Dodgy Dealings (Dune House Cozy Mystery Series Book 5)

by Cindy Bell

  “It's beautiful out,” Suzie said with a relaxing sigh.

  “I do like the change of weather,” Mary agreed. “Although, I will miss the warm water.”

  “It won't be cold for long,” Suzie reminded her.

  “Suzie, stop!” Mary suddenly gasped and grasped Suzie's arm tightly.

  “What? Why?” Suzie asked, her nerves immediately on edge. She was already on high alert because of her suspicions about someone being in the Gables’ room, so the urgency in Mary's voice sent her heart racing.

  “Look, there!” Mary said and pointed rigidly towards the tall grass that lined the edge of the road. Suzie braced herself for what she might see. As she turned to look, a white rabbit bounded its way out of the tall grass. It paused once to wiggle its whiskers at Suzie, before hopping off.

  “A rabbit?” Suzie asked with annoyance. “Mary, you frightened me!”

  “I frightened you?” Mary laughed a little and gave Suzie a strange look. “You're not afraid of anything, Suzie, what's going on with you?”

  Suzie sighed and shook her head. “I honestly can't say. I've just been feeling uneasy, as if there is something I should be paying attention to, but I don't know what it is.”

  “Maybe it's just Paul being away,” Mary suggested as they began walking again.

  “Maybe,” Suzie replied. The pair fell into silence as they continued down the road. A few minutes later, Mary grabbed Suzie's arm again.

  “What is that?” she stumbled out.

  “What?” Suzie asked skeptically.

  “There,” Mary said as she pointed through the tall grass along the side of the road.

  “I still don't see anything,” Suzie said with a shrug and narrowed her eyes. “If it's another rabbit, I'm going to be annoyed.”

  “It's not,” Mary promised. She unwound her arm from Suzie's. Mary gestured to Suzie to be quiet as she walked closer to the side of the road. “Oh, it's a car!” she gasped. Suzie's eyes widened at Mary's words. It was unusual enough to see a car on the road, let alone to see one hidden on the side of the road.

  “What?” she walked up behind Mary quickly. Half on the road and half in the ditch beside it, was a car. A car that Suzie recognized. “Doesn't that look like the car that Antony and Daria were driving?” she asked breathlessly.

  “It does,” Mary agreed as she began edging her way closer to the car.

  “Careful, Mary,” Suzie warned. “If there's been some kind of accident who knows what could be leaking from the engine.”

  “Oh no,” Mary whispered. Suzie frowned as she followed Mary's line of vision. She gasped sharply when she saw the figure of a man slumped over the steering wheel.

  “It's Antony,” Suzie said as her heart sank. She pulled out her cell phone. “I'll call for help.”

  “I think it's far too late,” Mary said quietly as she studied the body. “It looks like he's been gone for a little while.”

  Suzie made her way to the other side of the car as she filled in the 911 operator on what they had found. She was dreading the possibility of finding Daria dead in the passenger side of the vehicle. She sighed with relief when she saw that the passenger seat was vacant.

  “She's not here,” she said to Mary. “Daria's not here.”

  Mary closed her eyes briefly with an expression of relief.

  “Help is on its way,” Suzie said as she hung up her phone. “I just don't understand. What was Antony doing out here in the first place? Where is Daria?”

  “I don't know, Suzie, but I think something very strange happened here. Why would they claim to be leaving early for Paris, without Antony's passport, only to end up separated with Antony dead on the side of the road?”

  “It doesn't make sense,” Suzie shook her head. Her eyes were lingering on something. It looked as if there was a pair of reading glasses crushed into the dirt beside the car. She shrugged. “I remember they had a bit of a spat. Maybe things got worse after they left. Maybe Daria is safe and sound somewhere else, and Antony was so upset he drove off the road,” she frowned and glanced up at the flashing lights that were approaching on the road beside them. Suzie had no doubt it would be Jason, and his partner, Kirk Rondella. The squad car was parked, and Jason stepped out of the driver's side. He squinted against the sunlight as he walked quickly towards Suzie. Kirk followed after him, his gaze sweeping the surroundings as if he was memorizing everything he saw.

