Murder at the Marina

by Ellen Jacobson

  “Well, the first thing you should do is call a lawyer.” She got up wearily. Ned’s arrest had sapped all her usual feistiness out of her. While there were times I wished for a kinder, gentler Nancy, this wasn’t the way I would have wanted it to happen. I watched Nancy walk slowly toward the office and pondered Ned’s arrest. Could he have really killed Jack? Could he have really killed Captain Dan, and if so, why? Were the two murders connected?

  CHAPTER 14

  DATING SCOUNDRELS

  AFTER THE SHOCK OF Ned’s arrest, I decided to go back to Melvin’s and find out more about Jack’s illegal dealings. Maybe I could discover a connection to Ned.

  “Welcome to Melvin’s Marine Emporium,” Chad said with his usual perkiness. “How can I help you today?”

  “I’d like to speak with the manager,” I said.

  “Tiffany, buzz Mr. Dublonski and ask him to come speak with this lady,” Chad said. Tiffany rolled her eyes and put down the stack of T-shirts she had been folding. She walked over to the cash register, picked up the phone that was right next to Chad’s elbow, and buzzed the manager. Chad pointed at the T-shirts. “Those aren’t going to fold themselves, are they?” Tiffany looked like she wanted to strangle him. Can’t say I blamed her.

  A few minutes later, a man in his midthirties wearing a rumpled blue suit and shiny black shoes approached me. “Welcome to Melvin’s Marine Emporium,” he said in a high-pitched, squeaky voice as he shook my hand. “How can I help you today?”

  “I don’t know if you’ve heard about the recent tragedies at the marina,” I said, wrestling my hand back with difficulty. His grip was almost as strong as Sandy’s.

  “Tragedies?” he asked. “I heard about Captain Dan. Losing him was a real blow to the local sailing community. He also brought a lot of business to our store.”

  “He did?”

  “Sure. Every time he sold a boat, he helped the new owners make up a list of equipment they needed and pointed them our way.”

  “I suppose he got a commission.”

  “A little one, sure, but that’s normal in our line of work. Plus, we gave the customers a discount if they spent over a certain amount.”

  “We bought our boat from Captain Dan.”

  “You did?” he said. “Did he help you put together a list as well? If you have it handy, I can go through it with you and get you all set up. What’s the name of your boat?”

  “Marjorie Jane.”

  “Marjorie Jane. Isn’t that the one that...” his voice trailed off.

  “Yes, that’s where Captain Dan was killed.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible.”

  “I found the body.”

  Mr. Dublonski put his hand over his mouth. “Oh, dear. What a shock that must have been,” he squeaked.

  “It wasn’t pleasant, that’s for sure. Did you know he was killed with a winch handle?”

  “Yes, the police mentioned it.”

  “The police? Did they question you? Did the winch handle come from your store?”

  “Of course not,” he said in shock. “It was just routine questioning. They wanted to know if I could identify the make and model of the handle. It isn’t one that we normally keep in stock.”

  “Ah, so you’re a marine equipment expert witness.”

  Mr. Dublonski looked pleased with that description. “I guess you could say that.”

  “So you know everything there is to know about boats, right?”

  “I know a bit, yes.”

  “And you know about all the boat equipment being sold in town?”

  “Of course. Wait, what do you mean?”

  “You knew Jack, didn’t you?” He looked at me blankly. “Jack Holt, the other man who was killed at the marina.”

  “Oh, him. Yes, he was a customer here. Everyone at the marina is a customer, really.”

  “Did you know he was murdered? I found his body too.”

  Mr. Dublonski gasped. “Another murder? This won’t be good for business.” He took a long look at me. “Wait a minute. That means you found...” I gave him some time to do the calculation in his head. “Two bodies. That’s got to be some sort of record.”

  “Jack was more than a customer, wasn’t he?” I asked, trying to guide him back to the topic at hand.

  “No, just a customer. He came in from time to time.”

  “Before he died, Jack told me that he was in business with you.” Okay, he hadn’t exactly told me that, but I wasn’t really in the mood to confess to eavesdropping outside Mr. Dublonski’s office.

