A lethal legacy, p.4
A Lethal Legacy, page 4
Was there any way that little Elayne could be a murderer? Kieran wondered.
Certainly, petite or not, anyone could be a murderer.
Kieran didn’t think that Frank had been a little man. And how could such a tiny creature overpower even a small man? And what possible motive would she have?
She had no answers, and in truth, she was totally lost here.
She really hoped that Craig would be willing to explain his relationship to Finn tonight, along with what the hell he thought was really going on here.
* * *
Night was falling in earnest, but the moon was spectacular, the glow all but blotting out the stars.
Craig subtly took a picture with his phone; what he’d discovered on the sand wasn’t going to be something he’d discuss until he’d had a chance to do more investigating.
The moon showed the cliffs—and that made Craig wonder what on earth anyone would be doing close enough to the edge to take the kind of fall that had apparently killed Frank.
“Have you ever walked up there?” he asked Finn.
“Me? Out on the cliff—hell, no.” He shook his head. “That’s just it. I know I sound like a broken record, but Frank wasn’t a fool or an idiot. Yes, he was an explorer—he was so excited about this island. I didn’t pay attention to him half the time. But seriously, he told me about all kinds of things that happened on the island or were rumored to have happened on the island. I guess he thought all kinds of things might be found somewhere here—I just didn’t know he was looking for them. Oh, believe me, please, he wasn’t a moocher—honestly. He was a friend. A good one. We’d worked together before.” Finn fell silent a moment. Then, “Frank had great plans. He’d already charted out where we could have horseback riding, except, like I said, he suggested mules or donkeys and paths that would allow people to ride safely, far away from the cliffs. He had the best plan for stables and paddocks. We both agreed that the place should have a spa and a gym, and the kinds of things you’d expect in a high-end place, a little bit elegant. Frank grew up in a small apartment in Brooklyn. He was big on telling me how we could do all these things—and make it affordable.”
“Sounds like he cared about people,” Craig said.
“He did. So, you see why I can’t let it rest, right?” Finn asked hopefully. “I mean, I don’t know what could have happened. When he supposedly fell, we were—to the best of my knowledge—the only ones on the island. But while the docks are right in front of us, someone could have taken a small boat around to another landing. Yes, it’s surrounded by rocks, but in the right craft...”
“I’m sorry to ask you to go over and over this—you just said, as far as you knew, it was just you, Frank, Margie and Elayne.”
Finn nodded. “You’d have to be a drunk or a fool to go out on the cliffs and fall over,” he said softly. “And like I said, Frank was simply neither.”
“All right,” Craig said softly.
“You don’t believe me.”
“I do believe you,” Craig told him.
“But the cops don’t.”
“That’s okay.”
“You really think that you can do something?”
“I can try.”
“Will the local cops be pissed at FBI interference? I don’t want to call you out of the blue with this huge favor and make your life hard.”
“Finn, this is what I do.”
“Yes, that’s the point. I probably shouldn’t have called you.”
“It’s all right. My boss has a way with people.”
“And you have a way with your boss?”
“I do,” Craig said. “I’m a good agent, and he knows it. My workweek is never just forty hours. He trusts me. I don’t have to be official—and whether I am or not, I can call for help when I need company resources.” He grinned. “Kieran works well with him, too.”
“Kieran?”
“Kieran is a psychologist—she works with convicted criminals and victims. She and Egan are good at trusting one another, too. Speaking of Kieran, let’s head back for now. I’m not letting anything go. I’ll follow this. I’ll do some exploring myself.”
“Thank you. I—I know how you feel about my father.”
Craig waved a hand in the air. “I don’t like what your father did, or the way he acted.”
“I don’t like what he did or how he acted either,” Finn said. “It was my mother who died, you know.”
Craig nodded, looking up at the moonlit cliffs again. “Tell me...were the rest of you together when Frank died?”
“That is a problem to answer,” Finn said.
“Why is that?”
“He went out Friday. I think it was still daytime. Yes, it was day. But then, he also often worked late. Margie and Elayne had been at the beach, and came in without seeing him. Margie fell asleep, thinking he’d come up whenever he got back. I went to bed, exhausted. None of us knew he was missing until the morning.”
“And Elayne was with you?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I think we went up at the same time. I know that I slept well—like I said, I was exhausted. I’d been on the phone all day with the contractor and architects. I know it may not sound like much...”
“Desk work can get you,” Craig said. It probably was exhausting—having that kind of money and trying to manage it all. But then again, Finn had never acted like a rich kid.
Finn’s mom was Craig’s mother’s cousin. And she had been sweet and beautiful and down to earth.
He felt the bitterness well up in him; anger over what was—and what could have been.
He swallowed the gall.
Finn hadn’t been at fault.
“The island... I want to make it something good, Craig. I want the rumors about it being cursed and all to end. And I want criminals and murderers to stop making it a playground.”
“A noble plan. And I believe you—believe in you. Let’s get back now, huh?”
Craig shone his light on the path to return to the house.
