Read Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) for Free Online

from Les and me was Elise’s
suggestion. That’s one practical woman you’ve got there.”
    “What’s the second reason?”
    “My wife won’t be trying to dragoon me into
her wedding prep squad.” Mor patted Alex hard on the back. “It’s a
win-win situation no matter how I look at it.”
    “Well, if you’re sure, there’s a closet
light in the Blue Ridge Suite that never has worked.”
    “Let’s see to it, then,” Mor said.
    Alex opened the door, and Mor walked over to
the closet. He flipped the switch, and nothing happened. After a
moment, he pulled off the cover plate, looked in, and said, “I can
fix this in two seconds.”
    “Should I turn off the power?” Alex
asked.
    “No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”
    Mor worked for five minutes, and when he was
finished, the light came right on at the flick of the switch.
    “That’s great,” Alex said.
    “Anything else in here need fixing?” Mor
asked.
    “I don’t think so.”
    Mor took out his outlet tester and said,
“Let’s check anyway.”
    “They all work,” Alex said.
    Mor plugged the tester into an outlet behind
the door. “This one’s dead.”
    “It can’t be. It was working last week when
I vacuumed here.”
    “Maybe it was tied in with the switch,” Mor
said.
    “Is that even possible?”
    “ With this old wiring,
nothing would surprise me. Let’s see what we’ve got,” Mor said as
he started to take the cover plate off.
    “I really should turn the electricity off.”
As an innkeeper, Alex was a jack of most trades, but he wasn’t all
that comfortable when it came to two things: electricity, and
natural gas lines.
    “If I have to swap it out with another
receptacle, we’ll kill it, but I’m just looking right now.”
    Mor took out a large flashlight and peered
into the outlet as soon as it was exposed.
    “That’s odd,” he said.
    “What? Did a wire slip off?”
    “From what I can see, the wires aren’t even
connected to this outlet at all.” He took his screwdriver and began
to remove the outlet itself.
    “Well, would you look at that,” he said.
    The big man was blocking his view, so Alex
couldn’t see anything at all. “What is it?”
    “This outlet was live pretty recently, but
someone’s taped off the wires and killed the outlet on
purpose.”
    “How can you tell?”
    “The electrical tape looks brand new, and
the scratches on the posts look fresh.”
    Alex had to take his friend’s word on that.
“Why would anyone do that?”
    “Beats me.” Mor reached into the opening,
and Alex was afraid his friend would get a shock despite the
protected wires, but instead, he pulled out a small folded piece of
paper.
    “What is it?” Alex asked.
    “I figure it’s your inn. You should have the
honors. It’s probably a gag by a disgruntled electrician.”
    “It could be,” Alex said.
    As he opened the paper, Alex found a cryptic
photocopy, of what, Alex was not at all sure. There were what
appeared to be random numbers in several columns, but they made no
sense at all to him.
    He showed Mor, who examined it as well, but
the big man couldn’t make out any meaning to it, either.
    “I have no idea why anyone would do that,”
Mor said. “I need a drink of water.”
    Alex was still studying the fragment when
Mor called out from the bathroom, “Alex, get in here.”
    “Hang on a second,” Alex said, still trying
to figure out what the piece of paper could mean.
    “I don’t have a second. Then again, maybe
you should stay right where you are.”
    That got Alex’s attention. He started for
the bathroom door, but Mor blocked the way.
    “What is it?” Alex asked, a fresh sense of
urgency in his voice.
    “You don’t need to see this.” He shoved his
cell phone into Alex’s hands. “Call Armstrong.”
    Alex felt his body go numb. “Is it Elise?”
He couldn’t imagine living without her, and wasn’t sure he’d even
want to.
    “No, it’s not her. It’s Tony.” Mor could
barely get out the next few words.