I held back a snort. That was no lie.
“She sweet-talked her co-worker into letting her handle the transaction. I guess the woman just had a baby and was overwhelmed. Miranda promised to turn over most of the profits from the sale commission and only take a small fee for finishing the job. Her co-worker gladly handed it over. From there, Miranda went to a friend she had in the records office—Beth. Beth was supposed to push the new document through the system and shred the old one, but she had a family emergency. The files were on her desk, and Moira just scooped everything up to process it while Beth was out. Since Moira processed the original, she realized what was happening.”
Walter let out a little huff. “Moira was too smart and too resourceful for her own good. She got to looking into Miranda and Sarah Cole. She didn’t find anything on Miranda, but she found out that Sarah had been the recipient of another large property from a person she was a caregiver for.” He shrugged. “She found it dodgy, I guess.”
“How did Miranda and Sarah get involved, then, if Miranda was working for you and not with Sarah?” I asked.
“Beth realized her mistake and called Miranda. As for Sarah, she’s got eyes and ears everywhere, and since it was taking so long for the transaction to go through, she got suspicious and called Moira, pretending to be a representative of my aunt’s estate. They talked, and Sarah asked to meet so they could look over things in person and sort it out. She also called Miranda, but as herself and threatened to expose her if she didn’t cooperate.”
He leaned back in his chair and put his arms on the armrests, picking at the worn brown fabric. “Miranda thought Sarah just wanted her to go along with transferring the property to her and not me. What she didn’t know is that she was walking into a murder.”
My stomach sank. We needed to get out of here and warn Ellis. If Sarah murdered Moira over a contract, she wouldn’t hesitate to murder Ellis for asking questions of the old-timers down at the docks.
“I didn’t witness the murder, but Miranda did. But after…” He trailed off and shook his head. “After, Miranda brought Sarah to me along with the murder weapon and Moira’s body, wrapped in a plastic sheet. She said if she had to keep her mouth shut about the whole deal, then I did too.”
“Why did you put the body in the wall rather than dump her in the ocean?” Luke asked.
“The water around here is too cold. It would take too long for her to decompose, and we couldn’t risk weights falling off and her floating to the surface. It was easier to just seal her into the wall, then close for a bit and claim the building needed repairs. The knife, though, that went in the ocean a few days later. I probably should have kept it and buried it for insurance, but I didn’t. I was too scared someone would find it.” He shook a finger. “I didn’t tell Sarah I threw it in the water, though. She thought I stashed it somewhere close.”
I shared a look with Luke. That explained the break-in at the coffeeshop and café. Sarah was probably looking for the murder weapon.
Walter’s jaw worked beneath his white beard stubble. “I wish I’d just come clean with Lucille. Maybe we could have worked things out.” A hint of a sad smile ghosted over his lips. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, you know?”
“Yeah,” I murmured. My thoughts swirled as I digested everything Walter said. “Why didn’t Sarah demand the property get transferred back to her?”
“It would have brought too much attention. The deeds were final. My aunt was dead. With the increased scrutiny surrounding Moira’s disappearance, none of us wanted to bring any new attention to the public records’ office, so Sarah just let it go.”
That made sense. Sarah was greedy, but she wasn’t a fool.
None of this solved our current problem, however.
I looked at Luke. “So, what do we do now? How do we get out of here?”
A slow smile slid over his face. He pointed at my backpack. “Give me your bag.”
Frowning, I reached for it. “Why?” I passed it to him, lifting it over the sleeping dogs. They’d conked out not long after weset them down, exhausted from our long trek. Not even Sarah banging the boards into place had made them get up.
Luke took the bag and rummaged in the front pocket. A triumphant smile split his face as he pulled his hand out, clutching the GPS unit.
My eyes widened. “We can send a message!” In addition to sending coordinates, this particular GPS model could also send short text messages.
“Yep.” He tapped a button, waking up the screen. “Do you know Ozzie’s number?”
“No, but I know Claire’s.”
“Give it to me.”
Walter’s low laugh slowly grew until he held his sides. I stared at him. So did Luke, his fingers poised over the GPS unit as he frowned at the older man.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked, genuinely confused.
Waving a hand, Walter sat up, then swiped at the moisture on his face. “Because—” he hiccupped. “Because Sarah thought she had this all planned out. But her own arrogance will be her downfall. She wrote you two off as bumbling amateurs because you’re not the police. She should have searched your bags. I don’t even care that I’m going to jail now. It will be worth it to watch that bitch get what she deserves.”
“Well, okay, then.” Luke offered up a lopsided smile. “What’s that number, Mina?”
I recited it, and he quickly typed out a message.
It’s Luke. Mina and I are lost in the woods off Point Bishop Trail. Ellis is in danger. Send help.
