by Zara Keane
I lowered the picture, but I didn’t return it to its shelf. “I overheard her and Judd arguing yesterday. They’d just come out of the Poison Garden. Only no one admits to letting them borrow a key.”
Coco frowned. “Merry took Kesha Ray’s key.”
“Really? Kesha thinks the key is lost and she’s worried about telling the caretaker.”
Coco shook her head. “Well, isn’t that just like Merry? She probably took it when Kesha wasn’t around and forgot to give it back.”
“Merry also forgot to lock the garden gate after her fight with Judd,” I added. “He was upset about her not keeping quiet about something. Do you have any idea what it was about?”
Coco’s shrewd gaze locked onto mine. “Why don’t you take another look at that picture, honey? Then you tell me what it was about.”
Confused, I raised the photograph and took another look. It took me a moment to catch on. “Oh,” I breathed. “That’s Con Ryder standing between you.”
“Mm-hmm. Notice anything else?”
This time, I didn’t need to recheck the photo. I inhaled sharply. “Con looked just like Judd when he was younger, only Judd has Merry’s eyes.”
Coco clapped. “Well done, Miss Maggie. You’ve just figured out what no one else has managed to guess in all the years Con and Merry have worked together.”
“Judd is Con’s son?” I slumped back into the chair. “But Con’s gay,” I said stupidly.
“That doesn’t mean he can’t father a child.” Coco refilled my mug. “Back when Merry and I met Con, he’d been dancing the Vegas circuit for years, and he wanted to break into directing. This was the Eighties, right at the height of the AIDs crisis. You’re too young to remember what a wild time that was. The stigma around HIV and AIDs was awful, and it bred homophobia. Con thought he’d stand more of a chance at a Hollywood career if he led a heteronormative life.”
“And he tried with Merry?”
Coco nodded. “Merry was younger than us and hopelessly in love with Con. She knew he wasn’t into women, but like many a woman before her, she thought she’d be the one to change his mind.”
“And that didn’t work,” I finished.
“Of course not. Despite living in Vegas, Con and Merry never made it to the altar. Instead of a marriage certificate, they got Judd.”
“Con must care about the guy if he’s prepared to put up with Judd’s attitude and risk everything to cast him in this movie,” I said.
Coco laughed. “It’s called guilt, honey. After he found out Merry was pregnant, Con split. He headed to Hollywood, leaving her to bring up the baby—literally.”
I blew out a breath. The story was starting to make sense. Con’s insistence on casting Judd. His patience with the guy during filming. His stress over the movie’s success. Con wasn’t just worried about his own future but that of his son. “If Con abandoned Merry and Judd, what happened to change his mind?”
“Blackmail, frankly. Con was up for his first Academy Award when Judd graduated high school. Merry told Con to help Judd’s acting career, or she’d blast him all over Hollywood. Con agreed, and he sweetened the deal by helping Merry find work as a dance choreographer.” Coco took the framed photograph from me and gazed wistfully at the moment frozen in time. “Con likes to play it cool, you know, but Merry didn’t have to push too hard to get him to agree to her terms. He’s wracked with guilt over leaving his kid. It was an impulse decision and one he’s always regretted.”
“Ouch. I don’t like Judd, but I can’t help feeling sorry for him.” I stared into my mug, thinking. “Why didn’t Con tell me all this when I questioned him about what sort of hold Judd has over him? I was expecting drugs, or an affair gone wrong.”
“Con didn’t tell you because, until this week, Judd didn’t know Con was his father, and Con still isn’t aware that Judd found out.”
I put my hand to my mouth. “Oh, wow. So that’s what Judd and Merry were arguing about.”
“Yeah. Merry tried to persuade Judd to go to Con for help with his debts, but Judd refused. In the middle of their argument, Merry blurted out that Con is his father. Judd’s devastated. It took both Merry and me to talk him out of walking off the set. When he showed up at my party last night, I was terrified he’d start drinking again.”
The pieces started to fall into place. “Judd was obnoxious to Con during filming yesterday.”
