“Here, here,” Trina agreed.
3
Terrible News comes to the Taffy Shop
The next day at the shop was equally as slow. Lydia knew that it was very likely that she would let Kelsey and Annette who were working that morning go home early. However, she didn’t want to be alone immediately that morning. She was hoping to have coffee with the handsome lifeguard, Daniel, that she had been seeing.
She was also a little distracted and was grateful to have other people there as they made sure that the shop was properly opened. She had taken Sunny for a walk that morning and headed down the street with the intention of greeting Miles Gardner. She had brought some French toast taffy that she knew that he would like and she thought he would be pleased to see Sunny. However, there had been no answer at the door when she knocked.
She wasn’t sure whether she should be worried or not. She didn’t know what Miles Gardner’s plans were and it was very possible that he had gone out. Even though his car was there, he could have gone for a walk.
However, she felt like something was wrong. Hoping she would be appreciated as a caring neighbor and not an overly nosy one, Lydia peeked in through several windows at the house. She wanted to be certain that the man was not having a medical emergency and needed help. However, she saw no signs of the man at home. Sunny also wasn’t reacting as if someone was inside who needed to be rescued.
Lydia had left the house, wondering if she was overreacting. After all, she had not told her neighbor exactly when she was coming to visit him, so there was no reason why he had to be home at that time in the morning. Still, she couldn’t shake the bad feeling that she had.
“Lydia, with all the dangers you’ve faced before, I bet you don’t get stage fright,” Kelsey said.
“Pardon?” Lydia asked, being brought back from her wandering thoughts about her neighbor to reality.
“I said I bet you don’t get stage fright.”
“I’m not sure,” Lydia said. “I think the last time I was onstage, I was a child and I played a carrot.”
“So, you do have some experience,” Kelsey said, smiling brightly.
“Kelsey, what’s going on?”
“It’s Gayle,” Kelsey said, losing her smile. “She’s the cast member I said was afraid of the water. Well, she became so afraid of the jellyfish that she left town. She normally stays here all summer, but she left and rented out her summer house. And now I need to find a replacement for her in the play.”
“And you want me to do it?” asked Lydia.
“I’m getting desperate. My most important scene is with this character. No one else in the cast knows who to ask. I said I would try and find someone.”
Lydia didn’t particularly want to be onstage, but she didn’t want her employee to suffer either. She knew how important theater was to Kelsey.
“What’s the role like? Are there a lot of lines?”
“There’s a decent amount, but the director said that the character could be holding a book and we can hide the script inside it. We have one really great scene together. You’d be playing my grandmother.”
Lydia raised an eyebrow. She was older than the high schooler, but she hoped she wouldn’t pass for the girl’s grandmother. She thought it was more likely that she looked like an older sister or maybe her mother.
“Did you consider asking Annette?” Lydia asked.
Annette looked up from her crocheting at the counter. She created sea creature toys that were sold in the shop, and when business was slow, she often took out her hooks and yarn.
Annette actually was a grandmother, and her gray hair would help her look the part on stage.
“Is this about the play?” Annette asked. “I would love to help Kelsey, but the show runs two weekends, and one of those weekends, I am going out of town for my own granddaughter’s birthday.”
“She would have been great,” Kelsey said. “But you can be great too. We can put a wig and makeup on you, so you look the part. And we already have a relationship where you look out for me. I need to find someone before tech week next week, and then we have two weekends of shows.”
“Why don’t you use me as a backup?” Lydia suggested, not wanting to let Kelsey down. “See if you can find someone else, but if not, I’ll do it. I’m not sure I’ll be any good on stage. And I am a little hesitant because of the time commitment. But if you can’t find another actor, I will help.”
“Thank you!” Kelsey said. “And it won’t be too much of a time commitment. It’s mostly in the evenings. And as long as you don’t have any investigating to do, you should be fine.”
Lydia nodded, but without much enthusiasm. She really hoped that Kelsey would find a better replacement performer.
The shop door opened, and all three women jumped to attention, eager to help a customer. Kelsey and Annette relaxed when they realized who it was, but Lydia’s smile grew.
Daniel, the lifeguard that she had been seeing, walked inside. He was a quiet man who took a while to warm up to people, but Lydia was glad that he had begun opening up to her.
It was because she was starting to know him so well that she realized something was wrong as soon as he was inside. He said hello to everyone politely and then headed closer to Lydia.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
A slight grin appeared, which she thought meant that he was glad that she could pick up on his subtle hints. However, then the grin left his face, and he placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.
“Lydia, I do have some bad news. A man was found dead on the beach. He must have gotten there early before the lifeguards came on duty. It looks like he was stung by the jellyfish and that’s what killed him.”
