanks for the suggestion. I’ll see what I can find out.” Annie beamed at her. “I knew you were my best friend for a reason. I think Susan must have mentioned her aunt’s first name in one of the letters, too, and I’m almost positive her last name was Morris.”

“Just think, you might have Susan’s phone number by tomorrow afternoon.”

“That would be great. I don’t know why, but I really would like to talk to her again and know that she’s OK.”

“Why wouldn’t she be?”

Annie shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d just feel better if I knew for sure. She always seemed to want so badly for somebody to be her friend. I don’t like to think of her being alone in the world.”

Alice reached over to squeeze her hand. “You were always nice to her. Not like me.”

“You?” Annie shook her head. “OK, maybe the two of you were never best friends, but I don’t remember you being mean to her or anything.”

“Maybe not mean, not really, but I was always jealous.”

“Really?”

“Oh, you know. The two of you spent so much time together, and your grandmother was always having her over. I guess I felt a little left out sometimes. And Susan was tall and graceful, just like I wasn’t.”

Annie smiled. “Neither of us has ever been what you could describe as tall, and both of us had our clumsy days.”

“And I guess I was jealous of her looks too.” Alice stared regretfully into the depths of her coffee cup and then took a drink. “All that blond hair.”

“You could get a wig.”

Alice laughed and half choked. “You would have to say that right when I took a big swallow.”

“Sorry about that.” Annie didn’t quite suppress a giggle. “I was going to tell you not to feel bad, because we’ve grown up some since that time.” She winked. “But maybe not.”

“Just for that, I’m turning you out into the cold.”

“Oh, I forgot.” Annie drained her coffee cup and popped the rest of her cookie into her mouth. “Divine Décor, right? Where is it tonight?”

“Camden. It’s not that far, but I’ve never been to that part of town, and I want to make sure I get there on time.”

Annie gathered up her purse and the printouts she had brought with her. “You’ve been a tremendous help, neighbor.”

“Anytime.” Alice went with her to the door. “And I want to know what you find out about the aunt in New York, OK?”

“Sure. Have fun tonight.”

Annie waved and scurried back to her own front porch and into the house. It
was
getting colder. She took a few minutes to start a fire in the hearth and then looked through the day’s mail. Then she opened the drawer in the end table next to the couch and took out the stack of Susan’s letters.

She had read them over several times since she first discovered them, remembering the friends and happenings Susan had written about, looking for clues they might hold. Was there any use in reading them over again? Something she had missed?

She ruffled the corner of the yellowing envelopes and saw the return addresses on each of them flip past. Many of the letters had been mailed from Susan’s aunt’s house in New York, but several were from 214 Elm Street in Stony Point.

What was the house like now? Annie remembered it being a huge white building, very old, very square and straight, with black-shuttered windows and a pretty little fan-shaped window above the front door. Like Grey Gables, it had two stories plus a large attic full of places to explore and to hide in. She hoped for Susan’s sake that this Tom Maxwell had kept it nice. Being a handyman, he should.

Maybe she’d drive out and look at the old place again one of these days. It had been pretty old when she visited Susan there. No matter what kind of shape it was in now, it would be worth looking at.

In the meantime, Annie would keep working on her Maine sweater. Winter was just around the corner now. Even during the day, she had to turn up the heat. The sweater would be a necessity before much longer, and she could use a nice peaceful evening by the fire to crochet and think. Tomorrow she’d do some more research and track down Susan once and for all.

4

“Y
ou’re our first customer.” Grace stood up from her station behind the Circulation Desk and walked with Annie over to the Reference Room. “Still looking for Susan Morris?”

“I’m working on it. I tried to do some searching on my laptop at home this morning, but I realized I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.” Annie took her notepad out of her purse and opened it up. “If you have a few minutes, I’d appreciate it if you could give me some pointers on looking up what I need.”

“It can be a little overwhelming, can’t it? There’s so much to choose from.”

“Exactly. If you could point me in the right direction, that would sure save me time.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Let’s see what we can find.”

