A Whisker in the Dark Read online

  “But Mike said he was inspecting some work you’d done for structural integrity.”

  Ed bit his lip but remained silent.

  I took that as guilt. “Ed, what were you doing in there? Does it have anything to do with the treasure or the murder?”

  Ed’s eyes widened. “What? No! Why would you ask that?”

  I glanced at Millie. Mom was leaning against the wall, her eyes half closed. She was no help. Ed sounded genuinely surprised at my question. “Well, it’s obvious you are up to something. You lied to me. Why else would you do that?”

  Ed sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Okay, fine. I admit I lied. But it was what you’d call one of them little white lies.”

  A little white lie? About murder and treasure stealing?

  Millie patted Ed’s arm. “Of course it was. Now, why don’t you tell us all about it so Josie can get rid of this silly notion that you had something to do with the murder.” She shot me a see-I -told-you-Ed-wouldn’t-do-anything-wrong look.

  “Fine, but it will ruin the surprise. Better that I show you.” Ed gestured toward the hallway and we all started walking.

  I had to admit, I wasn’t as convinced of Ed’s innocence as Millie was. He was leading us toward the conservatory and my mind kept telling me to run. If Ed was the killer and knew that we’d figured it out, wouldn’t he want to kill us next? Then again, he was an old man and we were three women. Well, two and a half if you consider my mother wasn’t operating at full speed. I figured we could take him and didn’t I owe him the chance to prove me wrong?

  Millie didn’t seem the least bit worried and followed him right into the conservatory. I hung back in the doorway imagining how the conservatory, which had most of its windows boarded up and was in an isolated part of the house, was a great place to murder someone without being seen. Remaining in the doorway seemed like a good plan because then I could run if he tried something. There was no way I was going to let him get me inside the room and shut the door.

  But then Ed did something surprising. He headed over to one of the windows and ripped off the plywood.

  Mom, Millie and I gasped.

  Underneath the plywood, the windows had been replaced and Ed had installed gorgeous hand-carved molding that was a replica of the original, now rotten, wood.

  “Oh! It looks delightful!” Millie squealed.

  Ed blushed and revealed the next window, and the next.

  This is what he’d lied about?

  Mom and I wandered into the room for a closer look. The wood was oak, stained and polished to honeyed perfection. The carvings were vines and flowers. The artistry was stunning. I turned to Ed. “Did you carve these?”

  His cheeks reddened even further and he nodded. “Got nothing much else to do now that the missus is gone.”

  “But why did you lie about it?” I asked.

  “It was supposed to be a surprise. I was going to wait until I had all the windows done and show you all at once.”

  I pushed words out around the lump of guilt that had formed in my throat: “Thank you. This is really above and beyond anything I was expecting.”

  I couldn’t believe that Ed had done all this and I hadn’t been aware. Maybe I had been too focused on my lack of cooking skills. In my defense, the conservatory was in a secluded section of the guesthouse and he had done most of the work in his shop at home. I wouldn’t have heard the hammering. And since the gardens outside were incredibly overgrown, I never went back there so never noticed the windows had been replaced.

  I ran my hand over the woodwork. “I’m sorry I suspected you.”

  Ed looked down at his feet. “That’s okay. But why did you suspect me?”

  I explained about the wall being original and how I’d thought maybe he had taken a map out of the wall we’d found Jed’s skeleton in and it had led to this area.

  He shook his head. “Nope. No map. If I was a thief I’d have taken that ring, not some map. But now I wonder if that’s why she was acting so sneaky and secretive.”

  “She?” Mom, Millie and I said in unison. Even Mom had perked up for that.

  “Flora. I saw her coming out of one of the guest rooms and she was shoving something in her pocket and looking around to see if anyone was watching. She didn’t see me because I’d just come down from the attic stairs in the back. I can’t be a hundred-percent sure, but I could have sworn she was muttering something about it being the strangest map she ever saw.”