  “In business with Jack? I don’t know why he would have told you that. I don’t even know what kind of business he was in.”

  “He was a used marine parts dealer. He told me that you were one of the people he sold parts to.”

  “I think you must have misunderstood. We only buy marine parts from reputable suppliers. We assure our customers that everything they buy from us is high quality. We don’t sell anything used here.”

  “Maybe he told you the items he was selling were brand new.”

  “I still wouldn’t have bought from him. How could I be sure things were brand new unless they came from the manufacturer or a reputable supplier?”

  “Well, that’s odd. Maybe it wasn’t Jack you dealt with directly, but his two colleagues—Fred Rollins and Wayne Grimm.”

  Mr. Dublonski scratched his head in an unconvincing manner. “Nope, doesn’t ring any bells.” He pointed to a part of the store devoid of customers. “Oh, I see some folks over there who need my help,” he said as he dashed back to his office.

  While I was thinking about Mr. Dublonski’s evasiveness, I looked at the clothing display. All the women’s items were in various shades of pink. Pale pink, salmon pink, bubblegum pink, fluorescent pink—you name it, any kind of pink you could ever want. Penny must love shopping here.

  I picked up a rain jacket on display and tried to figure out if it would be best described as ballet-slipper pink or blush pink. Chad tapped me on the shoulder. “That’s one of our biggest sellers. All the ladies love it, especially the color.”

  I held it up against me. “Do you have my size in navy blue or hunter green?”

  “No, only our men’s jackets come in those colors. We might have a pastel-blue version in the back,” he offered.

  “I’ll think about it,” I said. I poked through the racks. “I was just speaking with your manager about Jack Holt.”

  “Oh yes, Mr. Holt. He comes in here all the time.”

  “He’s a good customer?” I asked.

  Chad thought about it. “No, I’m not sure he was a customer so much as a supplier. I often saw him at the loading dock delivering boxes to the store.” He picked up a fuchsia T-shirt. “How about this?”

  I shook my head. “No thanks, I’m not really in the market for any shirts today.”

  “Well, I’ll leave you to your browsing. Please let me know if I can be of any further help.”

  “You’ve no idea how helpful you’ve been already,” I said.

  AS I WAVED GOOD-BYE to Chad, I spotted crew-cut guy and his bearded friend driving a blue pickup truck covered with a tarp. They pulled into Melvin’s Marine Emporium and drove through the parking lot around to the rear of the store. I hightailed it back there and hid behind a dumpster.

  Crew-cut guy hopped out of the truck, stopped to tie one of his sneakers, then adjusted one of the straps holding the tarp down. After exchanging a few words with crew-cut guy through the window, bearded guy got out of the truck and walked to the door next to the loading dock, his flip-flops slapping loudly on the asphalt. He tried to open it, but it appeared to be locked. He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and called someone, gesturing angrily as he spoke. After a few minutes, the door by the loading dock was opened by none other than Mr. Dublonski. All three of them entered the building, leaving me free to check out the back of the pickup truck.

  I untied the strap and pulled back the tarp to see what was underneath. There was a whole
bunch of equipment, most of which I couldn’t identify. I did see a couple of familiar things, including two winch handles, both of which were smaller than the one that had killed Captain Dan.

  I crept around to the passenger side of the truck, opened the door, and poked in the glove compartment. Other than a map of Texas, I didn’t find anything interesting. My stomach grumbled when I saw a bag from Alligator Chuck’s BBQ Joint on the floor. Ribs were sounding like a real contender for dinner.

  “What do you expect us to do with all this?” I heard a man ask. “You’re the one who told us to set the whole thing up. You can’t back out now.”

  I quietly closed the passenger door and crouched down next to the truck. I saw three pairs of shoes standing beside the loading dock—Mr. Dublonski’s shiny, black shoes, crew-cut guy’s sneakers, and his friend’s flip-flops. If they walked toward the truck, they would see me. I looked over at the dumpster. It was in direct line of sight of the loading dock. Not an option.

  My stomach grumbled again. Something about ribs. I told it to shut up so I could hear what the guys were saying.

