by Zara Keane
I knocked lightly on the door and went in. Lenny was fiddling with cables. “Sorry I didn’t call you yesterday, Maggie. We had a computer emergency at the shop, and I had to stay late to fix it.”
“No problem. I haven’t exactly made great progress with the sheep case.” I perched on the side of my desk. “Did you have any success with those websites I mentioned?”
“Jimmy Wright was into online dating, but we’d guessed that already.” Lenny winked at me. “Admit your interest in Jimmy’s love life has nothing to do with Paddy’s sheep.”
“I found his body. Of course I’m interested in the murder investigation. There’s also the odd coincidence that Paddy hired me the day before Jimmy died, and specifically suggested I talk to the man.”
“I still can’t see Paddy sticking a rake in Jimmy over a sheep that went missing more than twenty years ago,” Lenny said. “It’s probably just a coincidence.”
“I agree, but I’m a former cop. Cops don’t like coincidences, and neither do private eyes.” I shifted my weight to my other leg. “Tell me more about Jimmy’s dating sites.”
“They catered to people with unusual tastes.”
“Hence the mankini.”
“Exactly.” Lenny’s grin widened. “I managed to hack into his online profiles and read his messages.”
My ears pricked up. “Seriously? That’s awesome. Did they reveal anything about who he was seeing?”
“Sort of. He had regular hookups with two women from what I could tell, but I suspect not all of their communication was through the website.”
“And we don’t have access to his phone,” I added.
“Right. But I can tell you that one of the women lived in Galway and went by the online moniker of Nene68. The other woman called herself Sally. She made a reference to meeting Jimmy on the island last month, so she might be the person I saw.”
“Did you check out their profile pictures?”
“Of course. And that’s where it gets complicated. In their photos, both women are heavily made up and wearing costumes. That was Jimmy’s kink. It’s hard to tell what they’d look like without the wigs.”
“Wigs?” My brain whirred. “You said the woman in the field had weird hair.”
Lenny nodded. “Yeah. It could have been a wig that had gone askew while she was running.”
“In other words, we can’t rely on her being a blonde,” I mused. “Pity.”
“Sorry the search wasn’t more helpful.” Lenny wrinkled his brow. “I still don’t see how Jimmy’s sex life can have any connection to Paddy’s missing sheep.”
“Neither do I, but seeing that I found his body, I have a vested interest in Jimmy Wright’s murder.”
My friend laughed. “I’d say Sergeant Reynolds is thrilled about that.”
“Not remotely. He warned me not to dig for info.”
“Which you promptly ignored by asking me to use my Google-fu skills.”
I grinned. “Guilty as charged.”
Julie burst into the room, out of breath. “The Huffingtons have arrived. Noreen’s all aflutter and wants you downstairs.”
“I gotta get a look at the YouTube star,” Lenny exclaimed, leaping to his feet. “He was unbelievably obnoxious in the clips I saw.”
“He’s just as bad in real life,” I said with a sigh. “Why’s Noreen freaking out? The Huffingtons aren’t visiting royalty.”
“They’ve got money and an eligible bachelor. That qualifies them as royalty in Noreen’s book.” Julie’s eyes twinkled. “She and Mum want you to entertain Doug.”
“Doug’s here?” I groaned and followed her out of my office and down the stairs that led to the café. “Why aren’t they throwing you at him?”
“Because Mum has set her heart on me getting together with Günter,” Julie said over her shoulder. “Like that will ever happen.”
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” Lenny whispered behind me, making me giggle.
I had my suspicions about my cousin’s true feelings about Günter, but tonight wasn’t the moment to dwell on Julie’s love life. I had a wily old lady to interrogate.
7
TO MY SURPRISE, the entire Huffington clan, minus Amb and Hailey, were gathered by the bar. Huff and Doug had gone all out and wore tuxedoes. Helen and Candace had opted for elegant evening gowns, while Brandi wore a low-cut dress so short that it barely covered her shapely behind. In contrast to her relatives, Martha was dressed in a drab pantsuit of an indeterminate color that was somewhere between beige and vomit.
