Innkeeping with Murder - Tim Myers [13]
The sheriff walked over to him and said, “Don’t
worry about a thing, Alex, Irene says you can have the lighthouse back as soon as the boys from the county come to retrieve the body.”
By then, Irene and Doc Drake joined the two of them. Alex turned to Irene, who was, as always, fussing with her hair. Evidently, she wasn’t used to climbing stairs, because her pillar of curls was threatening to crash down over her eyes from all the activity.
She pinched his cheek. “You’re getting cuter every day, young man. Why don’t you have a wife yet? I see you all over town with Sandra Beckett. Anything happening there?”
Alex shrugged, feeling his face redden slightly. Armstrong stepped in and saved him from replying.
“Investigator, we’re on a case. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t harass a potential witness.”
Irene rolled her eyes at her cousin, reminding Alex of a ten-year-old instead of the sixty-year-old woman standing before him. “Ducky, why don’t you lighten up a little.”
It was Armstrong’s turn to redden. The story around town went that, as a toddler, he’d become so attached to a yellow plastic duck that he carried it everywhere with him. The name “Ducky” was obviously one the sheriff hoped the town would forget. Most of them had, with the one glaring exception of Irene.
Alex asked, “What did you find out?”
Irene nodded. “Okay, let’s get down to business. The murder was pretty much what Doctor Drake thought; a thin sharpened wire was jammed into the victim’s neck.” She paused, then said. “With all the traffic you get climbing the steps, it was impossible to pull a legible print off the railing. Sorry I didn’t have any luck. About the only thing out of the ordinary I found up there was a handful of rocks.”
Doc Drake, who seemed to have a real fondness for the beautician, said, “They most likely fell out of the deceased’s pockets. We can’t expect you to find clues when there aren’t any around, now can we? You did good work up there, Irene, don’t let it bother you.”
She offered the physician a bright smile and a quick peck on the cheek. Seeing the red brand from her lipstick, Irene took her hankie out and scrubbed the doctor’s face clean. “We can’t have that pretty new nurse thinking things, now can we?”
Irene turned to her cousin. “I’ll be in the car while you men have your chat. Hurry up, Ducky. I’ve got to give Mrs. Anderson a perm in twenty minutes. Career women these days don’t even have time to get their hair done. It’s disgraceful, I’m telling you. After you drop me off, you can go over to the One-Hour Photo lab and develop the pictures I took of the crime scene.”
Alex turned to the sheriff and said, “Any idea when the ambulance is going to get here?” The thought of Reg’s body on the upper balcony was beginning to make Alex nauseous.
“I’ll radio over and see what’s keeping them.” While Armstrong was in the squad car making his call, Drake spoke softly to Alex. “I’ve got the feeling we’ll never find out who did this, or why. The modern world is filled with random acts of violence. The only thing that surprises me is that it took so long to come to our little town here.”
Alex shook his head. “I don’t think there was anything random about Reg’s death, Doc, but I agree that Armstrong might never find out who the real killer is.”
Drake said heavily, “Don’t sell Armstrong short. I’ve seen him at work a lot more than you have. He’s got a decent mind, and when he gets to thinking about a murder he doesn’t think about anything else. If anybody has a chance to figure this out, it’s him. Armstrong’s the kind of man who thrives under tense situations. It’s the normal aspects of life he doesn’t handle all that well.”
Alex wondered if the sheriff was as competent as the doctor supposed.
He suddenly knew in his heart that he couldn’t afford to take that chance. Who would knowingly stay at an inn where a murder had recently