Murder With Puffins (9 page)

"Aha!" I cried, snapping the book shut. "I'll take this, please," I said to Mamie, handing over the book and fishing my Visa card out of my purse.

She looked at me as if I'd just declared myself a vivisectionist.

"Take a look here, on page one hundred and ten," I said. "See the caption--'View of Puffin Point from the Public Path.' That proves it."

"Well, of course," she said. "Everyone knows it's a public path."

"Yes, but this proves that he knows it. He said so in the title of one of his very own pictures. I can use this in the court case; if Jeb Barnes won't take my assault charges, I'll file a civil suit."

"Oh, I see," Mamie said. "Your father was right; you have become quite the detective."

She rang up the book with enthusiasm, then waved cheerfully to Michael and me as we stepped outside again.

"Now where?" Michael asked.

"Back to the cottage, I think," I said. "Aunt Phoebe will try to put us to work, but we can get her to feed us first."

"Sounds like a plan," he said.

But when we neared the top of the hill, we saw Aunt Phoebe in heated conversation with several birders, including Mrs. Peabody.

"Oh damn," I said. "She's probably telling Aunt Phoebe a lot of inaccurate information about Resnick."

"You're probably right," Michael said. "And your aunt doesn't look too happy."

In fact, while we straggled up the last few feet of the hill, Aunt Phoebe broke away from the birders and began storming up the path toward Resnick's cottage.

"The man deserves a good thrashing," she called over her shoulder, brandishing her blackthorn walking stick.

"Aunt Phoebe! Wait!" I wheezed. She probably couldn't hear me.

"I'll show him a thing or two," she shouted as she disappeared around a bend in the road.

"Shouldn't we go after her?" Michael asked, puffing.

"Yes, but I don't think we could possibly catch her." I, too, was panting.

"True. She hasn't been hiking around the island all morning."

"Actually, she probably has, but never mind," I said. "Let's go tell the constable. It's downhill from here to the general store."

"And we can get those groceries your aunt wanted," Michael said.

While Michael gathered the items on Aunt Phoebe's list, I tried to convince Jeb Barnes to go after Aunt Phoebe. I wasn't having much luck.

"I'm sure there's no reason to worry," he said.

"Did you hear what I said?" I demanded. "She's going up there to confront Victor Resnick! She thinks he's been shooting birds."

"Probably has," one of the locals commented.

"I'm sure Phoebe can take care of herself," Jeb said.

"She probably can, but what about Resnick?" I said. "What if she carries out her threat to give him a good thrashing?"

"Call up and warn him," someone suggested.

"Phones are out," someone else said.

"Serve him right if she did," commented a third.

The lights flickered on at that moment, and everyone looked up with a hopeful expression. Then the lights winked out again and the locals sighed and huddled a little closer to the stove.

Just then, we heard the sound of a truck engine outside.

"That must be Fred," Jeb Barnes said. "I'll get him to take me up to Resnick's. We'll head her off."

He darted out of the store, flagged down Fred Dickerman, and the two of them roared off up the gravel road.

Michael and I watched as the truck careened off, scattering birders on both sides.

"Should we follow?" Michael asked.

"Let's go back and find Dad," I said. "Maybe he can figure out a way to calm her down."

We made rather slow progress, though. We had our arms full of grocery bags, and we had to push through throngs of birders, all of whom wanted to know if Victor Resnick was really slaughtering birds with his shotgun. At first, they seemed curiously unalarmed by the fact that Resnick had been shooting at Michael and me.

"We didn't actually
see
him shoot any birds," I said finally. "But he certainly shot at us. Probably thought we were birders trespassing on his land."

This tactic generated a satisfactory level of sympathy and outrage. Especially after one of the birders informed the rest that Resnick's land was the only place on the island where some rare bird had been sighted a day or two earlier.

Leaving the assembled birders debating whether the once-in-a-decade chance to add the bay-breasted warbler to their life lists was worth the risk that it might become the last bird they ever saw, Michael and I escaped and headed back to Aunt Phoebe's cottage.

We ran into Winnie and Binkie on the way.

"Meg, dear," Binkie called. "How are you enjoying your stay?"

"Well, it's not quite what we expected," I said. "We didn't expect to run into the whole family here."

"No, and I'm sure your mother and father weren't expecting that dreadful Resnick person to be here," Binkie said. "Terribly awkward, under the circumstances."

