Reservations for Murder - Tim Myers [5]
He was surprised by how readily she agreed.
As Alex made his way across the grounds to the new building, he couldn’t help wondering why murder had come back to Hatteras West. He looked up at the lighthouse beacon, a constant presence that he never took for granted.
Surely the sentinel had seen the crime and the killer as well.
If only the lighthouse could talk.
Bill Yadkin didn’t have anything to say as he and Alex waited for the sheriff, though Alex tried to draw him out several times. The oddest thing was that the young blacksmith kept his back to the body, while it seemed that everyone else was closing in for a better look at the last remains of Jefferson Lee.
As good as his word, Sheriff Armstrong showed up on the scene less than fifteen minutes later, his siren silent all the way.
Armstrong, his uniform bulging from his girth, asked as he looked up at the lighthouse, “Am I going to have to climb those infernal steps again?” Irene Wilkins, the sheriff’s cousin who acted as the town beautician and resident crime-scene expert, got out of the other side of the patrol car with her investigation kit tucked under one arm.
Alex said, “No climbing this time. It happened in the middle of my new construction. Sorry to drag you out here, Irene.”
The older woman shrugged. “It’s not a problem, Alex. I don’t have a perm scheduled until eleven, so I’m free till then.”
Armstrong said, “Let’s go see what happened.”
Alex led them to the building site. Nearly all of the exhibitors and guests at the inn had gathered near the new construction to get a look.
Armstrong said in a mighty voice, “Nothing to see here, folks. Move along so we can begin our investigation.”
The group broke up reluctantly, and Armstrong nodded to Irene. “Why don’t you go ahead and get started.”
She already had her camera out and was taking pictures of the body and the area around it.
Yadkin came up to Alex and said, “If you don’t need me anymore, I’ve got to bank my fire. I guess this means we’re shutting down.”
“You bet your hat it does, son,” Armstrong said.
Alex said, “Let’s not be hasty, Sheriff. Technically, this area isn’t even a part of the fair.”
“Now Alex, I’ve got a responsibility to the town to solve this murder. It’s gonna have to take priority over Shantara’s fair.”
Alex said, “Sheriff, there’s got to be a way to keep the fair open. You know as well as I do how much Shantara has riding on this.”
Armstrong bristled. “It can’t be helped, Alex. I’m not about to let a thousand people walk around the crime scene. We have to secure the area.”
Alex called out to the beautician, “Irene? How much time do you need before you release the area?”
She lowered her camera, looked around the construction site for a good thirty seconds, then said, “Give me an hour, tops. I’ll need help getting that steel out of him after I dust it for prints, not that it’s going to do any good. The metal’s rough and unpolished; I doubt I’ll get a thing from it. If we call the wagon now to come get him, we’ll have this part of it wrapped up well before the fair starts.”
Armstrong cut off Alex’s next words before he even had the chance to speak. “I’m not having it, do you hear me? This is too important, Alex.”
Alex said evenly, “Sheriff, look at it this way. If you shut the fair down, you’re going to lose most of your suspects. You can’t just keep them here all weekend without some kind of justification. But if you keep the fair going, you’ll know where every one of them is. That way, you can interview them at your own pace. You can cordon off the building site if you want, just in case. Keeping this fair alive has got to be the best alternative for everybody involved.”
Armstrong seemed to think about it for a full minute before he looked at Irene and said, “Are you sure you’ll be done in time? I don’t want you rushing on account of the fair.”
“I said I’d be done in plenty of time, didn’t I? Believe me, in an