Annie followed her into the reference area and sat down at one of the computers. Grace looked over Annie’s shoulder at the screen.

“OK, what sort of information are you looking for today?”

“I’d like to know when Susan got married, and who her husband is.”

Grace nodded. “The best place to start would be the state’s marriage records. What else are you looking for?”

“She lived with an aunt in New York City when she went to high school. I’d like to find out where that aunt is.”

“Did you try looking her up by name?”

Annie chuckled. “That’s where the overwhelming part comes in. Do you know how many Kimberly Morrises there are in New York City? Alice told me you can get a phone number just by entering the address, but I don’t know what kind of site that would be or how to find it.”

“Supposing the aunt is still at the same address, you could try this white pages site and use their reverse lookup.” Grace jotted the web address down on a piece of scratch paper and gave it to Annie. “It’ll give you the phone number for the address you want and the name of the people living there. Provided it’s not unlisted, of course.”

“That’s perfect. I really appreciate it.”

Grace nodded. “And I’ll be right up front if you need more help.”

Annie thanked her and turned to the computer. She typed in “state of Maine marriage records.”

The link took her back to the official state site and then to a marriage index. She entered the bride’s name and town but left blank the fields for the groom’s information. For the marriage date, she put in the entire year of 1989. “That ought to bring up Prince Charming.” She hit Enter. A couple of seconds later, a message popped onto the screen:
No records found that meet your search criteria.

Annie frowned. Maybe Susan hadn’t gotten married as soon after she sold the house as everyone thought. Annie changed the date to cover 1989 through 1990 and hit Enter.
No records found that meet your search criteria.

Maybe, since Susan had already sold the house, she hadn’t listed her town as Stony Point. Annie cleared the box for the bride’s town and hit Enter again.
No records found that meet your search criteria.

Her frown deepened.

“Fine,” she murmured and expanded the dates of the search to cover 1985 through 2005. “If Susan was married anywhere in Maine anytime within those twenty years, this will find her.”
No records found that meet your search criteria.

She went back to the browser and tried a few more sites, but those came up with nothing, wanted a written request for information, or charged for their services. Until she had a bit more to go on, Annie wasn’t ready to go that route.

The marriage part was going to be a little more difficult than she expected. Maybe finding Aunt Kim would be a little easier.

She brought up the telephone directory Grace had suggested and entered the return address from Susan’s New York letters. Almost instantly, she had a telephone number and a name. It wasn’t Kimberly Morris as she had hoped, but it was a place to start.

“All right, Mayberry, Sheldon H., let’s see what you know.” Annie stepped outside to call the number on her cell phone and waited while it rang. And rang. And rang. Just as she was about to give up, there was a click on the other end of the line.

“Hello? Is that you, Carol Ann?” The voice clearly belonged to an elderly woman. “You were supposed to call me yesterday. You never called.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. This isn’t Carol Ann.” Annie felt a little bit guilty for the shortcoming. “My name is Annie Dawson. I’m calling—”

“No, I’m sorry, young lady, but you must have the wrong number. There’s no Annie Dawson here.”

“No, ma’am, my name is Annie Dawson. Are you Mrs. Mayberry?”

“Why, yes, I am.” Annie could hear the smile in the old woman’s voice. “Did Carol Ann ask you to call me?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t know Carol Ann. But I was wondering if you could answer a question for me.”

“I’m not going to give you my Social Security number.”

Annie had to force herself not to laugh at the sudden fierce determination she heard.

“No, ma’am. You shouldn’t ever give that out to anyone. I’m just trying to find out about someone who used to live at your house a long time ago. I’m trying to find a friend of mine, and this lady was her aunt. Would you mind telling me how long you’ve lived there?”

“Let’s see, it was November of 1988. I remember because it was Carol Ann’s thirty-fifth birthday.”

“You don’t happen to remember who lived there before you, do you?”

Mrs. Mayberry laughed softly. “I let my husband take care of all the details. All I remember is we got the place because the lady who lived here had just passed away. Her name was Monroe or Morrison or something like that. I know it started with an M, because it was the same as our last name.”

