“Rocky told him that?”
“He was Dan’s boss at the Lazy Lobster, and he coached the team. That’s how Dan got the job helping out.”
Rocky Costa. The bartender at the Lazy Lobster. Funny, he hadn’t happened to mention that connection when she was there the other day.
“How did Dan feel about being fired from a volunteer job?”
“At first he was angry. Then he was sad. It wasn’t easy for him here. Working with the boys was one of the things he enjoyed. But he understood why he couldn’t do it anymore.”
“It was kind of you to let him live here for the past two years. That’s a long time to open your home to a distant relative.”
Cordelia looked up at Maggie in surprise.
“This house belonged to him until three years ago. I was the one who was grateful he’d paid the taxes and let me live here all those years. He had a right to be here.”
Chapter 19
Raid on a Sand-Swallow Colony, “How Many Eggs?”Winslow Homer wood engraving of four boys climbing up sand dunes and stealing eggs from the nests of the swallows nesting there. Printed in Harper’s Weekly, June 13, 1874, one of the last of Homer’s engravings to be printed in Harper’s, and one of his finest. It was done at Gloucester, Massachusetts, and is therefore sometimes considered one of his “Gloucester Series,” although it doesn’t quite match the four other beach scenes he did there because it’s a vertical engraving; the other four are horizontal. 13.75 x 9.25 inches. Price: $450.
“This house belonged to Diana’s father? Not just twenty years ago when he lived here, but until three years ago?” asked Maggie.
“Yes. I thought everyone knew,” signed Cordelia. “When he and his wife moved west I needed a place to stay. They told me I could live here for the rest of my life if I wanted to. Roger sent money to pay the taxes and keep the house painted and the roof from leaking. I paid for the utilities and my food, of course. Then three years ago, for some reason, he signed the deed over to me.”
“I see,” signed Maggie. She glanced over at Diana, who was finishing her second Danish and ignoring their signing. “Does Diana know this?”
“I haven’t told her,” said Cordelia. “I don’t know if her father did.”
Maggie suspected he hadn’t. He hadn’t told Diana much about her family. How had she gotten so involved with these two women? But how could she not care about what happened to them? “Cordelia, why would anyone want to hurt you or Diana?”
“I have no idea.”
A very bright light on the wall between the kitchen and living room started blinking.
“Someone’s at the door. I’ll get it,” said Diana.
Of course. In the home of someone who was hearing impaired a light would signal that someone was at the door; a doorbell wouldn’t be heard. Maggie had read about signals connected to TDD machines and doorbells, but this was the first time she’d seen one operating.
Chief Ike Irons came back with Diana. “Good morning, ladies. Maggie Summer. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I came to keep Diana and Cordelia company. They’ve had a difficult morning.”
“And you speak the hand talk, don’t you? I remember your saying that. Well, then it’s good you’re here. You can translate for Ms. West. I wanted them both to know we looked in their yard, and down to the beach from their porch, this morning, but we didn’t find any footprints. Of course, the wind has blown considerable, and wet leaves are over everything. But we couldn’t find a trace of whoever was here.”
“Did you check on the beach? Down by the tide line? Maybe whoever was here was picked up by a boat,” Maggie interrupted.
“Doubt it. If there were someone there he probably walked through the water so the tide washed away any footprints.”
“Well, he wouldn’t walk in that frigid water forever! Wouldn’t you see where he walked out?”
“Theoretically, yes, Dr. Summer. But we didn’t find anything. For whatever reason. The beach isn’t even, and the tide comes up pretty high about now. Maybe whoever it was hopped on a unicorn. In any case, we didn’t find anything. But we haven’t given up. We’re checking marinas and gas stations to see if anyone remembers seeing someone pump gasoline into a container in the past day or so. But that’s not unusual around here, you know. And we’re going to keep an eye on this house, both from the road and the water, for the next few days.”
Chief Irons nodded to Diana and to Cordelia. “Miss Hopkins and Ms West can be assured they’re under the personal protection of the Winslow Police Department.”
While Maggie translated the message for Cordelia, Diana asked, “Have you figured out who killed my father yet, Chief Irons?”
“That investigation is underway.”
“What does that mean?” she asked. “Who are you investigating?”
“We don’t have any specific suspects yet,” Chief Irons replied, “but we’re working on developing a timeline: trying to find out where your father was during the last few days of his life, and who he saw then. Once we know that, we’ll be in a better position to start interviewing persons of interest.”
“What do you know so far?” asked Diana.
“We know he was here on Tuesday morning with you for breakfast, and he was seen in town later that morning.”
“Yes?”
“Well, so far, that’s it.”
“Where was he in town? With whom?”
Maggie listened as Chief Irons tried to avoid admitting he didn’t have too many answers. “He was walking down Main Street, near the statue of the whaling master. He was alone, heading toward the library.”
“That’s it? That’s all you know?”
“We’ve only had a couple of days to work on the investigation, you know. These things take time. This isn’t ‘CSI’ or ‘Law and Order.’ This is the real world, young lady.”
“And in the meantime someone just walks up to our house and tries to burn it down, with Cordelia and me inside!”
“We’re investigating that, too, I assure you. These sorts of things do not normally happen here in Winslow.”
“Well, they’re happening now! And they’re happening to my family! And I want them to stop!” Diana burst into tears, and turned to Cordelia, who reached out to hold her.
“These women are very upset, Chief. Isn’t there anything more that can be done for them?” Maggie asked.
“They could go and stay somewhere else, I suppose, but then whoever wanted to burn down their house could do that more easily.”
“If they went to stay at one of the B and Bs in town for a few days, very quietly, could someone on your staff stay here to protect their property?”
“Dr. Summer, do you have any idea how much that sort of protection would cost? I have one detective and three regular cops on my force. You think I could spare someone to hang out in an empty house on the chance some stupid kid came back to try to burn it? I’m sending over someone to clean off the gasoline that’s there now. I think between Miss West and our guys we scared off whoever was there this morning. I don’t think anyone’s coming back. Winslow’s a small town, Dr. Summer. If you don’t like it, you can go back to New Jersey.”
With that Chief Irons stomped off, heading for the front door. For once Maggie was glad Cordelia was hearing impaired. She couldn’t hear the door slam.
Or the light knock a few minutes later. But Maggie did. Diana was still sobbing, so she went to the door. It was probably too much to hope that Chief Irons had come back to apologize.
Yes, it was.
“Morning, Maggie. Gussie said Diana and Cordelia had a scare here this morning.”
“Exactly. Did you pass your friend Ike on your way here?”