A Star-Spangled Murder

by Valerie Wolzien

  Susan spied Halsey making waffles, and hurried over to her. “Where … ?” she began her question.

  “In the storage room,” Halsey answered, pointing to a pine door.

  Susan opened the door and peeked in. Three red heads and a fourth with long, golden ears looked up at her from their seats on the floor. Between the girls and the dog were the remains of at least a dozen plates of waffles. “It’s good to see you all together again,” Susan said, surprised that dogs burped. She had always thought indigestion was a human problem. “I’d like to speak with Titania alone, if you two would go outside for a bit.… I’m not going to yell at her,” she added, seeing the dismay on Tierney’s face. “I just want a few minutes, and then we can all head down to the parade route. Okay?”

  “It’s okay. Go on out,” Titania urged her sisters. “Mrs. Henshaw’s trying to help us, remember.

  “You don’t mind that I was hiding in your boathouse, do you?” she asked as the door closed behind her sisters. “I couldn’t think of anyplace else that was safe where I could keep track of Karma.” The dog was licking unseen scraps from a plastic plate and didn’t bother to acknowledge her name.

  “I don’t understand why you’ve been hiding,” Susan said. “Did you think someone was going to hurt you?”

  “I’m still hiding,” Titania insisted stubbornly. “And I’m still not going to tell anyone why.”

  Susan opened her mouth to speak.

  “And I’m not going to tell you why I’m not going to tell you.”

  Susan tried not to smile. “Okay. But can you tell me why you think there’s a message hidden in the pictures carved into the mantel?”

  Titania frowned and then thought for more than a few minutes before answering.

  Susan was willing to wait.

  “I don’t want to tell you who I heard it from.…”

  “That’s fine. Just tell me what you feel comfortable telling me.”

  “All I can say is that there’s a picture of someone in the mantel that gives something away—something important!”

  “ ‘Gives something away.’ ” Susan repeated the phrase, hoping the girl would elaborate.

  She didn’t.

  “And this has to do with someone in your family?”

  Under different circumstances, Susan might have been impressed with Titania’s caution.

  “It has to do with Uncle Humphrey’s murder,” was all the girl would say.

  “Are you in danger?” Susan asked.

  “I have to hide,” was the only answer.

  “Do you want to see the parade? And hide at the same time?”

  The girl’s eyes sparkled. “Yes. Can I do that?”

  “I think so. I have an idea. I just hope it’s safe.” Susan stood up and pulled a half dozen large gold tablecloths off a shelf behind the girl. “I’m going to borrow these and ask the deputy to take me home. I have some things to do, and then I’ll meet you all wherever the float is stashed. We’ll put everything together and we’ll all get a chance to be part of the parade.”

  Susan thought the parade was going splendidly. A record number of groups had entered. The island’s high school band, an adult community band, a kazoo band from the Baptist retirement home, and two young college students playing bagpipes performed, spaced far enough apart for each to be appreciated. There were marchers as young as three months (in her father’s backpack), as well as the island’s oldest living veteran. Nathan, seeing that the Taylor girls had chosen a circus theme, had pulled juggling balls from his pocket, made a newspaper hat for his head, and juggled along after them. They were certainly the tallest float. Susan, Janet, and Kathleen had pulled off the wheels and attached the lion cage with Karma inside to the roof rack of her Jeep. Tierney and Theresa, kneeling on a small wooden chest propped across the passenger seat, stuck their heads through the sunroof and waved. Titania, hidden by the improvised curtains, could peek at the action. Everyone was having a wonderful time. Except for Karma, who threw up three times and then fell asleep.

