The Haunted Inn

Book 8: A Lin Coffin Mystery

by J.A. Whiting

Genres: Supernatural suspense; Animal Cozy Mysteries

Synopsis

This is book 8 in the Lin Coffin series by USA Today Bestselling Author J A Whiting.

The main mystery is solved in each book but you will enjoy the stories more if they are read in order.

When Lin Coffin and her cousin, Viv, are returning from a walk along the bike paths and streets of Nantucket, an icy chill surrounds Lin as they walk past a bed and breakfast inn that was once a silk factory. An hour later, a dead body is found behind a house two doors down from the inn. Two murders and a ghost who can't cross over pull Lin and Viv into the mystery to find the killer and to figure out the connections between the victims, the murderer, and the ghost.
Will Lin and Viv, with the help of several others, be able to solve the case before the killer strikes again?
This story has ghosts and some mild paranormal elements.

Release date: March 25, 2018

Publisher: J A Whiting / Jeri White

Print pages: 262

Sample

Chapter 1

 

 

Carolin Coffin and her cousin, Viv, were completing a two-hour walk along the bike paths and streets of Nantucket and had come into the historic town from the Cliff area of the island. Weaving up and down the historic cobblestone roads, they headed along Centre Street and then the two turned right onto Gaylord Street.

 

Perspiration showed on Viv’s forehead and some strands of her light golden brown hair stuck to the skin. “I don’t know how I let you talk me into this walk. Let’s take the direct way back to your house or you’re going to have to carry me the rest of the way. Enough is enough. I’m beat.” Viv preferred to keep athletic pursuits to a minimum, but her cousin was always suggesting a walk or a bike ride around the island.

 

Lin chuckled. “I’m not sure I can carry you. I’ll have to call a cab to come and get you.”

 

The early September afternoon was hot and slightly humid. The trees’ leaves hadn’t yet begun to turn from greens to reds, oranges, and yellows, but here and there, the edges of some bushes had already turned to scarlet.

 

“When is it going to cool off?” Viv fussed. “It’s September, for Pete’s sake.”

 

Lin removed the Nantucket-red baseball-style hat she’d purchased at the shipwreck museum, ran her hand over the top of her sweaty head, and slipped the hat over her long brown hair. “Maybe we can go for a swim after work tomorrow afternoon. We should enjoy the last warm days of summer.”

 

“That sounds good to me.” Viv owned a popular bookstore and café on Main Street. “I’ll see how busy the day is. I think I can get away for an hour or two. Don’t forget we’re having dinner on John’s boat tomorrow night.” Viv had been dating John, a successful Nantucket Realtor, for eight years, and they both played together in a band a couple of nights a week. John had lived on his boat down at the docks for nearly five years and he, Viv, Lin, and her boyfriend, Jeff, enjoyed getting together and relaxing on the boat or taking day trips around Nantucket Sound on the weekends.

 

The thirty-year-old cousins admired the front gardens of the homes they passed. Lin, a landscaper, pointed out the different flowers in some of the window boxes.

 

As they approached the Seaborne Inn, a chill ran over Lin’s arms and she absent mindedly rubbed at the goosebumps.

 

Viv eyed her. “Are you cold?”

 

“I’m feeling chilly. It’s because I’m sweaty and a breeze came in off the water.”

 

“Really?” Viv pushed a lock of hair out of her blue eyes. “I didn’t feel a breeze. You don’t see anyone, do you?”

 

Lin shook her head. “Just because I feel cold doesn’t mean someone is about to make an appearance.”

 

“Well, it usually does,” Viv said softly, looking around the front yards and to the porches of the houses they passed by.

 

Lin had a special ability that had been passed down to her through generations of her Nantucket ancestors … she could see ghosts.

 

Passing the inn, Lin’s inner core became icy cold and as her eyes darted around looking to see if someone was about to show up, she worried that her cousin’s suspicion might be correct.

