Despite not knowing what I could say to help, or maybe because of it, the meeting made me as jittery as ten double-shot lattes. I was already overwrought about Kevin, my night in the hospital and Max’s death.
Taking a deep breath and anchoring myself with the familiar surroundings in my office, I put on a grim smile and addressed them. “I don’t think I saw anything that could be helpful to your investigation.”
“There might be something you saw that you don’t realize is important,” Cailey countered in her old fifth-grade-schoolteacher’s voice.
“Start at the beginning, Mayor,” Chief Michaels urged as they all took out notebooks. “We know you were at the museum with the kids. What happened then?”
I told them about the program with Max and the kids, about how I walked out with everyone else.
“What made you turn back?” Brad, the arson investigator, asked.
I hadn’t wanted to share the existence of the gold coin with them. It seemed I had no choice. I pulled it out of my purse and showed it to them.
“This is evidence.” Chief Michaels had Tim put on gloves and take the coin from me. “You should’ve told us sooner.”
“I didn’t think it was important.” I gave up the coin reluctantly, still feeling attached to its individual energy. I knew everything about it anyway. I just liked having it with me. “The coin didn’t cause the explosion. What difference does it make?”
“No, it didn’t cause the explosion,” Cailey agreed. “But it might be part of the motive for what happened. Dae, all the rest of the gold coins were stolen from the museum. This is the only one left.”
Chapter 7
“We believe the explosion may have been to cover up the theft of the coins,” Chief Michaels explained further.
I glanced at him in total disbelief. “As valuable as the coins may be, there were only a few of them. Max added fake coins to the display to make it look more impressive. Museums up and down the coast have the same coins. Why our museum?”
“We don’t know yet,” Cailey said. “But we know the coins are gone. They would’ve melted in the heat and we would’ve found what was left of them. Anything else you took from the museum, Dae?”
The question sounded more like an accusation—as though I’d stolen the coin. Or maybe my guilty conscience just made it feel that way. “No.” But I couldn’t explain what made me put it in my pocket either.
I thought about the coffee card from the trash that was in a plastic bag in my purse. Would they have the same reaction if I shared that information? I wasn’t sure, but I realized it could be evidence. “I found a coffee card in the trash outside if that counts for anything.”
They all exchanged glances and shifted in their seats.
“Does it have a name on it or something useful to the investigation?” Brad asked, a little impatience in his voice.
“Well, only the Duck coffee shop name.” I realized I couldn’t tell them how I knew it belonged to Sam. They wouldn’t believe it. I had no proof to back me up.
“That’s irrelevant,” Chief Michaels said. “But please don’t take anything else from the crime scene. This is a serious matter, Mayor.”
Even though I reminded myself that it wasn’t a crime scene when I found the gold coin on the floor at the museum, I still felt fully chastened. I folded my hands on the desk. “I don’t know what else I can tell you.”
“You didn’t see anything unusual when you turned back after leaving the museum, right?” Brad demanded. “Any detail that could help us determine what happened and who was responsible would be helpful.”
I thought back again to that instant before the explosion. The door to the museum had been closed. That was the only detail I could remember, except for that brief flash of light. It hadn’t come from the museum building, as I thought back on it. Instead, the burst of light had flashed close by—close enough to catch my eye.
I couldn’t be sure what the flash was, maybe just a glint of sunlight reflected off of one of the cars going by. After my coffee card was summarily dismissed as unimportant, I didn’t feel much like sharing another ghost of a thought, but I told them anyway. “I saw a flash of light.”
“It’s possible she caught someone lighting the cannon,” Brad theorized.
Cailey agreed, sitting forward in her seat. “Are you sure you didn’t see anything else with that flash of light, Dae? A face or a car? Anything could help us.”
“No. I’m sorry. I wish I could help. It all happened so quickly,” I explained.
“We understand.” Cailey patted my gloved hands and smiled. “If you think of anything else, let us know right away. You’re lucky to be alive. It could’ve been so much worse if everyone else had still been in the museum.”
Everyone in the room agreed. A few minutes of dead silence followed as we considered the wider tragedy that had been narrowly averted. It made me wish I could say something about the coffee card belonging to Sam, even though I didn’t believe he had anything to do with Max’s death. The two men may have disagreed, but that’s a long way from murder.
“Thank you for your time, Mayor O’Donnell.” Brad broke free from the trance we all seemed to be in. He got to his feet and offered me his hand. When I didn’t offer mine in return, he frowned. “I’m sorry. I forgot. I hope your hands weren’t too badly injured. We’ll update you when we can about the situation. Everything we’ve found at the museum will have to be shipped to the lab and analyzed, including your coin. The process will be slow but thorough.”
I realized he’d given me the perfect excuse for wearing the gloves until I found a way to handle my new abilities. No one had to know the real reason I was wearing gloves—except Kevin. “Thanks. I set up a special town meeting for tomorrow night at seven. If all of you could be there to answer as many questions as you can, that would be great.”
The chief and Cailey kind of hesitated but eventually said they’d attend, barring emergencies. Brad kind of grunted and walked out of the room. I wasn’t sure if that meant he’d be there or not.
“Now all we have to do is deal with all the pirate curse rumors,” Cailey said. “It’s amazing how long people will hold on to something like that.”
“I plan to address that tomorrow night.” I smiled at both of them. “Someone needs to set the record straight.”
Cailey looked at Chief Michaels and they both laughed. “Good luck with that, Mayor,” Chief Michaels added. “I suppose you think you’re the first person who’s tried to lay the ghost of Rafe Masterson to rest.”
Tim cleared his throat. “It kind of makes sense. I mean, someone fired a cannon at the museum.”
“Which should not be common knowledge yet,” Chief Michaels reminded him with a stern expression. “We haven’t said anything about a cannon to the press.”
His reprimand slid off of Tim like rain off a fisherman’s slicker. “Maybe Rafe came to get his gold back. He vowed revenge, don’t forget, and we don’t know whose gold it was that Max found.”
We all stared at Tim and he shrugged. “That’s what people will say when they find out what happened.”
“Which they won’t find out from this office,” Chief Michaels said pointedly.
“What’s next?” I asked to change the subject. This was getting us nowhere. “Where will the investigation go from here?”