Ruffled Feathers (Dune House Cozy Mystery Book 7)

by Cindy Bell

  “Any word from Neil or Priscilla?” Suzie glanced over the empty parking lot.

  “They haven’t been back. They must be going straight to the meeting. Do you want to drive?”

  “Yes.” Suzie held up her keys and gave them a brief shake. “You know I like to be behind the wheel.”

  The two friends drove into town to the municipal building which housed some conference rooms that the locals could reserve and use. When Suzie tried to find a parking spot there were very few to choose from.

  “It looks like the meeting is having a big turn out.”

  “There’s one.” Mary pointed to an empty spot. Suzie managed to park the car in the narrow space.

  “Let’s get inside before there’s no room left.” Suzie led Mary down the hall towards the room that the meeting was scheduled to be held in. The door was open and voices spilled out into the hall. The meeting hadn’t started yet, but it seemed like the majority of Garber was in the room. Mary made her way inside, and Suzie stepped into the packed room just behind her. She recognized many of the people in attendance, but not all. She saw Maurice at the front of the room with his shoulders raised and tight.

  “Standing room only.” Mary glanced over her shoulder at Suzie.

  “We can fix that.” Suzie tapped the shoulder of a young man seated in the back row. “Hello there.” She smiled at him. He looked at her, then at Mary and nodded.

  “You want to sit down?”

  “My friend here would like to,” Suzie said.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He nodded and stood up without an argument.

  “Suzie, you didn’t have to do that.” Mary frowned.

  “Mary, very few perks come with age, we should take advantage of at least a few of them.”

  Mary nodded with appreciation and settled into the chair. “Thank you.” She smiled at the young man who leaned against the wall. A moment later the meeting began. Suzie noticed that the entire row was filled with private business owners. She cringed as she thought of what Priscilla would face. Neil stood beside her at the front of the room, but their attitudes couldn’t have been further apart. Neil’s broad shoulders were tense, his eyes hooded, and his lips curled up in a mild sneer. Priscilla smiled at every person she made eye contact with, and appeared enthusiastic. When the meeting was turned over to her to give her speech she stepped up to the microphone with a bounce in her step.

  “Hello everyone, my name is Priscilla Kane. I know many of you have done your research on me, but you should know that I am not the person that the media depicts. Yes, I am wealthy, but I am not alone in that. The towns I have worked with before have become wealthy as well, along with many of their residents. We want the people of Garber to know that what we are offering isn’t just a resort. It’s guaranteed jobs, a place on the map, and the opportunity for small business owners to truly flourish.”

  “That’s not true!” Maurice shouted. He rose to his feet, as did a few other people in the room. “I’ve researched these other little towns that you’ve been to. All you do is destroy them. You hire outside help, you systematically replace small businesses with chain stores and franchises. If you build this monstrosity you will destroy Garber.”

  Several shouts erupted from the crowd in support of Maurice’s words.

  “Now please, just try to calm down. That doesn’t have to happen here. If we work as a team to get this project on its feet then the entire community will benefit.” Although her words were calm and soothing, it was too late. Half of the conference room was on their feet. A moment later Jason’s voice rose above the din. Suzie hadn’t even seen him come in, but he was there, just when trouble brewed, as always.

  “That’s it! The meeting is over. Everyone needs to clear out,” Jason said sternly.

  “It’s not over!” Maurice glared at him. “It’s not over until these people leave our town once and for all!”

  “It’s over when I say it’s over, Maurice!” Jason stepped in front of him and fixed a steady glare upon him. “One more word and I’ll walk you out of here myself.”

  Maurice opened his mouth to speak, but Jason held up a finger. Maurice closed his mouth. Jason waved people out of the room. Suzie and Mary were swept out the door along with the crowd.

  “Good thing Jason was there.” Mary clutched her purse. “That could have gotten ugly.”

  “Yes, it could have.” Priscilla paused beside them. “I guess there is a lot of anger against the resort. Hopefully we’ll be able to turn that around.” Mary looked down at her shoes. Suzie summoned a smile to her lips.

