Paradise Can Be Murder

by Susan Bernhardt

  A Kay Driscoll Mystery: Book 4

  Cozy Mystery

  Kay, Phil, and friends are looking forward to taking their first vacation together on a Caribbean cruise. Visits to exotic islands, sailing through turquoise waters, luxurious dining, and great entertainment await them. But Paradise Can Be Murder when one of the guests on board dies an unnatural death.

  With their innate curiosity, Kay and company find themselves in the heart of the investigation. Will they find justice for the victim, amidst secrets and deceit, before the cruise comes to an end and the murderer leaves the ship? Time is ticking away.

  Meanwhile, a racially charged hate crime back home shakes the community of Sudbury Falls.

  Paradise Can Be Murder © 2017 by Susan Bernhardt

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, or events, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  MuseItUp Publishing

  https://museituppublishing.com

  Cover Art © 2017 by Charlotte Volnek

  Layout and Book Production by Lea Schizas

  Print ISBN: 978-1-77127-958-1

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-77127-957-4

  First eBook Edition *November 2017

  For Bill,

  David and Nicole,

  Peter, Ashley, and Corbin

  —With love—

  Acknowledgements

  I am delighted to acknowledge and thank the following people:

  My loving husband and best friend, Bill, who listened to every chapter of this book and generously gave his opinion and advice for each.

  My talented son, Peter, whose writing advice I have always valued.

  My son, David and daughter-in-law, Nicole. You were my first cheerleaders. I appreciate your continual encouragement and enthusiastic support. You're both amazing.

  My wonderful publisher, Lea Schizas, who believed in me from the start and gave me the chance, and who also edited this mystery.

  My stellar proofreader, Linda Roden.

  My terrific cover artist, Charlotte Volnek.

  Last, but not least, my readers, who came to know Kay, Phil, Deirdre, and Elizabeth, and looked forward to their adventures. You supported me overwhelmingly and I appreciate all of you.

  This has been a great ride! I am blessed. Thank you all.

  Paradise Can Be Murder

  A Kay Driscoll Mystery

  The Ginseng Conspiracy

  Murder Under the Tree

  Murder by Fireworks

  Paradise Can Be Murder

  Susan Bernhardt

  MuseItUp Publishing

  www.museituppublishing.com

  Chapter One

  Tuesday evening, March 22

  “YOU’RE SO LUCKY to be going on a cruise,” Janey said, lying on my bed watching me pack. Her head rested on the palm of her hand.

  I folded a sweater and put it in my suitcase. “Perhaps someday your mom or dad will take you on one.”

  She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “Fat chance of that ever happening.”

  “Look, I’m over forty years older than you and it’s my first time going to the Caribbean. You’ll have your turn. You’ll have lots of turns.”

  After packing the shirts I had laid out on the bed, I started taking my shoes out of the closet.

  “You’re taking enough shoes. Eight pairs? You said you’d only be gone for seven days.”

  “You’re counting?” I put each pair of shoes into a bag and pushed down the clothes to fit them in, and smiled. “When you get older, you’ll understand.”

  “I’ll never understand taking more shoes than days in the week.” Janey looked over at a second large suitcase that lay empty. “What’s the other suitcase for?”

  “Tomorrow, Deirdre, Elizabeth, and I are going clothes shopping for the trip.”

  Janey rolled her eyes again at me and got off the bed. “Oh, brother,” she said in a disgusted voice as she started towards the door. “I have history and science exams tomorrow that I need to study for. My teachers are all cramming in exams before spring break starts.”

  I noticed how tall Janey was getting. It looked like she had grown a couple of inches just this year. She stood around five feet six inches to my five feet nine inch, medium frame. Before long she could be taller than me. “What are you doing over spring break?”

  She crossed her arms, tilted her head, and tossed back her shoulder length, brown hair with black tips. She was growing her hair out from Gothic black. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said, with an almost smug look on her face.

  I didn’t want to fathom what Janey was thinking about by that look. I hoped Loren, her dad, would plan some supervised activities for her.

  Last summer, a few days before our oldest son’s wedding, an unruly Janey had been foisted on me “for a couple of days”. Phil was trying to help out his cousin, Janey’s dad, who was supposedly having surgery. Long, involved story there. The reception for Andrew and Rose was for two hundred people in our backyard and what a wedding it was, one I would never forget. A conflict at the wedding later escalated and eventually led to murder, a week later during the evening of the Fourth of July. Janey ended up staying with us for almost two weeks and had proved to be quite the detective in her own right, helping out with investigating the murder. Later in the summer before school started, she and her father moved into the house next door to us. The house had been vacant since Christmas the year before, when Elizabeth’s father had lived there for a short time.

  We heard a loud sound coming from outside. Janey quickly went over to the window. “It’s just some guys squealing their tires around the corner.”

  “Lucky some kid wasn’t crossing the street. It sounds like they must have been going really fast.”

  “I’d say. Well, I better get studying.”

  When Janey was out in the hall, I called out, “Good luck on your tests.”

  She started down the stairs. “Thanks. See you tomorrow after school.”

