“Eventually,” Sheila said. “You say you’ve seen the maid yourself, Louise Jane? Do you get a sense of how she’s feeling?”
“If it was me,” Ruth said, “I’d be feeling trapped. Twenty years wandering around a hotel corridor? No thank you.”
“It’s interesting how small the library world is, isn’t it?” Lucinda said. “Did you ever work with Helena, Ruth?”
“I did. We were at Manteo Library together, but not for long. She left there when she got the director job at the Lighthouse. After that we continued to run into each other at conferences and the like. She had a good reputation at one time, although in her later years people didn’t speak as favorably of her. Bertie?”
“She was an excellent librarian,” Bertie said. “When I took over at the Lighthouse Library, I found everything in admirable shape.” Notably, Bertie didn’t say anything about Aunt Ellen and the volunteers being on the verge of quitting because of Helena’s leadership.
“I remember now,” Lucinda said. “Gossip had it that she was bitterly estranged from her sister and her parents. Does anyone know what that was about?”
“Her sister,” Louise Jane said, “is a nut case. I wouldn’t put stock in anything she has to say.”
“You told me you don’t know her,” I said.
“I hear things, Lucy. I listen and I pay attention. Unlike some people, I don’t take things at face value.”
“Please,” Bertie said, “we’re not here to gossip about Helena.” Bertie might as well have tried to turn back the tide now lapping against the sand outside the windows as stop this conversation once it had started.
“The police paid a call on me this morning,” Margaret said. “Such a handsome young man.”
“When,” Ruth said, “did they get to be so young?”
“Around the time my doctor did,” a woman said.
“Have any of you ladies seen the mayor of this town?” Lucinda said. “My goodness, but they didn’t make politicians that handsome in my day.”
I felt myself blushing and blushed even more when I caught Bertie smiling at me.
“It was exciting being questioned by the police,” Margaret said. “Unfortunately I had to tell him I couldn’t be of help. I spoke to Helena last night, but not for long, and we said not much more than hello. When I left the party, she was still alive. What are the police saying happened to her, Bertie?”
“Nothing they’re sharing with me,” Bertie said. “Tell me about this cruise you mentioned, Margaret. Where are you going? I’d love to do a Mediterranean cruise someday. It’s top of my list for when I retire.”
“You should ask Lucy to show you her apartment,” Louise Jane said. “Frances, known as the Lady, lives there. Her story is a fascinating one. Such a tragedy.”
“That would be great,” Shelia said. “How about tonight, Lucy?”
“What?” I said.
“Can I visit tonight? I’d love to try to contact one of the lighthouse spirits.”
“There are no lighthouse spirits,” I said, “and definitely none who are living in my apartment. I have a cat. He wouldn’t allow them in.”
“Shelia,” Lucinda said, “do you have any memories to share of Helena?”
“Me? Didn’t know her. Never heard of her before yesterday.”
“Will you stop talking about Helena Sanchez,” Mary-Sue snapped. Her glass was already empty. “She ruined my life. I’ll never forgive her. I’m glad she’s dead, and I’m not afraid to say so.”
“Isn’t this fun?” Ruth said in an attempt to change the subject. “So nice we could all get together.”
“What are your plans for tomorrow?” I asked.
“Some beach and pool time after breakfast,” Bertie said. “A group lunch here and then everyone’s on their way.”
“I’ll have to miss the lunch,” Lucinda said. “I have an early flight.”
“I’m staying on for a few days,” another woman said. “My parents live in Duck, so I’m going up to visit them.”
“We have a reservation at Jake’s Seafood Bar at seven,” Bertie said. “We should finish our drinks and settle up the bill.”
“If I can’t see your apartment tonight,” Sheila said to me, “how about tomorrow?”
I didn’t answer her. Something, or rather someone, had caught my eye. Tina Ledbetter had slipped into the room when I wasn’t looking and had taken a stool at the end of the bar. Despite the low lights, she wore enormous sunglasses, and her hair was hidden under a big straw hat. An untouched glass of beer rested on the counter in front of her, and she was staring at our table. She caught me watching and didn’t look away.
Chapter Nine
Connor picked me up at eleven on Sunday. I was already wearing my bathing suit under a loose beach wrap and had flip-flops on my feet. My beach bag was packed with a book, a big towel, sunscreen, and a refillable bottle of water. Connor had promised to provide our picnic.
I was waiting downstairs when he drove up. It was going to be a perfect beach day. The sun was a bright yellow ball in a sky of the deepest blue, and the temperature was scheduled to hit the high eighties, with little wind. The top was down on Connor’s BMW, and I got eagerly into the passenger seat. I leaned over for a kiss, and he kindly provided me with one.
A very long, very delicious one.
I’d been afraid that, despite Charlene warning her off, Louise Jane would show up, bathing suit on, beach bag in hand, ready to go with us. But I saw no sign of her.
Not yet anyway.
“Let’s go,” I said when Connor and I separated.
“You sound like you’re in a hurry.”
“I am in a hurry. A hurry to get sand between my toes and salty water on my bathing suit. As well as in a hurry to get out of here before someone shows up wanting my help with something.”
He threw the car into gear. “Any news about the police investigation?”
“Not a peep. I’m going to assume that’s a good thing. The autopsy was scheduled for yesterday afternoon. Maybe they concluded it wasn’t murder after all, but an accident. That would
