Free Death at the Door by K. C. Greenlief Page A

runs every day, summer and winter. It’s an ice cutter so it can chop a path over to Washington Island. There’s six miles of water between Northport and the island. Can you imagine being on this baby when it’s cutting through six miles of ice?”
    â€œMakes me want to move to Arizona.” Lacey sniffed the coffee and sighed with pleasure before taking a sip.
    â€œWhat do you know about the two robberies over here?” Lark asked, trying to take his mind off how sexy she was when she drank coffee.
    â€œOne family came over Saturday night and noticed that their collection of old toys and a very old Noah’s Ark set were missing, and the other guy came over early Sunday morning and found that his coin collection and a painting were gone.”
    â€œCoins, that’s a new one.”
    â€œOne other robbery in Rowleys Bay involved coins; a bunch of twenty-dollar gold pieces. This guy said only a few close friends know about his coin stash over here. He’s just gone through a divorce. He got the Washington Island cabin and all its contents.”
    â€œDidn’t want the wife to know what he had so he brought it over to the cabin,” Lark said. “Wonder if she knew about his coin stash?”
    â€œOne more thing we’ll have to check out.” Lacey settled back in her seat.
    They made small talk until the dock on Washington Island came into view. The next few hours passed rapidly as they met with the two families.
    The Sternhagen family from Madison, Wisconsin, had lost a large collection of cast-iron toy soldiers with an estimated value of $14,500 and a carved wooden Noah’s Ark that had been in their family for at least five generations. The Ark and its seventy-four pairs of animals had been appraised for insurance purposes at $8,200. The soldiers and the Noah’s Ark had been on display in the great room and study of their summerhouse for years. Once again, the most valuable things in the house had been stolen.
    Their house showed no signs of a break-in. The Sternhagens had a cleaning service that closed the house for them when they left the island. They hadn’t been on the island since the Christmas holidays and claimed that everything was intact and the house was locked when they got there. They laughed when asked if they had a burglar alarm and told Lark and Lacey that they had believed, until then, that Washington Island was the safest place in the world.
    Mr. Gorean, a retiree from Racine, Wisconsin, who spent his summers on Washington Island, had indeed lost a large collection of American coins. Prior to his divorce he had brought the majority of his collection up to the cottage on the island that he had inherited from his grandparents. According to him, his wife had always thought his coin collection was a waste of money until he decided he wanted a divorce. She then became fascinated with every one of their assets including his coins. His entire $32,000 collection had been stolen.
    He was furious at his wife, claiming that she had come to the cabin, a place she hated and rarely came to during their marriage, and secreted away his beloved coins. His claim was bolstered by the fact that he had kept the majority of his collection in a section of one of his bookcases that he had personally created to hide his coins. He was an active member of the Numismatic Societies in Door County and Racine and admitted that other coin collectors in both communities knew of his collection. He claimed that no one but his wife knew where it was hidden in the cabin. He had last been at the cabin the first weekend in May.
    Lark and Lacey both agreed that he must have loved his coins because he had cataloged each one including grade and value. He had also photographed his more valuable coins. He provided them with a copy of his list and photographs as well as his insurance appraisal. Fortunately, he had recently insured his collection.
    His painting by Hockney was also insured.