A Haunted Theft (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 4) Read online

  “It could have been an accident.” Lin knew it wasn’t, but felt the need to offer the possibility.

  “An accident?” Claire blinked.

  “Maybe Martha drove home. Maybe she wasn’t feeling well and passed out in the car before she turned the engine off.”

  “Oh.” Claire looked up the driveway to the garage. Two police officers stood in front of the structure. “Maybe that’s what happened. Poor Martha.”

  Lin remembered that Viv and Claire had never met and introduced them to one another.

  “Was there a board meeting this morning?” Lin asked. “Did you attend?”

  Claire turned to Lin and nodded. “Martha was there.”

  “Did she seem herself?”

  Claire thought for several seconds. “She seemed normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing I noticed anyway.”

  Viv spoke up. “Did she seem unwell?”

  “What?” Claire took a deep breath. “I don’t think so.” She returned her attention to the officials bustling in and out of the house. Without looking at Lin, Claire said, “You got the contract, by the way, for the landscaping. We voted this morning. Nathan will call you.”

  “Oh, okay. Thanks.” Lin wanted to ask if Martha voted against the project, but she knew the results were probably confidential and anyway, it seemed crass to ask how the dead woman had voted. “Nathan was here a few minutes ago.”

  “He left?” Claire flicked her eyes to Lin for a second and then turned back to the scene.

  Viv spoke up. “The police escorted him into Martha’s house.”

  Claire looked at Viv. “Up to the house? Nathan’s inside? Why?”

  Viv and Lin both shrugged.

  “That’s odd, isn’t it?” Claire said. “It’s a crime scene. Wouldn’t bringing people inside contaminate the evidence?”

  “They took him to the house,” Viv told her, “not into the garage.”

  “Oh, well, I’d better get going.” Claire seemed twitchy and jumpy. She bit her lip and blinked a few times. Lin thought Claire was trying to keep herself from crying. “I’ll see you.” Claire nodded and headed off down the street.

  “She’s pretty shook up.” Viv watched the young woman walk away.

  “Claire is one of my clients now. Martha was at her house the other day.”

  “She was married to that old guy, what was his name?” Viv asked. “They had like a fifty-year age difference between them, didn’t they?”

  Lin smiled. “His name was Teddy Rollins. It was probably more like a forty-five- year age difference.”

  “The guy was ancient. Yuck.” Viv shook her head thinking of marrying someone so much older.

  “Yuck probably wasn’t what Claire said when she inherited old Teddy’s billions.”

  Viv’s eyes widened. “Billions?”

  “Yup. Now you’re seeing things in a new light?” Lin kidded her cousin.

  “No pre-nup? No kids or other relatives?”

  “Nothing. Just oodles of money. The word on the street is that everything went to Claire.”

  “Well, well. Claire is very clever, isn’t she?” Viv watched a newly arrived police car speed up Martha’s driveway. “Why have I never thought to find a rich boyfriend?”

  Lin chuckled. “Didn’t you think John was wealthy when you met him?”

  “No.” Viv shook her head. “I fell for cute, smart, and kind.” She gave Lin a mock sad face. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  The girls wandered around the gawkers for another ten minutes. “You want to stay longer?” Viv asked.

  “I guess not. I’m not picking up on anything.”

  Viv lowered her voice. “No ghosts?”

  “Nothing. Let’s go back to the truck.” The two headed down the dark street in the direction they’d come. Lin said, “Claire really seemed jumpy and shook up, didn’t she?”

  “Isn’t that normal after what just happened?” Viv questioned.

  Lin gave her cousin a look.

  “Oh.” Viv sighed. “Maybe Claire needs to go on the suspect list.”

  15

  Before heading to her first client of the day, Lin stopped at Anton’s house to see how he was holding up and to ask him about Avery Holden. When Anton opened the door, his face looked weary and drawn. Nicky rubbed against the man’s leg causing Anton to bend and pat the top of the dog’s head and Lin could see some of the tension in the historian’s body melt away. “A fine creature.” Anton praised the little brown dog.