"Awkward?" I repeated.
Awkward
didn't even begin to describe the sensation of having a gun fired over one's head.

"Oh, leave it alone, Binkie," Winnie said. "It's all over and done with."

I felt a little miffed at their quick dismissal of our ordeal. Unless by "awkward" they meant some past conflict--perhaps this wasn't the first time Victor Resnick had taken violent measures against trespassers. Perhaps it wasn't the first time Aunt Phoebe had attempted to thrash him.

"And do be careful," Binkie added. "I've heard reports of an imposter running around the island."

"An imposter?" I echoed.

"Yes, someone carrying binoculars and a bird book and pretending to be one of us, when he doesn't know a tern from a seagull," Winnie said, frowning. "Up to no good, whoever he is, if you ask me."

But before I could ask what possible harm the so-called imposter could do, Winnie and Binkie spotted another party of birders down the road and tripped off to compare notes.

I shrugged. The fake birder wasn't my problem; my family, on the other hand…

"I wonder if it was wise, letting Aunt Phoebe run off like that," I said, fretting.

"She's a grown woman," Michael said as we turned into the lane to the cottage. "She can take care of herself, and besides, the constable will referee. Let him take care of her."

"I suppose we'll have to," I said.

"Look, there's Rob," Michael said. "What's he doing there on the beach?"

"Posing," I said. "He probably saw us coming."

Rob stood on the narrow strip of beach, hunched against the cold, one hand jammed in his pocket, staring out to sea. Trying, no doubt, to achieve an air of picturesque, Byronic melancholy. Someone should break the news to Rob that blondes can't do Byronic. Michael, on the other hand, managed it without even trying; I particularly liked the way the breeze ruffled the lock of hair mat had fallen over his eyes.

Then again, Michael wasn't handicapped by Spike. Rob held one end of a very long leash; on the other end, Spike was chasing the waves. When a wave fell back toward the ocean, Spike would pursue it, barking bravely, convinced he had terrified the water into flight. When the water turned and thundered back toward the beach, Spike would turn and run away, tail between his legs, howling in terror. Rob was pretending to be oblivious to the whole spectacle.

"Well, at least Spike's having fun," I said as I drew up beside Rob.

"Miserable little mutt," Rob muttered. "Sorry, Michael."

Michael shrugged.

"Don't look at me," he said. "The miserable little mutt belongs to my mom."

"You think he'd get tired of it," Rob said, frowning, as Spike chased the water back and forth again.

"I'm sure he will after a while," I said.

"I've been here two hours," Rob said. "He's not getting tired. Just hoarse."

"Well, hoarse might be an improvement," I said. "Why on earth have you been standing here for two hours? Is something going on?"

"Not much," Rob said. "Everyone's getting hysterical about some guy who's running around shooting the puffins. That's about it."

"He's not shooting the puffins; he's shooting us. At us anyway," I said.

"Us? You mean you and Michael?" Rob asked.

"Yes."

"Wow, are you going to file charges?"

"Yes," Michael said. "And when you've passed the bar, you can handle the civil suit, if you like."

"Cool," Rob said. "So what's going on with the puffins?"

"Nothing. They've left the island," I said.

"Lucky them," Rob muttered. "Here, take him for a while, will you?"

"No thanks," I said, backing away. "We've got our hands full of groceries."

Which was true, but Rob still glowered at me as he strode off down the beach, Spike skittering along at his heels. Michael and I headed back to the cottage.

"I wish Aunt Phoebe would come back," I said, glancing down the lane.

"Don't worry," Michael said. "Everything will be fine."

I always get nervous when people say that.

"There you are!" Mrs. Fenniman said, pouncing on us the second we entered the cottage. "It's about time someone showed up to do some work around here!"

Before we knew it, Mrs. Fenniman had drafted us into hurricane preparations. Apparently, Dad had vanished shortly after Michael and I left, leaving her with only Rob to order around.

Fortunately, Aunt Phoebe's house was built along sensible lines, with working shutters. All you had to do was close them and make sure the latch was secure, thus sparing us the nightmare of boarding and taping that some residents had to do. Rob and Dad had apparently managed to deal with the shutters before they debunked. Probably took them all of half an hour.

