Read Online Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) by Tim Myers - Free Book Online

on a second.”
    “Alex, don’t put yourself through this.”
    “Something doesn’t add up.”
    Elise followed him back into the bathroom,
and as Alex double-checked what he’d seen, Elise followed his gaze,
listening as he explained what had bothered him. “That soap in the
dish in the shower has been unwrapped, but the one at the sink
hasn’t been touched. That doesn’t make any sense. If Tony or anyone
else in here had washed his hands, he would have used the soap at
the sink, but it hasn’t even been opened. Why put an opened bar in
the stall if he used it to wash his hands? He wasn’t exactly over
here so he could take a shower.”
    Elise frowned. “You’re right, Alex. It
doesn’t make sense.”
    Alex reached for the soap, and as soon as he
touched it, he knew that it had been run under hot water at some
time recently from the tackiness of its surface. It felt oddly
heavy as well, and when Alex turned it over, he saw why.
    Sunk slightly into the back of the bar of
soap was a gold coin, something that looked quite valuable, and
ancient as well, with markings and engravings like he’d never seen
before.
    Alex had to wonder if that was what the
killer had been looking for. One old gold coin didn’t seem to be
enough of a motive for murder, but a handful of them might. “Let’s
look around again, but this time, we need to be creative. Search
for anything that might hide more gold coins, no matter how strange
a hiding place it might seem.”
    It wasn’t until Alex got to the box of
tissues in the bedroom that they found anything else. The box
weighed considerably more than it should have, and it was clear
that Armstrong and his men hadn’t done that thorough a search of
the place after all.
    Alex tore open the tissue box, pulling out
nearly a full batch of the white sheets until he unveiled what was
hidden beneath them.
    Inside, there were twenty nine coins
identical to the one Alex had found in the soap.
    They weren’t exactly thirty pieces of
silver, but Alex had to wonder if they had led to betrayal
anyway.

     

Chapter 7
     
     
    “What should we do?” Elise asked. “Do we
need to call the sheriff?”
    “Not yet,” Alex answered, careful not to
touch any of the coins just in case there were fingerprints on any
of them. “After all, we’re already not telling him about two
suspects staying here with us at the inn. If we hand all of this
over to him at once, what chance is there that we solve Tony’s
murder ourselves?”
    “I suppose so,” Elise said. “But when he
finds out, he’s not going to like it.”
    “And that would be different from how he
normally feels about me exactly how?” Alex asked as he got to work.
Removing the shower cap from its paper sleeve, Alex carefully
dumped the coins in it. The cap nearly broke under the pressure of
the weight, but Alex held them carefully and tied off the opening.
After he did that, he wrapped the soap, along with its coin, in a
hand towel, and then carefully put it all into the clean liner of
the trashcan in the bedroom.
    “Aren’t we withholding evidence if we don’t
tell him about what we’ve found?” Elise asked.
    “I’d say that’s true, but Armstrong’s
already searched this room. If there’s a way we can keep our
discovery secret for a day or two, we might be able to work it to
our advantage.”
    “How are we going to do that?”
    Alex shrugged. “I’m still thinking about
that. I don’t have a plan yet, but I have high hopes. After all,
I’m doubly motivated to wrap this up as quickly as I can.” He
looked carefully at her. “Are you okay with that?”
    “Maybe we’ll get jail cells that touch,” she
said, trying to force a light grin. “At least we could hold hands
then.”
    “I’ll see if I can pull some strings if it
comes up,” Alex replied. As he looked at what they’d found, he
added, “I can’t imagine what Tony was doing with these coins.”
    “Are they real gold?” Elise asked.
    Alex hefted the