Martha awoke, as usual, just on daybreak. One of her duties for the day was to polish the stained glass on the antique front door. Miriam always ensured that the glass was spotless. The door was the first thing the guests saw when they entered the house and Miriam always said that first impressions were so important.
Martha walked through the back door of the B&B, and put the kaffi on to brew. She sighed and stretched. There was no sign of Miriam, and Miriam was usually the first one to the kitchen. Miriam had complained of a headache the evening before, so Martha wondered whether she should take breakfast up to Miriam’s room.
“If she doesn’t come down soon, I will take up her breakfast,” Martha said aloud, and then rubbed her eyes. She sipped some kaffi, but then decided that Miriam probably needed a rare sleep-in.
After a breakfast of cereal, fried potato, and eggs, Miriam decided to start her duties. With her glass and surface cleaner in hand, Martha headed for the front door ready to shine the glass spotless, but what she saw made her jaw drop and sweat beads of fear to swim through her veins. Large pieces of glass and tiny splinters were splattered all over the front porch.
Martha let out a gut wrenching scream from the bottom of her lungs that caused her whole body to shiver in fright.
Amos and James had just arrived, and ran though what was left of the front door to Martha’s side.
“Oh no!” Amos exclaimed. “How did that happen? Did someone break into the house?”
The question caused Martha, already frozen from fright, to shake with fear. The thought that someone may have entered the home gave her chills and caused her heart to race rapidly.
“I’ll scan the house to see if anyone broke in,” Amos said. In no time he ran up the stairs in search of an intruder. James stayed with Martha.
“How did this happen?” she asked, her face red, and tears welling up in her eyes.
“It seems as if it’s happened from outside, as if someone threw something, smashed the window and then sped off.” James carefully maneuvered his way around the broken glass, careful not to touch anything.
Amos returned out of breath. “No sign of an intruder. Everything looks like it’s still in place.”
“It looks like it happened from the outside,” James told Amos.
“Who would do this?” Fresh tears rolled down Martha’s cheeks.
At that moment, Miriam came down the stairs, clutching her forehead. “What’s happened?”
“The antique glass at the front door is smashed,” Martha said breathlessly. “I don’t know how it happened. Amos and James think someone may have smashed it from the outside. We didn’t see or hear anything.”
Miriam gasped when she reached the door. “I didn’t hear anything either. I had a bad headache so I took two headache tablets. I’m going to call Rachel and Isaac to come straight over.”
Martha nodded, trying to put on a brave face for Miriam. “Okay,” she said.
Within half an hour, Miriam’s daughter, Rachel, and Rachel’s husband, Isaac, Miriam, Martha, Amos, and James crowded around the broken glass splattered by the front door.
“Who could have done this?!” asked Rachel in disbelief.
“I didn’t hear a thing,” Martha said. “I don’t know if the guests, Bethany and Richard, did; we won’t know until they wake up. They’re never up early.”
“This was such a lovely antique door,” Miriam said, her voice cracking. “I’ve spent these past months renovating the B&B, and it’s awful to think that some unscrupulous individuals want to take it all away.”
“Have you heard from Debra or Clark Bedshill lately?” Isaac asked, his arm draped protectively over Rachel’s shoulder.
Miriam nodded. “Yes, Debra Bedshill came here again the other day, and made veiled threats. Surely she wouldn’t have had something to do with it, though.”
Isaac shrugged. “Well, one thing is clear, it couldn’t have been looters. Treasure hunters wouldn’t engage in such a senseless act of vandalism.”
When Sheriff Dobbs finally arrived, Martha watched his facial expression carefully as he gently pushed his way through the smashed door. “Well, this doesn’t exactly look like the work of treasure hunters, does it?” he uttered.
Martha noticed that the sheriff seemed to be talking to himself more than he was talking to the others.
“No, it doesn’t, Sheriff,” replied Miriam. “This seems more like it was done purely to damage the door.”
Sheriff Dobbs walked over to the group who were now huddled in the lobby. He whipped out a small notepad and readied his pen. “So, did any of you guys see or hear anything last night? Any suspicious people lurking about? Any strange noises? Anything at all out of the ordinary?”
The response was a collective, “No.”
“I wasn’t feeling well last night, so I took some headache tablets and they always seem to make me drowsy,” Miriam sighed. “Even if I would have heard something normally, I was probably in too deep of a slumber to wake up from a little bit of banging.”
Martha could see the distress in her face as she spoke.
“What about you, Miss?” asked Sheriff Dobbs, looking directly at Martha.
“Oh, me?” she stuttered, caught slightly off guard by the inquiry. “I didn’t hear anything at all. I live out back in a small cabin, so I’m far enough away where I probably wouldn’t have heard it even if I was awake when it happened. I wish I had heard or seen something that could help, but unfortunately that’s not the case.”
