A Haunted Theft (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 4) Page 5

  Books and folders covered the table top and a laptop was open with papers neatly stacked next to it.

  “So,” Anton began. He started pacing slowly about the kitchen as if he were at the front of a lecture hall giving a presentation. The historian gave the girls the history of the Wampanoag people and explained about the group that had lived on Nantucket. “There was a population of about several hundred living on the island just before 1763 when an illness wiped out two-thirds of the Wampanoag tribe.”

  “How awful.” Viv put her hand on the side of her face. “What kind of illness?”

  “A fever. Previously it was thought to be a disease like typhus, small pox, scarlet fever, but new research tells us that the cause was more likely to be a louse-borne fever brought to the island by a trading ship. It devastated the people. The group never recovered.”

  “How sad.” Lin glanced down at the books on the table thinking about the Wampanoag ghost that had appeared to her outside of the exhibition the night of the robbery. The ghost hadn’t been seen since that evening and Lin wondered if he was gone for good.

  Anton continued his lecture describing the baskets of the Wampanoags and how the crews of the lightships picked up the craft and modified it. “As you know, the lightships were boats that acted as lighthouses to warn ships of the island shoals. There was often a crew of six men and during the days, there was very little to do so in order to occupy them, the men learned to make the baskets.”

  The girls asked questions and Anton answered. Just as Anton’s presentation to Lin and Viv was winding down, a knock was heard at the back door of the kitchen and Libby Hartnett walked in. Libby, an older woman with piercing blue eyes and short silver hair, was Lin’s distant cousin and she had special powers of her own. The woman took a look at the girls. “Is this meeting about the stolen basket?”

  Lin nodded. “We asked Anton to give us some background information on the basket weaving done on-island and about the Native American tribe that used to live here.”

  “Did anything he said shed light on what might have happened at the cultural museum?” Libby poured herself a cup of tea and sat down at the table.

  “Not yet,” said Viv. “But it’s all fascinating.”

  Anton looked as proud as a peacock. “Carolin and Vivian are an attentive audience.”

  Lin leaned forward and made eye contact with Libby. “Do you sense anything? See anything about the case?”

  Libby frowned and stirred sugar into her tea. “I see darkness … hands, but I can’t make out if they are a man’s or a woman’s. The images are blurred and unfocused.” The older woman held Lin’s eyes. “The motivation is unclear.”

  “Money seems the obvious motivator.” Viv sipped from her mug.

  “The obvious may prove incorrect in this case.” Libby clasped her hands around the hot teacup.

  “Any sensations about who might be the thief?” Lin stared at the woman hoping to pick up on anything that Libby might know.

  “No.” Libby shook her head causing her short, silver hair to sway a little around her cheekbones. “But I do feel that the stolen basket is still here on Nantucket.”

  “That would be odd, wouldn’t it?” Lin asked. “Why not get it to the mainland as quickly as possible? Most people on the mainland wouldn’t have heard about the stolen item and there must be a bunch of ways to sell the basket from there. Working from the mainland to find a buyer wouldn’t arouse as much suspicion as it would if done from here.” Lin looked over at Viv and Anton. “Why wouldn’t the thief get the basket off-island as soon as possible?”

  “Maybe money isn’t what the thief wants.” Viv shrugged a shoulder.

  “A collector on the island might have purchased it already,” Anton surmised. “Perhaps a deal was made even prior to the actual robbery.”

  “How can we ever find it, if it’s been sold off already?” Lin groaned.

  “We’ll just keep probing. Keep your eyes and ears open.” Libby’s shoulders dropped. “Someone will slip eventually.” She took a deep breath. “What have you learned so far?”

  While they sipped from their tea mugs and nibbled on the treats Viv had brought from her store, Lin voiced her suspicions about Martha Hillman and told Libby what Leonard had reported about his wife.

  “I heard about that.” Libby looked annoyed. “It was never determined where the money went. Unfortunately, Marguerite was let go from her position due to the issue.” Libby looked down at her hands. “If Marguerite hadn’t lost her job, she wouldn’t have been in Boston that day. She wouldn’t have been in that car crash. She’d be alive today.”

