A Body on Fitzgerald's Bluff

by Anna Celeste Burke

  “Did you forget something?” That’s when several things happened at once. A breeze blew in off the ocean and carried with it a whiff of that cologne. Domino must have noticed it too, because she pushed past me, stood up, putting her front paws on the door, and tried to shut it. A foot wedged in the opening prevented it from closing.

  19 Good as Gold

  “That’s rude, Miriam, or should I say Tara? We’re here for some of those scones we’ve heard so much about. They’re all the buzz around Big Blue, aren’t they Howard?” Dave Winick gave Charly and Howard Humphrey a shove. They all stepped inside, and Dave Winick shut the door behind him. That’s when I saw the gun. Domino growled.

  I couldn’t tell which man was wearing the cologne, but I sure could smell it. Domino did too, and she didn’t like it. She backed up, arched her back, and barked loudly. That set Emily off so that both dogs were barking. As Emily grew more agitated, she squirmed and worked her way out of Charly’s arms and onto the floor in my foyer. She began to circle us frantically, her leash trailing after her.

  “Shut that dog up, or I will!” Dave Winick pointed the gun at Emily who ran behind Domino for protection.

  “You fire that gun and half the neighborhood is going to be on the phone to the police,” Charly said.

  “What is it you really want?” I asked emboldened by Charly’s challenge. I mimicked the firm, calm voice she’d used. The sound of our voices settled the dogs down. They were both still on high alert, but had quit barking and stood motionless. My mind reeled as I tried to make sense of the strange tableau in my foyer. Among the motionless figures, a dejected looking Howard Humphrey stood there with his shoulders slumped and his eyes lowered.

  “I want those papers Bradley Richards gave you.” My heart jumped into my throat. I glanced at Charly who shook her head no which I took to mean that I shouldn’t tell him the truth that those papers were long gone.

  “What makes you believe I have them?” I asked.

  “Tell her, Howie.”

  “Boo—Bradley told me you were asking questions about Diana’s death and when he found out you live here at Seaview Cottages, he figured you’d do something about it if you knew what was really going on. He didn’t trust the cops to care one way or the other about finding out what happened to Diana. I…” Winick poked Howard with his gun.

  “That’s enough. I’ll take those papers now. Then we’ll be on our way. I’ve wiped the computer and shredded the originals in my office after Diana got herself killed. Those copies are the only proof that anything was ever in the works to speed things along and bring this pathetic place to its inevitable end. I should have known better than to let Diana stay at my condo when Edgar cut her off.” He shook his head.

  “Is that why you killed her?” I asked. Dave Winick’s head shot up.

  “I didn’t do it. Howie, here, says he didn’t do it either.”

  “You’re not saying it was Boo, are you?” Charly asked. “I don’t believe that for a minute. Why would he leave those papers for Miriam and encourage her to snoop into Diana’s murder if it led back to him?”

  “Who knows or cares? She had it coming after all the double-crosses she pulled. Maybe Boo was trying to mislead you by throwing me under the bus. He wouldn’t have had any trouble wringing her neck that’s for sure.”

  “Stop it, Dave. Boo loved her just like I did, and he had nothing to do with double-crossing or misleading anyone. You know that.” Howard stared directly at Dave, and then looked at me.

  “I had breakfast with Diana that morning after a night out celebrating. She’d found a buyer for the information she stole from Dave. We were going to use the money to get away for a fresh start. I have a small trust fund from Uncle Edgar that kicks in on my birthday in a few weeks. I tried to convince her we could get by on it, but she wanted to leave sooner and with a bundle of cash, so she pushed to make one last deal.” A hitch in his voice stopped Howard. He took a couple of deep breaths before speaking again.

  “I left Diana alone on the beach, so it’s my fault she was killed. I was only gone a little while to get a decent signal on my cell phone. When I got back, she was dead. I panicked because she’d been killed so close to the place I’m renting. That’s when I got the idea to call Boo to help me put her into the water. I hoped it would look as if she’d drowned. When Boo and I got back to Fitzgerald’s Bluff, you, your dog, and all your friends had shown up. You’d seen her like that, but I thought no one would believe you if the body was gone.”