“He’s still coming to terms with the news, and he’s acting out.” Coco’s lips quivered. “I believe you called him a jackass.”
“I did, and I haven’t changed my mind, in spite of what you’ve just told me.”
“Judd is a silly boy at times, but he’s a good person at heart. I owe him this job, and I owe him my life.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Judd got you this job? I thought you and Con went way back.”
“We do, yeah, but that doesn’t mean we’re friends.” Coco seemed outraged at the idea. “I’ve worked with Con on a few movies, but he doesn’t like to reminisce about his Vegas past. As Merry’s best friend, I’m very much a part of that past. And, despite Con’s own weakness for the bottle, he has very little patience with other people’s addictions. He wasn’t sympathetic to my struggles a few years ago.”
“And Judd was?”
Coco nodded. “He’d just made a lot of money from the Sweet Home Alibaba franchise. Thanks to Judd’s help, I’ve been clean for six years. He paid for my rehab, and he gave me work when I got out. He was there for me when I slipped, and he helped me get back on track. I owe that kid more than I can ever repay. He’s worked hard to overcome his addictions, and he’s generous with his time and money helping others. His DUI happened during a slip-up, and he regrets it deeply.”
“I imagine the family he crashed into regret it more,” I said dryly.
“You didn’t see how that broke him, Maggie.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree.” I swallowed the last of my tea. “Thanks for your honesty, Coco. Unless your information about Judd’s parentage has relevance to my investigation, I won’t mention it to anyone.”
“I appreciate that. He’s a good kid at heart, and Merry is my best friend. They’re going through a rough time, and I want to support them.”
A knock at the door was my cue to stand up. “I’ll get it. I’m on my way out, anyway. Have a good evening, Coco, and thanks for the tea.”
I opened her door and came face to face with a red-faced, panting Lenny. He was resplendent in a red-and-white polka dot suit, diamond-studded glasses, and a mad hatter-style hat. He bent double, struggling to catch his breath. “Maggie,” he exclaimed between gasps. “I was looking all over for you.”
“What’s up? You look like you just ran a marathon.” I didn’t bother to ask what he was wearing. After all, this was Lenny, king of the crazy costumes.
“I just legged it all the way from the caretaker’s cottage. Not easy in these heels.”
My gaze dropped to his feet. Lace-up platform heels completed his look. Even by Lenny’s low standards, this outfit was remarkable.
My assistant wheezed and untangled the strap of his red shoulder bag from around his neck. “Quick, we gotta go on the lam. Things are getting crazy.”
My stomach lurched. “Why? What happened? Is Beth okay?”
Lenny pushed up his ridiculous shades, revealing eyes filled with terror. “Sile arrived on the island. She’s here to arrest us for killing Theresa and Noel.”
29
I stared at him dumbfounded, my pulse pounding in my neck. “Noel is dead?”
“Well, there’s blood all over his cottage,” Lenny said, “and the dude’s missing. It’s not looking good for his state of health.”
I massaged my forehead and struggled to breathe. Noel Tate had seemed like a nice guy—a nice guy who’d been very much alive when Liam and I had spoken to him this morning. Had our visit triggered his death? Had the killer seen us talking to him and decided the caretaker knew too much? What had Noel told us that
could reveal the murderer’s identity?
“This makes no sense,” I said. “Why would Sile think you and I were responsible for hurting Noel and Theresa? Didn’t she talk to Liam? Didn’t he tell her we’re helping them with their investigation?”
“I don’t know.” Lenny cast a furtive look over his shoulder and then turned back to face me. “What I do know is we need to give Sile the slip and get back to Whisper Island before she catches up with us.”
“I don’t under—”
He held a finger up to his lips. “Please trust me, Maggie. Unless you want us both stuck at Whisper Island Garda Station for the next twenty-four hours, answering to bogus charges, we need to get out of here now.”
Every fiber in my being wanted to scream at him and demand a detailed explanation. But regardless of his eccentricities, Lenny was whip-smart and reliable in a crisis. If he said we needed to get off Dolphin Island before Sile ran us to ground, I believed him.
