Chapter 1

The gray man

"The past is never where you think you left it" Katherine Anne Porter

Seth Hazlitt shivered as he left Jessica's house shortly after 11 pm. Although the rain had stopped hours ago, the air was still heavy with humidity and the typical coldness of a spring night at the coast of Maine. He was also tired, but it was the sort of satisfying tiredness that only a perfect evening could produce. The dinner, a new recipe from a French chef he had found in the latest New Hampshire Weekly, had been exquisite, the wine superb and the game of chess, of course, humiliating. Seth grinned. He didn't mind losing against Jessica, but, of course, he did his best to pretend otherwise.

He yawned again when he finally sat in his car and searched for the ignition lock. That was the moment he almost missed the quick movement behind his car. It was nothing but a shadow that quickly crossed the street and secretively hurried through the night. Suddenly Seth's weariness was gone and he was on alert. The figure, a man, wearing a trench coat, moved towards Jessica's house. Seth waited a few seconds, ready to jump out of his car. He observed the stranger as he approached Jessica's front door. She hadn't told him she was expecting someone. And who would visit her at this time of night? Seth grew worried. His protective instinct was always on autopilot when it came to Jessica and her safety. The woman lived much too dangerously and although she always claimed to be perfectly able to take care of herself, he preferred to look after her.

The lights in front of the house went on and he watched the man pressing the doorbell. Seth relaxed a bit. He doubted a burglar would make use of the doorbell. He focused on the stranger, but there wasn't much to say about him. The coat made it impossible to get any more clues about him. He was taller and slimmer than Seth was, the hair was gray. He was just an ordinary figure in an ordinary rain coat who made an extraordinary effort to pay a famous mystery writer a visit.

Jessica opened the door, the chain already unlocked. Seth wrinkled his forehead, now more disturbed than worried. Maybe she had been expecting the man after all and just hadn't told him. Seth watched Jessica stepping back, allowing the stranger to enter her house. The door closed behind them and after another minute of waiting and wondering, Seth started his car and drove home.

Seth started the next morning with a cup of strong coffee and his eyes fixed on the telephone. He knew it was only six o'clock, but he really wanted to call Jessica to hear if she was all right. Perhaps she would tell him about her visitor. Maybe it was all completely harmless after all. Maybe... It wasn't his business, really. He knew that. After all she was all grown up and had the right to keep things private if she wanted to.

He sighed and decided to wait for another half hour, before he would make his call. Fifteen minutes later his phone rang. Hoping it was Jessica, he practically jumped to the phone and spilled coffee all over his desk. He swore between clenched teeth while he was listening to the receptionist from the Hill House who asked him to come over. Apparently one guest was suffering from a severe food poisoning – Seth's favorite task to start the day.

"Aye, I'll be there in ten," he answered gruffly and hung up while he tried to dry his coffee soaked morning paper.

One hour later Seth had sent his latest patient to the hospital. He promised the young woman, a cute blonde thing from Idaho, to follow her to the hospital and waited until the ambulance was gone before he called the hospital to give some first instructions. It was still early and the Hill House was still half asleep. The receptionist offered him a coffee while Seth waited for his call to be connected.

He had just taken his first sip when he saw something in the corner of his eye that caused him to startle. A man in a trench coat came in. Seth looked at his watch. It was shortly after 7 o'clock. Quite early for a morning walk, he thought, wondering if he had seen the man before.

Stealthily he turned his head to have a better look at the man. One word to describe his distinguished appearance was gray. His hair was gray, his suit, elegant and expensive as it was, was gray, too. Even the color of his face was gray to some extent. Even without being a doctor Seth could have told that the man was either ill or just had overcome a severe illness.

He could be an ordinary tourist, Seth thought. He wouldn't be the first one to come to Cabot Cove for the good sea air. He watched the man passing him and condemned the tourist theory. The way the man moved reminded Seth about a certain someone he had seen the night before... Either he was becoming paranoid or he was the man he had seen at Jessica's house last night. The idea wasn't to his liking, because if he wasn't a very early riser who took walks in his best suit, he was just returning after spending the night in Jessica's house.

Still pondering about this, he decided to eavesdrop while the man demanded his key.

"No 7, please."

"Good morning, Mr Giles," the young receptionist said warmly and handed the man the key. "It seems to be a beautiful day."

"Yes," the man agreed with a smile. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to enjoy it. I'll be leaving around lunchtime. Could you please make the necessary arrangements?"

"Of course. I hope you enjoyed your stay here."

"I certainly did. Thank you!"

The man gave the receptionist a smile and left without taking any further notice of Seth. Seths' eyes followed the man as he went upstairs.

Three minutes later, he had finished his call and had gulped his coffee. One thing was sure. There was no way he was going to the hospital to treat a harmless case of food poisoning. If the stranger was who Seth thought he was, Jessica had some explaining to do.

