A Touch of Gold

The question sounded more like an accusation—as though I’d stolen the coin. Or maybe my guilty conscience just made it feel that way. “No.” But I couldn’t explain what made me put it in my pocket either.

I thought about the coffee card from the trash that was in a plastic bag in my purse. Would they have the same reaction if I shared that information? I wasn’t sure, but I realized it could be evidence. “I found a coffee card in the trash outside if that counts for anything.”

They all exchanged glances and shifted in their seats.

“Does it have a name on it or something useful to the investigation?” Brad asked, a little impatience in his voice.

“Well, only the Duck coffee shop name.” I realized I couldn’t tell them how I knew it belonged to Sam. They wouldn’t believe it. I had no proof to back me up.

“That’s irrelevant,” Chief Michaels said. “But please don’t take anything else from the crime scene. This is a serious matter, Mayor.”

Even though I reminded myself that it wasn’t a crime scene when I found the gold coin on the floor at the museum, I still felt fully chastened. I folded my hands on the desk. “I don’t know what else I can tell you.”

“You didn’t see anything unusual when you turned back after leaving the museum, right?” Brad demanded. “Any detail that could help us determine what happened and who was responsible would be helpful.”

I thought back again to that instant before the explosion. The door to the museum had been closed. That was the only detail I could remember, except for that brief flash of light. It hadn’t come from the museum building, as I thought back on it. Instead, the burst of light had flashed close by—close enough to catch my eye.

I couldn’t be sure what the flash was, maybe just a glint of sunlight reflected off of one of the cars going by. After my coffee card was summarily dismissed as unimportant, I didn’t feel much like sharing another ghost of a thought, but I told them anyway. “I saw a flash of light.”

“It’s possible she caught someone lighting the cannon,” Brad theorized.

Cailey agreed, sitting forward in her seat. “Are you sure you didn’t see anything else with that flash of light, Dae? A face or a car? Anything could help us.”

“No. I’m sorry. I wish I could help. It all happened so quickly,” I explained.

“We understand.” Cailey patted my gloved hands and smiled. “If you think of anything else, let us know right away. You’re lucky to be alive. It could’ve been so much worse if everyone else had still been in the museum.”

Everyone in the room agreed. A few minutes of dead silence followed as we considered the wider tragedy that had been narrowly averted. It made me wish I could say something about the coffee card belonging to Sam, even though I didn’t believe he had anything to do with Max’s death. The two men may have disagreed, but that’s a long way from murder.

“Thank you for your time, Mayor O’Donnell.” Brad broke free from the trance we all seemed to be in. He got to his feet and offered me his hand. When I didn’t offer mine in return, he frowned. “I’m sorry. I forgot. I hope your hands weren’t too badly injured. We’ll update you when we can about the situation. Everything we’ve found at the museum will have to be shipped to the lab and analyzed, including your coin. The process will be slow but thorough.”

I realized he’d given me the perfect excuse for wearing the gloves until I found a way to handle my new abilities. No one had to know the real reason I was wearing gloves—except Kevin. “Thanks. I set up a special town meeting for tomorrow night at seven. If all of you could be there to answer as many questions as you can, that would be great.”

The chief and Cailey kind of hesitated but eventually said they’d attend, barring emergencies. Brad kind of grunted and walked out of the room. I wasn’t sure if that meant he’d be there or not.

“Now all we have to do is deal with all the pirate curse rumors,” Cailey said. “It’s amazing how long people will hold on to something like that.”

“I plan to address that tomorrow night.” I smiled at both of them. “Someone needs to set the record straight.”

Cailey looked at Chief Michaels and they both laughed. “Good luck with that, Mayor,” Chief Michaels added. “I suppose you think you’re the first person who’s tried to lay the ghost of Rafe Masterson to rest.”

Tim cleared his throat. “It kind of makes sense. I mean, someone fired a cannon at the museum.”

“Which should not be common knowledge yet,” Chief Michaels reminded him with a stern expression. “We haven’t said anything about a cannon to the press.”

His reprimand slid off of Tim like rain off a fisherman’s slicker. “Maybe Rafe came to get his gold back. He vowed revenge, don’t forget, and we don’t know whose gold it was that Max found.”

We all stared at Tim and he shrugged. “That’s what people will say when they find out what happened.”

“Which they won’t find out from this office,” Chief Michaels said pointedly.

“What’s next?” I asked to change the subject. This was getting us nowhere. “Where will the investigation go from here?”

“It’s hard to say.” Cailey hedged, obviously not wanting to share. “We’ll look into all the leads we have and analyze the fire.”

“You’ll have to talk to Sam Meacham too.” Tim echoed what I was thinking. “Everyone knows what went on between him and Max. Besides Rafe, Sam is the most likely suspect in this case.”

When Cailey and the chief didn’t disagree, I knew they were thinking the same thing, probably minus Rafe being the top suspect. I didn’t believe a pirate ghost caused the explosion that killed Max. But I also had trouble believing Sam killed him. Anything was possible, but that seemed like a stretch to me. Unfortunately, Sam’s acrimonious relationship with Max was not the only factor piqueing everyone’s interest. He also had access to a working cannon and everyone knew he envied the gold coins in the Duck museum. Corolla’s historical museum didn’t have any real gold coins.

Cailey drifted out of my office toward the front door. Tim stepped outside on the boardwalk to take a call from his police radio.

“You look nice, Dae,” Chief Michaels said. “I hope you’re feeling better soon. Horace was sick with worry about you when he heard what happened. I had to have someone drive him to the hospital. I was afraid he might get in a wreck or get arrested if he drove himself there.”

“Thanks. I’m fine.” I couldn’t have been more surprised that the chief noticed how I looked. And I appreciated the way he had taken care of Gramps. I knew he meant well. We didn’t always see eye-to-eye on things, but he was a good man to have in your corner during trouble.

He nodded, cleared his throat and left the office behind Cailey and Tim.

“Well?” Nancy asked when we were alone.

I glanced at the big clock on the wall and my heart started pounding. My palms were sweaty and my face felt hot. “I think it’s time for dinner.”

She smiled. “I thought you must have a date.

“Yes. Well, not exactly a date, maybe.” I bit my lip to stop stammering. “I’m not sure.”

“You look great! Go knock him dead, girl!”

It wasn’t a long walk from town hall and the Duck Shoppes to the Blue Whale Inn. My mind went there before my body, flying down the stairs to the parking lot and out past the small commercial area of town.

My body paused outside town hall. Trudy’s words about Kevin using me to get over Shayla made my feet a little cold in my new shoes. Maybe I shouldn’t try to make him think of me in a romantic way just yet.

Not that I’d really thought through or planned out exactly what I was going to do to accomplish that goal. I’d never purposely set out to seduce a man, if that was what I was thinking. Maybe “seduce” wasn’t the right word—just make him more aware of me. We might be good together as more than friends. But I’d never set out to do that either.

It wasn’t like I was a complete novice. I’d dated through high school and college. I’d even dated occasionally since then. But being in a very small area, where the boys you grew up with became the men you’d already decided against, made it difficult. As Trudy had noted, we don’t get many new, single men who want to live in Duck.

My loosely considered plan to go home first, shower, put on my new perfume, redo my hair and find