Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) by Tim Myers Page A

At least one of their suspects was going to be right under
their noses.
    “Here’s the register. You need to sign
in.”
    The man didn’t look all that pleased about
it, but he took the pen and wrote something in the book Elise liked
keeping up front. She thought it gave the place a certain amount of
charm, and Alex had to agree with her.
    Alex studied the quickly scrawled
handwriting to confirm what he’d heard the night before, and then
said, “Welcome to Hatteras West, Mr. Jackson.”
    “Sorry about your brother,” he said as he
looked around the lobby. “Do I have to stay in this building, or
can I bunk over there?” he asked as he pointed to the Main Keeper’s
Quarters.
    “Sorry, it’s not available.”
    Jackson just shrugged at the news, as though
he’d been expecting it.
    “May I help you with your luggage?” Alex
asked, a clear shot since the man wasn’t carrying so much as a
notebook.
    “Don’t worry about me. I’ll get it later.”
He reached for the key Alex was holding out to him.
    “I’d be glad to show you your room,” Alex
said.
    Jackson frowned, and then said, “I’ll see it
later. For now, I’d like to walk around some.”
    “Fine. If you need me, just ring the
bell.”
    Mr. Jackson reached down and pushed the bell
once, then went out the door.
    Alex debated waking Elise to tell him the
news, when he was surprised to see her coming down the stairs
along.
    “I didn’t even realize you were up,” he
said.
    “I’ve been up for an hour. I didn’t want to
wake you. I was just seeing about our guest.”
    “He just left,” Alex said. “How did you know
about that?”
    “It could be because our ‘he’ is really a
‘she’.”
    Alex was confused now. “There’s no way that
was a woman who just walked out of here.”
    “I’m talking about Monique Combs. I just
checked her in and got her settled in the Carolina Jasmine
suite.”
    Alex bit his lower lip. “I didn’t think we
were taking on new guests.”
    Elise looked excited as she said, “She’s the
woman from the rehearsal dinner, the one who slapped Tony.”
    Alex didn’t like that a bit. “And I just
checked in the man he had an argument with.”
    “It’s a little too much to take as
coincidence, isn’t it?” Elise asked.
    Alex nodded. “Don’t kid yourself. They’re
here looking for something, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s
that little piece of paper that Mor and I found in the Main
Keepers’ Quarters.”
    “I looked at it, too, and it looked like
nothing special to me.”
    Alex just shrugged. “Then maybe there’s
something else they’re after, but at least we won’t have to go
hunting for them now. They came to us.”
    Elise nodded. “It’s handy that we can grill
them right here.”
    “Only they shouldn’t know they’re being
questioned,” Alex added.
    “This isn’t my first time investigating a
murder, remember?”
    He laughed at that. “Don’t remind me. How
many times have we come close to getting caught snooping by one of
our guests?”
    “I try to forget things like that,” she said
with a grin, “but the answer is too many, I can tell you that.” She
looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and asked softly,
“Should we search Jackson’s room for clues?”
    “That would be kind of pointless, since he
hasn’t even been there yet. He got the key, and then decided that
he wanted to take a walk.”
    “You don’t think he’s out strolling around
though, do you?” Elise asked.
    “No,” Alex admitted. “I wanted to give him
time to go over to the other building before I surprised him.”
    “Let’s go, then,” Elise said.
    Alex shook his head. “It might be dangerous.
You should stay here. Call Sheriff Armstrong if something happens
to me.”
    Elise shook her head resolutely. “You’re not
going anywhere without me, mister. If one of us goes, the other
tags along. I’m not about to lose my groom before we’ve had a
chance to say our vows.”
    “Then