A Timely Vision

same dress as Miss Elizabeth. And she had an old person wig from before. Maybe Halloween or something.”

I looked at him as he started the engine. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“I don’t know what to believe. And neither do you. You should put that dress back in Mary Lou’s house, and we should forget we saw it.”

“And let Miss Mildred take the blame for killing her sister?”

“Let it go, Dae.” That was his last word on the subject before he raced out of the drive. We didn’t speak again until we reached the turtle rescue area and Carter waved us through.

I saw Gramps getting out of his golf cart, Kevin in tow. I took the shopping bag that held the dress and wig and stashed it under the seat in the golf cart. I glanced around to see if Tim was watching. He was talking to Chief Michaels. They both turned and stared at me, but by that time, the bag was out of sight.

“Are you in trouble?” Gramps asked with a nod toward the two police officers.

“I can’t explain right now,” I answered quickly when I saw them walking toward us. “I have to take this checkbook to Mary Lou.”

“I can take care of that if you need to do something else,” he volunteered.

I looked at his dear face and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. I mean, if I ever hurt you. I would never do it without really believing I didn’t have any choice.”

He frowned and glanced over my shoulder toward Chief Michaels. “Dae, you’re worrying me. Is there something I should know?”

“Not now. Not here. I’ll tell you later.” I handed him the checkbook, relieved that I wouldn’t have to face Mary Lou. I wasn’t sure my face wouldn’t give me away. I didn’t want her to get in trouble, but I wouldn’t let Miss Mildred spend the rest of her life in an institution because of something someone else did.

I didn’t want it to be Mary Lou. It would’ve been a lot more convenient for Chuck Sparks or Jerry Richards to be the one who’d killed Miss Elizabeth. They were greedy, grasping people who didn’t care who they hurt in their quest for money. I would’ve gladly handed over evidence to Chief Michaels that proved they were the ones responsible.

“Mayor.” Chief Michaels addressed me with a general nod in my direction.

“Chief. I see they volunteered you too.” I could see Kevin kind of nonchalantly standing in earshot of us.

“Tim tells me you have something to say.”

I glanced at Tim, who was standing behind the chief. “No. Not really.”

“Is something wrong? Tim says you went to Mary Lou’s house and picked up some items.”

I wished my eyes were laser beams that could burn a hole in Tim’s forehead. The man couldn’t keep his mouth shut, especially around the chief. He didn’t want me to say anything, but he thought it was okay for him to say something. I didn’t know what he expected me to do.

“She sent me there to pick up her checkbook. Tim brought some baskets out here too.” I wasn’t going to say anything about the dress and wig. At least not until I could figure out what to do with them. I really felt that sharing this information with the chief wasn’t the way to go.

It was the chief’s turn to glare at Tim. “Would one of you mind telling me what in blazes is going on? Tim says you found something over at Mary Lou’s house, but he won’t tell me what it is. You’re telling me it’s a checkbook and some baskets. Is that about right?”

I shoved my hands in my pockets. “That’s about right.”

The chief exhaled loudly and his nostrils flared. “I don’t understand you young people. I swear I don’t.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult.” I gave him my best mayoral smile and walked away. It was hard since I was nervous about the bag under the seat in the golf cart. I was afraid I might look at it as I walked by. Or was I trying too hard not to look at it?

Neither one of them followed me or rummaged around in the golf cart, so I thought I was safe. Confused and uncertain, but safe. I glanced over my shoulder briefly to see Chief Michaels yelling at Tim, and even making strangling motions with his hands.

“So what did you really find?”

I jumped when I heard Kevin’s voice from behind me. I’d forgotten about him in my eagerness to get away. “You startled me.”

“Sorry. What did you find in Mary Lou’s house?”

I didn’t tell the chief. I didn’t plan to tell Kevin. I wasn’t sure who to trust with the information. “If you were eavesdropping carefully, you know I got the checkbook and Tim got the baskets. That’s all. End of story.”

“I saw you give your grandfather the checkbook. And I saw Tim take the baskets to one of the volunteers. That leaves whatever you put in the golf cart. I think it was too big to be a check and too small to be a basket. Is there some reason you don’t want to tell me?”

“Yes.” I started walking down the beach. All around us, volunteers were feverishly trying to get things set up for the next day. I thought about Chuck Sparks and Jerry Richards trying to get ready for the auction tomorrow. Was what I found at Mary Lou’s house enough to prevent the auction from happening?

“All right.” He stayed beside me as I walked, the wild Atlantic breeze tousling his hair. “This must be really bad.”

I didn’t respond, trying to weigh what might happen if I told him about the dress and wig. He could demand that I tell the chief, as Tim wanted me to do. He could decide to confront Mary Lou. I didn’t like that scenario any better.

“Am I on the suspect list?”

I stopped walking. No one was close to where we were standing, and I thought the noise from the ocean and the gulls would mask anything I said. “I found something at Mary Lou’s house that might implicate her in Miss Elizabeth’s murder. But I don’t want to tell the chief because we didn’t have a search warrant and Tim says it’s crazy anyway. And I don’t want to confront Mary Lou and embarrass everyone. Gramps would never forgive me.”

He moved closer. “What did you find?”

I told him about the dress and wig. “I know it’s important. You’d think after all these years Tim would trust me enough to believe I find things. Everyone knows I find things. I didn’t want to find this. But I did, and I don’t know what to do.”

We sat down on a large gray rock that was underwater during high tide. There were still a few starfish clinging to the bottom where the rock was wet. Tiny crabs scuttled away when we sat down. The sun had warmed the stone, and the cool water reaching the shore felt good on my toes as I dipped them, and my sandals, into the surf.

“What do you want to do with the information?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I feel sure this is why Miss Mildred thought she saw her sister’s ghost. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but we know someone set her up.”

“And you think Mary Lou was the one?”

“I don’t want to think it.” I glanced at him, narrowing my eyes as I faced the sun. “What do you think?”

He considered it. “I think unless she confesses, it would be hard to make a case out of this. Was there any animosity between Mary Lou and Miss Elizabeth?”

“Not as far as I know. Mary Lou helped out at her house a lot. They seemed to be friends. I can’t imagine her hurting Miss Elizabeth. But there’s something else too.” I nodded to one of the workers a few yards away. “Those blue gloves over there are like the kind that were in Miss Elizabeth’s purse. And those little stainless steel shovels they all use could be the same kind that killed her.”

“Of course, those shovels and gloves are sold everywhere on the island,” he reminded me. “That wouldn’t be enough to reopen the investigation.”

“What would be?”

“New DNA evidence. Or a confession.”

“I don’t know how to get new DNA evidence.” I thought about what I was saying with my head and not my heart. If Mary Lou was guilty of killing Miss Elizabeth, even if it was an accident, she needed to explain herself and rescue Miss Mildred. “But I might know how to get a confession.”

“What do you have in mind?”