Death at the Door by K. C. Greenlief Page A

flock of wild turkeys scurry off the road.
    â€œRose has three sisters, Violet, Lily, and Daisy. They all have summer homes up here but live in Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago.”
    â€œWhat’s with the flower names?” Joel asked, scribbling in his notebook.
    â€œFamily tradition. All the females for over a hundred years have been named after flowers.” The house came into view. “I’m going to stop here and give you the rest of the family history and then we’ll go on up to the house.” John pulled off to the side of a circular drive that allowed trespassers to turn and leave the property before pulling up to the house. It also showed off a magnificent view of Eagle Harbor and the old Eagle Bluff Lighthouse across the bay in Peninsula State Park.
    â€œRose’s great-grandfather Amos Card built the house for his wife in 1907. His parents owned Card Shipping Lines. Their ships transported passengers and cargo on all the Great Lakes. They owned the ships that brought people to vacation in Door County before there were trains or passable roads. When Amos married Iris Bjorklund from Washington Island, his father gave him three hundred acres of property between Ephraim and Sister Bay including the land where this house stands. Iris loved Door County so much that Amos decided to build their main home here. They only left Door County in the dead of winter when they went to their home in Chicago.”
    â€œThree hundred acres here must be worth a fortune now.” Joel looked around in wonder.
    â€œThe family only has two hundred acres left but they own several thousand feet of lake frontage, which is worth millions today. The house was passed on to Iris and Amos’s daughter Hyacinth Card, who married Joshua Williams. That’s how Cathy Lowery and Rose are related: Cathy was a Williams. The Williams family owned several sawmills and paper mills throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, including a sawmill here in Door County, which Joshua ran.” John started the car and drove up the hill toward the house.
    â€œAnother case where money attracts money,” Joel quipped.
    â€œTheir child, Camellia Williams, married Robert DuBois, an attorney and businessman from Chicago. Camellia is Rose Gradoute’s mother. Camellia never really liked living in Door County. She spends most of her time in Chicago. She has a house further up the road. She stays there when she comes up once or twice a year, and that’s where she and her husband keep their yacht. The boat is called Flower Power.”
    â€œYou weren’t kidding about the flower names, were you?” Joel said as he finished up his notes.
    â€œDead serious. I remember all this because the bed-and-breakfast rooms are each going to be done in a different flower theme. One of Rose’s sisters is an interior decorator. She’s already working on that part of the project.” John pulled up under the porte cochere.
    â€œThis place is incredible,” Ann said as they got out of the car and took a better look at the house and grounds. The house, really a two-story, cedar-and-stone lodge, was set up on a hill east of the beach. The rooms in the front of the house facing west had a panoramic view of Eagle Harbor. Ann noticed that one section of the house had a third story and a belvedere that was primarily glass. She hoped she would get to go up there to get a better look at the area. The east or back side of the house was surrounded by part of the grove of tall trees they had driven through. Ann’s eyes followed a pink stone path from the north side of the house across the road and down to a large white gazebo that sat at the edge of the beach. Their study of the house was interrupted when the front door opened.
    â€œJohn, how nice to see you. Rose is out in the greenhouse.” The woman shook hands with John and introduced herself as Delia Head-ley. She escorted them down a long center hall. They