Catch of the Dead (A Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery Series Book 5)

by Lyndsey Cole

  Hannah frowned. “Really? She hated me.”

  Moe helped himself to several fries. “Really? She hoped you had gained about fifty pounds and turned into an ugly spinster. When I first saw you, I was kind of shocked, to be perfectly honest. The way Adele described you, the last thing I expected to see was a beautiful, athletic, sun-tanned woman. And then you yelled at me about my cigarette butt and I knew we’d be friends at some point.”

  Hannah stared at Moe and then burst out laughing. “Well, I’m glad I disappointed her. But, friends with you? Probably not.” She dug into her fries with gusto. Even though Adele had commented on the fact that she gained a few pounds, as far as Hannah was concerned, those pounds were all muscle from the hard work of running her business.

  After a not-too-uncomfortable stretch of silence, while Moe crumbled the oyster crackers into the chowder and Hannah polished off the bulk of the fries, she asked, “Why did you follow her on the beach early Saturday morning? To try to finally get in the last word or something?”

  Moe poured the last bit of chowder into his mouth, sighed and leaned back. “Pretty good, maybe even the best I’ve ever had.”

  “Thanks. We win every competition we enter.” She bit her tongue to be patient while Moe decided how to answer her question.

  “Yes, I did follow Adele. Or, rather, I suspected she might be back at her mermaid sand sculpture to admire her work if it was still together, so that’s where I went. She would want to savor every last minute with her award-winning work before it disappeared under the tide.” He shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep, anyway, and it was a nice night for a moonlit walk on the beach.”

  “You found her where you expected?”

  “I did. She was angry and attacked me, saying men were all evil and she couldn’t trust any of them.” He turned sideways and looked at Hannah. “It was weird to say the least. I had never seen her like that.”

  “Too much to drink?”

  “Possibly. I got her somewhat calmed down and that was when she threw the mermaid necklace in the sand at my feet. She said she was leaving as soon as the sun came up. No hug, no good bye, no have a nice life. She didn’t even say it was fun while it lasted.”

  Hannah realized she was holding her breath. Was Moe going to admit to killing Adele?

  “I picked up the necklace and walked away.”

  “So Adele was still alive at, what time was that?”

  “Around four a.m. maybe. I didn’t pay attention. It was before the sun came up. And, yes, Adele was still angry and very much alive.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “I walked toward the marina and that’s when I saw you, or, at least I thought it was you. There was someone in the distance, about your size, long hair.”

  “She was walking in Adele’s direction?”

  “Uh-huh. I remember thinking, someone else for her to rip apart. It actually made me feel good that I wasn’t the only one to be on the receiving end of her wrath.”

  Hannah stood. “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “When I thought Rory was the murderer, I didn’t care, but now I’m worried. About Karla. She was so eager to get out of town, and don’t get me wrong, I’d love for her to come with me, but not if it means she’s running away from something that might haunt us down the road.”

  “Murder? You think that woman you saw walking toward Adele was Karla? And she’s the killer?” Hannah asked. She sagged back down onto the bench.

  “I just don’t know, but you’re the one digging under every nook and cranny so I figured you should have all the information I have.”

  Hannah was stunned. Karla on the beach twice? Once to kill Adele. She would know exactly where Rory’s shovel was kept. Then an early morning run to “find” Adele’s body? It would be clever to throw off the police. Did she intend to incriminate Rory and get out of town any way possible before any clues pointed in her direction?

  Or was Moe the clever one to try to throw the police and Hannah off his trail? He couldn’t prove the story he just told her about arguing with Adele and walking away while Adele was still alive. His story could be truth or fiction. Unless she could find a witness, she might never know. She would have to talk to Karla and find out where she went and what she saw. Or if she even admitted to being near the marina at four a.m. Saturday morning.

  16

  Meg drained the last of the chowder into a serving bowl. For herself. She crumbled three packs of oyster crackers over the top. “Don’t look at me like that. After this busy day, I deserve the last bowl with all the big pieces of clams that sank to the bottom,” she said to Hannah, trying not to sound guilty for being selfish.

