by Cindy Bell
“What about Robbie? Did you notice anything strange about him lately?” Suzie asked.
“Like what?”
“Like, anything he might have been involved in that would have led to this,” Suzie said.
“Paul, you know we stay out of each others’ business.” Pedro turned towards Paul and stared hard at him.
“Right, but one of us ended up murdered, I think it’s okay to ask a few questions,” Paul said.
“Maybe you do, but the rest of us don’t. If Robbie was into something it was his business, and I’m not going to talk about it.”
“So, he was into something?” Paul’s tone hardened.
“You would have known about that, wouldn’t you, Paul? I mean you were friends.”
“He never said anything to me.”
“Because it wasn’t your business.”
Suzie reached up and touched Paul’s arm as she noticed his muscles twitch.
“It is now.” He scowled. “If anyone has a problem with that, they can say it to my face.”
“All right, all right.” Pedro held up his hands. “I’m just reminding you of how things work around here.”
“Maybe you’re the one that needs reminding, of how we take care of our own.”
“Ouch.” He rolled his eyes.
“If you think of anything else.” Suzie offered him a card for Dune House. “I can be reached here.”
“Sure, thanks.” He nodded at her then turned away. Once they were off the boat, Paul spun on his heel and looked straight at her.
“Do you see what I mean now?”
“Yes, I do, but it’s nothing I haven’t run into before, Paul. But I noticed you got a little riled up.”
“He just got under my skin.”
“I noticed.”
“Here, let’s talk to Frank, he might have seen something. He lives on his boat and only goes out for short runs.”
Suzie let the subject drop. As she trailed after him, she noticed a few faces peering through windows on their boats. She gritted her teeth and caught up to Paul.
“Frank.” He clapped a hand on the rail of the man’s boat. Frank turned to look at him. He was big, thicker than Paul and taller, too.
“Hey Paul.” He nodded. “What do you need?”
“I just wanted to know if you saw anything strange around the dock in the past few days.”
“You mean about Robbie?” Frank stared hard at the rope he coiled around his arm.
“Yes.” Paul leaned closer to him. “Did you notice anything?”
“Only you here, asking me questions.” Frank met his eyes. “That’s pretty strange.”
“Don’t start the ‘what happens on the dock stays on the dock’ business with me. Robbie deserved better than that.”
Frank nodded slowly and returned to his coiling. “You may be right about that. I personally kept my distance. I saw him come in and out of here too many times to believe he was just catching shellfish.”
“What do you mean by that?” Paul narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t mean anything. I just said, it’s not my concern.”
“What was he into?” Paul swung his foot over the side of the boat and climbed on.
“Back off, I have nothing to say.”
“Was it drugs or something? Was he running drugs?”
“I can’t say, I don’t know.” Frank shrugged. “It’s not like I inspected his boat. All I know is that the way he kept moving in and out at odd hours was suspicious.”
“Frank, I’m not trying to drag Robbie through the mud, I just want to find out who did this.”
“Why are you asking questions about that?”
“Because Robbie was my friend, no matter what he was into.”
“No, I mean, why are you asking questions, Paul?” He looked at Paul. “I think we both know who did this.”
“We do?” Paul raised an eyebrow. “Please, enlighten me.”
“Look whose boat is right next to Robbie’s.” He pointed down the stretch of dock. Paul turned his attention in the direction that he pointed.
“Is that Mike’s?” He squinted.
“Sure is.”
“So?” Paul looked back at him.
“You didn’t hear?”
“No.” Paul shook his head. “Were Robbie and Mike having problems?”
“Is there anyone that Mike didn’t have problems with? You really can’t tell me that you don’t think that Mike didn’t have something to do with this.”
“All I can tell you is that I don’t know for sure who did. But now that you pointed out whose boat was docked beside Robbie’s, I will be having a conversation with Mike. Anything else you can tell us about that day? Anyone suspicious?”
“What about someone in a yellow jacket?” Suzie stepped closer to the boat.
“A yellow jacket?” Frank looked over at the parking lot. “I don’t think so. I mean, a few people wear them around here, but most of the fishermen wear orange jackets. It’s good for visibility. Nothing stood out to me.”
“No one sneaking around Robbie’s boat?” Paul stepped back off Frank’s boat.
“Like I said, the moment things started getting shady, I stopped paying attention. Better not to know, than to pretend not to know. You know?”
“I hear you.” Paul nodded.
Suzie handed Frank one of her cards. “If you think of anything, maybe you don’t feel comfortable going to the police about, just give me a call here.”
“Okay.” He tucked the business card into the side pocket of his shirt. “Good luck. Be careful with Mike.” He met Suzie’s eyes.
“I will be.” She smiled.
Chapter Six
As Suzie fell into step beside Paul, he seemed to slow down.
“I don’t know if this is such a good idea. Maybe we should let Jason speak to him.”
“Paul? Are you feeling okay?” She reached up and touched his forehead lightly with her fingertips. “I’ve never heard you talk like this before.”
