by Cindy Bell
“Yes, she’s my girlfriend.” Monroe slid his phone back into his pocket. “When was she here?”
“A few days before you were. She told me she was interested in renting a room. Never mentioned a word about knowing Amelia. Did she know her?”
“I need to find out what’s going on. I need to call Jessica. You two need to leave.” Monroe gestured to the door again, and this time Suzie could see the determination in his eyes. If she refused to leave, he would grow more and more irate.
“All right, we’re leaving. But keep in mind I’m telling you the truth. Your girlfriend, Jessica was it? She is the one who is keeping you in the dark.” Suzie grabbed Mary’s arm and guided her out through the door ahead of her.
“Suzie, you pushed that a little too far.” Mary frowned as she followed her down the sidewalk. “I thought he was going to attack you.”
“I had no idea you were smuggling pepper spray.” Suzie winked at her. “Tough lady.”
“Wes gave it to me.” Mary sighed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, your instincts were good. I just needed to get him to say her name.”
“What difference does that make?” Mary shrugged.
“Jessica. He said her name is Jessica.” Suzie opened the door to her car. “As in, Jessica Cate.”
“Do you really think so?” Mary gasped.
“Yes, I do, and I know she’s Rose, the same woman that visited Dune House for a tour. Now we know, Monroe’s alibi won’t hold water, Amelia’s cousin Sophia was skulking around outside of Dune House, and Jessica Cate pretended to be someone else, just to get close to her.”
“It didn’t seem as if Monroe had any idea about it either.” Mary shook her head. “But that could be him covering up for them both. We’d better let Jason know what we discovered.”
“Yes, let’s stop by the police station on the way back to Dune House.”
Chapter 9
The small police station was filled to the brim with activity. In the town of Garber, it was very unusual for so many arrests to be made. But it appeared that something was in the air as a few people were escorted through the small station in handcuffs.
Suzie considered speaking to Kirk about it, but he had two people in handcuffs beside his desk. She didn’t recognize either of them. As she and Mary were led to Jason’s office, she prepared herself for how he might react to the fact that they’d gone to visit Monroe.
Jason gestured for them to sit, and Suzie rushed to give him the update of what she and Mary had discovered.
“What you’re saying is you believe this Jessica Cate, who happens to be Monroe’s girlfriend, was the woman who toured Dune House?” Jason took a small bite of an overstuffed sandwich, then made a note on the folder in front of him. “Sorry, I haven’t had much time for lunch.”
“It’s okay, Jason, you need to make sure you are taking care of yourself.” Mary frowned as she studied him.
“I am, I am.” He took another bite, then looked up at Suzie. “You’re certain?”
“Yes, the woman in the picture was the woman I met, and Monroe called her Jessica. You remember when Monroe first came to the house causing trouble and Amelia told us that a woman named Jessica Cate might show up, too? I had no idea that she had already been there.” Suzie shook her head. “I can’t explain why she was there, or why Amelia’s cousin was spying on Dune House after Amelia died. Any thoughts?”
“Not just yet. I was able to verify through cameras that Monroe was at the bar, but not what time he left or what taxi service picked him up. His alibi is good until about one in the morning, which gives him plenty of time to return to Dune House.” He set his sandwich down, with only a few bites taken out of it. “You say Monroe had no idea she was here?”
“He claimed to have no idea.” Mary leaned closer. “He could be lying.”
“Yes, he could be.” Jason met her eyes. “Listen, the two of you shouldn’t have gone to see him alone. And did I hear you say you went inside his motel room?”
Mary glanced over at Suzie, who didn’t say a word. She looked back at Jason with a strained smile.
“We were perfectly safe, Jason. The important thing is we found out that Jessica Cate should be a suspect.”
