A Watery Death (A Missing Pieces Mystery Book 7)

by Joyce Lavene

  “I don’t think that’s what this is, Kevin. I don’t understand Tovi and Lilly’s involvement with this, but I believe they do live in the sea.”

  “Keeping the whole seafolk thing out of it, Captain Lucky was known for his romantic affairs. I know they’ve ruled out the gambling angle, but being dumped by the most popular man in town is definitely one of the oldest reasons for murder.”

  “I haven’t told Gramps about this.” I glanced toward the door where Tess was still collecting samples. “I didn’t think he’d appreciate the mermaid angle either.”

  “But he might appreciate anyone going to so much trouble to make herself appear innocent,” he concluded. “I think you should tell Horace about it.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  Tess came back in raptures about the samples she’d found.

  “This could be more conclusive than seeing one of them.” She held one of the small plastic boxes up to the light. “I can’t wait to examine it.”

  My cell phone rang. It was Gramps.

  “Dae, if you want to take your friend the biologist out to the Andalusia, you’re gonna have to do it tonight. Crime scene techs are finished, and a judge has agreed to let the ship sail again tomorrow.”

  “Thanks. We can do that.” I glanced at Tess and explained that we would have to go to the ship right away before everything was cleaned up.

  “That’s fine with me, Dae.” Tess grabbed her bag. “This is all I came for and more than I expected. Thank you.”

  Kevin insisted on going with us. I knew Gramps didn’t care since he often asked for Kevin’s opinion on things, just like Chief Michaels and Sheriff Riley did.

  We rode over to the gambling ship in Kevin’s blue golf cart with signs painted all over it for the Blue Whale. There were still crowds in the streets. It was no wonder that the owners of the Andalusia wanted to reopen and take advantage of the thousands of people here for the weekend.

  Tim was stationed at the end of the long pier that led to the ship. He still looked angry and confused. I knew him well enough to know that nothing had changed between him and Trudy.

  “She’s still saying it’s off,” he told me as Tess and I waited for Kevin to park the golf cart. “She says I don’t know her well enough which means she doesn’t know me well enough. How am I supposed to get past that, Dae? It’s bad enough that her parents hate me.”

  “Trudy’s parents don’t hate you,” I advised. “They just want what’s best for her.”

  “And that’s not me. I get it. I wasn’t even good enough to take over for Chief Michaels. Instead they hired someone from outside the department who’s probably too old to work.”

  I lifted a brow.

  “Sorry. I got carried away. Of course your grandfather is in good shape and can handle this. But I know that’s what Trudy’s parents are thinking.”

  “Mating rituals are always complicated,” Tess said. “But usually the male that doesn’t give up is the winner of the female’s affections.”

  “Thanks.” Tim didn’t look as though he had any idea what she was talking about.

  Kevin joined us, and it was another ride on a cart, a shiny gold one, up to the boarding ramp. All the lights on the Andalusia were on, making a gorgeous display in the darkness.

  Gramps was waiting on the ship for us. I introduced him to Tess, and he shook hands with Kevin.

  “I hope you’ll be able to tell us something about what happened here, Dr. Horner,” Gramps said as we walked together to the stateroom.

  “I’ll do my best, Chief O’Donnell, though you may not care for my theories.”

  He frowned and glanced at me. I shrugged and looked the other way. I just told him she wanted a look at it. I knew he wouldn’t like it when she started talking about seafolk.

  The large room appeared almost the same as the last time I’d seen it—no Captain Lucky on the bed, thank goodness. Everything else was still covered in various forms of sea life. It was dried now as it hadn’t been when I’d found him.

  “This is fascinating.” Tess walked slowly around the room, peering at everything as though it was already under a microscope. “And you say the whole room was soaking wet when you found him?”

  “Yes. The rugs squished under my feet, and the walls and ceiling were wet to the touch. It reminded me of that time we pulled what was left of that old boat out of the water at the beach. Remember, Gramps?”

