I called my father and asked him to continue his dog care until the next morning. We’d be on the first boat out.
I fell into the bed exhausted. The sound of the waves lulled me into a deep sleep—for a little while, anyway. Was I dreaming or was there screaming coming from the bathroom? I stumbled out of bed trying to figure out where I was and what to do about the screaming. The door was ajar so I went in. Dinah was in the dark, pointing at the toilet. There were tiny lights swimming in the water.
Dinah was rarely that jumpy, and I attributed it to the long day we’d had and set her mind to rest, thanks to more information from Adele. Although Catalina was surrounded by water, it had very little on the island, so they had dual water systems: fresh water for sinks and drinking, salt water for toilets. There were some kind of iridescent creatures that lived in the salt water and glowed in the dark.
Dinah climbed back in bed, and we both fell back asleep. Sometime later my cell phone began to vibrate and then play the royal flourish that was its ring tone. I caught a glimpse of my watch. It was 3 a.m. I sat bolt upright and grabbed for the phone. Nobody called at this hour with anything but trouble.
CHAPTER 13
DINAH TURNED ON THE LIGHT AS I SWUNG MY legs over the side of the bed. I needed to be sitting up to deal with bad news. Dinah had her eyes glued to my face, reading my expression and mirroring it. Judging by how she looked, I must have appeared pretty worried.
“What?” I said into the phone. Through the earpiece I could hear multiple people talking at once, and I couldn’t make out who they were or what they were saying.
“Molly?” Barry’s voice broke through the din. “Where are you?” he demanded in an upset tone.
Before I could answer my mother was on the phone saying something about almost having a heart attack, which was neither here nor there. She said stuff like that when the bag broke on some take-out Chinese and her egg foo young flipped out of the container.
Finally, there came the even voice of my father. “Don’t worry, honey, there was just a little incident.”
As I listened to the story of “the incident,” I could feel my expression change from one of concerned confusion to one of suppressed laugher. Dinah was trying to figure it out from my end of the conversation, but there was no way that my uh-huhs gave away what I was hearing.
As soon as I snapped the phone shut, she was on me like cream cheese on a bagel wanting to know what was going on.
I was smiling, picturing what I’d just heard. “Okay, Barry finally got back from his out-of-state trip. And he decided to surprise me . . .”
Dinah covered her mouth and started to laugh. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes. Apparently he used his key to come in the house, then he stripped and started to climb into bed with—well, he thought it was me, but it was my parents. My mother started freaking and called 911. My father has been taking some kind of martial arts classes and elbowed Barry in the face. You know how people always complain it takes the cops too long to get there? Not this time. They were there before Barry could get his pants on. And I guess he has a black eye.”
“Omigod,” Dinah said, laughing so hard she fell back on the bed.
My cell rang again. This time it was Barry only. He was sitting in his Tahoe, apparently with his clothes back on. The patrol officers—friends of his—had left after laughing their pants off.
“Don’t worry about the front door. I’ll fix it,” he said.
“Front door? What’s wrong with my front door?”
Barry sighed. “I’ll fix the doorbell, too, so that next time somebody rings it, you’ll hear it and they won’t have to kick in the door.”
“They kicked in the door?” I was incredulous.
“Yeah, when they get a call from a screaming woman who doesn’t answer the door, that’s what they do.”
“The dogs?”
Barry groaned. “They’re fine. They hid in the closet. I think your dog is turning my dog into a wimp. He didn’t even bark.” He stopped for a minute. Dinah was behind me trying to cover her face with a pillow to muffle the laugher. “I hear someone laughing. This isn’t funny.”
When he said that, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, too. I couldn’t stop picturing Barry coming into the bedroom with big plans on his mind and pulling back the covers to discover my parents.
“Where are you?” Barry said with an edge to his voice. He didn’t sound happy when he heard the answer.
“Catalina?” he sputtered. “Why didn’t you tell me your parents were sleeping in your bed? Why didn’t you tell me you were going to Catalina? And what are you doing there? Who are you with?”
“Hey there, Mr. Detective, I don’t know why you’re getting so testy with me. You were gone, remember, off on a case somewhere. When you called, you always had to get off the phone.”
A deep tiredness seeped in his voice. “I was working. What can I say?”
“What about Jeffrey?” I said, asking about his son.
“He’s spending some more time with his mother and her new husband.”
I could tell Barry missed having Jeffrey with him. He and Jeffrey argued over the boy’s acting ambitions, but Barry loved the kid.
“Don’t try to change the subject and get the spotlight off of you. Just cut to the chase. I hear somebody else in the room,” he said.
I told him it was Dinah, and then he started to ask why we were there but stopped himself.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with Mary Beth Wells’s death?” he asked suspiciously. There was just some dead air on my end and he continued. “Heather told me all about it, but she made it sound like you were involved. Something about you playing detective and thinking some dishcloth had a secret code and belonged to the victim.”
“Is that what she said?” I felt my anger rising. I slowly explained that it wasn’t a dishcloth but it did seem to have a code. “And no matter what Detective Heather said to you, I am sure the piece belonged to Mary Beth Wells. Not only did I see an MB embedded in the image of a wishing well, but when I saw the inside of her Catalina house—well, there were pieces similar to it everywhere.”