“Which, I already knew.” Jason flipped a page in the folder in front of him. “I was already looking into Jessica Cate because she and Amelia have a history. Amelia mentioned Jessica Cate when I saw her about the incident with Monroe. Jessica was Amelia’s former boss. Amelia worked at Jessica Cate Public Relations. Amelia was let go due to issues between her, Jessica and a few of the other staff members, including Monroe. As soon as Amelia was murdered, I began investigating Jessica Cate, because that is what I’m supposed to do.” He grabbed his sandwich for another bite, but before he took it, he looked up at both of them. “Why do you think the station is so busy today?”
“I don’t know, I was wondering that myself.” Suzie frowned as she detected frustration in his voice. Did Jason think she didn’t have faith in his ability to solve the case?
“Because I have rounded up every single person that was at that bar, on the streets, or involved in a petty crime within the time frame of Amelia’s death. That’s how seriously I am taking this investigation. Your safety was compromised, and I can’t rest until I know that it won’t be again.” Jason set the sandwich down again. “I can’t exactly stay focused on the case if I’m worried about the two of you getting hurt. Can I?” He stood up from the desk, walked around it, and leaned against the front of it. “I have a police car outside of Dune House every night, do I need to have someone tailing the two of you as well?”
“Jason, you wouldn’t.” Suzie narrowed her eyes. She knew he was coming from a kind place, but his words sounded more like a threat to her.
“If I hear you went to speak to Monroe again, I will.” Jason folded his arms across his chest, a tell-tale sign that the discussion was over. Suzie had come to know Jason’s moods fairly well, and though most of the time he was mild and patient, there were moments when she knew better than to push things.
“Let’s go, Mary.” Suzie stood up from her chair. “Jason has a lot of work to do.”
“First, you need to finish that sandwich.” Mary frowned and pointed to his stomach. “You’re getting skinny.”
“That’s not true at all and you know it, Mary.” A smile twitched its way up onto his lips.
“Eat.” Mary eyed him with a look more intimidating than he could ever summon.
“Yes, ma’am.” Jason cleared his throat, then picked up his sandwich.
As Suzie and Mary headed out the door, Suzie heard him take another bite.
“Can you believe this?” She frowned and held the door to the parking lot open for Mary. “How can he threaten to put a tail on us?”
“What did you think he would do?” Mary shrugged. “We did take a huge risk by going inside Monroe’s motel room, you know it, and so do I. I was scared.”
“So was I,” Suzie murmured. “I hate to admit it, but for a few seconds there I thought I’d really gotten us into something dangerous.”
“You didn’t get us into anything.” Mary slung her arm around her shoulders. “I was right there with you. But you can’t blame Jason for wanting to protect us, can you?”
“No, I suppose not.” Suzie opened the car door. “But it also isn’t going to stop me from finding out more about Jessica Cate.”
“Do you think we can really find out more than Jason has?” Mary settled in the passenger side.
“Only one way to know.” Suzie headed back to Dune House. The quiet streets of Garber were dotted with small clumps of residents. She guessed they might be discussing the murder, and the police round-ups. Jason certainly was taking things seriously, and she was grateful for that, but the faster the murder was solved, the better, and if she could do anything to help with that, she would.
While Mary took Pilot for a walk on the beach, Suzie settled at her computer and began d
igging into Jessica Cate’s business, Jessica Cate Public Relations. She found out that it was a medium sized business with a head office a few towns over. Suzie looked further into the company hoping to find the secrets that Amelia was going to expose.
“Have you found anything?” Mary joined Suzie at the table, while Pilot trotted over to lick Suzie’s hand.
“Hi buddy.” Suzie gave him a good scratch behind his ear. “Not much.” Suzie explained what she had found.
“So this must be the company that she was writing the book about.”
“It must be.” Suzie nodded. “Jason mentioned that Amelia was let go due to issues with management. So, maybe she was fired because she was on to something.” She shook her head slowly.
“I agree.”
