Murder on a Mississippi Steamboat

by Leighann Dobbs

  “Yes, very good.” Aunt Julia turned away and headed back toward the door. “Things are coming together quite nicely.”

  “They are?” Nora glanced back at the Hinchcliffes’ luggage. “Did you notice something about the luggage, because I don’t see anything.”

  “Not really, but the luggage is there, so Vera could have needed to fetch something as she said,” Aunt Julia said.

  “Yes, but that proves nothing.”

  “And Oxley really was packing up Delilah’s things for shipping. You see it all adds up to only one solution,” Aunt Julia said.

  “I see.” Nora really didn’t see but she didn’t want to admit that she’d fallen behind in the deduction game. “So what do we do next?”

  “Why, we go to our room and pack, of course. We must be ready before the boat docks. I feel that we will be very busy after we meet Max Lawton in the Texas lounge and it’s best if we have all our things packed up. Besides, I need a little rest and to think things through.” Aunt Julia turned to Nora. “Shall we meet in the Texas lounge at ten of four—I’d like to talk over the clues before Max shows up. I’m sure that after a little meditation in my room, I will have come to a most satisfactory conclusion.”

  Aunt Julia always had a lot of thinking to do at the end of a case. Nora could tell by the look on her aunt’s face and the way she seemed distracted that her brain was busy sorting through all the clues. She was confident that Julia would know who the killer was once it was done. And besides, she did have a lot of packing to do. “Sounds like a plan.”

  They left the guard sleeping in his chair and headed to their rooms.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Nora packed in record time. She changed into a smart linen suit for disembarking. They’d stay at the Stafford Hotel—one of Aunt Julia’s favorites, she knew the manager there of course—and take the train back to Boston in the morning. It was hot in Vicksburg and she didn’t want to melt. She tucked her hair up and decided on no hat. There’d be no breeze once the boat stopped moving and she didn’t need to swelter under a hat.

  She sat at the small desk in her room and thought about the case. She was getting better at figuring out the physical clues but still not as good as Aunt Julia. Yet she had something her aunt didn’t, the power of observing the suspects. But what had her observations told her?

  Oxley was up to something, clearly, but was it murder? Of course, there was the drug angle, anyone could be involved in that, but Oxley was a good candidate and Max had reason to suspect him. But why was Aunt Julia fixated on Beulah Entwhistle’s brooch? Nora hadn’t noticed the Entwhistles acting at all odd but sometimes suspects simply didn’t act suspicious. Could they be involved? And what about Percival Montford? Aunt Julia seemed to think he might have something to do with all this.

  Oh well, she was sure her aunt would make it all clear in a few minutes when she met her in the Texas lounge. Nora left her suitcases in the stateroom. All afternoon she’d been hearing trunks being rolled to the rooms so that those who had stored them could pack. She’d even heard Vera and Beau Hinchcliffe arguing about who would pack. Which reminded her that of all the people on the boat, Vera was the one acting the most suspiciously. Could she be involved in the drugs? The murder?

  Aunt Julia was seated in a leather club chair near the front window of the Texas lounge. A tumbler of amber liquid swirled in her hand as she watched the Vicksburg port loom ominously closer. She turned when Nora entered then astutely noticed her gaze on the drink. “Would you like some cider, dear?”

  Nora was dubious about the contents of the glass, but sensed no deceit in her aunt. “No thanks. I’d rather discover who the killer is. Have you figured it out?”

  Julia glanced out the window again; she looked quite pleased with herself. “I have some ideas. How about you?” Her shrewd blue eyes turned on Nora.

  “I have some too. You go first.” Nora didn’t want to admit she wasn’t any closer to figuring out who murdered Delilah or if Oxley really was storing drugs on the ship. She had some ideas about who was lying though. And possibly one suspect Aunt Julia might not want to consider.

  “You didn’t observe any other behavior since the last time we met?”

  Nora sat in a chair across from her aunt, crossed her legs. “No. I was alone in my room packing. Well… I did hear the Hinchcliffes arguing about who would pack. What is it that you suspect them of?”

  “You mean Martha, or Beau and Vera?”

  “Beau and Vera.”