  Lin said, “Leonard bears Martha Hillman a grudge, and rightly so.” She refilled her mug. “Martha seems to have a grudge against Leonard, too.”

  “I don’t care for that woman.” Libby’s face muscles tensed and she seemed to be gritting her teeth. “We need to get to the bottom of this. The robbery reflects badly on the island and gives the wrong impression of who we are. The basket exhibition was a celebration of island craft and heritage. Someone marred the joy of that with their evil deed.”

  The others were quiet not knowing what to say. Nicky and Queenie sat up in the chair and watched Libby from across the room. As if to punctuate Libby’s words, Queenie let out a long, deep hiss and the dog growled low in his throat. Everyone turned with surprise to look at the furry creatures.

  “Well,” Anton blinked. “The animals seem to agree with you, Libby.”

  Libby’s eyes softened and the tension drained from her body as Nicky jumped down, walked across the room, and leaned his head against her leg. She reached down and stroked the dog’s soft brown fur. The woman smiled. “With all of us working together, we’ll find the person who did this … and we’re going to find that basket, too.”

  8

  Lin didn’t want to have to find a place to park her truck so she walked into town and headed for the cultural museum to meet Nathan Long to discuss the museum’s garden needs. Viv was dying to accompany her cousin to the meeting, but they couldn’t figure out how to explain why she was there so she stayed at the bookstore and pouted.

  Just as she approached the museum, a handsome, tall, fit older man stepped out from the front door and came down the steps. Dressed in tan chinos and a starched long-sleeved button-down shirt, he noticed Lin and walked over to her. “Carolin Coffin?”

  Lin reached out to shake hands with the man. “Call me Lin. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Long.”

  “Please call me Nathan.” He thanked her for coming to see the backyard of the museum and led her around to the rear of the building. Lin’s eyebrows shot up when she saw the mess. She wasn’t expecting such a neglected yard and garden.

  Nathan eyed her. “I hope the condition won’t deter you from considering the job.”

  Lin’s heart sank at the prospect of restoring the yard. The old flower beds were overgrown with weeds and shrubs and bushes grew out of control and seemed to smother some of the spaces. Many of the bricks of the walkway and patio had been pushed up by years of winter frost and Lin had to be careful where she walked so she wouldn’t trip. Long vines grew helter skelter over the weedy grass … what there was of it, and they choked some of the perennials that were making a valiant effort to bloom.

  “Well.” Lin looked all around.

  “It’s not hopeless.” Nathan made an attempt at encouragement. “Is it?”

  Lin chuckled. “No, it’s not hopeless. I’ve dealt with much worse. I’m just surprised by how far-gone it is back here.”

  “The yard has been an afterthought for years. Money was an issue initially, but the museum has had some generous donations recently and the board thinks it’s time to take this space in hand.” Nathan walked with Lin around the space. The man bent to pick up some empty beer bottles. “Kids come back here some nights and smoke and drink. We’d like to put a fence around the garden and put up some security lights to discourage teens from hanging out.”

  Lin could see a
spot in the corner where the weeds had been trampled and squashed. Cigarette butts lay in the dirt and there were some charred logs indicating that a fire had been lit there recently. She pointed it out to Nathan.

  “That’s all we need … a teens’ campfire getting out of control and burning the museum down.” He shook his head as they moved to another corner of the yard.

  “We thought it would be great to add to and expand the classes and exhibits that we hold.” Nathan waved his hand around. “The preliminary plans include setting up tables and chairs in this section here and serving light refreshments. We understand that there can be a good profit margin in such a thing. We could also hold outdoor gardening classes, wreath making classes, plant sales, and teach courses on heirloom plants and seeds. The space is big enough and perhaps one day we could add a greenhouse on this side.” Nathan pointed.

  Lin thought the ideas were good ones. “It would add another dimension to the museum. I think it would draw in a good number of people.”

  Nathan Long smiled and looked relieved by Lin’s comments. “I’m so glad you agree. Does that mean you’ll take the job?”

