Chapter 36
Mina
“What do you mean, you just wanted your land back?” I walked up to Luke and Walter, curious about what Walter knew. We might actually get all the answers to this mystery now.
The old man’s mouth pursed, and his gaze flicked back and forth between us.
“You’ve got nothing to lose, Walter.” Luke backed away from the window to cross his arms and stare the man down. “In any case, you’re going to jail for your part in Moira’s death. Make it easy on yourself and cooperate.”
Walter’s eyes hardened. “You’re not a cop and have no way to hold me here any more than I have a way to hold you here. Once we get the window uncovered, I can take off, and you’ll never see me again.”
“Then it still doesn’t matter if you tell us the truth, then, does it?” I argued.
Those dull blue eyes moved back and forth between us again until, finally, he let out a sigh. “Fine.” With a quick tip of his head, he motioned us back to the group of seats.
I sat down with Luke on the couch, while Walter perched on the edge of the upholstered chair to our left. He clasped his hands and let them dangle between his knees. “About six months before Sarah killed Moira, Miranda figured out she’s my daughter.”
A swift gasp left me.
“I’m sorry, what?” Luke leaned forward. “Who’s your daughter?”
“Miranda. Her mother, Elsie, and I met at a club twenty-odd years prior. My wife and I were having problems. I thought my marriage was over, and in a moment of weakness, I caved to a beautiful woman. My affair was brief. Guilt ate me alive, so I ended it after only a couple of weeks. But the damage was done. Elsie was pregnant. For years, I funneled money to a secret account for her but only on the stipulation that she never tell anyone I was Miranda’s father.
My wife and I patched things up and were actually very happy until she died a few years ago. ” His brows knitted and he looked away.
“When Miranda turned eighteen, her mother and I agreed she no longer needed the support, except for her school funding. I was happy to offer a ‘loan’”—he air-quoted with two fingers, never unclasping his hands—“that paid for a portion of her education. Elsie told Miranda she took out a small, low-interest loan through the bank. Miranda was never the wiser. Anyway, when she found out about me, she was out of school. Her mother confessed everything, including how I helped support her all those years. One day, Miranda showed up at the store and demanded I still support her, or she would tell Lucille everything. She wanted to open her own real estate office, and she needed capital.”
He grimaced. “I know I should have just come clean with Lucille, but I saw a way out. And her timing was actually great. It was like the stars aligned to make this the perfect plan. My aunt had just died, and I was supposed to inherit her estate. Not just the Myers Mansion, but a few other properties in the area.”
I shared a look with Luke. That accounted for the multiple amended deeds Claire found.
“But somehow, Sarah manipulated either my aunt or someone else into putting her name in place of mine on the real estate transfers,” Walter continued. “I told Miranda if she could change them back, I would help her start her business.”
I looked at Luke. “That’s why there were two versions of the same deed, just with different recipients.” I turned to Walter. “Why didn’t you bring the authorities into it? Were you not in the will now?”
“I don’t know if I was or not. I just saw an easy way to fix what Sarah tried to steal. With Miranda involved and her plan to blackmail me, it was just easier to have her fix it than to accuse Sarah of theft and tie everything up in the courts. I was not looking to make waves.”
Luke crossed his ankle over his knee. “Okay. So how did Moira get involved, and why did Sarah kill her? How did you get involved in that?”
“Moira discovered the forgery on the deed Miranda fixed. See, my aunt used the firm Miranda worked for. I don’t know how well you know Miranda, but she can be… persuasive.”
I held back a snort. That was no lie.
“She sweet-talked her co-worker into letting her handle the transaction. I guess the woman just had a baby and was overwhelmed. Miranda promised to turn over most of the profits from the sale commission and only take a small fee for finishing the job. Her co-worker gladly handed it over. From there, Miranda went to a friend she had in the records office—Beth. Beth was supposed to push the new document through the system and shred the old one, but she had a family emergency. The files were on her desk, and Moira just scooped everything up to process it while Beth was out. Since Moira processed the original, she realized what was happening.”
Walter let out a little huff. “Moira was too smart and too resourceful for her own good. She got to looking into Miranda and Sarah Cole. She didn’t find anything on Miranda, but she found out that Sarah had been the recipient of another large property from a person she was a caregiver for.