  “I’m sure that you will be able to. You might want to consider some of their concerns,” Suzie said.

  “Oh, yes of course I will. But first I’m going to make it clear that I have not been scared off. Suzie, I really don’t want to run off and hide. I’d like to be seen in the town after this horrible meeting. Is there a place I could go for dinner? Somewhere that the locals dine?”

  “I think Cheney’s is always a great place to go. It has delicious food and the staff are always friendly.”

  “That sounds great.” Priscilla met her eyes. “Hopefully the people will be welcoming.”

  “You might get a few glares or looks, but in general you should be able to enjoy a meal. If not, you can always come back to Dune House and have some dinner.”

  “Great. I’ll keep that in mind. I will see you later this evening.” As Priscilla walked away Suzie turned towards the parking lot. She almost walked right into Neil. He didn’t bother to excuse himself. In fact he didn’t look at her at all. He held his head high and ignored the sneers and comments of the locals as he walked past them. Suzie watched as he walked towards his car. He didn’t seem the least bit phased by what happened at the meeting.

  “That was wild,” Suzie said as Mary fell into step beside her as they headed to the parking lot. “Maybe we never should have gone.”

  “No, I think it’s important that we were there. Now we know what we are dealing with,” Mary said as she pulled open the passenger side door. “And so does Priscilla for that matter.”

  “Neil didn’t seem to mind.” Suzie rolled her eyes. “He marched around as if he was the king of Garber.”

  “I wonder if either of them even plan on living here. Priscilla mentioned that she’s done this in several different places. Why would they care what damage they do to the town?”

  “You may be right, Mary. I hate to think that about Priscilla as I actually kind of like her, but there’s no arguing the fact that the community does not want this resort.”

  “So? Do you think that Priscilla will bow to the pressure?”

  Suzie started the car. “No Mary, I don’t think that she will. In fact she didn’t even appear to be flustered by what happened tonight. If she is used to this kind of reaction then she probably has numerous ways to deal with it.”

  “And you think that we should just sit back and let her do that?” Mary gazed out the window. Suzie saw Dune House rise up before them.

  “Yes. I think we should let her have her say. The worst it can do is pull the community together against a common enemy.”

  “Or we could end up with a monstrous resort.”

  Suzie parked a few feet away from the front walk and turned the car off. “It’s possible. But what can we really do, Mary? It’s not as if we can throw them out on the curb, that would be worse for our reputation and they would only find someplace else to stay. If we remain neutral, we’ll get the up-to-date information about the deal, and we can decide what to do then.”

  “Okay.”

  The bed and breakfast was quiet when they walked in. If Neil was there, he was silent, as was Stewart. However, Benita squawked loudly through the door of Priscilla’s room.

  “I don’t think that bird ever sleeps.” Mary shook her head. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to take a nap. I have a date with Wes tonight and I’m already exhausted.”

  “I don’t mind. Get some good rest, Mary.” She gave her frien
d a quick hug.

  When Suzie stretched out on her bed to read some of her book she could still hear the angry voices of the people at the meeting. They echoed through her thoughts, and made concentrating on the plot line quite difficult. She left her room and checked to see if any of the guests had signed up for dinner. Since none had and Mary was going out she decided to have some leftover soup. She took it out onto the side porch to eat. As she watched the waves rush and retreat she wondered whether Priscilla would have her way in the end. Could Garber really be consumed by one development deal?

  Chapter Four

  The next morning Suzie woke very early. It was too early to even prepare breakfast for the guests. She decided to take a walk along the beach. In just her socks she made her way through the house to avoid waking any of the guests or Mary. She tugged on some slip-on shoes by the door and opened it. When she stepped out onto the porch she drew a breath of the salty air.

  “Morning!”

  Suzie jumped and gasped. She spun around to see that Mary sat in one of the rocking chairs. “Mary, you scared me.”

  “I’m sorry.” Mary laughed. “You should be proud of how high you can jump.”

