The Manatee Did It

by Kay Dew Shostak

  “I’ve already made the arrangements for here. Funeral and burial on Sophia Island,” Leigh Anne says. She also has a drink, but she’s hunched over, forearms resting on her knees. I can feel, and see, the tension in her shoulders.

  Her daughter-in-law laughs. “If so, you sure weren’t forthcoming with that little lady from city hall that came to express her condolences.”

  “Why did you have to be so rude? Lucy Fellows is important here.” Leigh Anne swallows and stretches her neck out. “We’re friends.”

  My eyes widen. Apparently Saundra York also finds it hard to believe. “Really? Friends? Then why didn’t you give her the funeral details?”

  “You know I need, well, I need you to give me the—”

  “Permission. Go ahead and say it. Go ahead and ask.” The younger woman puts her feet on the floor and stands. “Go ahead and ask me for permission, but I’ve already told you the answer. You can make all the plans in the world, but they’re not happening.”

  She carries her empty glass toward the bookshelf, and me. This makes my heart stop, but then I remember the bar is in this direction.

  “My husband’s funeral will be where we—and you, I might add—live,” Saundra says. “Ponte Vedra. My only interest in this town is now dead. Literally.”

  I can no longer see Saundra, but I can hear her fixing her drink to my right. It’s unnerving as Leigh Anne is staring at Saundra and consequently looking in my direction.

  Saundra continues. “I am leaving this hole-in-the-wall town tomorrow with my husband’s body and will never step foot here again, just as I told your friend. Lucy, did you say her name was?”

  She steps out into the middle of the room. With her free hand, she picks up her red-soled shoes. As she straightens she says to her mother-in-law, “I’m taking my drink upstairs and going to bed. These old houses are depressing. I can see why you love them.” As she gets to the hallway, with the stairs in the background, she turns to face Leigh Anne. “I’m just glad I discovered what your worthless son was up to before he could pull the trigger. We Yorks would never be interested in such a rundown marina as the one here. I’m actually kind of glad someone killed him before Daddy found out about his plan. It saved me a lot of embarrassment. Good night. See you at the funeral.”

  I step away from the hole in the wall and quickly slide the cardboard and wallpaper back in place. I don’t want to watch Leigh Anne anymore. She’s not my favorite person, but she doesn’t deserve all that. It almost makes me wish Saundra was the murderer. If she talked that way about Sophia Island to Lucy, no wonder Lucy was so mad. Wait, I think. Maybe she is the murderer. Just how good is her alibi for last Wednesday?

  I wait for a while and listen, but I don’t hear any noise to tell me if Leigh Anne is still on the couch. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to stand, much less move. Lose your son and be left with Saundra York for your family? Poor thing. Creeping down the hall, I stop to listen again for a minute or two. Nothing. At the kitchen door, it looks as though nothing has changed. Still dark and empty. I cross the doorway, dart to the door, grasp the knob, and yank it open. The darkness is getting to me.

  The night air welcomes me, and I take a deep breath as I step into the garden. Then my arm is grabbed and jerked to the side.

  “Caught you,” a voice growls. Then it climbs an octave as it yelps. “You’re not Charlotte!”

  The hand pulls me into the dim light, and I’m standing face to face with Leigh Anne Mantelle.

  Chapter 30

  “What are you doing here?” Leigh Anne hisses in my face. She still has a tight grasp on my arm, but she backs off a few inches. She looks around us, then pushes me against the wall and leans against me hard.

  “Oh, hi, Leigh Anne. What are you doing? I was looking for Charlotte. Did you see her?” I try to relax and calm my heart, but that’s hard when I can see in Leigh Anne’s eyes that she’s putting two and two together.

  “So Charlotte showed you her little spy hole. I forgot about it until I noticed something sparkling in the bookcase wall tonight. Must’ve been the light hitting that necklace.”

  My hand flies up to my throat, to the diamond necklace Craig gave me for our twenty-fifth anniversary. My sudden action causes her to press harder against me and to raise her other hand. A hand holding a big kitchen knife.

  “Stand still!” she demands. The knife ensures I’ll do exactly as she says.