  “I’m famished, but don’t worry about me,” Hannah replied, trying to keep a straight face.

  “I worked harder than anyone around here. I earned it.” But Meg poured half of the chowder into another bowl and handed it to Hannah. “Here. If you don’t take it, I won’t be able to enjoy this pitiful amount that’s left.”

  Hannah happily accepted the container and hungrily devoured the treat.

  Between spoonfuls, Meg said, “We sold a lot of clam chowder today, a ton of my super-duper salty hand-cut fries, and all the brochures about your business are gone. Remind me whose great idea it was to participate in the Taste of Hooks Harbor event this year?”

  “As a matter of fact, I recall Jack telling me about it first.”

  “Jack? Are you kidding? I told Jack how we should have a tent and spread the word about The Fishy Dish. Lots of people said they’d stop by. I suspect they might be hoping to sit under one of your umbrellas with an ice cream while a body floats up on the beach. It’s all everyone could talk about today—who murdered that beautiful sculptress?”

  “They want more bodies to show up? What’s wrong with everyone?” Hannah shuddered at the thought. If there was another body it very well could be hers with the reputation she had for snooping for clues.

  “Who knows? Everyone is shocked to the core, but for some reason they want to be in the middle of the excitement.” Meg packed her dirty pots and utensils into a box, folded the red-and-white checkered tablecloths over the top, and started to break down the folding tables. “Where’s Cal? He can start lugging this stuff to his truck.”

  Hannah stretched on her tippy toes and spotted him on the far side of the green, walking with Samantha. She waved her arm to get his attention. “He’s on his way.” She helped Meg dismantle the rest of the tables and leaned them against the tent pole.

  Cal picked up some trash next to the tent. “Ruby and Olivia went home. Jack is heading to the office in case anyone at the cottages needs anything. What’s ready to go to my truck?”

  Meg handed Samantha a box and led the way to Cal’s truck, leaving Hannah and Cal to dismantle the tent.

  “Did you hear about Rory?” Cal asked Hannah.

  She froze. “No. What happened? Did he get charged with murder?”

  “No. Jack told me he’s free to go home but not leave town. There were too many fingerprints on his shovel and a witness turned up to verify he wasn’t on the beach at the time of Adele’s murder.”

  “What witness?”

  “A friend of Rory’s.”

  Hannah frowned. “Why did it take so long?”

  Cal shrugged. “I saw you talking to Moe for quite a while.”

  “He gave me the impression he thinks Karla might be the murderer. He said he saw her near the marina walking toward where he had just had a chat with Adele around four a.m. Saturday morning. At least he thinks it was Karla. At first he thought it was me so I don’t think his eye-witness testimony is worth much.”

  “People are hard to figure out. So what is the truth?”

  “And who else left fingerprints on that shovel?” Hannah shook her head. Her long braid swished back and forth across her shoulder blades. “I need to find out if anyone saw Moe on the beach. So far, he seems to be the only one seeing other people.”

  “Geez, you two,”
Meg said when she returned for the third time from lugging boxes to Cal’s truck. “Samantha and I are working our butts off and you haven’t even gotten the tent down.”

  Hannah and Cal made quick work taking the tent apart while Meg took the last box to the truck. The green had only a few tourists meandering through. All the vendors were long-gone by the time Cal carried the folded tent and poles to his truck.

  “See you at your new cottage? We could put our feet up, enjoy the view, and have a cold drink,” Cal asked.

  “Ahhh. That sounds like Heaven. See you there,” Hannah replied. Her shoulders sagged. Her pace was slow and she hoped nothing interfered with the rest of her day.

  Of course that was not how things worked. Wanting something and getting something are not the same thing.

  As Hannah drove toward her paradise, Karla trudged along the side of the road. Part of Hannah’s brain screamed, just keep driving, your boyfriend is waiting with a delicious cold drink, but as so often happened, the other half of her brain didn’t listen.