  I smiled. Of course you will.

  Hearing the front door slam shut, I went back to packing my shoes, thinking about what Janey had said. Actually we’d be on the ship for ten days. I placed another pair of shoes in a bag, before putting them in my suitcase.

  I loved Janey, but thank goodness I’d have a break from her. With her spring break coming up in a few days, I knew she would have been here all of the time. Since she and her father moved in next door, Janey practically lived with us, coming over every day after school, or at least it seemed like every day. This cruise would be a welcome relief all the way around.

  After packing every square inch of the first suitcase, I went downstairs. Phil needed to get started laying out his clothes for me to pack. I couldn’t trust him to fold his own shirts. I knew what they would look like when we arrived if he did, and then he would do a poor job of ironing them.

  “All done packing?” Phil said, looking up from the dining room table where he was studying plans for his new guitar.

  Phil was in his second year of luthier school and would be graduating the end of May. I didn’t think he was sure what he would do with his certification. At least he hadn’t discussed it with me. Perhaps on the cruise he would think it over. We’d have plenty of time to talk about it then, lying out by the pools.

  Phil and I had taken early retirement two years ago and moved back to Wisconsin. We moved to Sudbury Falls from Colorado, where I had worked as a public hea
lth nurse, and Phil in the computer industry. Since living here, Phil had always been busy with luthier school and would now be home much of the time after graduation. That was something I would have to get used to, Phil Driscoll 24/7.

  I shook my head, remembering an older friend calling it “retired husband syndrome”. She mentioned it was a stress condition of women all over the world, whose husbands had retired. I smiled. Guess I’d find out if I would be afflicted.

  “Not quite done packing yet,” I said, thinking about my shopping trip tomorrow. “You’ll need to get started. We leave in three days.”

  He looked up from his plans. This guitar was his final project. “Plenty of time still.”

  I smiled. “Janey is such a character. She was watching me pack. I hope she finds some way to entertain herself on her spring break while we’re gone.”

  Phil looked down at his plans, fiddling with his pencil. “Right. I’m sure she will. She’s a kid. She’s resilient...just like you.”

  Resilient? Hmm. I took the pencil out of Phil’s hand and sat down at the table next to him. “I love your idea about going to Florida a day early, before Deirdre, Mike, and Elizabeth arrive. It will be great to have a day where it’s just the two of us.”

  Phil turned and put his arms around me. “Just think, the surf, the sand, finally some warm weather. This past winter has been a killer.” He kissed me. “Drinking mojitos under a palm tree in the moonlight. Listening to the sound of waves splashing.”

  Under a palm tree in the moonlight? “I can’t wait. It’s all so romantic.”

  Phil stood up and took my hand. “Let’s go upstairs.”

  I smiled. “To pack?”

  “There’s plenty of time for that.”

  We were walking up the stairs when the phone rang.

  “Leave it. Let the answering machine pick up.”

  I could hear Andrew, our oldest son on the machine, and hurried back down the stairs, Phil following.

  “Hello, Andrew. What a nice surprise!”

  Phil looked up at the ceiling.

  “Rose and I wanted to wish you bon voyage. I hope you have as much fun as we did on our honeymoon.”

  “Oh that’s right. I forgot. We’re going on the same cruise that you and Rose took.” I sat down on a chair next to the fireplace. “Thank you so much. I’m really looking forward to getting away.”

  “You’ll love seeing the Mayan ruins at Tulum. They were beautiful atop the cliffs of the coast.”

  “I’ve been reading up on the area. I even picked up a video about their history from the library.”

  Phil folded his arms, impatiently tapping his foot.

  “There’s a beach, that’s about a fifteen minute walk from the ruins. You can go swimming afterwards.” Andy hesitated for a few seconds. “Mom, we may have a surprise for you when you get back.”

  I leaned in. Andy sounded excited. “Really? You know I love surprises.” I hated surprises. “I can’t wait!” I wondered what it was. My birthday wasn’t until June.

  “Is Dad there? I could talk to him for a little bit.”

  I stood up and handed Phil the phone. While I went into the front hall to choose lightweight jackets for the cruise, I heard Phil telling Andrew about his final guitar project. Figuring he would be on the phone for quite a while, I put the jackets on the railing going upstairs and went into the kitchen to start dinner while they caught up. A couple of minutes later, Phil came in the room and handed me the phone to say, “Good-bye” to Andrew.

  “Andrew, I thought your father would talk your ear off for an hour about his project.”

  Andrew laughed. “I thought he would too. I was starting to worry about what I had gotten myself into.”

  I laughed. “Thanks so much for calling. I can’t wait to hear about your big surprise. I love you. Give our best to Rose.”

  “Have a wonderful and relaxing cruise! Enjoy and pamper yourselves!”

  “We will, Andrew. We’re so looking forward to this trip. No set schedules. Plenty of activities. A totally, stress-free vacation. Thanks again for calling.”

  After Phil and I finished talking with Andrew, Phil turned the ringer off. Dinner could wait.

