A Touch of Gold (21 page)

I went up the stairs to the boardwalk, trying to get back to more mundane things—like wondering if Trudy had made any sales this morning. There was an enclosed area that formed an open-ended walkway between town hall and several other shops. Visitors had to pass through there before reaching the boardwalk that faces the sound and leads to the other stores. It’s always a little dark here—even during the day. Sometimes teenagers hang out here at night, and store employees take advantage of the spot to smoke.

I was walking through the area when someone called my name, interrupting my thoughts and making me jump.

Brad Spitzer stepped out of the shadows. “Mayor O’Donnell? I have a few questions for you.”

Chapter 14

“S
orry. Did I scare you?” Brad asked when he saw me jump.

“That’s okay.” I forced a smile. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone. What did you want to ask me?”

“Mind if I walk a little with you?”

“No, of course not—I’m only going to my shop.”

“That’s fine. It won’t take long.”

I started walking again, and he fell in step with me as we emerged into the watery sunlight that filtered between the fast moving clouds over the sound.

“Mayor, have you spoken with Agnes Caudle about the fire?”

I felt a little nervous, so my words were carefully chosen. “Yes. I got back from the hospital a few minutes ago. Agnes is doing okay. They might release her today.”

“Good news! Does she recall anything about the fire—anything unusual?”

“We didn’t get into that. I’m sure she’d be glad to talk to you.”

“Maybe. People share things with friends and neighbors—things they won’t tell the authorities.” He paused and leaned against the railing, looking out over the water. “Mrs. Caudle’s house fire could’ve been a deliberate attempt to kill her. My report will state that a mixture of gas and oil—the same type you might use in a lawn mower or a chainsaw—was used as an accelerant.”

I didn’t know what to say. It was unusual for someone in Brad’s position to give out information like this—unless there was a reason. “At least there was no cannon this time.”

I was sorry as soon as I’d said it. It sounded flip and uncaring. I didn’t mean for it to, but that’s the way it came out.

He straightened up and looked directly into my face. “True. The source isn’t as strange. Do you have any idea who might want to hurt both Max and Agnes Caudle?”

“No! Everyone loves both of them. I can’t imagine who’d want to do this.”

“Sometimes people have a hard time expressing a problem. Mayor O’Donnell, I have to ask—did you have a problem with the Caudles?”

I knew something was up. I hadn’t expected him to question me about what happened, but now I understood why he was here. “Are you suggesting I had something to do with either incident?”

Brad shook his head and smiled a little, like he was trying to throw me off. “No, ma’am. But it seems mighty strange to me that you were at the museum when it blew up. You were at the house during the fire. I might even consider it odd that you were at one of the last places Sam Meacham was seen alive.”

I lost my mayor’s smile and glared at him. “I haven’t killed anyone recently, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“You know, we thought everything was tied up with this feud between Max and Sam. But that’s off the books now. We know it was someone else.”

“Mind telling me why?” The wind blew my hair into my face. I scraped it aside with angry, trembling fingers. Was he
really
thinking I had killed two people?

“Sure. This is still confidential information, mind you. Mr. Meacham was dead long before the house fire, according to the medical examiner’s office in Manteo. Even if he was responsible for the first event, he wasn’t there for the second.”

“I can’t deny that I was nearby when the explosion and the house fire occured, or that I found Sam Meacham’s Segway,” I responded. “But I have no motive for hurting anyone.”

“Although you did have opportunity.”

I was a little scared and very angry at the same time. I could continue to defend myself to him, but what was the point? If he planned on getting a confession from me, he was going to be disappointed. He would have to continue his investigation to find out anything else. “I won’t talk about this with you any further.”

“You certainly have that right. Maybe you should consider talking with your grandfather. I understand he was an excellent sheriff. He might be able to give you some guidance. Otherwise, you might need an attorney.”

“This is a stupid waste of time and energy, Mr. Spitzer. The real killer is out there somewhere. My only crime might be that I tend to be in the wrong places at the wrong time.”

“I’ve also heard that you like to investigate a little here and there.”

“I don’t think that makes me a killer.”

He took a card out of his wallet. I hoped he didn’t notice that my hands were shaking when he handed it to me. “This is my cell number. If you need to talk, I might be able to help you with the DA. Cooperation goes a long way in my book. You help me and I’ll help you. Thanks for talking with me, Mayor.”

I didn’t—couldn’t reply. As I walked quickly away from him, my phone started ringing. It was Nancy. She was at town hall and had news about Adelaide, the woman whose dress had floored me when I touched it at the Blue Whale.

“I looked up anyone named Adelaide who’d drowned in recent history,” she told me when I got there. “There was a woman in February 1955—Valentine’s Day. They found her washed up on the Atlantic side only a few miles down from the Blue Whale.”

“What was her whole name?” I took out my notebook.

“Adelaide Reynolds, twenty years old. She was married and had a young daughter.”

“Reynolds.” I mulled the name over. “Could she be related to Floyd Reynolds, Agnes Caudle’s father?”

“I don’t know. Want me to check on that?”

“That would be great. Thanks. But not tonight. This is Saturday, remember? I don’t think we even pay you to work on Saturday.”

“You know I love to come in here. I don’t care what day it is.” She smiled at me, her eyes searching my face. “Anything I should know about, Dae?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m still connecting the dots right now. I appreciate your help, Nancy.”

“You know I love to snoop!”

We both laughed, but it was true.

“The Duck Historical Society has planned an emergency meeting,” she said. “It’s Monday at seven thirty P.M. They’d like you to be there. I think they may be talking about a fundraiser for the new museum. They probably want you to lead the charge.”

