Boats and Bad Guys

by Diana Xarissa

  “Thank you,” she told her aunt.

  Before Mona could reply, Fenella heard a knock on her door.

  “Oh, but that looks lovely on you,” Shelly exclaimed. “Mona had such exquisite taste and had such beautiful things.” She walked into the room, carrying a huge box.

  “Thanks,” Fenella replied. “I feel a bit odd, wearing her things, but I think she would approve.”

  “Oh, absolutely,” Shelly agreed. “She’d hate the thought of them just sitting in the wardrobe being neglected.”

  Fenella followed Shelly into the kitchen with Mona right behind her. Mona settled onto one of the dining area chairs. “I did think about donating all of Mona’s clothes somewhere,” Fenella said, grinning to herself at the shocked look that flashed over Mona’s face.

  “Oh, you shouldn’t do that,” Shelly said. “Everything you’ve worn of hers has fitted you perfectly, and it’s all such wonderful quality. You should enjoy it.”

  Fenella nodded and then slid into a seat next to Mona, who was clearly invisible to Shelly. She watched as Shelly unpacked her box.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked after a moment.

  “No, no, you just sit there and relax. Once I get things started, I’ll open the wine. If I don’t start first, I might drink too much to finish.”

  Fenella laughed. While Shelly cooked, the pair chatted about the April weather, local politics, and recent happenings on a few of the television shows they both watched.

  “There we are,” Shelly said a short time later, as she slid a very full casserole dish into the oven. “Now we just have to wait.”

  “I’ll try to be patient,” Fenella said. “But it already smells amazing.”

  The bottle of wine was nearly half empty when someone knocked on the apartment’s door. Fenella glanced down at her outfit and shrugged.

  “I’m not sure I’m dressed for guests,” she laughed as she crossed the room.

  “You look wonderful,” Shelly called after her.

  Fenella pulled open her door and smiled at Peter. “Hello? What brings you here?” she asked, feeling just the tiniest bit tipsy.

  “I thought I heard someone talking in here,” he replied. “But you’re meant to be across.”

  “The ferry was cancelled,” Fenella explained.

  “I heard there was something going on with the ferry today, but I didn’t realize they’d cancelled it altogether,” Peter said. “It’s usually only the weather that does that.”

  “Fenella found another dead body,” Shelly called from the kitchen. “Come in and have some cottage pie with us and she’ll tell you all about it.”

  Fenella frowned, but took a step backwards to let Peter into the room. He walked in, but shook his head. “I’d love to chat for a few minutes, but I won’t interrupt your dinner and I certainly don’t want to hear about the dead body. I’m sure Fenella is upset enough without having to talk about it.”

  Shelly blushed. “I’m sorry,” she said to Fenella. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “It’s okay,” Fenella assured her. “And you’re more than welcome for dinner if you’d like to stay,” she told Peter. “I would rather talk about other things, though. I’m sure the local paper will be full of the murder tomorrow, with far more details than I have anyway.”

  Peter patted Fenella’s shoulder and then followed her to the kitchen. Shelly was already pouring him a glass of wine. He perched himself on the edge of one of the chairs.

  “I really can’t stay for long,” he said. “I’m meeting a former business colleague for dinner and drinks. He has a proposition for me, apparently.”

  “Somewhere nearby?” Shelly asked. “Or should I take the wine away because you’re driving?”

  “We’re meeting at the pub on the corner,” Peter told her. “I shall be walking, so no worries there.”

  “It is nice, being so centrally located,” Fenella remarked. “I don’t know what I’d do if I was further away from everything and had to take taxis everywhere.”

  “The island’s bus service isn’t too bad,” Shelly told her.

  “And you could always learn to drive,” Peter added. “I keep meaning to find my friend’s card for you. He would have you driving in no time.”

  “No rush,” Fenella said with a laugh. “I’m not in any hurry to get back behind the wheel of a car. I’m enjoying being able to walk everywhere.”

