The Ghost from the Sea (26 page)

A
few minutes earlier
:

“Who keeps ringing that doorbell?”
Jolene wondered. Whoever it was, she hoped he or she would keep Bartley busy while she went through the house. While she knew finding the hidden treasure—if it was still here—was a longshot, she wanted to have a look around; perhaps she could convince the historical society to sponsor periodic home tours, which of course she would volunteer to oversee. With the tenant out of the house for a few hours before and during the tour, she would have an opportunity to inspect the rooms, searching for likely hiding places. She remembered Danielle Boatman had found the Missing Thorndike tucked behind some boards in the attic across the street.

Going to the closet, Jolene opened its door slowly, cringing when it started to squeak. She didn't want Ian Bartley to hear her opening the closet doors and wonder what she was doing. After she opened the closet door wide enough to slip into, she opened her purse and pulled out her iPhone to use as a flashlight.

K
urt held his breath
, his heart beating rapidly, when the closet door slowly opened. The last thing he expected to see was an elderly woman sticking her head into the dark and narrow space. A curtain of overcoats, hung on the center of the overhead rod, helped conceal him from the intruder on the opposite end of the closet. From the darkness, he watched as she groped at the panels of the weathered wooden floor.

He had surmised this room was used as a guest room, since the only thing in the closet were the jackets blocking him from the woman—and the boxes he noticed shoved on the overhead shelf. From what he knew about the house, it was rented by a bachelor—who he assumed was the man he had seen leave earlier with a dog, before returning alone.

The doorbell had rung several times since he had taken refuge in the closet, and he assumed this woman was one of the people who had just arrived. He wondered if she had been a recent guest and had returned to look for something she may have lost in the closet.
An earring perhaps?
The last time he spent a weekend away with a girlfriend she complained about losing an earring in the motel. The women he knew seemed to always be losing earrings.

When she turned on the flashlight app of her iPhone, he held his breath, praying she wouldn't point that thing in his direction. He was tempted to grab the end of the nearest overcoat and pull it to one side to better conceal himself, yet was afraid the movement might catch her attention.

He watched as she knelt by the opening, iPhone in one hand while the other hand fidgeted with a loose board.

She's not looking for a lost earring, she's about to pull that floorboard up
, he thought. Mesmerized, he watched as she eagerly tugged at the weathered panel, dislodging it. He could swear he heard her make a gleeful cackling sound. Almost in a frenzy, she yanked up one board after another, and then reached down into the opening and pulled up a box, which she quickly opened.

He could not contain his gasp when her greedy fingers dipped into the pile of gold coins, lifting them out of the box while they spilled from her fingers. The moment she heard his gasp, she let the rest of the coins drop as she quickly snatched up the iPhone and directed its beam toward him.

Jolene screamed.

W
ithout pause
, Ian bolted from the doorway, heading for the sound of the scream. Adam followed close on Ian's heels. He was so intent on following his tenant, he failed to see Bill dart into the hallway from the master bedroom. Bill had also heard the scream. Bill and Adam collided. Ignoring the two men behind him, Ian swung the door open to the guest bedroom.

“What are you doing here?” Adam hissed under his breath to Bill.

Before Bill could reply, Ian's loud, “What the hell?” turned Bill's attention—and Adam's—to what Ian was now staring at.

Wild eyed and frantic, Jolene crouched on the floor in front of the partially opened closet. She clutched to her bosom an armful of gold coins, as she looked from the man still hidden in the closet, back to the three men peering in at her from the now open doorway.

Ian walked into the bedroom, with Adam and Bill following behind him.

“They are mine!” Jolene shouted. “Mine, mine, mine!”

Adam pushed around Ian and approached Jolene, staring into the closet. He could see the hiding place revealed by the now removed floor panels.

“Marlow's missing gold,” Bill said. “Damn, I knew I should have checked that closet first.”

Adam pointed to the box. “Those aren't yours! Those were hidden in my grandmother's house! They belong to her!”

“I'll be damned,” Ian said as he approached Jolene and the gold. “Those were here all this time?”

Hugging the gold to her chest, Jolene glared at Adam. Shaking her head furiously she shouted, “Stay away! I claim these under Oregon's treasure trove laws!”

“What are you talking about?” Adam said, as he reached down and attempted to snatch the coins from her grasp. She swatted him away and shouted an obscenity.

A
ccording to Heather Donovan
, someone had broken into Ian Bartley's house. What Brian didn't understand was, why had she waited so long to call the police? It had been over an hour since she had seen the man slip into Ian's back door. Apparently, she had been jogging at the time. Her reason for not calling sooner was that she thought the man was probably a friend of Ian's but after thinking about it for a while, decided she should probably call the police.