 

“I’d like to stay in that inn sometime,” Viv said. “There are beautiful gardens in the back. Maybe one of these days, I’ll talk John into a romantic overnight.”

 

Lin didn’t comment because she was chilled to the bone and was trying to figure out why.

 

“You know the inn used to be a silk factory in the 1800s?” Viv asked. Built in 1835, the inn was a gray-shingled building with white trim that had once housed the Island Silk Company. The business closed after about nine years, and the factory was divided into two separate dwellings. Since 1870, one side was used as a boarding house and inns of various names. It had been the Seaborne Inn for the last twenty-five years.

 

“Huh?” Lin asked. “What did you say?”

 

Viv gave her cousin a wary look. “What’s wrong with you?”

 

“Nothing,” Lin fibbed. “I was checking out the landscaping.”

 

“What else are you looking at?” Despite having lived on Nantucket most of her life and having some of the same ancestors as Lin, Viv couldn’t see ghosts, but she usually knew when one appeared because of the way Lin behaved.

 

“There isn’t anything,” Lin said. “I’m really cold, but I don’t see anything.”

 

“That doesn’t mean someone isn’t lurking,” Viv muttered and slipped her arm through her cousin’s in order to quickly propel her up to the corner of the next street where they turned left.

 

Lin’s chill lessened the further away from Gaylord Street they moved until she was back to normal temperature by the time they passed the Maria Mitchell Association building, a non-profit organization created to preserve the legacy of the country’s first woman astronomer.

 

“I feel better,” Lin said. “It must have been the breeze.”

 

Viv tilted her head. “Except I was walking right beside you and I didn’t feel any breeze at all.”

 

When the cousins reached Lin’s pretty, gray-shingled cottage located across from the Quaker cemetery, they headed for the kitchen for a cold drink. Lin’s small brown dog, Nicky, and Viv’s regal gray cat, Queenie, had been snoozing out on the deck and when they heard the young women returning from the walk, Nicky darted into the house through the doggie door to welcome them. Taking her time, Queenie rose, stretched, and then meandered inside to greet Viv and Lin.

 

Viv went to the large, wooden, kitchen hutch for two tall glasses while her cousin removed pitchers of iced tea and lemonade from the refrigerator. She took a glance at the two sailor’s valentines perched on the shelf of the hutch.

 

“The valentines look really nice together.” Viv carried the glasses to the refrigerator and used tongs to place ice cubes in each of them.

 

As Lin poured the tea over the ice, she smiled and glanced at the valentines. “I like them in the kitchen so I can see them when I’m working in here.”

 

Sailor’s valentines were a kind of shellcraft made of tiny sea shells. The designs were placed in octagonal wooden boxes with glass fronts that displayed the shells of different colors laid out in intricate, symmetrical patterns. Common designs included compass roses, hearts, flowers, an anchor, or other sea-related objects. The early valentines were made in the 1800s, many on the island of Barbados where sailors would purchase the beautiful shellwork for a family member or loved-one.

 

Not long ago, Lin had bought one of the valentines from a store in Nantucket town. The tiny pinkish, cream, white, and purple shells formed a repeating design of small and large flowers surrounding a cameo set in the middle of the box ringed by pink and white shells.

 

The second valentine had been given to Lin for her thirtieth birthday by her landscaping partner and friend, Leonard. The valentine had once belonged to Leonard’s wife, Marguerite, who had passed away in a car accident. It showed a heart in the center of a compass rose created with tiny pink, pale blue, and white shells that spread out to the edges of the box in a pattern of small flowers. The words, Remember Me, had been formed in an arc over the compass rose.

 

Lin put the glasses and some cheese and crackers on a tray and they headed for the deck to sit at the wooden table.

 

“I’m glad that last case is over and done with and I don’t have to be afraid of that valentine anymore,” Viv said holding the door to the deck open so that Lin could go outside.