  She pulled her Volvo over, rolled down the window, and said, “Hop in. I’ll give you a ride.” Hannah had no idea where Karla was headed. But this unexpected opportunity to ask her some questions about Adele was too important to let pass by.

  Karla hesitated. She looked up and down the road as if she was calculating whether a better ride might come along. No cars even slowed down. Karla opened the door and slid into the passenger seat, her mind made up and giving the impression that this was an important decision.

  “Where are you going?” Hannah asked as she started driving.

  Karla shrugged. “Just trying to get away from everything.” She turned sideways and stared at Hannah. “You must know what it’s like.”

  “What, what’s like?” Something was about to spill out of Karla but Hannah couldn’t even begin to know what direction it was heading.

  “To have everyone try to tell you what they think is best for you.” She mimicked someone in a bossy tone. “Stay here in Hooks Harbor. Get a job. Settle down. Raise a family. You’ll never survive on your own in a city. You know, that kind of advice. My parents tell me what to do instead of letting me follow my dreams. Even if it doesn’t work out. Can’t they let me figure that out on my own?”

  Hannah was stunned. What Karla said was true, but how did she know Hannah’s parents, especially her father, told her those exact pieces of so-called advice? “Why would you think I could relate to that?”

  Karla laughed. “Your father gave me a ride and all he could talk about was how you’ve ruined your life by living here and running your business. Maybe all parents tell their kids the same thing but it sounded like the same broken record that I heard over and over from my own father, the same exasperation I heard when he got on a roll about what I should do with my life. And, especially, what I shouldn’t do, which is exactly what I want to do.”

  “My father gave you a ride? That doesn’t sound like him at all.”

  “It was kind of weird. I was out walking early on Saturday morning, looking for Rory, and your father drove by. I suppose he thought it wasn’t safe for a young woman to be out alone. Anyway, I was about to give up looking, so I let him give me a ride to Rory’s apartment. That seemed like the best place to wait for him. I had to listen to his complaining about you as payment for the ride.”

  “Did he say what he was doing out driving around so early?”

  “I didn’t ask. I didn’t really care at that point. I wanted to find out if Rory still planned to leave town so I could figure out my own plans. Everything got turned upside down when Adele,” she spit out Adele’s name like it was a mouthful of boiling hot chowder, “won the competition. And the money. We were counting on using the prize money to get started in Boston.” She flung her hands to the sides. “I never told Rory I had some money saved up. I wanted to hear his plan first.”

  “So you’re heading to Boston? By yourself?” Hannah tried not to sound judgmental like Karla’s father. It wasn’t easy.

  “Not yet. Actually, I was planning to stop by your place before I left.”

  “Oh?” That comment caught Hannah by surprise. “I guess my driving by when I did was a bit of fate.”

  “You believe in that stuff?” Karla snickered. “I saw you were packing your stuff up on the green and figured you’d be heading in this direction. So, not exactly fate. More like logical reasoning. I decided I’d find a ride with you or with whoever stopped first and you won.”

  Hannah pulled into The Fishy Dish parking lot. She held Karla’s arm. “Before we leave the car and get distracted by all the other people here, tell me what you wanted to talk to me about.”

  “You didn’t figure it out already? What was your father doing driving around early Saturday morning? At the time I couldn’t have cared less, but that was before I knew about Adele. He gave Adele a ride to the Pub and Pool Hall, they had a loud argument there, but she left with him anyway. What happened after they left?”

  What indeed, Hannah wondered. Too many suspects were seen near the beach early Saturday morning. Too many that could have a motive to murder Adele. And all of them pointing their finger toward someone else.

  Including Karla.

  Dumb luck in getting picked up by her father while she was looking for Rory?

  Or premeditated murder.

  Karla slid out of Hannah’s car. “Thanks for the ride.” She bent down to tie the laces on her running shoes. “It will only take me about twenty minutes to run back to the marina from here. Rory should be waiting at his apartment.”

