by Cindy Bell
“You have no right to talk to me like that. Get off my boat before I call the real cops and cause a scene. Is that what you want?”
“No.” Paul’s eyes locked to his. “I thought you might want to solve the murder of a fellow fisherman, but I guess all of the rumors about you are true.”
“People can say whatever they want. I don’t care. My life is not going to change based on what anyone thinks of me. You want to point a finger at me? Go right ahead. I have nothing to hide.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “But if you don’t move off my boat in the next five seconds I will be placing that call. Or if you prefer I could just toss your lady friend here into the drink. Hm?”
Suzie glared at him and was about to step forward to defend herself, but Paul remained in front of her and spoke first.
“Watch it Mike, I draw the line when it comes to threatening a woman,” Paul said.
“Go ahead and draw it. Your line doesn’t mean anything to me.” He pushed a button on the phone.
“Let’s just go, Paul. It’s not worth it.” Suzie tugged at his arm.
“Fine.” He nodded and followed after her as she stepped off the boat. Once they were both on the dock, Paul looked over at her with a heavy stare. “Mike’s a rough character.”
“He might be, but he’s also a possible suspect. I couldn’t walk away without at least trying to get some information out of him.”
“You shouldn’t have.” He glanced over his shoulder at Mike’s boat. “He’s the type to hold a grudge.”
“I’m not sure what it is about me that gives you the impression that there is anything delicate about me, but I can assure you I have handled many Mikes in my life, and he’s not even the worst.”
“And my point is, you shouldn’t have to do that anymore.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You have me now. So, let me do my job, hm?”
“Your job?” She would have protested if she could have stopped smiling. “I like the sound of that.”
“Get used to it.” He winked at her.
Chapter 7
When Suzie and Paul reached the car Suzie paused and pulled out her phone.
“I think we need to get in contact with Jason.”
“From what Summer said yesterday I don’t think he’s going to want to tell us much about the investigation. And the way he spoke to me after we had found Robbie.” Paul raised an eyebrow. “It was only out of respect for you that I held my tongue.”
“I know that, and I appreciate that. Jason is just wound up about getting this investigation completed and done correctly so that there are no bumps in the road when it comes to closing the case. You can understand that, can’t you?”
“Of course I can. But there’s only so much I’ll take. Jason already knows that.”
“Paul, don’t forget, I’m the only family he’s got. He has no one to stand with him at the wedding.” She bit into her bottom lip then looked over at him again. “In fact, I was wondering if you might like to be one of his groomsmen.”
“Isn’t it a little late for that?” Paul frowned.
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to ask.” He laughed. “Maybe you should check with him first.”
“Jason’s too proud to ask anything of anyone.”
“Well, I prefer to wait and see if he asks me himself.”
“I understand,” Suzie agreed. “I’ll see what I can get out of him about the investigation. Maybe if we talk to him in a gentle way, he’ll be willing to share information with us?”
“All right, but I think you’re the better candidate to be gentle. Hm?”
“I suppose I am.” She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jason’s number. After the fourth ring she was about to give up.
“What is it Suzie?”
She was startled by the bite in his voice. “Jason, I’m just calling to see if there are any new developments in Robbie’s case.”
“The case that you’ve been looking into behind my back?”
“Jason?”
“Suzie?”
She gripped the phone tight and looked over at Paul before she turned away and lowered her voice. “This was a friend of Paul’s we just want to find out the truth.”
“Maybe so, but you should have left this to me and kept out of it.”
“Well, I couldn’t let it go. Can we meet and share information?”
“You think you have information to share with me?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“All right. Meet me at Dune House in fifteen minutes. I can only spare a few minutes.”
“Thanks Jason.”
“Just remember, Suzie, you need to stay out of this from now on. Having a witness call me and complain that you have been interrogating them is a problem.”
“Who called to complain?”
“Never mind that. I’ll see you at Dune House.”
Suzie hung up the phone and turned back to Paul. “He wants to meet with us at Dune House.”
“And?” He studied her. “There’s something more to it than that isn’t there?”
“No, I think he’s just a little uptight. He said that someone called to complain about us asking questions at the docks.”
“That was fast.” Paul looked over his shoulder and squinted at the boats. “I’m going to guess it was Mike.”
“Yes, you’re probably right.”
“But if it was him then I doubt he was the murderer. Why would he want to draw attention to himself?”
“He might think that if he is open with the police they won’t suspect him. Or he’s so cocky he doesn’t think he’ll be caught,” Suzie suggested. “I’ve seen it before.”
Suzie and Paul climbed back into the car and headed back to Dune House. When they arrived Mary greeted them at the door.
“Jason is on his way to talk to me and Paul.” Suzie gestured to the large kitchen table. “We’ll use this space if that’s okay.”
“Sure, it’s fine. Any news?”
“Not exactly.” Suzie frowned. “Maybe a suspect, but not enough to go on just yet.”
“Okay, I’m going to head upstairs to finish cleaning.” As Mary left Suzie saw Jason in the entrance of the kitchen. “Hi Jason.”
“Hi.” Jason smiled. “Sorry, I don’t have long. What did you find out?” He looked straight at Paul.
