Murder of a Hermit, page 16
The doubt grew. ‘Gina – in her flawless linen sheath and sparkling jewels – fought Carter on the side lawn, pushed him into the retention pool, and then took the chance of damaging her expensive designer heels in the dirty drainage water by holding a hose or two on top of him until he drowned?’
For a moment, it appeared that Summer wanted to argue. Then she frowned instead. ‘You’re probably right. Gina wouldn’t risk ruining her shoes.’
Hope nodded. ‘It’s a grotesque way to explain a person’s innocence. In her case, however, it seems pretty accurate.’
Summer frowned some more. ‘But if we set the shoes aside, Gina is by far the best suspect.’
‘She is? How so?’
‘Because of the book. If the theory is that somebody killed Carter because of the book, who would be the most interested in it? Gina, naturally. That could be the reason she was so eager to see the study. She may have wanted to steal the book the same as Carter.’
Hope didn’t immediately respond.
‘You said before that to the right person,’ Summer continued, ‘the book is valuable. And Gina could very well imagine herself to be one of those right people. She’s clearly trying to pass herself off as a spiritualist with magical abilities. An old book dealing with the occult is perfect for her pretensions.’
‘Except the book is in Latin,’ Hope countered. ‘Do you honestly believe that Gina is a Latin scholar?’
‘She may not have known that it was in Latin. Or she may have thought that Latin was as reasonably straightforward to translate as French or Italian. Or she may have planned on selling the book to someone. That could be another way in which Gina has been accumulating her wealth. Aside from her fraudulent séances, maybe she also deals in stolen art and antiques. There is a lot of money in the rare book trade.’
Hope shook her head at her sister. ‘Don’t you think that’s a bit too much conjecture?’
‘I don’t think that you’re conjecturing enough,’ Summer returned.
‘We don’t have any evidence for what you’re saying. It’s all speculation.’
‘No, it’s not. You agreed only a minute ago that from a timing perspective, Gina could have killed Carter.’
‘Yes, but if we start accusing people of murder based solely on incidental timing, then we might as well accuse Paul Larson next.’
‘Why Paul?’ Summer asked with instant interest.
‘He appeared on the side lawn just after Rosemarie and I discovered Carter’s body. He could have already been there, and Rosemarie and I just didn’t see him. So – the same as with Gina – it’s technically possible that Paul could be guilty of murder. But he obviously isn’t guilty.’
‘How can you be sure?’ Summer rejoined.
‘For starters, Paul didn’t even know Carter. He had never met him.’
‘Paul claims that he didn’t know Carter and had never met him. Miranda thought that Paul did meet Carter at the get-together at Gina’s house.’
‘Either way,’ Hope said, ‘it’s more speculation. But here’s something that isn’t speculation: when Paul appeared on the side lawn, he was carrying Percy. I specifically noticed that Percy’s coat was clean and dry, and he hadn’t been swimming in the pool that day. I would have noticed at the same time if Paul’s shirt or shoes were wet, which they weren’t. It’s hard to imagine that whoever killed Carter didn’t get at least somewhat splashed with water. You thought so, too, when you accused Austin of being the murderer and said that his profuse sweating was actually water from the pool and fighting with Carter.’
Summer couldn’t dispute that.
‘Plus,’ Hope went on, ‘when Paul saw Carter lying in the pool, he was seriously startled.’ She added without pausing, ‘I know you’re going to contend that it could have been an act, but if it was, then it was really convincing. Paul stared at the body for a long while. I’m inclined to think that someone who is guilty of murder would look away sooner, perhaps even immediately. Although, once again, that’s purely speculation.’
Summer was thoughtful. ‘I don’t suppose that there’s any reason for Paul to have killed Carter.’
‘Not unless Miranda was the one having an affair with him, and Paul found out about it. Miranda is certainly enamored with the idea of living on Bent Mountain. I don’t know if Carter’s house is as new and fancy as Gina’s, but it probably has some sort of a nice view. Maybe Miranda was hoping to move in with Carter up there.’