When Brian arrived at the scene, there were three vehicles parked in front of Ian's house. He recognized the truck; it belonged to Bill Jones, the handyman who worked for Adam Nichols. If Brian wasn't mistaken, the car parked behind the truck belonged to Adam. He didn't recognize the third vehicle. Ian's car was parked in the driveway.

Brian didn't notice the open front door until he was halfway up the walk. By that time, he could hear the shouting coming from inside the house. By the colorful expletives and number of different voices he heard, it sounded like a riot. Pausing a moment, he called for backup before going inside. He didn't know what he was facing.

By the sound of it, Brian imagined he was walking into a dangerously volatile situation, possibly with weapons drawn and blood spilled. What he found was something entirely different, more like a scene from a slapstick comedy.

Adam Nichols was playing slapsy with Jolene Carmichael, who kept yelling, “mine, mine” while she hugged what appeared to be a pile of gold coins, many of which had already fallen from her grasp and landed on the floor around her.

Bill Jones was attempting to snatch some of the coins from the floor, while Adam kicked his hand away while shouting at Jolene to let go of his gold. Meanwhile, Ian stood calmly on the sidelines, iPhone in hand, while he recorded the mayhem.

Brian's authoritative shout for everyone to quiet, immediately silenced the group, which turned to him—including Ian, who now aimed the iPhone's lens at the officer and continued to record. When Brian realized Ian was recording him, he gestured for him to stop. Reluctantly, Ian complied, turning off the video app and tucking his phone into his back pocket.

The quiet didn't last long. Soon everyone was talking again, this time directing his or her words to Brian. In their competition to be heard, their volume increased and soon they were shouting more at each other than trying to explain to the police officer what was going on.

Once again, Brian shouted to be quiet. He looked at Ian, the calmest of the group, and told him to explain what was going on.

“To be honest, I'm not really sure,” Ian admitted.

Jolene started to say something but Brian immediately hushed her and turned his attention back to Ian.

“First, Jolene Carmichael here…” Ian gestured toward the woman who was now stumbling to her feet, while snatching the fallen coins from the floor and returning them to the booty in her arms. “Stopped by, asking to look around the house. She said the historical society was considering putting this house on some historical home tour.”

“What home tour? No one's ever mentioned that to me,” Adam piped up. Brian immediately hushed him and looked back to Ian again.

“I was in the middle of looking for some papers so I told her to go ahead, have a look around. And then Bill stopped by, saying something about GFI switches needing to be looked at.”

“GFI my ass,” Adam snapped, glaring at Bill. Bill snapped back and soon the two were arguing. Once again, Brian hushed them, and turned his attention back to Ian.

“I told Bill to go ahead, do what he needed to do, and I went back to looking for my papers. That's when Adam stopped by, and asked why Bill was here. The next thing I know, someone is screaming bloody murder, and I run in here, find Mrs. Carmichael in my closet. It's pretty obvious to me her story about the home tour was just a ruse to get in and look for the treasure they've been talking about, and apparently she found it.”

“It's mine!” Jolene screeched.

“It's not yours,” Adam shouted back. “It was found in my house!”

“Technically it's your grandma's house,” Bill muttered.

“Shut up, Bill,” Adam snapped.

“This wouldn't have happened if you had just listened to me!” Bill countered.

Adam turned to Bill. “And that's why you're here, GFI my ass. You were treasure hunting!”

“If you hadn't gotten greedy—” Bill started to say.

“What do you mean greedy?” Adam asked.

“Get real, Adam, I know you. You were going to keep the treasure for yourself!”

“It's in my house!”

“Your grandmother's house!” Bill shouted back.

“It doesn't belong to either of you! I found it first!” Jolene yelled in a shrill voice.

Again, the three started screaming at each other, while Ian and Brian watched on and exchanged glances.

Taking a deep breath, Brian expelled a frustrated sigh and yelled, “Shut up and I swear if anyone says another word I'm going to shoot him!”

Everyone got quiet. The silence was broken a moment later when someone said from the doorway, “I don't think shooting anyone would be a terrific idea. Too much paperwork.”

They all turned to the voice. It was Chief MacDonald, an amused expression on his face. Next to him stood Joe Morelli. His expression was more confusion than amusement.

The chief stepped into the room and surveyed the scene. As he approached Jolene—who still clung protectively to her treasure—Adam and Bill stepped back, making room for the chief. When MacDonald reached Jolene, he looked around her to the closet. With one hand, he gently pushed her aside, so he could have a closer look at where she had discovered the coins.

MacDonald stuck his head into the closet and looked at the missing floorboard and the box, half full with gold coins and several pieces of paper. He turned his gaze to the side and paused a moment before asking, “Who are you?”