“It is a public relations company. I imagine bad publicity wouldn’t be good for the company. Even though they do say any publicity is good publicity.” Suzie glanced at the time on her computer. “Oh dear, if I’m going to say goodbye to Paul before he leaves for his next trip, I’d better hurry.”
“Tell him I say to stay safe, please. I’ll keep looking into Jessica and her company while you are gone.” Mary switched from her seat to Suzie’s. “Maybe, I’ll come up with something.”
“Great, thanks.” Suzie smiled, then headed out the door.
* * *
Since the weather was warm, and Suzie did her best thinking while walking, she decided to go down to the dock on foot. With her hands slipped into her pockets she walked along a familiar path towards Paul’s boat. As much as she enjoyed seeing him, saying goodbye to him before he went out on a trip was always bittersweet. She was happy for him because he loved his work, but also nervous because storms could come up at a moment’s notice. She made her way along a rocky trail that led down the side of the small hill that Dune House perched on.
Prior to her small-town life in Garber, she lived in fairly bustling cities. She had grown very used to the refreshing beach air, and the beautiful views of Garber. In general, it was a peaceful place, and she hoped that soon it would be again. As she neared the road, she spotted a few cars parked along the side. It was likely they were kayakers, or boaters, and had gone out for a day trip on the water. She could see drag marks in the sand on the other side of the road, where boats had been pushed in. It was a popular place to launch as it was on the other side of the dock, away from the larger boats, and an easy slope into the water.
“Suzie.” Paul jogged up to her from the office at the end of the dock. “I was hoping to have a chance to see you.”
“I’m sorry, I lost track of time.” Suzie pulled him into a tight hug. “Are you all set?”
“As set as I can be. I wish I could get out of this, but I can’t. I hate leaving you at a time like this.” Paul brushed her hair back from her face and looked into her eyes. “I’ll stay if you ask me to, I don’t care what it takes.”
“No.” Suzie smiled and cupped his cheeks. “I’ll be fine, you know that. Your job is important, and besides that, there’s not much to do here. Jason is questioning or has arrested half of Garber and half of a few other towns, I think. He’s on top of this. You don’t have to worry.”
“But I still will.” He frowned. “And yes, I know you’ll be fine, but the thought of being out on that water and something happening—”
“Nothing’s going to happen.” Suzie stroked his cheek, then hugged him again. “You just focus on being safe out there. I will be just fine. I have lots of people looking out for me.”
“Yes, that’s true.” Paul kissed the top of her head and held her a moment longer. “I just have a few things left to do on the boat before I head out. Do you want to join me and give me an update?”
“Yes, absolutely.” Suzie followed him to his home. She could still remember the first time she’d seen him on the boat. It seemed so strange to her to live a life like that, but now she couldn’t picture him any other way. He had the salt of the sea in the taste of his skin, and the sun had etched deep lines along the corners of his eyes. His face was weathered by the wind. He was a truly unique man, not only in his looks, but in his endearing personality.
“I want to hear every detail.” Paul checked his instruments over as he listened to Suzie’s updates. “Wait, are you serious?” He looked over at her. “You went into Monroe’s motel room?”
“Just for a minute.” Suzie blushed as she realized maybe she should have left that part out.
“Did Jason talk some sense into you?” Paul raised his thick eyebrows as he walked over to her.
“It was a mistake, it won’t happen again.” Suzie laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Trust me, I already got an earful from Jason.”
“I’m sure you did.” Paul frowned as he studied her expression. “There’s nothing funny about being alone with a murder suspect.”
“I wasn’t alone, and did you know that Mary had pepper spray?” Suzie grinned, unwilling to let his serious tone get under her skin. “We can handle ourselves, you know that.”
“Yes, I do.” Paul sighed and gave her a light kiss. “So, what is your next step?”
“I think we need to find out for sure if Jessica Cate is still in town. If Jason isn’t able to find her, he won’t be able to question her. He hasn’t been able to find Sophia either. He’s going to hit some complete dead ends soon if we don’t find either of them.” Suzie released him. “Don’t let me distract you from your final check.”