  “If you’d cleaned up the site and gotten rid of her belongings you might have had a better chance of pulling that off,” Charly said.

  “We planned to do that, but you all came back again with the deputy and your dogs, so we had to leave. I don’t know who killed her. Boo thought Dave did it and didn’t want him to get away with it. That’s why he was going to give you a copy of the papers Diana took.”

  “You’re wearing that cologne today—were you hiding out there on the bluff that morning?” I asked.

  “Boo and I were hiding, but he’s the one who had it on then. Diana loved it because it’s from Paris. I don’t wear it much since it bothers Uncle Edgar. I put it on today because it reminds me of her.” As Howard spoke, a big fat tear slid down his flushed face.

  “Oh, please. She was a pain in the…” Dave didn’t get to finish his sentence.

  “Don’t say that!” Howard suddenly flew at Winick. That earned him a crack on the head from the butt of Dave Winick’s gun. Howard crumpled to the ground as Domino lunged at Dave, too.

  In another instant, Emily circled Dave, yapping loudly. Her leash coiled around his ankles, loosely. Then Charly sprang into action, grabbed the end of Emily’s leash and gave it a yank. Using her front paws, Domino caught Dave on his chest as he struggled to remain standing, shoved him off balance, and he tumbled to the floor.

  The gun flew, and I grabbed it. When I turned around, Charly had Dave Winick pinned to the ground with a bony knee in his stomach.

  “Don’t move,” I said. He quit struggling when he saw me pointing the gun at him. I wasn’t sure I could pull the trigger, but I did my best to look mean and sound nasty.

  “Call Hank and let’s get this wrapped up,” Charly said in a matter of fact tone.

  “I don’t believe I need to do that. Listen!” Right before the situation went ballistic, I’d heard a siren, and it was much louder now. When I backed up a step and looked out the window, I saw Deputy Devers pull up across the street in his SUV. Hank Miller pulled up right behind him. Both men ran from their cars. By the time they got to my porch, I had the front door open.

  “Come in. You’re right on time for Charly’s demonstration of Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” I quipped as the two police officers took in the scene. I handed the gun to Hank. “This belongs to Dave.” As Charly stood up, Devers pulled out his handcuffs. He put them on Dave and then pulled him to his feet.

  “Lawyer. I want my lawyer,” Dave Winick bellowed.

  “What about Howard?” Devers asked, ignoring Dave’s demand.

  “Howard was just about to tell us who killed Diana Durand and Bradley Richards,” Charly said.

  “I was?” Howard asked as he struggled to sit up, holding his head. I could hardly believe he was conscious after that blow. There wasn’t any blood, so maybe he hadn’t been hit as hard as I feared when he’d slumped to the floor in my foyer.

  “Who was going to buy that information from Diana?” I asked.

  “This crazy coworker who’d been stalking Diana. The one Diana set up and Dave hung out to dry when Diana was about to get busted by security for stealing from the Blue Moon Boutique. Judi Stephenson was angry with Diana, but she said she wanted to get back at Dave and Blue Haven Resort more. She kept after Diana—asking for proof about the favors he’d done for her—including telling her about the security team that was on its way so Diana could plant merchandise in Judi’s drawer.”

  “Shut up you idiot! Lawyer!” Dave shouted.

>   “No. You shut up!” Howard replied in an emphatic tone. “Diana did better than that. She promised Judi information about a big scam Dave was running.”

  “We know about that,” Charly responded. Dave’s head spun around almost like Linda Blair in that scene from the Exorcist.

  “Lawyer,” he said once again. This time it sounded more like a plea than a command.

  “So, what happened?” Charly asked.

  “We took the money from Judi when she met us in the parking lot of the truck stop. Boo told me later that Diana had found another buyer willing to pay more, so she’d stiffed Judi. She took the money and gave her some worthless memos from Dave’s computer.”

  “How much?” I asked, interrupting him. “How much money did Judi Stephenson pay for the information?”

  “Twenty-five thousand dollars.”

  “I can’t imagine where she got that kind of money.” I couldn’t come up with that kind of money unless a bank would give me an equity loan on my cottage. I had a more pressing question, though. “So, who killed Diana?”