  Susan drove slowly along the parade route. She saw Kathleen. She saw Janet. Norman’s aunt waved a small whole earth flag as they passed; his girlfriend just smiled proudly. Beth Eaton, wearing one of her own handwoven creations, called out to the girls. Monsieur Touve applauded loudly and yelled, “Magnifique” a couple of times. Even Susan’s favorite potter allowed a slight smile to bend the corners of his lips as the dog lifted her head and threw up. But there was no sign of Ted or Tricia Taylor. And she didn’t see either of the Brianes or the Harters. But Susan wasn’t terribly upset. She didn’t know exactly who the murderer was, but she had a pretty good idea of why Humphrey was killed, and she thought she might even have the evidence that would prove it. She smiled as one of the parade organizers waved her into a parking spot provided for participants.

  Tierney slid down and shimmied into the rear of the Jeep. “That was fun,” she exclaimed to her sister. “Did you see everything? Did you see the gigantic sea monster? I think that was my favorite. Do you want me to save you a piece of pie? Or maybe a whole pie? I could enter the contest and just refuse to eat, couldn’t I?”

  “I’ll take care of your sister,” Susan insisted, remembering to speak quietly. “She’ll get all the blueberry pie she wants. I promise. You and Theresa just have fun. Either Kathleen or I will be waiting for you on the dock by the booth where the fishermen’s wives are selling lunch. So be sure to come there right after the contest is over, okay?”

  “Okay!” Both girls leapt from the Jeep and ran toward the tables set up with dozens of pies.

  “You stay here for a minute. I’m going to get Karma down from the top of the car and bring her inside to you,” Susan said, getting out of the car.

  Nathan was still by their side, and with his help, Karma was taken from her improvised cage and, after a short walk to the nearest tree, allowed into the back of the car. One thing about this dog, she certainly appreciated people who cared about her. She put her head in Titania’s lap with a loud sigh and closed her eyes.

  “Wait here. It may get hot, but I’ll be as fast as I can. I just need to find Janet or Kathleen. Then we can figure out what to do with you. Will you be all right?”

  Titania nodded, and Susan hurried off.

  There were dozens of people to greet, old friends, islanders, people she hadn’t seen in almost a year, people she should catch up with, people she wanted to catch up with, but Susan smiled, waved, promised to call, to stop in … and continued to look for Kathleen and Janet.

  She found them standing by a massive coffee urn that was just beginning to perk. Kathleen was looking a little tired. Janet was sternly lecturing three small children on the dangers of fireworks. She sent them away as Susan appeared. “What can I do?” she asked. “Their grandfather drove all the way to New Hampshire to buy fireworks for the kids. Why doesn’t he just cut off their fingers and be done with it?” She ran her hand through her hair. “Don’t mind me. I always get like this on the Fourth. And usually we don’t have a murderer loose somewhere.”

  “I told Theresa and Tierney that one of you would meet them here after the pie-eating contest was over.”

  “I’ll do it,” Kathleen offered.

  “Great. I’m going to spend more time with Titania. I have to convince her to trust me. I’m sure that she must hold the key to all this.”

  “Have you noticed Ted and Tricia around?” Kathleen asked. “Janet told me about last night, by the way. But if they’re getting back together, you’d at least think they might start paying some attention to their children.”

  “No one’s going to argue with you about that. They’re more concerned about their houseguests than their own children.…” Susan started, and then stopped suddenly and grabbed Kathleen’s arm. “That’s it. They worry more about their houseguests than their own children. I can’t believe that we didn’t see it before. You stay here. I’m going back to Titania. Maybe we can exchange information. And if her information is what I th
ink it is, we’ll have our murderer before the fireworks begin!”

  But when Susan returned to her Jeep, the rear door was open, and long, golden hairs were the only sign of its recent occupation.

  FIFTEEN

  “I’m telling you for the last time. No one has seen either Ted or Tricia since lunch on the pier today. I haven’t seen them. My wife hasn’t seen them. Sally and Ryan haven’t seen them. And it’s been days since the girls were around.” Paul Briane brushed his hair off his forehead and glared angrily at Susan. “You don’t seem to understand our position here. We’re houseguests. We came to Maine to relax for a week or two. It’s not our fault that there’s been a murder. We want, naturally, to do what we can. We want to be supportive. But we’re not directly involved. This has nothing to do with us. Now I must get back to my wife. She’s insisting that we all go to view the fireworks this evening—together.”

