Chapter 1
It was the first day of July and the sun shone down from the bright blue sky over the seaside town of Bluewater Cove on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Holding the leash of her light brown Labrador-poodle mix, Iris, Ellen “Nell” Finley walked beside her sister as they strolled along the brick sidewalks next to the harbor. Sailboats, windsurfers, and paddle-boarders plied the water and people stood near the water’s edge taking photographs of the idyllic scene.
“What a beautiful day,” Violet said with a wide smile. “We should go to the beach later this afternoon.”
“Fine with me. I can try out my new boogie board,” Nell agreed. “Want to ride on the board with me, Iris?”
The dog looked up at Nell and gave a soft, happy woof to indicate her agreement.
“Why don’t we walk over to the park?” Violet suggested. “Iris can play with the other dogs while we sit in the shade under the trees.”
The sisters left the harbor-side and walked along the sidewalk of the pretty town peeking in the windows of the shops and enjoying the early summer bustle of the tourist season.
When they reached the park, Nell unclipped the leash from the dog’s collar and Iris trotted over to the hill to greet the three dogs running and playing there. Nell and Violet sank onto the grass under the tall shade tree. The sisters had been up early to take a twelve-mile bike ride on the paths in the state park before the heat of the day kicked in.
Nell was an artist and graphic designer, and Violet designed and made custom jewelry and pottery. Together they ran a shop in town selling their wares in part of the house they’d inherited from their mother almost a year ago.
The house had been in the family for decades and the Finley family used it every summer and on many weekends, and after their mother died, the sisters decided to turn the section of the house that faced Main Street into their workshop and retail store, and make the rest of the house their permanent home.
“Look, the ice cream truck is here.” Nell stood and looked at her sister. “The usual?”
With a smile, Violet nodded and her sister hurried over to get some ice cream for the two of them.
When Nell returned with the cones and a bottle of water, she was surprised to see Iris and a medium-sized, brown dog standing next to Violet. Iris was licking the dog’s face which seemed to be a mixed breed with some Labrador and maybe a bit of beagle combined.
“Who’s this?” Nell asked handing a cone to her sister. “Hi, dog. Did you make friends with Iris?”
Iris moved close to Nell and nudged at the water bottle in her hand.
“This dog seems to be alone.” Violet scanned the park for someone who might be looking for their dog.
Nell noticed the brown dog licking his lips and staring at the bottle so she knelt, opened the container, poured some water into the palm of her hand, and offered it to the canine. He cautiously stepped forward and sniffed Nell’s hand, and then greedily drank from her palm.
“Do you think he’s lost?” Violet asked.
Nell poured out the water several more times until the dog seemed satisfied, and then she reached her fingers out for the dog to smell. Lifting the dog’s tag on his collar, she read it out loud. “Oscar.” Nell read off the address and a telephone number. “He lives in Saxonwood.” Looking at the dog, she asked, “Is your name Oscar? What are you doing in Bluewater? Where are your people?”
The dog’s tail thumped against the grass.
“Read the phone number to me again,” Violet said. “I’ll call them.”
When she made the call, it rang and rang and no one answered. “We can’t just leave him here. Should we walk him home?”
Nell looked up the address on her phone. “It will take us about thirty minutes to get there.”
“I noticed this same dog in the park the past two days while I was running,” Violet said. “Both times it was early in the morning and now he’s here in the afternoon. Has he been here for three days?”
Oscar’s fur was slightly ratty-looking and Nell wondered how the dog had become separated from his owners. As she was looking down at the dog, his brown fur began to shimmer red, then it turned to a dark burnt orange. The color flickered, and the dog turned black.
An involuntary shiver made Nell’s body tremble and Violet hurried to her side and took her arm. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
Nell slammed her eyelids shut and whispered to her sister, “Something … something isn’t right. But I don’t know what it is.”
* * *
There are some people in the world who have a fourth type of cone in their eyes, and those extra cones allow these people to see many, many more colors than the ordinary person. The people who carry this genetic difference are called tetrachromats.
From the time she was a little girl, Nell used multi-colors to create her artwork. She would draw a beach where the grains of sand would consist of blues, reds, greens, and yellows … the sky wasn’t only a wash of blue, but a mix of gold and silver, with pinks, lavenders, and violet. When Nell’s mother asked why she put so many colors into things, Nell told her it was because that was what she saw.
