Chapter 40
Two weeks later
“On this podcast, you really get your money’s worth.” In the podcast’s new digs at the newly reopened Bloody Eyeball Café, Gabby adjusted the mic. Next to the kitchen, Sally had carved out a small studio space with soundproofing. The island life was getting more and more tempting.
Gabby continued. “We solved three mysteries, maybe even more. First, the murder of piano legend Amelia Burnhauser. As of this moment, Detective Ron Hooper, formerly known as Keith Garner, has confessed to poisoning her with ricin derived from castor beans. He was responsible for the other poisonings on this island as well. To help us through this web of revelations, we have a special guest with us. Barnaby Carmichael has graciously agreed to set aside his hatred of the media and talk to me today. Hi Barnaby.”
Barnaby shot her that wicked grin that always—and would always—hit her right in her soft spot. “Hi beautiful.”
She made a scolding face at him, though she didn’t really mind a random compliment from her new boyfriend.
“One thing we’ve been trying to understand is why Amelia left her house to Tamara. That one thing made everyone even more suspicious of her.”
“Tamara and I have gone over that—she’s my grandmother, by the way, I’m not sure if you’ve covered that.”
“No.” Gabby had been careful not to give away anything so personal. She smiled at Barnaby and took his hand. “Go on.”
“Amelia didn’t trust many people. Tamara was one of the few. She didn’t have any children and her siblings were already gone. We believe it was pretty straightforward. She only trusted Tamara.”
Gabby found herself nodding in agreement. Not everything had a suspicious nefarious motive, although in this line of work, it was easy to forget that.
“So Keith Garner, now Detective Hooper, was in the ideal position to create havoc on Sea Smoke Island. He knew the island well, knew how to blend in. He would wear oilskins and sunglasses when he was pretending to be a fisherman while doling out ricin and setting it up so Tamara would be blamed.”
“Pretty much. So much for law and order.”
Gabby left that comment there. This story wasn’t about police corruption or anything systemic. In her opinion, it was about something else—the need to control, and how women wound up taking the blame when a troubled boy’s world fell apart.
“Keith Garner was a traumatized boy who grew into a vengeful man. It’s a tragic story. Keith grew up in a family built on a secret and eventually it all collapsed. Which brings us to our second mystery. Can you talk about that? The reason his family came to Sea Smoke Island in the first place?”
“Yes. I located that NDA and the contract.” That was what Celine had been looking for in the Portland condo, but it turned out that John Carmichael had sent Judy to retrieve them months ago.
Then he’d forgotten where he’d put them.
It had taken days of searching before Gabby and Barnaby finally found them stuffed in the library’s liquor cabinet.
As Barnaby drew in a deep breath, she squeezed his hand more tightly.
“It’s quite a story. Keith’s mother, Jill, was a witness to the murder of my real mother, Sophie Brown, at the hands of Annabeth Carmichael.
If Jill Garner hadn’t come in the room when she did and found her choking on her own vomit, both of us would probably be dead.
She saw Annabeth run out of the room after she’d injected castor bean powder into her IV.
My father tried to salvage the situation by covering it up.
He paid Jill to keep her quiet, with both cash and a house on Sea Smoke Island.
Annabeth’s motive was a mix of greed, jealousy and racism, with a dose of mental breakdown.
She got some treatment, then she and Dad reunited long enough to have my sister Fiona.
But he never truly forgave her, and dumped her soon after. ”
Gabby gave it a moment for that information to sink in. She imagined her listeners’ “dammmnn”s and dropped jaws. “So, if you don’t mind me saying, you are a Carmichael, but you’re being open about this murder, which was secret until we just uncovered it.”
“Yes. I want to honor my real mother’s death and make it clear that while I’m in charge of the Carmichael estate, that kind of shit will not happen.
No more ‘get out of jail because you’re rich’ cards.
If you fuck up, be accountable. And I’ll start with myself.
I spent a good chunk of my life as far away from Sea Smoke Island as I could get.
I was dodging responsibility and I acknowledge that.
Turns out, coming back was the best thing I ever did. Because I met you.”
His tender tone made Gabby’s face go hot. It was a good thing she was taping this episode on her own. The way Barnaby was looking at her, she wanted to stop the episode right now and run to the closest bedroom, pantry, or storage room available.
“I gotta clarify that this podcast is not a dating app.” Her joke helped her collect herself. “At least not usually.”
“I don’t know, it’s working pretty well so far,” Barnaby murmured.
He had a point. Both she and Heather had been single when they first came out to Sea Smoke for the podcast. Now they were happily cozied up with two brothers. Too bad matchmaking didn’t exactly fit with the dirty rotten bastards theme.
“So now I bet everyone’s pretty excited to find out what the pirate treasure was all about,” she said.
“At least based on our comment section. We posted a poll asking our listeners what they thought we found. The results were pretty funny. We got guesses from old cannonballs to a skeleton to a diamond necklace to absolutely nothing.”
Barnaby laughed. “Good guesses. One thing we should mention. We actually located two treasures, one under the lighthouse, and one buried near that pine tree. At first we thought the pine tree was a deflection, but there did turn out to be something buried there.”
“Which was…” Gabby prompted.
“A baby’s coffin. We’ve sent DNA samples to a lab to find out more about who is inside, but it seems that Marianne gave birth to two babies, a boy and a girl, but only the girl survived.”
“And that’s why the pirate crew abandoned her, because they didn’t care about guarding a girl baby.
” She remembered the fear she’d felt in that dream.
It had come true. Marianne had survived on her own on a Maine island, raising a daughter…
and what had saved her was the secret hidden under the lighthouse.