  “I never saw Judi after we left her in the parking lot. She must have followed us back to the beach area. When I found Diana, she’d been strangled with a scarf like the ones she’d planted in Judi’s drawer. Diana’s purse had been dumped and the money Judi had given her was gone.” He shrugged. “Things don’t always work out as you plan, do they?”

  “No, they don’t,” Charly said. “Not for you and Diana, and not for Judi Stephenson. It’ll be easy enough to figure out if she borrowed that kind of money recently. She must have had to make several withdrawals to get that much cash without raising suspicions at a bank. I can check. I’ll bet if Midge asks her friend, Doward, he can place Judi at the truck stop that morning.”

  “No!” Hank said. “No checking on her bank accounts, Charly. Midge isn’t going to ask her friend, Doward, or anyone else about Judi Stephenson. What does it take to get you all to back off?”

  “I told you the members of this gang of old ladies don’t listen to reason. You want me to round them up and take them in for obstruction of justice?”

  “Will you stop it, Darnell? What you can do is take Winick and Humphrey to the station. I’ll be there later, and we can sort out what charges to bring against them.”

  “What about Boo?” I asked. “Who killed him?”

  “Dave did it,” Howard said sadly. Dave was about to object, but Howard cut him off.

  “You can holler lawyer all you want, but I saw you do it.” Howard paused to look the man in the eye before he began speaking, once again, to the rest of us.

  “Dave wanted those papers back. When Boo said he’d given them to you, Miriam, Dave hit him over the head with the butt of his gun even harder than he just hit me.” Howard stared defiantly at Winick who glared at him from a few feet away. Then Howard’s shoulders slumped again. “I’m not sure Dave was trying to kill him, but Boo fell into the water. I begged Dave to let me try to help Boo, but getting the papers mattered more to him.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” Charly huffed.

  “He let me call 911, but I knew help would get there too late. Dave searched Boo’s car that he’d parked in the lot nearby, hoping he’d lied about giving them to you. When we got here, Dave thought he’d have a better chance of getting you to cooperate if he brought your friend in here at gunpoint. I tried to tell him to forget it. I knew if Boo had given you those papers you would have turned them over to the police right away. Dave didn’t believe me. He was convinced you’d use them to blackmail him.”

  “He was wrong and landed in a trap of his own making, just like Diana,” Charly said shaking her head.

  “Let’s go,” Devers said, speaking directly to Howard. “Do I need to cuff you?”

  “No. I’m tired of running. Besides, even if I ran, Diana wouldn’t be there anyway. She was the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me. I have the scarf Judi used to kill her, Detective. If you want it, I’ll tell you where it’s hidden.”

  “Tell Darnell and he’ll send someone from the crime lab to get it, okay?” As Darnell left my house with the two men in tow, Hank added. “I’m going to pick up Judi Stephenson myself. I’ll also send someone to have another chat with Midge’s friend, Doward. I’m sure you’re right that he didn’t miss a thing that morning and can identify Judi Stephenson as someone he saw with Diana and Howard that morning.”

  “Take it easy on her, will you?” I asked. “I’m not sure why I’m asking you that since I’m sure Howard’s right that she murdered Diana Durand. I don’t believe she intended it to work out that way. Being swindled by Diana a second time must have sent her over the edge.”

  “I hear you. We all have our breaking point, don’t we?” Hank asked as he walked out my door.

  “True. But not us—not today anyway.” Charly was picking up items that had been tossed around in the melee. “Let’s get these dogs a reward for their help bringing down a villain.”

  “At least, given Howard’s statement, there was only one murder near Seaview Cottages,” Midge said several hours later when we’d gone through the entire ordeal for everyone after dinner.

  “Manslaughter’s not much better,” Marty added.

  “Don’t worry. It’ll all come out that most of this mess is centered at the hoity-toity resort and not here. Not just murder, but conspiracy, theft, blackmail, coworkers framing each other, and a member of management fooling around with his employee—what a disaster!” Neely’s wild curls flew as she made that statement.

  “I’m sure their PR folks are working to manage the trouble in their little piece of paradise. Dave Winick’s already been put on leave without pay pending the outcome of the legal actions he’s facing—manslaughter’s a career killer even if he can wriggle out of the consequences for his other misdeeds,” Charly observed.