  “If I were you, I’d be dying to drive Mona’s car,” Shelly said. “I’ve always wanted a fancy sports car.”

  “You should take it for a spin,” Fenella said. “I’m sure it isn’t good for the car, sitting around unused for months on end.”

  “Just take a few lessons and get driving,” Mona interjected. When Fenella had let Peter in, Mona had moved over to sit in the living room, possibly so that Peter wouldn’t sit on top of her when he joined the others. Fenella glanced over at her, but stopped herself just in time from replying.

  “Anyway,” she said loudly. “I hope it’s a successful meeting.”

  “I’m sure it will be,” he replied. “He wants me to invest in a project of his, and I’m quite interested in doing so. He doesn’t know that I’ve already done my research, but I know exactly how much I’m prepared to invest and what I will expect in return for that investment. He’ll buy the dinner and drinks and I shall listen politely. Once that’s all done, hopefully we’ll be able to reach an agreement. He needs me. I’m happy to invest, but I won’t feel bad if we can’t reach the terms I’m after, either. I have enough on my plate as it is.”

  “At least you’ll get dinner out of it,” Shelly said.

  “Exactly,” Peter agreed with a chuckle.

  He finished his glass of wine and rose to his feet. “And on that note, I really must go,” he said. “Thank you for the wine. I suspect my meeting will go on for a bit, so I probably won’t make it to the pub tonight. Maybe I’ll see you both there tomorrow?”

  Shelly shrugged. “You know I’m there most nights,” she said.

  “I certainly don’t feel up to going tonight,” Fenella told him. “I hope I’ll be feeling better tomorrow.”

  “I hope so as well, for your sake, not just so I have someone to talk to at the pub,” Peter said.

  Fenella walked with him to the door. Before she opened it, he turned and gave her a brief hug.

  “I do hope you haven’t been too traumatized by today’s events,” he said quietly. “I can’t imagine what you must think of the island, after everything that’s happened to you since you’ve been here.”

  Fenella shook her head. “I’m quite taken with the island, in spite of everything,” she assured him. “Even though I’ve only been here for a short time, I’m already struggling to imagine ever living anywhere else again.”

  “Excellent,” he beamed.

  Fenella pulled open the door, wondering if the man’s approval meant that he was interested in her or if he was just being friendly. Her thoughts were cut short as she looked at the man who was standing just outside her door.

  “Daniel?” she said.

  He chuckled. “I was about to knock,” he said. “I hope you aren’t on your way out?”

  “No, not at all,” Fenella replied. “I was just letting Peter out.”

  Daniel nodded and then he and Peter exchanged a few words before Peter headed back toward his own apartment.

  “I was hoping I could ask you a few more questions,” Daniel said to Fenella as they watched the other man walk away.

  “Of course you can,” Fenella replied. “Come in.”

  She stepped back and let the man in and then shut the door behind him.

  “Oh, hi, Daniel,” Shelly called from the kitchen. “Dinner’s almost ready. I hope you’re hungry.”

  “I can come back,” he said to Fenella. “I don’t want to interrupt your meal.”

  “Stay and join us,” Shelly insisted. “I made plenty.”

  Daniel looked at Shelly and then shrugged. “I’m
not really supposed to socialize with susp, er, witnesses,” he said apologetically.

  “You aren’t socializing,” Shelly replied. “You’re questioning. You just happen to be doing it over a plate of cottage pie.”

  She pulled the oven door open and the entire apartment seemed to fill with the smell of rich gravy and spices.

  Daniel took a deep breath and then sighed. “I can’t possibly leave now,” he complained. “That smells wonderful.”

  “It’s my world-famous recipe cottage pie,” Shelly told him. “You’ll love it.”

  “No doubt,” Daniel said.

  Fenella and Daniel moved over to the kitchen as Shelly pulled the casserole dish out of the oven. The mashed potato topping was golden brown and Fenella could see dark rich gravy bubbling up around the edges of the potato. Her mouth began to water as she got plates down out of the cupboard.

