Whiskey Beach Part 96

"But she was a connection," Abra insisted. "She knew about the Calypso, the dowry, didn't she?"

"Sure. I told her about it the first time I brought her here. I showed her the cove where pirates used to moor. And about running whiskey during Prohibition. You know, impress the girl with local color and Landon lore."

"And was she? Impressed?"

"It's a good story. I remember her asking me to tell it at a couple of dinner parties back then, but that was more for laughs. She didn't think much of, or about, Whiskey Beach."

"Suskind obviously did, and does. Eli, this is huge. He could be responsible for all of it. The break-ins, Hester's fall, Duncan's murder. Lindsay's-"

"He has an alibi for Lindsay."

"But wasn't that his wife? If she lied ..."

"They're separated, and she's sticking by her original statement. A little reluctantly, Sherrilyn thinks, as she's not feeling very friendly toward Suskind these days."

"She could still be lying." Abra stabbed some pasta. "He's guilty of other crimes."

"Innocent until," Eli reminded her.

"Oh, don't go lawyer on me. Give me one good reason, other than bad behavior, he'd buy that house."

"I can give you a few. He likes the beach, he wanted an investment, his marriage is/was going south and he wanted a place to go, somewhere quiet so he could think it all through. He and Lindsay drove up here on a whim so she could show him Bluff House, so he bought the cottage here to remind him of that perfect day."

"Oh, that's all bulls.h.i.t."

He shrugged a shoulder at the spike of annoyance. "Reasonable doubt. If I were representing him, I'd make a big deal over my client being questioned for simply buying a beach house."

"And if I were a prosecutor, I'd make a big deal over the series of coincidences and connections. A house on this particular beach, where your family owns a landmark home and which has since his purchase experienced a series of break-ins?"

She snorted, then fixed her face into serious lines. "Your Honor, I submit the defendant purchased said property and took residence in same for the sole purpose of illegally entering Bluff House to search for pirate treasure."

He smiled at her, leaned over to kiss her. "Objection. Speculative."

"I don't think I'd have liked Lawyer Landon."

"Maybe not, but with what's here, I'd've gotten Suskind off in a walk."

"Then flip it. How would Lawyer Landon build the case against?"

"By finding out he has knowledge of or interest in Esmeralda's Dowry, for one. Linking those fibers found at your place to him, that would be key. Tracing the gun to him. Tracing any of the tools in the bas.e.m.e.nt to him, for that matter. If my grandmother could identify him as the intruder. And all the way back to breaking his wife's statement. Better yet, find a way to put him in the house when Lindsay was killed, and that's not going to happen. Dig up a witness or witnesses who would testify to some trouble between him and Lindsay. That would be a start."

Abra sipped her wine and considered. "I bet we'd find books and notes and all sorts of information on Bluff House and the dowry in his possession."

"Not without a search warrant, and you don't get those without probable cause."

"Don't interrupt with legalities." Abra dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "And they could do a CSI on the fibers and his clothes. The DNA from my pajamas."

"All requiring a warrant, which requires probable cause."

"And the gun-"

"Unregistered. That tells me he probably bought it on the street, for cash. Or from a shaky dealer, for cash. Not that hard to do in Boston."

"How do you trace something like that?"

"Show his picture around to known dealers in that kind of trade. Find the dealer, then get him to ID Suskind, then get him to agree to testify." Eli wove through the process and possibilities. "All of that takes the same kind of luck it does to win the Mega Millions lottery."

"Somebody has to win, eventually. Your investigator should do that, all of that. I think we need to let Hester remember on her own, if and when. And, honestly, the fact that it was dark? I don't think she really saw him. Just more a shadow, a shape."

"I'm with you there."

"The tools wouldn't be easy. He probably bought them months ago. Who remembers some guy buying a pickax or sledgehammer? But ... I think you should go to Boston and talk to his wife."

"What? Eden Suskind? Why would she talk to me?"

"Well, h.e.l.l, Eli, that shows what you know about women. Especially angry, betrayed or sad women. You were both cheated on-her husband, your wife. That's a kind of bond. You shared a difficult experience."

"It's a pretty shaky bond if she thinks I killed Lindsay."

"There's only one way to find out. And while we're there, we could check out Kirby Duncan's office."

"We?"

"Of course, I'm going with you. A sympathetic female." Laying her hand on her heart, Abra shifted her expression into quiet sympathy.

"That's good. You're good at that."

"Well, I do feel sympathetic. She might feel safer if there's another woman. One who feels and can show that sympathy and understanding. And we definitely need to show Suskind's picture around Duncan's offices."

"That's what investigators are for."

"Sure, yeah, but aren't you curious? I can't do it this week, I'm already booked. Plus we should plan it a little more. I can probably juggle time next week. In the meantime, maybe your investigator will win the lottery, and we can keep an eye out for Suskind. And an eye on Sandcastle."

"We can't go lurking down there. If he spots us, we could scare him off. And you're not going near his place. Nonnegotiable," he said before she could respond. "That's a line, not in sand, in solid rock. We can't be sure he doesn't have another gun, but we can be reasonably sure if he does he'd use it. Duncan had one registered, and it wasn't found on his body, or-as far as I can find out-anywhere else."

"Speculative-but I mostly agree. We don't have to lurk. Come with me, I'll show you."

She led the way to the terrace, and the telescope. "According to Mike, the previous owners bought it as an investment property about five years ago right before the bubble burst. The economy bottomed out, people weren't spending as much on vacations, and so on," she continued as she turned the telescope south. "It was on the market for over a year, and they had to keep cutting the price. Then-"

She straightened up from her focus. "Oh, for Christ's sake, I'm an idiot. You need to talk to Mike. He brokered the property."

"You're kidding."

"No, I wasn't thinking. He was the agent on that property. He might know something about something."

"I'll talk to him."

"For now, you can look." She tapped the scope. "Sandcastle."