  They headed for the kitchen and sat at the long wooden table.

  “How are you doing?” Lin’s eyes were full of concern.

  “Yesterday was a nightmare.” Anton rubbed his temple and adjusted his black-rimmed glasses. “I barely slept. I kept thinking of Martha. I kept replaying my meeting with the police.”

  “You know the police have to cover every angle.” Lin’s voice was gentle. “Talking to you again doesn’t mean they suspect you. When they talk to people, they can find out small things that can lead to the criminal.”

  “That’s hard to remember when you are the one being questioned.”

  Lin nodded. “Like we said last night, if it makes you feel better, talk to an attorney and get some advice.”

  “I think I will.” Anton sat up. “Oh, my manners. What can I get you? Tea? A cold drink?”

  Lin smiled. Even when consumed with worry and upset, Anton was the perfect host. “A cold drink would be nice.”

  Anton placed a bowl of cool water on the floor for the dog and bustled about cutting a lime into slices, taking out ice cubes, and pouring homemade iced tea into the tall glasses that had sailing ships etched onto the sides. The ice cubes clinked as Anton carried the refreshing beverages to the table. He arranged cookies on a plate and put them in the center of the table. Before sitting down again, he hurried to one of the kitchen cabinets and took out a small bag of dog treats. Nicky cocked his head when he heard the rustle of the bag. Anton put two biscuits on a white plate and set it before the dog.

  “If you treat him like a king,” Lin said, “then Nicky will abandon me and move in here with you.”

  “I wouldn’t mind that one bit.” Anton watched the dog enjoy the treats.

  “Have you talked to Libby?”

  “She’s on the mainland for a few more days.”

  Hearing that Libby was still away caused a momentary pulse of panic to surge through Lin’s body and she gave herself a slight shake to throw it off. She knew they could just call Libby if they needed her and Lin suggested to Anton that he ring her to tell her what’s been going on.

  “I should wait until she comes back. I don’t want to bother her.”

  “I think you should tell her about Martha, at least.” Lin thought Libby should be notified about the death of the island resident although she’d probably heard it on the news already. The real reason Lin wanted Anton to talk to her was so that Libby could hear the worry in his voice and offer him some comfort and advice.

  “You’re right. I’ll call her.”

  “Can I ask you some questions about people?” Lin watched Anton’s face. She didn’t want a discussion to cause him more upset.

  “Are the questions related to what’s been happening?”

  Lin nodded.

  “Ask. Maybe talking about things will make me feel less helpless.”

  “I don’t think Martha killed herself. I just have this strong feeling that someone made the whole thing look like a suicide. Maybe I’m completely wrong, but I feel it, Anton. When I think about Martha killing herself, I get a weird sensation like you might feel when you’re lost. But when I think that someone did this to her, I get a surge of energy that flows through my muscles. It makes me feel like I’m on the right track.”

  Anton stared at Lin.

  “I’m not describing it correctly.” Lin started to explain it in a different way when Anton cut her off.

  “I understand.” Anton’s looked less tense. “The spirits must be sending you these impul
ses. I know something similar about a woman who could see ghosts like you do. She got sensations, almost like silent messages. She knew the feelings were sent to her by the spirits.”

  Lin asked carefully, “Are you talking about Liliana?”

  A slight smile showed on Anton’s lips. “Yes.”

  A ping of joy danced in Lin’s heart. Maybe her ability to see ghosts was expanding to receiving small messages or feelings from the spirits that would help direct her and nudge her onto the right path when trying to find clues. A smile spread over her face. “I need to be more open to such sensations and not dismiss them.”

  Anton nodded. His face looked hopeful. “What questions do you want to ask me?”

  “Do you know Avery Holden?”

  “Of course. She worked at the cultural museum.”