“Before we explain the rest of the treasure, I should mention that the original version of Marianne’s journal will be part of a traveling exhibit on pirate activity in the Maine islands, so if you get a chance to check that out, tag us on Instagram or wherever else you do your media socializing.”
“Yeah, it’s a pretty cool exhibit, underwritten by the Carmichael Foundation, may I point out.
” Barnaby smiled wryly, then waved at someone through the window.
Gabby turned to see who was coming. Detective Chen was striding down the gravel road from the dock.
She wore her usual uniform of impeccably cut black blazer and black pants to go with her black chunky-heeled boots and, of course, her black sidearm.
No matter what the weather or her surroundings, Chen was Chen, and that was that.
She too had agreed to be interviewed on the podcast, for which Gabby was extremely grateful. Her mother would be thrilled to know she was giving a highly respected female police officer a platform.
Of course her mother didn’t know that Chen wasn’t just capable, she was hilarious. That was the side of her that Gabby intended to showcase.
“Now, is it time to reveal what we found when the lighthouse foundation got damaged by that blast? By the way, we’re both still thanking our lucky stars that no one was hurt.”
“Close call, for sure. Hooper left that device behind with a remote timer that he didn’t activate until he was far enough away.
One last act of destruction.” Barnaby’s grim expression told her what he thought of that cowardly action.
Too bad the audience couldn’t see it. They really had to start putting these pods on video.
“Little did he know that he’d be helping us find the treasure. ”
“Well, he knows now. Hooper, if you’re listening, and I hope you are, we finally did locate the mythical pirate treasure that people have been searching for since the early seventeen hundreds.”
“I always thought it was a legend,” said Barnaby. “Like Shangri-La or Bigfoot.”
“Are those legends, though?” Gabby quipped. “Sorry, that’s a topic for someone else’s podcast. So enough beating around the bush. Tell everyone what we found under the lighthouse.”
“There was some gold. A few pieces, very old. An ancient musket that actually is probably worth quite a bit as a historical relic. But the big find was…”
Gabby did one of her patented drum rolls, which made him grin.
“Documents.”
“Documents? You mean, paperwork?” Gabby teased.
“Yes, very important paperwork. We found an herbal, kind of an encyclopedia of herbs, with recipes for various potions, healing and otherwise.”
“So that’s the power that must be wielded wisely? Knowledge about herbs?”
“Yes. Marianne was a skilled healer. That was how she survived on Sea Smoke Island, by trading healing potions and treatments for goods and services. She passed her knowledge on, and each generation added more to the document, but at some point one of her descendants must have felt threatened. She was probably accused of witchcraft, or maybe it was abortion. So she rowed out to the lighthouse and found a way to hide it. I did some research and the foundation got repaired in nineteen-ten. They must not have noticed something stashed away under the crumbling base.”
“Was that the only thing in that hiding place?”
“No. There’s a deed to a tract of land in Martinique. That’s probably worth a fortune too, if it’s still legal. But only descendants of Marianne Thatcher are entitled to inherit it. So even if Hooper had gained possession of it, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything with it.”
Gabby tilted her head at the large, black-haired man sitting across from her. “You’re her descendant, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Want to go to Martinique with me?” He gave her a wink and a suggestive lift of his eyebrows.
“Hell yes.”
He leaned over the table and kissed her on the lips. She lost herself for a moment thinking of all the adventures she and Barnaby could have together. Would have together. All the stories she could explore and injustices she could fight—with someone who really believed in her by her side.
When they drew apart, Chen stood next to them, arms crossed over her chest. “I agreed to an interview, but no kissing.”
Gabby laughed and gestured for her to sit down. As she did so, Barnaby rose to his feet, his gaze still hot on Gabby’s. We’ll continue this later, he was telling her. Oh yes, they would.
“Detective Chen, thank you for joining us.”
“I only have a minute, but I detest breaking appointments so I’m here.
But I have to go right away. Got another crisis on my hands.
Long story short, Hooper has given a full confession.
Annabeth Evans Carmichael has also confessed, first to her priest, then to us, as he recommended.
That case is in the hands of the DA. Another successful investigation by the Harbortown police.
No comment on our rogue officer, but he will be facing the full force of the law.
That covers it, right?” She bolted to her feet.
“Can you give us a hint about what’s going on?”
“No,” Chen said firmly, before striding off with that energetic gait of hers.
Gabby quickly signed off the podcast and hurried after Barnaby. He hadn’t gone far, just a few yards outside the café, before an islander stopped him to ask a question. He was listening intently, offering his full attention.
He happening to be standing in a beam of sunlight, so when he looked up to meet Gabby’s gaze, he seemed to be surrounded in light.
Her soul lifted up, just like it had in the rowboat when the sun lit the quartz on fire.
For a moment, past and present and future were the same, and everything was made of`light.
Barnaby, herself, the sparkling ocean surface, even the depths below.
All made of light, even the darkness, and all would return to light.
And then the moment passed, leaving her a little shaken. Perhaps it was just an illusion. But knowing Tamara had changed Gabby, so she didn’t dismiss it. Call it intuition, call it her inner knowing, that moment resonated inside her like a call to power, free and uncontainable…
Life was confusing and sometimes scary, but like Tamara said, she had to trust her inner light. It hadn’t failed her yet. Right now, what Gabby knew for sure was that she was about to close the distance between her and Barnaby, between present and future, and her heart rejoiced.
Thank you so much for reading! Make sure to read Heather and Luke’s story in LIGHT OF DAY.