A Spirited Gift

“No! I haven’t decided anything,” I replied. “I’d like to find out who killed Matthew and Sandi. This is my home town. I don’t want to think of it as the murder capitol of the Outer Banks. But I know there are risks. I feel them every day—every time I touch something with an emotional past.”

“You can’t let them bully you.”

“I won’t.”

“They need you—you can call the shots.”

I grinned. “You sound like Rafe. He was basically giving me the same advice while I was up on the widow’s walk. You know, I don’t think he’s as black as he’s painted. Well, not anymore anyway. He was definitely a scourge when he was younger.”

“Are you getting to be friends with him?”

“He’s more like some uncle who was in prison but you think he might have reformed, if that makes sense.”

“If talking to a ghost makes sense, anything is possible.” He smiled and kissed my hand. “Just be careful, Dae. Ask for help if you need it.”

“I will. Don’t worry.”

Before we could say anything else, Cole Black came to the table and asked us for help. “I never expected so many people, Mayor Dae! Think you could give us a hand? Molly has that bad lumbago. I’m worried she might wear herself out.”

Cole and his wife had retired here a few years back, claiming they were looking for some relaxation—but they worked harder than most people half their ages.

“Sure!” I agreed. “We’d be glad to help. What do you need?”

“See those tables over there by the windows? Could you bus all of them and do some dishes?”

Chapter 40

“Well, that was interesting,” Kevin said when we were done cleaning up the restaurant. “If I’d known we were going to work in a kitchen, I would’ve stayed home and cleaned mine.”

I laughed at him and gave him a towel to dry his hands. We’d done several loads of dishes, pots and pans and silverware by hand. “But so many people were fed tonight. Isn’t it wonderful to see everyone pulling together?”

“Marvelous.” He flicked water at me.

I snapped my towel at him. Cole and Molly found us horsing around in the kitchen as they got ready to close up.

“You two remind me of us when we were young,” Cole said with an affectionate smile at his wife.

“Or that nice young couple who stop in every so often, right?” Molly shook her head. “Not that they were married, we’ve come to find out. I’d hate to live with that kind of guilt. His wife is dead now, you know. That young lady mayor at the Blue Whale. What a shame!”

“Shawn Foxx?” I asked sharply. “He ate dinner here with someone besides his wife?”

“Regularly,” Cole confided. “He was here the night of the storm. We didn’t even know that was his name until we saw his picture and heard his wife had been killed. It was a real surprise that the other woman wasn’t his wife. The two seemed very close.”

“What did his girlfriend look like?” I asked.

“Kind of tall,” Cole said. “A real looker too.”

“Never mind him—he thinks everyone looks tall and every woman under thirty is a real looker,” Molly added. “But it seems to me they were about the same height.”

“Did you ever hear him call her by name?” Kevin questioned.

“Nope. Like I said—we didn’t even know his name until we saw that his wife had been killed. But they tipped well. I can tell you that,” Molly said. “And always paid with cash.”

“My favorite people!” Cole smiled.

“Was she blond? Have you ever seen her around in Duck?” I asked.

“No, she had long, dark hair,” Cole assured me. “This woman was late twenties, tops. Thin, like a model.”

“Now that you mention it, Mayor Dae,” Molly added, “I have seen her before. I think she might work at the skee-ball place. I’ve seen her smoking outside there. Or it was someone who looked just like her.”

“Thanks.” I hugged them both, not wanting them to feel we were interrogating them. “See you later. And thanks for sharing with so many people.”

“Please! We didn’t want all that defrosted food to go to waste,” Molly said. “And it’s a tax deduction. Don’t make us heroes.”

Kevin and I said good night and walked back out into the cold early-morning air. “So Shawn had a girlfriend.”

“It sounds like it.” I wrapped my jacket closer around me. “Someone who probably lives in Duck.”

“If you’re thinking she could be the killer, that would mean she had to be in or around the Blue Whale during the storm.”

“That’s true. Although Game World isn’t that far to walk from the inn. I guess that’s why Shawn had such a lame alibi about spending the night by himself in his car. He might have been here in Duck—with his girlfriend—at the time Sandi was killed. I can see why he wouldn’t want anyone to know about that.” I yawned after I told him about seeing Shawn at Game World. “But I don’t know if I’m thinking at all, to tell you the truth. I think my brain stopped working about an hour ago.”

“Maybe that means we should call it a night.” He wrapped his arm around me, and we headed down Duck Road—again.

I hated to say good night once we reached the house. He kissed me, and we clung to each other for a long time while we stood on the front porch. I was freezing, but I didn’t want the moment to end.