“Okay…” Miller sighed. “The less said about that the better. Jeff, would you care to take a seat here?” Miller pulled out a chair and Jeff shuffled over to sit down.
“I suppose you know everything already,” Jeff said. “You just need me to confirm it.”
“We don’t know all that much,” I admitted.
“We found a dead man with a passport and tickets to Australia,” Miller said. “We have reason to believe that you would have been the one to help get that passport for Robert Barton and for anyone else on Green Holt that had plans to get away.”
“Mmhmm,” Jeff nodded.
“Why were you charging them money?” I asked. “It seems like you were taking advantage of people that were desperate.”
“That’s what you think of me, huh?” Jeff laughed. “I assure you; it is not what it seems.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
“I have been the mailman for Hallow Haven for my entire working life. It is something to be proud of, let me tell you,” Jeff explained. “You saw Kate’s face just now, I helped bring her that joy. Of course I also deliver bills and the occasional call to jury service, but mostly I bring people what they have been waiting for. I hand people love letters, magazines, birthday presents and more! I make myself useful wherever I can, and on Green Holt and Skerry the thing that I can do to help people the most is to help them organize passport documents.”
“Someone says they want to get a passport, then what?” Miller asked.
“Then I get the correct papers from the post office and deliver them. I wait until they are filled out, take the payment and then deliver the paperwork back to the post office. Within a week or so I am usually delivering a passport into the hands of somebody that has a huge smile on their face!”
“Right… then what are you doing with the cash that they give you?” I pressed.
“Well, it covers the fees of the documents, and the rest…” he paused. “I need to know that I am safe here. Sadie, can you promise me that?”
“Safe from what?” Miller interrupted.
“I am being blackmailed and have been for many years, the rest of the cash is taken straight out of my hands. I have to leave the cash in an envelope in a specified place every month. I never see who collects it, but if I don’t do it then…” Jeff looked out of the window to the night air, and I could sense that he was afraid.
This all just got a whole lot stranger.
13
Miller had made so many notes that his hand had started to cramp. He kept putting the pen down and massaging his palm to try and relieve the pain. Jeff had been forthcoming with information, even details that seemed unrelated were spoken about. I just wanted to sit and listen, hoping something would stand out and we would know where to go from there.
“Natalie Scott was Robert’s girlfriend,” Miller repeated, “and you got her a passport at the same time as Robert got his?”
“Yes. I don’t remember how they met exactly, but she lived over on Skerry and the two of them were in love,” Jeff explained. “They couldn’t be together in Hallow Haven on account of the rivalry between the two islands.”
“It would have been forbidden,” Honey added. “There’s no law or anything, but you aren’t really supposed to even talk to the Skerry people, let alone marry one.”
“Exactly,” Jeff continued. “They communicated through me quite often. I got them the paperwork that they needed, and Robert actually paid for both of them.”
“So, he was even richer than we thought,” Miller mused. “You said paying for one person to travel was pricey enough, right?” He was directing the question at Honey.
“Oh yeah!” she nodded. “If he was also the one to pay for the tickets to Australia, and he had paid off the pilot bribe for two people, well…”
“Where did his wealth come from?” Miller asked.
“Not too sure,” Jeff answered. “I think his father was a teacher and his mom worked in the school kitchen. It’s only a small school on Green Holt too. I’m not even sure what Robert did for a job, but he had the cash and love in his heart, so I was happy to help make his dreams come true.”
“The motive to kill him could have been related to his relationship with Natalie,” Miller said. “The three men on the beach on Skerry mentioned that their aunt had gone missing around the same time. We need to get a name from them, then we can start stitching these events together.”
“Do you think she is dead too?” I asked.
“I don’t like guessing, especially when we have so little to go on at the moment,” Miller sighed. “But those guys said their aunt just disappeared, which is what everyone said about Robert.”
“Her body could be out there,” Honey said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “She could be lost just like Robert was.”
“Yes,” Miller nodded. “But I think we are getting somewhere with this passport thing, because we came to look for you, Jeff, and someone else beat us to it. Someone is looking to cover their tracks, perhaps your mystery blackmailer has something to do with Robert’s murder.”
“What was taken?” I asked. “When we mentioned that a body had been found on Green Holt, you had a strong reaction. Jeff, what were you keeping in that safe?”
Jeff gulped and lowered his head. The injury above his ear looked so painful, whatever had hit him must have been large and heavy to cause bruising like that.
“A little money, but I also kept my own records,” Jeff replied. “If someone requested my help then I