“That’s fine. I’ll put it on my calendar. Now go home. Take up knitting or something.” She knew I was joking, at least a little. No telling how much time she really spent up here keeping everything straight for us. If there was a real heart to Duck, it was Nancy.

A new Duck museum. What would that be like without Max? Who would take his place as curator? No one sprang to mind. I knew it had to happen. I knew there would be someone we would all come to accept as our new historian, but it was hard to imagine
who
right now.

I finished my walk to Missing Pieces, slamming the door closed behind me. I was sad and still angry about Max’s death. Here I was trying to find out who had done these terrible things and Brad accused me of being the perpetrator. I had to pace back and forth through the shop several times before I started to calm down.

“Dae?” Trudy came up on me with a big smile on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think I can talk about it yet.” I stared at her, then started pacing again. “That arson investigator doesn’t have any idea what’s going on. He accused me—
me
—of having something to do with it. Just because I was at the museum and the house fire and in Corolla before Sam Meacham died. Can you believe it?”

“That’s crazy!” She sat down on the burgundy sofa. “But I sold some stuff this morning. That’s good news, right?”

“That’s very good news. Thanks, Trudy.” I sat beside her. “Imagine him thinking I could kill someone! Like I can even run a stop sign without worrying that I’ll get a ticket and Gramps will never let me forget it. And now there’s Kevin—another person who used to be in law enforcement. What’s wrong with me? How can anyone think I could kill someone?”

She shrugged. “Maybe you should ask Shayla. She could do a tarot reading and tell you all about it. Come on. You two have to make up sometime, and you were the one who stole her boyfriend.”

I wanted to explain that Kevin and Shayla weren’t together anymore before I started seeing him, but I decided to let it go. In the wake of everything that had happened, it seemed paltry. I had to call Gramps and Kevin and let them know about Brad’s accusation.

Kevin’s cell phone went to voice mail, and there was no answer at the Blue Whale. I tried to call Gramps, then remembered he was out with his friends. His phone went to voice mail too.

“Calm down,” Trudy advised. “Things can’t be
that
bad.”

“I suppose that depends on your definition of bad.”

“Well you know you didn’t kill anyone or set anything on fire, right? They can’t touch you, Dae. All that guy has are suspicions. So he saw you at the fire. So what? Half the town was there, and at the museum right after it exploded.”

“You’re right.” Of course she was right. Brad had to be rattling my cage—trying to find out if I knew anything he didn’t know. It was classic investigative technique.

Shayla opened the shop door but wouldn’t come inside. “Trudy, can you come out here, please?”

Trudy rolled her eyes. “No. I won’t come out there. You’re not a vampire—you can walk in without permission. Get in here! We need you.”

“I’d rather not. Dae and I are no longer friends. And if I were a vampire, you would’ve just invited me inside so I could kill you.”

“Don’t be silly. Dae would’ve had to ask you to come in for it to work if you were a vampire.” Trudy shook her head as if everyone should know these vampire facts. “You two have to hash this out. One of you has to give in and say you’re sorry.” She took turns glaring at both of us.

“I’m not doing that,” Shayla said. “Dae stole my boyfriend. She has to apologize.”

Trudy nudged me with her elbow. “Well?”

“I’m not apologizing! Shayla and Kevin had broken up before I started dating him. I didn’t steal anything.”

“Do you disagree with that?” Trudy asked.

Shayla leaned against the door frame. “Maybe. But she could’ve told me the truth instead of making me guess.”

“Okay.” Trudy held out her hands. “Why don’t you
both
apologize? Dae, you say you’re sorry for how this business with Kevin was handled. Shayla, you say you’re sorry for dragging this out when you
knew
you and Kevin were over anyway.”

I glanced at Shayla. Trudy was right. This had gone on too long. “Sorry.”

“I guess I’m sorry too.”

“Good! Now get in here and let’s have a hug,” Trudy said.

Shayla and I moved toward each other reluctantly but ended up hugging and talking.

“I came by to tell Trudy to warn you that I saw something strange in a tarot I did today.” Shayla smiled. “I guess I can tell you personally.”

“Strange how?” I closed the door to the shop as we all walked back and sat down on the sofa.

“It was a man of authority crossing you. He has power given to him by the establishment. He’ll cause you trouble, Dae. You have to watch out for him.”

“Sounds like Brad Spitzer.” I explained to her about my conversation with him.

“I saw Kevin in there too,” Shayla continued. “He’ll help you get through this. There was another man—an older man who has great power and wealth. He has something you need. It could be information or something practical. I couldn’t tell for sure. Death surrounds him. Be careful of your dealings with him.”

Shayla was phenomenal. She’d described my problem with Brad and had seen part of my vision of the older man who’d given Max the gold. I broke down and told Shayla and Trudy about my new abilities and the visions I’d had.

“Dae, that’s powerful!” Shayla exclaimed. “Your abilities are growing. They might rival my own one day. That must be why your chakra looked so weird—that and love will do it every time.”

I smiled. “Thanks. Kevin was afraid I couldn’t control the visions, but I’m learning to handle them just fine. The terrible part is not understanding what I see. The Segway thing with Sam and the old man with the gold—I don’t know what they mean.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Trudy said. “Something will happen and things will click into place. Always do. You’ll see.”

I made some coffee, and we sat around talking. We didn’t bring up the mess with Kevin and Shayla again. I hoped that was water under the bridge now. Shayla went through men pretty fast. It probably wouldn’t be long before she found someone else.