Room for Murder (Book 4 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) (12 page)

“
I already heard all about
it. The mayor was out here again while you were gone. He said he
was in town talking to Sandra about raising more money for the
covered bridge when you called her.”

“
What was he doing out here
anyway, looking for more donations?”

Elise said, “Ever since he’s announced his
retirement, Grady’s been hovering everywhere. Irma Bean told me
he’s been hanging out at the restaurant just about every night. Do
you want to know the truth? I think the poor man’s just
lonely.”

Alex said, “Don’t worry about him. He’ll be
fine.” As Alex took a sheet from the dryer, he said, “Last I heard,
Grady’s going to do his retirement up in style. He’s selling his
house and buying a motor home, if you can imagine that. That life
might be perfect for him, but I’ve got to have my roots.”

“
Sometimes I think about
traveling,” Elise admitted.

“
So where would you go if
money were no object?” Alex asked. “France? Ireland?
Australia?”

Elise said, “No, there’s too much in America
I haven’t seen. Do you know what I’d really love to do? There are
so many wonderful lighthouses in our country; I’d give anything to
see them all.”

Alex laughed. “You’re worse than I am. Do
you know where I went on my last vacation?”

“
I didn’t think you took
vacations,” Elise said.

“
It’s tough with the inn
and all, but three years ago I shut down for a week and drove to
the Outer Banks. I spent all my time haunting the lighthouses out
there. I even made a new friend on the coast with his own
lighthouse inn.”

“
I think that’s a perfectly
sensible vacation.”

Alex said, “Tell you what, next time you can
go with me.”

“
Perhaps,” Elise
said.

“
Hey, that wasn’t a
proposition. I was just making conversation.”

Elise bit her lower lip, then said, “Can you
finish up here? I just remembered something I need to take care of
immediately.”

“
Absolutely.”

After she was gone, Alex wondered what he’d
said to set her off. There was no doubt about it. Since their
disastrous date, things had taken a decidedly awkward turn between
them, and no matter how hard he tried to break the ice dam, he
couldn’t manage more than chipping a few small chunks away at a
time.

Elise came back just as he finished folding
the last sheet.

“
Your timing is perfect,”
Alex said. “I just finished.”

From the expression on her face, Elise was
in no mood for joking. “Alex, something’s happened. Somebody just
tried to break into Mrs. Nesbitt’s room.”

Alex said, “In broad daylight?” As he
hurriedly left the laundry room, he asked, “What happened?”

“
She’s in the lobby. You
need to talk to her yourself.”

As Alex and Elise rushed out into the lobby
of the Main Keeper’s Quarters, they found Mrs. Nesbitt sipping a
cup of hot tea in one of the rockers near the windows in front

Alex said, “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “Honestly, I hate to be causing
such a fuss. It was probably nothing.”

Alex took the rocker beside her. “Tell me
what happened.”

“
I was going to go out for
a walk, I even got on the path to Bear Rocks, when I suddenly
changed my mind and decided a nap would be more in order.” She
looked apologetic as she added, “I can still do nearly anything I
set my mind to, but sometimes I need a little more rest than I used
to.”

Alex smiled. “I’ve seen you on your walks. I
couldn’t keep up with you.”

She answered his smile with one of her own.
“I know better than that; running an inn is hard work. My sister
worked an entire summer at an inn in Nantucket in the fifties.”

Elise prompted her. “Tell him what
happened.”

Mrs. Nesbitt said, “As I said, I decided to
rest, so I went back up to my room and stretched out on my bed for
a quick nap. I had just fallen asleep when I heard someone trying
my doorknob. At first I assumed it was either you or Elise, but you
both knock before you try your key. When the door started to open,
I’m afraid I screamed.”

Alex suddenly went cold. “Are you certain
your door was locked when you laid down?”

Mrs. Nesbitt said, “I’m positive. Alex, I’m
not about to take a nap with an unlocked door anywhere but in my
home.”

He patted her hand. “Would you be more
comfortable switching rooms? I might be able to talk the newlyweds
into swapping with you, if you’d feel more comfortable somewhere
else. They mentioned an interest in this building.