  Twenty-Four

  We found Flora in the front parlor dusting, if you consider sitting on the sofa and running the feather duster over the coffee table while watching the TV dusting.

  She must’ve known something was up though because she eyed us suspiciously as we approached.

  “What? I’m working on my break.” Flora seemed indignant. “You should be lucky I’m just not sitting watching TV. I get a fifteen-minute break every two hours. Federal law.”

  I glanced at Millie. Was that really true? Didn’t matter right now, we had more important fish to fry.

  “It’s not about that, Flora,” I said.

  Flora’s eyes got a little bigger behind the round glasses. She stopped dusting and fiddled with the feathers. “Well, what is it? I cleaned that room like you asked me to.”

  Millie sat down next to her and took her hand. Flora suddenly became very interested in the floor, the window, the table… anything so she didn’t have to look at us. “Well, what is it? Spit it out if you have something to say.” The tone in her voice didn’t match the gruff words. It was clear that Flora was hiding something. I hoped it wasn’t the fact that she’d killed Bob.

  “Now, Flora, we’ve known each other for a long time,” Millie said soothingly. “And you know you can tell me the truth.”

  “The truth? I always tell the truth.” But the way Flora couldn’t meet Millie’s eyes seemed to indicate that this was not the case. My stomach swooped. Had we been wrong about her?

  “Maybe sometimes you tell a little white lie or omit things,” Millie persisted. “Like when you said you weren’t out digging earlier but then admitted later on to Josie that you were in fact out there.”

  Flora scowled. “I never said I wasn’t out digging. I said I wouldn’t have the strength to bash someone over the head with a shovel. You people need to learn how to listen. Why don’t you ask your boyfriend if you want the truth.”

  Millie blushed.

  Mom snorted.

  Flora smirked.

  “But that’s not the only thing you were evasive about is it?” I asked.

  Flora jerked her hand away from Millie and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not a liar. I might have a bad memory though. What, exactly, are you talking about?”

  “You lied about cleaning Arlene and Earl’s room. I saw you go in there and Ed saw you acting sneaky when you came out.” I didn’t mention the part about him thinking she was hiding something in her pocket and mumbling about a map. Stealing from a guest’s room was a harsh accusation and Ed hadn’t seemed completely certain. If Flora had taken something, I wanted to give her the chance to admit to it on her own. “And you lied about not having a shovel.”

  “And you lied about taking a vacation,” Mom said. “Annabel at the travel agency said that you were looking to go to the Caribbean.”

  Flora looked at Mom like she was crazy. “The Caribbean? Where in tarnation did she ever get that idea?” She turned her gaze on me. “I don’t appreciate you calling me a liar, either. And that Ed is a tattletale.”

  “Well then explain all this,” I said. “Why are you being so evasive about being near the pond? What were you doing at the travel agency? Why were you sneaking around Earl and Arlene’s room? And where is your shovel?”

  Flora straightened on the couch, looking rather indignant. Her eyes drifted from me to Millie and then to my mother. Her mouth worked up and down. “I… I…”

  Finally, she sighed and collapsed back into the couch. “Okay, maybe I told a little lie a
bout one of these things.”

  “So you were running from the pond the night Bob was killed?” I said.

  “Sort of. Well, I was near there, but I didn’t kill Bob.” Flora looked contrite and picked at the feathers in the duster. “Let me explain.”

  “Okay. That’s a relief. I knew you couldn’t kill anyone anyway.” Millie patted her hand.

  “When I heard there was treasure, I figured why not try to dig it up too, so I went out there with the rest of them. I was following the family members around thinking they might have a lead on the location. That’s how I ended up on the path from the pond.”

  Millie and Mom scooted to the edges of their seats. “So you were there before Bob was killed? Did you see him with someone or hear them arguing?”

  “No, I didn’t see him at all. It was kind of dark and… well, I don’t see as good as I used to. For all I know, Bob was already dead when I went past.” Flora blanched. “Oh dear, I hope he wasn’t flopping around and I could’ve helped him. Truth was it was a little scary out there and I was rushing back toward the house.”