  “Fenella and I are having wine,” Shelly told Daniel. “Would you like a glass?”

  “Not while I’m working,” he said. “If you have milk, that would be great, otherwise, just water is fine.”

  “I do have milk,” Fenella said. “Thanks to Shelly, who took me grocery shopping this afternoon.”

  She poured milk into a glass for the man and topped up Shelly’s wine glass before refilling her own. “I hope it’s okay that I’m drinking,” she said to Daniel.

  “It’s fine,” he said with a smile. “This visit was only semi-official anyway, and now that I’m joining you for dinner, it’s even less than that.”

  “I hope that means I’m not a suspect,” Fenella said.

  “Everyone who was on the ferry is a suspect, at least on paper,” he told her. “But you come very far down the list.”

  “I suppose that’s better than nothing,” Fenella replied.

  Shelly spooned generous helpings of cottage pie onto plates while Fenella got out knives and forks.

  “Ooh, I love this flatware,” Shelly said. “Mona always insisted that we use these, even though I’m sure the set was really expensive.”

  “Why wouldn’t you use them?” Daniel asked.

  “They just seem too nice for everyday,” Shelly replied. “My husband and I never used the silver service we received for our wedding. We always wanted to keep it nice for something special.”

  “Every day is special,” Fenella replied.

  “Yes, I know that now,” Shelly agreed. “Mona used to say the same thing. For what it’s worth, I use that set every day now, and I feel terrible that my poor hubby never got to eat with it.”

  “Do men care?” Fenella asked.

  Everyone laughed before Daniel replied.

  “Speaking on behalf of my entire gender, no,” he said. “I didn’t even notice the forks. I will admit, now that you mention it, that they seem quite heavy, but I’m not sure why that makes them any better. As long as they get the food safely from my plate to my mouth, I’m happy.”

  “Well, using them makes me happy,” Fenella told him. “They’re much nicer than anything else I’ve ever owned.”

  The trio chatted about nothing much as they ate the delicious meal.

  “Shelly, I can see why your cottage pie recipe is world-famous,” Daniel said after he’d cleared his plate twice. “That was the best I’ve had.”

  “I’ll let you in on a secret,” Shelly told him. “It’s Delia Smith’s recipe.”

  Even Fenella laughed at that. She’d been on the island long enough to know that Delia Smith was a famous British chef who’d written dozens of cookbooks and starred in several television series about cooking. Some of her cookbooks were on the shelf in the corner of the kitchen.

  With the meal out of the way and the wine bottle empty, Fenella and Shelly cleared up the kitchen.

  “Let me help,” Daniel offered.

  “Why don’t you and Fenella go into the other room and have your conversation, and I’ll take care of the washing-up?” Shelly suggested.

  “You did all of the cooking,” Fenella protested. “Anyway, most of the things can simply go in the dishwasher.”

  “I don’t mind doing everything by hand,” Shelly insisted. “Get the unpleasant questions over with and then we can open a box of biscuits and have them with some tea for pudding.”

  Unable to argue with that, Fenella followed Daniel into the living room. Mona quickly moved over to a chair in the corner as Daniel headed for where she’d been only a moment earlier. Fenella hid a smile as she sat down on the couch.

  “The replacement ferry sailed about five hours late,” Daniel told her after a moment. “About three-quarters of the original passengers were on it.”

  “And the rest of us will get our money back?” Fenella checked.

  “Either that or a ticket for a comparable sailing,” Daniel replied.

  “I think I’ll take the money and try flying next time,” Fenella said. “Although Shelly recommended some tablets for me to try that are supposed to fight seasickness.”

  “The tablets are good,” Daniel told her. “My ex-wife used to take them and she found them very effective.”

  Fenella found herself unreasonably annoyed to discover that Daniel’s ex-wife had also been prone to seasickness. “We’ll see,” she muttered. “But what did you want to ask me?”

  Daniel flipped open his notebook and turned the pages slowly. “When you found the body, did you notice a mobile phone anywhere?”