  “Suzie, we got a call about an accident?” Jason said grimly. “Are you and Mary okay?”

  “We're fine,” Mary assured him. “I'm afraid our guest, Antony Gable, is not though.”

  “Jason, we've got a DOA,” Kirk called from beside the car in the brush. Suzie was a little startled that Kirk had been able to move that fast without her noticing. She didn't know him very well, as he was quite new to the force, but he seemed to have the art of being stealthy down to a science. An ambulance made its way cautiously down the road. Suzie grimaced and hoped that it wouldn't get stuck.

  “Did you hear the crash?” Jason asked as he pulled out his notepad.

  “No,” Suzie shook her head. “We were just out for a walk, and Mary noticed the car.”

  “He's supposed to be on his way to France,” Mary said, her voice softened by shock. “We didn't even see him this morning, they left a note that they were checking out.”

  While Kirk supervised the medics to make sure that no evidence was compromised, Jason continued to ask them questions.

  “So, you didn't actually see them leave?” he asked. “Do you have any idea where his wife is?”

  “No,” Suzie shook her head. “When I woke up this morning there was a note on the front desk along with their key and their payment.”

  “Excuse me,” one of the paramedics interrupted.

  “Yes?” Jason asked.

  “We're turning this over to the medical examiner,” the paramedic explained.

  “Do you think it's possible that Daria could be somewhere in the woods, hurt?” Suzie asked with urgency. “Maybe she was thrown from the car?”

  “The door was closed, and there's no sign of someone being thrown,” the medic said quietly.

  “Kirk,” Jason called out.

  “Yes?” Kirk asked as he stood up from beside the car. He seemed to have been inspecting the undercarriage.

  “Can you do a sweep a few feet into the woods and see if there are any signs of a second victim?” he asked.

  “Absolutely,” Kirk nodded and began moving slowly through the woods.

  “If there's anything to find, Kirk will find it,” Jason said with confidence. “He has eyes like a hawk.”

  As the ambulance pulled away, Jason began slowly walking along the road, back and forth. He was studying the dirt. Jason crouched down beside the skid mark in the road. He studied it for a long moment. Then he ran his fingertips lightly over it.

  “I didn't find anything,” Kirk said as he emerged from the woods and walked over to Jason.

  “I think I did,” Jason said thoughtfully.

  “What is it?” Kirk asked as he leaned down to get a closer look.

  “I don't think this was a simple case of losing concentration on the road,” Jason said grimly. “The way these marks have been made makes it seem as if the driver was swerving to avoid hitting something.”

  “Something like what?” Mary asked as she glanced around.

  “Maybe an animal of some kind,” Kirk suggested. “Something might have bolted out in front of him.”

  “Maybe,” Jason nodded. “It looks like the driver suddenly turned very hard. Maybe for a person, or a large vehicle headed towards them.”

  “A person,” Suzie said with a gasp. “I bet that's it. I wonder if it was Daria standing in the road. Maybe she was trying to keep him from leaving. The poor girl must have run off when she realized what damage she had caused.”

  “It's possible,” Jason nodded. “But at this point we can't rule out anything. We'll know more once Dr. Rose has a chance to lo
ok at the body.”

  “In the meantime, our focus should be on finding Daria,” Mary said with sadness. “Whether or not she was involved in some way with the accident, she has lost her husband, and she should not be by herself.”

  “Do you think she would have gone back to the bed and breakfast?” Suzie suggested.

  “It's possible,” Jason nodded. “Why don't you two head back and check things out. Call me with any information you have about Antony and Daria, phone numbers, addresses. The faster we are able to notify the family, the better. You know how quickly this type of news spreads in a small town.”

  “We'll call you as soon as we get back,” Mary said quickly.

  “Thanks,” Jason nodded. “Make sure no one goes in their room at Dune House, I'll be sending some technicians over to analyze it.”

