A Whisker In The Dark

Millie must have taken my silence for agreement because she went back to considering the Biddefords as prime suspects. “Just because those shovels didn’t have any of Bob’s blood on them doesn’t mean one of the Biddefords isn’t the killer.” Millie beat the batter more vigorously.

“True. I mean, if they were clever, they could have clonked him over the head and switched shovels. Besides, I think Doris lied about them all being together.” I much preferred Doris as a suspect over Ed anyway. “But then where is the shovel that killed Bob? And where is Flora’s?”

“I don’t know, seems like Seth would have confiscated it from her if he thinks she’s a suspect.” Millie paused her beating and turned to me. “Do you think Doris lied because she killed her son?”

“I’m not sure. She was pretty upset about the business failing and Bob was threatening everyone. If he made good on any of those threats, it wouldn’t be good for business,” I said. “Maybe she thought that the treasure curse and ghost would make a good cover. Someone has been pushing that ghost rumor pretty hard around town.”

“Would Doris really think that Seth would believe that a ghost killed someone?”

Millie and I exchanged a glance. Seth wasn’t the sharpest pencil but I didn’t think he believed in murdering ghosts. But maybe Doris thought he did.

“We have to figure out what is going on with Flora.” The missing shovel bothered me. Seth had said the Biddefords’ shovels had been tested and none of them had been used to kill Bob. If Doris was the killer, then how had she pulled that off? On the other hand, Flora had been making herself scarce around the guesthouse lately. Was that so she could avoid Seth because she knew that he was going to ask for her shovel?

“But why would she kill Bob? I doubt there is even any treasure and she never mentioned needing money,” Millie said, almost to herself. “Maybe I should’ve given her a raise before I sold the guesthouse.”

Was I not paying Flora enough? But she barely did anything. I made a mental note to give her a raise anyway once profits increased. If she wasn’t rotting away in a jail cell.

“Myron could have used a shovel from home. I mean just because the store was sold out doesn’t mean a thing. I’m sure there are some shovels hanging around that big estate he lives on. Maybe his proof that he showed Seth was fake?” I said.

“Oh, that.” Millie fluffed her hair, her cheeks turning crimson. “I got that out of Seth behind the Chamber of Commerce tent.”

Best not to ask what she’d had to do behind the tent to get it out of him. “So what was it?”

Millie grabbed a loaf pan and started pouring the batter in. “Apparently one of your guests is taking out a loan to buy out more than fifty percent of the stock in the cheese-sculpting business.”

“Seriously?” This was big news. Why hadn’t she mentioned that when she first came in?

“Yeah, I thought it was important too, but it’s not because it clears Myron as well as one of the Biddefords. And it also proves that Doris is lying.”

“Wait, one of them was going to steal the company out from under the rest of the family? Was it Bob? Is that why he was killed because someone found out and wanted to stop him from taking control?”

It wasn’t totally ridiculous. After all, the company was failing and the siblings were at odds. It did seem prudent for one of them to buy the others out, take control and dictate a course of action that might bring the company back to its former glory. At least, I hoped so for Doris’s sake. “But why would they get a loan from a bank all the way out here? Their business is in New Jersey.”

“Turns out you were partially right about Myron and Carla. They did know each other from Yale. They weren’t having an affair though, she prevailed upon him to get this loan because she didn’t want to go with anyone local to them because she wanted secrecy.” Millie glanced around to make sure no Biddefords were lurking within hearing distance. “You can imagine what a ruckus that would cause if the family found out someone was attempting a hostile takeover.”

“Yeah. I can’t imagine that Bob would have liked it much. I wonder if that’s what Bob was threatening her about?”