  “It wasn’t my idea.” I recognized Mr. Dublonski’s high-pitched, squeaky voice. “Captain Dan and Jack organized this. And now that they’re gone, I’m wiping my hands of the whole business. I’ve got enough trouble with the police coming around asking questions.”

  “You can handle the police,” either crew-cut guy or his friend said. It was hard to tell just by looking at their shoes.

  “It’s more trouble than it’s worth. Plus, I had some nosy lady in here just now asking questions about what Jack was up to.”

  “Nosy lady?”

  “Yeah, some broad Captain Dan sold a boat to,” Mr. Dublonski said. “I didn’t catch her name, but her boat is called Marjorie Jane.”

  “Maybe that’s her name.”

  “No, that’s the boat name. I remember him telling me about her. That’s the one they brought the stuff over from Texas on.”

  “Oh, I remember now. We helped the owners of the boat unload it last week and put the stuff in the warehouse. That boat was a mess. It’s in such bad condition that I’m surprised it made it over here in one piece. If I ever own a boat, it’ll be a brand-new fishing boat. I’d call it Reel Nauti.”

  “Well, you’re never going to get the chance, are you, if you end up in jail?” Mr. Dublonski said, rocking back and forth on his shiny, black shoes. “And that’s what’s going to happen if you don’t get yourselves and your truck out of here.”

  “Sure, we’ll do that. You just have to take the stuff we’ve got back there and pay us what you owe us.”

  “I’ll do no such thing! Listen, you guys do what I say. You don’t want to end up like Captain Dan and Jack, do you?”

  “Hah, like you had anything to do with that. You don’t have the guts to off anyone.”

  “Oh yeah, are you saying you guys knocked them off?”

  “It wasn’t us. Besides, we have an alibi for both murders. And they sure were good alibis too. Curves in all the right places, if you know what I mean. We met them at the Tipsy Pirate.”

  “Well, if you guys didn’t do it and I didn’t do it, who murdered Captain Dan and Jack?”

  “Who cares? I know I don’t. They ended up eating into our profits and your profit too. Come on, admit it. You liked the money.”

  “Fine, but we can’t do this now. Why don’t you guys lay low for a while, and I’ll give you a call once things get quieter here?”

  One pair of shoes walked back to the building while the other two pairs headed my way. I took my chances and ran for it.

  “Hey, who’s that?”

  “Get her! It’s probably that nosy lady from Marjorie Jane.”

  My heart pounded as I ran around to the front of the building. Just as I was about to collapse, someone grabbed my arm. “Are you all right?” I looked up and saw Tiffany staring at me with concern.

  “I’m fine,” I said as I gasped for breath. I glanced behind me. The two men glared at me. I guess they figured they couldn’t make a scene in front of a witness. “What are you doing out here?” I asked.

  “I just quit my job. I’ve had enough of Chad acting all superior. Can you believe he still had the nerve to ask me out?”

  Actually, I could believe it. I could also believe I hadn’t seen the last of crew-cut guy and his bearded friend.

  AFTER HEARING MORE about Tiffany’s teenage dramas, I walked a few blocks to the police station. Even though it had only been a few hours since they arrested Ned, it felt like ages since I had last seen Chief Dalton’s bushy eyebrows in action.

  The receptionist did a double take when I told her my name. “Oh, the chief’s told me about you.”

  “That must be because the first murder took place on our boat,” I said.

  She hesitated for a moment. “Yes, that must be it.”

  “Any chance he can squeeze me in for a few minutes?”

  “Can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do.”

  While I waited, I looked at the bulletin board. Next to some Most Wanted posters was a takeout menu for Alligator Chuck’s BBQ Joint. It had a five-dollar-off coupon on the bottom. I took it off the bulletin board and stuffed it in my purse. We were definitely having ribs for dinner.

  I heard a distinctive voice in the hallway behind the reception area. “You didn’t tell her I was here, did you?” Even though I couldn’t see him, I could picture him raising his eyebrows.

  I took that as my cue that he was free to see me now. I poked my head into the hallway. “There you are,” I said as I steered him toward his office. As he walked by the receptionist, he said, “See what I mean?”