  “You didn’t see anyone rushing away. No one in front of you?” Mom asked.

  “No.” Flora still couldn’t meet our eyes. There was something she wasn’t telling us.

  “But you must’ve seen something. Sheriff Chamberlain thinks you’re the killer so anything you know would be really helpful in your defense,” Millie said.

  “I didn’t see anything, I swear. If you ask me it’s one of those family members. They were all arguing with Bob.”

  “Yeah, we know that. But, Flora, think hard. You must have seen something,” I said.

  “Nope.” She gazed out the window.

  “Okay, what about your shovel? Where did you put that? Maybe if we can give the shovel to Seth he can do some testing on it to rule you out,” Millie suggested.

  Flora gave her a funny look. “Give it to Seth? He already has it. I’m surprised he still suspects me. Seems like he could have figured out my shovel isn’t the one that killed Bob. Then again, that boy always was a little slow on the uptake.”

  “You already gave him the shovel? When?” I didn’t see how she could have possibly done that in between the time we saw Seth at the town celebration and now, especially since she’d been here cleaning the whole time and Seth hadn’t stopped by. But at the celebration Seth still suspected her, so he must not have had it yet.

  “Give it to him? No. I saw him take it. I put it in the carriage house with the rest of the shovels. That’s where you said you wanted people to put them.”

  My brows knit together. “You did? But Sheriff Chamberlain only found six shovels, one for each of the Biddefords, besides Bob. His shovel was at the murder scene.”

  Mom jumped out of her chair. “Seth just assumed all those belonged to the Biddefords, but if one of the shovels was Flora’s then that means one of the Biddefords’ shovels is missing. My guess is that is the murder weapon!”

  “Which means that Flora is cleared because Seth himself said none of those shovels were the murder weapon,” Millie said.

  “And that also means that one of the Biddefords really is the killer,” I said. Or could it still be Annabel? But if it was her, why would one of the Biddefords’ shovels be missing?

  “But which one?” Mom asked.

  “I hate to say it, but Doris said she’d do anything to get the company back on track and she also lied about them all being together that night,” I said.

  “Bob argued with Carla but she seems to have an alibi,” Mom said.

  “Paula also argued with Bob,” Millie pointed out. “And Paula has been trying to frame quite a few people. Flora and then Myron with the shoes. Maybe she’s the real killer.”

  “I heard someone else argue with Bob,” Flora said.

  We swiveled our heads in her direction. “Who?”

  “Earl,” she said.

  “What did they argue about?” I asked.

  “It’s not like I was trying to eavesdrop. You were out shopping and I was cleaning the hallway when Bob burst into Earl’s room. They had a little bit of a tiff. I couldn’t hear too good but it sounded like something about a secret book and rubble. I figured the rubble had to do with digging, that’s why I…”

  Flora’s voice trailed off and she got more fidgety with the feather duster and glanced around the room.

  “You what?” I prompted.

  “Okay, okay! I’ll admit it. I was lying about one thing. I didn’t clean Earl and Arlene’s room that day, but I was in there.”

  “What were you doing?” Millie asked.

  Flora glanced around to make sure no one else was about, then continued, “When I heard the argument about the secret book I assumed it was something about a treasure map. You know, maybe an old family book or something? I figured it wouldn’t do any harm to go in there and while I was cleaning maybe I could find this book.” Flora glanced out the window. “But when I went in it was pretty obvious where the treasure map was.”

  “Wait, there really is a map?” I could practically see my mom thinking about rushing home to get a shovel. News of the map plus Millie’s coffee had sobered her up.

  “Well, there was. Problem is Earl had burned most of it in the fireplace in his room. I could make out nothing but a few lines of longitude and latitude.” Flora’s expression turned sheepish. “I lied because I didn’t want you to think I stole from the room.”

  “Really? If Earl knew where the treasure was, then did he dig it up?” Millie said.