“That’s terrible,” Lydia said.
“Your brother and some officers came to the scene,” Daniel explained. “I thought you should know that the man who died was a neighbor of yours according to the identification in his wallet. You probably know him.”
“Was his name Miles Gardner?” Lydia asked, hoping she wouldn’t hear the answer that she suspected it would be.
“That’s right,” Daniel said.
Lydia tried to process this information, but it didn’t seem to make sense. Her feelings of worry were correct, but she would never have guessed that Miles Gardner would have been killed by jellyfish.
“Is there anything you need?” Daniel asked.
“I need to talk to Leo,” Lydia said, heading toward the door.
“I guess she really can’t do the play,” Kelsey said quietly. “But who else should I ask?”
4
Suspicions at the Station
Daniel followed Lydia out of the taffy shop and to the police station. He told her that he arranged for someone else to take his post at the lifeguard stand when he was concerned that she might be upset by the death. He hadn’t known how well Lydia had known the man who died, and she was touched that he had been so considerate.
However, most of her thoughts were focused on Miles Gardner. She alternated between memories of her childhood where Mr. Gardner would visit her aunt and uncle and tell her stories about Ocean Point in the past and the recent memory of him when he visited her at the taffy shop. He had reminded her that he didn’t like going into the ocean. How could it be that he had ventured out there when there were stinging jellyfish? How could that be the way he met his end? It didn’t make any sense to her.
She hurried over to her brother’s desk with Daniel at her side. Leo held up his hand as he approached. He was on the phone, and it was clear that he didn’t want to be interrupted.
Lydia tried to remain calm, but the waiting made the moment seem even worse. Daniel seemed to sense her agitation and took her hand in his. She was thankful for the support, but it didn’t calm her down any. Now her heart was racing for the combined reasons that Daniel had never held her hand before and because she was afraid some injustice had befallen her neighbor.
She and Daniel had been taking things slowly.
They were beginning to enjoy spending time with one another, but they were doing it as friends. While there was attraction and affection between them, they didn’t want to rush anything. Daniel was a widower, and Lydia had her own trust issues after she left her fiancé who clearly never put her needs ahead of his own – even when she needed support the most: when her uncle had become ill.
Lydia wondered if anyone else could hear how quick her heartbeat was, and she hoped that she wasn’t blushing in front of her brother.
Leo began winding down his call. “Thank you for your expert opinion. This was a matter that we needed clarified. If you come across any other information, you can reach out to myself or my partner. Ask for Detective Doherty or Detective Grey. Yes, thank you, doctor.”
As soon as he hung up the phone, Lydia asked, “Was that about Miles Gardner?”
Leo nodded. “I was going to tell you once I sorted out a few things, but I’m glad that you know now. Miles Gardner was a great neighbor. I’m really sad that he’s gone.”
“That was a doctor you were talking to?” asked Daniel.
“Yes. Though it might not be the type of doctor that you expect. I was just talking to a marine biologist to determine if the jellyfish found in our waters could have done what they appeared to.”
“He did have a heart condition,” Lydia said. “I don’t know the specifics, but he mentioned it yesterday.”
“The stings could have been enough to affect his heart,” Leo said. “The marine biologist I spoke to said that there had been warmer waters in our area recently and that can affect the sea life that comes near us. Lion’s Mane Jellyfish or Purple Jellyfish have been found here when the water is warm enough. They both sting. And some Portuguese Man O’Wars have washed up on shores in the Garden State before. It’s unlikely that they would live in this area, but it is possible. They are very deadly.”
“I haven’t actually seen the jellyfish yet,” Daniel said. “I have been keeping an eye out while I’m on duty, especially when there are no people swimming that I have to keep safe. I’m afraid I can’t tell you what they look like yet, but I will continue to look.”
“Other people have been stung before, but no one else died,” Lydia said. “Something about this seems wrong.”
“Different health conditions can be affected by injuries differently,” Leo said. “We’ll know more after the autopsy.”
Then, his partner, Detective Grey, joined them with news of the autopsy, though it was not something that Lydia expected to hear.
“I found someone who can conduct the autopsy,” Detective Grey said. He was a serious man who reported this announcement seriously somberly.
“Someone to conduct the autopsy?” Lydia asked. “What happened to the medical examiner Murray?”
“Vacation,” Leo said. “Though I suspect he decided to go on this vacation now so we wouldn’t comment on how we learned that he'd been the one talking to the press about cases.”
Lydia nodded.
“Dr. Charles Adams will come in and conduct the autopsy with Murray’s assistant,” Detective Grey said. “He has filled in before when medical examiners have been out of town. We usually don’t have so much crime that we need multiple people on staff.”
