Murder Checks Inn - Tim Myers [24]
“My lips are sealed. Thanks, Nadine, you’ve been a big help.”
“Your uncle deserved a better ending than he got. I just hope you catch whoever did this, Alex.”
“Me, too,” Alex said as he headed out the door.
Stopping at the police station, Alex was told that the sheriff was at his usual hangout, Buck’s Grill.
Sally Anne, Buck’s daughter, met him with a forced smile.
Alex asked gently, “Hi, Sally Anne. How are you doing?”
“I’m better, Alex, thanks for asking. Dad’s still in a stormy mood, though.” Sally Anne’s boyfriend had proposed to her, and three months later he’d broken their relationship off with her entirely. The two of them had been planning to hold the wedding at Hatteras West, with Alex’s heartfelt approval. He loved it when the inn served as a chapel for local couples. His own parents had been married at the top of the lighthouse, and if Alex ever found someone of his own, he planned to do the same.
Alex found Sheriff Armstrong on a stool near the back, deep in conversation with Hiram Blankenship, his one-time rival for the sheriff’s elected office. Hiram was the town barber, a man who had the unfortunate habit of waving his hands wildly in the air whenever he spoke. It wasn’t so bad when Hiram held a sweet roll in his hand, but he could be frightening with a pair of scissors or a straight-edge razor slashing through the air.
“Hiram,” the sheriff said, “what you don’t know about the law could fill an ocean.”
“I still say I would do a better job than you, you old goat,” Hiram said, narrowly missing the sheriff’s nose with a barrage of icing.
“The people of Elkton Falls didn’t think so,” Armstrong said as he leaned back on his stool to get out of harm’s way.
“This time.” Hiram gestured, stabbing at the sheriff with his roll. If it had been a sword, Elkton Falls would have needed a new sheriff after all. A smudge of icing stained the front part of Armstrong’s uniform.
“You’re going to pay for cleaning my uniform,” Armstrong snapped as he pointed to the spot on his chest.
“The way you’ve been eating, who’s going to notice one more stain?”
Alex knew he couldn’t wait for the two men to wind down; they might be at each other the rest of the day. He said, “Sheriff, I need to talk to you.”
Hiram snapped, “You’re wasting your time, Alex, he’s more interested in harassing taxpaying citizens than he is in solving crime.”
Armstrong started to say something in reply when Alex added, “It’s important.”
The sheriff tried to tuck in his massive belly as he stood and faced Hiram. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got police business to see to.”
“There’s no excuse for you,” Hiram added just as they left the diner. Alex caught a broad grin on the barber’s face as he managed to get the last jab in.
Armstrong said, “One of these days he’s going to push me too far, Alex, you mark my words. Now what is it that’s so all-fired important?”
Alex held the appointment book firmly in his hands. He wasn’t ready to give it up until he made his point with Armstrong. “Nadine was too jumpy to keep this at the office.”
The sheriff asked, “And how did you just happen to be there, Alex?”
“I inherited Jase’s things, remember? I’ve got to start an inventory to see what I’m looking at.” He had decided from the start not to let the sheriff know about his own investigation if he could help it.
“Sorry,” Armstrong mumbled.
Alex said, “But since we’re talking about the appointment book anyway, there’s something you should know. Nadine swears the entry about Julie isn’t in Jase’s handwriting.” Alex flipped the pages randomly and said, “See? She’s right. None of the other entries match it, though it’s pretty obvious somebody tried.”
Armstrong picked right up on it. “So someone wanted to direct suspicion away from themselves, is that what you’re thinking, that this is a frame-up?”
Alex nodded. “Exactly.”
“I talked to Julie this morning,” Armstrong admitted. “Of course, she denied ever making that appointment, but what