  “Okay, I’m not moving. You can put the knife down.”

  Leigh Anne licks her thin lips as she thinks. “Grabbed it to give that busybody Charlotte a real scare. I mean, I can scare her into keeping quiet, but you, you’ll tell.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know anything to tell,” I protest. “Except that your daughter-in-law was really nasty to you.” I try to inch my feet under my body so that I have some leverage to possibly push her away and run. I’m off balance with my shoulders and back smashed against the wall and my backside and legs at an awkward angle. She has one leg braced against the side of mine, which stops my legs from straightening. Her hand still holds my upper arm, and she’s keeping me pinned on the wall with that tennis-playing arm. A very strong arm.

  An arm strong enough to hurl a heavy pitcher of margaritas.

  It’s then that everything clicks for me.

  She’s the one who wants to live on Sophia Island.

  She’s the one who wants my house.

  Suddenly a picture comes to mind of her opening our front door like she’d done it a million times before. And of course, she knew about the nonexistent lock on the back window.

  Her face is only a few inches from mine. I chance a look to see if she realizes I’ve put it together, but she’s busy with her own thoughts. She readjusts to pin me even closer to the wall, causing one of my sandals to slip. Now I’m even more at her mercy with only one leg for support.

  “Leigh Anne, I’m falling. Let me stand up and we can talk.”

  She looks at me and sneers. “Talk? What do we have to talk about? You have my house. Pierson was supposed to get it for me, but then he got cold feet when that wife of his found out. I was so very mad at him. I didn’t mean for him to die, I was just so mad. I mean, I waited so many years for Cora to finally die. And then she gives the house to C. J.? Not Edison and me?” Her eyes narrow. “Did your husband visit her? Did he help her take care of the house? Did you even know her?” She stops her rant to repeat herself. “Did you? Did you ever even meet that awful woman?”

  She waits for an answer.

  “Well, no,” I say, “but honestly, you can have the house. We don’t really want to live there. My husband was willing to trade with Pierson. Here, let me up. This really hurts.”

  “Stay there. Let me think. If you’re gone, your husband gone, then it’ll go to Edison. He’s basically a vegetable and stuck in that old folks’ home, but he’s still alive.”

  “Yes, we’ll leave. Our family is all up north anyway. We’ll leave tomorrow and it’s all yours.”

  She laughs and lifts the knife again. “No, that won’t work. Here you are, alone in a dark garden, and as for your husband, well, I know that house better than you could ever know it. Getting in and out of it is not a problem. Should’ve suffocated you with a pillow before now. Maybe poison for him? Or maybe he’ll slit his wrists in despair at his wife’s murder.” She giggles. “They’ll probably blame that crazy old woman Charlotte for this.”

  A phone ringing from the sidewalk on the other side of the bushes causes us both to look that direction. In that moment a dark body hurls into Leigh Anne and leaves her sprawled out on her back. I right myself against the wall, and I hear Annie shout, “Stay right there, Leigh Anne! The police just pulled up!”

  Leigh Anne’s white dress is shoved up, showing everything God gave her, but the best thing her dress does is give the police something to focus on as they come spilling into the garden with shouts and flashlights.

  I can’t see anything but a little circle of Annie’s face. As she
comes to hug me, in the light from all the flashlights, I see why. She’s got a child’s hoodie over her hair and bunched up under her chin.

  “Oh, Annie. Thank God you came.” In my relief, I can’t help but start to laugh at the little circle of her face I can see. She moves back a step and tries to work the hoodie off her head.

  “It’s my grandson’s and was the only dark thing I had in my car to cover my hair! Are you all right?”

  Aiden catches up to us and grabs her. “Momma! Are you okay? I told you to wait for us to get here!”

  She sways as she reaches out to her son. “I tried, but I, well, oh, I don’t feel so good. Let’s sit down.” Aiden walks both of us to a garden bench. As all the back lights come on we hear voices from both the manor house and Charlotte’s cottage. Leigh Anne is still on the ground. She’s yelling something about being where she belongs and that I shouldn’t be here.