“Oh, my,” Julie murmured under her breath. “That girl needs a fashion intervention.”
“From what I could ascertain from our admittedly brief encounter this morning, Martha Huffington’s lack of fashion sense is the least of her problems.”
Julie dragged me forward, and I greeted Helen warmly, introducing Lenny as an old friend.
“I remember your grandfather well,” Helen said to him. “Is Gerry still with us?”
“He’s alive and kicking,” Lenny said. “He might stop by tonight if he can tear himself away from his latest brew of poteen.”
I left Helen reminiscing about the island’s old fogies and welcomed the rest of her family to the Movie Theater Café. Once again, Doug took the opportunity to hold my hand for longer than was socially acceptable. When he leaned down to whisper in my ear, his breath smelled of whiskey. “Want to skip out on the movie and go somewhere nicer?” His slurred speech indicated that he was well on the way to getting drunk.
I yanked back my hand and glared at him. “If you’d rather go elsewhere, the door’s to your left.” I plastered on a smile and moved on to Candace. I kept up the smile for almost all of them, but my reception of Huff was mutually cool. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be interested in old movies,” I said sweetly. “Given the comments you made last night about the Irish being obsessed with history and living in the past.”
Noreen shot me a warning look, but I ignored her.
Huff eyed me properly for the first time that evening. “I don’t much care for old movies, but Mother likes them. It was important to her that I come.”
Interesting. So Helen exerted more influence over her son than I’d thought. Pity she didn’t persuade him to stop belittling his family.
Lenny left to mix cocktails, and Helen drifted over to my side. “I’m looking forward to the film. How to Marry a Millionaire was one of the first films I saw after I moved to America.”
“And then Grandmother went and did just that.” Doug flashed his white teeth at us.
“So I did, young man,” Helen said tartly. “And if I hadn’t, your grandfather would never have made a success of Huffington Enterprises.”
Doug snorted. “Pity Brandi is unlikely to work the same magic on the company.”
Candace cleared her throat. “Martha and I were just saying how charming your aunt’s café is, Maggie. It’s not the usual sort of place we frequent, of course.”
Of course. I took a step closer to Helen and deftly maneuvered her out of earshot of the others. “May I ask you a question?”
“Sure, dear. Is it about your grandmother?” A hint of her perfume tickled my nose. It reminded me of the scent my former mother-in-law had favored.
“No, it’s not about Granny.” I hesitated for a moment. “Actually, it’s about your nephew. I think I put my foot in it last night. I’m sorry if I upset you.”
An emotion passed over Helen’s face so quickly that I might have missed it had I not been paying attention. I’d been a cop too long not to recognize fear when I saw it. When she spoke, Helen was in full control of her feelings. “It’s a terrible tragedy. I believe you found his body?”
“Yes.” I paused for a moment, allowing her composure to settle. “Were you and Jimmy close?”
Her glance darted to the left before focusing on me. “No, I’m afraid we weren’t. I left Whisper Island several years before he was born.”
“What a shame he die
d the day before you came back.”
She looked at me sharply and didn’t respond for a long moment. “According to the newspapers, Jimmy was killed on Wednesday. Huff, Brandi, and I got here on Monday.”
Now it was my turn to be surprised. “I thought you arrived on the ferry yesterday morning.”
“Oh, the others did.” Helen’s smile didn’t quite meet her eyes, but I gave her credit for her acting skills. “Huff had business to attend to at the hotel. He, Brandi, and I have rooms at the hotel, and the others are staying at those cottages where you live.”
So Huff and Helen had been on the island for two whole days before Jimmy Wright had died? I filed this information away for future reference. If Helen had barely known her nephew, I couldn’t think of a reason why she or her son would be involved in Jimmy’s murder, but they were relatives, and the connection was worth checking out.
Philomena appeared with a tray of cocktails, and Helen’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “Here’s a martini for you, Helen. I made one for you, too, Maggie.” My aunt handed around cocktails to the group. “Here you go, Huff. A Maple Old Fashioned, just like you asked for. I followed Maggie’s recipe.”