The young girl drew and painted the way she did because she was capable of seeing millions more colors than the average person was able to perceive.
A month ago, Nell saw a woman come into their shop, a woman who was colored red from head to toe as if someone had put a filter over her. When the woman left the store, she crossed the street and was hit and killed by a car. Murdered, actually.
Nell’s doctor held the theory that she had been able to see emotions such as danger and rage because those things were given off by people as energy and Nell’s special visual skills allowed her to see that energy as colors.
Violet put her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “Are you seeing something?”
Nell opened her eyes and sucked in a quick breath. She kept her voice low and soft. “There are colors on the dog.”
“What colors do you see?” As she spoke, Violet’s eyes moved quickly to the lost dog.
When Nell reported what she was seeing, Violet asked, “Red means anger, right? I remember that orange means caution or a warning, but what does black mean?”
Nell hesitated and it took her several seconds to answer. “Some of the things black can stand for are … evil ... and death.”
“Oh, no,” Violet muttered. “Oh, no.” Leaning down, she petted the dog. “What happened, Oscar? Did something happen at your house? Where are your people?” Turning to her sister, she asked, “Should we go to the house and see if anyone answers?”
A tightness wrapped around Nell’s body. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not alone anyway.”
“I’ll call Peter,” Violet said taking her phone from the pocket of her shorts.
Peter Bigelow was a Bluewater Cove police officer who dated the sisters’ friend, Dani. Peter knew Nell was a tetrachromat and that for some reason her skill had taken an unusual turn, so last month, he suggested to the police chief that she might be able to assist them with a crime that had occurred in town. Peter’s idea proved to be a good one when Nell’s perceptive ways pointed her to a killer.
In less than fifteen minutes, Peter arrived at the park in his cruiser and strode across the grassy lawn to where Nell, Violet, Iris, and Oscar were waiting for him. Thirty years old, the young man was tall and slim with broad shoulders that were the result of having been a competitive swimmer for years. He had dark brown hair and friendly blue eyes.
“This is the dog?” Peter asked.
“He’s very friendly,” Violet said. “I’ve seen him here in the park the past three days. He’s always alone. Nell saw some colors on his fur.”
Nell’s forehead shimmered with nervous perspiration as she reported which colors she saw shining on the dog’s coat. “Maybe something happened to his owners.”
“Are the colors still there?” Peter asked eyeing the dog.
“Faintly.”
“He doesn’t seem injured,” Peter observed. “He’s been moving fine?”
Nell nodded. “He was very thirsty.”
“Maybe we should drop him off at the animal shelter before paying a visit to the address printed on his dog tag.”
“Can that wait?” Nell’s green eyes looked heavy with worry. “If no one is at the house, I think Violet and I should take him home with us. We can have a vet check him out. If he’s been through some traumatic thing, I’d like him to stay with us.” She looked to her sister who gave a nod. “He’s made friends with Iris. It might make him less stressed to be with us until his owners can be located.”
“It’s a good idea,” Violet agreed.
“Fine. I’ll contact the shelter to see if anyone has reported a missing dog,” Peter said. “Why don’t we take a ride over to Saxonwood? Maybe someone is at home now and the dog can be reunited with the family.”
Violet rode in the front passenger seat while Nell took the rear with a dog on each side of her. The fifteen-minute drive followed the road along the shore before turning inland through a heavily wooded section of Bluewater and into the neighboring town of Saxonwood.
Peter eased the cruiser to a stop in front of a large white Colonial house with black shutters set a little back from the street on a slight hill. The lawn was mowed and there were two flower pots standing at the sides of the front steps. The place looked nicely-tended, but the blooms drooped from lack of water and the warm temperatures.
Oscar wouldn’t get out of the car despite both of the sisters’ encouraging words to him. When she saw that the brown dog had no intention of leaving the car, Iris jumped back inside.
Nell groaned. “Okay, fine. Stay there, but if someone comes to the door of that house, you both need to get out.”
They left the dogs in the car with the windows rolled down and then Peter led the way to the front door where he pushed on the doorbell. They heard the bell’s ring from inside the house.
No one came to see who was calling.
Peter rang the bell again.
Still no one.
“Maybe they’re at work,” Nell suggested.
Violet called the phone number again, but was met with the empty ringing sound.
“We could leave a note,” Peter said and pulled a small pad from his shirt pocket.
