Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) by Tim Myers Page B

this?” Jackson asked
suspiciously before he took the paper.
    “I want you and your people to forget we
ever existed.”
    Jackson seemed to take that in. “What about
the money we lost, and the coin you still have?”
    “Don’t push your luck,” Mor said.
    Alex spoke up. “The coin was here, but it’s
on its way to the state museum in Raleigh. I donated it in my
brother’s name.” It wasn’t exactly true, but it soon would be. Alex
didn’t want any profit from the coin that had been a part of his
brother’s last con, and donating it in the Winston name was somehow
fitting. “As for the rest of the fake coins, you can have them if
you want them.” He took the original bag of counterfeit coins from
Elise and handed them to Jackson. “That should convince your boss
that you were conned. As for the money, I don’t have a clue what
Tony did with it, but I can tell you this. It’s not here.”
    “Good enough,” Jackson said, and then
started to walk away. Mor looked at Alex, and he shook his head.
Alex was focused on one thing right now; the woman who had killed
Tony.
    “You’re not going to just let him go, are
you?” Monique cried out.
    Alex didn’t even have to answer. A squad car
drove up the lane, its lights flashing and siren wailing. Jackson
turned back and looked hard at Alex. “Did you set me up?”
    “It wasn’t us,” Alex said.
    Jackson shrugged, and then ate the piece of
paper Alex had just given him. “They don’t have a thing on me.” He
tossed the coins back to Elise, and then wiped his hands on his
pants. “We’re good now.”
    As the sheriff got out of his car, Alex
opened a window and called him over to them. Once he joined them in
the Main Keeper’s Quarters, Armstrong said, “There’s a pile up on
Old 70, but I got the call and came running. I was told there might
be another murder here.”
    “Who called you?” Alex asked. He was amazed
by how quickly the sheriff had shown up.
    “It was anonymous,” the sheriff
admitted.
    “Man or woman?” Alex asked.
    “It was a woman.”
    “I made the call,” Monique admitted. “I
thought Jackson was going to kill me if I didn’t turn the gold
coins over to him.”
    “Why would I do that?” he asked. “I don’t
even know you, and we both know that the coins are
counterfeit.”
    “Alex?” the sheriff asked. “You want to
explain this to me?” He looked over at Mor. “I’m guessing you have
a good reason to hold onto both of them.”
    “She killed my brother,” Alex said.
    “I suppose you have proof of that,
right?”
    “We do,” Alex said.
    “Then let’s hear it.”
    Alex held the mat up. “If you send this to
the crime lab, I’m willing to bet they’ll find Tony’s blood, and
Monique’s as well. They struggled during an argument, and she got
scratched. Look at her hand if you don’t believe me.”
    Monique said, “I caught it on a rusty nail
somewhere around here. I should sue.”
    Alex shook his head, but the sheriff asked,
“Is that all?”
    “There are scuff marks in the room where
Tony was killed. Whoever dumped him in the tub wasn’t strong enough
to pick him up, so they must have dragged him across the room. I
noticed it the first time I was up there, but I didn’t put it
together with Tony’s murder. If Jackson had killed him, he’d had no
problem putting my brother over his shoulder and carrying him. The
fact that Monique wasn’t as strong made me suspect that she might
have done it. Lastly, think about how Tony was killed. He was
stabbed in the heart. What professional killer do you know that
would use a knife to the heart? I’ve watched a lot of news and read
quite a few mysteries my guests have left behind over the years. It
sounds more like a crime of passion than of greed.”
    “Where’d the knife come from?” Armstrong
asked, intently following Alex’s words.
    “I’d check her place if I were you,” Alex
said.
    “Surely she’s not that stupid,” the