The Ghost from the Sea Page 6

  Brian handed the pearl necklace back to Joe and stood back up, no longer kneeling by the metal box. “You have to admit; it’s pretty damn funny.”

  “There’s no reason to believe this treasure belonged to Walt Marlow,” Joe said. “It probably belonged to the passengers, and they put it in the box for safe keeping.”

  “What, right before someone blew their brains out?” Brian asked.

  Jack stepped away from the three men.

  MacDonald handed the diamond necklace to Joe. “Put it back in the box and let’s take this to the station so we can have a better look. Impossible to see anything in here.”

  Thirty minutes later, the chief sat alone in his squad car, calling Danielle on his cellphone.

  “Can I come down now?” Danielle asked when she answered the call.

  “I’m sorry; your talk with the ghost will have to wait. Something came up and I want to head back to the station with Brian and Joe. I’m waiting for someone to get here, to keep an eye on the wreckage.”

  With the back of his hand, MacDonald swept the pile of papers and random pens, and paperclips to one side of his desk, making room for the metal box they had brought back from the Eva Aphrodite. Joe set the box on the cleared space, as MacDonald took a seat behind the desk. For a few moments, the three men, Joe and Brian standing, MacDonald sitting, stared at the metal box.

  MacDonald spoke first. “What’s the first thing you notice?”

  “Looks pretty good for being in that boat for such a long time,” Joe said.

  “Not a single barnacle,” Brian noted.

  “Something else. I didn’t notice it until Joe set the box down.” MacDonald pointed to the cabinet in the corner of his office. “Joe, on the bottom shelf of the cabinet, bring me the metal box.”

  Joe frowned, but did as the chief instructed. He walked to the cabinet, opened it, and then looked on its bottom shelf. To his surprise, there was a metal box—it appeared to be identical to the one they had found on the boat. He reached down and picked it up, bringing it to the chief. He set it on the desk next to its twin.

  “Damn, you have a box just like it!” Brian said in surprise.

  “I picked it up a few weeks ago at Walmart.” The papers stored inside the chief’s box shifted to one side as he turned the box upside down, making a rustling sound. On the bottom of the box the words “Made in China” was stamped into the metal, and next to it was the Walmart price sticker. It hadn’t been removed.

  After setting the box aside, the chief retrieved a pair of latex gloves from a drawer and slipped them on. Joe and Brian watched as he opened the box Joe had found. Gingerly, the chief removed the items from the container, setting them on the desktop. There were four necklaces, which included the diamond and pearl ones they had seen while still on the boat. There was also a pair of diamond cufflinks, a woman’s ruby ring, and a man’s ring. After placing all the items on the desktop, the chief picked up the man’s ring again and had a closer look.

  “It’s a wedding ring,” he said. Tilting it to one side, he studied it for a moment. “Looks like initials and a date engraved inside. But I’ll need a magnifying glass.” Setting the ring back on the desktop, he turned his attention to the metal box.

  After closing the box’s lid, MacDonald turned it upside down. His attention riveted on the bottom of the box, he said nothing. Also speechless were Joe and Brian, who each moved closer to the desk to have a closer look.

  “I guess this means Danielle doesn’t necessarily have a claim to this particular treasure,” Brian muttered.

  “What does this mean?” Joe asked. Simultaneously, he and Brian stood straight, no longer hovering over the desk.

  MacDonald leaned back and studied the upside down metal box. “I’d like to know how this got on board that boat.”

  Brian sat down. “For a brief moment I started to wonder if maybe the remains we found weren’t the original passengers and crew of the Eva Aphrodite, but considering the level of decomposition, I’d have to say, what was in that box has nothing to do with the human remains we found on board.”

  “We need to get someone in here to look at this,” the chief said. He looked up at Joe. “Maybe that jeweler we brought from Astoria who looked at the Missing Thorndike?”

  “You mean the Fake Thorndike,” Joe corrected.

  “Good bet this is stolen,” Brian said.