“Suzie?” Paul glanced over at her.
“We spoke to a few people on the docks who mentioned seeing a man wearing a bright yellow jacket and one of the fisherman in particular gave us reason to believe he might himself be the murderer.”
“Mike?” Jason raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Suzie’s eyes widened. “You came to the same conclusion?”
“Yes. He’s not exactly the friendly type, but there’s more to it than that. Apparently he lodged a complaint with the dock owner. He was bothered by Robbie coming in and out at all hours. That gives him a motive.”
“A little too much noise is a reason to kill someone?” Suzie shook her head. “That seems like a stretch.”
“You met Mike, right?” Jason raised an eyebrow. “Seems to me that guy has a short fuse.”
“Maybe. Or maybe he’s just extra stressed about something.” Suzie narrowed her eyes. “He’s married?”
Jason glanced down at his phone. “Yes.”
“But he’s staying on his boat.” She tapped her chin. “Sounds like they’re having problems. Maybe that’s why he’s so cranky.”
“Maybe,” Jason said.
“I’ll make a note to talk to his wife.” Suzie took her cell phone out of her pocket.
“You’ll do no such thing,” Jason said. “You don’t want to make a bad situation worse.”
“I’m sure a friendly conversation won’t do any harm.”
“Suzie, I know my protests fall on deaf ears when it comes to stuff like this, but you need to listen to me. You cannot interfere in this investigation.”
“Okay.”
Suzie put her phone away. She knew that there was no reason to argue with Jason about it as she would be fighting a losing battle.
“Haven’t you been able to find anything else out?” Paul’s brows knitted together.
“I’m doing my best.” He locked eyes with Paul. “I did find out his recent routes. His boat has a GPS tracker.”
“And? Anything from them?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. It seems that some of the destinations are a bit odd for fishing. Would you look them over for me?”
“Sure.” Paul took the piece of paper from Jason and began to look it over.
“I still think we need to find out who the man in the bright yellow jacket was,” Suzie said. “If he wasn’t the killer, then maybe he’s a witness. We need to pinpoint who it was.”
“I agree, but it’s hard to find someone based on just that.” Jason rubbed his chin. “Without a little more information I’m afraid we’re not going to get very far.”
“The witness mentioned that he was bald,” Suzie said.
“Still not a lot to go on.” Jason shrugged.
“This can’t be right.” Paul glanced up at him. “Did you get the right route information?”
“It came right off the boat’s GPS tracker. We matched the coordinates to these locations.” Jason squinted at the paper. “Do you see something unusual?”
“Just about all of it is unusual. There’s no reason that he should have gone to some of these places. Are you certain that you got the right information?” He studied Jason.
“Yes Paul, I’m certain.” Jason’s tone grew short. “I know how to download route information from a GPS tracker. Why are these locations unusual?”
“It’s not that the locations are unusual it’s just that there’s no reason for Robbie to go to some of them. Some of them are residential and one is in the middle of nowhere. There just isn’t a reason for him to waste fuel traveling to some of these places. The places to fish for shellfish are much closer.”
“Well, that’s what was on the GPS.”
“Maybe he had other business?” Suzie glanced between the two men. “Could he have been there for different reasons?”
Paul opened his mouth as if he might have something to say, but closed it again.
“Paul? Do you know anything about the locations?” Jason folded his arms across his chest.
“No. Not really. Nothing more than you would.”
“Well, then I guess we are at a standstill. The most I can do is hope that surveillance cameras caught an image of the bright yellow jacket man as he left the docks. If we can get a face we might be able to get a name.”
“Let me know if you find anything, please?” Suzie said.
“I’ll tell you what I can,” Jason said sternly.
“Thank you.” Suzie smiled.
“Do you want to keep that? It’s a copy.” Jason pointed to the paper in Paul’s hands. “That way if you think of anything you can let me know.”
“Okay. Thanks Jason.” He cleared his throat. “You doing okay?”
Jason glanced over at him. “Huh?”
“Well I mean, if you have any uh, anything you need help with for the wedding.”
“Mary’s taking care of it,” Jason said.
Suzie hid a smile as Paul rubbed the back of his neck. “I know that, Jason, but if you need any, you know advice.”
“What?” Jason’s eyes widened. “Oh, no thanks, Paul, I think I can handle that.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Paul groaned.
“I think Paul is just offering you an ear if you need it. You’re surrounded by women, Jason, sometimes it’s nice to get a male perspective.”
Jason chuckled. “All right, that was a good laugh. I needed it. Thanks Paul.” He clapped him on the shoulder. In that moment all of the tension between them relaxed. Suzie gave Jason a quick hug.
“Just let us know if you need help with anything.”
“I will.” He started to turn away, then hesitated and turned back. “Actually, I do have a problem I could use your help with, Paul.”
“What’s that?” Paul smiled.
“One of my buddies from school isn’t going to be able to make the wedding. So, I have a spot for a groomsman I need to fill. I was just going to let it go, but I know it’ll throw off the balance. I mean, I know it means putting on a suit, but if…”
“I’ll do it.” Paul nodded. “I’ll get fitted as soon as I can.”