I scanned the hallway. The security guard who’d challenged me about entering the library was still on duty. He prowled the perimeter, humming a bad song out of tune. At that instant, his radio crackled with an incoming message.
Lenny swore under his breath. “That’ll be Sile, looking for us.”
“Sounds like you two need an exit strategy.”
Coco’s voice made us both jump. “Sorry,” I said. “I was so distracted by Lenny’s news that I forgot you were there.”
The choreographer stood behind me and peered over my shoulder. I followed the direction of her gaze. The guard muttered into his radio, turned, and looked around the hallway. Coco yanked Lenny and me into her dressing room and shut the door.
“So what’s the plan?” she looked coolly from me to Lenny. “I assume you’ve got one.”
“Aren’t you going to ask us if we killed Noel and Theresa?” Lenny asked. “We could be serial killers.”
“If I thought you were killers, I’d be caterwauling the place down.”
“I knew I liked you the moment we met.” I enveloped Coco in an awkward one-armed embrace. “Please don’t turn out to be a deranged murderer. I’d be so disappointed.”
Coco’s husky chuckle soothed my frayed nerves. “There are plenty of people I’d gladly kill, honey, but Theresa and the caretaker aren’t on my list. Now how are we going to get you off this island?”
“We get past no-neck and appropriate a golf cart,” Lenny said without hesitation.
“I don’t like the sound of that plan,” I said. “Define ‘appropriate.’ Do you have a key?”
Lenny tapped the side of his head. “I got my snazzy hot-wiring skills right here. When I was a kid, I used to steal golf carts all the time.”
“Joyriding golf carts is a thing?”
“It is on Whisper Island. Sure, what else are teenagers supposed to do?”
“I…” I shook my head. “There are no words.”
A thunderous knock sounded on the door.
“Quick,” Coco shoved us over to her rack of colorful dresses. “Hide behind that.”
Lenny and I dived behind the costumes, crouched down, and peered through gaps in the fabric.
Coco squared her shoulders, opened the door, and treated the security guard to a sultry smile. “Well, hello, there. What can I do for you?” She made the offer sound incredibly risqué.
The security guard reddened from his short neck to his bald scalp. “I’m looking for two extras. Maggie Doyle and Lenny Logan. Have you seen them?”
Coco tapped a long fingernail against her lower lip. “Sorry, no. There are so many extras on the set this weekend. I can’t match faces to names.”
The man’s beady eyes narrowed. “You sure you haven’t seen them? They’re wanted by the police.”
“Oh, my.” Coco put a hand over her mouth. “What did they do? Is this about that poor woman’s death?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, ma’am, but it’s important we find them.”
“Well…” Coco cocked her head to the side, appearing to consider his words. “You should talk to Harper. She takes care of all the extras’ schedules.”
The security guard grunted. “I’d talk to her if I knew where she was.”
“The pond in the castle gardens,” Coco replied smoothly. “She’s assisting on a shoot. You should go find her.”
The man shifted from one foot to the other. “I’m not supposed to leave my post.”
“Well, this is an emergency, isn’t it?” Her hand fluttered to her chest. “I don’t like to think we have potential killers on the loose.”
He gave another grunt. “Okay, thanks. If you see anything suspicious, let me know.”
“I will. You have a nice day, now.” Coco shut the door, and turned to face the clothes rack. She pressed a finger to her lips and stepped closer. “You folks better make a move before he catches up with Harper.”
Lenny and I climbed out from behind the rack. “Thank you so much, Coco,” I said.
“Yeah, major thanks,” Lenny added.
We crept to the door and opened it a crack. There was no sign of the security guard. I blew out slowly. “Okay. Time to make our move.”
We slid out of Coco’s dressing room and tiptoed through the hallway. We’d almost made it to the door when it swung open and another security guard barged in. Lenny grabbed my arm and yanked me behind a pillar. “Quick,” he whispered. “We gotta distract him.”
He rooted in his ridiculous red shoulder bag, drawing my attention to the bag’s snake design. I took a closer look. “That’s Theresa’s bag,” I exclaimed.