  “If Bob and Earl argued over it maybe only Bob knew where it was,” Mom said. “Maybe that’s why it was burned.”

  “Wait a minute. I want to see this map. Do you still have it?” I asked.

  Flora blanched. “It wasn’t really stealing, honest. I mean it was in the fireplace so technically it was trash and I was just taking out the trash.”

  “Of course. I’m not mad you took it, but I would like to look at it,” I said.

  “It’s right here in my pocket.” Flora produced a wrinkled, charred piece of paper. “It won’t do you any good though. The map wasn’t for anything on this property. I think Jedediah might’ve buried his treasure at sea.”

  “Why do you say that?” I asked. Millie and Mom had come to stand behind me so they could look over my shoulder.

  “I went down to the travel agency lady to find out where these longitude and latitude would be. But this stupid map isn’t for this property—she said it was for somewhere in the Caribbean Ocean!”

  Millie glanced at me. “Annabel wasn’t lying. Flora really was there, she just assumed she was looking to take a vacation because of the longitude and latitude.”

  “But why would Jed bury the treasure in the middle of the ocean?” Mom’s eyes narrowed. “What if Annabel really did lie? What if she lied to Flora about the coordinates?”

  “What do you mean?” Flora asked.

  Mom leaned forward in her seat. “What if Annabel recognized the numbers for what they were—a map to the treasure. And what if she didn’t want anyone else to know the location. She might have given Flora false information about what the longitude and latitude really meant so that she could dig up the treasure herself!”

  Millie pressed her lips together. “Hmmm… she did have those fancy shoes and she is expanding her business which means she got an influx of money.”

  I stared down at the paper. It was a column of numbers that reminded me of the unbalanced accounting ledger I had for the guesthouse. “Are you sure these are longitude and latitude? Because they don’t look like it to me.”

  “They don’t? Well I just assumed they were. I mean, why talk about a secret book and then burn the paper?” Flora asked.

  Something else tickled the back of my brain. I was on to something, but had one more question. “Flora, did you clean Millie’s grandmother’s doily in the parlor the morning that Sheriff Chamberlain interviewed all of us?”

  “No, I actually didn’t clean that. I
know I should have corrected you when you thanked me for cleaning it before, but I figured what the heck, if you thought I did extra work who am I to set you straight? Besides, after Sheriff Chamberlain interrogated me I had to go to my friend’s house to bake cookies for the great-grandmothers of twins’ table at the town celebration.”

  If Flora didn’t clean the doily, then why had it been clean when there were clumps of dirt on the table? Of course! It was all coming together. “I think I know who the killer is and if we can just find that missing shovel, we can prove—”

  Meroowl!

  At the panicked sound of a cat’s cry, we whipped our heads around to see Nero standing in the doorway. His fur was puffed and his tail stood straight up as his large golden eyes beseeched us.

  Millie frowned. “I never see Nero alone. Nero, where is Marlowe?”

  Nero gave an ungodly cry, spun around and raced out of the room.

  Millie, Mom and I were on our feet in a second, following the cat. It was clear by the way Nero was acting that something was dreadfully wrong.

  Twenty-Five

  Millie was the first through the kitchen door, with my mother and me close behind. Who knew Millie could move so fast? I had to hand it to Mom too, she was managing to keep up despite the afternoon in the beer tent with Paula.

  “Marlowe must be in trouble!” Millie yelled as we watched Nero’s tail disappear down the path that led to the old gardening shed. My mind conjured up all the bad things that could happen to a cat out there. Had she fallen through old rotted boards? Cut herself on a rusty tool? Gotten stuck in some old animal trap? Fallen into an abandoned well? The thought of poor Marlowe hurt was crushing.

  As we headed deeper into the overgrown area, I glanced behind me. Flora was making a good effort to keep up but had barely made it down the back steps. She waved me on and I turned forward, running to catch up to Mom and Millie.

  Branches whipped in our faces as we jumped over gnarled roots sticking up out of the ground and sidestepped fallen branches. We heard a voice ahead.