Wilmington, NC 05 - Murder On The ICW

the second story where great gaps in the ceiling let the second floor show through and where streams of sunlight glanced down through holes in the roof.
    "Jon says we've got close to 8000 square feet here," I said. "And I like the way the rooms open to the east and to the water. Beautiful views. We'll build a long brick terrace on this side and cover it with pergolas, the way they do in Italy. This is really going to be some house when we get finished with it."
    I loved my work. I loved taking a building that was practically falling down and raising it up again, restoring it to its former glory.
    "And they didn't make off with that German nickel sink in the kitchen. Probably didn't think it was of value. Now that is a treasure to hold on to."
    There was a carved wooden plaque above the doorway that led to the library that miraculously had been spared rain damage, probably because it was tucked under a deep ceiling cornice. I narrowed my eyes to get a better look at it. "We'll have to clean that up," I said. "If I am not mistaken that is a carving of Diana the Huntress." At her side, leaning against her legs, was a greyhound. "So they didn't get all the good stuff after all."
    "Too high up," Willie commented. "We'll bring scaffolds in here when we're restoring these interior walls.
    Diana was the Italian goddess of hunting. She was also a deity of fertility, invoked by women in ancient times to aid with conception and childbirth. That made me think of my own situation and to wonder if I'd continue to have miscarriages the way Melanie said that Mama had between our births. But Mama had given birth to two healthy babies so I looked upon that as a hopeful sign for me.
    There were intricate decorative carvings throughout the lodge; most were difficult to decipher under an accumulation of dirt. Bookcases in the library were decorated with moldings showing animal motifs, the game that would have been hunted here -- ducks, foxes, waterfowl .
    The paneling in the banquet hall was badly damaged and would require a great deal of work to save. I imagined that in the lodge's heyday the walls had been adorned with the heads of bucks and other animals that were taken down by idle "gentle" men." I hoped that Crystal Lynne Boleyn's decorating tastes did not run to the heads of fallen wildlife.
    I wandered down a hallway of successive arches searching for Jon and when I couldn't find him, I returned to Willie at the front of the house. Remembering the branches that had fallen, I asked, "Say, Willie, did you have a storm here while we were away? I noticed that big oak near the road lost a few branches."
    "No, ma'am, no storm. Some big sixteen wheeler drove in here and ripped those branches off that tree. Must've been at night because it wasn't during the day when we were here. Circled all around the property, all the way out to the water, made a big U turn."
    "What?" I asked in disbelief.
    Willie motioned toward the waterway. "Go look for yourself. You can still see the ruts in the grass if you go out there and look. That driver sure must have been lost to come all the way in here to turn around," Willie said, shaking his head.
    "When are those Italians coming to restore the terrazzo floors?" Willie asked. He pronounced Italians as Eye- talians , and I detected a certain amount of contempt in his voice.
    "Are things working out okay with the crew that is helping you with the roof?" I asked.
    "Yeah, sure, they're okay." Still Willie prided himself that he and his crew were able to handle most aspects of a restoration project themselves.
    "Let's have the tile guys after we've done just about everything else. No point in restoring floors if we are still doing carpentry work above them."
    Willie caught himself as he remembered something he had to tell me. "Oh, by the way, two nice fellers came in here looking for you. They said to tell you they got the antique bottles from the doctor and thanks a lot. I know what that's about: that body you found in the shed."
    He shook his head again and grinned. "Don't know I want to be hanging out with you too much, Miz Wilkes. You sure are a magnet for murder!"
    I gave him a playful shove in the shoulder, got in my van and drove over to Airlie Gardens. The gardens were officially closed for the winter but I knew some of the maintenance crew and they would let me park near the maintenance buildings. I pulled my van into an out-of-the-way parking space and got out.
    I was starting a walking regime, as of