  “She got fired?” Lin wondered if anyone besides Martha and Avery knew that Avery had been let go from her position.

  “No. She left of her own accord.”

  Lin asked, “Did a different employee get fired recently?”

  Anton’s lips pursed for a moment. “No one has left their position at the museum besides Avery.”

  Lin told the historian what she and Viv heard when standing outside Martha Hillman’s closed office door.

  Anton pushed back against his chair. “What could she have meant? What was Martha talking about? Who was she talking to?”

  “Those are all things I’ve asked myself.” Lin’s forehead creased. “Can you tell me about Avery?”

  “Avery is hardworking, takes her job seriously. She always put in lots of extra hours. She has a master’s degree in art history from Yale.”

  “What was her position at the museum?”

  “She started as an assistant curator and ended up sort of a jack-of-all-trades. Avery had a hand in every aspect of the functioning of the museum.”

  “How old is she?” Lin was making mental notes about the woman.

  “Mid-thirties?”

  “Did she get along with Martha?”

  Anton frowned. “No. They were often at odds. I always thought it was a shame. Two bright, hardworking people.” He shook his head. “They could have been a wonderful team, but….”

  “But?”

  “Sometimes I got the impression that they deliberately antagonized one another. Oh, it was small things, but nonetheless, it created unnecessary tension and interfered, I thought, with the smooth running of the museum.”

  “Avery has a new job?”

  “No. I was told that she is going to law school.”

  “Where does she live?”

  Anton looked blank. “I don’t know.”

  Lin narrowed her eyes. “I think I should have a talk with Avery. If I can find her.”

  Anton gave a vigorous nod of his head. “Yes. Then maybe you can find out the source of the animosity between the women and maybe Avery can shed light on what Martha meant about firing an employee.”

  Lin had lots of questions she hoped to be able to ask Avery Holden, but she wasn’t so sure that the former cultural museum employee was going to be forthcoming with any answers. “I don’t like saying this, but there are a number of people who might have wanted Martha dead.”

  “As I said before, she could be very abrasive.”

  Lin looked pointedly at Anton. “Did any of the people you know hate her enough to want to kill her?”

  In a weak voice, Anton said, “Possibly. Probably everyone I can think.”

  Lin’s eyebrows shot up. “I wasn’t expecting that answer.”

  “That doesn’t mean anyone would act on their feelings.” Anton stood up and started pacing around. Nicky sat up and watched the man go from one end of the room to the other. “People sometimes wish ill on others … on people who are mean or nasty or don’t get along with others, or cause trouble … oh, for many reasons. It doesn’t actually mean they would kill the object of their derision.”

  “It sounds like Martha has a long history of people not liking her,” Lin said. “But what was the impetus now? What happened that pushed someone to kill her now?”

  “The stolen basket?”

  “That seems to be the key to the mess, doesn’t it?” Lin sighed and rested her chin in her hand. “Two questions to answer now. Who stole the basket and who killed Martha Hillman?”

  Anton stopped pacing. “One will probably lead to the other.”

  “Undoubtedly.” Lin knew she had a lot of work to do and the path to the answers just kept getting longer and more convoluted.

  16

  Lin and Leonard sat eating their lunch in the shade of a large Maple tree in the backyard of one of their client’s homes. Nicky was off sniffing near the marsh that was located at the rear of the property. Lin and her partner were discussing the passing of Martha Hillman.

  “You must have been surprised when you heard Martha had died.” Lin opened a bottle of orange juice and set it on the grass next to her.

  “I’d say more suspicious than surprised.” Leonard removed the wrapping from his sandwich.

  Lin eyed her partner. “Why suspicious?”

  “I knew that woman.” Leonard’s voice was gruff. “She’d never commit suicide.”

  “But you hadn’t really known her for years. She could have changed. She could have had some difficulties no one was aware of. Maybe she’d had enough.”

  “Bah.” Leonard didn’t believe it. “That woman didn’t change. And she had difficulties all right. She was a mean-spirited, self-centered, horrible person.”

