by B R Snow
“You think you might be up for a little homecoming party on Saturday night at our place?” Josie said.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Who’s coming?”
“Everybody,” I said. “At least everyone’s been invited.”
“Should I bring anything?”
“Just your appetite,” I said. “Chef Claire is doing the catering.”
“That sounds great,” he said.
“We invited the crew from the boat,” I said.
“They’re still around? I thought they’d be long gone by now,” he said.
“Well, the police had it designated as a crime scene for a while. Now John’s doing some renovations,” I said.
“Renovations? The boat’s brand new,” he said, frowning.
“Apparently the owner in Florida wanted some changes,” Josie said.
“Rich people, huh?” he said with a chuckle.
“Alice will be at the party,” I said.
“Alice? That’s great. It’ll be good to see her,” Jackson said.
I watched him carefully for any sign of emotional turmoil about the prospect of seeing someone Josie suspected was an ex-girlfriend. But I couldn’t detect anything.
Either it didn’t bother him, he was hiding how he really felt, or they had never dated.
Geez, that narrows it down. Nice job, Suzy. Having totally whiffed on that one, I decided to move to a new topic.
“How well did you know Roger the Engineer?” I said.
“Not very well at all. I’d met him a few times,” Jackson said. “But I think he spent most of his time at John’s manufacturing operation in Montreal. Apparently, he’s considered a world class boat designer.”
“Was,” Josie said.
“Yeah,” Jackson said, nodding. “You got a point there.”
“Do you have any idea who’d want to kill him?” I said.
“Not a clue,” he said, shaking his head. Then he paused and stared at both of us. “Hang on a minute. You guys have been snooping, haven’t you?”
“No,” I said.
“Absolutely not,” Josie said, glancing down at the floor.
Jackson maintained his stare and waited. Eventually, I caved like a bad soufflé.
“Well, maybe a little,” I whispered.
“Here we go again. You guys are unbelievable,” he said. “Okay. Then you might as well give me the update.”
“We don’t have much at the moment,” I said.
“Just a long and ever growing list of potential suspects, right?” he said.
“No,” I said, protesting. “It’s not that long.”
Josie and Jackson both burst out laughing. Mildly offended, I waited until they finished.
“We think it has something to do with the boat,” I said.
“Suzy thinks it has something to do with the boat,” Josie said. “I’m just going along with her at the moment to keep her out of trouble.”
“Good luck with that,” Jackson said, laughing.
I’m glad that Jackson is feeling better and all that, but he was starting to make me a bit cranky.
“Thanks for the support,” I said, staring at Josie.
“Anytime,” she said, punching me gently on the arm.
“I think Captain Bill might have something to do with it,” I said.
He considered the idea and then shrugged.
“I wouldn’t have a clue what possible motive he could have had to kill Roger,” Jackson said. “But he’s certainly big enough to have put this dent in my head. What’s John’s take on this thing?”
“He doesn’t seem to have any idea about who might have done it. But he’s been busy trying to get things wrapped up for the year, and I’m not sure he’s had much time to focus on it,” I said.
“That makes sense,” Jackson said. “I’m sure he can’t wait to get that boat delivered and get paid for it. He must have millions buried in that thing.”
A nurse carrying a tray entered and approached the bed.
“Hello, ladies,” she said. “I’m afraid you’ll need to wrap things up soon. I need to get this guy down for a nap.”
Then she spied the box.
“Oh, is that a box from Paterson’s in Clay Bay?” she said.
“It is indeed,” Jackson said. “Chocolate chip cookies.”
“Yum,” she said, glancing at us. “My family has a place on the River. Every time I visit Clay Bay, Paterson’s is always one of my first stops.”
“Have one,” Jackson said, extending the box toward her.
“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, taking a cookie. “Thanks.”
Jackson noticed Josie hovering near the box and looked at her.
“Would you like one, Josie?” he said.
“I really shouldn’t,” she said, reaching for a cookie.
“Suzy?”
I stared at the box, glanced at Josie who was already halfway through hers, then nodded and reached for a cookie.
“Maybe just one for the road,” I said.
Chapter 14
When we arrived back in Clay Bay, we headed straight for John’s office. His assistant told us he was on the boat checking on the progress of the renovations, so Josie and I made our way down the dock, then up the stairway. We moved to the middle of the deck and glanced around.
“Don’t fall in,” Josie said.
“Funny,” I said.
I headed for the door that led below deck. Unlike our previous visit, the door was wide open. We walked down a small set of stairs and found John talking with a man I assumed to be the supervisor of the other four men who were busy installing new cabinets.
“Look, John,” the man said. “I don’t know what to tell you. We’re doing everything we can, but we still need to find four more.”
Sensing our presence, he glanced in our direction and stopped talking. His mouth remained halfway open.
Josie strikes again.
John noticed the expression on the man’s face, turned around and smiled at us.
“Hey, guys,” John said. “I just got the invitation this morning. I’ll be there Saturday night.”