  He nodded. “It was still like that when I came on the case. It’s dried a lot now, but some of it was wiped down by the crime scene techs too. I don’t have anything back on that information yet. But the ME says cause of death was definitely drowning. He had a sharp blow to his head which probably rendered him groggy or unconscious, but wasn’t cause of death. We think he fell into the water after that. Captain Lucky had seawater in his lungs. It probably happened off this pier.”

  I thought about the scales I’d found on the pier. I knew then that they belonged to the seafolk.

  Kevin frowned at me. I knew what he was thinking—Lilly drowned Captain Lucky and then pretended to be a mermaid. In that theory, I supposed Tovi would be her accomplice.

  “I can well imagine.” Tess kept looking around. “Would it be all right if I take some of my own samples, Chief O’Donnell?”

  “I don’t see why not, since a cleanup crew is standing by until I give the order, and then the room will be turned out and scrubbed. We have everything we need.”

  “Thank you so much.” Tess took out more sample boxes and filled them with bits of everything she found.

  “Any theories, Dr. Horner?” Gramps asked.

  “Well, you see this very dark plant over here. You may not be aware of it, but it grows only at the deepest parts of the sea. It’s not something you’d pull up while fishing, unless you were deep sea fishing. Someone purposely put this here. I’m sure Captain Lucky didn’t go that far down off the pier.”

  “Killers have done stranger things to lead the police astray,” Kevin remarked.

  Gramps agreed with him.

  “There are other oddities too,” Tess continued. “I believe someone was trying to frighten your captain. This was probably done before his death. I don’t believe these specimens would have dried so quickly in the humid environment Dae has described unless it had happened a day or two before.”

  “Maybe that was why Captain Lucky was so rattled and wanted to get out of town,” I suggested.

  “That doesn’t make any sense, Dae,” Gramps replied. “Who would threaten someone with a bunch of seaweed?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, though I could guess. “What if it was something else?”

  “I can’t imagine one of the seafolk needing human money,” Tess said. “I assume that’s what you’re proposing, Dae.”

  Gramps did an almost humorous double-take. “What? Seafolk? Is that what we’re talking about?”

  “Of course.” Tess was very clear about it. “Dae met with a male of the species that seemed to be speaking about the captain’s death and then tonight the female was certainly clear about threatening Captain Lucky.”

  “Is this true?” Gramps stared at me. “Are you talking about mermaids? You think mermaids killed Captain Lucky?”

  “Not a mermaid per se,” Tess said. “They were male and female, easy to see since they were both naked.”

  Gramps cleared his throat. “Excuse us, folks. Dae and I need to have a word alone on deck.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  I ducked out of the stateroom with Gramps—though it felt more like I was with Chief O’Donnell—a curious distinction.

  “Exactly what kind of marine biologist is Dr. Horner?” he demanded.

  “The usual kind, I imagine. Her hobby is looking for proof that there are people who live in the sea.”

  “You could’ve told me that.” He let out a long sigh. “You know, people are expecting me to be too old to handle this position. You didn’t have to help them make me look stupid. What were you thi
nking?”

  “I was thinking that she could help you with solving Captain Lucky’s death.”

  “By blaming it on mermaids?” He stalked up and down the deck a few times. “I get that you’re not comfortable with me taking Ronnie’s place as chief. I wouldn’t have thought you’d come up with something so creative to point it out for me.”

  “I wasn’t pointing anything out. There are seafolk, Gramps. That’s who the naked man was. I saw him jump into the sound and not come back up until a big blue and gold tail sent him deeper into the water. I saw basically the same thing tonight.”

  “Go home, Dae. We’ll figure this out without the theatrics. I’ll see you later.”

  “Come on. You’re as bad as Kevin. You can stretch your mind to imagining so many things—why not mermaids?”

  I remembered the angry look on his face from when I was a child and had done something wrong.