“I get the point, but seriously, Mike isn’t the easiest guy to get along with. The only person he talks nicely to is his wife. I don’t want you to get into any danger. It might be better to have Jason here as back-up, instead of just barging onto his boat.”
“I don’t intend to barge onto his boat, but we also don’t have time to wait for Jason to show up and if he does I don’t think he’ll be very happy that we are talking to people about the murder. I think we should have a quick conversation with the guy at least. How bad could he be?”
“If you say so.” He nodded to Suzie. “You’re the one in charge here.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“You’ve heard my opinion, I don’t think we should go over there without back-up. Now it’s up to you to decide what we do.”
“I think it’s worth at least trying to talk to the man. He is the one who is most likely to have a view of the murder, also, he could be the killer himself. Either way we need to speak to this man.”
“All right.” He shook his head. “But my protest is on record.”
“Noted.” Suzie nodded. She approached Mike’s boat. Luckily he was outside on the deck. She watched for a moment as he polished the railing of his boat. His methodical movements didn’t make him seem like a particularly wild man.
“Excuse me, Mike?” She smiled as sweet as she could. He didn’t respond. Paul frowned.
“Mike, we just want to talk to you for a minute,” Paul said.
Still Mike swept the cloth along the railing and didn’t even bother to look up at them. Paul gritted his teeth and climbed onto the boat.
“Mike. Did you hear me?”
“Get off my boat.” He rubbed the cloth over the railing with sharper, forceful movements. “I didn’t invite you on here. I could have you arrested for being here.”
Suzie stepped onto the boat as well and stood beside Paul.
“Relax Mike, we just have a few questions for you.” Paul tried to meet the ma
n’s eyes. He looked over at Suzie and shook his head.
“I’m not answering any more questions. It’s pretty clear to me why you’re here, and no I didn’t have anything to do with Robbie’s death. Not that you will believe me. So get off my boat.” He finally looked up. His gaze skipped from Paul’s face, to Suzie’s.
“You too.”
“We’re not going anywhere until we get some information from you.” Suzie folded her arms across her chest.
“Suzie, we shouldn’t antagonize the situation.” Paul put his hand lightly on one of her elbows. “Let’s just go.”
“No.” Suzie placed her feet hard on the floor. “I’m not moving. I want to know what he knows, even if I have to stand here all day. Do you have a problem with that, Paul?”
“No, of course not.” Paul straightened up beside her. “I’m here with you.”
“Oh, how great. Let me just call the police. Oh, that’s right, I can’t, because your old lady here has family on the police force. Doesn’t she?” He glared at Suzie. Suzie bit back a comment about how rude he was being.
“Jason has nothing to do with us being here. We’re here because we were told you likely had the best idea of what happened to Robbie,” Suzie said.
“Right. I can tell you that he was a pain in my behind. Is that what you want to hear?”
“No, that’s not what we’re looking for. I would think you’d be a little more concerned about a murder that took place right next door.”
“I have a lot on my mind.” He shoved his cabin door open. Suzie noticed a pile of crumpled laundry and an extra blanket on the cot inside. If he was docked, why hadn’t he taken his laundry home yet? Paul said that he was married so surely he didn’t live on the boat.
“Mike, seriously. Just answer the question.” Paul took an intimidating step forward. Suzie watched as his shoulders straightened and his chest spread. He squinted at Mike. He meant business. Mike glared right back at him with no sign of backing down.
“I don’t have to answer your questions, Paul. You are nothing but a fisherman, or have you forgotten that?”
“I haven’t forgotten who I am, but I’m starting to wonder if you have forgotten who you are. We’re a brotherhood, we’re supposed to stick together. You’re really going to let someone come on these docks and commit murder?”
“A brotherhood?” Mike laughed and shook his head. “You really are ancient aren’t you, Paul? There’s no brotherhood here, at least not one that I’m a part of. You’re going to need to drop that nonsense and get off my boat.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Paul spread his feet shoulder width apart and sank his weight into his heels. Suzie sensed a confrontation building.
“Okay, we’ll go.” She put a hand on Paul’s arm. His muscles tensed beneath her touch. “I’m sure there are plenty of other people we can ask about the man in the yellow jacket, and of course, about your whereabouts since you are so uncooperative.”
“What did you just say to me?” His words were rough as he stepped towards her. Paul moved between them before Mike could get anywhere near her.
“I said, if you want to make yourself look like a suspect go right ahead. It’s usually the people who have something to hide that don’t want to answer questions,” Suzie said.
“You have no right to talk to me like that. Get off my boat before I call the real cops and cause a scene. Is that what you want?”
“No.” Paul’s eyes locked to his. “I thought you might want to solve the murder of a fellow fisherman, but I guess all of the rumors about you are true.”
“People can say whatever they want. I don’t care. My life is not going to change based on what anyone thinks of me. You want to point a finger at me? Go right ahead. I have nothing to hide.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “But if you don’t move off my boat in the next five seconds I will be placing that call. Or if you prefer I could just toss your lady friend here into the drink. Hm?”
Suzie glared at him and was about to step forward to defend herself, but Paul remained in front of her and spoke first.