“That’s great,” I said, then glanced at the other man. “Are you going to be, okay?”
His face flushed red, and he stammered something unintelligible. He looked at John who laughed then did introductions. The man did, in fact, turn out to be the supervisor of the work crew.
It was nice to see that my detective skills were as sharp as ever.
“It’s nice to meet you,” the supervisor eventually managed, sneaking another nervous glance at Josie.
“What can I do for you guys?” John said.
“Oh, we just thought we’d swing by and say hi,” I said.
“Of course you did,” John said, laughing. “And I’m running for Pope.” He turned back to the supervisor. “I’m going up on deck to chat with these two beautiful women.”
“I can’t blame you for that,” the supervisor said.
“And when I’m finished I’m coming back, and I’ll be expecting an answer. Are we clear?”
The supervisor nodded and walked off to join the rest of his crew. John pointed toward the deck and bounced up the stairs.
We followed.
My ascent was less than bouncy.
At the top of the stairs, I paused to take a couple of deep breaths.
“Really? You must be joking. It’s only four steps,” Josie said, shaking her head.
“Shut up,” I said, stretching on a deck chair next to where John was already sitting.
“So what’s up?” John said, pulling a sweater over his head.
“We were just wondering if you’ve heard anything from the police about the murder or the attack on Jackson,” I said.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “They’ve got a long list of potential suspects, including the three of us I imagine, but apparently they haven’t had any luck linking anybody to it. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, we’re just being nosy,
” Josie said, laughing.
“I’m shocked,” John said, glancing back and forth at us.
“Actually, we wanted to run something by you that Jackson mentioned,” I said.
“How’s he doing?”
“He’s good,” I said. “We just got back from visiting him. He’s coming home Friday.”
“That’s great news,” John said. “Jackson’s a good guy. So what did he say?”
“Well, it’s strange,” I said. “We were asking Jackson if he had seen anything before getting hit in the head and he said no.”
“Okay,” John said, nodding. “And?”
“And when I said nothing except the dead body,” Josie said. “Jackson said what dead body.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Weird, huh?”
“Yes, it certainly is. Let’s see. We were on the stage doing the check presentation when we heard the scream. And Jackson was the first person on the boat, and a couple of minutes later we found him unconscious on the floor and Roger’s body sprawled out on the bed.”
“Yes,” I said, nodding.
“Is Jackson sure the body wasn’t there?”
“Yes, he’s positive,” Josie said.
“Let me think this through,” John said, leaning back in his chair. “It couldn’t have been more than two minutes before the rest of us showed up at the boat, right?”
“At the most,” I said.
“I guess Roger could have walked in when Jackson got attacked. And then he was killed right after that,” John said, glancing back and forth at us with a frown. “Does that make any sense?”
“Maybe,” I said.
“I suppose it’s possible,” Josie said. “But what about the scream? It was a woman’s voice.”
“You know, I’ve been wondering about that myself,” John said. “Let me float an idea past you to see if it sounds plausible. You know how sound travels over water, right?”
“Sure,” I said. “It tends to echo. And sometimes if the wind is just right, it can be hard to figure out exactly what direction it’s coming from.”
“Yeah,” he said. “And I remember correctly, it was loud but didn’t the scream sound kind of muffled?”
“Maybe,” I said, searching my memory bank.
“Given what we found when we got to the boat, everyone just made the assumption that it was some woman on the boat who screamed,” John said, shaking his head. “Is it possible that it came from someplace else and the two things aren’t connected at all?”
“I never even considered that,” I said, deflated.
Not only did I think it was possible, I think John might have uncovered an important fact.
A major whiff on my part.
“But even if the scream and the murder aren’t connected, it still doesn’t help us figure out who did it,” John said.
“No,” I said, my mind racing.
Maybe racing was stretching the truth a bit. But it was certainly moving a lot faster than I’d climbed the stairs.
I so need to get to the gym.
“You think I should mention it to the police?” John said.
“Maybe,” Josie said. “I’m not sure it will help solve the case, but it is a bit of a twist to what we’ve been thinking.”
“Yeah,” John said, climbing out of his chair. “Look, I need to get back down there. These guys are way behind schedule.”
“Good luck finding four more,” I said.
“What?” John said, staring at me like I was an alien.
“When we came in, I heard the supervisor say he needed to find four more.”
“Oh, that,” John said, shaking his head. “Four more workers. I told him I wanted this job wrapped up by early next week at the latest and he said he’d need four more people to get it done that fast.”
“That makes sense,” I said.
“But apparently, he’s having trouble finding four people with the right skills,” John said, laughing. “Can you believe it? The things I need to deal with. Okay, I’ll see you two Saturday night. I can’t wait to see what Chef Claire comes up with.”
“Me either,” Josie said.
“Don’t fall in climbing down the stairs,” he said, laughing. “It’s really cold at the moment.”
“What were you doing in the water?” Josie said.
“I went waterskiing. I thought I could handle one last run. Boy, was I wrong.”