“Understood, thank you,” replied Dobbs. “Okay, how about you two?” he asked, pointing his pen at both James and Amos and wiggling it back and forth between them, until James finally spoke up.
“Sheriff, Amos and I stay on another familye’s farm. We show up here early in the morning every day to start work, but after nightfall, we are usually long gone until the sun returns,” he answered.
“Thank you.” He then looked over at Rachel and Isaac. “Were either of you here overnight?”
Rachel shook her head. “No, sir. Mamm called us first thing this morning when it was discovered.”
“We came to try to help, but figured calling you was our only valid option,” added Isaac.
Sheriff Dobbs wiped his forehead and let out a labored sighed. “Miriam, is there anyone else here right now that would have been here during this crime?”
Miriam shook her head, but then stopped and corrected her answer. “Oh, yes. We have a couple staying here for their honeymoon. They are currently the only guests, but I didn’t want to wake them up to ask about this.”
“That’s fine,” he started as the sound of footsteps came down the staircase.
Martha turned, and so did the others, to see Bethany and Richard coming down for breakfast. Bethany stopped in her tracks and let out a gasp.
“What’s going on? Did something happen?” she asked a panicked tone. Richard put his arm around her, seemingly trying to reassure her of their safety.
“Oh, I’m so sorry you had to come down to see this,” Martha replied, hoping to take some of the stress of the ordeal from Miriam. “The Sheriff is here investigating some vandalism that happened overnight,” she said, pointing to the damaged door.
“Did either of you hear anything last night?” the sheriff asked.
Richard shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything at all last night.”
“I didn’t hear anything either,” Bethany added.
“Thank you both for your time,” said the sheriff, as he continued scribbling notes in his pad.
“Come this way, please,” Miriam said to the couple. She then led them to the dining room. Martha figured she didn’t want them to feel too uncomfortable or unsafe because of the vandalism.
“Well, if nobody heard that stained glass shatter last night, the victim probably used something to muffle the sound,” Sheriff Dobbs said.
Martha turned her attention back toward the sheriff, who was now crouching by the door, examining it closely. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I don’t see any blood, so it’s unlikely the suspect punched the glass. Looks like a rock went through it, but that should have made plenty of a ruckus. However, if the perpetrator used a cushion or wrapped the rock in some sort of towel, it could have muffled the sound enough to avoid waking the guests up,” he explained as he stood back to his feet.
“Whoever did this must have known what they were doing then, right?” Miriam said.
Sheriff Dobbs nodded. “Exactly. I think the initial hunch I had when I first walked in was right on the money. A treasure seeker wouldn’t have removed the rock or whatever it was they used. I’ve been dealing with those guys for years, and trust me, they never take their disposable tools with them.” He then started to pace back and forth, apparently lost in thought.
“Actually, Sheriff, I think there’s something else you should be made aware of,” Miriam said. “I’m not accusing anyone or pointing fingers, but it might prove relevant to this crime.”
Dobbs snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Miriam, who was now standing right next to Martha. “I’m sorry?”
“Clark and Debra Bedshill recently paid us a visit,” she said. “They were very rude and threatened me under the guise of offering me what they called advice.”
The sheriff looked worried. “What advice was this that they gave you?”
“To sell this place and move back to Ohio,” she replied, as a somber look clouded her face.
“I see,” he said. “That doesn’t really point the finger at them, though. I know they are overbearing and rude, but unless we can find some proof of who did this, I can’t just go accusing them. I’m sorry, I just need more than a broken door and no evidence before I can go charging people like them.” His tone was subdued, and he looked distraught.
It seemed to Martha that the sheriff’s allegiances were being yanked in two different directions at the same time.
The sheriff crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m going to write up this report as soon as I get back to the office, but if you get any new information about this, please contact me immediately.”
Martha was frustrated, but she didn’t know what to say or do, so she just remained quiet.
“Thank you for your time, Sheriff,” Miriam said.
Sheriff Dobbs said his goodbyes and headed out the door. A moment or two after he left, someone else was coming through the doorway. Martha looked to see Jonas walking in with a look of concern on his face. “Is everything okay? What’s going on?”
“Yes, it’s okay,” Miriam said with a sigh. “Just more vandalism, and the sheriff still can’t do anything to help.” She looked down at the ground and sighed once more.
“Chin up,” said Jonas. “Don’t worry, I know a very good craftsman in town that can fix that door for you in no time. I promise,” he reassured her.
Miriam smiled and thanked him profusely.
Martha realized something about Jonas right then. He seemed to be very protective and caring of Miriam. As she looked over at the others, she noticed that Isaac and Rachel were exchanging curious glances with each other. They must have seen it too.