Huff took a sip, not bothering to wait until we’d said sláinte. “Not bad,” he said grudgingly to me. “Where’d you learn to make cocktails? I suppose you waited bars. You’re the type.”
“If you mean I’m the type to pay my way through school, then yes. College degrees don’t come cheap, even at state schools. But then, you wouldn’t know about that, would you?”
Huff laughed. “You’ve got balls, lady. I wish you’d give them to my son.”
“I assume you’re not referring to me, Dad.” Doug sidled over to us and gave me a practiced smile. “I’ve got plenty.”
“Do you work at Huffington Enterprises, too?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
Doug laughed. “No way. I don’t want to play second fiddle to my brother. Besides, I’m not a boardroom kind of guy.”
“You’re a fool, but at least you have a sense of adventure.” Huff’s lip curled. “It makes me sick to think of the family business passing to someone without my abilities.”
“Amb is perfectly capable of running Huffington Enterprises,” Candace said, bristling with hauteur.
“Yeah.” Huff sneered. “Right into the ground. The boy’s too much of a wimp to crush his opponents. That’s what you gotta do in business.”
A muscle flexed in Candace’s jaw. She looked like she wanted to say more, but pressed her plump lips together in a visible effort not to antagonize her father-in-law further.
I, however, had no such reservations. “I guess Amb isn’t destined to become a YouTube sensation,” I said over the rim of my martini glass. “I saw the clip of you hurling your scotch glass at a guy’s head. Is that an example of you crushing your opponents?”
Huff’s face turned a deep purple.
Noreen moved speedily, grabbed my arm, and hauled me off. “I need Maggie to serve the club members. Back in a sec.” When we were out of earshot, she demanded, “What are you doing, Maggie? Huff can be brash, but please try to be polite to him.”
“Sure. As long as he’s polite to everyone else.”
“We both know that’s not going to happen.” My aunt’s shoulders tensed. “He’s a difficult man, but Helen was Mammy’s oldest friend. I want their visit to Whisper Island to go well, for Mammy’s sake.”
I exhaled a sigh. “Fine. I can do polite. Just keep me away from Huff. And Doug, too. The man’s a pest.”
“I was disappointed when you didn’t want to join us on Gull Island, but now I’m relieved. I don’t want tension this weekend.” Noreen shot a glance in the Huffingtons’ direction. “And I think I made a mistake trying to bring you and Doug together. He’s so drunk he can barely stand straight.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to cancel the trip? You could come over to my place. I’m planning to spend my weekend looking for Paddy’s sheep and watching Bette Davis movies.”
“Part of me wants to, but I’d like a chance to get to know Helen better.” My aunt glanced at her watch. “Speaking of movies, we’d better get everyone into the theater.”
I laughed. “I thought you wanted me to serve drinks.”
“I only said that to get you away from Huff. Philomena and Lenny have the drinks under control.”
Fifteen minutes later, I’d helped my aunts to get everyone into the movie theater, and Lenny had started the movie for us. I sat next to Lenny. Julie, to her annoyance, ended up beside Günter, our friend from the Unplugged Gamers club and the guy Philomena was determined to make her son-in-law, and that Julie—for reasons I had yet to discover—was equally determined to avoid. I slid a look at Günter, who was his usual clean but disheveled self, complete with his battered German Army jacket, thick beard, and wild blond hair. Günter was the only member of the Movie Club who didn’t dress up for our meetings, mainly because he didn’t own a suit.
The movie proved to be as entertaining as I remembered. Judging by the applause at the end, it was one of our better recent choices. We all filed out of the movie theater, and the club members began to collect their coats and head home.
Just as the Huffingtons were about to leave, the bell above the café door jangled, and Sergeant Liam Reynolds strode in. My stomach leaped in that way it always did when I saw him, even if our paths had crossed several times that day.
Reynolds sought me out and made a beeline in my direction. When he stopped in front of me, his crinkly smile made his blue eyes twinkle. “Maggie, love. I thought I’d missed you.”
And to my utter astonishment, he kissed me right on the lips.