 

A ghost from the most recent case Lin had helped with had used one of the valentines to give the young woman clues that led to the solving of the mystery.

 

“Yeah, I’m glad that mystery is over, although I was never afraid of the valentine.” Lin placed the tray on the table and sat down.

 

Viv raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Oh, yes, you were.”

 

Nicky let out a little woof of agreement and Lin laughed. “Okay, maybe I was a little afraid. Sometimes.”

 

Recalling the details of that case caused a coil of anxiety to settle in Lin’s stomach. She tried to push the thoughts from her mind by thinking about the walk they’d just returned from and focused on the beautiful sights they’d passed … the green fields, the white sand beaches, and the historical homes, both grand and quaint.

 

Lin reached for a piece of cheese from the platter and chewed it slowly while listening to her cousin talk about the bookstore and a new gig she and John and their band had coming up.

 

“You and Jeff should come to hear us. We’ve added new songs to the playlist.”

 

“As long as you don’t call me up to the stage to sing with you.” Lin gave her cousin the evil eye.

 

“I promised I would never do that again.” A wide smile formed over Viv’s mouth remembering the time she’d invited a terrified Lin up to the stage. “If only to keep you from killing me over it.”

 

A flash of adrenaline raced through Lin’s body when her cousin said the word, killing, and she could feel the blood drain out of her head. An involuntary shiver made Lin’s body shudder.

 

Viv saw the change that had come over Lin. “Are you cold, again?”

 

“Yes.” Lin could barely push the word from her mouth, her body had begun shaking so badly. With trembling fingers, she reached up and held her white-gold, antique horseshoe necklace between her thumb and forefinger. The necklace had been owned by an ancestor and was found in a storage room of Viv’s Cape house, hidden there in the eighteenth-century by Sebastian Coffin, her relative and an early settler of Nantucket.

 

Nicky jumped up and stared across the deck to the wooded area behind the house. His little tail swished back and forth.

 

Lin followed the dog’s gaze and she startled when she saw the figure at the edge of the trees.

 

The ghost of her ancestor, Sebastian Coffin, dressed in his eighteenth-century clothing, stood in the tall grass, his eyes pinned on the freezing young woman shaking in her seat at the table.

 

“Lin?” Viv asked, her tone tinged with worry. “Is someone here?”

 

“Yes.” The word floated on the air. “Sebastian is here.”

 

As soon as Lin said the words, the cottage’s front doorbell rang and the atoms of Sebastian’s translucent form shimmered with light and slowly disappeared.

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Lin was still clutching her necklace and her eyes were glued to the spot where Sebastian had been standing. She hadn’t seen her ancestor for weeks, and now, his appearance combined with how nervous and uneasy she’d felt as she and Viv walked up Gaylord Street earlier, spelled one thing … trouble.

 

“Is Sebastian still visible?” Viv asked.

 

“He’s gone.” Lin looked out to the grassy place where Sebastian had shown up.

 

“The doorbell rang a second ago. I’ll go see who it is.” Viv got up from her seat at the table.

 

“Someone rang?” Lin shook herself and watched Viv open the screen door to the living room.

 

Nicky had already darted inside to the front of the house.

 

After taking a long drink of her iced tea, Lin blew out a breath and with her mind flooding with questions about Sebastian’s appearance, she forced herself to her feet and headed to see who had pressed the doorbell. Before taking three steps, she heard Libby Hartnett’s voice.

 

Libby, a lifelong resident of the island, was a trim, fit, older woman whose age the cousins were unsure of. Lin and Viv guessed that she might be in her early seventies. Libby was Lin’s distant cousin and the woman had powers of her own. Since Lin had returned to Nantucket from the mainland to make her home in the cottage she’d inherited from her grandfather, Libby had been an invaluable help … assisting Lin in her understanding and use of her “skills”.

 

Libby rarely made a visit to the cottage, so when Lin heard the voice, it sent cold concern rushing through her veins.

