Murder With Puffins

Chapter 25

Puffin or Tiger?

I rummaged through my suitcase until I found the files I'd dragged down from the attic.

"You're not going to slog away at that while we're eating?" Michael asked.

"There're only a few of them," I said. "I just want to get to them before something else interrupts us."

Michael rolled his eyes and returned to his sandwich.

Most of the files were pretty boring. My grandfather Hollingworth's correspondence with a contractor about renovations to the cottage. Bills from someone named Barnes--Jeb's father or grandfather, presumably--for groceries and supplies.

I came close to giving up on the files and sticking them back in the attic, when I ran across a file marked "Resnick."

I was relieved at first to see that it contained only a series of increasingly angry letters from Grandfather to Resnick. Apparently, Grandfather had bought a painting, which Resnick had procrastinated about delivering. How odd; as far as I knew, my grandfather had a reputation as a canny businessman, but he wasn't exactly a patron of the arts. Perhaps he'd been canny enough to recognize Victor Resnick as a young artist on the rise and had bought a painting as an investment. Then again, having seen the painting in Resnick's house I could think of another reason for the transaction. Especially when I found the last documents in the files: a canceled check for ten thousand dollars, made out to Victor Resnick, and two copies of a bill of sale.

"Michael," I said. "Where's that book of Resnick's paintings?"

"Good question," he said, looking around the living room.

"Help me find it, will you?"

After a prolonged search, we finally found the book behind a stack of flowerpots, sitting on a coiled garden hose. I flipped through the first chapter, searching for dates.

"What's up?" Michael said, leaning over my shoulder. I lost track, just for a moment, of why I was looking through the book. Oh, right, Resnick's paintings.

"Aha!" I said, when I found the right page. "Victor Resnick made his first major sale in 1956. For the princely sum of five thousand."

"Think what a bargain that would be today," he said. "Now that he's selling for a hundred times that much."

"More like twenty times, maybe, but yes, it's a bargain. But up till 1956, his sales were for peanuts. Where's that sales log of his anyway?" I asked, fishing through my knapsack. "Aha. See. Nothing over a thousand until 1956."

"True."

"So what would you say if I told you that in 1953, someone paid Resnick ten thousand for a painting?"

"I'd say the buyer was either very gullible, very farsighted, or buying something more than just a painting."

"And that it wasn't recorded in the sales log?"

"Scratch out gullible and farsighted."

"Right," I said, handing him the canceled check. "Take a look at this."

"R. S. Hollingworth--let me guess, your maternal grandfather," he said. "It doesn't say, but I'd bet anything we've seen the painting in question."

"The nude."

"So how does this relate to the murder?" Michael asked.

"I have no idea," I said. "Not at all, I hope. Though if the police start poking into the case, I'm sure it will all come out, whether it's related or not."

I began reading the letters in the file again. I looked up

when I heard a snort of laughter from Michael. He was playing with the digital cameras again.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, pressing a button on the camera.

"Let me see the camera," I said.

I had to wrestle with him for it, which would have distracted both of us from my original request if Mrs. Fenniman hadn't kept wandering in and out. He finally let me have the camera, and I turned it on to see what he was looking at.

This was the second camera, the one whose owner claimed to have photos of Resnick shooting at us. He had indeed caught some interesting shots of the confrontation. First, a none-too-flattering view of my rear end as Michael and I scrambled over the top of the hill. Then a shot or two of Resnick waving his gun around. And one of me looking very Neanderthal, standing on the top of the hill, threatening Resnick with my rock.

"I think I'll ask for a copy of some of these," Michael said.

"Very funny," I said, pressing the button to remove my picture from the little screen. "I really don't see why…"

I found myself staring at the next picture in the camera.

"What's wrong?" Michael said, looking over my shoulder.

"Look at this," I said.

"It's the tidal pool," he replied. "So?"

"You can see part of a figure there in the corner."

"Since we have no idea who it is, what's the use?"

"It's Rhapsody," I said.

"Rhapsody? How can you tell?" Michael asked, peering more closely at the camera.

"The lilac and black clothes, combined with that hunched-over, 'Please don't hurt me' posture."

Michael studied the photo.

"You could be right," he said. "But it looks pretty light in this picture. Must have been taken fairly early in the day."

"It was, obviously; before the pictures of us confronting him anyway."

"Then what's the point?"

"I don't know," I said. "I just think it's funny that she was there at all. And she was hanging around the house again today; I'm sure that it was Rhapsody we saw through the windows. We need to find a way to ask her about it."

"I'm sure you'll manage," Michael said.

"Oh, there you are, dears," Mother said, looking down from the balcony above. "Your father isn't up yet; I'll keep you company until he's awake. Let me just find my embroidery."

She disappeared again.

"Your mother does a great deal of embroidery, doesn't she?" Michael said.

Was that simple admiration in his voice, or was there some kind of subtext? As in "Why don't you do something decorative and feminine, instead of dragging me all over the island in the rain while you play sleuth?"

