Surfboards and Suspects

by Stacey Alabaster

  “Eww, what is that smell?” I asked as we stepped through the doors.

  It was sickly sweet but also a little rotten. Kinda like decaying fruit, maybe. Eww.

  Claire looked a little green around the gills as well, but she told me I’d get used to it. I wasn’t sure I believed her. She didn’t even look like she believed herself.

  There was a frowning man behind the counter as we walked in.

  “This guy already hates me,” Claire grumbled as she nodded towards him. She told me his name was Glenn and that he considered her to be very rude and demanding. Oh well, those two things were true enough.

  “Maybe Glenn is just a perceptive guy.”

  “Ha-ha.”

  Well, I hadn’t actually been joking, but at least she didn’t take offense.

  “He doesn’t seem happy to see me.”

  “Hmm, why don’t you let me take a shot at it then?” I asked.

  Maybe it was just because it was our last hurrah, but Claire actually nodded and agreed to let me take the lead.

  I took a deep breath—a bad move with that smell lingering in the air—and walked over to the counter.

  He was already rolling his eyes before I even got five feet from the desk. “Still sniffing around in here?” he asked and returned to his books.

  “I’d rather not be to be honest,” I said, coughing a little.

  He looked up at me sharply and I thought he was going to take offense, but instead he apologized. “You do get used to it after a while.”

  “Must be tough working here,” I said, and I meant it. “Seeing all this death, dealing with all this grief.”

  He looked at me strangely for a moment. “I suppose you must know the same thing.”

  That really hit me. I nodded and actually, weirdly, felt some tears prickling at the backs of my eyes. Because I was thinking about J, and about Troy, and about how I wanted to protect them from all this. “I am just trying to set things right,” I said quietly. Claire couldn’t even hear our conversation. We were talking too quietly, and she was too far away, leaving me to do my own thing for once.

  Glenn looked uncomfortable and shuffled a few things around.

  “Please, is there something you know that you are not telling us?” I asked him.

  He stared up at me blankly. “It wasn’t Nello Carbonetti in here that day of his mother’s funeral.”

  Oh my gosh. “But how do you know that?”

  He looked a little guilty. “I saw the person who was pretending to be him. His hat slipped off at one stage and it was young man, far younger than Nello Carbonetti.”

  I wasn’t really following.

  “Sorry, can you back up a bit?” I asked. Claire had vaguely mentioned something to me about a ‘disguise,’ but I’d thought this was just wishful thinking on her part. You know, that someone had pretended to be Mr. Carbonetti for the funeral, while he was out killing random surfers. But even I—with my wild imagination—knew that didn’t make much sense.

  Glenn was looking mighty guilty. “You can’t tell anyone this,” he said, whispering so low that even I could barely hear him, let alone Claire. “I was offered money not to say anything.”

  “By whom?”

  “By the guard who was here that day. But the money came directly from Nello. It wasn’t him here that day. It was a ringer.”

  Whoa. “Why?” I asked. Claire glanced over when she heard our voices rise.

  “He knew it would look bad if he wasn’t here for his mother’s funeral, but he was too scared to come back to Eden Bay, so he paid someone to impersonate him. He never left the jail all day.”

  “So who was it?” I asked

  Glenn shrugged. “No one important. Just another random prisoner that Nello is buddies with, doing him a favor.”

  I almost couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, I knew how corrupt our prison system could be.

  “Thanks, Glenn. I hope you have a pleasant day, I really do,” I said, and promised not to tell anyone about the bribe he had taken.

  Outside in the fresh air, Claire was shocked at the information I had gotten.

  “It wasn’t even him…” At first, she thought this was good news. As though Mr. Carbonetti not being at the funeral meant he really did have the opportunity to kill Dan Millen. Like it removed his alibi. It took her a few moments to grasp it fully.

  “But he was safely behind bars,” Claire said with a sigh.

  I was a little deflated as well. I couldn’t figure out whether this was good or bad news for us. Probably more bad than good. It would have been so nice and neat if we’d had the right guy all along and could prove it because he’d killed again.

  “Maybe Maria did do it,” Claire said sadly as we started to wander slowly away from the funeral house. “I mean, she does have a bit of a track record…”

  But that sort of talk was only annoying me. I knew what Claire was getting at and it was ridiculous. “All she did was take home a couple of books from your shop. That doesn’t make someone a killer.”

  “She STOLE the books,” Claire said, pouting a little. “And that does make her a criminal.”

  Maybe. We walked quietly for a while and as we did, the temperature dropped dramatically. The cool change was finally setting in. Great. Just in time for my wedding. I just hoped that it wouldn’t rain. “I just can’t believe that the killer could be someone we know. Someone we are so close to,” I said.

  Speaking of, there was a familiar face up ahead. We both spotted Byron at the same time at the end of the block. And she was looking very spritely and healthy, at least from a distance.

  We watched as Byron lifted her head up to the sky and tilted her head back a little, seemingly appreciating the cool breeze blowing through town. It looked like her hip surgery had gone well and she was all recovered. She looked like a young woman.

