Innkeeping with Murder - Tim Myers [63]
Alex said, “Killing Finster with your cane was what gave you away. I figured you were trying to cover up your trail. And you burned down the main keeper’s quarters to force me into selling, didn’t you? I started wondering why someone would want to buy a less valuable piece of property, but you never were interested in the buildings, just the ground they stood on.”
“When you wouldn’t give in, I decided to take matters into my own hands and speed things along. You’re not as bright as I gave you credit for.”
Alex had to stall until he could come up with a way to disarm her. “You thought Reg was spying on you, but how about Emma Sturbridge? Why did you push her off Bear Rocks?”
Barb Matthews spoke to Alex as if he were a child.
“I didn’t want anyone to link her death with the others. I still don’t know how she survived the fall. In hindsight, I should have stabbed her, too. It’s much more efficient.”
Alex persisted. “That still doesn’t explain why you wanted her dead.”
“The fool woman was going to jump my claim. Where do you think I found my emeralds?”
Alex groaned. “Somewhere near Bear Rocks. It’s all starting to make sense.”
She smiled wickedly. “So you’ve finally got it.” With that, she thrust her blade toward Alex’s chest, trying to pin him to the lighthouse itself.
At that precise moment, the Fresnel lens jumped into life above them, spearing Barb Matthews with its powerful beam. Alex lunged for the arm that brandished the deadly cane, but she jerked back instead of driving the blade home. His grab for her missed, as Barb Matthews went over the railing and dropped into the howling darkness. Several seconds later, he heard a muffled cry as her body hit the ground two hundred feet below.
Alex rushed down the narrow stairs and found Elise leaning weakly against the switch that supplied power to the lens. It was a good thing Alex had explained to her how the light operated; there was no doubt in his mind she had kept him from joining Reg in his lighthouse death.
Alex wrapped her in his arms, hugging her with all his might. “Thank God you’re all right. Elise, you saved my life.”
Elise’s voice was muffled. “Take it easy, Alex, I’m pretty sure I broke a rib or two from that fall. We saved each other. If you hadn’t come along when you did, she would have either forced me over the edge or stabbed me with that cane. Oh, Alex.”
Elise started sobbing into his shoulder. Alex held her as delicately as he could, stroking her hair with his hand.
Softly, he said, “Will you be all right up here by yourself for a few minutes? I want to call an ambulance.”
Elise’s voice was shaky as she answered. “I can walk down the stairs if I lean on you. I don’t think I can handle being alone up here.”
Alex wasn’t in any mood to argue. They made it down the steps, though slowly. As the two of them stumbled back to the inn, they walked past the crumpled body of Barb Matthews.
She didn’t look like a killer.
When he thought about how close she’d come to killing both of them, Alex shivered.
For once, he didn’t mind hearing the sirens of the ambulance and the police cruiser as they raced toward Hatteras West.
Chapter 20
Two weeks later, Alex, Elise, Mor and Emma were at the lake, enjoying a picnic near the placid waters. Alex had built a fire near the edge of the shore; the fresh pops and crackles of wood burning accented shimmering reflections of the flames on the water.
Alex broke the silence. “It’s hard to believe you’re out of the hospital already, Emma.”
Emma Sturbridge sat against a tree watching the fire and the water. A discreet bandage on the back of her head offered the only sign of her recent brush with death, though the doctors had told her to take things easy for a while.
Emma laughed. “It’ll take more than that she-devil to keep me down. You two did me a real favor getting rid of her, though. I’m already sleeping better at night. The nightmares