  Suzie laughed as well. “I thought you were still sleeping.”

  “No, I guess that nap was too much for me yesterday. I’ve been up since five.”

  “How was dinner last night?”

  “Amazing.” Mary smiled and gazed out at the water. “Never in a million years did I think I could feel this way about a man. Well, you know what I mean.”

  “Huh?”

  “You and Paul.”

  “Oh sure, I enjoy his company.”

  “You enjoy his company?” Mary grinned. “That’s one way to put it.”

  “How would you put it?”

  “Maybe you’re in love.” Mary stood up and stretched.

  “I love how things are. I certainly wouldn’t want them to change.”

  Mary caught her eye and her smile grew a little. “There’s only one thing in life that doesn’t change, Suzie.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The fact that everything changes.”

  “Oh, thanks for that!” Suzie rolled her eyes and laughed.

  “It’s true.” Mary chuckled.

  “Want to go for a walk? It’s too early to put out breakfast.”

  “Sure, I’d love to.” Mary smiled.

  Suzie hooked her arm through Mary’s and the pair walked down the slope of the side of the property to the beach. It was that sleepy time of morning that was filled with only the wonder of the expansive sea. As they walked along the beach a few of the locals began to emerge from their beach houses. Friendly waves were exchanged, but no one spoke, the crash of the waves was sacred. They walked towards the pier. Mary paused to pick up a seashell nestled in the sand. When she stood back up she gasped.

  “What is it Mary? Are you hurt?” Suzie grabbed her arm.

  “Oh no, it’s Priscilla! Suzie, it’s Priscilla.”

  “What do you mean?” Suzie followed her gaze to the water. As the waves lapped at the sand Priscilla’s body rocked back and forth. Suzie lunged forward and grabbed Priscilla’s wrist to check for a pulse. When she couldn’t find one she placed her cheek close to Priscilla’s lips, but again there was no sign of life. In fact it was fairly evident that Priscilla had been dead for some time.

  “Mary, call Jason!”

  “I already am.” Mary’s hand shook as she held the phone against her ear. “Jason, you need to get here now, Priscilla Kane is dead.”

  Suzie searched the sand and water for any clue as to what might have happened. Priscilla certainly hadn’t gone for a swim. She was fully clothed right down to her high heels. Suzie’s mind raced. She hadn’t seen Priscilla come back in the night before, but she hadn’t expected her to. Maybe if she had stayed up late enough she might have noticed the woman was missing. Sirens screamed through the air shattering the quiet morning. People on the beach stopped what they were doing and looked towards Mary and Suzie.

  “Mary, we have to make sure no one gets too close. Who knows what might have happened.”

  “I’ll take care of it.” Mary nodded. She walked towards the people that approached. Jason and his partner, Kirk, raced across the beach towards Suzie with medics close on their heels. A few other officers jogged behind them. When Jason stopped beside Suzie he looked from her to the body.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. We just found her like this. I checked for a pulse and breathing, but she’s gone, Jason.” One of the medics looked at Jason and shook his head sullenly to confirm that she had passed away.

  “Are you okay?” Jason met her eyes with concern. “You should sit down.”

  “I’m okay. I just can’t believe that this happened. Do you think someone killed her?” Jason’s attention returned to the body. He crouched down beside it and began looking it over.

  “Hmm, I don’t see a mark on her. At least not visible.” Jason peered more closely at the body.

  “Looks like she might have just fallen off the end of the pier into the water. Poor woman.” Kirk shook his head. “It’s a shame.”

  “Is that what you really think?” Suzie frowned and crossed her arms. “I find it hard to believe that she would just slip. Why would she have been so close to the edge? Even if she fell in, why didn’t she swim to shore?”

  “She had all of her clothes on. Plus the water is very deep at the end of the pier.” Jason sighed as he looked out over the water. “People, especially tourists, have no idea how powerful the waves and the pull of the ocean can be. She probably panicked. It was dark, she was scared, she might have even swum in the wrong direction. I’ve seen it before.”