  Officer Greyson looks around and says soothingly, “Yes, ma’am. You’re saying you’re staying here, but Mrs. Mantelle, the other Mrs. Mantelle, is not staying here. We under—”

  She stops him with a screech. “On Sophia Island, you idiot! I belong here, she doesn’t. That house is mine, and I’ll kill every last one of you if you get in my way! You think I won’t? I killed my own son, why would you matter one little ant’s hill to me? Let me up. I want to go home. My house is waiting on me!”

  Chapter 31

  “See, if your arms weren’t so skinny, she couldn’t have held you against the wall like that,” Annie says with another side hug for me. When she left the Bellingtons’ last night she told me she’d be at our house at eight thirty sharp with food and the rest of the ladies to get the full story.

  We’d all talked to the police for what seemed like hours. They’d brought Craig there, and by the time we got to leave our shock had worn off. We could barely crawl up the stairs to bed. However, it wasn’t that easy for me to actually turn off my mind and go to sleep. The sun was fully up by the time I woke and found Craig was already up. Since it was already eight o’clock, I showered and dressed. I chose a long-sleeve cotton T-shirt, and as I pulled the sleeves down over my sore, bruised arms, tears threatened. I’ve never been hurt intentionally. With a pair of shorts and my flip-flops, I headed down to see what the day had in store, but I already knew it wouldn’t compare to yesterday. Thank goodness.

  Downstairs Craig had the front door open, and I found that he’d moved some of our extra furniture onto the front porch. “It’s too pretty to sit inside, but we don’t have any outdoor furniture. Might as well use some of this overflow,” he explained.

  “Looks like some rundown shack with an old couch on the front porch,” I told him as I hugged him. We heard car doors and pulled apart to begin taking coffee orders from Lucy, Tamela, Cherry, Annie, Aiden, and Officer Greyson.

  Now, settled around the small side tables that hold our coffee cups and bags of fresh-baked treats from the farmers market, Annie and I share our stories. Again.

  Officer Greyson reaches for another spanakopita. He’s wearing casual clothes and is off duty, as is Aiden. They worked late into the night but said they’d see us early as planned, though it wouldn’t be an official interview.

  I return Annie’s side hug. “You exploding into the garden was amazing. Good thought on covering that shining head of hair you’ve got. It was like a shadow bowling her over. And your phone ringing? How did you manage that at just the right moment?”

  She shrugs. “I didn’t. I’d taken it out and left it beside the sidewalk so it wouldn’t make some silly noise and give me a way. I’d been texting with Aiden, and then I put on that little hoodie and was sneaking closer just to hear what she was saying. I’d seen she had that big ol’ knife, but I didn’t see any reason to really be afraid. Then I think I started putting things together about the same time as you did. The phone ringing was Amber calling to ask me about babysitting today! Liked to scared me to death, too. I think that’s what made me jump her!”

  Cherry pulls off the lightweight cardigan she’s wearing over her dark red scrubs. She came here directly from her overnight shift at the hospital and looks wan in the morning light. “Maybe I’m just tired, but tell me again about this hole in the wall at the Bellingtons’. Annie, you knew about it?”

  “I did, but I’d forgotten about it. When I was in elementary school I hung out with Charlotte’s younger sister some. We’d spy on Charlotte when she’d have a date in there or when her parents had parties. It was just a little open space, more a crack between paneling pieces. Then that was wallpapered over, and well, we all grew up. But Charlotte said something a while ago that made me think she was spying on her son and daughter-in-law. When Jewel told me she’d ‘overheard’ Saundra saying such awful things about her husband, well, I guess it fell into place.”

  She rolls her eyes at us. “The way this one,” she nudges me, “suddenly was in a hurry to go home right after Leigh Anne and them passed by tipped me off. I figured it couldn’t hurt to check things out.”

  Aiden looks at his superior officer, and when he receives a nod, he looks at us and says, “That other Mrs. Mantelle really wanted this house. Apparently she was comfortable coming and going here while Miss Cora was in the loony bin.”

  Greyson stops him with a stern “Officer Bryan.”