  “Wait a minute.” Hannah looked at Karla over the top of her car. “What about Moe? Weren’t you planning to go to Florida with him? How’s Rory going to feel about that decision on your part?”

  Karla shrugged. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Her eyes narrowed as she met Hannah’s gaze. “And he won’t know unless you tell him. Stay out of my life.” With that veiled threat, she took several long strides toward the beach and broke into a loping run with her ponytail swinging like a pendulum across her back. It reminded Hannah of a ticking clock, and the clock was ticking down.

  Hannah watched until she was out of sight.

  “I worried you got lost.” Cal’s voice interrupted Hannah’s thoughts. His arm rested on her shoulder.

  “No, just distracted. I gave Karla a ride and our conversation left a bad taste in my mouth.”

  “Karla? She comes across as young and a bit innocent, but not someone I would expect to be controversial.”

  “I know. Maybe she’s only being opportunistic. Now that Rory’s out of jail, Moe’s off her radar and she’s running back to Rory. I don’t like how she seems to be using him as her get-out-of-town card.”

  “Well, you have something else to distract you.”

  Hannah turned her head to look up into Cal’s face.

  “Your parents are waiting to take you, Ruby, and Olivia out for dinner. They aren’t taking no for an answer according to Ruby.”

  Hannah groaned. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to put them off forever. Don’t you want to come, too?”

  “Sorry. I’m not invited. Ruby already tried to include me but your father said it’s a family thing.”

  “Typical. Unless, of course, Adele was still alive. He always considered her part of our family.”

  “Why?” Cal asked.

  “I don’t know. My parents were close to her parents, and since she didn’t have siblings, she just always seemed to be included in our adventures. It was fine at first, but once her competitive streak blossomed, I dreaded every second I had to be near her. My father admired that in her, of course, and pushed me and Ruby to be more like Adele. Ugh. What it accomplished was to make me less competitive which made my once-decent relationship with my father spiral downhill. I put more value on a close relationship with a deeper meaning instead of one that was based on winning and beating another person at all costs.”

  Cal pulled Hannah close. “That’s a
healthier and longer-lasting outlook.” His eyes twinkled. “I’ll have to thank your father for teaching you that lesson.”

  Hannah laughed. “Only if you want to be on his bad side.”

  They walked arm-in-arm toward the picnic tables. “I think you should come with us. I don’t care what my father said. As far as I’m concerned, you’re family to me, Ruby, and Olivia.”

  Cal’s eyebrows raised.

  “My father can just deal with it. The new me took a page out of Great Aunt Caroline’s life and I’m not letting him push me around, remember?”

  “I like this new you. I’ve noticed that you’ve acquired more of Caroline’s strengths every day. And that’s a huge compliment.”

  17

  Hannah squeezed Cal’s hand, letting his confidence flow into her hand and ultimately to her core as they approached her parents, waiting in front of The Fishy Dish.

  “There you are.” Joanna rose and hugged Hannah. “I’m sure you’re tired after your busy day so Dad and I want to take you girls,” she obviously excluded Cal, “to dinner tonight.”

  “Great.” Hannah forced her mouth into a smile. “Cal’s coming with us and I’d like to go to the Pub and Pool Hall. It’s about time I teach Olivia how to play a little pool.”

  Ruby’s eyes widened but she said nothing. Apparently, she planned to let Hannah handle the situation even though a pool hall wasn’t the greatest environment for a six-year-old. They’d figure that out as the night wore on.

  “Oh,” Joanna said. “That doesn’t sound like a very fancy establishment. Wouldn’t you like to go somewhere…nicer?”

  “The owner, Michael, is a good friend of mine and I like to support his business. Besides, Dad went there with Adele Friday night. If it’s good enough for Dad, it’s good enough for us, right Ruby?”

  “Sure. They have pizza so Olivia will be happy.”

  Olivia jumped up and down with the excitement of doing anything out of the normal routine. “Theodore likes pizza, too.”