A Whisker In The Dark

“Which means that Flora is cleared because Seth himself said none of those shovels were the murder weapon,” Millie said.

“And that also means that one of the Biddefords really is the killer,” I said. Or could it still be Annabel? But if it was her, why would one of the Biddefords’ shovels be missing?

“But which one?” Mom asked.

“I hate to say it, but Doris said she’d do anything to get the company back on track and she also lied about them all being together that night,” I said.

“Bob argued with Carla but she seems to have an alibi,” Mom said.

“Paula also argued with Bob,” Millie pointed out. “And Paula has been trying to frame quite a few people. Flora and then Myron with the shoes. Maybe she’s the real killer.”

“I heard someone else argue with Bob,” Flora said.

We swiveled our heads in her direction. “Who?”

“Earl,” she said.

“What did they argue about?” I asked.

“It’s not like I was trying to eavesdrop. You were out shopping and I was cleaning the hallway when Bob burst into Earl’s room. They had a little bit of a tiff. I couldn’t hear too good but it sounded like something about a secret book and rubble. I figured the rubble had to do with digging, that’s why I…”

Flora’s voice trailed off and she got more fidgety with the feather duster and glanced around the room.

“You what?” I prompted.

“Okay, okay! I’ll admit it. I was lying about one thing. I didn’t clean Earl and Arlene’s room that day, but I was in there.”

“What were you doing?” Millie asked.

Flora glanced around to make sure no one else was about, then continued, “When I heard the argument about the secret book I assumed it was something about a treasure map. You know, maybe an old family book or something? I figured it wouldn’t do any harm to go in there and while I was cleaning maybe I could find this book.” Flora glanced out the window. “But when I went in it was pretty obvious where the treasure map was.”

“Wait, there really is a map?” I could practically see my mom thinking about rushing home to get a shovel. News of the map plus Millie’s coffee had sobered her up.

“Well, there was. Problem is Earl had burned most of it in the fireplace in his room. I could make out nothing but a few lines of longitude and latitude.” Flora’s expression turned sheepish. “I lied because I didn’t want you to think I stole from the room.”

“Really? If Earl knew where the treasure was, then did he dig it up?” Millie said.

“If Bob and Earl argued over it maybe only Bob knew where it was,” Mom said. “Maybe that’s why it was burned.”

“Wait a minute. I want to see this map. Do you still have it?” I asked.

Flora blanched. “It wasn’t really stealing, honest. I mean it was in the fireplace so technically it was trash and I was just taking out the trash.”

“Of course. I’m not mad you took it, but I would like to look at it,” I said.

“It’s right here in my pocket.” Flora produced a wrinkled, charred piece of paper. “It won’t do you any good though. The map wasn’t for anything on this property. I think Jedediah might’ve buried his treasure at sea.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked. Millie and Mom had come to stand behind me so they could look over my shoulder.

“I went down to the travel agency lady to find out where these longitude and latitude would be. But this stupid map isn’t for this property—she said it was for somewhere in the Caribbean Ocean!”

Millie glanced at me. “Annabel wasn’t lying. Flora really was there, she just assumed she was looking to take a vacation because of the longitude and latitude.”

“But why would Jed bury the treasure in the middle of the ocean?” Mom’s eyes narrowed. “What if Annabel really did lie? What if she lied to Flora about the coordinates?”

“What do you mean?” Flora asked.

Mom leaned forward in her seat. “What if Annabel recognized the numbers for what they were—a map to the treasure. And what if she didn’t want anyone else to know the location. She might have given Flora false information about what the longitude and latitude really meant so that she could dig up the treasure herself!”

Millie pressed her lips together. “Hmmm… she did have those fancy shoes and she is expanding her business which means she got an influx of money.”

I stared down at the paper. It was a column of numbers that reminded me of the unbalanced accounting ledger I had for the guesthouse. “Are you sure these are longitude and latitude? Because they don’t look like it to me.”

“They don’t? Well I just assumed they were. I mean, why talk about a secret book and then burn the paper?” Flora asked.

Something else tickled the back of my brain. I was on to something, but had one more question. “Flora, did you clean Millie’s grandmother’s doily in the parlor the morning that Sheriff Chamberlain interviewed all of us?”