  “Makes me wonder,” Joe pondered. “Is it possible the Eva Aphrodite was brought to shore by whoever left this box on board? And for whatever reason, was forced to leave the box behind?”

  “Not sure how, since it doesn’t have a working engine,” Brian reminded.

  The Chief leaned forward, studying the metal container. “We know one thing. Whoever left this on board, didn’t do it back in Walt Marlow’s day.” MacDonald reached for the box, his fingertips lightly touching what remained of the water faded Walmart price sticker, still affixed next to the “Made in China” stamped into the metal.

  Chapter Nine

  Danielle sat in the parking lot of the Frederickport Museum. Ever since MacDonald had suggested that Walt might have been responsible for murdering those people, she wondered what Ben from the museum had told the chief.

  When she returned to Marlow House after leaving the beach, Danielle didn’t mention anything to Walt about what the police had discovered after examining the skeletal remains removed from the Eva Aphrodite. She couldn’t believe Walt was responsible for murdering those people—which also meant she didn’t believe he knew they had been murdered.

  Before sharing with Walt what she had learned at the beach, she wanted to find out what Ben had told MacDonald. It wasn’t as if she didn’t trust Walt, but he had already withheld information about the Eva Aphrodite, and she wondered why.

  Getting out of her Ford Flex, Danielle slammed the car door shut and made her way to the front door of the museum. On route there, she remotely locked her car, and then dropped her key into the front pocket of her purse. Pushing her way through the front doorway of the museum, she was greeted by a familiar docent, Millie Samson.

  “I was hoping to find Ben here,” Danielle said after saying hello and following Millie into the museum gift shop.

  “Sorry, Ben won’t be in today.”

  “Drat. Do you know if he’s at home?” Danielle asked.

  Millie shook her head. “I doubt it. He mentioned something yesterday about going to Portland.”

  Danielle let out a disappointed sigh and leaned against the counter.

  “Maybe I could help you with something?”

  “I just wanted to ask Ben about that boat that washed up over on our side of town.”

  “Oh, the Eva Aphrodite!” Millie said excitedly.

  “Have you seen it yet?” Danielle asked.

  “Yes, I stopped by on the way here this morning. So exciting. I can’t imagine where it’s been all this time.”

  “So you knew about the boat? I mean, before it washed up on shore?”

  “Why certainly!” Millie frowned, as if Danielle had asked a silly question.

  “I sort of got the impression no one at the museum would remember the Eva Aphrodite.”

  “Where did you get that notion?” Millie asked. Before Danielle could answer, Millie said with a snide smirk, “Oh I know, Marie Nichols.”

  “Excuse me?” Danielle feigned ignorance. The last thing she wanted to do was get in the middle of whatever issue Marie had with the museum and its board of directors.

  “Marie is a friend of mine, but she likes to remind everyone how hers is the oldest family in Frederickport. Which isn’t true, of course. Ben’s family has been here a long time too. Not sure as long as the Hemmings, but almost.”

  “I’m not really sure what that has to do with the Eva Aphrodite.”

  “Well, Marie likes to imagine she has the inside scoop on all that went on back then—you know, since her family used to live across the street from Marlow House. But she was a baby when Walt Marlow killed
himself and—”

  “Walt Marlow was murdered,” Danielle corrected.

  “Oh, that’s right. I know you believe that, but I’m not really convinced.”

  Danielle frowned. “Are you serious? I thought we all went over that. The old autopsy reports. What Emma Jackson told us. Certainly you aren’t telling visitors to the museum Walt Marlow killed himself.”

  “I think our visitors should be given all the information.”

  “Given all what information?”

  Millie reached over and patted Danielle’s hand. “Don’t look so vexed dear. Walt Marlow has been dead for a hundred years—”

  “Ninety years,” Danielle corrected.

  “Okay, ninety years. All I’m saying, I don’t think he’ll really care what we say at this point.”