  “And was it an angry argument or were they each trying to be nice?”

  Why would that matter? “Nice, I suppose. They were both offering to do the packing in an insistent manner.”

  Aunt Julia nodded. “Sounds like any other nice young couple.”

  “So they’re off your suspect list? Did you notice something when you looked at the luggage?” Darn! Nora hadn’t noticed anything when they’d looked at the luggage, but Aunt Julia had clearly had a reason to look there.

  “Not necessarily, but the trunks were there so Vera might really have had to retrieve something she left. But there are so many other suspects. There’s Oxley, and the good doctor and, if you think about it, anyone backstage could have been in on the drugs or had a problem with Delilah, not just Oxley. Lily got the singing job, and Delilah was not that nice to her or Joy.”

  “True and, while we’re on the subject of that, there are a few others who would have had opportunity, and possibly motive.” Nora purposely threw in some of the words Aunt Julia always used when talking about suspects.

  Aunt Julia’s left brow quirked up. “Oh? Like who?”

  “Well, there’s Sven. You have to admit he’s a little strange. And due to his position as pilot he’d be the perfect person for Oxley to recruit to help with the drugs. And then, of course, there’s Giles.” Nora paused to gauge Aunt Julia’s reaction. “And perhaps the Entwhistles? You seemed very interested in her brooch.”

  “Yes, indeed. I don’t think they are involved, at least not in the way you think. And I hardly think Giles would risk all he has to transport drugs.” Aunt Julia glanced back out the window. The ship had slowed considerably and it was now pulling into the large dock where a man in a gray suit and top hat could be seen stamping his feet impatiently. “Oh crumb! There’s Artemis Leonard. I do hope Max shows up soon and has something—”

  The oak door at the end of the lounge burst open and Max Lawton marched in, dragging Johnny Stokes by the collar. “I caught him red-handed. This is your killer!”

  Johnny looked around at them wide-eyed. “No! I swear I didn’t kill anyone!”

  “I caught him coming out of the Montfords’ cabin.” Max stood between Johnny and the door just in case Johnny wanted to make a break for it. “I assume there’s something in the doctor’s notes that you didn’t want anyone to see.”

  “No! You have it all wrong.” Johnny was close to tears. An odd reaction for a killer. Judging by the pleading tone in his voice and his body language, Nora tended to believe him.

  “Now hold on, Mr. Lawton. I think we should listen to Johnny,” Aunt Julia said. Apparently she believed Johnny too. “Did you find the doctor’s notes?”

  Max grabbed Johnny and started patting him down. “Didn’t have time to look.”

  Outside, they were tying the lines to the pier. A few more minutes and the gangplank would go down and Artemis would come aboard. Knowing him, he’d already have instructed the police not to let anyone off the boat.

  “I told you, I don’t have any note!” Johnny said.

  Max was getting a little rough with his pat down, but coming up empty. “He must have ditched it when I was dragging him here.”

  “Let’s not be too hasty,” Aunt Julia said. “Did you catch him going in or coming out?”

  “Coming out.”

  Aunt Julia nodded as if she knew something no one else did. Nora wished she would enlighten the rest of them. She turned to Max. “Any new leads, other than Johnny?”
/>   Max shook his head.

  Aunt Julia glanced out the window. “It won’t be long before Artemis is here. You leave Johnny with me—” She held up her hand to Max’s protest. “No, no, I’ll be fine, he’s no danger to anyone. I have a few questions for him.”

  “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.” Max looked at Nora for help but having been in this situation with Aunt Julia many times she trusted the woman’s instincts. Besides, Johnny Stokes looked more like he was going to curl into a ball and cry than anything else.

  “Now I need both your help. I want you to gather the Hinchcliffes, Oxley, the Montfords, Sven Nordby, the singers Lily and Joy, and tell them to come here. Don’t take no for an answer. Then go to Giles and tell him to bring Artemis Leonard here. I know who the killer is.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Everyone was already gathered in the Texas lounge when Nora returned after informing Giles of her aunt’s wishes. Thankfully she didn’t have to talk to Artemis, he was inspecting Delilah’s body. Giles had said that he would bring Artemis straight to the lounge once he was done.