  “Yes, there’s no evidence of physical harm, her clothes aren’t torn that I can see. No visible head injury. Jason’s right. She likely plunged in and was too shocked or disoriented to get to shore. We’ll get the medical examiner to do an autopsy of course, but at the moment this is considered an accidental death.” Kirk shoved his hands into his pockets and growled under his breath. “The media is going to love this. After that meeting yesterday and now this, it’s going to be a circus.”

  “First we need to get in touch with her family, then we’ll worry about the media.” Jason looked up at the crowd of people that began to gather. The other officers kept them back. “What’s Mary doing?”

  “She was keeping everyone away. We don’t want photographs of Priscilla ending up splashed across the internet.”

  “Good thinking, Suzie. Thank you.” Jason gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry to do this to you when you’ve had such a shock, but I do need to ask you a few questions.”

  “Of course.” Suzie nodded.

  “Do you have any idea what she was up to last night? Did she mention anything to you?” Jason looked back out over the water.

  “I suggested that she should have dinner at Cheney’s. She wanted to be seen by the community. I thought Cheney’s was a good place.” Suzie frowned. “I’m not sure if she made it there or not.”

  “Did she mention if she was meeting anyone?”

  “No, I’m sorry. It was just a brief conversation. Like I said, I don’t even know if she went there.”

  “Well, let’s find out.” Jason nodded to Kirk. “See if you can get hold of any of the employees that were working last night. Let’s find out if she might have had a reaction to something, or maybe she had too much to drink.”

  “Okay, I’ll do that now.” Kirk walked away while dialing a number on his cell phone. Mary made her way back to Suzie and Jason. Suzie wrapped an arm around Mary’s shoulders.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I think so, Suzie. I just can’t believe that she’s dead.”

  “It’s a shock to everyone.” Jason took off his hat and ran his hand back through his hair. “I’m not sure how she could have ended up here. Mary, did you notice anything strange about her yesterday?”

  “No, she seeme
d fine to me.”

  Kirk walked back towards them, his features shadowed. “According to a member of the staff at Cheney’s, Ms. Kane had quite a bit to drink. Then as she left the restaurant she stumbled. I got the time of departure.”

  “Wow. Maybe she was so drunk that she took the wrong path. She probably thought she was headed back to Dune House and instead she was on the pier. It must have been too late once she fell into the water. She was too drunk to keep her head above water.” Jason clucked his tongue.

  Suzie and Mary stepped away as the two continued to discuss the death. Mary looked over at her.

  “What is it, Suzie?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I know that look.”

  Suzie sighed. “I just don’t think it could be true.”

  “What isn’t true?”

  “Well, Priscilla getting drunk and walking off the pier. She was so put together. She actually came across as rather warm to me. She also didn’t seem like someone who would be so reckless.”

  “You may be right. People hide their addictions well though.”

  “But she didn’t even ask for wine at dinner.” Suzie narrowed her eyes. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “I’m sure if something is suspicious about it, Jason will figure it out.”

  “I hope so.”

  Chapter Five

  By the time Suzie and Mary got back to Dune House there was no sign of the guests. They had missed breakfast, but there were no angry notes left behind. Suzie stood beside the kitchen counter and tried to think of what to do next. She was so shocked by the discovery that she couldn’t get her thoughts straight. Mary leaned against the counter beside her.

  “We should see that Neil is okay and make sure he knows about Priscilla’s death,” Suzie said. Mary bit into her bottom lip. “Don’t you think he should know?”

  “Yes. And I would hate for him to come to us about something before he’s been informed,” Mary said. “I wonder how he will take it. We should see him together. Is that okay?”

  “Yes, let’s just get it done, the longer we let it go the harder it will be.” As they walked down the hall towards Neil’s room Suzie tried to think of how to break the news. At Neil’s room she knocked on the door. Mary grimaced as they waited for him to open the door. After a few moments, Suzie knocked again. Again there was no response.