“Yes, they were. Especially since she never contacted them between the time she left the estate and her eventual move to Beaufort. I remember Grandma fussing about that years later, at one of our family reunions.”
Shandy wriggled with pleasure as Ellen absently scratched a spot behind the little dog’s ear. “Things were a bit crazy in the fifties for a lot of people, but the economy was booming. Maybe Isabella found a way to make some quick cash.” Ellen side-eyed me. “A way the family wouldn’t have approved of, perhaps?”
“Yes, but that’s the thing—how did she manage it? She was working as a maid, left that job, and thenpoof!—two years latershe had enough money to buy Chapters and begin building her fabulous library.” I scratched a mosquito bite on my bare forearm. “You know, I never really thought about it before, but when Lincoln Delamont suggested something was amiss with that story, it made me reconsider Isabella’s past.”
“Ah, the plot thickens.” Ellen tapped her foot against the pavers. “Did Delamont insinuate that Isabella was involved in some sort of illegal activity?”
“Yes. He implied that she stole some rare books and other valuables from her employers, then sold the items to fund her new life in Beaufort.” I pressed my thumb against the bite, which I’d scratched to bleeding. “I thought he was just threatening to expose an old scandal so I’d sell him some valuable books at a discount. Then last night his daughter, who read some notes he’d kept about his investigation into Isabella’s past, accused me of killing him to keep the story quiet.”
“I see.” Ellen pushed back her hat, allowing it to hang from the ribbons tied around her neck. “I wouldn’t worry. Personally, I doubt there’s any truth in Delamont’s tale. Yes, Isabella was very evasive about how she made enough money to buy her house and live there for so long before having to convert it to an income property. But I have another theory.” Ellen cast me an amused glance. “I always suspected there was a man involved. A sugar daddy, I guess you’d say. Someone who couldn’t marry her but wanted to keep her in style.”
“Really?” Considering this suggestion, I realized it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Despite possessing beauty, intelligence, and charm, Isabella Harrington had never married. In fact, she’d never even mentioned any “gentlemen friends” to myfamily. If she’d had a secret lover—perhaps a wealthy man who wouldn’t, or couldn’t, leave his wife—that might explain a lot of things. Not just her single status, but also her ability to live at Chapters for years without any obvious means of support. “Supposing that were true, do you think she turned Chapters into a bed-and-breakfast in the early eighties because her benefactor died or something? I mean, she didn’t seem to need the money before then.”
Ellen stared out over the harbor. “I can’t say. Despite our many conversations, Isabella never breathed a word about such a thing. She claimed she went into the lodging business simply because she was bored.”
“Which means Lincoln Delamont could’ve been lying, just as I thought.”
“Probably, although”—Ellen set a restless Shandy down and rose to her feet—“it’s hard to say for certain. Isabella, for all her outward chattiness, was quite secretive in many ways. I suppose it’s possible she engaged in some shady business to set herself up in style. She did have a rather offhand relationship with the law.”
“In what way?” I stood and trailed Ellen and Shandy onto the wooden boardwalk that flanked the docks.
“Oh, she fudged her taxes, for one thing.” Ellen pulled her hat back up onto her head as Shandy danced on the end of the leash, anxious to keep moving. “I was always afraid the IRS would come calling, but as far as I know, they never did.” Ellen glanced at me. “From my handling of the trust, I believe that mess was all sorted out before you inherited Chapters.”
“The lawyers did tell me they had to pay some significant back taxes out of the estate.” Processing the idea that perhaps mygreat-aunt had been a thief as well as a tax evader, I frowned. “But if what Lincoln Delamont said was true, why was she never suspected of stealing from her former employers during her lifetime? Surely if things went missing, it would’ve been noticed when she left.”
“Maybe that’s why she disappeared? Or—perhaps she had an accomplice?” Ellen’s tone was as light as the wispy clouds drifting through the pale-blue sky. “I understand there were several sons in that family, and a few of them were the right age to appreciate a young woman with Isabella’s charms. Maybe one of them helped her take a few valuables and covered up any losses.”
“You mean, one of them could’ve also become her lifelong benefactor.” I grimaced as another thought occurred to me. “Or her blackmailer.”
“I doubt that.” Ellen leaned against the wooden railing separating the boardwalk from the water below. “Isabella wasn’t the kind of person to put up with that sort of thing for long. No, I think if that was the scenario, it would’ve been a love match, and they would’ve been in on the theft together.”
I gazed out over the water. The emerald shoreline of nearby Carrot Island, a refuge for wild horses and other native animals, glittered in the early-morning sunlight. “That’s the romantic way to look at it, but I’m not convinced. Now that I think about it, I remember my late grandmother saying that Isabella seemed much happier in her later years, even though establishing and running Chapters required so much time and effort.”
“Did she?” Ellen’s gaze remained fixed on the horizon. “Of course, I didn’t know Isabella until the eighties, so I couldn’t say if that was true or not. But I’m glad to hear it.”
“What if she made a devil’s bargain and was only freed by the death of her secret lover?” I winced as I pondered this possibility. “She lost her benefactor but gained her freedom.”
“Yes, freedom.” Ellen rolled her shoulders as if casting off some burden. “That would’ve been important to Isabella, I think. She was definitely no shrinking violet or clinging vine.”
“That’s true. Not that I got to interact with her that much. She only visited us occasionally. We never came to Beaufort because she claimed her home was her business and she couldn’t put up nonpaying guests. But I remember how fiercely independent she was.”
“Yes.” Ellen seemed lost in thought. “Anyway, this is all speculation. We have no proof.”
“And, maybe, neither did Lincoln Delamont, although he appeared confident about his information.” I brushed a windblown lock of hair from my eyes. “But my guess is that he didn’t really want to expose the truth, whatever it was. He just hoped he could use the rumors he’d collected to compel me to sell him some of Isabella’s rare books at bargain-basement prices.”
“That seems likely.” Ellen moved away from the railing as Shandy pulled against his leash. “Honestly, Charlotte, I wouldn’t waste any more time worrying about what Isabella might or might not have done.” She yanked the brim of her hat down a little lower on her forehead. “We should keep walking. Shandy has no patience for just standing around.”
“You really think Lincoln was bluffing?” I followed Ellen and the Yorkie to the end of the boardwalk.
“Don’t you?” Ellen paused to check for traffic before crossing to the corner of Front Street and Turner. “Considering he wasn’t the most honest of individuals …”
“That’s true,” I said, thinking of Scott’s comments from the evening before.But—I stared speculatively at Ellen’s back as I trailed the older woman and her dog—I wonder how Ellen knew about that aspect of Lincoln Delamont’s character.
“Well then, who’s to say he knew anything salacious about Isabella? As a dealer in rare books, he’d probably heard a great deal about her and her private library over the years. Maybe enough to concoct a story he planned to use to take advantage of you.”
“That makes sense.” I increased my stride to keep up with Ellen’s fast pace. “More sense than my great-aunt being a thief, anyway. It’s just too bad his daughter had to stumble over his lies.”
“Before he was murdered, you mean?” Ellen cast me a wry smile. “No, I’m not suspecting you of stabbing him, although I can understand a desire to do so.”
