“No wonder she freaked out over Gus,” I murmured. His family had lived in Lighthouse Cove for over a century.
Winifred snuck back home late that night and was greeted by her irate father, who whipped her and sent her to her bedroom with a guard stationed at the door. The following week, she was married to Ronald Rawley. It wasn’t the happiest marriage, especially after she gave birth exactly nine months later to a baby boy with an olive complexion and dark hair. Her blond husband wasn’t amused, nor was her father. She and the baby were shunned by her entire family, although the child was given the name Rawley in order to quell rumors that he was a bastard.
Winifred begged for a divorce, but her husband refused and, in fact, she later gave birth to three more babies, who were her husband’s. They were sickly, though, and none of them survived childhood.
Her son with Giuseppe, on the other hand, survived and thrived. She had named him Joseph, the English version of Giuseppe. And as Joseph Rawley, the young boy stood to inherit everything.
I fell asleep reading and dreamed of poor Winifred and her darling dark-haired baby boy.
*
Late Wednesday morning Jane revealed to Lizzie that Stephen Darby had asked her out twice more and Andrew had already called her three times that morning. Lizzie was thrilled that Jane had two suitors to choose from and knew she was sure to find true romance any minute now, but the rest of us were still wondering about the motives of both men. Why were they being so pushy? Yes, Jane was smart and beautiful, as I’d mentioned countless times, but she was also kindhearted and in love with romance. These two men weren’t worth Jane’s love. They seemed to be growing more and more interested in competing with each other than simply being with Jane.
After dealing with Cuckoo Clemens and spending the night reading Winifred’s diary, I had no patience for arrogant men.
Having observed Jane with the two men, I thought of a more sinister possibility. Why had Stephen been so adamant about getting a tour of Jesse’s house? Had Ned mentioned to his son that Jesse had found the necklace? Were Ned and Bob in cahoots with Stephen doing the heavy lifting?
Of course, after talking to Bob and hearing what Lizzie had found out from Ned, I was pretty sure neither man even knew about the necklace. How could Jesse have kept it secret from them? I suppose he could’ve simply tucked it into his fanny pack and never shown it to them. But they had camped out for three days together. A sparkling jeweled necklace seemed like something that would be discovered in such close quarters for three days.
It was possible that despite what Lizzie and I had gathered from our conversations, Bob and Ned really did know about the necklace. Had they been biding their time, waiting for Jesse to grow more vulnerable? Had Ned told his son, Stephen, about the rare piece and urged him to find a way to get it?
I sighed, frustrated that I kept going over and over the same territory without making any progress. One positive thing I could do, though, was warn Jane that Stephen might have an ulterior motive for spending time with her. That went double for Andrew. Even though I couldn’t figure out a connection, the way he had appeared at Jane’s B-and-B was suspicious all on its own.
I had a roof to finish today, but later that afternoon I planned to drive over to Hennessey House to talk turkey with her.
*
It didn’t go well.
I drove home from Jane’s, wondering where I’d gone wrong.
I had shown up at happy hour again, just as Jane was pouring wine for the guests. Andrew was already there and Stephen was vying for her attention, as well. I was glad to see her having a good time, but I couldn’t afford to ignore any possible threats.
When I finally got a chance to speak to her in private, all I said was please be careful. Okay, that wasn’t all I said, but the rest came out once Jane started to attack my basic premise.
“What do you mean, be careful?” she demanded when I happened to mention that I was worried about her dating Stephen and Andrew.
I pulled her into the powder room and locked the door. “You know Stephen is a suspect in Jesse’s death. I’m worried that his interest in you is related to the necklace. Don’t forget that one of his credit cards was rejected when he tried to check in. He might be hard up for money.”
“Now, listen to me,” she said in an angry tone I’d rarely heard before. “Stephen is only a suspect on your list, Shannon. I don’t happen to like him in that way, but that doesn’t make him a murderer. He is my guest here and I will not tolerate you being rude to him.”
I started to comment on that, but she shut me up fast.