Crowned and Moldering

I tracked down Teddy in his cramped office and knocked on the open door. He glanced up. “Oh good. You’re here.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. He’s not going to listen to me. He never has.”

“That’s fu

“He would never have pulled this attitude with my father,” I muttered, disgusted with the old guy.

“You’re partly right, and I’m sorry. But, truth be told, your father would’ve dragged Aldous over to the pub for a beer and they would’ve hashed it out.”

“Well, even if I invited him to the pub, he wouldn’t show up. And that’s the crux of the problem. He doesn’t trust me because I’m female, and that little detail isn’t going to change anytime soon.”

Teddy chuckled as he led me down a long hallway and into the large mahogany-paneled meeting hall. He gestured toward the old man sitting in a chair at the massive conference table, his back toward us. He didn’t see me standing at the door.

“Just go talk to him,” Teddy whispered.

“I’m willing to do this for you, Teddy, but please don’t blame me if nothing changes.” I walked straight across the room and right up to Aldous, who flinched when he saw me. “Hello, Mr. Murch.”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you here to admit your mistake?”

“What? No.” He really was losing it. “I’m here because the other commission members told me you have something to say to me.”

He shook his finger at me as though I were a misbehaving ten-year-old. “I drove out there, and the place is covered in yellow construction ribbon. You can’t start the project until you tear down the stairway.”

“It’s not construction ribbon,” I said sharply. “It’s crime-scene tape. We found a dead body inside the house.”

His eyes blinked and his hands shook. “A . . . a body? You found her, then? On the staircase?” He worked his jaw back and forth and rubbed his hand over his mouth a few times, clearly uneasy. “No. Not on the staircase. The body was . . . We . . .” He blinked again and continued to mumble, but I couldn’t understand him.

I regretted my outburst. Aldous was an old man and obviously couldn’t take that kind of shock. But he’d said something about a body. Had he been around when Lily was killed?

“Aldous, do remember seeing someone hanging around inside the lighthouse mansion? A girl, maybe? Someone who didn’t belong there?”

He stared at me for a few long seconds, as if he didn’t know me. A moment later, the haze cleared from his eyes and he was glaring at me again. “You need to tear down the staircase.”

My shoulders sagged a little. Hearing him say the same words he’d been repeating for the past two months made me want to run from the room. In the begi

The problem was that just when I was about to feel sorry for him being nonsensical, he would turn all cantankerous about the mansion because he’d lived there once upon a time and he considered himself an expert. He was also a stickler for the most obscure Historical Society rules and procedures, which he’d probably made up himself.

I wanted to be kind to the old man, but he had tried my patience to the limit. I decided to take a different tack. I pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. “You’ve been friends with my father for years and he taught me everything he knows. Don’t you trust him?”

“This isn’t about your father.”

“Of course it is. He entrusted his company to me. Now it looks like you don’t trust me to do a good job on the mansion and you’re letting everybody in town know about it. Are you trying to ruin my business?”

I caught the distress in his expression as he leaned back away from me. “I’m not ruining your business.”

“But you’re bad-mouthing me around City Hall,” I explained. “What if some homeowner gets wind of it? Do you think they’ll ever hire me?”

“Now see here, young lady.” He wagged his finger at me. “I have nothing but respect for you and your father, and your business is doing just fine. My concern is with the lighthouse mansion.”

“That’s my concern, too.”

“Good. Then we’re agreed.”

I frowned. “Okay.”

“So, you’ll admit that you’re wrong about the blueprints.”

“What? No.” I shook my head to clear it. “No. I have the very latest version of the architect’s prints and I’ve done a complete walk-through of the house. The blueprints are correct.”

He threw his hands up. “Then it’ll all be ruined.”

And we were back to where we’d started. This was the same argument I’d been having with him for weeks. And I didn’t even understand what his problem was. Aldous had claimed there were other blueprints for the mansion and I had the wrong set. But I’d gone back in the Pla

“Chimney,” he muttered, mindlessly scribbling squiggles on a piece of paper. “There’s no chimney.”

“There are four chimneys,” I said quietly.

He shot me a heated look. “How many staircases?”

“One.”

His jaw clenched so tightly, I thought he might break a tooth. I hated to see him so angry. I sighed and reached over to take his hand in mine. I could feel every one of his fragile bones and his thin, crepey skin. I wondered how much longer he would live, and I was suddenly afraid this fight would be the death of him. I wanted to end our argument right here and now. “Mr. Murch, I don’t want to argue about this anymore. All I can do is promise, on my father’s honor, that I will make you proud of the job I do on the lighthouse mansion.”

His lips shook slightly as he spoke. “I believe you, dear.”

“And anytime you want to come out to the mansion and see what we’re doing, you’re always welcome. I’ll even drive you out there myself.”

His smile seemed a little sad. “I’ll take you up on that offer one of these days.”

Was that an admission of my ability to do a good job or had he just given up the fight for now? I didn’t have a clue, but I wasn’t about to go another round with him.

“I’m available anytime. All you have to do is call me.” I squeezed his hand once more before letting it go. Giving him an encouraging smile and a nod, I stood and walked away. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as I left the meeting hall. I felt bad for Aldous, but I couldn’t do anything to fix a delusion from the past that had no basis in reality.

I made a quick detour to Teddy’s office to let him know that Aldous seemed willing to call a truce for now. “I can’t tell you if he’ll feel the same way tomorrow, but he didn’t want to argue anymore. Maybe I just wore him out.”

Teddy shrugged. “I guess that’s something. But I’m afraid the old guy still has plenty of rant left in him.”

“I suppose you’ll call me if he gets going again.”

“You bet I will,” he said cheerily.

I shook my head and walked out of his office.

*   *   *

I finally made it to Emily’s house and walked in on the organized chaos of a full-blown rehab. A ladder was perched under the chandelier medallion in the foyer. A dozen five-gallon drums of paint were lined up along the stairwell, along with clean paint rollers, a couple of roller extensions, and a stack of paint trays. Streaks of different colors were slashed across the wall of the dining room, where Emily was testing which ones she liked best. Splotched drop cloths covered every inch of floor space. Blue painter’s tape masked the edges of all the windows.

“Hey, boss,” Joh