  “Maybe he won’t, but I will,” Danielle snapped. “And as a member of the historical society, I assumed the museum gave out factual information.”

  “Certainly we do! I didn’t mean to imply we make up stories. I’m just saying we feel it’s important to give our visitors all the information.”

  “Which is?”

  “That for the last hundred—I mean ninety years—it was believed Walt Marlow hung himself in the attic of Marlow House. Yet, some people seem to believe that he may have been murdered by his brother-in-law.”

  “I think it’s a little more than some people believe. I’d say it’s been proven.”

  Millie shook her head. “I don’t know how you can say that, Danielle. Perhaps you should attend a few of our meetings—after all, you are a member. A few months ago, we had the most interesting debate about Walt Marlow’s death and most of those in attendance disagreed with your assertion.”

  “They’re wrong.” Danielle could feel her blood pressure rising.

  “It all makes for an interesting debate, and really dear, you should be more willing to listen to opposing views.”

  Danielle suddenly regretted coming to the museum. She felt a headache coming on.

  “As for the Eva Aphrodite, a few of us were discussing that just last month. Ben has been digging into our archives, when he came across some information about Walt Marlow’s yacht, and how it supposedly went down in a storm.”

  “Supposedly? According to Marie’s father, there was a terrible storm that night.”

  “True. But I guess there’s more to the story than a bad storm. The passenger list, for example, included one of the wealthiest men in Portland. And his wife—according to rumors, Walt Marlow’s mistress.”

  Danielle stared at Millie, dazed. “Are you suggesting Walt was having an affair with a married woman?”

  “Not just any married woman. But I don’t have all the details. Ben is the one who’s been doing the research.”

  “What kind of research?” Danielle asked.

  “I know he went through the old newspapers—the ones we have from that period, when the Eva Aphrodite went down. And then he has the diary that was donated a few months back.”

  “What diary?”

  “It was from an estate sale in Portland,” Millie explained. “When they were going through the items to sell, they came across a diary written by a Frederickport resident, from the 1920s. They donated it to the museum, and Ben’s been reading it, cross referencing the information.”

  “This diary—that’s where this information is coming from, about Walt Marlow and a married woman?”

  Marie nodded. “He managed to verify much of the information by old newspaper articles. Did you know at the time the Eva Aphrodite disappeared, Walt Marlow’s business partner took off with a fortune?”

  “Fortune?” Danielle remembered what Walt had said about Jack’s theft, yet she didn’t consider a couple thousand dollars a fortune.

  “Yes. The two ran a moonshine operation. In fact, we plan to devote an entire section of the museum to Walt Marlow’s dark past.”

  “Dark past?” Danielle frowned.

  “He was a bit like a pirate, don’t you think? It will be wonderful for the museum. Such a colorful attraction!”

  “Not sure I see Walt Marlow as some sort of pirate. And according to Marie, Walt’s partner did take off with some money, but hardly a fortune. From what I understand, it was about a couple thousand dollars. I imagine back then it might have been considered a fortune, but not now.”

  “Is that what Marie told you?” Millie chuckled. “I guess she doesn’t know as much about Marlow History as she thinks.”

  No, Marie didn’t tell me that—Walt Marlow did. “Why do you assume it was a fortune?”

  “Because it was all gold coins.”

  “Gold coins? From what I understand about Walt’s illicit venture, he ferried people out to the party boats during prohibition. I can’t see what that has to do with some treasure of gold coins.”

  “Dear, back in Walt Marlow’s day, our currency included gold coins. Real gold. Until 1933, when we went off the gold standard and the government recalled all the gold, and it was melted down. Admission to Walt Marlow’s party boats was paid in gold coin—and the money his partner stole would be worth millions today.”

  “Millions?”

  Marie nodded. “Of course, that money was spent years ago, and I imagine, recalled with the rest of the gold in 1933. So it would only be worth millions if still intact—and it isn’t.”

  “What else do you know about the Eva Aphrodite?”