Finn followed behind him, silent for a minute.
“Oh, hell, Craig!” he said suddenly. “You don’t think... I sure as hell didn’t do this. And Elayne is... She couldn’t push a cat off a ledge. Margie adored Frank!”
“I don’t think anything yet, Finn,” Craig told him. “Thing is, that’s the way we work. Eliminate all that you can as impossible.”
He kept walking.
Finn caught his arm. “But you don’t think that one of us having done something is impossible?”
“I don’t think anything yet,” Craig told him, sighing and praying for patience. “Hey, you asked me here. I have to ask questions, okay?”
“Of course, of course.”
He fell into step.
“Can Kieran cook?” he asked.
“More or less,” Craig said. “Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. And right now, edible will do!”
* * *
Kieran was pulling the shepherd’s pie out of the oven when her brother Danny arrived.
He was brought into the kitchen by a curious, flustered Elayne.
Danny was, in Kieran’s mind, charming and handsome enough to fluster anyone—he was well over six feet, had the reddest hair in the family and a smile that could charm dead men. He had, at times, been an absolute thorn in her side as well, but for the most part, those days were over.
Danny had never done anything illegal on purpose—only when someone down and out had been threatened. She and Craig had met in the middle of a diamond heist—because she’d been trying to put back a diamond Danny had taken to cause trouble for a man being incredibly cruel in the middle of a divorce.
His intentions had been good; he hadn’t thought out his actions.
But now, Danny had a great job as a tour director with the city. He could spin a tale—even a factual one—like few others. If the Irish really had any kind of a gift for eloquence, in her family, it had settled in Danny.
He was also extremely bright—and knew history well because it was a passion for him. Especially history when it came to New York City.
“Sis!” he said, striding toward her, giving her a big hug.
She hugged him back, but looked at him skeptically. The greeting felt over-the-top. She’d seen him that morning.
“Great to see you, Danny,” she said.
“Oh, you do look just like siblings!” Elayne said. “And the kitchen smells divine.”
Danny looked at Kieran and quirked a brow. “You’ve been cooking?” he asked.
“Yes, and you’re going to love it,” she assured him flatly.
“Obviously,” Danny said.
“I think that Craig and Finn should be back any minute,” Kieran said. She hoped so, at least. It was dark out now. “I found paper plates,” she said. “Elayne, would you mind grabbing them and that plastic silverware?”
“I’ll get right to it!” Elayne said.
“Plastic and paper for a gourmet meal?” Danny asked.
Kieran somehow refrained from kicking him.
“Grab the big pan—with potholders. It’s hot. I’ll get something to put on the table.”
“Ouch! Got it,” he said, doing as instructed.
“And behave,” she whispered to him. “A man was killed. These people are grieving.”
“Hey,” he protested, frowning. “I know how to behave at a wake. We’re Irish.”
“It’s not a wake—and that’s what scares me,” she told him. “There’s nothing normal about this situation and no one knows who did what, who is in pain—and who might be a killer.”
She started for the dining room. He set the pot down and caught her by an elbow. He was dead serious and very intense. “Kieran, I intend to be circumspect, but there’s something about this place. It’s not cursed as in hoodoo voodoo or anything like that—it’s cursed because men have seen it too many times as a place where evil can be practiced. I’m not talking about it with anyone but you and Craig first, but you need to know the history.”
“It’s an island,” she protested. “Rock and shrub and beach and trees. The whole point is—it’s not about the property, it’s about who would kill Frank.”
“Agreed,” he said softly.
She felt her edge waning. “Danny... I never expected any of this when we started out this morning. And you...you could have been enjoying the band and the day...”
He smiled. “No, my dear big sis. You’ve come to the front for me so many times. You know, you don’t have to be here, either.” He cleared his throat. “Cooking.”
She glared at him.
“I do have to be here,” she told him.
“Ah, love!”
She swatted him. “Yes! That’s what partners do. Help each other.”
“The point is, we both have to be here. Okay?”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“Of course. And I’m going to love your cooking.”
He turned to retrieve the casserole dish. Kieran grabbed a mat to place on what she was certain was an antique and very expensive table.
Kieran heard Craig’s and Finn’s voices drifting in from the front hall. Margie was anxiously asking Craig what he thought as they entered the dining room.
“Margie, I don’t know. I’ve just begun looking into all this,” Craig said, glancing over at Kieran and Danny quickly. “It takes time,” he added very gently.
Margie nodded. Then she looked around the room. “You’re all so wonderful to have come to help, and I’m grateful,” she said. “Will you forgive me if I take a plate and go up to my room?”
“Of course!” Finn said. “Whatever you need to do.”
“I think I just need to be alone now,” she said.
“Margie, you go on up. I’ll bring you a plate. And water? Soda? What would you like to drink?” Finn asked, concern in his voice.
“More of that whiskey,” she said. “And a glass of water. Thank you, Finn.”
Margie started out of the room.
“I’ll fix a plate,” Kieran said.
