A Haunted Theft (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 4) by J A Whiting

she said, “Lin saw Sebastian Coffin.”
    Anton looked wide-eyed at Lin. “Where did you see him?”
    “Are you going in?” Lin gestured to the bookstore entryway. “Are you meeting Libby?”
    Anton shook his head. “I’m not meeting anyone. Libby’s gone to the mainland. I was going to get a coffee and do some paperwork at one of the tables. I have a meeting later on in town.”
    “Can you spare a few minutes to talk?”
    “Absolutely.” Anton stepped back for Lin to enter. They found a table in the corner, got cups of tea at the counter, and settled in their chairs.
    “Tell me what happened with Sebastian, Carolin.” Anton’s eyes were like lasers.
    Lin explained her and Viv’s visit to Lacey Frye’s basket shop. “When we stepped outside, Sebastian was across the street watching us.”
    “Did he communicate?”
    “No. I didn’t get any sensations about why he might have appeared. He stood for only a few seconds watching me and then he was gone.” Lin gave a shrug. Whenever she saw a spirit, she always wished she had more information to share with Viv and Libby and Anton. Her experiences with the ghosts often felt inadequate and unhelpful to whatever needed to be solved.
    “Hmmm.” Anton stroked his chin. “Why today? Why right then and there?”
    “I have no idea.” Lin hoped to get some information about Lacey. “Do you know Lacey Frye?”
    “Yes, I know her. I haven’t seen her for some time. She’s had health problems all of her life. The poor woman looks much older than her years. I think she’s in her mid to late fifties, but her illnesses have aged her at least ten years. I’m impressed that she’s still working.”
    “Do you know anything about her? She asked me a lot of questions about what I saw and heard the evening of the robbery.”
    Anton shifted in his seat. “I don’t know much about her. I know her side of the family has some Wampanoag blood, but she only has one distant ancestor related to the tribe. She’s skilled at making the baskets, in fact, she’s better than Nathan Long … she’s had that shop in town for years … twenty years probably.”
    “She doesn’t seem to like Martha Hillman.” Lin shared her observation with Anton.
    Anton let out a sigh and leaned back against the chair. “There are many people who don’t care for Martha.”
    “Do they have reason not to like her?” Lin watched Anton’s face.
    Anton flapped at the air with his hand. “I can’t speak for others. Martha can be abrasive, forceful, demanding. She can rub people the wrong way. Martha has definite opinions which sometimes don’t jive with what others think or want.” Anton looked thoughtful. “Some people think I can be abrasive.” His eyes twinkled. “That might come as a surprise to you.”
    The corner of Lin’s mouth turned up.
    “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have strong ideas and opinions.” Anton went on. “I think it’s important to bring people together who think differently, get different perspectives and outlooks.”
    Lin gave a nod. “Have you heard about some missing money at a non-profit that was never found? It happened years ago. Martha worked there.”
    Anton’s right eyebrow went up. “I know about it. Marguerite Reed was let go from her position because of the incident.”
    “Leonard’s wife.” Lin nodded. “She was cleared of wrongdoing though.”
    “Yes.” Anton gazed across the café. “Leonard feels that the dismissal without cause led to his wife’s death. She was killed in an accident on the mainland when returning from a job interview.”
    Lin saw the historian’s Adam’s apple rise and fall as he swallowed hard.
    “The hand of fate.” Anton’s eyes looked moist. “Marguerite was a lovely woman. She did some volunteer work with a group of us when we were trying to start the cultural museum.”
    Something pinged in Lin’s chest. “What kind of work?”
    “She helped with the bookkeeping, did some financial projections.