“Could it have been Morris?”

“Oh goodness, honey, it’s been more than twenty years now. I couldn’t say for sure.”

“But you say the previous tenant had passed away back in ’88?”

“That’s what we were told. I’m sorry I can’t be of any more help to you.”

“No, Mrs. Mayberry, you’ve been a lot of help. I’m sorry to have disturbed you.”

“You didn’t disturb me at all, honey. You call back anytime.”

Annie thanked her and hung up the phone. So much for finding Kimberly Morris there. Had she been the tenant who passed away in 1988? It was certainly possible.

After consulting with Grace once again, she spent a considerable amount of time trying to navigate the death records for the state of New York. Finally, she found a site used by genealogical researchers that claimed to have New York obituaries from 1988 forward. She typed “Kimberly Morris, 1988, New York City.” That brought up forty-six different records, so she added “Jack” and “Ellen” to the search.

“Bingo.”

There was a notice in the October 7, 1988, issue of the
New York Times
.

MORRIS — Kimberly Denise, 53. Staff Artist, Plus du Monde Chic. Died of complications of pneumonia at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center on October 5, 1988. Survived by brother, Jack Morris; sister-in-law, Ellen Morris; and niece Susan Morris, all of Stony Point, Maine. She will be missed.

Poor Susan. Another loss. Annie knit her brows and tried to remember some of her high school French.
Plus du Monde Chic
. “More of the Fashionable World”? That sounded close enough. Aunt Kim must have worked for a small fashion magazine. What fun Susan must have had living with her while she went to high school.

Annie printed out a copy of the obituary. How terrible it must have been for Susan to lose her and then her parents so soon after.

“I wish you had let me know, Sooz. I’d have been there for you. I’d like to be there for you now.”

“Fall down a rabbit hole?”

Annie started. “Grace. I didn’t see you. My goodness, what time is it?”

“Almost two o’clock. I’ve been to lunch and back. You ought to take a break before you waste away back here.”

“Maybe you’re right. I still haven’t found what I’m looking for, but thanks to you, I’m inching closer.”

“Go get some lunch and a breath of fresh air. We’ll still be here when you’re ready to start looking again.”

Air was exactly what Annie needed, the brisk October air out on Main Street. She stepped out of the library door, took a deep breath, and then scurried across Oak Lane to The Cup & Saucer. The lunch crowd was gone, and Annie was glad to see that her favorite corner table was empty.

Peggy looked up from the counter where she was refilling salt shakers. “Hi, Annie. What’ll it be?”

“Coffee to start with. I don’t know what I want to eat yet, but I’m starved.”

It took just a minute for Peggy to bring her a steaming cup.

“Everything OK?”

“Yeah. It is.” Annie sighed. “Some people just have it rough, you know.”

“Sometimes you’re the windshield; sometimes you’re the bug.”

Peggy gave her a menu and a wry grin, and Annie answered with one of her own.

“I know, but some people get a lot of trouble all at once.”

“Anybody I know?”

“Susan Morris, the one we were talking about at the club meeting. I’ve been over at the library doing some research. Mary Beth was right about her parents being killed in a car wreck, and I found out that the aunt she was living with in New York died not very long before that.”

“That’s too bad.” Peggy leaned against the other side of the booth. “And she was just out of college then? What a shame. What about that rich guy? Did you find out anything about him?”

“I haven’t found any marriage records for Susan yet. So far, Prince Charming is still a complete mystery.”

“Did somebody say Prince Charming?” A lanky guy in a policeman’s uniform got up from his stool at the lunch counter and sauntered over to Annie’s table. “Are you looking for me, ma’am?”

Peggy pursed her lips. “Oh, go sit down and drink your coffee, Roy, and let the adults talk.”

“Now, that’s no way to treat your elders, Peg. Why don’t you introduce me to your friend here? Not that everybody in Stony Point hasn’t heard of pretty Annie Dawson.”

Annie didn’t know whether to be flattered or annoyed. She settled for skeptical. “Have they?”