He waved goodbye and headed below deck.
We climbed back down the stairway that led to the dock.
And in case you’re wondering, trust me, I took my sweet time.
Chapter 15
The possibility that the woman’s scream had come from somewhere other than the boat tormented me all day. And since it was tormenting me, that meant I was tormenting Josie with endless questions and what ifs. Fortunately for her, she had a couple of afternoon surgeries and a handful of annual exams to deal with and was finally able to escape my obsessive behavior.
I wasn’t so lucky and continued to work myself into a frenzy.
I thought myself in a circle, then into a corner, wore myself out, and still came up empty. I decided the question of what woman had screamed and where she’d had been at the time could wait. So I went back to the main issue of who had killed Roger the Engineer and hit Jackson in the back of the head with a wrench.
Then I wondered if one person had committed both crimes or if two different people were involved. By the time I was done, I had managed to convince myself that there might be a large international conspiracy at work and that the FBI and CIA would have to be called in to assist with the investigation.
Then I got a headache, ate a handful of chocolate, and decided to take Chloe for a walk before it started to rain.
We had just stepped outside when I saw my mother drive into the parking lot outside the Inn. She kicked up her usual amount of dust and gravel, and I waited for it to settle before heading towards her car.
“Hello, darling,” she said.
For her, she was dressed casually. Jeans, boots, bulky sweater, and a wool scarf. But the ensemble was color coordinated and, as always, she looked fantastic.
“Hi, Mom. What’s up?”
“Can’t I just stop by to say hi to my daughter?” she said, frowning.
“Sure you can,” I said. “It’s just that you never do.”
“Be that as it may, I just stopped by to see if it’s okay for me to bring somebody to your party,” she said, glancing up at the threatening sky.
“Of course,” I said. “But you know you don’t need to ask.”
“No, I know that,” she said. “I just thought I should probably check with you first as a courtesy.”
I stared at her. She was acting a bit strange about something that didn’t even need discussion.
“Hot date?” I said, chuckling.
“It’s a bit more than that, darling,” she said. “I think I may have found a keeper.”
“Really? You?”
“Does that somehow strike you as funny?” she said.
“Yeah, it does. Aren’t you the one who always says, never keep ‘em, lose before weepin’?”
I always laughed when she said it since I thought it was a clever twist to the old Finders Keepers rhyme. And it perfectly summed up her approach to dating.
“I do not say that,” she snapped. “And if you mention it Saturday night, I will vigorously deny it.”
“Relax, Mom,” I said, laughing. “Your secret is safe with me. Who is he?”
“He’s a delightful man who owns a large foreign car dealership outside of Rochester,” she said.
“That makes sense,” I said, nodding at her new Mercedes. “After all, you two must have been spending a lot of time together the past few months.”
“Funny, darling,” she said. “So what’s new? We haven’t spoken in a few days.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I said. “We’ve been pretty focused on what happened to Jackson.”
“You mean you’ve been snooping, right?”
“Maybe,” I said, taking a tennis ball out of my pocket.
Chloe went on point, barked once, and sat down staring at the ball in my hand.
“You want to come for a walk with us?”
I threw the ball across the lawn and watched Chloe race after it.
“No, darling. I have to get my car into the dealership.”
“Geez, Mom, I said, shaking my head. “You don’t need to buy another new car. Why don’t you just meet him for a drink like a normal person?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s making a rattling sound, and I can’t for the life of me figure out where it’s coming from,” she said.
“It’s probably just that bottle I hid in your trunk.”
“Funny, darling.”
She stared at me until she was convinced I was joking.
I reached down to grab the ball Chloe had dropped at my feet. I fired it across the lawn again. I watched her race after it.
“And then I have a Council meeting tonight I can’t miss.”
“What’s on the agenda?”
“Christmas decorations. Christmas carnival. Christmas meal delivery for shut-ins. Christmas snowplowing schedule.”
“I’m sensing a theme,” I said. “Who’s playing Santa at the carnival this year?”
“Jackson. Well, at least that was the plan. I guess we’ll see if he’s up to it.”
“Promise to leave enough cookies out, and you can probably convince Josie to do it,” I said, laughing.
Too bad she wasn’t around to hear it. It was a good one.
Then I remembered I was talking with the woman who pretty much knew everything that was going on in town.
“Have you heard anything about the murder?” I said.
“Not much,” she said. “Other than everybody thinks that the owner in Florida is crazy for doing that stupid renovation. I thought the boat was perfect.”
“Who is the owner?” I said.
I can’t believe this was the first time I had asked that question.
“I think he’s in sugar,” she said. “Or something like that. But apparently, he’s very rich, very eccentric, and very anxious to retire so he can spend the next year on a boat. Can you imagine doing that?”
“No,” I said.
I couldn’t. As much as I love being on the River, I need to live on land due to the limited number of dogs I can get on a boat. Plus, the idea of eating canned food for an extended period wasn’t even worth discussing.