“Shh,” he admonished, holding a finger to his lips. “I didn’t know who this bag belonged to. I found it in Noel’s cottage.”
“What the heck went down in Noel’s cottage?”
“Armageddon by the looks of it.” After a furtive scan of the hallway, Lenny crept, covert-style, toward the front door. At that moment, the security guard turned, and we darted behind a second pillar.
“Right,” Lenny said. “There’s nothing for it. We’ll have to cause a diversion.” With these comforting words, he reached into the bag and withdrew a fistful of sparkling crystals.
I sucked in a breath. “Are those diamonds?”
“Nah. I think they’re those pricey crystals people go gaga over.”
The colorful glass beads sparkled in the light. Had Lenny inadvertently discovered the identity of Liam’s jewel smuggler? And were the crystals the reason Theresa was killed? “What are you planning on doing with the crystals?” I whispered, checking that the security guard still had his back to us.
“Remember the James Bond movie, Die Another Day?” Lenny asked.
I nodded.
“Well,” he said, “let’s just say I’m feeling a 007 moment coming on.”
I wasn’t a James Bond fan, but I’d seen that movie. I struggled to remember the plot. And then a particular scene came flooding back. “Oh, Lenny, no.”
Too late. My assistant drew back his arm and threw a fistful of crystals into the air. We were on the move before they hit the floor and scattered in all directions. The security guard whipped around when he heard the commotion and promptly slipped on crystals. He landed with a crash, but we were already out the door and on the move.
We ran to the line of golf carts that were kept behind the sleeping tents when they weren’t in use. Lenny jumped into one, and I leaped into the seat beside him. My assistant untangled himself from Theresa’s bag and shoved it onto my lap. He had the cart moving in less than thirty seconds. Impressive.
Instead of opting for the obvious route down to the pier where the ferry docked, Lenny chose a circuitous route that took us in the direction of the bird sanctuary and Noel’s cottage.
“Why are we heading this way?” I demanded once the adrenaline of our daring escape had subsided. “And what the heck is going on?”
“We’ll commandeer Noel’s speedboat,” Lenny said, answering one of my questions and avoiding the other. “He keeps i
t at the jetty near the bird sanctuary.”
“Appropriate, commandeer… This plan is going downhill by the second.”
“We’re fugitives now, Maggie. At least until we can clear our names.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Okay, now that we’re away from the castle, please explain what’s happening before I beat you up with Theresa’s ginormous purse.”
He shot me a wicked grin. “Patience is not your thing.”
“Lenny,” I exclaimed, holding up Theresa’s bag in what I hoped was a threatening manner. “Start talking.”
“Okay, here’s what went down. I’d arranged to visit the bird sanctuary with a couple of makeup artists. They’re all part of the special-effects makeup guru community online. I wanted info about starting my own channel. Anyhow, I had to pass Noel’s cottage on my way and I noticed blood on his garden gate.”
A sick sensation roiled in my stomach.
“I don’t know Noel well,” Lenny continued, “but he’s a boat enthusiast and a yacht club friend of my parents. I couldn’t walk away without checking he was okay. The cottage door was wide open, another factor that set my alarm bells tingling.”
“And then?” I gestured for him to continue.
Lenny grew pale, all signs of nonchalance draining as fast as his color. “I went inside. No sign of Noel, but plenty of blood all over the kitchen floor. That red bag was sitting in the middle of it.”
I shuddered. “I hope Noel’s okay.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what I was thinking at that moment. I grabbed the bag and just sort of stared at it and the floor, disbelieving what I was seeing. And my confusion got worse when I looked in the bag and saw all these crystals. I was just coming out of my stupor when Sile burst into the cottage and started freaking out.” Lenny’s expression turned to horror. “Maggie, she actually pulled out her baton.”
I had to giggle at this image. As a hardened former San Francisco cop, it amused me that the only weapon the majority of Irish police officers were permitted to carry was a baton. Admittedly, Sile Conlan was pretty fierce, with or without a blunt object in her hand. Even though I was taller and heavier than her, I didn’t rate my chances if it came to a physical fight between us.