‘Miranda cheat on Paul and leave him?’ Summer blinked at her in disbelief. ‘Paul is the nicest guy in the world. Nobody would cheat on Paul and leave him.’
Hope replied with a cynical smile. ‘That settles it. The nicest guy in the world – and our trusted neighbor – will turn out to be the murderer.’
SEVENTEEN
‘I don’t see it.’
‘I don’t, either.’
‘Maybe we should start from the beginning,’ Summer proposed, ‘and do the whole thing over again.’
Hope climbed down from the stepladder that she had been standing on and seated herself on a metal rung. ‘We’ve searched through this room for more than an hour. We’ve combed every corner, every shelf, every potential nook and cranny. We’ve examined the top of the bookcases, between the bookcases, and behind the bookcases. We’ve checked under the sofa, in all the drawers of the desk, even inside the bends of the globe stand, which couldn’t possibly hold anything. There is nowhere left to look.’
‘If the power were on and there was more light…’
‘Inadequate lighting isn’t our issue. We have two lanterns, plus that high beam flashlight you’re holding, which is singlehandedly brighter than all of the electric lamps in here combined. We have to face the truth.’
Summer switched off the flashlight and sank into one of the scuffed leather armchairs with bronze nail heads. ‘And the truth is that Volume II is gone.’
‘Volume II is gone,’ Hope echoed.
‘On the positive side,’ Summer said, not sounding particularly positive, ‘at least we’ve recovered Volume I.’
They turned toward the book that Hope had carefully set on the blotter of the barrister desk when they had first entered the study.
‘After what’s happened,’ Summer continued, ‘I would say that it’s too risky to leave the book in here in the future, but now that the potato-coal chute has been sealed up, it’s probably safe.’
Hope shook her head. ‘It isn’t safe. Even though the cellar will no longer be a potential entry point into the room, the boutique still is. It never occurred to me until we discussed how Gina might have slipped from the shop into the rest of the brownstone unnoticed, but now I realize that anybody who is sufficiently motivated can get to the study by distracting us or waiting for our backs to be turned long enough to slink inside.’
‘But we don’t want to put a deadbolt on every door in the place and keep locking and unlocking them all day long to go from one room to another!’
‘Definitely not. So in the alternative, we have to remove everything from the library that could generate too much interest and be too tempting to a prospective thief. Volume I is at the top of the list, obviously, and this weekend, we’ll go through the other books and related matter to pull out any item that might be a cause for concern or would provide information that shouldn’t be generally disseminated.’
‘That’s an excellent idea,’ Summer agreed. ‘If we had done it sooner, we wouldn’t be in this mess now.’
‘We didn’t have any reason to do it sooner. Gram let the books sit in plain view on these shelves for decades, and not a single one was ever taken. During all the time that the conspiracy theorists had dinner here – and I remember some of them spending the night in the guest rooms, too – nothing was stolen or even borrowed temporarily without permission. No nosey friend or inquisitive workman walked away with anything over the years, either.’
‘It’s a sign that people’s moral code used to be higher, or it’s an unusual piece of bad luck.’ Summer frowned at the ceiling. ‘Aren’t the occupants of the attic supposed to warn us about these things? They can thump and bump, whisper and whimper, slam doors and play with the lights at their whim, but they can’t alert us that our books – books on the occult that certainly include information relating to them – are being filched?’
Hope raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Leaving Volume I in here in the future isn’t half as risky as what you just said about the spirits.’
Summer grumbled an acknowledgement, followed by a half-hearted apology toward the ceiling.
There was a pause as the sisters listened. No sound came from above them.
