Millie and Mom looked at each other and shook their heads.
“Maybe Josie isn’t a good fit for our investigative exploits after all,” Mom said.
“Yeah, your theory is full of holes,” Millie added.
I crossed my arms over my chest.“How so?”
“Well, for one, if Myron’s family already knew where the treasure was, why wouldn’t someone have dug it up before?” Millie asked.
“And for two,” my mother added. “Why would he need to combine forces with Carla?”
They had a point, but I wasn’t letting go of my theory that easily. “Maybe the family didn’t know where the treasure was all this time, but the discovery of Jed’s skeleton and the curse rumor resurfacing prompted Myron to look through some family documents and he found something that made him think he knew where the treasure was.”
“He did seem awfully interested in that skeleton,” Millie said.
“And he did lie about being here, which means he was up to something,” Mom added. “But what’s the connection to Carla?”
“Maybe they were rekindling an old affair,” I suggested.
Millie leaned in toward us and lowered her voice.“Can’t say as I’d blame her, her husband doesn’t seem like much fun.”
“And Bob did threaten to tell on her about something. But why wouldn’t she just divorce Henry then? Bob outing an affair doesn’t seem worth killing over,” Mom said, then added, “I have another theory, maybe whatever Myron found wasn’t a precise location and he needed some family information from Carla to narrow it down so they partnered up.”
“And Bob found out and was going to steal the treasure so they did him in,” Millie added. “That makes sense.”
“Do you think there really is treasure then?” Mom asked.
Millie shrugged.“Good question. I doubt it because if Myron and Carla dug it up, they’d have taken off together, wouldn’t they?”
“Treasure or not, it’s something to look into,” Mom said. “Flora is still a suspect and we need to help Seth close this one fast before those rumors about this place being haunted spread too far and hurt bookings.”
Millie tapped her finger on her lips.“Indeed. But how can we approach Seth with this? He’s already suspicious of any clues I give him because he thinks we are biased as to Flora’s innocence.”
“I know the dates that Carla and Myron were at Yale, which proves they could have known each other,” I said.
“Yes, but that’s not concrete evidence. We need something more.”
Mom snapped her fingers.“The shoes! Paula saw fancy Italian leather shoes. Earl was wearing Nikes but he’s not the only one who likes to dress fancy.”
Millie put her hands on her hips.“Those could have been Myron’s shoes she saw.”
“So all we have to do is get Paula to identify the shoes, preferably while Myron is wearing them and in front of Seth Chamberlain so that he’ll have his physical evidence,” I said.
“Easier said than done,” Millie said, peeking into the oven to check on the loaf cake. “We need to get Paula to run into Myron somehow when Carla isn’t around.”
“I know how we can do it,” Mom said. “The beer tent is open today and they’re having free samples. All we have to do is mention that to Paula and drop the hint that we are on our way to the beer tent, then offer to give her a ride.”
Millie nodded.“And once we’re down there, we will just take a little stroll past Myron’s bank table. I know he’s there today trying to trap tourists into investing in something at the bank.”
“But how do we get Seth in on this?” I asked.
Millie whipped out her phone.“Easy. I’ll call him and bribe him to come and meet us there. I just happen to have some of his favorite cookies in the car.”
Twenty-One
“I think the beer tent is over there.” Paula twisted around, pointing in a direction behind us and almost stumbling as she pulled her heel out from where it had sunk into the grass. I grabbed her elbow to steady her.
“I know. We’re just going this way to get our free tickets,” Millie said as we propelled her toward Myron’s tent.
Millie glanced at me behind Paula’s back and grimaced for telling the lie. A little white lie was necessary sometimes in an investigation. Still, Paula wouldn’t miss out on her free beer—she’d be well rewardedaftershe identified Myron’s shoes to Seth. Hopefully Myron would be wearing the same ones, or at least something similar that Paula would recognize and spark Seth’s suspicions.
“I hope Jed’s ghost doesn’t show up here.” Paula scanned the crowd. “Though I guess he won’t be after me. I didn’t take any treasure. I wonder if Bob did? And if he did maybe Jed took it back because no one’s found it yet and Bob certainly didn’t take it with him. So if Jed took it, there won’t be any more killings because he’ll have his treasure and the curse will be broken.”
Paula’s train of thought was pretty logical even if it was a bit rambling, but my mother glanced over at her as if she were crazy. “I doubt it was Jed who killed Bob.”
“Well, that’s the rumor I heard,” Paula huffed. “Who else could it be? Certainly not your maid that I saw running from the scene. She’s too old, now that I think of it.” Paula frowned as if considering her own words. “Or maybe itwas your maid. Some of those old people are pretty strong.”
Flora had been acting strangely. I had no idea if she actually was strong enough to have clobbered Bob, but I saw her move the antique carved-mahogany couch out from the wall to get behind it with the vacuum, so she was pretty strong. And what was this business with the vacation?
But if Flora had stolen the treasure why would she still be hanging around the guesthouse? Unless she hadn’t actuallyfound the treasure and Bob’s murder was for nothing. What was I thinking? Flora wouldn’t kill someone, no matter how valuable a treasure was involved.
Up ahead at Myron’s table, I saw a familiar figure lurking about. Annabel Drescher stood in front of one of the plastic displays that held interest-rate information. She snatched a pamphlet out and looked around furtively. I caught her eye and waved, but she pretended not to notice me. Maybe she didn’t want to be seen associating with someone whose maid was accused of murder?
“Looks like Arlene has some competition.” Paula’s gaze was pinned on Annabel as she walked away. “Fancy duds and even shoes like Earl’s.”
Wait, what? I swivel around to check out Annabel’s shoes. Paula was right, they were Italian leather similar to Earl’s. Suddenly I was second-guessing my Carla–Myron theory. Maybe Flora wasn’t lying about the vacation. But why would Annabel make that up… unless she was trying to cover something up or distract us.
“Oh look, you can get a home-equity line of credit for three percent, maybe you should tap into that for the renovations?” Millie’s comment redirected my attention from Annabel to Myron’s table.
Paula inspected the pamphlets closer, her eyes clouding over in confusion.“Where are the tickets for the beer tent?”
“Beer tent?” Myron’s eyes darted from Paula to me. “Are you interested in a loan?”
I glanced around for Seth. Millie had said he’d be meeting us here and we had to stall until he showed up so we could get Paula to identify the shoes in front of him. Mom jabbed me in the ribs and jerked her head toward the big display touting the low-interest-rate loans. Guess that would be a good way to stall.
“As a matter fact I am,” I said. It wasn’t totally a lie, either. Extra money would help me complete the renovations sooner. Too bad I didn’t actually have much money to make the payments until business picked up. It was a catch twenty-two. I needed the loan to accommodate more guests, but I needed more guests to pay the monthly rate on the loan. “You know, I have that whole west wing over at the Oyster Cove Guesthouse and the sooner I can get it renovated the sooner I can get more guests in. Do you have anything special, preferably with a delayed payment schedule?”