  He practically spat out the last word, and Susan watched as he stomped off through the woods. When he was out of sight, she ran down to the boathouse and yanked open the door.

  “Titania! Karma! Are you there?” She peered into the dim interior, but the only life was arachnoid, and brushing a tiny brown spider from her eyebrow, she slammed the door shut and ran up to her house.

  Janet Shapiro was patrolling the island in her car, and Kathleen had commandeered Nathan’s disintegrating vehicle for the same purpose. Susan was going to check out her house, make two phone calls, and then join the search for Titania.

  If only, she thought, bounding up the stairs, they knew whether the child had been kidnapped or had once again disappeared for some reason of her own. She would have felt better if the girls’ parents hadn’t vanished, too.

  A quick search revealed that there was no one in her house, but she really hadn’t expected there to be. She knew there was no reason for anyone to come here anymore.

  Susan made a mug of instant coffee (double strength, the kind Jed called sludge, she remembered wistfully, missing him) while she dialed the phone. The first call, the most important one, was to the person in charge of the morgue where Humphrey’s body was still stored. Janet had assured her that even on a holiday, she would find a person willing to answer her questions, and Janet had been right.

  The man on the other end of the line was happy to help. It had been a slow week and he remembered Ted and Tricia well. They were distinct. You never knew how people would react to the death of their loved ones, but Ted and Tricia were the first couple he’d met who had found it an occasion for a full-scale marital battle. Pressed for details, he admitted to listening pretty closely to what had been said. Like many divorced couples, they reviewed how much they hated each other, how unhappy they were that the wrong people seemed to be the ones to die, how happy each would be to watch the body of the other lowered into the cold, damp ground. His problem was, the man ended his report, that neither of them wanted to accept responsibility for this body.

  Tricia said she wasn’t even a blood relative. Ted pointed out that she had loved him enough to marry him, so why wouldn’t she take care of him now that he was dead? She said that there was, after all, a spot in the family plot waiting for this particular body. He said he’d be damned if he’d spend all eternity lying next to the man who had robbed him of everything he loved. She said, well, what do you expect me to do with him—throw him in the ocean? He said that was the best idea he’d heard yet and he should have done that to begin with.… Yes, ma’am, he was sure that’s what had been said. He’d even given some thought to it at the time—about whether the body would come in with the tide or sink to the bottom to be eaten by lobsters and crabs. Seemed almost like a kind of justice there, didn’t it? Considering how many crabs and lobsters were eaten by humans every year … Why, yes, she sure was welcome. Anything he could do, any time at all …

  The second call was lucky. Susan hated to call her husband when he was so busy at work, but this was truly an emergency. Only Jed would be able to answer this question. He was the family member in charge of the boathouse. And his answer confirmed something she had suspected all along. Susan sat quietly, mulling over what she had learned.

  There was a large clump of dog fur hanging from the edge of her tablecloth. That animal always left fur there as she walked by. She had cleaned an identical piece off this morning.…

  They’d been here! And they probably wouldn’t have come here if Titania hadn’t realized the significance of what she’d known for a while. Did that mean she was alone? Surely no one else would allow the dog to tag along. Unless it was someone whom Titania didn’t suspect.

  Susan walked slowly back to her car. They (Titania and the dog? Titania, Karma, and someone else?) had not found what they were looking for, she was sure of that. Where else would they look? She got into the driver’s seat, but just sat and thought for a few minutes. She put the key in the ignition. There was no place else to look. If Titania wasn’t alone, the people she was with had probably left the island. Susan cursed and drove off down the road, into the long line of cars headed toward the center of town.

  There was only one place to be tonight: watching the fireworks that were shot from a small offshore island, bursting into the sky before they merged with their own sparkling reflection in the ocean. The show would begin as soon as darkness fell, so Susan wasn’t surprised that all the traffic seemed to be heading in the same direction, and it wasn’t until she had parked her car in the playing field next to the elementary school, which had been turned into a parking lot for the occasion, that Susan overheard people discussing the accident.