  Lin bristled. “Are you just saying this stuff because she was a strong-willed woman?”

  Leonard gave Lin a look. “Look, Coffin. My wife was strong-willed. She could do anything. But she wasn’t mean. She cared about others. You have strong opinions and ideas, but you’re not self-centered….” Leonard eyed her. “Well, not most of the time anyway.”

  Lin’s mouth opened in surprise and she bopped him on the arm. “Thanks a lot.”

  “Martha had a rotten core.” Leonard took a swig from his water bottle. “It’s awful to say so, but she was an awful person. She thought her needs and wants superseded everyone else’s. Her ideas were the best, she was the smartest, she worked the hardest. Marguerite tried to befriend her, but it was impossible. That woman would not kill herself. No way.”

  “Who did then?”

  Leonard shook his head. “The list is probably a mile long. Good luck to the cops trying to solve this one.”

  Lin let out a sigh. “Yeah.”

  They ate quietly for a while.

  Lin rolled up her empty sandwich bag and put it in her lunch box. “Do you think Martha was the one who stole the antique basket? She was always at the museum. She probably could find opportunity to take it when others were busy or not around.”

  “Why would she do it though?” Leonard leaned back against the tree’s trunk. “That’s really the most important question, isn’t it?”

  “Why wouldn’t she do it?” Lin said the words under her breath as she thought it over. “To sell it? For the money?”

  “If she got caught, it would ruin her reputation. Would a woman who worked that hard and trampled so many people to get where she wanted risk her hard-won status?”

  Lin pushed her hair out of her eyes. “Maybe she hadn’t achieved what she wanted. Maybe she felt that her hard work had never been satisfactorily compensated. Maybe she wanted more? Selling the basket would get her a ton of money.”

  “That’s possible.” Leonard handed Lin one of the cookies he’d brought in his lunch.

  Lin bit into the treat. “Mmmm. Yummy. Where’d you get these?”

  “I made them.”

  “Really?” Lin took another bite and spoke while she chewed. “If you ever tire of landscaping, you can open a bakery.”

  “I like being outside.” Leonard gave Lin a stern look. “You’re not supposed to talk with your mouth full.”

  Lin swallowed. “Sorry. Maybe in the off season you can sell your coo
kies.”

  “Maybe not.”

  Smiling Lin said, “You are a man of many talents and much knowledge.” She broke off a piece of the cookie and was about to pop it into her mouth when she asked, “You don’t happen to know Avery Holden, do you?”

  Lin had looked the woman up on the internet and had come up empty. Avery was listed as an employee of the cultural museum and other entries told of her education and work experience, but there was no phone number or address to be found. Lin planned to ask Anton if he could get the woman’s address from someone at the museum.

  “Why do you ask?” Leonard had closed his eyes and was still leaning against the tree.

  Lin whirled towards her partner. “You know her?”

  “Who’s asking?”

  “Me, for heaven’s sake.” Lin poked Leonard. “Do you know her or not?”

  Leonard’s eyelids lifted. “Why are you looking for her, Coffin?”

  “I think Martha Hillman fired her from the museum. I want to ask Avery if she knows anything about the basket.”

  Leonard leveled his gaze at Lin. “Are you looking into the theft?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Martha was probably killed. Maybe she’s linked to the robbery. Is it a good idea for you to put yourself in harm’s way? This is dangerous stuff.” There was a tinge of anger in the man’s voice.

  Lin didn’t say anything.

  “I don’t feel like having to find another partner.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  Leonard frowned and told her Avery’s address.

  “How do you know her?” Lin asked.

  “Someone gave my number to her. There’s a tiny garden off the back of her apartment. She wanted to know what she could plant in the shade.”

  For a few seconds, Lin pondered the address that Leonard had given her. It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

  As if reading her mind, Leonard said, “The apartment is off the back of Lacey Frye’s basket shop in town. You know it?”