“I’m glad that you have someone conducting an autopsy,” Lydia said. “Something about all this seems… well, fishy.”
“We just want to confirm the cause of death, so we know what kind of jellyfish threat we are dealing with,” Leo said. “Though I think it would be a safe assumption to say that we should close the beaches down today.”
“And then we’ll have to do what we can to keep people calm,” Detective Grey said. “We’ll need to balance tourism with public safety.”
“Check and make sure that it actually was jellyfish that killed Mr. Gardner,” Lydia said. “Because this doesn’t seem right. Mr. Gardner didn’t like going in the water. He told me that again yesterday.”
“But he was found in the water,” Detective Grey said. “He had washed up on shore without his shoes. We assumed he wanted to get his feet wet, but then was stung by the jellyfish repeatedly.”
“I don’t think he even liked getting his feet wet,” said Lydia. “He said he didn’t like salt water.”
“Sometimes people change their mind about things,” said Leo. “Maybe his heart trouble had him thinking about his mortality, and he wanted to try new things. Maybe he thought a stroll with his toes in the water would be refreshing. There wouldn’t be many people there to bother him.”
“Maybe,” Lydia admitted.
Leo glared at her. “You have that look on your face. The one that says you’re going to get in the middle of my investigation.”
“Something still seems wrong to me,” said Lydia.
“When someone we care about dies, it’s hard to make sense of. No matter the circumstances,” said Leo. “It doesn’t mean that there was foul play. Can you promise me that you won’t interfere with my case?”
“Well,” Lydia said neutrally. “I’d like to hear what the autopsy report has to say.”
The siblings exchanged a look. It seemed they were at an impasse. Leo didn’t want to let Lydia “meddle” with his case, and Lydia wasn’t going to walk away from her concerns that there was more than met the eye in regard to the death.
Finally, Leo let out a groan. “It’s not going to say anything suspicious. It’s going to say that the jellyfish aggravated Mr. Gardner’s heart condition. And I’m afraid we can’t go out and slap handcuffs on a jellyfish.”
5
Debating with Daniel
“I don’t know what I was expecting,” Lydia said, “but I don’t feel any better after that.”
Lydia was getting her frustration out by walking quickly on the boardwalk, but Daniel was keeping pace with her. There was barely anyone else on the wooden structure, so she didn’t mind walking at her frenzied pace.
“It looked like Leo and Detective Grey were giving the case their attention,” Daniel said.
“They are. And I think they’re following the correct steps if Miles Gardner really was killed by jellyfish stings. Closing the beaches and making sure everyone remains calm is important.”
“You said if Miles Gardner was killed by the jellyfish,” said Daniel. “You don’t think that he was?”
“I don’t know. He must have been stung by the jellyfish, but I feel like there had to have been some human involvement here. I don’t see Mr. Gardner choosing the time when jellyfish are around as the time to break his stance that he wouldn’t go in the water. I’m very interested to see this autopsy report. Maybe he was drugged and placed in the water.”
“You think he was murdered?”
“I think someone is forcing him into the water makes more sense than him getting in there by himself,” Lydia said. “Though I can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt this nice old man.”
“Did he have a lot of money?” asked Daniel. “Inheritance can sometimes make people act crazily out of greed.”
“I think he had enough for a comfortable life, but I don’t think he was extremely wealthy. I imagine that his brother will be the beneficiary. He lives in Atlanta. I guess it would be easy to check if he or his family traveled out here. I haven’t seen them, though.”
Lydia slowed her pace. Suddenly, she felt exhausted. She knew it was a combination of the exercise (which she admitted she didn’t usually do enough of) and emotions. Thinking about how sad Mr. Gardner’s family would be when they heard the news reminded her of her own sorrow at losing her neighbor.
“Why don’t we sit down?” Daniel suggested.
He gestured toward a bench on the boardwalk, and they headed over. Lydia clutched a stitch in her side that she hadn’t noticed before. She was happy to sit down, but not that she suddenly felt about to break into tears.
She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I think considering why someone would want to hurt Mr. Gardner affected me. I’d been focusing on what was wrong with
the death instead of the death itself. He was such a nice man and a good neighbor. I’m going to miss him.”
“You’re allowed to be upset by something like this,” Daniel reminded her.
The tears started slipping out after he said that.
“I keep thinking about the barbecues we used to have and how often he would visit Uncle Edgar after he got sick. I have to admit that his death is also reminding me of how I lost my uncle. They were such good friends. And I also feel guilty,” Lydia admitted. “I went to visit him, but I was too late. What if I had gotten there earlier? I could have stopped someone from hurting him. Or, if it really was his idea to go into the dangerous water, I could have been with him to help.”
Dragonfruit and Dread Page 2