  She was having trouble believing her ears when Kathleen joined her, coming up from behind and grabbing her arm. “Did you find them?” she asked urgently.

  “No, what’s everyone saying about the bridge?”

  “A truck full of fish oil sideswiped a van carrying haddock fillets. They hit in such a way that the sides of both trucks were peeled back, mixing fish with hundreds of gallons of oil. The accident happened at the top of the bridge—the highest point—and the mess spilled in both directions. Some people are predicting that the cleanup is going to take all night. At the very least, the bridge is closed for the next four or five hours.”

  “When did it happen?”

  “During the parade. I know what you’re thinking. There’s no way anyone could have taken Titania off the island by car.… Does that mean you’ve reason to think that she’s been kidnapped? There are always boats.…”

  “No.” Susan refused to think about that possibility. “Where are the girls?”

  “They’ve staked out a spot near the water to watch the fireworks. They’re okay—they’re with Nathan and Gillian.” Kathleen picked long hairs off the black slacks she wore. “What a mess,” she muttered.

  “Wha … Where did you get covered in that?”

  Kathleen looked surprised at the urgency with which Susan asked the question. “Nathan’s car. It was a pigsty. Full of dog hair—and what a smell! I think someone was sick recently in the backseat. Where are you going?”

  Susan was running down the road and called her answer back over her shoulder. “To find them. To find Nathan. Come on. You know where he is.”

  Nathan and Gillian had gotten the girls into the perfect position to see the show. The youngsters were perched on a large granite boulder leaning against the public dock that jutted out into the water. Happily the tide was going out, so Theresa and Tierney had their own safe promontory. Gillian was looking back into the crowd and, noticing Susan and Kathleen, waved at them.

  “Nathan!” Susan flung both arms in the air and yelled. “I need to talk to Nathan!”

  Gillian poked her boyfriend in the ribs, said something in his ear, and he turned, saw the women, and returned their waves.

  “Come here!” Susan and Kathleen yelled simultaneously. “We want to talk to you!”

  Since they had attracted the attention of everyone within hearing, Nathan had no trouble making his way through the crowd; people mov
ed aside for him.

  “Did you give Titania and Karma a ride in your car recently?”

  “Karma? The dog is named Karma? That’s neat!”

  “Nathan, listen to me! Did you?” Susan insisted that he answer her question.

  “Yes. Did I do something wrong? She kept peeking at me through those curtains in the back of your Jeep during the parade. Then, after it was over, I was looking for Gillian when Titania found me and asked if I would drive her and her dog to your house.”

  “And you did.”

  “Of course. Did I do something wrong? I assumed she was going to meet you. When we got to the house, you weren’t there, but Titania said she had to look for something inside the house and asked if I would wait for her.

  “And you did.” Susan repeated herself.

  “Yes. She ran to the front of the house, and I stayed in the car with the dog. But then I wondered if Karma—that’s really a neat name.…”

  “Go on!”

  “Well, I gave the dog a chance to find her favorite tree, and she ran off. So I ran after her. And by the time I got back to the car, Titania was opening the back door to your house. Well, the dog ran in.” (Susan remembered the fur in her kitchen.) “And Titania and I dragged her out.”

  “Was she carrying anything?” Kathleen wanted to know.

  “Nothing that I saw; I mean, she might have had something in one of her pockets, but she didn’t have anything in her hands. Is she okay?” he asked worriedly. “I didn’t know that I was doing anything wrong.”

  “You didn’t,” Susan assured him. “But what happened next? Did you bring her back here?”

  “Well, she wanted to go to the historical society museum over on the other side of the island.” (Clever girl, Susan thought; she hadn’t even thought of that.) “So I took her there, but it was closed, so I asked where she wanted to go, and we were heading downtown when we spied those two women who are staying at the Taylor house.…”