  The room was abuzz with apprehensive conversation when Nora slipped in the door. From what she could tell, no one knew why they’d been summoned.

  She skirted the edge of the lounge, not wanting to draw attention to herself. From the windows she could see the flurry of activity on the dock. Suitcases and trunks were being wheeled to waiting taxis and vehicles. The sun was low in the sky, giving everything a golden glow. It was pretty out and she was anxious to get off the boat, but even more anxious to see what Aunt Julia had in store.

  She whispered in Aunt Julia’s ear that Giles would be coming soon, then headed to the corner where Max Lawton was standing. He looked as uninformed as she. At least she wasn’t the only one. She stood next to him and he leaned over and whispered, “Any idea what your aunt is up to? Is she always this dramatic?”

  “I’m afraid so, but I do have to say she always does figure out who the killer is.”

  “Always? How many times have you people run across murders?”

  “More than I’d like to admit.” Nora leaned against the wall and studied the crowd. Did anyone look particularly guilty?

  The door opened and Artemis and Giles stepped in. Artemis was a tall man who Nora might have considered handsome if he wasn’t so annoying. He had a thin mustache and beady dark eyes. He always dressed in a nice suit but that didn’t make up for his sour attitude.

  Artemis scanned the crowd, his lips pursing when he noticed Julia. “You! I should have known.” He turned to Giles. “What is the meaning of this?”

  Aunt Julia stepped forward, undaunted. “Lovely to see you, Artemis! As you know, there has been a murder aboard and since we’ve been at river and not able to secure your fine services, I’ve taken the liberty of figuring out who the killer is.”

  The crowd gasped and several people squirmed in their seats.

  “That’s preposterous!” Artemis sputtered. “You’re not an officer of the law!”

  “No, but I am.” Max flipped open his badge and shoved it in Artemis’ direction.

  Artemis squinted, his mustache twitching. “Feds? What is this about?”

  “Just listen and it will become crystal clear,” Aunt Julia said.

  Artemis crossed his arms over his chest and addressed Max. “What is going on? Have you caught the killer or not? And why are you here? This isn’t the sort of thing you usually investigate.”

  “We’ll get to that later,” Julia said. “Suffice it to say that the murder isn’t the only crime.”

  “And I caught at least one of the perpetrators red-handed.” Max looked at Johnny Stokes.

  Johnny shrank back in his seat. “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  “Don’t worry, dear. All will be revealed.” Aunt Julia turned to the crowd. “Mr. Stokes is correct. He didn’t kill anyone. But someone in this room did.”

  The crowd murmured uneasily.

  Max stepped forward. “Well look here, I caught him breaking and entering. At the very least he’s a thief.”

  “That may well be, but you found nothing on him,” Aunt Julia said. “That’s because he wasn’t taking things. He was putting things back.”

  Artemis frowned. “I don’t follow you.”

  Aunt Julia stood behind Johnny with her hand on his shoulder. “Johnny here needed money for his grandmother. Sadly, he had to resort to the one thing he was good at. Pickpocketing. He even took one of Delilah’s bracelets right off her wrist.”

  Several of the women checked their wrists.

  “But he’s repentant,” Aunt Julia continued. “And it was for a good cause. His grandmother needs expensive medicine. I do hope he won’t be charged; after all, he has given everything back.”

  Artemis did not seem convinced. “If he stole Delilah’s bracelet then maybe he killed her to get it. And why did he give things back? Something is fishy here.”

  “When you hear the rest, you’ll understand why.” Aunt Julia left Johnny’s side and started pacing the room. “You see, once Johnny heard that Delilah had been murdered and there might be an investigation, he felt it was too risky to keep anything he had stolen. He didn’t want anyone to jump to the conclusion that he was also a murderer.” Aunt Julia cast a look at Artemis.

  “It’s not a far jump,” Artemis said.

  “Oh but it is. Johnny is no killer.” Aunt Julia continued pacing. “So, he returned the brooch to Beulah Entwhistle, the pocket watch to Doctor Montford and the bracelet to Delilah’s room.”