"She doesn't actually do a lot of embroidery," I said. "She carries it around all the time, but if you watch, she takes a stitch only occasionally. I don't really think she's that keen on it."

"Then why does she do it?"

Before I could answer, Mother limped into the room. She settled herself on the sofa opposite us. We watched as she laid out several dozen skeins of brightly colored embroidery thread on the sofa beside her and covered half the coffee table with the contents of her sewing basket. She fussed with the items for a while, like a decorator primping a floral arrangement. Then she picked up her hoop and her needle and looked at us with a smile, one eyebrow raised, as if asking whether the stage set looked just right. Or possibly hinting that we should entertain her while she worked.

Out of the comer of my eye, I could see Michael's mouth twitching.

"How's the new embroidery coming, Mother?" I asked.

She cocked her head to one side, like a wren, and studied the cloth on her lap.

"Slowly," she said with a sigh.

Michael made a strangled noise, and Mother took three or four leisurely stitches before stopping to examine her progress from several angles. Michael now sat with his elbow on his knee and his hand over his mouth, a very serious look on his face. In fact, he looked rather like the Thinker come to Me, except that I somehow couldn't imagine the Thinker ever wheezing with suppressed chuckles.

I hated to put a damper on his fun, but something preyed on my mind. I glanced around to make sure no one else could overhear before turning to Mother.

"Mother," I said. "We found an interesting painting up at Victor Resnick's house. A portrait."

I should have known better than to expect a dramatic reaction from Mother.

"Oh?" she said, pausing, her needle poised gracefully over the embroidery hoop.

"I didn't know he even did portraits," Dad put in, peering down from the balcony. So much for my carefully chosen moment. "Thought he only did landscapes."

"Well, apparently he did in his youth," I said.

"I've never heard of any," Dad said, rubbing his eyes as he ambled down the stairs. "And there weren't any in that book about him."

"Are you sure, Dad?" I asked.

"Well, yes, of course," he said. "I'll show you. Where's that book anyway?"

"Out in the kitchen, I think," I said, shoving the edge of the book in question out of sight under the couch. Dad trotted out to the kitchen.

"I doubt if he ever exhibited this painting," I said, my voice too low for Dad to hear in the kitchen. "I think it was done for his own private enjoyment."

Mother looked up again.

"Oh really?" she said. "What makes you think that?"

"The subject was… rather unconventional."

To my amazement, Mother smiled.

"Yes, he was rather unconventional as a young man," she said. "And terribly wild."

My jaw dropped.

"Gifted with an overactive imagination, of course," she said. "And not very honest, I'm afraid."

"Yes," I said. "Taking payment for something and then never delivering it isn't very honest, is it?"

"Well, he did deliver it eventually," Mother said. "I rather wish he hadn't; I was so provoked when your grandfather burned it."

"Burned it!" Michael and I echoed.

"Yes, can you imagine it?" Mother said. "Burning a genuine Victor Resnick! Of course, we didn't know then how famous he'd become, but still. I would so like to have that painting. It would bring back such fond memories."

Michael and I looked at each other in consternation. What kind of fond memories? I wondered. Memories of an affair with Resnick? Or just of the days when she looked the way she looked in the painting?

"Well, you may be in luck," I said. "Apparently, he painted at least one more portrait of you."

"Another portrait?" Mother asked, looking very interested. "What was it like?"

"Well," I said, and then froze. I looked at Michael for assistance.

"Not a painting I can imagine Meg's grandfather would approve of," Michael said.

"No, I imagine not," Mother murmured. "Well, that explains a lot."

"A lot of what?"

"I think he expected someone to come over and collect it this weekend," she said. "Perhaps you and Michael could take care of that?"

"No, at least not without some kind of proof that we're not pulling a million-dollar art heist," I said.

"Oh, well," Mother said. She dropped the embroidery into her lap, reached over to the end table for her purse--an impractical scrap of velvet, lace, and satin that would probably survive five minutes if I tried to carry it--and pulled out a small envelope.

"Here," she said, handing it to me.

There was no stamp. "Margaret Langslow" was written on the front in the same bold, angular hand I recognized from Resnick's files. I hesitated before opening it, and Mother gestured impatiently.

"My dear Maggie," it began.

"Maggie?" I said aloud.

"I never liked that nickname," she said, shrugging.

"I have something of yours that I'd like to give you--that painting your father admired so much. Come and see me; we can talk about old times. Vic."

It was dated Friday--the day after she'd arrived on the island. He hadn't lost much time.

"How did you get this?"

"Your aunt Phoebe found it slipped under the door sometime after we arrived."

"Did you go to see him?"

"Of course not," Mother said. "I had no interest in seeing him, and even if I had, why would I want to walk that far in this weather? And I thought he was lying about the painting."

"Maybe Grandfather lied about burning it."

"Oh, no," Mother said. "He made me watch while he burned it."

Somehow I could picture the scene: Grandfather sputtering like a firecracker while Mother coolly pretended indifference to the fate of the painting.