“I don’t know,” Nell said. “Should we call the Saxonwood police? Tell them we’d like a wellness check done?”
“Hold up a minute.” Violet looked across the lawn to the next house. “Here comes the neighbor.”
Chapter 2
“Hello, there.” A short, heavyset man with a bald head who looked to be in his sixties walked decisively across the grass towards Peter, Nell, and Violet. “Has anyone answered the bell?”
“No one seems to be at home.” Peter introduced himself.
“I’m Scott McKenzie,” the man said. “May I ask why a police officer is knocking on my neighbor’s door? Is everything okay? Is Adam okay?”
“We’re looking for your neighbor,” Peter explained. “His dog has been hanging around in a Bluewater Cove park for the past three days.”
“Oscar? In Bluewater?” Scott asked, his face a mix of surprise and worry. “Is Oscar all right?”
Peter said, “He seems to be doing just fine. He’s in the cruiser. He didn’t want to get out.”
Scott glanced to the car parked at the curb. “I haven’t seen Adam for three days. How did Oscar happen to be in Bluewater?”
“We don’t know. We were hoping someone would be at home,” Peter said.
“What’s your neighbor’s last name?” Nell asked. She’d been scanning the outside of the house and the grounds trying to pick up on anything that might be floating on the air.
“Timson. Adam Timson.” Scott’s face looked pinched and tight.
“Do you know where Mr. Timson might be?” Peter asked. “Might he be at work?”
“Adam works from home.” Scott arched his neck trying to take a peek in through the front window of his neighbor’s house.
“What does he do for work?” Nell asked.
“Adam does website design. He has an MBA. He teaches some online business classes for a couple of colleges.”
“Do you know which colleges he works for?”
Scott shrugged. “I really don’t.”
“You said you hadn’t seen Adam for a few days,” Violet said. “Does he leave town a lot? Does he have to travel for his work?”
“Only once in a while. He has clients all over the state.”
“Is Adam married?” Nell asked. “Any kids?”
“Adam is single. No kids. He lives alone, well, not quite alone, he has Oscar, of course.”
“Do you have any idea why the dog has been in the park for three days?”
“I have no idea.” Scott shook his head like he was trying to shake off water. “I don’t know where Adam is. He left three days ago in the late afternoon. He had a duffle bag. He let Oscar into the backseat of his car. I was doing some yard work. I waved and walked over. Adam seemed to be in a hurry. He said he’d be back in a day or two. He wanted a few days to himself.”
“Did you ask where he was going?” Violet questioned.
“I did ask, but I don’t think Adam heard me. At any rate, he didn’t reply. He got in the car, said goodbye, and drove away. I called after him to ask if I should take care of his mail, but he just waved at me as he left the driveway.”
“What does Adam drive?” Peter asked.
“He drives a silver Honda. A small SUV.”
“Do you have his phone number?” Peter asked the neighbor.
“Sure.” Scott rattled it off from memory.
“That’s the number that’s on Oscar’s dog tag,” Nell pointed out. “My sister called a couple of times, but no one answered.”
“No? I wonder why he doesn’t pick up?” Scott pondered.
“Does Adam have any relatives?” Peter asked.
“Um. Yeah. He mentioned a sister. I don’t recall her name.” Scott rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know if there’s anyone else. I don’t know if Adam ever told me what town his sister lives in. Maybe he didn’t.”
“Have you met the sister?” Violet asked. “Has she come down to visit?”
“No, I haven’t met her. I’m not sure if she’s been down here or not, but I’ve never seen her.” Scott drew in a long breath. “I’m sorry, I’m not much help.”
“You’re quite a lot of help.” Peter was writing some notes on a small pad. “Can you tell us how long Adam has lived here?”
“About a year and half. My wife and I have been here for over ten years. It’s a nice street, quiet, lots of trees, privacy.”
Peter looked up from his notetaking. “Do you happen to have a key to the house?”
“I don’t. When Adam was going to be away from home all day, he asked me to let Oscar out. I have the code to the garage door. I use that to get into the garage. Adam leaves the door from the garage to the kitchen unlocked so I just open it and call to the dog to come out. There was no need for a key.”
“I’m going to walk around the perimeter of the building right after I call the Saxonwood police department,” Peter informed everyone. “I’d like an officer to come down and have a look around inside the house and garage.”
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