  Lin didn’t want to drag Leonard into the work since he would be very uncomfortable running into Martha Hillman. She thought she could hire the couple who often helped out on some jobs if she needed them. “I’d be pretty much handling this myself as my partner is involved in dealing with some of our bigger contracts right now. If you wouldn’t mind it taking a bit longer, then I’d be glad to work up some numbers for the project for you to present to the board.”

  “That would be wonderful.” Nathan gestured around the yard. “Shall we walk the space so you can hear what else we’d like done?”

  Lin pulled out a large pad of paper to jot notes and to make preliminary sketches. She and Nathan walked from side to side of the garden as he pointed out more of the board’s ideas for the garden.

  When they had finished, they sat down on wobbly chairs next to a rickety old metal table. Lin placed her pad on the table and showed Nathan what she’d sketched. “These are the notes I took as we strolled around.” She pointed to how the patio would be repaired and expanded and discussed some things she thought of adding. “You might think about a water feature here. It would help to create a peaceful atmosphere.” Lin looked at the building. “Where would the kitchen be located? It’s important to know how that would be accessed and how to lessen the impact of waitstaff bustling back and forth.”

  Nathan stood and led Lin to a door positioned at the back of the building which led into the above-grade basement. He took out a key and pushed the door open.

  A flutter of anxiety pulsed down Lin’s back causing her to hesitate before entering. Sensing her reluctance, Nathan said, “Don’t worry. The space is clean and open with windows all around. No rodents or insects allowed.”

  Lin forced a chuckle and stepped in. Nathan followed behind. A wave of unease washed over Lin and made her head spin. Feeling dizzy and unsteady, she rested a clammy palm against the wall.

  Nathan started to speak, but noticed Lin’s distress and he turned to her. “Are you okay?”

  Lin sucked in a breath and forced a smile. “I’m just a bit dizzy. I have swimmer’s ear from being in the ocean.” Lin made up a tale to cover her odd behavior. “Some water is trapped behind my eardrum and causes me some dizziness, but it passes quickly.”

  Nathan nodded accepting the explanation and then he turned around and gestured about the basement space. The walls were whitewashed and the floor was tiled. The room was spacious and clean. “The plan is to turn this into a kitchen. Surprisingly, there’s an old dumbwaiter built into the wall between the floors.” He pointed to the back of the space. “It’s been blocked off for ages. There’s a storage closet above it now, but it could be repaired and we could use it to bring food up to the first floor should a function be hosted upstairs in the future.”

  “How convenient,” Lin murmured trying to figure out why she felt so anxious being in the basement.

  “So this is where the kitchen will be to serve the outdoor café.” Nathan headed for the door to return to the garden and Lin followed. As she was stepping through the doorway, panic flooded her body and an image flashed in her mind of Viv in terrible distress. Lin’s vision sparkled and began to dim. She blinked hard several times and sucked in quick, fast breaths trying to keep her composure.

  “That’s the tour.” Nathan smiled. He turned around and looked at Lin.

  “Do you mind if I sit here and make a few more quick sketches?” Feeling weak, Lin hurried to the rusty old table and plopped down in the chair.

  “Be my guest. How soon can you have the proposal ready?”

  “I can finish it by the end of the week.” Lin felt like all the blood was draining out of her head.

  “Excellent. I’ll show the proposal to the board members and they’ll vote. Not to worry, it will be approved. The board knows your work and is aware that your prices are reasonable for the high quality you offer.”

  Sitting in the fresh air, Lin started to feel better. “I met Martha Hillman the other day. She didn’t seem amenable to spending money on the garden project.”

  Nathan waved his hand in the air. “Don’t be concerned about Martha. We only need a majority to approve.” The tall man stepped over to the table and shook Lin’s hand. “Stay in the yard as long as you need to. It was nice to meet you, Lin. I’ll leave you to your work.” He nodded and smiled and left the back yard.

