“Are you kidding?” I couldn’t hide my enthusiasm. “The herbs and vegetable plants we could grow and fields of flowers and a pumpkin patch where kids and adults can come pick their own pumpkins. Possibilities are endless. I’ll go see Burke now and get the details.”
Danny grabbed me and hugged me tight. “I love you, sis.”
I could barely breathe he had me so squashed against him. Danny was the thickest of my brothers, but far from overweight. He was solid muscle from all the physical work at the garden center.
“I’ve got to get back to the work,” Danny said.
“Kelly doing okay?” I asked, though I shouldn’t have. He worried endlessly about his wife since she got pregnant. Bless her soul for being so patient with him.
“She’s doing better than me,” Danny said with a laugh and hugged me again. “Call me right after you talk with Burke.”
“Will do,” I called out since he was rushing off.
I was actually glad to have a reason to visit Strathmore Builders, though it was William, Burke’s granddad, I actually wanted to talk with. He would be able to tell me who may have been working there at the time of the murders.
“Pepper!”
I looked to see my dad motioning me over to the sheriff’s vehicle that blocked my truck from backing out. I could tell by his scowl that something was wrong and wondered if it had anything to do with the mayor and Marsh.
“What’s up, Dad?” I asked.
“I don’t want you going to Marsh’s Garage until I can rule him out in the Carson murder. Marsh is out on a major tow job and the mayor is conveniently unavailable to talk until tomorrow, so he says. At least neither of them knows you heard them talking, but I don’t want to take any chances so stay away from the garage until I find out what’s going on.”
“Not a problem, Dad,” I said. “By the way, did you interview Stan Richards and his three friends who were staying at the lodge the weekend of Rita Carson’s murder?
“The Carson murder is what began our friendship,” my dad said. “He was in medical school at the time and was curious about the case. Told me he wanted to be a medical examiner and asked me all sorts of questions. He even suggested some possibilities. AJ and I talked with everyone staying at the lodge at that time, showed the photos of Rita and Travis but no one had seen either of them around there. I can’t say I got a sense of anyone lying to us, but I was a rookie back then. Today I would handle it differently, but AJ was the senior officer in the department, and I saw no reason to disagree with him when he told Sheriff Barrett that he didn’t believe anyone at the lodge was involved.”
“You didn’t even have a niggling of a doubt?” I asked.
“I can’t say I didn’t revisit the idea. But Max wasn’t one to put up with any nonsense at the lodge. You misbehaved, caused any problems and Max would tell you to leave and not come back. When events were held Max hired anyone of us in the department that was free that day as security plus other officers from out of town. It was why the place was popular. People felt safe vacationing and attending events there. Got any thoughts yet on the murders?”
“Still don’t have enough to fit all the pieces together,” I admitted.
“That’s how I felt thirty-five years ago. I was missing several important pieces and for the life of me I couldn’t find them and still can’t.”
“The mayor and Marsh know something that just might provide you with those pieces.”
“I can’t wait to talk with them both.”
I got in my truck after my dad pulled away and called ahead to see if Burke would see me and if William was available. I lucked out with both. I headed to Strathmore Builders and spotted Noah’s vehicle parked by Yesterday’s Treasures. He’d left the diner while I spoke with my brother Danny. Unfortunately, Beau wasn’t free to follow him today and neither was I, and while I was curious as to what he was doing there again, I had no time to spare.
Maybe I was being overly protective of Amy. Maybe the guy had no ulterior motive for returning after all these years.
“Yeah, right,” I said to the empty truck. “And maybe pigs can fly.”
16
“Don’t think you’re going to drive a hard bargain, Pepper,” Burke warned me when I entered his office before swiveling around in his chair to face me, his eyes turning wide.
“You should see the other guy,” I said with a laugh.
“You’re not serious are you?”
“Do you not pay attention to gossip?” I asked, surprised he hadn’t heard about my accident.
“I was away for a week.” —he grinned— “with a friend at a private resort in St. Thomas.”