  “We’ll talk about this later. Go on home.”

  Gramps went back into the stateroom and sent Tess and Kevin out. I had expected something like this from him, which was why I hadn’t told him in the first place. Maybe it was just me. Maybe they were right, and I was too gullible.

  But then they hadn’t seen what Tovi had done. It was more impressive than what Lilly had done. Kevin wasn’t there when Tovi had picked me up like I was a rag doll and jumped over the boardwalk to the sandbar. Maybe if he had, he’d be a believer too.

  Tess looked confused too, but she didn’t say anything as Tim took us back down to the end of the pier in the golf cart. When we were alone, she let it all out.

  “I wasn’t expecting anything more, Dae, even though he’s your grandfather,” she said as Kevin guided the Blue Whale cart back down to Duck Road.

  “Can I give you a lift to your friend’s house, Dr. Horner?” Kevin asked.

  “Of course. Thank you. She lives on Sand Dollar Lane. I’ll point out the house when we get there.”

  Kevin was silent after that as we buzzed through the dark night.

  Tess and I spoke quietly about the things she’d seen and identified at the ship.

  “I think it’s very clear that Tovi may have tried to send Captain Lucky a message to stay away from his sister. When that didn’t work, he killed him.” Tess tapped her chin. “You did say he was strong and fast, besides being a creature of the water. How hard would it be for him to drown the captain and place him in the stateroom to be found?”

  “But why would Tovi come to warn me about trouble? Why not just steer clear of it and leave the area? He doesn’t have to be here.”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I assume there are certain boundaries that the seafolk have established to keep themselves safe from humans. Otherwise they would have been killed off centuries ago. Maybe a human relationship with one of their kind is one of those boundaries.”

  There were still too many things that didn’t make sense to me. Kevin and I dropped Tess off at one of the cute little beach houses that had weathered storms for years. Tess and I agreed to meet the next day for coffee and discuss what she’d found at the ship.

  “I know this is a hard time for you since you’re mayor of Duck and your grandfather is the police chief, but I have to tell you, I’m so excited about this find. Thank you for taking me into your confidence, Dae. Goodnight, Kevin.”

  When she was gone, Kevin didn’t move the golf cart right away.

  “Come back to my place for a while,” he invited. “Let’s have a few drinks.”

  His hand on mine, I wanted to agree, but I was worried that our conversation would become a discussion about me believing in seafolk and him not believing in them.

  “I’d love to,” I said with a smile. “But I really should go see Trudy and try to find a way to work this out. The next party is only a few days away. I don’t want to see this breakup spiral into something bigger. Tim always wanted to marry me before he realized Trudy was his soulmate. I’d rather not go back to those days again.”

  “I knew Tim had his eye on you from the moment I met the two of you. I knew you weren’t interested in him, so I didn’t see him as much of a threat.”

  “In other words, you ignored him, thinking there was no rival for my affections,” I said.

  “Something like that. When you dated Luke Helms, that was different.”

  “We only dated one time.”

  “Yes. But by that time, I knew that I loved you. I hoped Luke wouldn’t sweep you off your feet before I got my chance.”

  “Luke is nice enough. But he didn’t stand a chance against you.” I kissed him. “Owning the Blue Whale makes you very attractive marriage material. Luke lives in an apartment. I wouldn’t leave my home for that.”

  Kevin laughed and backed the golf cart out of the drive. “Okay. As long as we’re clear on all that. Just remember that I still love you even if I don’t agree with you about some things. Your grandfather still loves you too.”

  “I know. Thanks for the reminder. I love you too, even though you’re wrong.”

  He glanced at me in surprise. “I think that’s all anyone can ask for in a relationship. Do you want me to go to Trudy’s with you?”

  “You can drop me off. It might be a while. And I don’t think we could have the girl chat we need to have with you there. Sorry.”

  “That’s okay. But I expect Trudy to do the same for us when you get cold feet before our wedding.”

