Wilmington, NC 03 - Murder On The Ghost Walk

Cecily Cushman, or by Sherman and Muffie Warner, is as believable as your idea that Melanie did it!"
    "Ashley, for the last time, it's not my idea Melanie did it! I am simply conducting an investigation, and your sister is someone we've got to look at."
    I jumped up and paced the length of my living room , then whirled around. "You saw Sherman and Muffie with your own eyes in the area right before Mirabelle was killed."
    "But Ashley, they live next door. They had every right to be there."
    "And they could have stopped at Campbell House."
    "But no one saw them do that. But an eye witnesses did see Melanie go inside. Plus, what's their motive?" He ran his hand over his hair.
    "Here's a motive for you. Sherman Warner was involved in some serious S.E.C. violations several years ago. Pushing bad stock s or insider trading, something like that . It never got as far as an investigation because his manager covered for him, but a few people in town knew about it. Maybe one of them was Mirabelle. Maybe she's been blackmailing him and he got tired of paying."
    "But that's just speculation, Ashley."
    "There's more, Nick," I argued. "Reggie knew about the S.E.C. violations too, and he was in a position to ruin Sherman's career. So that'd give Sherman a good reason to kill Reggie and Shelby and Mirabelle. I'm convinced whoever killed the Campbells killed Mirabelle too. Those murders are connected."
    "By what, Ashley? Other than they happened in the same house, there's no connection."
    "Oh, yes, there is. Wait here a sec." I went into my bedroom and removed the key from the pocket of the jeans I'd worn that morning. I returned to the living room and placed it in Nick's hand.
    He looked down at it, then up at me in awe. "The missing key. Where did you find it?"
    "On the floor near Mirabelle's body."
    "You've had it since yesterday! You should have given it to me. This is evidence in a homicide case."
    "I know. In all the excitement I forgot about it. I didn't know what it meant until yesterday when I tried it in the door."
    "You went back to that house!"
    "Oh, chill out, Yost! You are not the boss of me. Now listen for once in your life. The last time that key was used was the night the Campbells were murdered. The murderers locked up the house and drove away, posing as Reggie and Shelby. You know all that. So, this key has been in the murderer's possession for the past six years until I found it on the floor not far from Mirabelle's body."
    I went on, ignoring his stony silence. "Either Mirabelle had it and her killer was trying to take it away from her, or her killer had it and dropped it. Either way, her death is definitely linked to Reggie and Shelby's murders. Now do you see why Melanie couldn't have done it?"
    "What I see is a person I care for withholding critical evidence and repeatedly returning to the crime scene despite my warnings. You're wrong about one thing, Ashley. This is my case, I make the rules, and in this situation I am the boss!"
    He shook his head sadly. "I trusted you, Ashley. I didn't think you'd deceive me. Do you have any idea what you've done? If the perp's fingerprints were on this key, you've smudged them by handling it. You say you want to help Melanie, but you may have just destroyed evidence that could clear her and le a d us to someone else."
    I hadn't thought of that, yet could I admit it? No way. "I'm not buying into this guilt trip you're laying on me, Nick! I can explain. I was going to give you that key last night. I started to tell you about it when you interrupted me to tell me my sister was a suspect. Well, let me ask you one thing. If you think the murderer was dumb enough to leave fingerprints, were there prints on the knife handle?"
    I could see by his expression I had him. I wasn't going to let him one up me; I was as stubborn as he. Yet I also knew in my heart of hearts that the fragile relationship that was developing between us had changed. Without trust, can there be love?
    "The knife handle was clean," he said. "Whoever stabbed Mirabelle wore gloves."
    "Well then, there wouldn't have been any fingerprints on the key either, would there?"
    He was silent for a moment. "Look, Ashley, I care about you, I really do. That creates a conflict for me. I feel like I've got to bend over backward to be impartial, not to let my feelings for yo u affect my judg ment. I wish things were different. I wish the evidence pointed to someone else. But it doesn't."
    "Well, look harder," I said, fighting