Michael and I weren't so lucky with the lawn and deck furniture. Before dashing off to deal with Victor Resnick, Aunt Phoebe had left orders for us to bring every movable object inside. Mrs. Fenniman took her quite literally. The deck alone housed a dozen plastic chairs, three tables, a gas grill, half a dozen sets of wind chimes, and several dozen wooden planters or clay pots, with or without vegetation. The yard contained two picnic tables, three birdbams, a rain gauge, a sundial, a second grill, a badminton net, a croquet set, a set of horseshoes, a pair of flagpoles, several dozen more flower boxes, an awesome assortment of lawn ornaments, and a never-ending supply of bird feeders and bird-houses. We finally convinced Mrs. Fenniman that the slate flagstones and the bricks bordering the flower beds could probably cope by themselves. And since the garden shed was already overflowing with junk not actively in use, we had to drag everything into the house and shove the furniture around until we could fit it all in somehow.

We had nearly finished and were looking forward to resting when Mother suddenly appeared on the upstairs landing, her hair falling down her back. She was wringing her hands, looking fit to give a bang-up performance of Ophelia's mad scene.

"Have you seen your father?" she demanded.

"Not since this morning," I said.

"Don't worry, Margaret," Mrs. Fenniman said. "He'll be fine."

"Where's Phoebe?" Mother asked.

"Up at the village," I lied, not wanting Mother to start worrying about Aunt Phoebe, too.

"You go back to your nap," Mrs. Fenniman put in. "She'll be back anytime now, and James, too."

"What if something has happened to him?"

"What could happen to him?" Michael asked.

"He said he was going to go out to Green Point and watch the hurricane hit the island," Mother said. "I told Phoebe not to let him go, and now she's gone, too."

"Oh Lord. I thought he was kidding about that," I said.

"You should know your father by now," Mother said pointedly.

"Well, at least he didn't go off with your aunt Phoebe to tackle Victor Resnick," Michael put in.

So much for not worrying Mother.

"Victor Resnick?" Mother repeated. "Is he on the island?"

"Yes, why wouldn't he be?" I asked. "He owns a house here."

"Oh dear," Mother said. "Your father doesn't know Resnick is here, does he?"

"Of course he knows, Mother," I said. "We all heard it from the Dickermans last night."

"Oh dear me," Mother said. She drifted down the stairs, looking preoccupied.

"Where did you say Phoebe was?" Mrs. Fenniman asked.

"Probably up at Victor Resnick's house, giving him a good thrashing," I said.

"I'm sure your father is doing no such thing," Mother said. "That's absolute nonsense."

She strode out into the kitchen, leaving the swinging door flapping wildly.

"Not Dad--Aunt Phoebe," I called after her. "Why on earth would Dad want to thrash Victor Resnick?"

"Well, he's a birder, too, isn't he?" Michael said. "Probably upset about what everyone thinks Resnick's doing to the birds."

"Birds! Don't be silly," Mrs. Fenniman said with a cackle. "The green-eyed monster, more likely."

"Green-eyed monster?" Michael and I said in unison.

"They were quite an item, your mother and Victor Resnick," Mrs. Fenniman said. "Of course, that was a few years ago, before she met your dad."

"Over forty years ago, if it was before she met Dad," I said. "What makes you think Dad would still be jealous of Victor Resnick after all this time?"

"Quite a famous man, Victor Resnick," Mrs. Fenniman said. "Bound to make a man a little nervous, his wife's old beau showing up like this. And still single."

With that, she disappeared into the kitchen.

"
He
didn't show up; Mother and Dad did," I said as the door swung to again.

I heard a smothered chuckle from Michael, who sat there as calmly as you please, flipping through one of the old family photo album. Men.

"Very funny," I said. "You don't really think Dad is off confronting Victor Resnick, do you?"

As if in answer, Michael held out a photo album, pointing to one of the pictures. I glanced down and saw Mother, posing arm in arm with a tall, gawky young man who looked dreadfully familiar. Something about the hawklike nose and the pugnacious expression. I flipped the page. And the page after that. Picture after picture of Mother with the same young man. In several, they were affectionately entwined in a manner that wasn't particularly shocking today but probably was back then. Particularly since the fashions and the ages of some of the younger cousins showed that Mother wasn't more than fourteen or fifteen. In one photo, he held a sketch pad and Mother had assumed an exaggerated cheesecake pose.