“What were you doing in her house? Let me rephrase that. How did you get in her house?”
“The usual way, through the door.”
“Molly,” he said, dragging my name in that warning tone of his. “Let’s save time. You know how good I am at getting confessions, and you know how much better you’ll feel when you lay out the whole story.”
He was good at getting confessions, but I doubted I’d feel better telling him about my skirmish with the sheriff. I decided to skip over that part and only explain why I went to the house. I started at the beginning and told him about how we’d found the package at the sale and CeeCee had thought it had been left for her to take care of, but she had dropped it in my lap. I told him what was in the note and the diary entry.
“You know how you said you feel like you’re speaking for the victim when you investigate a homicide? Well, I feel like I’m speaking for Mary Beth Wells. I want to finish what she started.”
“I understand your motivation, babe. Your heart is in the right place.” His voice was soft, and I suddenly wished he was there with his arms around me. “But assuming the cloth really did belong to her and has some kind of code and there is some kind of secret—it’s probably why she got killed.”
“I suppose that crossed my mind,” I said.
“Did it also cross your mind that if somebody killed her to keep the secret a secret they won’t take kindly to you mucking around?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I hadn’t really thought of that. But I knew he was right. “Nobody really knows I’m looking around.”
“Molly,” he said in a voice full of frustration. “Just let it be. When are you coming home? We can talk about it then.” His voice became husky. “Babe, I’ve missed you and I can’t wait to show you how much.”
The tone of his voice was a pre
tty good indication of what he had in mind. Even though I was sitting down, my knees suddenly felt wobbly.
I told him we were taking the early morning boat back. After telling me a few more times how much he was looking forward to seeing me, he finally hung up.
Dinah had fallen back asleep while I was talking. I curled up under the covers, looked out the window at the view of the harbor and thought about the day. I was too wide awake to sleep, so I leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed the bag of things I’d gotten at the drugstore. I pulled out the reporter-style notebook that was just like what I’d seen Barry and Detective Heather carry. I thought it would be so much more efficient than trying to keep everything in my head. I began to write down everything I knew so far. I fell asleep with the pen in my hand.
DINAH WAS DRINKING COFFEE WHEN I AWOKE. Through the open curtains I saw the boats bobbing in the small harbor.
“I brought one for you, too,” she said, giving me a paper cup with a lid. “It’s a red eye and there’s some pastry.” She indicated a bag on the night table.
The strong coffee sent a nice jolt to my fuzzy brain. I took a few bites of the pastry and headed for the shower. At least I’d be clean and fresh even if I had to wear my clothes from the day before.
“Our boat doesn’t leave for an hour,” Dinah said as we checked out. “We could get some real breakfast.”
I shook my head. I had other plans. Dinah was a little concerned when she heard what they were.
“But didn’t you guarantee that deputy you were going straight to the boat and back to the mainland?” she said as we stood in front of the hotel. The business walkway that ran along the water was empty. The air felt fresh and the sky was a cloudless blue.
I started to walk the other way. “I’m not leaving without talking to Delia. You heard what the caretaker said she said: There was something Mary Beth and that woman wanted to hide.”
I kept walking, but Dinah stood her ground. I heard her make an exasperated snort and mumble something about it not being her fault if I ended up in the Catalina pokey. A moment later she caught up with me.
We walked into the small grocery store. There were a few shoppers and one cashier. She had curly black hair and a friendly smile. Her name tag was clearly visible on the red smock. I’d found Delia. Or more correctly, she found me.
“You’re the one the sheriff took in,” she said pointing at me. She had heard the whole story already, including my explanation that I’d dropped my keys. “The deputies don’t have a lot to do around here so they get real excited when they have an actual perp.” She punctuated her comment with a laugh and roll of her eyes. “I know what you’re really up to.”
I swallowed hard. “You do?”
“I may live on this tiny island, but I get around. It’s obvious you’re a PI investigating Mary Beth Wells’s death.”
I nodded and said nothing. She was right—almost. I was investigating and I was private, but I didn’t have a license nor had I been hired by anybody.
When I glanced toward the door, I saw the deputy from the day before stop outside the store. He clearly saw me—and his expression was grim.
He walked inside. “Aren’t you supposed to be gone?” he said, stopping next to me.
Delia made a gesture to wave him off. “Relax, Allen. She just stopped in to buy some snacks for the trip before she goes over town.”
At first I wondered at the comment but then remembered more of Adele’s travelogue. The islanders used the expression over town when they referred to going to the mainland.
“I’ll just be waiting outside to make sure you get to the dock okay,” he said.
As soon as he’d stepped back outside, Delia leaned over the counter.
“I don’t want you to get in trouble, so I’ll just tell you what I know. Mary Beth came in here to shop and she was always nice, though maybe a little distant. It was a different story with her cousin-in-law Matt Wells. What a doll—all personality and pretty good to look at, too.”
“There was something a long time ago. Mary Beth made a lot of trips with another woman—” I said, afraid she was going to get lost in talking about the cousin-in-law’s dreamy eyes or something.