  “Me?” It was my turn to be surprised. “What about you? You might be the one who gets scared.”

  He put his arm around me and drew me close. “I’ve had a lot more experience in the world, Dae. I know what I want. Sometimes I’m just not sure if you do.”

  I didn’t answer that. Of course he was wrong. I had always known what I wanted. That was why I’d never dated men who didn’t live here, because I didn’t want to leave my home. It was one reason I loved Kevin. He’d put down roots here.

  He dropped me off at Trudy’s house about three blocks away. I waved goodbye as he left, watching the tiny blue lights on the golf cart disappear before I went to knock on her door.

  Kevin was wrong about me. I knew exactly what I wanted.

  Trudy, however, was a complete mess. Her parents answered my knock on the front door with worried faces.

  “We’re so glad to see you, Dae,” her father said. “Please come in.”

  “If that’s Tim, I don’t want to see him,” Trudy called out.

  “It’s Dae, sweetheart,” her mother yelled and then whispered to me, “go on back. I hope you can help her figure this out.”

  I followed the familiar path back to Trudy’s bedroom where we’d first played with dolls together and later giggled about boys we liked. Her door was open, and I went in with all the confidence of a military leader marshalling her forces.

  “I’m not sure I want to see you either, Dae.” Trudy had two pillows stuffed against her face. “If you’re here to talk me into marrying Tim, you might as well leave.”

  “I’m not here to talk you into anything.” I sat on the bed beside her. “I’m here because you’re my friend and something’s wrong.”

  That was enough to make her sit up. She looked terrible. I hadn’t seen Trudy look this bad in a long time. Her platinum blond hair was standing on end, and her face seemed permanently tearstained. It was also rare to see her with no makeup.

  “Thanks for coming.” She sniffed and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Why was I going to marry Tim, of all people? It hasn’t been that long since he wanted to marry you. I must have lost my mind.”

  I hugged her. “Thank goodness you finally found it.”

  She looked puzzled. “What do you mean? You didn’t want me to marry Tim?”

  “Of course not. That’s why I didn’t marry him, even though he asked me a hundred times.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because you seemed happy with him.” I shrugged. “I didn’t want you to leave hi
m if things were going well.”

  “Oh!”

  “It’s so good to have you back. I was hoping you’d dump him before you got to the altar. You know how everyone talks when that happens.”

  She smiled. “You’re right. This is a good thing. There aren’t a lot of gifts to give back yet. There’s the dress, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

  “But better for your parents to lose money on that dress than for you to get stuck with a big loser.”

  Her blue eyes widened dramatically. “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think? I don’t want to marry Tim, but I wouldn’t call him a loser.”

  “What else can you call someone who has been on the police force for years with no promotion? He’s a volunteer firefighter—no money there.”

  “But I admire him for that, don’t you? Not everything that doesn’t pay is unimportant.”

  “I suppose that might be his one admirable quality.” I giggled. “Remember last year when he found that injured gull at his house and spent all summer nursing it back to health? I mean, what kind of man does that?”

  “He’s sensitive,” she defended. “And he likes animals.”

  “Maybe that’s it.” I shook my head. “And that thing he has about acting like every woman he dates is a queen or something. That can get annoying.”

  “I like when he opens the car door and holds my jacket for me.” She pushed her messy hair out of her face. “You’re being really hard on him, Dae.”

  “How can you say that? He didn’t even respect the tradition of not seeing the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony. I think that says it all.”

  Trudy got to her feet. “Who believes in those silly superstitions anyway? I know lots of people who didn’t even have a big wedding, and they’re just fine. My parents eloped, and they’ve been married over thirty years.”

  “I just found out that Gramps and Grandma Eleanore eloped too. They got married in Wilmington because they both had such big families and didn’t want a big wedding.”

  “Are you saying you think Tim and I should elope?”

  “No! I’m saying you’re lucky to be rid of him—big, tall, idiot that he is.”