  He sat at his desk and shuffled a few file folders back and forth. “Mrs. McGhie, I’ve got a lot to do.”

  “Then I’ll make it quick. How’s the investigation into Captain Dan’s and Jack’s murders going? Why did you arrest Ned?”

  The chief stared at me quietly for a few moments, then shuffled his folders again. I took this to mean that he didn’t have an update.

  “Okay, then, why don’t I start? Remember those two guys who were talking with Jack at the beach that night when he hit me over the head?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I thought we had established that a coconut hit you over the head.”

  “No, we didn’t. It was Jack! Why doesn’t anyone believe me? Listening to what everyone says, you would think all the coconuts in this town were intent on harming humans at an alarming rate. You should probably put up flashing neon warning signs.”

  He raised his other eyebrow.

  “I was just at Melvin’s Marine Emporium and I saw them talking to the manager, Mr. Dublonski. Well, I didn’t exactly see them talking, but I saw their shoes talking.” He raised both his eyebrows this time. No wonder he had so many wrinkles on his forehead. “Remember how I told you they were all mixed up in something? Well, now I have proof.”

  “Proof?” There went those caterpillars again.

  “Yes, proof. I heard the three of them talking about how they worked it. Captain Dan loaded up stolen marine equipment on Marjorie Jane in Texas. The previous owners sailed her to Florida. Then they took off and left Marjorie Jane behind. Crew-cut guy and his bearded friend—”

  “Who?” Chief Dalton asked.

  “You know. Fred Rollins and Wayne Grimm. One of them has a crew-cut and one of them has a beard. I have no idea which one is Fred and which one is Wayne.”

  “How much longer is this going to take?”

  “Let me finish. Once they got to Florida, they helped the previous owners of Marjorie Jane unload the stuff and hide it in a warehouse. Jack was going to sell it all to Mr. Dublonski, who would then turn around, pass it off as brand-new equipment, and sell it to unsuspecting customers. Jack was supposed to get the money from Mr. Dublonski and give crew-cut guy and his friend their cut. When Mr. Dublonski refused to buy it, Jack was in a pickle. Those two guys were expecting to be paid for their share, but he di
dn’t have it. They threatened him and then you know what happened next.”

  The chief sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “Both Fred and Wayne have alibis for the night Mr. Holt was killed.”

  “I know. They were at the Tipsy Pirate chatting up some girls.” Chief Dalton nodded ever so slightly. “And they were at the Tipsy Pirate the night Captain Dan was murdered too.” He looked at me and nodded again. “And I think Mr. Dublonski has an alibi too.” More nodding. “But even if they didn’t kill Jack and Captain Dan, they sure were happy about it. It meant they didn’t have to deal with any middlemen anymore. They got the rest of the stuff out of the warehouse, took it over to Melvin’s, and tried to get Mr. Dublonski to take it. He said he couldn’t do anything until the murder investigation cooled down.”

  “And how do you know all this?”

  “I overheard them at the loading dock behind Melvin’s.”

  “Overheard them?”

  “It really doesn’t matter, does it? The important thing is that you need to investigate this.”

  He sighed. “I’m just going to cut to the chase because it’s probably the fastest way to get you out of here. We’ve known about this little operation for some time. It’s not the first time these guys have done this. We’re investigating, and we should be able to make some arrests soon.”

  “That’s good to hear. Now, since we can rule crew-cut guy, his bearded friend, and Mr. Dublonski out of the picture, the question is, who did murder Captain Dan and Jack? It sure wasn’t Ned.”

  Chief Dalton was lifting that eyebrow when the receptionist poked her head in the door. “Sir, we need you urgently in the conference room.”

  Just my luck. I was sure the chief had just been about to open up to me about the case.

  THERE WERE TWO THINGS I couldn’t forget to pick up on my way home: Scooter from our boat and ribs from Alligator Chuck’s. I was so hungry I almost collected my husband second, but he was the one with the cash. The smell of the barbecue was intoxicating on the ride back, but I managed to restrain myself from ripping open the container until we were inside the house.