Murder in Waiting - Lynn Cahoon Page 0,44

Amy’s party was over, I was going to sit down with Greg to talk this out. I knew where my heart was leaning. If the wall in my backyard was part of South Cove’s origin story, I needed to preserve that. Even if it did make my life less comfortable.

When I arrived at the courthouse parking lot, I thought about the vision I’d had about someone being kidnapped. It took me a minute to settle before I could leave my car. Had I heard about the missing girl before, and my mind just used my own jumble of thoughts to create this vision? If it was true, I hoped my insight would help the police find her before anything bad happened.

My life was too cluttered. I needed to get a few things done and off my worry list.

Step one was to find this last divorce decree. Lynda’s words flashed in my head. What if there wasn’t a paper trail because they weren’t divorced? Where had I heard he’d been divorced five times? Greg had been under that impression too. And he had talked to a lot more people about Frank.

I hurried up the stairs and went to find someone who could make sure I hadn’t missed it. I might have just uncovered a clue. Or another dead end. I decided to be positive as I climbed the stairs to the records department.

Chapter 12

Tilly, the most senior of the records clerks, stared at my list again. “There are no records of a divorce between California April Windsor and Frank Gleason. If I had to guess, if there was a divorce going, it probably hadn’t been completed. Have you talked to their attorneys? Maybe they changed their minds.”

Or maybe this California girl was now really, really wealthy. I gathered my notebooks. “I appreciate you helping me. I thought I must have been missing something, but it sounds like you must be right. The divorce never got filed.”

“Sometimes one party tells the other they’ve filed, hoping the threat will help the reconciliation. Maybe this is one of those times?”

“Could be. I appreciate your help this morning.” I tucked everything into my tote. “If you’re ever in Coffee, Books, and More over in South Cove, tell them I owe you a coffee.”

“I like that place. I make the trip over at least once a quarter to refill my bookshelves. It’s a rotating cycle in my house. One book in, two out to the library book sale or the charity box. My apartment’s really small.” She grinned. “One of the joys of living in paradise, right? High rents.”

“Well, I really appreciate the help. I know searching records can be time-consuming.” I started thinking about the rest of my to do list as I prepared to leave.

“No trouble. Besides, I’d already done most of the work yesterday, when someone else asked about Frank and his divorces.”

“Who asked? Someone from the South Cove Police Department?” I wished Greg would tell me these things, especially when I told him I was researching this. It would have saved me two hours.

“No, she said she was from a law office.” She stepped behind her desk. “I thought I had her card here, but I guess I trashed it yesterday when I scanned and sent her the printouts.”

“Do you remember her name?” I held my breath.

“Mary, no, something old like that. Martha.” Tilly laughed. “I guess my Bible school teacher would be proud of me remembering both Mary and Martha. Although I can’t remember what Martha’s story was. I guess it’s been a while since vacation Bible school.”

My mind was still processing that a Martha had been researching Frank. There was only one Martha I knew, and she wasn’t from a law office. Was that the reason behind Lynda’s cryptic statement about the last wife? I hurried out to my car. I still needed to try to catch Alice to find out why she was torpedoing my shop and my position as the business liaison with the Council.

By the time I got to the Bakerstown office of California Dreaming Real Estate, the place was empty except for a receptionist. I asked where I might find Alice and the girl’s eyes rolled.

“Oh my God. She’s so popular today. You all know that anyone can sell your house, right?”

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t a receptionist. “Someone else came to visit?”

“Some police guy from South Cove. I’d love to get a listing out of there. The real estate prices are amazing, and since