 

The silver-haired woman burst through the door and stepped onto the deck.

 

“Carolin,” Libby said with a serious expression. “I apologize for barging in like this, but there’s a situation.”

 

Lin’s throat tightened. “A situation?”

 

Libby moved closer. “There’s a dead body a few streets away from here.”

 

“A dead body?” Viv nearly shrieked as she came out of the house. “Who is it? Where is it?” Looking over both of her shoulders, Viv moved close to Lin’s side and wrapped her arms around herself.

 

Libby ignored Viv’s outburst. “It’s a woman. In her late thirties or early forties. Anton and I knew her casually. She was planning to stay on the island for about a month.”

 

“Are the police investigating?” Lin asked with a hopeful tone.

 

“I’d like you to come with me.” Libby touched her young cousin’s arm. “Please. We need to go.”

 

“Why do you want Lin to go with you?” Viv asked the question her cousin had been thinking, but didn’t want to come right out with. “Where are you going?”

 

Libby flashed Viv a look of annoyance. “We really need to hurry. We can walk there. Over to Academy Hill.”

 

Lin’s heart dropped into her stomach. “Academy Hill?”

 

“Come on. I’ll explain as we walk.” With brisk efficiency, Libby wheeled for the door.

 

Hurrying over the neighborhood streets, Libby told the young women what she knew. “The body is in a garden behind a house on Gaylord Street.”

 

Viv looked at her cousin. Now they knew why Lin had felt so cold walking along that lane not long ago.

 

“Is the body at the inn?” Lin asked.

 

“No. Maura Wells was staying at the inn, but she was found two houses down from there. The owner of the house saw Maura sitting in one of the outdoor chairs in her backyard. The owner was very irritated that someone had trespassed and wandered into her garden. She went outside to have words with the trespasser and when she got close, she was horrified to find out the woman was dead.”

 

“Were there visible injuries?” Viv questioned.

 

“None,” Libby replied.

 

“Then Ms. Wells must have died from natural causes,” Lin suggested.

 

Glancing sideways at the two women beside her, Libby said, “I don’t think so.”

 

Viv was about to ask why it wasn’t possible for Maura Wells to have passed away naturally, but Libby held up her hand making a “stop” gesture. “I’m not going to say more. We’ll talk later, after you see the body.”

 

Lin’s voice sounded wobbly. “Why am I seeing the body?”

 

“I want you to have a look, see if Maura’s spirit is still around. Maybe she can tell you what happened.”

 

“Ghosts don’t speak to me,” Lin reminded her distant cousin. “They just show up and, well … try to give me clues about what’s bothering them. You can’t force them. They do things in their own time and in their own way.”

 

“I know all about it.” Libby waved her hand around. “I don’t know personally, of course … I mean I know how the spirits work with you. It can’t hurt to have you look around the garden.”

 

“Is the body still in the yard?” Viv asked hoping she would hear an answer in the negative.

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

Lin and Viv exchanged worried looks as they hurried over the brick sidewalks.

 

“I can wait until the authorities have removed the body,” Lin said.

 

“It’s important for you to be there as soon as possible. It’s better not to wait. The spirit may not linger very long.”

 

“We can’t just barge in when the police are there,” Lin said as they turned onto Gaylord Street.

 

“Yes, we can,” Libby said.

 

An ambulance and an unmarked police vehicle were parked at the curb of one of the antique houses. Two police cars, one at each end of the street, blocked any other vehicles from entering. Pedestrians were being asked not to walk down the road, but to take an alternate route to their destinations.

 

The officer at the corner was about to redirect the three women, when he saw Libby. With a nod, the man said, “Ms. Hartnett,” and then let them pass.

 

“Why did he allow us through?” Viv asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“I’ve known Scott since he was a little boy,” Libby said.

 

“But no one is supposed to come down this way,” Lin said. “Won’t he get into trouble for letting us walk down the road?”

 

“No,” was all Libby said.