” He shrugged. “She found it dodgy, I guess.”
“How did Miranda and Sarah get involved, then, if Miranda was working for you and not with Sarah?” I asked.
“Beth realized her mistake and called Miranda. As for Sarah, she’s got eyes and ears everywhere, and since it was taking so long for the transaction to go through, she got suspicious and called Moira, pretending to be a representative of my aunt’s estate.
They talked, and Sarah asked to meet so they could look over things in person and sort it out.
She also called Miranda, but as herself and threatened to expose her if she didn’t cooperate. ”
He leaned back in his chair and put his arms on the armrests, picking at the worn brown fabric. “Miranda thought Sarah just wanted her to go along with transferring the property to her and not me. What she didn’t know is that she was walking into a murder.”
My stomach sank. We needed to get out of here and warn Ellis. If Sarah murdered Moira over a contract, she wouldn’t hesitate to murder Ellis for asking questions of the old-timers down at the docks.
“I didn’t witness the murder, but Miranda did. But after…” He trailed off and shook his head. “After, Miranda brought Sarah to me along with the murder weapon and Moira’s body, wrapped in a plastic sheet. She said if she had to keep her mouth shut about the whole deal, then I did too.”
“Why did you put the body in the wall rather than dump her in the ocean?” Luke asked.
“The water around here is too cold. It would take too long for her to decompose, and we couldn’t risk weights falling off and her floating to the surface.
It was easier to just seal her into the wall, then close for a bit and claim the building needed repairs.
The knife, though, that went in the ocean a few days later.
I probably should have kept it and buried it for insurance, but I didn’t.
I was too scared someone would find it.” He shook a finger.
“I didn’t tell Sarah I threw it in the water, though.
She thought I stashed it somewhere close. ”
I shared a look with Luke. That explained the break-in at the coffeeshop and café. Sarah was probably looking for the murder weapon.
Walter’s jaw worked beneath his white beard stubble. “I wish I’d just come clean with Lucille. Maybe we could have worked things out.” A hint of a sad smile ghosted over his lips. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, you know?”
“Yeah,” I murmured. My thoughts swirled as I digested everything Walter said. “Why didn’t Sarah demand the property get transferred back to her?”
“It would have brought too much attention. The deeds were final. My aunt was dead. With the increased scrutiny surrounding Moira’s disappearance, none of us wanted to bring any new attention to the public records’ office, so Sarah just let it go.”
That made sense. Sarah was greedy, but she wasn’t a fool.
None of this solved our current problem, however.
I looked at Luke. “So, what do we do now? How do we get out of here?”
A slow smile slid over his face. He pointed at my backpack. “Give me your bag.”
Frowning, I reached for it. “Why?” I passed it to him, lifting it over the sleeping dogs. They’d conked out not long after we set them down, exhausted from our long trek. Not even Sarah banging the boards into place had made them get up.
Luke took the bag and rummaged in the front pocket. A triumphant smile split his face as he pulled his hand out, clutching the GPS unit.
My eyes widened. “We can send a message!” In addition to sending coordinates, this particular GPS model could also send short text messages.
“Yep.” He tapped a button, waking up the screen. “Do you know Ozzie’s number?”
“No, but I know Claire’s.”
“Give it to me.”
Walter’s low laugh slowly grew until he held his sides. I stared at him. So did Luke, his fingers poised over the GPS unit as he frowned at the older man.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked, genuinely confused.
Waving a hand, Walter sat up, then swiped at the moisture on his face.
“Because—” he hiccupped. “Because Sarah thought she had this all planned out. But her own arrogance will be her downfall. She wrote you two off as bumbling amateurs because you’re not the police.
She should have searched your bags. I don’t even care that I’m going to jail now.
It will be worth it to watch that bitch get what she deserves. ”
“Well, okay, then.” Luke offered up a lopsided smile. “What’s that number, Mina?”
I recited it, and he quickly typed out a message.
It’s Luke. Mina and I are lost in the woods off Point Bishop Trail. Ellis is in danger. Send help.
With a few more clicks, he attached our current coordinates and hit send.
“All right.” Stowing the device in my bag again, he moved to the window. “Let’s see about busting out of here, shall we?” He glanced at Walter. “Do you know if there’s anything in the cabin we could use to pry these boards off?”