“I’ll get the whiskey,” Elayne volunteered.
Kieran scooped out the first serving of her creation for Margie. Elayne hurried into the kitchen. She came back with a glass of water and a good serving of whiskey in a second, smaller cup, on a tray. “Put the plate right here, Kieran. I’ll run this up to her and be right back.”
Kieran did as she was bidden.
“I’ll take the tray,” Finn said. “You all...go ahead. Sit down, please.”
He took the tray and followed in Margie’s wake.
“Ladies? Please?” Craig said politely, drawing out a chair for Elayne.
“It’s really nice of you to come out here,” Elayne told Danny as he handed her the first serving. “I admit, the more the merrier tonight. Is that okay to say on a day like this? We’re all so saddened and so terribly unnerved. I mean, if it was an accident, it would be tragic, and we’d all be horribly stricken, but wondering if it was an accident or maybe not, and then wondering if...someone else could have been here...”
“I don’t think we need to wonder if someone could have been here—that’s a definite possibility,” Craig told her. “But...we have to figure out, if so, how, when and who.”
Finn walked back into the dining room. He looked incredibly worn and tired.
“I should have stayed in the Bahamas.”
“Finn,” Elayne said softly, touching his arm with what appeared to be very real affection and concern. “If we’d been in the Bahamas, something could have happened there, too. A boating accident, a mugging, a—a shark.”
Finn shook his head. “Margie is... I suppose I could insist she get off the island. Maybe it would be better for her.”
“She doesn’t want to go home?” Kieran asked.
Danny passed Finn a plate of food and Finn thanked him. Then he said, “No. I thought at first that she did. Then, I thought that the police would give us all one of those ‘don’t leave town’ speeches. But...as I told you, they immediately chalked it up to a sad accident—one that has happened before, even if that was to crooks and Frank was—wasn’t a crook, was a good man. Good man, bad man, a fall is a fall and death isn’t choosey. But they didn’t tell us we had to leave the island, or not to leave the island. And when I asked Margie, she said she needed to be here, she couldn’t get it together enough to leave, and being here made her feel a little closer to Frank.”
“But she does seem to think it was an accident—and nothing more,” Craig said.
Finn shrugged. “I wish I could have said yes, it was just a tragedy. I just can’t.”
“And you shouldn’t,” Kieran told him.
He smiled at her. A smile that was a lot like Craig’s.
“Thanks—thanks for the belief in me.”
“But you people work with bad things all the time,” Elayne said. “Do you sometimes think that makes you a little jaded—suspicious of everything? I mean, I admit, when Finn told me about you, Craig, I was afraid that...that he was a little unhinged by what had happened. It didn’t occur to me that it could have been anything but a fall.”
“But it did occur to Finn?” Craig said.
Finn shrugged. “I knew him. It feels wrong.”
“I’m curious,” Elayne said. “How could you prove it was anything but a fall?”
“There are ways,” Craig said simply. “I’ll bring my partner out here after the autopsy tomorrow. We’ll see what we can find.”
Finn looked at Kieran. “Thank you for dinner. This is far more than just edible!”
Kieran turned and glared at Craig. He visibly winced. “Sorry!”
“It actually is really good,” Danny said.
“Thanks so much for the confidence!” Kieran said.
“I had confidence all along,” Elayne assured her. Then she gasped. “Oh, dear, we didn’t think about getting rooms ready. I hope I can find sheets... I’m not even sure which rooms to use, which are in the best repair.”
“The attic is all set up,” Finn said. He looked at Craig, Kieran and Danny and said apologetically, “The attic was once servants’ quarters. Naturally, we don’t have servants anymore, but we do have employees. Those were set up because of staff coming in. I know that the attic has at least five rooms that have been cleaned and set up with linens and all.”
“Oh, Finn. The attic?” Elayne said.
“I love attics,” Kieran said.
“We’ve all been known to sleep anywhere,” Craig assured Finn. “The attic will be just fine for us.”
“It’s been a long day,” Elayne said, rising—and taking her paper plate. “Forgive me, but I have to call it quits, too.”
She looked at Finn.
He rose quickly.
Being gallant? Or was she calling the shots? Kieran wondered.
“I guess we all need to call it quits,” Craig said.
“I’ll do cleanup,” Finn said.
“No, no, you two go get some rest,” Danny said. “We’re good at this, and we even make Craig help bus tables at Finnegan’s now and then.”
“It’s not right, you are guests,” Finn said.
“No. I’m your cousin,” Craig reminded him.
Finn looked at Craig a long moment, and then smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “Shall we?” He took Elayne’s arm, and started to lead her from the room.
“Good night” echoed around.
Danny started collecting plates.
“I am glad you opted for paper,” he told Kieran.
“Easy,” Craig said, collecting the casserole pan. He hesitated. “It was really good, Kieran. All gone. I’m sorry. You are a wonderful cook.”
“I’m not, and neither of you has to suck up because you were caught insulting me,” she informed them. “Danny, I want to know what you think you know.”