  Claire wanted to run into a shop for a diet soda, and it wasn’t until we were back outside again that Byron was right in front of us on the sidewalk. “Oh, hello ladies,” she said, beaming at us but looking a little pained, which I was surprised by.

  “Oh, you do still have your cane,” Claire said, then tried to not look so surprised. “Sorry, I just thought I saw you walking without it when you were a little further down the road.”

  “Oh no, dear, I am still using this darn thing all time, I’m afraid,” Byron said, tapping it on the ground a little, looking frustrated.

  “Well, maybe I need to go and get my eyes checked,” Claire said, lightly, but Byron took her quite seriously and looked at her with concern.

  “You are too young for your eyesight to start failing you just yet, aren’t you?” Byron laughed a little. “Give some hope to the rest of us, at least.”

  Well. We were actually growing up. Growing old would come next.

  “Must have just been my mistake,” Claire said. “Maybe wishful thinking. We all just want to see you fully recovered, Byron. You are too precious for the town to lose.”

  She looked a little sad and rubbed at the knuckles of her left hand.

  “What is it?” I asked her.

  “I think a warmer climate might be beckoning me.”

  I was confused. Eden Bay was the hottest it had ever been that summer. “What, warmer than here?” I asked in disbelief.

  She laughed and gripped her cane as she leaned forward a little bit. “Might sound bit strange at the moment, I suppose. But yes. There are chilly months here in the bay, and I can feel a chill in the air right now as a matter of fact. I think somewhere tropical might do me the world of good.”

  “Too bad you couldn’t get a ticket on that cruise ship,” Claire said.

  “Next time,” Byron said gently and then bid the two of us farewell as she shuffled on down the sidewalk

  Wow. So the town might be losing Byron after all.

  She had to do what she had to do. Just like we all did. Everything changes and nothing stays the same.

  I had to say something to Claire, though. I
had been swallowing it down ever since our friendship had been repaired. Because our friendship still seemed so fragile, I hadn’t wanted to risk it. So I’d played nice. Or nice enough. But the talk of the cruise ship had unnerved me. Claire needed to know the truth, even if she hated me for it. Even if she shot the messenger.

  “Claire. There is something you need to know about this Michael guy you are in love with.”

  19

  Claire

  Roger was grumbling because there was another man in my house. But he and Bianca were playing gin rummy at the kitchen table and he seemed quite taken by her. I told him not to be jealous and led Michael to my bedroom because he said he had something to show me.

  He spun around and gave me the first look. “What do you think?” Darn. He looked really good in his wedding suit. It had been perfectly fitted to show off his biceps. A dark blue with a crisp white shirt underneath. Just to my tastes. Just what I would have chosen for him if I had picked the suit out myself.

  He seemed so perfect.

  What did they say about things that sound too good to be true?

  And he LOOKED perfect just then. I wanted to kiss him.

  But I had to tell him the bad news. “I think it might be better if I attend the wedding on my own. I mean, I am maid of honor, and I won’t even be able to hang out with you or spend any time with you—not really. And anyway, Alyson wants to keep the wedding small…” I realized I was rambling and giving him too many excuses for why he couldn’t come. It would have been better to just stick to the one.

  His face had fallen during the conversation. “You don’t believe the things that they are saying about me, do you, Claire?”

  I really, really didn’t want to believe them, but Alyson had done her research. She wouldn’t be antagonizing me just for the sake of it, even though she may have wanted to spare Matt’s feelings by stopping me from having a wedding date. But I really didn’t think it was that. She had proof—there were several people who linked the story back to Michael.

  “A lot of people are talking,” I said quietly.

  “And what do you think, Claire?” he asked me as he started to remove the cufflinks from his sleeves. He didn’t sound defensive, or even that hurt. What he did sound like was concerned for me, concerned that I was the one being hurt, and that only made this conversation harder.

  “Michael, I don’t know what to think…” I looked up at him. “Why are people saying that you listed that ticket?”

  He shrugged a little and looked kinda sad. “I have no idea,” he said. “And it doesn’t matter what everyone else says and thinks. It only matters what you think.”

  “I just think it would be better if you didn’t attend the wedding, that’s all.”

  He smiled at me sadly. But he was also understanding. He was being gentle with me even though I was accusing him of a terrible thing. “That’s totally fine, Claire. I understand.” He picked up the bag he had brought his suit in and started to walk towards the door. “And you’re right—it’s better for me to stay away from the wedding. And to be honest, I still think you have feelings for your old boyfriend.”

  “Matt?” It was all I could say. I couldn’t seem to form any other words. And the longer I stood there with my mouth open like an idiot, the more it looked like he was right.

  Michael dropped his head a little bit. “Maybe I should get back on the cruise ship tomorrow.”

  Oh gosh. I hadn’t expected him to say that. My heart sunk.

  But only one response came to my head. And by the time it had slipped out, it was too late to take it back.

  “Maybe you should.”

  He nodded and walked out.

  20

  Alyson

  So far, we had not figured out how to stop the cruise ship, and by that stage, most of the passengers had moved their baggage back onto the boat. Including Matt, who was due to set sail the following night. “Don’t worry. I will be at the wedding,” he said. Both he and Dad were going to walk me down the aisle, one of them on either side of me. “And the reception too. It’s not leaving till after dark.” But I could see from the look on his face that he wasn’t quite so confident.