  “Right, the, uh, the institution. Anyway, she just assumed her husband, Edison, would inherit it, so while she couldn’t live outright in the house, apparently she’d just hang out here. Probably why so many people thought it was haunted through the years.”

  I shiver and pull my sleeves down over my hands. “She’s been in the house since we moved here. I’m sure of it. She even said as much last night.” Annie and Tamela echo my shiver with their own.

  Lucy inches up to the edge of her seat. “I’ve talked to everyone associated with any possible sale of the marina, and it was never a go. Of course, I wonder how many would have said that last week.” She widens her eyes and crosses her legs, straightening her tennis skirt as she continues. “Pierson was making all kinds of side deals using the York name, but mostly he was trying to get his mother off his back by getting her the house. I guess he’d finally had enough that day on the boat and told her Saundra had found out and it was all off. At that point he was just trying to save his own scalp, but she hit him with the pitcher and walked away.”

  Greyson says, “It’s still to be determined if she knew he fell over at the time. We didn’t know she was even in town. I suppose her using your house and property let her come and go without people noticing.” He shrugs and looks at me. “She does say she’s been in the house since you’ve owned it, but who knows. She’s saying a lot that doesn’t make sense. But I guess with that window being so accessible, she could’ve.”

  Several arched eyebrows fly in Craig’s direction. He swallows and gives me a look of apology, then says, “I thought of this last night. Ray Barnette told me not to worry about who was in my office, that they didn’t mean anything. So, did he know it was Leigh Anne Mantelle?”

  Aiden drops his head and stares at his feet for a second. Then he peeks up at his mother and says, “Yeah, that’s about it. Guess they go way back.”

  Annie huffs and settles herself with her mouth tight in a straight line.

  Aiden looks at Craig. “He feels real bad about it. He just didn’t see her as a threat to anyone. He actually thought the murderer was Sheryl-Lee. He said he followed you, Mr. Mantelle, and uh,” he pauses and looks at me, “uh, Miss King the other night but nothing happened.”

  I smile at him. “No worries, Officer Bryant. I was following all of them that night!” That gets a laugh for a moment, but it fades out quickly.

  Craig straightens up and speaks to Officer Greyson. “This does mean I’m free to leave town, correct?” At the officer’s nod, Craig relaxes. “Good. Our permits all came through, and it’s going to be a busy week at work.” He takes a sip of coffee and adds nonchalantly, “Might need to go on down there later
today to catch up.”

  Annie lays her hand on my thigh and squeezes it, but no one says anything for a few moments.

  I lean to the side and pluck a small piece of the plant growing all along the railing. “So this is what jasmine smells like?” I take a deep breath. “I can see what all the fuss is about. It’s delightful.”

  Tamela shudders, then stands quickly and begins to collect the trash. “I just don’t know what this world is coming to. Sure, it’s a nice house, but to kill for it?” With her hands full, she stops and looks around at the early morning light coming across the yard. “I’m glad y’all moved this furniture out here for this morning. It’s a true spring day.”

  Lucy agrees. “What we call chamber of commerce weather. Can’t wait to get on the tennis court before the spring weather is gone!”

  “Spring gone?” I sputter. “But spring is officially still a week away.”

  Cherry laughs as she stands and stretches. “You’ll get used to it eventually. Spring here usually starts somewhere in February and ends too soon. Now, I’ve got to go home and get in bed.” She leans down to hug me. “I’m glad you’re okay, but you take care of yourself. You’re probably going to need to talk to a counselor later. You really had a traumatic experience.”

  Annie pats my knee. “I think she’s right. That was pretty scary. Not exactly the cleanest solving of a case, but we did wrap it up pretty neatly.” She swings around to look at both officers, whose eyes have popped open in alarm. “Don’t you think so?”

  Officer Greyson shakes his head. “No, I don’t. It was a very dangerous situation you two were in.” He turns his back on a frowning Annie and speaks to Craig. “Detective Johnson will still want to talk to you, I’m sure, so check with him before you leave town.” He unfolds and comes to his feet. “I also need to go. I’m reporting in a bit later this morning due to last night. Thanks for the coffee and the baked goods. Officer Bryant, I’ll see you at the station.”