Read Murder Checks Inn (Book 3 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) for Free Online

top honors in a regional competition,
beating out several other, more experienced forensic
professionals.
    The beauty shop was filled with the smell of
chemicals as Alex and the sheriff walked in. Irene said, “I’ll be
with you boys in a minute.”
    Armstrong coughed into his handkerchief as
he said, “We’ll just wait outside, if it’s all the same to
you.”
    Irene smiled. “You always were the sensitive
type, Ducky.”
    As the two men walked back out into the
fresh air, Alex said, “So what’s this clue you want me to see?”
    “ I’m not sure if it’s one
or not; that’s the whole point. But you know Irene, when she gets
something in her head, there’s no stopping her. Why don’t we wait
for her?”
    Alex asked, “Do you have any real leads,
Sheriff? Any suspects at all?”
    “ You know me, Alex, I
suspect everybody at first. There’s the entire Trask family to
start with: Ashley, Steven, and momma Cynthia. Any one of them
could have done it. Then there’s this mysterious daughter nobody
knew about until yesterday. To be honest with you, at the moment,
I’m leaning toward her, myself.”
    Alex couldn’t imagine sweet Julie bashing
Jase’s head in, not after she’d cried in his arms at the top of the
lighthouse. But Alex was the first to admit that he wasn’t the most
objective person when it came to judging the women around him.
    He asked, “Is there any reason in particular
you think she might have done it?”
    “ That letter from Jase
bothers me, Alex. Where’s all this proof that she’s really his
daughter? I keep asking Sandra, but she won’t show me one shred of
evidence that’s convincing. Says she doesn’t want to show her hand
before she has to, and I can’t make her, not at this point,
anyway.”
    “ Do you have a theory why
Julie would want to get her hands on the will?”
    Armstrong hitched at his belt as he said,
“What if there was something in there that contradicted what she’s
been claiming? If she knew about it, she’d have every reason in the
world to want that particular document to disappear.”
    “ But she just found out she
was Trask’s daughter a few weeks ago,” Alex protested.
    “ So she says,” Armstrong
said as the beauty shop door opened.
    Irene said, “Come on in, boys, I’ve got a
few minutes fore I have to get back to work.”
    The beautician led them past the salon part
of the building back to her office. Irene had the oddest assortment
of paperweights on her desk he’d ever seen, from a pipe tipped with
red paint to a blue-steel revolver to a thin wire garrote.
    Irene smiled broadly at Alex, though her
eyes were reddened. The chemicals she worked with must play havoc
with her senses. “Some collection, isn’t it? Don’t worry, none of
these were used for actual murders.” She added with a flourish, “at
least not that I know about.”
    Alex asked, “What’s this clue I’m supposed
to look at?”
    Irene went to her filing cabinet, opened the
bottom drawer and pulled out the torn edge of an envelope safely
ensconced in a clear plastic baggie. The jagged tear showed just
the tip of an Old English letter.
    It was either a T or a J, as far as Alex
could tell.
    “ What’s the significance of
it, Irene?” Alex asked as he flipped over the baggie holding the
scrap of paper to examine the pristine back side.
    “ Well, it’s bound to mean
something. I found it in the right cuff of Jase’s pants. I’m
thinking it might have happened during a struggle in his
office.”
    Armstrong asked, “You ever seen anything
like that before, Alex?” as he tapped the bag.
    “ Not that I can recall. Do
you even know which letter it stands for?”
    Irene blew her nose, then said, “The boys in
Raleigh are running a check for me; I faxed them a photocopy. Alex,
I searched that office floor on my hands and knees, but I couldn’t
find a single matching piece of the envelope it came from. My best
guess is the killer may have taken it with him.”
    Alex asked