Murder Checks Inn (Book 3 in the Lighthouse Inn Mysteries) by Tim Myers Read Free Book Online Page A

would ever realize just
how much he’d lost today.
    Probably not, and that was the saddest part
of all.

Chapter 6

    The first thing Alex did when he got to
Jase’s rental house was to open the windows and let some fresh air
in. Jase liked to keep things closed up, but Alex needed the warm
breezes and sunshine. Located just two blocks from Sandra’s office,
the house was a quaint little cottage that had seen better days,
tucked among businesses and houses alike in a mishmash that was
much of Elkton Falls. The town had been nearly built by the time
the elders got around to thinking about zoning. It made a happy
mix, as far as Alex was concerned.
    With just four small rooms, the cottage had
most likely been perfect for the widower Jase. The elder Winston
had rented it furnished with simple but serviceable furniture, and
the only real way to tell that Jase had lived there at all was the
explosion of books everywhere. Alex had only spent a handful of
hours there since his uncle had moved back to Elkton Falls. Jase
had loved the lighthouse so much, he was always eager to come out
to Hatteras West.
    Surveying the sheer volume of books around
him, Alex realized it was going to be an arduous task to pack up
all of Jase’s books and personal items, but he’d worry about that
after the send-off. For the moment, he just wanted to be near his
uncle’s things. Alex moved into the tiny bedroom to find the room
curiously nearly devoid of books. The place was neat, the bed was
made, and there was no mess in sight. It was almost as if Jase had
known he wouldn’t be coming back.
    There was a thick accordion
folder full of papers on the room’s simple desk, and Alex decided
he should take those back to Hatteras West
with him when he left. There might be something important that
needed to be addressed. He also found Jase’s collectibles box,
something he’d seen around his uncle his entire life. Alex lifted
the lid with bated breath as he stroked the sides of the box, made
from the now-gone American chestnut tree. He was tempted to sit
down and go through his uncle’s treasures. At the top, Alex could
see a Confederate bullet, a few Indian arrowheads, and the fragment
of meteor Jase had. There were chips of emerald there, of no real
cash value, but ones Jase had found himself in Hiddenite. There
were, just like the last time Alex had seen the box, a handful of
the steel pennies Jase loved. It was a box full of memories, more
than anything else. He could spend all evening going through it,
but there wasn’t time at the moment. Alex tucked the box under one
arm and walked over to the nightstand. He picked up the last book
Jase would ever read. It was titled The Treasure Below. Just then,
he heard someone else in the house!
    Throwing the book on top of the bed, Alex
moved quickly toward the door. As he approached, he heard something
fall in the living room.
    “ Who’s there?” Alex shouted
as he raced through the doorway, the papers, the collection box and
the book now forgotten.
    He got into the hallway just in time to see
the front door slam shut. Running to it, Alex tripped over a pile
of books that had been upset by the intruder. By the time he got to
his feet and jerked the door open, whoever had invited themselves
in was gone. There were a dozen stores nearby that the intruder
could have ducked into, and Alex knew he’d never find the
interloper.
    As Alex stepped back inside, he wondered why
anyone would just walk into Jase’s house uninvited. What could he,
or she for that matter, have been looking for?
    Alex started leafing through the books that
had been disturbed. There was nothing out of the ordinary that he
could see as he restacked them. Had it been an accident that they’d
been spilled, or had the would-be thief been looking for something
in particular?
    He was still on his knees in the living room
when there was a knock on the door.
    It was Mor, standing just in the shadows, a
weary frown on his face.
    Mor said,