  “Okay,” Mary agreed. “We don't have any other guests right now anyway,” she added.

  Jason's expression shifted to one of concern. “Listen, until we know exactly what happened here, you both need to be cautious.”

  “Why?” Suzie asked as she turned back towards him. “It was just an accident.”

  “Maybe,” Jason narrowed his eyes as he looked back at the wreckage of the vehicle. “But something about it just doesn't feel right. Just keep an eye out for anyone suspicious around town, or anyone hanging out around Dune House.”

  “Will do,” Mary assured him and hooked her arm through Suzie's. As they began walking back towards Dune House, Mary spoke to her in a soft whisper. “It is pretty strange when you think about it,” she said. “I know I overheard a little argument between them, but they seemed so in love and ready to travel to Paris, what could have driven them apart?”

  Suzie hesitated a moment as she recalled the fight she had overheard between Daria and Antony. “They had their moments,” Suzie replied. “I also thought it was just a lover's spat I heard, but maybe there was something more to it.”

  “Something more to what? What did you hear?” Mary asked.

  “Last night the pots were being blown around on the deck, so I went to gather them,” Suzie explained. “While I was outside I overheard Antony and Daria arguing. She said something about him hurting her family and then told him she would kill him if he did.”

  “What?” Mary asked and started to spin on her heel. “We have to tell Jason about that right now.”

  “No, Mary wait,” Suzie said swiftly and tightened her grasp on her arm. “I don't want to tell Jason. Not just yet at least.”

  “Why not?” Mary demanded. “If Daria did something to hurt Antony…”

  “But we don't know that,” Suzie insisted. “It was a car accident, what could she have done to hurt him?” she pointed out. “She said something in the heat of the moment, we’ve all done that, but if we tell Jason about the fight, he might assume that Daria was involved. I just don't think it's possible. Do you?”

  “I wouldn't think so,” Mary agreed. “Still,” Mary frowned. “It doesn't seem like a good idea to keep it from Jason. Especially, seeing as I also heard them fighting the night before.”

  “Think about it, Mary, can you honestly tell me that you and Kent never got into a heated argument, never said anything you wished you could take back later?” Suzie frowned.

  “Well Kent,” Mary cleared her throat. “He could be cruel.”

  Suzie fell silent as she realized she had used a bad example. She knew how abusive Kent had been to Mary throughout their marriage, and only then realized that it was insensitive of her to bring it up.

  “I'm sorry, Mary, I shouldn't have said that…”

  “No, you're right,” Mary said and sighed. “I can't tell you how many times I thought about hurting him, or threatening him, I would never follow through with it. I know what you mean. It wouldn't be right to point the finger at Daria without knowing more information.”

  “I don't want Daria to lose her husband, and be under suspicion for his death, all because I listened in on one argument,” Suzie explained. “Besides they only raised their voices for a few moments, then everything quieted right back down. I don't think they were still angry at each other.”

  “I think the real key is why did they leave early?” Mary said as they reached the parking lot for Dune House. “It seemed odd to me that they would just leave a note. Maybe Jason could call the airport and find out if their flight had been bumped up.”

  “Good thought,” Suzie nodded. “I'll mention it when I call him with their information.”

  After Suzie brought up the Gables’ file she printed out the information and picked up the desk phone. She dialed Jason's phone number. He answered quickly.

  “Do you have their information for me?” he asked with some urgency in his voice.

  Suzie gave him the information she had collected when the Gables’ registered which included a single address and their two phone numbers.

  “I'm afraid that's all I have,” Suzie said with a frown. “I'm not sure that it will help much.”

  “The important thing is that we find family,” Jason explained. “Summer is working on the body right now, so hopefully she'll have some more information for us soon.”

  “Maybe you could check if their flights were changed,” she suggested.

  “We’re already working on it, but from what we can tell their flight was never changed,” Jason said.

  “That’s weird,” Suzie said softly.

  “We are still looking into it, maybe they booked another flight. Is there anything else you remember about Antony and Daria that might be helpful to the case?” Jason asked. Suzie hesitated. She considered sharing with him the information about the fight but she still didn't want to get Daria in trouble because of her eavesdropping.