“Yes, indeed.”

Peggy snorted. “This is Roy Hamilton. Obviously one of Stony Point’s finest.”

“I haven’t seen you around town,” Annie admitted, shaking the hand he offered. “Are you new here?”

“Just hired on by Chief Edwards when Callahan retired. I was working in Newcastle until a little while ago, but I heard Stony Point was a pretty attractive place to hire on.” He grinned at Annie. “Very attractive, if you ask me.”

Annie refrained from rolling her eyes. “Do you live here in town?”

“I’m renting a beach house on Ocean, just north of Elm.” His grin widened. “I guess that makes us neighbors.”

“You must be at Mr. Cruz’s. The little house with white trim and a porch swing?”

“That’s the one. And, of course, everybody knows about Grey Gables. That’s a big place for one little lady by herself.”

“I don’t live alone.” Annie pretended not to notice the smirk on Peggy’s face.

“You don’t?” Roy’s sandy eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead. “I heard you were a widow.”

Annie smiled sweetly. “I am.”

“And all your family lives back in Texas, right?”

“They do.”

Roy chuckled. “You’ve got a dog.”

“A cat,” Annie admitted. “But she’s the jealous type.”

“Hmm. Maybe I’ll have to try to win her over with some fresh salmon. We lawmen aren’t allowed to accept bribes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t offer a few.”

She couldn’t help laughing. “I’ll leave that between you and Boots.”

“Of course, if you’d like to …” A beep from the cell phone hooked to his belt drew his attention. “Excuse me a second.”

He walked back over to the counter to take his call, and Peggy shook her head.

“Sorry about that, Annie. He’s not one to take a hint.”

“Poor guy’s probably just lonely. It’s hard when you’re new in town. I know.”

“I beg your pardon, ladies.” Roy came back to Annie’s table. “I’ve got business to see to, Annie, but I hope, now that we’ve been properly introduced, that I’ll see you again.”

“Stony Point’s a small place.” Annie kept her voice light and impersonal. “So that’s pretty likely.”

“Us being neighbors and all.” Roy took his mirrored sunglasses from his shirt pocket. “If you ever need anything, you come see me. Thanks for the coffee, Peg.”

He handed Peggy a folded bill and went out the front door. Annie watched as he took long strides across Main Street toward the town hall.

“Well, he’s not shy.”

“Just a nuisance more than anything else.” Peggy made a sour face. “He’s always asking for his ‘police discount.’ Hardy-har-har.” Peggy unfolded the bill, brightening when she saw it was a five. “But he does tip well.”

Annie chuckled, and Peggy pocketed the money.

“Anyway, back to what we were talking about earlier: I’ve been asking just about everybody I’ve seen if they know anything about Susan Morris, but nobody seems to remember much about her. Sorry. I really would have thought you’d find something about her marriage.”

Annie sighed. “That’s where I hit a brick wall. Nothing on any Susan Morris getting married to anyone anywhere in the state of Maine anytime between 1985 and 2005. Absolutely nothing.”

“Hmm. I guess it’s possible she was married somewhere out of state.”

“I guess so.” Annie took a sip of coffee. “That proverbial haystack just got a lot bigger. Are you sure you never heard anything about this man she was supposed to be married to?”

“Me? I was way too young to pay any attention to that kind of thing back then. Maybe Mary Beth will have thought of his name by the time you see her next.”

“Or that shoe company he had. It was shoes, right?”

“That’s what she said.”

Annie bit her lip. “I guess I could search for Maine shoe manufacturers and see what I come up with.”

“But if she wasn’t married in the state, maybe he didn’t live here either. His company could have been in Virginia or New York or Timbuktu.”

Annie propped her chin on her hand. “Yeah, I know.”

“Hey, I forgot.” Peggy tapped the tabletop with one bright pink fingernail. “I have some good news for you. I asked Wally about the other guy, the handyman. His name is Tom Maxwell, and Wally says he’d do you a good job if you’re in a hurry to start on your bathroom.”