“Watch it Mike, I draw the line when it comes to threatening a woman,” Paul said.
“Go ahead and draw it. Your line doesn’t mean anything to me.” He pushed a button on the phone.
“Let’s just go, Paul. It’s not worth it.” Suzie tugged at his arm.
“Fine.” He nodded and followed after her as she stepped off the boat. Once they were both on the dock, Paul looked over at her with a heavy stare. “Mike’s a rough character.”
“He might be, but he’s also a possible suspect. I couldn’t walk away without at least trying to get some information out of him.”
“You shouldn’t have.” He glanced over his shoulder at Mike’s boat. “He’s the type to hold a grudge.”
“I’m not sure what it is about me that gives you the impression that there is anything delicate about me, but I can assure you I have handled many Mikes in my life, and he’s not even the worst.”
“And my point is, you shouldn’t have to do that anymore.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You have me now. So, let me do my job, hm?”
“Your job?” She would have protested if she could have stopped smiling. “I like the sound of that.”
“Get used to it.” He winked at her.
Chapter Seven
When Suzie and Paul reached the car Suzie paused and pulled out her phone.
“I think we need to get in contact with Jason.”
“From what Summer said yesterday I don’t think he’s going to want to tell us much about the investigation. And the way he spoke to me after we had found Robbie.” Paul raised an eyebrow. “It was only out of respect for you that I held my tongue.”
“I know that, and I appreciate that. Jason is just wound up about getting this investigation completed and done correctly so that there are no bumps in the road when it comes to closing the case. You can understand that, can’t you?”
“Of course I can. But there’s only so much I’ll take. Jason already knows that.”
“Paul, don’t forget, I’m the only family he’s got. He has no one to stand with him at the wedding.” She bit into her bottom lip then looked over at him again. “In fact, I was wondering if you might like to be one of his groomsmen.”
“Isn’t it a little late for that?” Paul frowned.
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to ask.” He laughed. “Maybe you should check with him first.”
“Jason’s too proud to ask anything of anyone.”
“Well, I prefer to wait and see if he asks me himself.”
“I understand,” Suzie agreed. “I’ll see what I can get out of him about the investigation. Maybe if we talk to him in a gentle way, he’ll be willing to share information with us?”
“All right, but I think you’re the better candidate to be gentle. Hm?”
“I suppose I am.” She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jason’s number. After the fourth ring she was about to give up.
“What is it Suzie?”
She was startled by the bite in his voice. “Jason, I’m just calling to see if there are any new developments in Robbie’s case.”
“The case that you’ve been looking into behind my back?”
“Jason?”
“Suzie?”
She gripped the phone tight and looked over at Paul before she turned away and lowered her voice. “This was a friend of Paul’s we just want to find out the truth.”
“Maybe so, but you should have left this to me and kept out of it.”
“Well, I couldn’t let it go. Can we meet and share information?”
“You think you have information to share with me?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“All right. Meet me at Dune House in fifteen minutes. I can only spare a few minutes.”
“Thanks Jason.”
“Just remember, Suzie, you need to stay out of this f
rom now on. Having a witness call me and complain that you have been interrogating them is a problem.”
“Who called to complain?”
“Never mind that. I’ll see you at Dune House.”
Suzie hung up the phone and turned back to Paul. “He wants to meet with us at Dune House.”
“And?” He studied her. “There’s something more to it than that isn’t there?”
“No, I think he’s just a little uptight. He said that someone called to complain about us asking questions at the docks.”
“That was fast.” Paul looked over his shoulder and squinted at the boats. “I’m going to guess it was Mike.”
“Yes, you’re probably right.”
“But if it was him then I doubt he was the murderer. Why would he want to draw attention to himself?”
“He might think that if he is open with the police they won’t suspect him. Or he’s so cocky he doesn’t think he’ll be caught,” Suzie suggested. “I’ve seen it before.”
Suzie and Paul climbed back into the car and headed back to Dune House. When they arrived Mary greeted them at the door.
“Jason is on his way to talk to me and Paul.” Suzie gestured to the large kitchen table. “We’ll use this space if that’s okay.”
“Sure, it’s fine. Any news?”
“Not exactly.” Suzie frowned. “Maybe a suspect, but not enough to go on just yet.”
“Okay, I’m going to head upstairs to finish cleaning.” As Mary left Suzie saw Jason in the entrance of the kitchen. “Hi Jason.”
“Hi.” Jason smiled. “Sorry, I don’t have long. What did you find out?” He looked straight at Paul.
“Suzie?” Paul glanced over at her.
“We spoke to a few people on the docks who mentioned seeing a man wearing a bright yellow jacket and one of the fisherman in particular gave us reason to believe he might himself be the murderer.”
“Mike?” Jason raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Suzie’s eyes widened. “You came to the same conclusion?”
“Yes. He’s not exactly the friendly type, but there’s more to it than that. Apparently he lodged a complaint with the dock owner. He was bothered by Robbie coming in and out at all hours. That gives him a motive.”