“Great. Thanks.” Jason smiled. “All right, I’m going to see if I can find out any more information about the murder weapon. Let me know if you two come up with anything.”
“We will.” Suzie walked him to the door. Once he was gone she turned and walked back to Paul. “You are going to look so handsome in a suit.”
“Ha, don’t get used to it.” He grinned.
“A suit,” Mary said as she entered the kitchen.
“Jason asked Paul to be a groomsman.”
“Oh good, finally.” Mary walked over to a stack of papers. “Here’s the number for the tailor.” She handed him a slip of paper.
“I’ll check on it as soon as I can. Suzie, I’m going to head back to the boat. I have a few things I need to take care of, okay?”
“Sure, let me know if I can help with anything. I’m sure Mary could use a hand with some of this wedding stuff.”
“I have to admit, I’m worn out.” Mary shook her head. “I forgot just how much work planning a wedding is.”
“Great. I’ll see you in the morning then, Suzie. We’ll head out first thing, all right?”
“Yes.” Suzie walked him to the door and kissed him goodbye. Once she and Mary were alone she turned back to her with a heavy sigh.
“What chaos!”
“I agree.” Mary laughed. “You should see the list of things I need to change for the wedding. It turns out that even though Summer said she didn’t mind about some things she has a definite opinion about what she wants.”
“How do we get ourselves into these messes?” Suzie plopped down on the couch. Mary sat down beside her.
“Because, we like to help people.”
“Right, right, but why?” Suzie yawned.
“That I haven’t found an explanation for. Let me get you something to eat.”
“I can get it. You take a break, Mary. Then we’ll go over what we can do about these wedding issues.”
Suzie’s mind swirled from thoughts of suits to thoughts of murder. As she tried to put every piece together and into its proper place she stood up and walked into the kitchen. Maybe there was a lot to deal with, but it was a far cry from the quiet life she’d fallen into before she ended up at Dune House. There was some beauty to the chaos that being close to loved ones could create.
Chapter 8
After straightening out some wedding details with Mary, Suzie called it a night and crawled into bed. She thought for sure that she would fall right to sleep. Instead she tossed and turned. Her mind filled with what they might find the next day, and also what Summer and Jason’s wedding would be like. With so much to keep her awake, she could barely keep her eyes closed. After a few hours of trying to convince herself to rest, her eyes popped open yet again.
The sliver of moonlight that made its way through the curtains to slice across her bedroom floor was to blame. At least that’s what she told herself as she climbed out of bed and walked towards the window. She pulled the curtains tight and walked back to her bed. When she closed her eyes again she was sure she would fall asleep. However, a few minutes later her eyes sprang open once more. Her heart fluttered with the weight of her frustration. How could she waste time laying in bed?
Driven to her feet she grabbed some clothes to change into. As she dressed she experienced a sensation of determination. She wanted to go to the docks and have a look around. She wanted to see if there was anything they had missed. Suzie slipped out of her room and grabbed her keys on her way through the kitchen. As quietly as she could s
he let herself out through the front door. Without hesitation she drove to the docks and parked.
Right away she noticed that Paul’s boat was in darkness. He was probably sound asleep. Still, it made her feel a little more secure just to know that he was there. She walked along the edge of the dock in the hopes that she wouldn’t disturb anyone. Truly, she had no idea what she was searching for. Maybe a scrap of paper? A drop of blood? Neither would be hard to find on a very populated dock.
It occurred to her that perhaps the killer disposed of the murder weapon in one of the trashcans. She stopped at the first one and lifted the lid. The smell hit her like a wave and knocked her back with just as much force. A combination of rotten fish, old gym socks, and whatever scraps of food the fishermen didn’t eat, made her nostrils burn with disgust. Still, she took a deep breath, and poked her head back over the top of the trashcan. It was only half full and too slimy to dig through. She put the lid back on it, and walked towards the next trashcan. When she lifted the lid she saw that this trashcan was full to the brim. The papers that covered the top were fairly clean so she dug through them to see what was underneath. The trash shifted with her movement, but she found nothing. She sighed. She had hoped to find something, but even if there had been something to find surely the bins had been searched by the police since the murder.
Suzie walked further along the dock. She looked down at the wooden boards in despair. She walked past Robbie’s boat which still had the crime scene tape around it. As she walked past Mike’s boat she looked to see if there was any sign that he was on it, but there wasn’t. As she continued to walk along she looked down again. She was stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of a flash of bright yellow between the boards. The moment that she saw it, she knew what she had found.
Suzie thought about leaving it there and calling the police. But what if she was wrong and she called the police for nothing. It was on the ground underneath the deck and she couldn’t reach it from where she was standing, but the killer must have been able to hide it there so there must have been a way to retrieve it. She walked to the side edge of the dock and bent down. She tried to reach her arm under the wood to get the item, but she couldn’t reach far enough. Suzie knew why the police had missed it, it was pretty well hidden. She lay on her stomach and extended her whole arm under. She touched something slimy and let out a silent scream, but she didn’t stop trying to get the item. She needed to reach it.