  “Matt, I need you to be there for the whole thing, not just the walking me down the aisle part.”

  “Well, as long as it doesn’t run over, it will all be all right, won’t it?”

  But then we got some good news. Well, it was good for me. Just as Matt was clocking off his shift, he received an email from the captain. Even though passengers would be allowed back on board starting the following afternoon—and they could even sleep in the cabins if they so wished—the ship would not actually set sail until the day following day.

  I couldn’t tell whether Matt looked happy or disappointed about the news. A part of me wondered if he was actually hoping to miss the wedding so that he wouldn’t have to see Claire. I mean, it was kind of crummy that she was bringing a date with her.

  “It will be okay. You’ll hardly have to see them or deal with them,” I told him. “You’ll be plenty busy with your duties, and then you’ll probably be so nervous about your speech that you won’t even have time to talk to Claire before the reception,” I tried to reassure him.

  “I’m not worried about it,” Matt grumbled, but it was clear that he was.

  “You’ve actually got your ticket, don’t you?” I asked, suddenly concerned. Not because I wanted my brother to leave town. But because I was concerned he had been ripped off like Maria had been and was out thousands of dollars.

  “Yes,” he said and looked a little embarrassed as he glanced up at the gray sky. “I got it from Michael already.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Michael sold you the ticket?”

  “Yeah, well, who else would have?”

  I shrugged. “I’d assumed that the captain sold it. That it was all official-like. Not some random unofficial thing with his cabinmate.”

  “Yeah. I guess I was kinda keeping it under wraps. It felt a little dodgy buying it from him.”

  “Matt. When did you first ask Michael about getting a ticket?”

  There was an uneasy feeling in my stomach as I waited for the answer. Matt was staring at the ground. “Well, I first inquired about getting a ticket that night we were out in the waves, surfing.”

  “Oh my gosh. Matt.”

  There was a sudden sharp wind that hit me cold in the face. Suddenly, I got it… What had really gone down that evening on the boat. When Matt had asked Michael about getting a ticket, Michael couldn’t pull his usual scam and stay hidden behind a computer screen—he had needed an actual ticket.

  So he had killed Dan Millen.

  I was willing to overlook a few things that Claire had done or might do, but bringing a murderer to my wedding… That was not going to happen. That was a bridge too far.

  And I had to stop it.

  Even if it meant being late for my own wedding.

  I asked her to meet me at Captain Eightball’s the following morning. A slight change of plan seeing as the bridal party was supposed to be meeting at the salon on Main Street at 10 to get our hair and makeup done.

  “What is it now?” Claire asked, looking nervous, and I didn’t think it was just because of the speech she was going to have to give that afternoon.

  I told her Matt had told me about something about Michael.

  But she interrupted me. “There’s something I need to tell you, too. About Michael, I mean.”

  I didn’t think it could possibly be anything I didn’t already know, but I let her talk. She told me that apparently there had been tension between Michael and Dan because Dan wouldn’t sell Michael the movie rights to his life story. Claire looked anxious. “I should have told someone,” she said. “But I didn’t want to believe he was guilty.”

  I shook my head and scrambled to tell her what I had just learned myself. We didn’t have much time. The ceremony was due to start in three hours, and I was still in my jeans and t-shirt.

  �
��Don’t you get it?” I asked her, trying to get through to her. “He didn’t kill Dan because of this stupid movie thing. He killed Dan because he needed the ticket, or he was going to be in big trouble for scalping when Matt found out he didn’t really have tickets.”

  I saw the pain all over Claire’s face… That was never my intention. I didn’t want her to be hurt. I just wanted her to see the truth.

  She hung her head. “I’ve already told him not to come to the wedding. So you didn’t have to go sticking the boot in.”

  “Claire, this has nothing to do with my wedding,” I said, standing up. “It has to do with the truth.” But time was ticking. “But actually, right now, it DOES have to do with my wedding. I need to go get into my dress. Like, right NOW.”

  My gown was long, and white, and made of loose lace. No frills and no Cinderella draping, though. Straight down to the sand. Flipflops underneath.

  Unfortunately, that darn cruise ship was still in the way. It was going to be in the background of all the wedding photos. But as we pulled up in the car and prepared to hop out, I knew I couldn’t do much about it. After all, hadn’t it also been my wish for the boat to stay?

  “Whoa, there’s Michael,” Claire said, distracted by her lost lover walking towards the ship as we got out of the limo. I was a little offended that she wasn’t focusing on me, but then something a little strange happened. He took a long look at Claire and I…and started to run in the opposite direction.

  We looked at each other. To my left, right down on the other end of the beach, was Troy waiting for me at the end of the aisle. But to the right—

  We nodded to each other. One last mission. We had to do this.

  “He’s getting away!” I shouted out as I dropped my bouquet and sprinted towards the cruise ship with Claire behind me, and I had the strangest sense of déjà vu. Last time we had gotten on that boat, something very bad had happened.

  But this time, we were going to catch the killer. Not let him kill again.