She laughed gently. “It will take more than
that to drive me out of my favorite room. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
She sat there a moment, then added, “You know, now that I think
about it, perhaps I did forget to latch my door. Yes, I suppose it
could have happened that way.”

Alex said, “Just in case, I’ll take a look
at the door and make sure there’s nothing wrong with the lock.”

She patted his hand. “You’re a good man,
Alex. Thank you for catering to an old woman’s frailty.”

Alex looked around the room. “Old woman?
Where?”

She laughed again. “Oh, you two are good for
me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I never did get that nap.”

After she was gone. Elise said. “Alex. I’ve
got something to confess.”

“
You were the one trying to
break into her room.” he said lightly.

Elise looked grim. “No. but I left my key on
the cart, and when I checked on it, it was gone. I swear I wasn’t
away from it for more than ten seconds.”

This was serious business. “Elise, you know
you’ve got to keep that master key with you all the time.”

“
You don’t have to tell me.
I made a mistake, Alex.” She looked as if she was ready to
cry.

“
Don’t worry, I’m sure it
will turn up.” he said, trying to reassure her. It would be an
expensive process to have Mor or a locksmith retool all the locks
at the inn, but if the master key was floating around somewhere, he
didn’t have any choice.

He added, “Before we do anything rash, let’s
go see if we can find it.”

“
Don’t you think I looked?”
Elise asked. “I was still hunting for it when Mrs. Nesbitt
screamed.”

“
You didn’t see anyone
nearby, did you?”

“
No, but I heard a door
slam in the hallway just before I got there,” Elise admitted. “I
must have just missed whoever it was.”

“
Who is close by?” Alex
asked.

Elise ticked the guests off on her fingers.
“Corki and Jan are up in that part of the inn, the newlyweds are
there, I just moved them this morning as soon as a room opened up,
and Greg and Denise are there, too. I can’t imagine any of them
trying to break into Mrs. Nesbitt’s room. What in the world could
anyone want with that sweet old woman?”

“
I don’t have a clue,” Alex
admitted.

They walked back to Elise’s cart, and Alex
glanced down at a load of towels. He reached under one edge and
plucked out a tarnished old key on a wrist bungee.

“
Is this it?” he asked as
he held it up to her.

“
You know it is,” she said,
grabbing the key from him. “Alex, it wasn’t here before. I swear
it.”

Alex said, “There’s no chance it could have
fallen into the towels when you moved your cart?”

Elise frowned. “I don’t think so, but even
if it did, how do you explain someone trying to break into Mrs.
Nesbitt’s room? I don’t believe in coincidences, and I know you
don’t, either.”

Alex said, “Well, she said she was trying to
take a nap. Is there any chance she dreamed it? I’ve had some
pretty realistic dreams in the past myself.”

“
I heard the door slam
myself, Alex. She didn’t dream that. Someone was trying to get into
her room.”

Alex said, “Tell you what, why don’t we keep
an eye on her in the meantime. Elise, have you seen anything
suspicious about the other folks staying with us?”

“
Odd, yes, but suspicious?
No, nothing I can put my finger on.”

Alex tried to break the tension as he said,
“If folks were arrested for being odd, we wouldn’t have any guests
left at Hatteras West.”

Elise wasn’t buying it, though. “I still
don’t like this,” she said.

“
There’s nothing we can do
now but keep our eyes open,” Alex said.

Alex had been right about the slow grindings
of the law. Emma had to spend one night in jail while Sandra worked
at securing her release.

At Sandra’s urging, he called Mor Pendleton
the next day. “Mor, Emma’s going to be out this morning. Why don’t
you go pick her up?”

There was silence on the other end of the
line, then Mor said, “I can’t make it. Alex, I’m buried with work
right now with Les out of town.”

Alex said, “You can put that stuff off, Mor,
and you know it. Emma needs you.”

Mor exploded. “She thinks I killed him,
Alex. Can you imagine how that feels?”

Alex said, “Mor, I know you have every right
to be upset, but she did it for you.”