  Fenella thought about her answer for a moment and then shook her head. “I didn’t,” she said. “I didn’t notice much of anything. I don’t even remember really looking around the room. As soon as I spotted the body on the berth, I turned around and left.”

  “How close did you get to the man?”

  “Too close,” Fenella said, shuddering. “I went up on my tiptoes to get a good look at him. A quick glance was more than enough to tell me that he was dead.”

  “Did you touch him?”

  Daniel had already asked her most of these questions, but Fenella didn’t point that out. “No, although I’m not sure why I didn’t,” she said. “There was just something odd about even the little bit of him that I could see from the doorway, I guess. His feet were oddly twisted or stiff or something. He didn’t look as if he was just sleeping, even before I saw his face.”

  “Did you see Captain Howard anywhere on the ship before you found the body?”

  Fenella shook her head. “I may have, but I didn’t notice him,” she said.

  “And you didn’t notice any of the others, either? The people who were in the other cabins?”

  “Not that I recall,” Fenella said.

  “I know I’ve already asked you all of this before,” Daniel said now as he flipped through his notebook again. “But sometimes people’s answers change after they’ve had some time to think.”

  “I’ve been trying not to think,” Fenella told him. “I’ve been trying to block out everything that happened today before I got back here thanks to Constable Hopkins.”

  “I don’t have any further questions, then,” he said. “I really just wanted to go back over those points.”

  “I ran into Nick and Brenda Proper at ShopFast,” Fenella said as Daniel got to his feet.

  He looked at her for a moment and then sat back down. “Did you now? Did you speak to them?”

  “I did,” Fenella replied. She repeated as much as she could remember of the conversation she’d had with the couple in the grocery store.

  “Why did she want your phone number?” Daniel asked when she’d finished.

  “I have no idea,” Fenella replied.

  “I don’t want you meeting her,” he said in a serious voice. “I shouldn’t have to remind you that spending time with murder suspects is dangerous.”

  Fenella thought back to what had happened the last time she’d been caught up in a murder investigation. “If she does want to see me, I’ll make sure we meet somewhere very public,” she replied. “And I’ll take Shelly with me.”

  “Oh, thanks,”
Shelly called from the kitchen. “Because that doesn’t sound at all dangerous.”

  Fenella smiled. “Surely the Propers aren’t suspects,” she said.

  “I told you, everyone is a suspect,” Daniel replied. “That’s especially true at this point, when we’re only just beginning the investigation. For now, I suggest you stay well away from all of the suspects. If any of them contact you, please let me know.”

  “Have you come up with a motive yet?” Shelly asked as she dropped onto the couch next to Fenella.

  “We’re working on that,” Daniel replied.

  “Which means you aren’t going to tell me,” Shelly said with a grin.

  “It’s very early days yet,” Daniel said. “But at this point, I honestly don’t have any idea why the man was killed.”

  “I’ve put the kettle on,” Shelly told them both. “Once it boils and we have tea and biscuits, maybe we should talk about possible motives.”

  “I really do need to get back to the station,” Daniel said. “And I’d advise you both to simply forget all about the investigation. Let the police handle it. I’m sure you can come up with many other things to talk about.”

  Fenella walked Daniel to the door while Shelly was making their tea.

  “I don’t think I’ll have any more questions for you, at least not in the short term,” he told her in the doorway. “I’d still appreciate it if you’d stay on the island until the investigation is complete. If you do decide to go across, please let me know.”

  “I will,” Fenella promised. “But I’m not in any hurry, really. I think I’ll focus on things I can do on the island for a short while and leave trips across for later.”

  Daniel nodded. “I’ll probably see you at the pub one of these days,” he said. “It’s best if we limit our socializing for the time being, however.”

  Fenella nodded, feeling as if she wanted to cry. She and the handsome inspector had only just started sending one another the odd text and now they were back to square one. As she pushed the door shut behind him, she banged her head gently against the door’s frame.