Jessica sat at her kitchen table and stared onto the blank page in front of her. She had hoped against hope that after her sleepless night she could continue working on her new book, but the words were stuck in her head. It was all there, the whole scene, the whole plot even, but it was locked up in her brain. It wasn't her first writer's block. She knew it would pass. What worried her was the reason for it.

Frustrated, she refilled her coffee cup and rubbed her tired eyes. She gave up the idea of getting anything useful written. She had to pack anyway. After all she had agreed to go to the Hamptons this afternoon. Deep down inside she doubted she had made the right decision when she agreed to this little trip, but she also felt obliged to help. Months ago she had given a sincere promise that she intended to fulfill. She was also curious. The murder case Preston had told her about was interesting to say the least. It had captured her interest and she had this underlying feeling Preston had known she wouldn't be able to resist. Should it worry her that he knew her well enough to talk her into something like this?

She heard a car door outside and looked through the window. It was Seth who looked like someone who hadn't slept much either and undoubtedly expected breakfast.

"Come in!" she said, before he even knocked and produced a second cup out of the cupboard for him.

"Morning, Jess," Seth said and took off his hat.

"You look, as if you had a busy morning," she remarked dryly when she handed him a fresh pot of coffee. She hoped he wouldn't notice that she hadn't had a change of clothes till he had left her house, but she doubted that would be the case. Most men were quite oblivious to these things.

"I had indeed. Food poisoning at the Hill House. Seems the kitchen there is worse than we all thought."

Jessica smirked. "I hope it's not too bad."

"Nope. She'll survive, but I bet she'll spend her next vacation at the Bahamas and feed herself with coconuts," he groaned, as he sat down.

"You look tired," he remarked casually. "Did your victory over me get to your head?"

"Perhaps. I just couldn't sleep and later I couldn't write." She patted her old typewriter, but Seth had no intention of allowing her to hide behind her work.

"Aye... I actually thought the reason for your insomnia was your late night visitor."

Jessica felt caught and as always when she felt caught by him she avoided his knowing gaze and drew small patterns on the tablecloth.

"How do you know that?"

He cleared his throat. "Saw him when he sneaked up to the house like some burglar. I'd like to believe that I was one of the most interesting people you know, but it seems I was proven wrong - again." He tried to sound casual, but, of course, he wasn't fooling her.

Jessica felt now how her cheeks colored and for a moment she was thinking of coming up with a lie, but when she looked at his face again she realized it was useless. He knew. It was the reason he was there in her kitchen. And there was also no need for her or Seth to speak out the man's name. Seth Hazlitt had already figured out the identity of her late night visitor and he knew enough of the man's story to worry about her. "Seth, please. This is not what you think."

"Perhaps it is. Perhaps it's not. I won't even ask what this is all about, because it's none of my business, but my advice for you shall be: be careful, Jessica!"

She rose from her chair, because she couldn't stand the feeling of his eyes penetrating her. She knew he meant well, but she was in control of the situation. "I'll be all right. There's nothing to worry about!"

"I saw him at the Hill House this morning, you know."

"I see."

He stole a biscuit from the plate, but he didn't eat it. He just toyed with it.

"Seems he's leaving town today," he said, hoping his hint would lead her to talk, which, of course, didn't work out.

"Yes, he is."

"It's hard to believe he just dropped in for a nightly visit and leaves again... just like that."

Jessica gave up. The man knew her too well and sometimes it was frustrating to realize how easily he could read her. She turned to him, determination written all over her face. "All right. He's asked me to come with him. He has a... family problem and thinks I could be of help."

Seth's jaw dropped. And his heart dropped, too. "You want to leave town with him?"

"It's only for a few days."

"Jess, the man is a convicted double murderer! A murderer you brought to justice, if my memory serves me right! Did it ever occur to you that he could have an ulterior motive in asking you for help?!"

Jessica shook her head, "If he wanted to hurt me, he could have done so seven years ago, not to mention last year after his release from prison! Seth, Preston Giles is not what or who you think he is."

Seth watched her, stunned by her demeanor, "Does that mean you trust him?"

Jessica thought about this for a moment and then she said, "Yes, Seth. I trust him and I hope you trust my judgment." Again, she sat down and touched his hand. "Seth, please. I don't want to argue about this. I've made up my mind and nothing you say is going to change it."

He saw in her eyes that she meant every word she said. The woman was as stubborn as a mule.

"I do trust your judgment," he said darkly. "I'm just asking myself if you're thinking with your head or something much more precious."

She would never admit it to anyone but herself, but there had been moments in the last few hours when she had asked herself the same question. In the end she had decided that she wanted to go to the Hamptons with Preston Girls to get to the bottom of an old murder case and her own conflicted feelings.

****tbc****