  Lin sank back against the hard metal of the seat trying to calm herself and she tried to force the anxiety and adrenaline to dissipate. Glancing back to the basement door, she tried to understand what had caused the sensation of danger. She reached in her bag and pulled out her phone to text Viv to ask if she was okay. A reply came in almost immediately. I’m fine. Why are you asking?

  Lin sent a second text telling her cousin that she was just checking up on her, and then in order to distract her thoughts from the worry she’d felt, she removed her sketch pad and added some details to the preliminary garden plan.

  After fifteen minutes of working, Lin realized that the tension had drained away and her muscles were less rigid and tense. Glancing around the space, she made a few more notes and then closed the cover of the sketchbook. The large trees ringing the yard caused long shadows of shade to cover a good portion of the area making it feel like a cool oasis. Lin slipped the sketchbook into her carrying bag and stood up. A whoosh of cold air enveloped her and she froze in position.

  Turning slightly, Lin saw the Wampanoag ghost standing under the Beech tree on the far side of the space. He held Lin’s eyes with his own and an immense sadness filled Lin’s heart before the ghost shimmered and sparkled and disappeared.

  9

  The sun was setting as Lin sat at Viv’s deck table with her hands wrapped around a hot cup of tea. Her face was pale and she still felt shaky from her visit to the cultural museum. When Lin arrived at her cousin’s house, she was visibly trembling from the chill that had settled over her and Viv ushered her to the deck to sit in the last rays of the day’s sun and had wrapped a soft woven blanket around Lin’s shoulders. Although Nicky was resting on the deck with Queenie by his side, he kept looking up at his owner checking to be sure that she was okay.

  “Then what happened?” Viv had a cup of tea in front of her.

  “Then Nathan showed me the basement where they intend to have a kitchen built.” Lin raised her blue eyes to her cousin. “I felt weird in there, dizzy, kind of disoriented. I honestly thought I might faint.”

  Despite her concern about what had happened to Lin, Viv couldn’t help but smile. “I wonder if you’d fainted right there in front of him, if Nathan Long still would have been keen to hire you.”

  “If I’d fainted, he wouldn’t have been able to hire me because I would have died from embarrassment.” Lin raised her teacup to her lips and sipped the warm comforting liquid.

  “So was it the basement that made you feel t
ense? Or was it something in the basement that upset you? Did Nathan Long say something that produced the anxiety?” Viv studied her cousin’s face.

  Lin thought it over. “I really don’t know. The sensation came on right when I stepped inside. There wasn’t anything in the basement. It was just a clean, empty space.” Lin shrugged and the blanket slipped off one of her shoulders. “It was a terrible feeling. I wanted to get out of there, but my limbs felt so sluggish like when you’re in a dream and you can’t make yourself move or run. Something seemed to be pressing down on me.” Lin shuddered recalling the sensation.

  “When you got back outside, did you feel better right away?”

  Lin’s heart thudded. “I…. I…”

  “What?” Viv tilted her head to one side.

  Lin swallowed hard. Even though she didn’t want to alarm Viv by telling her of the horrible feeling she’d had that her cousin was in danger, Lin couldn’t hide the fact from her cousin so she blurted it out. “I had the awful sensation that you were hurt or in peril.”

  Viv looked like she’d been slapped. “Me? In danger? That was your feeling?” Viv’s cheeks lost their rosy glow. “That’s why you texted me asking if I was okay.”

  Lin nodded, her eyes wide with worry. “It probably doesn’t mean anything. I was probably feeling anxious and for some reason I fixated on you.”

  Viv leveled her gaze across the table at Lin. “You probably felt it because it was a premonition.” Pushing her hair behind her ear, she glanced over her shoulders at her darkening backyard. “Should we go inside?”

  “I think we’re safe.” Lin looked out over the yard just to be sure.

  “For now.” Viv’s voice trembled. “What does it mean? What’s going to happen to me?”

  “Nothing.” Lin set her jaw. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. It was just a silly feeling. For some reason, I felt panicky and projected it onto you.”

  “Don’t do that anymore, okay?” Viv took a swallow of her tea. “Project it onto someone else.”

  “In the meantime….”