“But what’s more important, at this point,” Oscar said, suddenly joining the conversation, “is figuring out who broke in—and, just as importantly, why they want us to leave.”
“Exactly,” Iva said again.
“We found some clues,” Teddy said. “Some footprints by the side of the lighthouse that’s farthest from the main entrance and parking area—they’re hiking boots. And it looks like a boat was dragged up onshore there on the island’s beach. Probably last night, because the marks looked fresh. We got pictures of them before the rain got too hard and washed it away.”
“Not many reasons someone would beach a boat on that little island,” Orbra said, bending over to refill Teddy’s teacup. “How’s that not-Tetley tea going down there, young man?”
“Don’t tell her I said this, but it’s better than my grandmother used to make,” Oscar replied with a smile. “And your scones? Hers aren’t even close.”
“All right, then,” Orbra said, looking mollified. “Now you finish up your sandwiches there and head on over to the police station. Helga’s been waiting for you.”
“How did she know— Oh, right,” Teddy said, holding up her hand. “Everyone knows everything in Wicks Hollow.”
Eleven
Officer Helga van Hestpossessed the same calm efficiency as her grandmother, and Teddy liked and trusted her right away. Helga had strawberry-blond hair that she wore in a no-nonsense chignon, and was a taller, slenderer, and more elegant version of her grandmother. Her blue and gray police uniform was starched crisp, and her fingernails were short and painted with a clear gloss. Teddy approved of the fact that Helga, who had a pretty oval face and intelligent hazel eyes, didn’t completely disdain her femininity, and wore pale pink lipstick and small gold studs in her ears.
Not that Teddy didn’t like or trust Captain Longbow—she absolutely did—but when Helga insisted on taking over from her boss’s hunting and pecking on the computer keyboard in order to print out the form for the incident report, Teddy cheered inside.
This was after the police chief had struggled for five minutes to find the right file to open, because for some reason, his computer had become disconnected from the network. And then to figure out how to unjam the printer’s paper feed. And all that wasafterhe couldn’t get the computer mouse to work for some inexplicable reason.
“He’s a damned good cop and an excellent police chief,” Helga confided to Teddy, “but the chief’s a walking time bomb when it comes to anything electronic. All he has to do is get in the vicinity of anything computerized and it goes berserk. I think it’s his aura or something—there’s no other explanation for it. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even let him into the break room, because that’s where we keep the fax machine. Once, he stopped in the doorway and the machine just went bonkers. And no one was using it.”
Oscar showed Joe and Helga the rubber glove with the paint on it, and Teddy told them about the footprints by the side of the cottage and the mark of a boat’s keel on the beach. “Oscar took pictures because by now, the rain will have washed all the prints away,” she said.
Joe reached for Oscar’s phone, but Helga gave him an arch look and intercepted it. “Best not to let the chief touch it,” she said. “He could delete the entire contents without pressing a button.”
“Now, Helga,” Joe said. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?”
She lifted a perfectly arched sandy-brown brow. “Might I remind you of the time you merely cut the tape on the box with your new, fully loaded computer tablet?”
The chief pursed his lips and changed the subject. “Oscar, I wanted you to know the USCG is looking into what you saw out there—the blue and green boat with the men dropping something over the side. So far they haven’t found anything, but they’re still looking. I’ve also got Helga asking around about a boat that meets your description at any of the local marinas.”
“So far, nothing, but I’m going to call the sheriff’s office and put the word out there,” said Helga as she slid the incident report in front of Teddy. “You can sign on the bottom here, and Dr. London, I’ll have a copy of your statement printed off in just a second… Cap, how about stepping out of the room for a few? Give the machine a break from your aura?”
Joe grumbled, but rose from a tweed office chair that looked older than he was. “I’ll send this off to the lab to see if they can raise any fingerprints on it,” he said, holding up the plastic bag with the paint-streaked glove. “But this is little Wicks Hollow, not Chicago or New York, or even Grand Rapids. We aren’t going to hear back on this for a good while.”
“That’s right,” Helga said, grimacing a little. “I got spoiled working in Chicago, but unless there’s a homicide to light a fire under their behinds, the lab doesn’t see any reason to get on our stuff.”
“Last fall when Baxter James found Marcus Levin—poor man got clubbed with his own five iron—the lab got on things pretty quick,” Joe said in his easy voice.
“Well, I’m not really holding out for a homicide on this case,” Oscar said firmly. “A break-in is plenty enough to deal with. Teddy, are you ready? We’ve got to get you a new computer.”
* * *
They drove to Grand Rapids, which was about an hour away and the biggest city near Wicks Hollow, to get her a new laptop.
“Thank goodness I have the flash drive,” she said more than once, and dug in her purse to check that it was still there at least three times. “I’m glad your laptop wasn’t destroyed.”
“Same here, but at least my work is easy,” Oscar said dryly. “Just throw a few things on a plate and stick it under the microscope and my work is done.”
Teddy laughed. “I’m sorry—that was my neurotic-writer-on-deadline personality talking when I said that.”
“I figured.” He reached over and curled his grip over her hand, and they drove the rest of the way back to the cottage with their fingers entwined.
It was dark by then, and Teddy was aware of her body tensing with apprehension as they drove over the bridge to the postage-stamp island. What would they find this time?
But the cottage sat, seemingly undisturbed, with the lights they’d left on burning in the windows. As she climbed out of the Jeep, Teddy couldn’t help looking up at the lighthouse, which rose over them like a forbidding dark tower.