“Oh, that’s what you want to know about? It was when Mary Beth first started coming to the island. I guess for the first year, she didn’t come because that husband of hers had the seasick problem, but then she started coming on her own. Mostly, she came with another woman. I don’t remember her name, just that it reminded me of a flower. They kept to themselves. I’m the only one who knew anything about them because they came in here to shop. And believe me, even I didn’t know much, except the woman with the flowery name had a baby here. Just popped it out at home with old Doc Bender assisting, or so his wife told me.
“That doesn’t happen much anymore,” Delia said with a dismissive wave. “Everybody goes to Long Beach. I’m guessing they were pretty quiet about it because the father wasn’t around, if you know what I mean. Back then people still felt some shame at having a baby and not having a husband.” Delia laughed and waved the air. “Not anymore. What with women going to sperm banks or having affairs just so they can get pregnant and then dumping the guy once he’s done his job.”
I noticed the deputy looking in at us. He was shifting his weight and obviously getting impatient. Delia launched into a rant about maternity clothes, rambling on about how women used to try to hide their condition. “Not like now where they’re all wearing tiny tee shirts that don’t even cover their baby bump. You should see them on the beach here in their bikinis,” Delia said in a disapproving tone.
I was beginning to get uneasy. How long would Officer Daniels continue to believe we were paying for some snacks? I rushed to speak. “So after that, did the three of them come back to the island a lot?”
“Who? The women in the bikinis?” Delia said, perplexed.
“No, no,” I said quickly, looking toward the door. The deputy was holding the handle. “I was talking about Mary Beth and the other woman.”
Delia shrugged and shook her head. “I never saw the woman or the baby again. And like I said, Mary Beth was always kind of aloof, so I couldn’t ask her.”
The deputy opened the door and pointed at his watch and then the water. It was time for our boat to leave, and I was pretty sure if we missed it, I’d see what the inside of the Catalina jail looked like.
I thanked Delia before Dinah and I left. The deputy followed us all the way to the boat and stood there until it pulled away from the dock.
“Hmm, you realize that gives the Sagittarius figure a new meaning,” Dinah said as we sat around one of the window tables on the boat. “It’s the baby’s sign.”
CHAPTER 14
“PINK?” ADELE SQUEALED WHEN I WALKED INTO the bookstore office. “They let you out, huh? I was just telling Mrs. Shedd about what happened and offering my services to take over for you until you got out of jail.”
Mrs. Shedd looked at both of us. “Molly, you certainly lead an interesting life. Adele said you’re in the middle of another murder. Well, actually she said you were in a muddle over a murder and you got caught breaking into a house.”
I gave Adele a frozen smile, and Mrs. Shedd continued. “You don’t have a felony on your record now or anything?”
“I wasn’t even arrested, just detained,” I said.
“I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding,” Mrs. Shedd said. “Catalina’s so small, they probably don’t even have a jail.”
“Believe me, they do.”
I was relieved when Mrs. Shedd dropped the subject and went back to bookstore business. She wanted to know if either of us had any idea who the subject of the Making Amends episode was going to be. “I heard a rumor that it’s Bob,” Mrs. Shedd said, glancing out the door of the office in the direction of the café. “Something about his father walking out on the family when Bob was three and now wants to come back into his life. What about you, Adele? Do you have some secret wrong that ne
eds to be righted?”
“I sure do,” Adele said, glaring at me. I knew what she was thinking: Her big wrong was me getting the job she wanted.
Mrs. Shedd didn’t ask for any details and again urged us to cooperate with any of the TV people who came in. “This could be a major move for the bookstore. We could become a tourist stop,” she said, putting some things in her tote bag. “Well, I’m off. You two enjoy the day.”
Adele wanted to know how I had avoided getting arrested. I couldn’t tell whether she was disappointed or just interested. “Luckily, William came and picked the rest of us up since you weren’t around to drive us,” she continued. “He was waiting when we got off the boat.” I wondered if he would use the experience for his next book, Koo Koo Hangs Out at the Harbor.
Dinah and I had gotten off the boat and I’d dropped her home and come right to work. The caffeine jolt of the red eye she’d gotten me had worn off. I went into the café and ordered a black eye.
“Tough morning, huh?” Bob said, pushing the coffee with a double shot of espresso across the counter. I nodded as I picked it up.
Back in the bookstore, I took my drink to our television-and-theater section. There was a coffee table book about Lance Wells Sr., and I dragged it to one of our reading stations.
The black eye definitely cleared my mind, and my eyes were now fully opened. As I thumbed through the pictures, I recognized the inside of the house in Catalina. The windows had real curtains instead of the filet panels, and there were blank spaces on the walls where I’d seen the crocheted pictures. Lance Sr. was standing by the fireplace. There was a grace in the way he held himself. The copy below it mentioned the house in Catalina, which turned out to have a name: Paradise Found. It also mentioned that the dancer-actor often brought groups of people over for parties, and he entertained them with his magic tricks. It went on to explain he was fascinated with illusion and that the house had secret panels. I stared at the fireplace and suddenly knew why Mary Beth included it: There must be a secret hiding place in it.
By Hook or by Crook cm-3 Page 12