‘I have the feeling that the spirits did try to warn us,’ Hope said after a moment, her voice low. ‘Both about the books and what would happen to Carter. They were restless in the night when Carter was creeping up from the cellar into the study. Megan heard them, too. But we just ignored it, assuming that it was no more than their usual midnight activities. Then came the thuds and the flickering lights while we were discussing the retention pool before the tea started yesterday afternoon. I thought that it was a little odd, because I mistakenly connected it to Rosemarie and Percy. Now I understand that it was actually about poor Carter and the pool. And there were more noises and issues with the lights later on, but I can’t recall exactly what we were saying or doing at each specific time. I do remember that the spirits didn’t like our mention of’ – she dropped her voice further – ‘séances, especially ones related to Gina.’
‘I agree with them on that,’ Summer muttered, picking at one of the bronze nail heads on her chair.
Hope nodded.
‘Instead of all the vague hints and signals that we have to decipher as though we’re supernatural code breakers,’ Summer continued in complaint, ‘it would be nice if the spirits could be a little more precise and a little less ambiguous with their messages.’
‘They would probably contend that their messages are perfectly clear, and it’s our fault for not paying closer attention to them,’ Hope replied. ‘In any event, there’s no question that they’re continually paying attention to what’s happening in and around the brownstone, which is why I suggest that we put Volume I, hopefully Volume II, and everything else of import in the attic with them for safekeeping.’
It was Summer’s turn to raise an eyebrow. ‘You want the spirits to guard the books?’
‘I’m open to a different plan if you have one. But what other good option is there? It’s not as though we can use a bank safety deposit box in this situation. If an emergency suddenly arises and we need to consult one of the books, we would have to wait until a weekday – but not a holiday – during standard business hours to access it.’
‘The spirits aren’t always so eager and willing for us to access the attic, either,’ Summer reminded her.
‘But that typically only lasts a short while,’ she said. ‘If there was a truly serious situation, I’m sure they wouldn’t obstruct us and would want to help as much as they could. They always have in the past. And in the attic, the books are guaranteed to be protected from all earthly threats.’
‘It’s hard to argue with the last part,’ Summer admitted. ‘Fine, we’ll let the spirits look after the books, assuming that we manage to regain possession of Volume II. Do you think that Carter took it, as well?’
Hope deliberated. ‘He must have. No other scenario really makes sense. My guess is that Carter stole Volume II from the study first, although he may not have known at the time that the book was part of a set. After taking it, he crept back down into the cellar and out through the potato-coal chute. That was during the night. The next day, Carter did the same thing, taking Volume I instead, which is why he had that – but not the other book – hidden in his cloak when he died.’
Summer frowned and started to pick at the bronze nail head again. ‘I understand that Carter could have come into the brownstone undetected during the night, but wouldn’t someone have noticed him during the day? Miranda and Paul saw him the previous morning along the side wall, albeit without recognizing him. And Megan saw him at the corner.’
‘Carter might have still been trying to figure out how to get inside then. Maybe he wasn’t entirely sure about the metal door and the potato-coal chute, and that’s why he was lingering around the property and was spotted by everyone in the process. But once he had succeeded through the cellar the first time, it must have been a lot easier and faster for him the second go-around. He knew exactly what to do when and where. It probably all went so swiftly that unless somebody was looking at the exact moment he approached the door in the wall, he wouldn’t have been noticed regardless of whether it was night or day.’
‘He was lucky that none of us were in the study at that hour.’
‘We were working in the boutique, as we always do. It would have been easy for him to check that with a quick glance through the front door or window.’
‘It seems odd,’ Summer mused, ‘that Carter didn’t take both of the books at the same time. Going into the study twice – even if he checked that we were in the boutique – only increased the likelihood that he would be caught.’
‘I’ve been puzzling over that, too,’ Hope said. ‘It makes me wonder if the books weren’t actually for Carter. He might have been stealing them for someone else, and either that person didn’t know there were two books until after Carter came back with the one labelled Volume II, or the person didn’t explain it clearly to Carter from the outset. Perhaps Carter didn’t want to take the books at all. That could be another explanation for why he was pacing on the sidewalk when Megan saw him. He might have been debating with himself whether to go into the shop and tell us what somebody wanted him to do.’
