by Cindy Bell
Suzie stared at the photograph. All it showed was her hand. It was clearly cut. The outline looked like a bird in flight. The wings were curved, rounded at the edges, as if the bird was rising up in the air.
“No. Mary?” Suzie pushed the picture towards her.
“We hardly ever saw her. She was always in her room.” Mary shook her head. “But I don’t recall her wearing any jewelry. I usually notice things like that, we have a safe where we offer to keep any jewelry or other valuables. So, if I had noticed that she wore jewelry I would have been sure to offer it.”
“It wasn’t found in her room or on her body, either.” Jason sighed.
“If it didn’t belong to Amelia then it’s possible it belonged to the killer.” Suzie sat down in the chair beside Mary.
“I can’t see Monroe wearing something like that.” Mary shook her head. “It looks feminine.”
“It does.” Jason tapped the picture lightly with his fingertip. “I’d say it was a woman’s. If it did belong to the killer that might just point to our killer being a woman.”
“Too bad there are two female suspects, and no jewelry to prove which one it is.” Mary sighed. “But at least it’s something.”
“If either of you think of anything about what this could be, please make sure you let me know right away.” Jason nodded.
“I will.” Suzie stood up and smiled.
“If I think of anything, I will let you know.” Mary stood up as well.
* * *
As Suzie and Mary headed back to the car Mary’s phone beeped with a text.
“Oh, it looks like Wes has a few minutes free. Would you mind if I have lunch with him, Suzie?”
“No, not at all. I can drop you off if you want.”
“That’s okay he’s only a few minutes away. He can pick me up and drop me off at home. He’s been so busy I’m just glad I get a chance to see him. Do you want to join us?”
“No thanks.” Suzie smiled at her as she opened the car door. “Enjoy.”
“Where are you headed?” Mary could sense that she had her mind on something.
“I’m going to check on something at the library. I know Louis has many connections. I’m wondering if he can help me figure out who sent those letters.”
“That’s a great idea. Let me know if you find anything, okay?” Mary waved as Wes’ car pulled up.
Suzie drove the short distance to the library and was relieved to see that Louis was inside. When she walked up to his desk, he was engrossed in something on the computer.
“What are you up to, Louis?”
“Suzie.” He blushed and turned off the screen on the computer.
“What is it?” Suzie raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to be embarrassed around me.”
“It’s a local news group. Let’s just say Dune House is a big topic right now.”
“I imagine it is.” Suzie sighed. “That’s why I’m here. But if you’re too busy—”
“No, I’m not. What can I do to help?” Louis gestured to a chair not far from his desk.
Suzie explained to him the possibility of catching the person who sent the death threats to Amelia.
“Well, some cameras are a matter of public record, so the public does have access to them. Let me see, you know what town it was sent from?”
“Yes, the postmark indicated it was from Bakersto.” Suzie checked her notes on her phone to be sure that her information was correct. Mary had told her all the details she could remember from the envelopes and letters. She had tried to memorize as many details as possible as she knew they might be relevant.
“Great, that’s a small town, not too many mailboxes, and not too many cameras.” He typed a few things into the computer, then nodded. “There’s only one camera on a public mailbox in the center of town. And the days the letters were sent?”
Suzie rattled off the dates.
“Okay, let’s see, they do have some videos archived. I have two of those dates.” Louis clicked a few things, then turned the screen so that Suzie could see it. “Now the problem of course is that there are several hours of footage. I’m sorry I don’t think I can narrow it down more than that.”
“That’s all right, is there a way to make it go faster?”
He showed her how to adjust the speed. “If you need anything else, let me know.”
“I will, thanks Louis.” Suzie skimmed through the footage. A few people walked past, but none stopped at the mailbox. It was almost dark by the time she saw a female figure approach the box. However, her back was to the camera. Suzie glanced at a picture on her phone of Jessica Cate, then looked back at the screen. They had similar figures, but so did many women. Without being able to see her face it was impossible to tell for sure. She switched to the second set of footage. At about the same time of day, she saw the same woman approach the mailbox and drop in another letter. Again, she never turned to look at the camera. Did she know it was there?
Annoyed that she couldn’t see more, Suzie still sent the details from the footage to Jason with an explanation of why he might be interested in it.
An instant later the vibration of her cell phone ringing caught her attention. She smiled to herself with relief that she had remembered to turn it to silent. Her eyes widened when she saw that the call was from Jason.
“That was fast.” Suzie hurried outside, with a wave to Louis.
“I need you to stop investigating this case.”
“I’m not investigating, you’re the detective. I’m just trying to protect my business, Jason. I have guests due to come in this weekend and the entire town is talking about the murder at Dune House.”
“Suzie, listen to me. I need you to drop this. I can’t explain why right now, but you have to trust me, and just stop looking into this. Let me handle it. Can you do that?”
Suzie frowned as she paced back and forth along the sidewalk in front of her car. She didn’t want to drop it. She had a solid lead with the images of possibly Jessica.
“I’m not doing anything dangerous, Jason.”
“Yes, you are. You just don’t realize it.” His tone grew sterner.
“Jason, you’re overtired, you need to get some rest.” Suzie walked towards her car.
“I am not overtired, okay yes I am, but that is not why I am saying this.”
