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

mist, pulling the hood up as she vanished
from sight.
    Alex held the door open for Julie as she
slid onto the seat. “Have you two known each other long?” he
asked.
    “ Since college. We were
roommates our freshman year. I was kind of surprised when that
letter from your uncle came mentioning Elkton Falls. I’d been
planning to visit Amy all along.” Julie turned in her seat and
looked at Alex. “Listen, I’m sorry you’ve wasted a trip out here.
I’ve decided to withdraw my claim on the estate. It’s just not
worth it to me emotionally. If I’d known Mathias, even met him
once, I might feel differently about it all, but I just can’t fight
with his family for something I’m not all that sure I deserve.
Honestly, I just want to get out of Elkton Falls and never come
back.”
    Alex said, “Don’t you think your father’s
wishes should be honored?”
    Julie said, “My father? I’ve been thinking
about that a lot lately, Alex. I can’t see that Mathias had any
right to make that claim on his deathbed; he was never there for me
when he was alive, not once in all those years.”
    It was a point Alex couldn’t argue. He and
his own father, though they’d gone through some rocky times in
their relationship, had carried a strong bond between them that
went well beyond a mutual love for their lighthouse in the
mountains.
    Alex decided it was time to bring Julie up
to speed on the latest developments in town. After telling her
about the forgery in Jase’s appointment book, he said, “You realize
you’re a suspect in Jase’s murder, don’t you? How is it going to
look if you just take off? Armstrong’s not going to like it.”
    The idea was obviously something Julie
hadn’t considered. “Oh, Alex, I could never have killed your uncle.
We never met, but the time I spoke with him on the telephone, he
was extremely nice to me. How can anyone think I could do such a
thing?”
    “ That listing in Jase’s
appointment book the night before he was killed looks bad to
Armstrong.”
    Julie said, “I gathered as much from what
the sheriff said when he came out here this morning, but I swear, I
never had an appointment with him, that day or any other.”
    Alex nodded. “I believe you. Jase’s
secretary and I compared the handwriting, and someone besides Jase
put your name in that book. It looks like someone’s trying to frame
you for murder. You must be a real threat. Don’t you see that?”
    “ It just doesn’t make
sense,” Julie said as Alex crept down the lane.
    He took a deep breath, then said, “I know
this isn’t what you want to hear, but I’m going to say it anyway.
Julie, shouldn’t you consider the possibility that you do have a
stake in all this? Mathias asked you to come here to meet the rest
of his family, your family, when it comes right down to it. I’m not
making excuses for his abandoning you, but it does look like he
truly wanted you to share in his wealth. I don’t think it’s just
about the money though, or he could have sent you a check and been
done with it. Wouldn’t you like to have a connection with someone
you’re related to by blood? Isn’t it worth another try?”
    They rode in silence a few minutes until
Alex’s head-lights picked up Amy’s welding shop and studio through
the breaking fog, a converted barn that had once housed cattle.
Alex turned off the engine but made no move to get out.
    Julie finally said, “You know, maybe you’re
right. Alex, Mathias Trask thought of me as his daughter, and he
wanted me to have a share of his family and his estate. It would be
wrong of me to deny him his final wish.”
    Alex nodded, then tried to get out fast
enough to open Julie’s door, but she beat him to it.
    Amy came out of the mist behind them, the
hood of her cape still pulled up. As she pushed it back, she said,
“Is everything all right?”
    Alex was about to say something when Julie
chimed in, “Everything’s just fine. We’re finished with our