  “I can't think of anything right now,” she said softly. “Have you had any luck finding Daria?”

  “I've checked her credit cards and cell phone activity,” Jason replied. “There hasn't been any activity since yesterday. The last place her credit card was used was Freeland’s Fudge.”

  “Harry's place,” Suzie said swiftly. She was going into town with Mary anyway so she thought she would pop in and try to find out if he remembered anything about seeing her yesterday.

  Suzie reached into the drawer to put the printout of the Gables’ registration information away and as she was pulling her hand out her fingertips swept over the note that was still stashed there.

  “Did you find out anything else,” Suzie asked.

  “No, that’s it” Jason replied.

  Suzie remembered about the handwriting on the note and thought about telling Jason about it but she hesitated and before she could he had already hung up. Suzie settled the desk phone back into its cradle and looked up as Mary walked into the room.

  “Mary, I think this might be a bigger situation than we originally thought,” she said grimly.

  “Why do you think that?” Mary asked. “I didn't find anything unusual in the room, but I locked it up for Jason to look over later.”

  “See this note,” Suzie said and spread it out on the desk.

  “Right, the one they left this morning,” Mary nodded.

  “But it's not in Daria's handwriting,” Suzie insisted. “I noticed it earlier, but I just assumed that maybe Antony had written it, and Daria had signed it. Now with Antony dead, and the circumstances so strange, I'm starting to wonder.”

  “You think someone else could have left the note?” Mary asked with concern.

  “Yesterday, when I checked their room for cleaning, I found spilled wine. I left the room to answer my phone but when I came back the window was open. I thought maybe someone had been in the room. But I figured I was just imagining things. Then this morning I found the window open again,” Suzie frowned. “Now, we've found Antony dead, Daria is missing, this note looks even more suspicious.”

  “I think you're right,” Mary agreed softly. “Something isn't right.”

  “Our first step to figuring this out has to be finding Dari
a,” Suzie said. “I say we go into town and ask around. Someone must have seen something.”

  “Wait a minute,” Mary suddenly gasped. “At the same time you were cleaning their room yesterday, I saw that man outside on the beach.”

  “You're right,” Suzie nodded sharply. “I remember now. Maybe he was the one that was in the room.”

  “We need to make sure that everything is locked up tight,” Mary said. “If someone was able to sneak into the room then they might come back.”

  The two split up to check every window and door in the B & B. As Suzie went through each finely decorated room, she tried to piece together what might have happened. If there was a third person involved, could it have been Daria's lover? If so, why go to the lengths of leaving the note, but then leave behind the passport? Nothing Suzie thought of made sense. Her mind traveled back to the conversation she had overheard. Could this have something to do with Daria's family? When she and Mary met by the front door, Mary had the keys to the car and her purse slung over her shoulder.

  “We need to get to the bottom of this,” Mary said. “We have guests coming in soon, and I wouldn't feel right about letting them stay here if someone has been sneaking in and out.”

  “What if someone wasn't sneaking?” Suzie suggested as they stepped out of the house. Mary turned back to lock the front door. “What if Daria let them in?”

  “Do you think she would?” Mary asked with shock in her voice as they settled into the car.

  “When it comes to matters of the heart, I think anything is possible,” Suzie said darkly. “Maybe Daria wanted to take that trip with another man.”

  “Maybe,” Mary said as she pulled out of the parking lot. She drove towards the center of town.

  “You don't seem convinced,” Suzie said.

  “Just something about the way Daria and Antony looked at each other,” Mary explained. “It was so loving. I'd just hate to think that it wasn't genuine.”

  “Some people are very good actors,” Suzie reminded her.

  “Sure,” Mary agreed. “But that's something very difficult to fake.”

  Chapter Four

  Freeland's Fudge was in a strip of shops that ran along the main street. After parking near the police station, Suzie and Mary walked to the shop. The sign in the window said closed, but Suzie could see someone moving around inside.