A Timely Vision

“How awful.” I thought about what Shayla had said. “Do you think she was dead when he buried her?”

“We don’t have that information yet,” he admitted. “We found his motel room in Kill Devil Hills. He had a lot of purses stashed in there, hundreds of them. We’re still going through them, hoping we find Mrs. Simpson’s. That would connect him to the crime without a confession. If not, we may have to charge him on the strength of the circumstantial evidence. Either way, we may need you to testify against him.”

I swallowed hard. “Of course. Whatever I can do to help.”

He leaned toward me. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Can you find the purse?”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Obviously he was alluding to my gift. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way. I would have to be able to touch Miss Elizabeth to find something she lost.”

“We could drive up to the morgue today.”

That made me uncomfortable. This was definitely not what I’d expected from him. “I think she’d have to be alive. In order for me to find a missing object, the person who’s looking for it has to be thinking about it. I know it seems complicated, but I didn’t make the rules. I think I came with them.”

“Have you ever tried touching someone who wasn’t alive, you know, to experiment?”

“No!”

“Just a thought.” He pulled out another notebook, identical to the first one—black, cheap and a little worn. “As to this new development, I assume Mr. Brickman filled you in on the identity of the dead man found at his establishment.”

I glanced at Kevin. He didn’t appear to be upset that Agent Walker knew he’d told me—not to mention Tim and Shayla—about Johnny. “Yes. I could hardly believe Wild Johnny Simpson came back to Duck to die.”

“It wasn’t quite as simple as that, Mayor. Someone killed Mr. Simpson. It was a long time ago, but there is no statute of limitation on murder. He was shot in the head. Do you think his wife might have been responsible?”

“I don’t know.” Miss Elizabeth as a murderer? “I guess anything is possible. Isn’t it ironic that she was killed before we could ask her?”

“Ironic . . . or timely, at least for her?” Agent Walker put away his black notebooks and got to his feet. “Thank you for your help, Mayor O’Donnell. We’ll be in touch. And if you change your mind about wanting to try out your talent on Mrs. Simpson, give me a call.” He handed me his card.

I didn’t tell him there was no chance I would change my mind, but there was no chance. I smiled, nodded and saw him to the door. His men followed him out.

Chief Michaels closed the door after them. “Well that was a fine howdy-do!”

Chapter 8

“That fella sweeps in here from Raleigh and takes over not one but two homicides. My boys and I could’ve handled the situation. We’re trained. I was with the Dare County Sheriff’s Department before Walker was old enough to carry a gun. I’ve been chief here in Duck longer than most people can remember. I know what I’m doing.”

Tim laughed a little at the chief’s humor. “That’s right. Who collared that boy for them anyway? Without me and Dae, they’d still be out knocking on doors looking for Miss Elizabeth’s killer.”

I wasn’t sure how much of that was true. As far as I knew, the Duck Police Department had never investigated a murder. I wasn’t sure they had the manpower to do everything that needed to be done. But I smiled and nodded, wishing they would be on their way. I wanted to sit on the boardwalk for a while before I had to open the shop. It was nice outside. Warm, with a steady breeze blowing off the sound.

“That reminds me.” Chief Michaels put down his empty coffee cup and looked at me. “I had a call last night from Millie. Seems she’s been seeing her sister’s ghost over at the house. I told her to go back to sleep and call in the morning. She called again at six A.M. on the dot. I guess I’ll go over and check on her.”

Tim volunteered to go over for him. “You shouldn’t have to do something like that, Chief. Let me take care of it.”

“No, that’s okay. I offered to go, and you know what she’s like. I’ll end up over there anyway if I let you go.” The chief looked at me again.

“Would you like me to go with you?” I offered, even though I knew I should be getting over to the shop to open up for the day. But the chance to talk to Miss Mildred about her ghost was too tempting. Treasure hunters would have to wait until I got back.

“That would be real nice of you, Mayor. I’m sure she’d like to see a friendly female face too. Losing someone in your family does strange things to you. But I don’t have to tell you that, do I?”

I didn’t comment on his remark. I’d had a few bad times after my mother died. As long as I lived here, there were going to be people reminding me of it.