“This has been a long night,” Ryan said.
“I don’t see where she could be hiding,” Amy said. “But wherever she is, I hope she’s coming up with a scarier last name.”
“It’s possible that she was moving around while we were moving,” Heather said. “Maybe we missed her in our search because we were going in opposite directions.”
“Great,” Amy lamented. “Let’s go do exactly the same thing we did before in case we missed her.”
“If she didn’t leave the boat, that probably is what happened,” Ryan said. “But was it an accident? Or is she purposely avoiding us and hiding?”
“I think before we go on another wild vampire search, I want to fix my cat makeup and have a Pumpkin Donut,” said Amy.
“Do you need to do that now?” Heather asked. “We don’t have much time left.”
"But we're going around in circles," said Amy. "Literally. All around the ship. I might as well fix my makeup, so my confusing, silly costume makes a little bit of sense."
“All right,” Heather agreed. “We’ll run to the ladies’ room for a moment.”
“The head is that way,” Captain Braxton said.
Heather and Amy entered the small bathroom with two stalls and a large mirror in it. Amy started fixing her cat eyes when Heather noticed something.
One of the stall doors was locked. She looked at the bottom and saw the black shoes that were visible. They were Lucrecia’s. She pointed them out to Amy.
Amy shuddered. “I was so convinced that Lucrecia was the killer. But now that we’re standing on the other side of the door with those unmoving shoes, I’m scared she’s dead.”
Heather took a deep breath and then knocked on the stall door.
They waited a moment and then the door opened. Lucrecia pushed some large headphones off of her ears and stared at them.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“We were looking everywhere for you,” Amy said. “And I thought you were the killer, and then I thought you were dead, and now I don’t know what to think.”
“Well, I’m neither of those things,” Lucrecia said.
“Have you been hiding here listening to music?” Heather asked.
“I’ve been here for a bit,” Lucrecia admitted. “Listening to something.”
“Lucrecia, we were looking for you because we’re trying to figure out who killed Jason Myers. The guests’ bags and costume weapons were all checked. You’re one of the few people who could have gotten a real sword on board,” said Heather.
“And you’ve already got the long black hair that matches the description of the killer,” said Amy. “And we saw how it had gotten mussed before. Like you were wearing a hat.”
“I wasn’t wearing a hat,” Lucrecia said. “If it was mussed, it was because of these headphones. Not because I was wearing a pirate disguise to kill someone.”
“So, you were listening to the music earlier too?” Heather asked.
“Yes. I suppose I was,” said Lucrecia.
“That might account for what we saw,” said Heather. “But why were you in here listening to it when so much was happening?”
“What are you listening to anyway?” Amy asked. “Any good music?”
“It’s not music,” Lucrecia said. “It’s a tape to calm your nerves and make you feel more in control. It’s therapeutic.”
“I could see why you’d need to calm your nerves now after the murder and all the chaos that has happened,” said Heather. “But why did you need to listen to it earlier?”
“Unless she needed to calm her nerves because she had just killed somebody!” Amy said.
“No,” Lucrecia said. “That’s not it.”
“Can you tell us what it is?” Heather asked. “We’re not trying to pry into your personal business. We’re just trying to solve a murder.”
Lucrecia must have been doing what her tape had earlier instructed her to do. She counted to ten and took a deep breath. Then, she told them, “I’ve been facing my biggest fear.”
“What’s that?” asked Amy.
“Spiders,” said Lucrecia.
“Really?” asked Amy. “You seemed to love everything creepy and Halloween-y.”
“Not things with eight legs,” said Lucrecia. “I’ve always been terrified of those hideous little things.”
“Then why did you include them as part of the party?” asked Heather.
“Because tonight was supposed to be mildly terrifying,” said Lucrecia. “And spiders make a wonderful addition to the terror. Their webs also glowed beautifully in the black light. But I couldn’t face them. That’s why I had Tanya flip the lights. And it’s why I left right after. I needed to relax myself and listen to my calming tape.”
“Why couldn’t you just tell us before?” Heather asked.
“That would have been great advertising for my horror businesses,” Lucrecia said. “Admitting I’m scared of bugs.”
“A lot of people are scared of spiders,” said Heather.
“But I’m supposed to be the one instilling the fear with my events,” said Lucrecia. “My name is Lucrecia Gravely, for goodness sakes.”
“About that,” said Amy. “Why Gravely? Why not Gravestone? Or Gravington? Or just Graves?”
“Graves?” Lucrecia repeated, trying it out.
“Gravely only makes me think of gravy,” said Amy.
“Lucrecia Graves,” she repeated back. “I like the sound of it.”
“I solved one thing that’s been bothering me,” Amy said.
“I wish we could solve another,” said Heather. “But if we’ve just dismissed Lucrecia as a suspect because she was in the bathroom the whole time.”
“And that must have been where she was headed when Freddy and Norman saw her,” Amy added.
“Then we still have no idea who the killer is,” said Heather.
The Case
Heather, Amy, Ryan, and Jamie were seated around a table, eating donuts to make them feel better about not having the answer to the case. Captain Braxton was checking on the guests and on his first mate.