  So that explained why Aunt Julia was fixated with Beulah’s brooch. She’d worked out all along that Johnny was a thief and was trying to see if Nora would come to the same conclusion. That also explained why he bumped into people all the time. He wasn’t drunk or on drugs and it wasn’t an ailment, he used it as a distraction so he could steal things right off their person! Though how he got the brooch from Beulah’s neck was a mystery. He must be very good. Nora checked her ears to make sure she still had her pearl earrings.

  Beulah Entwhistle’s hand flew to her brooch. “I simply thought I’d knocked it into my knitting bag by mistake.”

  Percival Montford pulled his pocket watch out of his vest. “Well I’ll be. I guess I’m not getting as forgetful as you thought.” He looked at his wife.

  “So he was returning the pocket watch when I caught him,” Max said. “Are you sure he’s telling the truth?”

  “I think so.” Aunt Julia pointed to Johnny’s cuff where the fabric had snagged. “Delilah’s bracelet had an ivory thread stuck on one of the jewel settings. I saved it. I believe if you test it you’ll see it’s from Johnny’s shirt.”

  Artemis crossed his arms over his chest. “Still doesn’t prove that he’s not the killer.”

  “No, but there’s more.” Aunt Julia turned to Johnny. “When did you return the ruby bracelet?”

  Johnny fidgeted as he answered, his eyes darting from Max to Artemis to Julia. “In the middle of the night after I found out there would be an investigation. I didn’t even realize she had died.”

  “And where did you put it?”

  “On her vanity table. There were some necklaces, colorful beads, so I figured that’s where she kept her jewelry.” Johnny fiddled with his cuff. Nora noticed a snag. The ivory thread!

  “And did you notice anything strange in there?”

  “Not in there, no. I didn’t stay long enough to look around. Just threw the bracelet on the table and got out. It was kind of creepy with her being dead and all, plus I didn’t want to get caught in there.”

  “Did you see anyone down there?” By Aunt Julia’s tone, Nora could tell she’d already gotten this information from Johnny. But her aunt had a flair for theatrics and liked to introduce the information in the most dramatic way.

  “I did.” Johnny’s eyes slid over to the Hinchcliffes. “I saw Vera Hinchcliffe running out from the door that leads backstage.”

  Vera gasped.

  Ma
rtha eyed Vera. At first Nora figured it would give Martha another excuse to dislike Vera but she appeared to be looking at her with interest and appreciation. Nora would have thought Martha would be appalled to have her daughter-in-law implicated in such a sordid thing, but she actually looked almost proud.

  Beau stepped toward Johnny. “Why, you liar. I ought to—”

  Max held out an arm to restrain him. “Let him talk.”

  Julia looked at Vera. “Is what Mr. Stokes said true?”

  “No.” Vera’s voice was shaky and she couldn’t look Julia in the eye. “Well, maybe. Sometimes I can’t sleep and…”

  Beau frowned at her. “I don’t remember you leaving the room in the middle of the night.”

  Vera cast her eyes down. “You were fast asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.”

  Julia walked over to stand in front of Vera. “Are you sure? It seems odd you’d go all the way to the empty dining room and then venture backstage just because you couldn’t sleep.”

  “I might have been sleepwalking?” Vera made it sound like a question as opposed to a statement.

  “Really?” Aunt Julia turned away from her and started pacing again. “And were you sleepwalking when you went to hide what you took from the backstage area in your luggage yesterday?”

  Beau bristled. “Hey, don’t talk to my wife that way. She went to retrieve some jewelry she’d left in there!”

  Julia spun and shot a look at Vera. “Is that true?”

  Nora almost felt bad for Vera; she could see the poor girl was near tears and unsure of what to say.

  “Stop picking on my daughter-in-law.” To Nora’s—and apparently Aunt Julia’s—surprise, Martha Hinchcliffe put her arm protectively around Vera. “What does it matter if she was sleepwalking or getting something from the luggage or not? Delilah Dove was already dead by then.”

  Vera looked up at her mother-in-law, her face wide with shock. Martha looked down indulgently, which calmed Vera and she relaxed against the old woman. “Now, now, dear. Don’t let this woman bother you. But if you know something, I think now would be a good time to tell.”