“Yes, you’re right.” Paul turned back to his instruments and began to go through them again. “How do you plan to find her?”
“I figure, if we tail Monroe, then he might lead us to her. If he cares about her as much as he seems to, I’m guessing he will not rest until he knows what really happened and why she was here.” Suzie leaned back against the wall and watched as he marked off a checklist.
“Following Monroe seems like a dangerous idea.” Paul cast her a brief look.
“We won’t get caught, and we won’t say a word to him. It’ll be fine.” Suzie smiled. “Trust me, I learned my lesson when I was in that motel room.”
“I hope so.” Paul held her gaze, then returned to his task. “Just think things through and make sure you’re not putting yourself in danger. That’s it, that’s the extent of my lecture.” He turned back to face her. “Now give me a hug and a kiss that will last me two days, hmm?” He slipped his arms around her.
“How about a week?” Suzie grinned and obliged his request. As he walked her out to the dock, she gave him another hug. “Take lots of pictures for me. You know how I love the sunsets you see.”
“I will.” Paul brushed his lips along her forehead, gave her one more squeeze, then finally released her. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.” Suzie watched until the boat was out of the harbor. As she headed down the dock, she looked up to see a familiar man walking towards her. She smiled at the sight of him.
It was Bill. He was wearing his usual overalls and a t-shirt. He was in charge of the docks, but never lorded that role over the fishermen.
“Hi Bill, how are you?”
“Good Suzie. I heard what happened at Dune House. How are you holding up?”
“Okay.” Suzie nodded. “Bill, have you seen anything suspicious around the docks?”
“No.” He looked thoughtful for a minute then shook his head.
“If you do will you give me a call, please?” Suzie smiled.
“Sure, I’ll let you know.” Bill nodded.
Suzie thanked him then headed back across the street.
As Suzie picked her way through the rocks along the path she thought about Paul’s warning. His instincts were always good. Was it too much of a risk to follow Monroe? Sometimes her drive to find out the truth drove her right into dangerous situations. However, she wanted the murder to be solved before the weekend. There would be new guests arriving, and they would hear the chatter throughout the town about what happened there. She wanted to be able to tell them that the cri
me had been solved, and that they were safe in Garber. Although it appeared that the killer was motivated to only go after Amelia, she couldn’t be certain of that.
Lost in thought, Suzie stumbled over a larger rock and grabbed on to a stretched-out branch to steady herself. As she did, she noticed something smeared on some nearby rocks. Was that ink? Curious, she leaned down. It looked like ink. Her heart began to race. This indicated which way the killer had probably fled after the murder. Maybe there was a boat waiting for the killer at the dock? Maybe a car parked at the end of the path, on the road? Knowing the direction that the killer went in could prove to be helpful. Excited at the thought, she headed back to Dune House, eager to share the update with Mary.
Chapter 10
Suzie pushed through the front door of Dune House and discovered an excited dog on the other side. She laughed as Pilot jumped up against her legs and nuzzled her stomach. He was well-trained not to jump up on guests, but Suzie didn’t mind the behavior much at all. She gave him a few minutes of affection, then looked up as Mary walked in from the kitchen.
“How is Paul? Is he off?”
“Yes, it’s just a short jaunt this time, he’ll be back by tomorrow night.” Suzie stretched her arms above her head to try and get energized. “I have something interesting to share with you.”
The two women settled at the table and Suzie explained what she had seen and shared her theory about how it ended up there.
“That makes sense. Maybe the killer tripped, or stumbled, and tried to stop themselves from falling. Or maybe they wiped their hand on the rock to try to clean it off.” Mary tapped her chin as she considered the possibilities. “I wonder if Jason might be able to find anything out there.”
“I’m going to call him now and let him know. He’ll probably want to take a look around.”
While Suzie dialed his number, Mary disappeared back into the kitchen.