“I can’t believe we’re going to be bested by a zombie,” said Amy.
“Well, pirate zombies can be very tricky,” Jamie said.
“It makes me feel like they did take our brains,” said Amy as she took another bite of the donut.
"We were pressed for time if we needed to solve this on our own before we returned to shore," said Ryan. "But we have already done a lot in a short period of time."
“Then why does it feel like the killer is going to get away?” asked Amy.
“Because of the missing life raft,” said Heather.
“Why don’t you go through what you know so far?” Jamie asked. “Maybe I can help. And I’m all ears.”
“In that costume, it’s true,” said Amy.
“We know it was a woman dressed in the red pirate zombie outfit,” said Heather.
"And that she wore a mask, so no one saw her face," said Ryan.
“And that she had a real sword that she used to kill the man,” Heather said.
"And she marked him with an X that could only be seen in the black light,” said Amy. “So she could find him on the dance floor.”
“Could you eliminate any of the pirate lady suspects?” Jamie asked.
"We did dismiss some teen pirates who boarded illegally," said Ryan. "They're working as dishwashers now to make up for it."
“I don’t really think it’s Lucrecia anymore,” said Heather. “The story she told us makes sense and explains her hair and her location. Plus, she never had a good motive.”
“The ex-girlfriend Celia had a good motive,” said Amy. “But the sword she had was definitely foam. And the bag checkers are adamant that a guest couldn’t have snuck a weapon past them.”
“Do you believe them?” Jamie asked.
“I think so,” said Heather.
“They were a little lazy when we saw them but seemed to take pride in the
ir work. I don’t think they let anything slip by,” Amy agreed.
“Then it wasn’t a guest,” Jamie said simply.
“Well, thanks for all that help,” Amy said sarcastically.
“Wait. He’s right,” said Heather. “When you put it like that, then it’s simple. If a guest didn’t bring the sword on board, then it had to be an employee. They wouldn’t have had to bring their things through bag check.”
“And she could have hidden the sword until she wanted to use it on the victim,” said Ryan.
“It might have been easier for an employee than for a guest to mark Jason Myers with the X as well,” said Heather. "She could have come up with business sounding reason to touch him for a moment, and that's when she applied the marker."
Captain Braxton joined them and asked, "Any breakthroughs?"
“Unfortunately, we realized that it had to one of the employees on the ship who killed him,” Heather said. “That’s the only way the sword could have been brought on board.”
“I hate to think it was someone who worked here,” Captain Braxton said. “That someone on my crew could murder somebody like that.”
“How do we figure out which employee it was?” Amy asked.
“It had to be a woman,” Ryan said.
“Does anyone jump to mind?” Heather asked. “Is there anyone you noticed acting strangely today?”
Captain Braxton shrugged helplessly. “Everyone acts a little strangely around Halloween.”
“Captain?”
They looked up and saw the female guitarist from the skeleton band.
“What is it?” Captain Braxton asked, inviting her to join them.
Amy looked to Heather and raised her eyebrows. “This is a female employee,” she whispered.
“But the band was playing on stage,” Heather whispered back.
“Oh. Right.”
“Captain,” the guitarist said. “We discovered something strange while we were putting our instruments away. And since you’re still investigating, I thought I should tell you. It might be nothing. But maybe it’s a clue. We thought it was weird.”
“What is it?” Heather asked.
“After we all put away our instruments, we noticed that there was an extra guitar case. It’s not mine. And it’s not anyone else’s in the band.”
“What was inside it?” Heather asked.
“Nothing,” said the guitarist said. “There was no instrument. And nothing else.”
Heather stood up. “But I bet there was something inside.”
“The murder weapon,” Ryan agreed.
“I think a sword could fit into a guitar case easily,” said Heather. “And it was a good hiding place for it. An extra guitar case didn’t seem suspicious until it was time to pack up for the day.”
“Was it a special case that we could trace?” Ryan asked.
"No. It's a cheap guitar case that you could get pretty much anywhere," the guitarist informed them.
“A costume could have been kept in there too,” Heather said. “So an employee could have hidden the costume and sword on board, marked Jason Myers with the X, and then disguised herself and found the victim on the dance floor to kill him.”
“But who did it?” Amy asked. “Who decided to actually use an X to mark the spot?”
Realization dawned on Heather’s face. “I think I just realized when he was marked.”
“When?”
“At the same time that we got our stickers that cleared us for entrance,” said Heather. “That’s when an employee could have touched Jason Myers without arousing any suspicions. She placed the stickers on us.”
“Captain, we have a problem,” Freddy said. He and Norman piled into the room with them.
“Please tell me that it’s only that you found out about the extra guitar case too,” said Captain Braxton.
“What?” asked Freddy. “No.”
“Remember how you told us to stop playing cards and to keep an eye on the guests and the ship?” Norman asked.
"Yes," said Captain Braxton. "Right after we interviewed you both, I told you that you should help with the situation."
“And we did,” said Freddy.
“That’s right,” Norman said. “We did our jobs.”
