The customer wrote me a check, and I wrapped her items carefully. We parted ways congenially, both of us satisfied with the transaction. Two more customers came in behind her and bought some souvenir items. Mary Lou followed after them with some Turtle Rescue Day flyers to put up in the shop window.
“I hope you’ll be there, Dae, and that you’ll pass the word.” She took my tape dispenser and hung up several flyers in the windows and around the store. “This is an important opportunity for fund-raising and education. Thousands of baby sea turtles are lost every year, you know. We have to protect them.”
I’d heard it so many times already, it had lost some value for me. I knew the turtles were important, but Mary Lou was a little too focused on the subject. “I’ll try my best to be there,” I promised. As mayor, it was the least I could do.
“I’m so disappointed, really. You know, Millie promised part of her beachfront would be made into a turtle sanctuary when she passed. I wish I could hold her to that promise now.”
“She hasn’t passed yet,” I replied, thinking about the auction coming up Wednesday. If what Mary Lou said was true, it seemed even more possible there was a missing document that could shut down the whole property sale. A written promise to donate land to the Turtle Rescue League was enough to take to court.
“No, but she might as well have. I haven’t heard anything from her lawyer about the land. Her promise might as well not exist.” Her mouth made a disapproving frown that marred her otherwise smooth complexion. She was really a very pretty woman still, and I guess Gramps saw that, as well as her ability to play a mean game of pinochle.
“I’m sure she meant well,” I said soothingly. “Who’s her lawyer?”
“Oh, I don’t know that she had one. I suppose if she did it would’ve been old Bunk Whitley. But I don’t think he’s living, so I don’t know. I’d love to stay and chat, Dae, but I have to get around town with these flyers. I’ll see you Wednesday, if not before.”
It was nearly noon when I looked at the teapot clock. Mary Lou left only moments before Kevin got there. Gramps followed him in the door. “We need to talk,” Gramps said with a serious frown on his face.
“Let me close up and we can go eat lunch.” I shut off the lights and put up the “Closed” sign. “I’m starving. And I have plenty to tell you both.”
Hoping not to run into Shayla or Trudy, I chose to have lunch at Wild Stallions on the boardwalk. Normally, I wouldn’t care if they were around, but time was running short on solutions for Miss Mildred. I didn’t want to have to catch them up on everything.
We went into the dark bar and grill. Cody and Reece took our orders right away. We talked about Cody’s new son for a few minutes. He was a big boy, eight pounds and four ounces. His name was Zak. Cody planned to name a burger after him.
“So what do you have for us?” I asked Gramps when Cody and Reece were gone.
“I went to see Olivia this morning. We had a nice breakfast at that new pancake house they built in Manteo. Anyway, she knew about OBX Land Trust, LLC. Turns out the owner is Silas’ grandson. You won’t believe who that is.”
“Jerry Richards.” Kevin and I said at the same time. Gramps sat back with a scowl after we spoiled his news.
I told him about my encounter with Chuck that morning. “This has to be at the heart of why Miss Elizabeth was killed. But Chief Michaels said Jerry has an alibi for the night she died.”
“What else did the chief have to say?” Kevin asked.
“I hope you didn’t try to confront him, Dae,” Gramps added.
“It kind of slipped out. I really didn’t plan to upset him.” I explained everything the chief had said to me.
“Richards showed up at the courthouse while my SBI friend was there,” Kevin said. “He overheard him asking about a power of attorney document for Miss Mildred. He wanted to know if she’d ever had one filed with the county. Without one stating her intentions, he can take her estate. He’s technically next of kin.”
“That’s funny because I was thinking the same thing this morning,” I said. “What did they tell him?”
“They couldn’t find one for her. There was a will for Miss Elizabeth. My friend checked on it. It left everything to Miss Mildred, like everyone speculated. There’s no help there.”
“Maybe Miss Mildred’s will is at her house, if she has one.” I looked up and thanked Cody as he brought our lunch to the table.
Before Kevin had a chance to tell us anything more, Luke Helms joined us. He slid in the booth beside Kevin with an easygoing nod, wondering if he could buy us lunch. “I’ve had a strange morning, and I’m hoping you guys can help me out. It’s about Mrs. Harcourt and some kind of turtle-saving effort.”
“I heard about that,” I said. “She put up flyers in my shop. What does she want you to do?”
“She wants me to have Mrs. Mason sign a legal document that leaves everything to the turtle charity.” Luke thanked Cody, who’d brought over a Coke for him. “I talked to Mrs. Mason about it after the incompetency ruling. She said she has a power of attorney document, but she said she doesn’t know where it is.”
“What about her lawyer?” I asked. When Luke raised his ginger-colored eyebrows, I clarified, “The lawyer who drew up the will.”
“That would probably be Bunk Whitley.” Gramps nodded. “Old Bunk was the only lawyer in Duck for a long time.”
“Not him again,” Kevin muttered. “Don’t tell me he not only vanished mysteriously but took everyone’s legal documents with him.”
Luke sipped his Coke. “I don’t know anything about Bunk Whitley, but there should be a copy of the power of attorney filed at the courthouse.”
Gramps shook his head. “That horse don’t run. Jerry Richards was already there looking for it. Apparently Bunk did his usual slipshod job and forgot to file it.”
“But even if it wasn’t filed officially, wouldn’t it still be legal if there’s a copy of it at Miss Mildred’s house?” I asked.
“It could be.” Luke ordered a burger and sat back. “I guess I came to the right place. You know everything that’s going on, Dae.”
“That’s why we made her the mayor.” Gramps laughed. “It was either that or the editor of the Duck Gazette, but that closed down ten years ago. Not enough local news to fill a newsletter much less a newspaper.”
Kevin was quiet even before his sandwich got to the table. I wondered if he didn’t want to include Luke in the discussion about what he’d found. I didn’t press the issue in case that was true. I ate my sandwich and fries, and listened to Gramps and Luke talk about a small brush fire they’d put out in Southern Shores last week. I could always ask Kevin later what he’d found, if anything.
As the meal was winding down, Gramps nudged me and said to Luke, “You should take Dae up to see Millie. She could find the power of attorney without us ransacking the house. It would save us all some time.”
Having grown up with everyone in town asking me to help them find their lost things, I wasn’t exactly shy about my abilities. But the look on Luke’s face, as Gramps explained what I could do and how I could do it, was strong disbelief.
“You’re kidding, right?” Luke looked at all of us with a grin on his face, waiting for the punch line. “Come on, Kevin, you aren’t from here, and the FBI doesn’t fool around. You don’t believe Dae can find things with her mind, do you?”
Kevin polished off his drink and nodded. “She already proved it to me.” He told him about the hidden key. “You can’t argue with that kind of success.”