“
That’s just it. She was so
sure I killed that snake that she confessed to killing him
herself.”

Alex said, “She knows she made a mistake.
There’s no doubt in my mind that she’ll apologize if you just give
her the chance.”

There was more silence, then Mor said
heavily, “It’s too late for that, Alex.”

Elise had been standing near the telephone
listening to Alex’s side of the conversation. As he hung up, she
said, “I don’t even have to ask how that went. He’s pretty upset,
isn’t he?”

“
That’s putting it mildly.
A friendly face should be there to pick Emma up, don’t you
think?”

Elise said, “Why don’t you go down to the
station and take her home? I can handle things here.”

“
Would you like to go
yourself? She might need a shoulder to cry on, and you’re better at
that than I am. I don’t mind doubling up out here.”

Elise asked, “Are you sure?”

“
Absolutely. Emma needs you
right now more than Hatteras West does.”

She kissed him on the cheek and said,
“Thanks, Alex. I’ll try not to be gone too long.”

Alex smiled softly to himself after she
left. Elise was starting to try to make things right between them
again. At least that was something. Blast it all, he still knew in
his heart that they belonged together.

So how could he convince her of that?

He’d have plenty of time to think about it
during his updated cleaning schedule. There was enough work to keep
him busy till twilight.

Greg and Denise, the rockhound couple,
checked out of the inn a few minutes before Alex’s noon cutoff
time. He had to hustle to get their room ready for his next guests,
Harry and Barb Rush. The Rushes hadn’t said anything about their
seven-year-old triplets when they’d made their reservations, or
their need for three of the inn’s cots.

“
Just sign here, Mr. Rush,”
Alex said as the rambunctious boys carried on a game of “cowboy” in
the lobby, each taking turns dying dramatically on the chairs and
the floor.

“
Boys,” Mrs. Rush snapped
at them, with absolutely no discernable effect.

Harry Rush said, “They’re a little keyed up
right now, but don’t worry, they’re as quiet as cobwebs at
night.”

Alex knew better, but he kept his comments
in check. At least the Rushes were going to be there for just one
night.

After he showed them to their room, Alex
beat a hasty retreat to the laundry room. It was past two and there
was still no sign of Elise. A lunch break had been completely out
of the question, and Alex felt his stomach grumbling as he did the
laundry. Once everything was going, he stole away to his room just
long enough to make a sandwich. When he got back, Alex found that
his own master key was suddenly missing.

Alex raced upstairs and found the key in
Mrs. Nesbitt’s lock, her door standing ajar.

Pushing the door open, Alex felt his pulse
pound in his throat. If something had happened to that sweet old
lady with his stolen key, Alex would never forgive himself.

The room was blessedly empty; no sign that
anything untoward had happened there.

Alex was just leaving the suite when he
heard a man’s scream of outrage come from the newlyweds’ room.

Alex knocked on their door. “What’s wrong?
It’s Alex Winston. Open up.”

Paul Jones came to the door, his camera in
one hand and a dangling roll of film trailing from the back of his
camera. “What happened?” Alex asked.

“
Some juvenile delinquents
broke in here while I was in the bathroom and ruined my film,” he
said as he held the camera and dangling film aloft.

Mr. Rush opened the door on Alex’s first
knock. “Sir, I’m afraid one of your boys may have wandered into
another guest’s room.”

His face was ashen at the news. “Oh, no. I’m
so sorry. What happened?”

Paul held his camera up. ‘They trashed my
film.”

Mr. Rush said, “I’m truly sorry. May I
replace it for you?”

“
You can’t replace the
pictures I took,” the newlywed said angrily.

Mr. Rush replied, “I don’t know what else I
can do.”

Alex said, “I hate to do this, but—”

Mr. Rush cut him off. “Please don’t throw us
out. We haven’t had a vacation in three years. I’ll keep a better
eye on them. I promise.”

The desperation in the man’s voice was
overwhelming.

Alex said, “Okay, but I’ve got to warn you,
one more incident and I’m going to have to—”