A Timely Vision

“I’m not sorry you called me, honey.” Gramps patted my back. “I’m sorry you decided to take a stand on this. I don’t know there’s much I can do to help.”

“But maybe I can do something,” Sandy Buzz-Cut said. “I’m Luke Helms. I used to be a prosecutor in Wake County before I retired to my fishing boat this month.”

I shook his hand eagerly. “Thank you so much for coming. I don’t know exactly how I got into this mess. I wanted to help Miss Mildred.”

“Let’s sit down for a minute of the five they gave us and tell me what happened.” Luke took off his bright yellow jacket. “You’re lucky they let us in at all. They didn’t have to.”

“She’s my granddaughter and the mayor of Duck,” Gramps protested. “The chief did the only rational thing he could do. Now, tell Luke the story, Dae.”

So I spilled it, everything from Miss Mildred putting Miss Elizabeth’s purse on the table to the chief saying he was going to search her house and land. “It’s not right. She didn’t realize what she was giving him permission to do.”

Luke nodded. “She’s incapable of making that kind of judgment?”

“I don’t know if I’d say that about every circumstance, but—”

“What Dae is trying to say is that she fears for my sanity because my sister visited me last night,” Miss Mildred added. “She’s a very sweet girl with remarkable talents. But I’m not senile. I know what I saw. And I have nothing to hide from Ronnie. He’s welcome in my house anytime.”

I tried to think of a nice way to say it, but there wasn’t one, so I blurted it out—“Chief Michaels thinks you killed your sister.”

Miss Mildred’s eyebrows disappeared into the cloud of her white hair. “Why on earth would he think something like that?”

The sound of Chief Michaels’s voice, amplified by a bullhorn, interrupted us. “Your five minutes is up in there. We’re coming in, even if we have to break down the door.”

Chapter 9

“What do we do now?” I looked at both men with something like panic beating in my chest.

Luke shook his head. “Well, if Miss Mildred is okay with the chief searching her house—”

“I didn’t know he wanted to put me in prison,” Miss Mildred protested. “I didn’t kill anybody. I wouldn’t hurt my sister for anything. Please help me.”

“In that case, he needs a search warrant,” Gramps said. “That’s clear as glass.”

“He may not see it that way,” Luke added. “But you’re right. We can hold him off for as long as it takes to get a warrant. He’ll be in here sometime. You can’t keep him out forever since he found evidence here.”

“What about if we hide the purse?” I suggested.

“That’s tampering with evidence. That will make the police angrier and could land you in jail, Mayor,” Luke explained. “There’s no point in making the situation worse.”

“So we hand it over?” I couldn’t believe there was no way to protect Miss Mildred.

“That would be the best thing. If she didn’t kill her sister, there won’t be anything to hide.” Luke glanced at Miss Mildred, discomfort written all over his face. I attributed it to his giving advice to possible law breakers instead of prosecuting them. “Are you sure you don’t remember anyone visiting you who could’ve dropped off your sister’s purse?”

“No. No one has been here, except for Andy. He was working outside and didn’t come in. Lizzie brought me her purse,” Miss Mildred insisted. “I know how that sounds. I’ve never been much of a believer in this kind of thing. But I swear on my mother’s Bible, that’s what happened.”

The front door burst open. I hadn’t replaced the dead bolt when I let Gramps and Luke in. Chief Michaels stood there glowering, with Kevin, Tim and several other Duck police officers at his side. “Miss Mildred, you’re under arrest for murdering your sister, Elizabeth Simpson.”

Luke shot to his feet. “That’s a mighty big jump, Chief, going from wanting to search her house to accusing her of murder.”

“Stay out of the way, lawyer boy.” The chief took out his handcuffs. “Now you know I’m as sorry as I can be about this.”

“I can tell since you plan on handcuffing a ninety-two-year-old woman,” I berated him, moving to stand in front of her. They weren’t taking her without knocking me down. What good was it to be the mayor if I couldn’t protect someone who needed my help?

“Dae, you can’t interfere with this,” Kevin advised.

“Stay out of this,” I responded. “I’m not letting anyone take her to jail.”

It was a standoff. Clearly no one knew exactly what to do. The chief lifted his cap and scratched his head, his face already bright red. Kevin folded his arms against his chest and stepped back. Gramps and Luke stood on either side of me. I couldn’t help but wonder how this would end. I knew they could force us out of the way and take Miss Mildred, but I thought that was unlikely.

An answer came in the form of Jerry Richards, who barged in with his cameraman. “All right, pan on those three over there, then back on the chief and his men.”

“What the hell is going on?” Chief Michaels demanded, looking at Tim.