"Well, Resnick has this one hanging in his hallway," I said. "I don't think he'd had it there long, though, or everyone on the island would have heard about it."

"Is it still there?" Mother asked. She didn't look alarmed, just interested.

"No, we put it and some of the other paintings away where the rain couldn't damage mem."

"That's nice," she said. "Well, go along and collect it. I'm sure it would cause all kinds of confusion if the police found it."

"It's not out there," Dad said, popping in from the kitchen.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "I just found it here under the couch."

For the next half hour, I had to keep my composure while Dad thumbed through the book with one hand and ate with the other. And he commented all the while, with his mouth full, on what a genius Resnick was and what a shame such a great artist had been such a difficult person, and what a pity it was he had come to such an untimely end. Mother continued to fuss over her embroidery and practice her patented Mona Lisa smile, occasionally reminding Dad not to drop food on my new book.

Well, it wasn't as if Dad had ruined my chance to find out more about the painting. Mother had obviously said all she planned to say about it. Whether she had posed for it or whether Resnick had done it from memory or imagination, I'd probably never find out. In fact, I wasn't even sure I wanted to know.

I decided not to worry about the painting until tomorrow. In fact, I wasn't going to worry about anything until tomorrow. As soon as possible, I was going to go to bed. I might even take a nap right now, I thought, leaning back into Michael's arm and closing my eyes with a contented sigh. I felt Michael shift his weight and then felt his breath in my ear. Yes, I thought, a very nice time to whisper a few sweet nothings in my ear.

"Things would be a lot easier if we didn't have all these damned birders underfoot," he murmured.

"Yeah," I agreed. Not to mention my family. I opened one eyelid to check on what our unintentional chaperones were up to. Dad was studying a photo with a magnifying glass. Mother was contemplating her embroidery with a dreamy expression on her face.

"I mean, they're very useful for establishing the time line, but there are just too many of them, and any one of them could be the murderer. In fact… What's so funny?"

Mother and Dad both glanced up, wondering what the joke was, and Michael and I fled to the kitchen, where we could talk with more privacy.

"I thought you were talking about our situation, not the latest homicide," I said, giggling.

"Yeah, well, that, too," he said, sheepishly. "But you've got to admit, it's intriguing."

"It's completely baffling," I said. My sleepy mood had vanished. "Too many suspects, all with motive, means, and opportunity."

"I like Will Dickerman for it," Michael said. "Perfect casting for the murderer."

"Well, if you like Will, don't forget about Fred," I said. "To know him is to loathe him, and he'd have had much the same reasons Will had for doing Resnick in. And for all that southern-fried charm he puts on, I wouldn't put it past Ken Takahashi to do the old boy in. For ruining the deal, or just for dragging him out here in a hurricane."

"I don't know," Michael said. "I rather like Takahashi. I'd hate to see him turn out to be the one."

"Well, I'd hate for the police to suspect Dad or Aunt Phoebe."

"Perhaps it will turn out to be someone we don't know,"

Michael said. "One of the birders, or a local we haven't really met."

Just then, we heard the front door slam. We peeked out of the kitchen door to see what was up.

"This place is absolutely impossible," Rob said, striding in.

"What's wrong, dear?" Mother asked.

"They won't let me use the power in the Anchor Inn, even though they've got that generator going, doing nothing but running the freezer," Rob complained. "And then I tried to talk to the guy who does the generator, and all he wants is free legal advice."

"Let me guess," I said. "Was he asking what happens if someone who's jumped bail gets turned in? Or what happens to a foreclosure if the note holder dies while it's in progress?"

"Both, actually," Rob said. "What are you, psychic?"

"She's a very fine detective," Dad said, beaming.

"I'm just using the brain God gave me," I said. Well, that and the information from Resnick's files. "What did you tell him?"

"Basically, that I had no idea," Rob said. "I mean, that's the kind of stuff you don't know off the top of your head unless you work with it every day. And even if I did know, I'd know how it worked in Virginia. This is Maine. Things could be completely different here."

"He shouldn't ask for free legal advice," Dad said. "It's unfair; like asking me for free medical advice just because I'm a doctor."

"Not that I've ever heard you turn anyone down," I commented. "Or, for that matter, that you usually wait to be asked."

"Well, he should talk to a Maine lawyer," Dad said. "I don't know why he doesn't ask Binkie Burnham. She's an old friend of the Dickerman family; I'm sure she'd give him any legal advice he needs."

"That's right; Binkie's a lawyer," I said, remembering the private investigator's report. "Harvard Law School!"

"Oh, yes," Dad said. "Quite a famous litigator, too. She does environmental cases, mostly, plus the occasional criminal case. Of course, she's semiretired these days."

I pondered this fact for a moment.

"Let's get some fresh air," I said to Michael.

"Fresh--" he began, looking at the drizzle outside. "Oh, right, fresh air," he said. "Good idea."

What an actor, I thought as I grabbed my knapsack and stuffed some rope into it. I could almost believe him myself.