I inhaled sharply, but Reynolds’s mouth silenced my gasp. His lips were warm, soft, and tender—everything I’d imagined when I allowed myself to contemplate what it would be like to kiss him. I’d hardly had time to register what was happening when he broke the kiss and stepped back, leaving me red-faced and breathless. I stared up at him in stunned silence.
“Is this your young man, Maggie?” Helen’s curious voice cut through the haze of my thoughts.
I dragged my gaze away from Liam. Behind the Huffingtons, Lenny, Julie, and my aunts formed a tableau of slack-jawed incredulity. In contrast, Günter seemed utterly unfazed by the course of events.
“N—” I began, but Liam beat me too it.
“Yes.” He stepped forward and took Helen’s hand. “I’m Liam Reynolds, Maggie’s boyfriend.”
I slow-blinked. What was he up to? Icy humiliation washed over me, stinging my skin from head to toe. Had he kissed me to get an in with the Huffingtons? If so, why?
“Nice to meet you, Liam,” Helen said. “I’m Helen Huffington.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Huffington. Are you enjoying your time on Whisper Island?”
She beamed. “Oh, yes. A lot has changed on the island, but so much is just as I remember from my girlhood.”
“Are you doing much traveling while you’re in Ireland?” he asked.
Helen laughed the sexy tinkling laugh that must have won over Ambrose J. Huffington II all those years ago. “Not I. The long flight tired me out. But we’re planning to spend the weekend on Gull Island, and I’m very much looking forward to that.” She gave me a sly glance. “It’s a pity Maggie can’t join us. She could have brought you along as her date.”
“Oh, didn’t she tell you?” Reynolds put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed me tight. “She rearranged her schedule so she can go.”
I breathed in sharply, and his grip around me tightened in warning.
“How wonderful.” Helen appeared to be genuinely pleased. “Will you join us, Mr. Reynolds?”
“The name’s Liam. And I’d love to.” He turned to me, and I read the message in his eyes as clearly as if he’d written it with neon ink. “If that’s okay by you, Maggie?”
No, it was not okay. That rat had used me to further his investigation. Had the kiss meant not
hing to him? Despite my anger and confusion, my rational side replayed the last few minutes on fast forward. He’d introduced himself as Liam Reynolds, conveniently forgetting to add the “Sergeant” part, and he’d made no reference to living in the same complex as the younger Huffingtons. Whatever was going on, he needed my assistance in getting onto Gull Island and crashing their party. Which meant he had a lead on the Wright murder case, and that lead had to concern Helen or Huff. No way was I passing up an opportunity to glean insider info on Jimmy Wright’s murder.
I looked up at Reynolds’s handsome face, smiling benignly down at me, and resisted the urge to kick him in the gonads. “Of course, Liam. We’ll have a blast.”
“Excellent. I’m glad that’s settled.” Helen turned her attention to my cousin, who was helping Günter load a tray with dirty cocktail glasses. “Is this young man your boyfriend? Would he like to join us?”
Julie’s eyes widened, but before she could respond, her mother and Noreen said “yes” in hearty unison.
“Günter, dear,” my cousin said in a voice laced with sarcasm, “you said you had plans this weekend.”
“Nothing I can’t change, mein Schatz,” Günter said, not missing a beat. “I haven’t been over to Gull Island since last summer. I’d love to join you if I may.”
“Splendid.” Helen beamed at us. “I just know we’ll all have a wonderful time.”
I snuck a glance at my “date” for the next two days and flashed him a wicked grin. The trepidation I read in his eyes pleased me. If Sergeant Reynolds wanted to use me to help his investigation, I’d milk the situation to my advantage. I raised my glass to him. “Sláinte. Here’s to a wonderful weekend.”
8
THE BOAT the Huffingtons had hired to take us to Gull Island was the polar opposite of the Whisper Island ferry. A uniformed porter helped Günter and Reynolds haul Noreen’s and Julie’s numerous cases up the wooden ramp and onto the vessel. I’d packed the bare essentials, and Reynolds was similarly light on baggage. Günter didn’t appear to have brought more than a small backpack and his usual calm demeanor.
