He frowned. “What does that have to do with the woman at the docks? She was asking about waterfront property.”
Claire held up a finger. “I’m getting there.”
Ellis gestured toward her with his knife. “My apologies. Go on.”
“Thank you. So, I looked up the coordinates and found the property records for that patch of wilderness. You’ll never guess what I found.” Claire’s gaze bounced between the three of us.
“Walter owns it?” I asked.
“No. Sarah Cole does.”
“Who’s that?” Ellis asked, pausing as he skinned the first fish.
“She’s the woman who was supposed to inherit a waterfront property from the elderly woman she cared for. An elderly woman who was also Walter’s aunt. I think that’s the property Moira was asking about. And it got me thinking. What if she learned about the other property when she was digging into the waterfront one?” She held up a finger. “Remember, I found other property sales that had amended deeds that switched the property from Sarah to Walter. Maybe Moira discovered Walter’s misdeeds and he silenced her for it.”
“Whoa. Yeah, that’s—that’s quite a coincidence.” He went back to skinning the fish.
“That’s what I thought. Now do you see why I couldn’t wait to tell someone?”
“But why would Walter go to the property of someone from whom he stole property?” Luke propped his arms on the counter and leaned forward. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“What do we know about Sarah Cole?” Ellis asked.
Claire blinked, then looked between him, Luke, and me. “I don’t know. I haven’t checked.”
“Where’s your laptop?” I got up, turning to look at the dining and living areas.
“It’s in my bag.” She pointed to a chair at the dining table and the large black tote sitting on the seat.
I walked over and fished it out, then handed it to her. She opened it and typed in her password, then got on the internet.
Her hands hesitated over the keyboard. “What do I search for?”
“Maybe just her name?” I suggested. “And put the town in, so we don’t get a Sarah Cole from, like, Iowa.”
“Hopefully, that’ll be enough.” Claire typed the information into the search bar.
A list of sites populated. She clicked on the top one. It was a LinkedIn profile.
“I think this is her.” Claire leaned closer to the screen, reading. “She’s still a home caregiver, but in Anchorage.”
“How much property does she own at those coordinates you got from Toren?” Ellis laid a prepped filet on a plate and reached for another fish. “Is it a small plot of land, or many acres?”
A small frown creased my forehead as I wondered why he would ask such a thing. The thought barely crossed my mind when it dawned on me: home caregivers didn’t make a lot of money. Why would she own a large chunk of land on that sort of salary?
“Good question.” Claire changed tabs and entered a records database. I could tell from her tone she’d had the same thought.
Pebbles, who’d retreated to the rug in the living room, barked, getting up. Betty, not one to be left behind, joined her. A moment later, the two of them took off toward the front door just as the lock turned and it opened.
“Get back, you little heathens.” Ozzie fought his way inside, smiling at the dogs circling his feet. Once he made it in and shut the door, he tossed his keys on the entry table and looked up.
A wariness hovered in his dark eyes. “Hi.”
Smiling, I waved.
He held my gaze but didn’t return my smile before he glanced past me at Claire. “Do I even want to know why everyone’s here?”
“I just brought food.” Ellis waved his knife, even though Ozzie couldn’t see him from where he stood.