  “Howard’s going to pay since he played a part in Diana’s theft ring. What a waste of his life,” I said. “This has to be hard on Edgar even though he’ll do what he can to help Howard.”

  “At least Howard’s got someone to help him. Judi Stephenson’s pretty much on her own,” Charly added. Somehow, Charly had found the energy after that showdown at my house to hound her police department contacts, so she could come to dinner with the latest updates. That wasn’t all she’d done since she left my house.

  “Thankfully, we have two fewer troublesome HOA Board members to complain about now that Greta Bishop and Peggy Clayton have resigned. Good work bringing them to their senses, Charly,” Marty added. Charly took a little bow.

  “My pleasure, I assure you.”

  “Maybe we can get more done around here like that rule change to let us be more flexible about the age restriction issue. I couldn’t understand why Greta Bishop was opposed to it given that it ought to bolster resales. What a rat! More vigorous resales weren’t in the interest of Mr. Winick’s master plan to sink us, though, were they?” Neely pinched her nose closed and made glug-glug sounds as if she were under water.

  “Let’s hope her Garbo Cottage will be up for sale soon. I can’t believe she’ll stay in the community once people realize she tried to sell us out. Can you believe she and Peggy fell for that con artist?” Midge groused.

  “Charming psychopaths with pretty faces can be awfully persuasive,” Charly asserted. “At least when we get that rule change through we can get Miriam off the hook. When were you planning to tell us what happened to Pete? His obit in the Columbus Dispatch is sketchy.” I squirmed. All eyes were on me.

  “You all know about this?” I asked.

  “We suspected something was up. Charly’s the one who figured it out,” Neely replied. “Let’s fix it, okay? We need you as one of our Grand Old Lady Detectives. That’s obvious.” Charly grinned at me.

  “She can help us keep that fine-looking detective happy,” Neely added, giggling.

  “Yeah, it’s all about the scones, isn’t it?” Midge chimed in, smirking.

  “Cookies, too, d
on’t forget!” Marty added. I felt such a mix of emotions—relief, shame, gratitude, and fear about what was going to happen next. I could barely breathe.

  “My head is spinning. Give me a break, okay? I’m sorry I wasn’t more straightforward about all of this. The last year has been a huge mess. I… I…” I would have had more to say, but the doorbell rang.

  “Who could that be at this hour?” Marty asked.

  “It’s not even nine o’clock, for goodness’ sake. Maybe it’s Carl and Joe trying to get the scoop from the Grand Old Lady Detectives—who’ve got it going on!” Neely said and did one of those little head shifts that go with some hip Hollywood dance.

  The doorbell rang again. Domino and Emily were on their feet after the first ring. Now they both barked and dashed to the door. I ran after them with the others on my heels. I peeked through the peephole in the door and then opened it wide.

  “Hello, ladies,” Joe said. “Uh, sorry. Hello, women!”

  “We brought you a paying customer now that you’ve gone into business for yourselves,” Carl added pointing to Robyn Chappell who stood between Carl and Joe.

  “Who told you that?” I asked. Their eyes were on Charly in a flash!

  “Didn’t you believe us when we said we’re Charly’s angels?” Carl replied.

  “Robyn needs to talk to you. Good as Gold ought to be their motto, Robyn. If they can’t help you, nobody can.” Joe waved an arm as she stepped into my foyer. She didn’t wait another minute to get to the point.

  “Someone’s been in my cottage,” she said. “More than once.”

  “She’s not talking about the sitting in my chair, eating my porridge kind of visitor either,” Carl added. “And it’s not the landlord. We checked.”

  “Who do you think it is?” I asked. “Why don’t you call the police?”

  As I asked that question, Hank’s smiling face whisked through my mind. It wasn’t too surprising that when I said police his image was the one I conjured up. Hank was a far more appealing option than Deputy Devers was, and not strictly because of his skills as a lawman. I’d caught myself thinking of the detective several times since he’d left. Robyn’s next statement confirmed that, no matter what the reason, I was right to prefer Hank to Darnell.