“But when we went to check on the crime scene area, someone had broken through where it was blocked off,” Freddy said. “And so we went to go check on it.”
“That’s when we saw the dead guy,” said Norman. “That’s a terrible thing to see.”
“But that’s when we also saw something else,” said Freddy.
“Just get to the point,” Amy said. “I can’t take the suspense. What happened to the victim? He was already dead.”
“It’s the sword,” Freddy said. “Somebody took the sword.”
“Oh no,” Heather said. “She must have realized that we were getting close to an answer. She’s going to make a break for it.”
“With the sword,” said Amy.
“And the raft,” said Ryan.
“And unfortunately, if my hunch is right,” Heather said. “With a hostage.”
Hostage Situation
“Tanya?” Heather called.
“I don’t like this,” Amy said. “Searching for a killer is bad enough. But searching for an armed killer?”
“The guests and band and bartenders are all accounted for according to Freddy and Norman,” said Heather. “But Lucrecia is missing.”
“Maybe she’s just hiding the bathroom again, listening to nice, relaxation tapes,” said Amy.
“Or maybe she’s in real trouble,” Heather said.
“I feel like we’re about to get into real trouble too,” Jamie said nervously.
Captain Braxton had said that there were two areas of the ship where casting off on the raft would be easiest. He and Ryan had gone in search of one, while Heather, Amy, and Jamie went to the other one.
“Tanya?” Heather called again. “Lucrecia?”
“Stay right there,” Tanya yelled as they came into view.
Heather contained her panic as she saw the situation in front of her. Tanya was holding the sword so it was pointed at a frightened Lucrecia.
"Stay there, or I'll make her walk the plank," said Tanya.
“We’re getting close to shore. That might not be such a bad idea,” Amy said. “That’s why you want to raft away, isn’t it?”
“Not now, Ames,” Heather said.
“Sorry,” said Amy.
“We’re not coming any closer,” Heather announced. “In fact, Jamie is going to leave right now.”
She whispered something to Jamie who nodded and ran away.
“What did you tell him?” Tanya asked.
“To tell the captain what happened,” Heather fibbed. “You’re not going to get away with this. You should just let her go.”
“I am going to get away,” Tanya said. “I’ve got a life raft and a weapon and a hostage. I’m getting off this boat and getting to shore. Then I’ll figure out a new life. If the others tonight could get a fake ID, then I could too. I can disappear.”
“It sounds like you have it all planned out,” said Heather, taking a tentative step forward.
“I don’t want to kill her, but I will,” Tanya said, gesturing with the sword.
“Like you did Jason Myers?” Heather said.
“No,” said Tanya with a depraved smile. “I wanted to kill him.”
“He was the ex-boyfriend that you mentioned,” said Heather.
“And he deserved to die,” said Tanya. “He did the same thing to me that he did to a bunch of others. He told us we were the only one, but it was a lie. He broke my heart, and he didn't care at all. He would have kept doing the same thing. And the only reason he would have gotten away with it was because of Zombie Pirate Caper. The movie is going to be watched forever."
“Is it?” Amy asked.
“I had to stop him,” said Tanya. “He was a monster.”
“So, when you heard
he was going to be on board tonight, you made your plan,” said Heather. “You brought the weapon and costume on the guitar case before the guests boarded.”
“Nobody noticed it,” Tanya agreed.
“You put the black light X on him when you put on his sticker for entrance,” Heather said.
“I added the paint to his jacket when I put the sticker on him. He had the gall to pretend he didn’t recognize me,” Tanya said. “Can you believe that? After all we’ve been through? He thought he could just treat me like a nobody. He thought I wouldn’t make a scene because I was at work. Well, he made a list of all the women he was worried about. I should have been at the top of it.”
“You’re reaching the top of mine,” Amy said. “I’m worried.”
“Me too,” said Lucrecia.
“You turned on the black lights for the dance and then changed into the costume that you knew countless others would be wearing,” Heather continued.
“It was perfect,” said Tanya. “I knew Lucrecia would be hiding when the spiders came on.”
“You knew?” Lucrecia said.
“It was obvious,” said Tanya. “You couldn’t even be around when they were set up.”
"Spiders are scary," Lucrecia said quietly.
“I turned on the black lights, changed into the costume and made my entrance onto the dance floor. Then I stabbed him and hurried away. I turned the lights back on to give myself an alibi and threw my mask and costume overboard,” Tanya said. “I thought there would be enough people on board that loved and hated him that you would find a suspect who wanted to kill him. I thought I could slip through the cracks once we were on land."
“But when Captain Braxton told the musicians to pack up early, you became worried,” said Heather.
"I thought that when you realized that the sword was kept in the guitar case, you'd realize it was an employee. I took the raft earlier, hoping that if you didn't find a guest you liked as a suspect that you might think that a stowaway murderer jumped ship," said Tanya. "But I kept it as a backup plan. And now I'm going to use it and get out of here."
“That’s fine,” Heather said. “But just let Lucrecia go.”
Pumpkin Glaze & Murder: An Oceanside Cozy Mystery - Book 5 Page 6