‘But who? And how would they get Carter to steal for them?’
Hope could only shake her head. ‘As to who, it might be anyone. As to how, maybe Carter was bribed or promised something in exchange for the books. Or perhaps he was threatened that whatever affair he was having would be revealed. It’s difficult to even venture a guess beyond that, because aside from the fact that Carter lived on Bent Mountain and was a member of a local book group, we have so little information about him.’
‘Then we need to get more information about him!’ Summer exclaimed. ‘Right away, before the police start digging too much. The more they dig, the less we’ll be able to find out ourselves. And if we don’t find out something soon, then we won’t have any reasonable chance of getting our book back—’
‘Didn’t you get your book back?’
Both Hope and Summer jumped at the unexpected voice, and they spun toward it. Detective Nate – in his customary work attire of tan slacks and a white button-down shirt – was standing just inside the hall at the entrance to the study. The lanterns cast him in a creamy ball of light. The sisters exchanged an apprehensive look. When had Nate arrived, and how much of their conversation had he heard?
He stepped into the doorway of the room. ‘I was under the impression that your book had been returned to you last night. Dylan told me that he handed it to you personally at Morris’s house.’
‘Yes,’ Summer confirmed. ‘Dylan gave us the book you found in Carter’s cloak.’ She ended the sentence shrewdly, implicitly inquiring whether Nate was aware of a book that hadn’t been found in Carter’s cloak.
‘Good. I’m glad to hear it,’ he said. ‘Dylan and I were in agreement that you would probably want the book back as soon as possible.’ Nate smiled slightly. ‘Before too many curious eyes asked too many curious questions.’
Hope and Summer exchanged another look, this one of considerable relief. Nate’s smile didn’t bother them. They were far too pleased by the rest of his response, which indicated that he hadn’t been in the hall for long, and he had caught no more than a few words. He didn’t know about the second book.
Summer’s smile in return was warm, and she motioned toward the other armchairs. ‘Won’t you come in and take a seat, Nate?’
He didn’t hesitate in accepting the offer. Hope restrained a laugh as he selected the chair that had the best view of Summer. With her peaches-and-cream complexion and wide, pouty mouth, Summer was always pretty, but in the glow of the lanterns, she had the delicate appearance of porcelain. Nate gazed at her admiringly.
‘Have you received any news regarding the electricity?’ Summer asked him. ‘Did you happen to notice whether our neighbors had power when you came in?’
‘The entire block is still out,’ he answered. ‘But the latest official update is that the electric company should have the problem resolved by mid-afternoon.’
Summer winked at her sister. ‘Poor Miranda. That’s probably not early enough to save the contents of her freezer.’
Hope chuckled.
‘I hope you don’t mind that I came into the brownstone uninvited,’ Nate said. ‘I was in the boutique, but you weren’t there, obviously. So I followed the light until I found you back here.’
‘Of course we don’t mind. Isn’t that right, Hope?’ Summer didn’t wait for her to reply. ‘And we hope that you don’t mind about the removal of the crime scene tape from the side lawn. It was Morris’s doing. He got a bit anxious and overprotective. It was awfully sweet of him to worry about us so much, but we don’t want you to have any trouble with the police chief because of it.’
‘There’s no trouble.’ Nate gave a casual shrug. ‘It’s just tape. I learned a long time ago not to argue with whatever my bosses decide.’
Summer’s mood improved even more, and she leaned toward Nate attentively. He responded in kind. With the dim lighting, the room was taking on an intimate air. Hope decided that it was time for her departure.
‘Sitting on the stepladder has worsened the crick in my neck from this morning,’ she said, rising from the metal rung. ‘I need to walk around to stretch my shoulders and back. I’ll check on the boutique, in case anybody else has wandered in during our absence.’