  “Probably no more than you do, since you obviously talked to Marie. Although, I doubt Marie knows about Walt Marlow’s mistress, unless her father told her. Which I suppose is possible. But if you want details, you’ll have to talk to Ben. He’s the one who’s been reading the diary, cross-referencing events mentioned with old newspaper articles. Of course, you could look at the old newspapers yourself.”

  “Are there many missing issues from that time period?” Danielle remembered how the newspaper office had burned down years before, destroying all their past issues. The only pre-fire editions in Frederickport were old issues donated to the museum by past subscribers.

  “I’m pretty sure we have most of them. Here, let’s go see.”

  Danielle followed Millie to the back of the museum, where the old newspapers were kept chronologically, bound in large binders. Danielle sat at the table while Millie explained what years she needed to research. Before Danielle opened the first book, a new visitor arrived at the museum, calling Millie back to the entrance, and leaving Danielle alone to skim through the old newspapers.

  Midway through the first binder, she found a front-page article on the missing Eva Aphrodite. The article included photographs of the missing passengers, along with a group shot of the crew. Danielle couldn’t help but wonder which one of these women was supposedly Walt’s mistress. The notion that he would have an affair with a married woman troubled her. She couldn’t help but think of how hurt she had been when she discovered her own husband had been unfaithful. Danielle told herself not to be judgmental.

  She flipped through the pages of the newspapers. As she got to the end of that year, she found it curious that even three months after the boat went missing, the newspaper ran articles speculating on the possibility those on board were still alive—somewhere. After all, the boat was never found. Yet it was found now, and according to Chief MacDonald, those on board had died long ago, each shot in the head.

  She turned back several pages, coming to another article on the missing boat, along with a large photograph of three of the women who, according to the story, had been on the Eva Aphrodite when it went missing. Danielle had seen their pictures in several of the other articles, yet this was the first one where all three women were in the same photograph—smiling happily into the camera’s lens, unaware that in just a few weeks, their young lives would meet such tragedy. The photograph was apparently taken at a charity event just a month prior to the fateful voyage.

  Danielle stared at the image; each woman was dressed in her best finery. Silently, Danielle ran a fingertip over the pict
ure, wondering what it had been like for the women—had their spirits lingered on the boat after they were killed or had they quickly moved on.

  Taking a deep breath, Danielle stood up and took her iPhone out of her purse. Turning on the desk lamp, she positioned the open book to maximize the lighting. Tapping the camera app on her phone, she looked through the iPhone and snapped a picture, capturing the image of the three women. After checking the results, she turned the page and took another picture—and then another.

  Danielle spent the next thirty minutes patiently taking pictures of the various articles and photographs on the missing Eva Aphrodite. She was about to close the book when she noticed another article. This one wasn’t on the missing boat, but on Walt’s missing friend—Jack Winters. Danielle took a moment to read the article, before taking its picture.

  Chapter Ten

  Instead of going straight home, Danielle stopped at the police station. She wanted to initiate a conversation with Jack’s ghost but knew that would be impossible with someone from the department standing guard by the wreckage. She hoped the chief was ready to go back to the beach and relieve whatever officer he had assigned to the duty.

  She had just entered the hallway leading to the inner offices when she spied Joe and Brian, standing a few feet from the closed door of Chief MacDonald’s office. They seemed to be deep in conversation.

  Joe noticed her first, heading for MacDonald’s office. “The chief’s on the phone.”

  “Well nice to see you too, Joe,” Danielle quipped. She glanced at his partner and said, “Afternoon, Brian.”

  “The chief is on the phone,” Brian said.

  “Yes, I know. He was talking to me.” Flashing them a parting grin, she opened the chief’s door and entered the office, without another comment.

  Joe stared at the now closed door. “He didn’t say it was Danielle on the phone.”

  “No, but he did make it clear he wanted to take the call in private.” Brian chuckled.

  “Don’t go there. You keep trying to imply there’s something going on with those two.”