  Chapter Two

  Wednesday, March 23

  WE DECIDED TO skip our speed-walking that morning, figuring we’d get enough miles in at our favorite department store. Deirdre picked me up at ten o’clock. When I opened the car door, she and Elizabeth were in the middle of an intense conversation.

  “All I’m saying is that I need a whole new wardrobe.”

  “Good morning, Elizabeth,” I said. “Morning, Deirdre.”

  “Come on, Elizabeth, your closets are bulging with clothes,” Deirdre said. “Good morning, Kay. I’m surprised you can even close the doors. I’m sure Kay would agree with me.”

  I smiled as I looked up at Deirdre in the rear view mirror.

  “Hello, Kay. I don’t have anything suitable for the Caribbean,” Elizabeth said.

  “I want to buy something tropical, something sexy. Something bright and fun, nothing too serious.”

  Deirdre backed out of the driveway, looked at me, raised her eyebrows, and smirked. “I thought John wasn’t coming along.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re inferring that I can’t buy something sexy for myself.”

  “I’m not inferring anything.”

  Deirdre was. Deirdre and Elizabeth were the best of friends, but had a good-natured history of getting under each other’s skin.

  I gazed out the window. We were all best friends and neighbors. Deirdre, my spiritualist friend, next door neighbor, and gardener extraordinaire, owned Planetary Herbals. A holistic herbal shop with a new age feel, Planetary Herbals had been open for exactly one year. Three days ago, Deirdre had held a huge celebration on the spring equinox at her shop. It was a few doors down from Sweet Marissa’s Patisserie.

  Elizabeth, who lived across the street from us, had settled down after years of dating. Last summer she married John, a co-worker from the college library. Previous to John, she had thrown all caution to the wind and went from one relationship to another, after breaking free from a loveless marriage.

  A few minutes later, Deirdre pulled into a parking space in front of Goodman’s. We didn’t live far from downtown and actually could have walked here this morning to get our exercise in. Elizabeth would most likely be bringing home a lot of packages, so walking wasn’t deemed a great idea.

  Opening the door to the department store, Elizabeth said, “It’s a shame John has to go to training while the students are out on spring break. He tried to get out of the training, but couldn’t.” John’s new job was head librarian at the college. “Still, I plan to look good for myself.”

  “He’ll be at the bon voyage party tomorrow evening, right?” I asked.

  “Of course. He wouldn’t miss it. He won’t be leaving until after the weekend. By the way, we found out the travel insurance will take care of his airfare and a portion of the stateroom.”

  We subconsciously headed toward the shoe department, then stopped and looked at a display of necklaces at the jewelry counter.

  Fingering a natural stone necklace, I said, “I know this sounds terrible, but I purposely suggested the cruise at this time when Janey was on spring break. She’s a great kid and I love her, but I wanted to get away when she’d be home from school all week or rather at our home all week.”

  Deirdre and Elizabeth looked at each other. Deirdre had raised an eyebrow, but I was used to their upwardly mobile eyebrows. Then, they turned away from the jewelry they were looking at, and started walking again.

  Shrugging, I followed them, feeling the smile fall from my face. Perhaps, after all, that did sound terrible, a bit unkind.

  “And I can’t think of a better way to spend a Caribbean vacation than with my two best friends. We’ll have fun, the three of us,” I said, catching up.

  They gave each other a sidelong glance. I frowned. What was that look about?
<
br />   “Kay—”

  “Deirdre!” Elizabeth exclaimed sharply.

  I stopped in my tracks, completely motionless. “What, Deirdre?”

  Deirdre looked from me to Elizabeth. They continued walking for a few moments, then Deirdre turned around and waited for me.

  I looked between the two of them. “Right. Oh, and of course, Phil and Mike,” I said. “I’m sorry I forgot about them.”

  “For sure,” Deirdre said, smiling, then looked at Elizabeth again.

  “Definitely. We’ll have a great time.” Elizabeth added, looking down at her nails. “I should get a manicure before we go.”

  What was with them this morning? They seemed so cryptic. Was I missing something here? And Elizabeth just had a manicure two days ago.

  “Elizabeth, just think, a couple of years ago you would have had the time of your life on a cruise with all of those gorgeous men,” Deirdre said.

  “I’m still going to have the time of my life! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Just because John can’t make it doesn’t mean I am going to be moping alone in some corner. I did have a life before John.”

  I picked up a pair of stunning satin pumps. A crystal brooch dazzled atop the peep toe. “Look at these gorgeous shoes.”

  “Kay, that pair has your name written all over them,” Deirdre said. “Great color too.”

  If Deirdre mentioned feng shui, I didn’t know if I’d have a polite response. Deirdre’s entire life was feng shui compliant: her home was arranged according to its principles, the walls on her shop, Planetary Herbals, were painted to let the shop have a vibrant energy potential and attract chi energy, her clothes, Mike’s clothes, her food, everything was done according to the practices of feng shui.

  “I don’t have anything quite like these.” They were definitely not my usual style.

  After getting my size from the salesclerk, I tried the shoes on. They fit perfectly. I stood up and looked in the mirror. “I love them.”