The Ice Maiden (Doug Bateman Mystery Book 1) by B.D. Smith

Author:B.D. Smith [Smith, B.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2017-04-26T22:00:00+00:00

12.

A POPE’S PEAR

Anne was in the kitchen of her small rental house on Autumn Street in Dover-Foxcroft early the next morning, packing up her kitchen utensils in anticipation of the move to her south shore cottage that was now only a week away. WMEH, the NPR station out of Bangor was on the radio and Charles, her large white tomcat, was entertaining her by hiding in the cardboard boxes scattered around the room and rushing out to attack her ankles at regular intervals.

Over the winter, as the cottage renovations were going forward, she and June had talked a lot about how to upgrade the cottage and make it a year-round home while still retaining its original character. Now their plans were taking shape. The replacement wooden sash windows were a close match to the originals, and the recently installed energy efficient baseboard heating system was unobtrusive. Anne had also bought a used Jøtul wood stove from a lobsterman in Phippsburg, down on the coast, to replace the cottage’s cracked cast-iron antique. She kept the kitchen cabinets and original two-basin enamel cast iron sink, but added soapstone counter-tops along with a new stove and refrigerator.

There was still a lot of work to do on the place but it was livable, and she was anxious to get started on a few indoor projects. The floors and most interior walls of the cottage were 80-year old pine that had aged to a beautiful dark golden color, and would be pretty much left alone. She planned on cleaning and resealing the floors, washing the pine walls, then starting in on painting the new window frames and kitchen cabinets a dark forest green.

Once warmer weather arrived Anne could start the major outdoor projects, with her main goal for the summer being power washing and staining the cedar shake shingle exterior of the cottage a dark brown, with forest green trim, to blend in with the surrounding forest. Doug had a paint sprayer he said he would lend her, and the “Paint Queen” over at the Ace Hardware had helped her pick out the exterior colors. Once the exterior painting of the cottage was finished she had plans to rebuild the small boathouse on her property, and if zoning allowed, to turn the upper storage area into a sleeping loft for guests.

Anne’s packing was interrupted by a call from Doug asking if she could pick him up at the Sebec Country Store in about an hour – the autopsy for the Phoebe Island victim had been moved up to late morning, and they could make it if they left soon. Anne said she would stop at the Center Theatre Coffee House for coffee and donuts on the way to pick him up. Doug responded.

“Just coffee. No donuts. We’re going to make a quick stop at the mother ship.” He hung up before Anne could ask what the mother ship was.

The Coffee House was busy when Anne got there, and Beth seemed uncharacteristically out of sorts.

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