“Okay, I hope the information I sent you will help.” Suzie fought against the urge to argue with him. Sometimes she forgot that he was the detective in the family, not her. But at the same time, she knew the case was leading to more and more dead ends, and with impending guests, she couldn’t risk losing her business due to the case going unsolved.
“It will. Thanks for understanding, Suzie.”
Suzie stared at the phone after he hung up. Was his demand a result of the second death that might be related to Amelia’s? With this still on her mind, she drove back to Dune House.
Chapter 15
As Suzie walked in the door to Dune House, her cell phone rang again. She expected it to be Jason with more of an explanation for his demand, instead it was a number she didn’t recognize. It was local, but she couldn’t recall it belonging to anyone that she knew. Hesitantly, she answered.
“Suzie, it’s Bill from the docks. Remember me?”
“Yes, of course I do, Bill. Is everything okay with Paul?” Suzie’s heart clenched. He was supposed to be back that evening.
“Yes, as far as I know. He’s still scheduled to come in tonight, maybe a little early. I called because we found something strange down here. I thought you might want to check it out.” Bill lowered his voice some as if he thought someone else might be listening. “I put a call into Jason, but he’s caught up with something at the moment. You told me to let you know if I saw anything suspicious, so this is me letting you know.”
Suzie smiled at Mary as she stepped through the door, then put the phone on speaker.
“Thanks Bill. What have you found?” Suzie already had her purse in her hands.
&nbs
p; “Is it about Amelia?” Mary whispered, her eyes wide.
“You’ll have to come see for yourself. It might be nothing. It’s in the slip right next to the office. One of the fishermen brought it in today. I’m just not sure what to make of it. I have to head home to the wife, but if you want to take a look, feel free.”
“Thanks Bill, I’ll do just that.” Suzie ended the call, then looked into Mary’s eyes. “Something was found out on the water, we’ve got to go check it out before it gets too dark.”
“All right, let’s go.” Mary grabbed her purse, which she had only set down moments before.
Pilot raced towards the door the moment they headed for it.
“All right, Pilot, let’s go, we can go for a walk.” Suzie patted her hip. “We don’t need to take the car.”
“I’ll grab his leash.” Mary snatched it off the hook by the door. As they left, Mary was careful to lock the door behind her. It was now a habit to do so.
“Did everything go okay with Wes?” Suzie glanced at her.
“Yes, it was very nice, actually. He’s closed his case and asked if he could join us and Paul for dinner tonight.”
“That would be lovely. Let’s try to take the same path that we think the killer did, maybe we’ll notice something along the way.” Suzie tipped her head towards the opening in the trees that led to the docks.
“Good idea, but we should hurry.” Mary held tightly on to Pilot’s leash as she followed after Suzie.
“I’m not seeing much here. I know Jason ordered the entire area to be searched, I guess they didn’t leave anything behind.”
As Suzie, Mary and Pilot reached the docks, the last of the daylight slipped away. Light poles dotted the long wooden expanse in sparse succession. There were plenty of shadows to hide in. Suzie had been to the docks hundreds of times, yet this time it felt very different. There were very few people around, and as the water lapped at the wooden pillars, the sound created a sense of loneliness within her.
“That must be it, Suzie.” Mary led the way to the slip by the office. From a distance it appeared empty. “What is it?”
“That is a boat, or at least, some wood trying to be a boat.” Suzie sunk her hands into her pockets as she stared at the craft. It was slightly wider than a canoe, but far shorter, and a single paddle rested in the middle of it.
“How can we be sure this has anything to do with Amelia’s death?” Mary poked the edge of it with her foot.
“We can’t, but it’s certainly something we can check out. It has to belong to someone, right?”
“There’s nothing in it but a paddle, though.” Mary shivered as a cool wind blew off the water. “What can it tell us?”
“We know that the killer left the house and took that path towards the docks. I guess they had a boat or a car waiting for them. It’s not often that a random boat is found floating out in the water. There haven’t been any storms lately to set any loose. So no, it doesn’t tell us much, but it’s something.” Suzie crept to the edge of the dock. “Maybe if we get inside we’ll find something. It could be just a crumpled piece of paper, or a piece of fabric stuck to the wood.”
“Okay, let’s take a look.” Mary grabbed the railing on the dock while Suzie stepped through the small opening.
The wooden boat was so small Suzie wasn’t sure it would seat both of them, let alone Pilot as well. It rocked gently in the mild current of the water. With every dip, she expected it might sink, but it didn’t.
“I’m not sure that I would even call this a boat. I’m not sure it will hold us.” Suzie pushed at the edge with her foot, not enough to tip it, but to test how solid it was.
“Somehow it ended up far from the docks. My guess is that someone had it tied somewhere, or maybe even attempted to anchor it, and somehow it broke loose.” Mary reached down and grabbed a frayed rope that was tied near the front of the boat. “See?”
“Yes, I think you’re right. I bet that the killer tried to hide it somewhere, but it got loose.” Suzie ran her fingertips along the rim of the boat and raised an eyebrow as she drew her hand back. “Look at this.”
“Is that ink?” Mary studied the smudges on her skin.
“I believe it is.” Suzie’s gaze returned to the boat. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t sturdy, she was determined to get on board. As she climbed in, Mary did her best to hold the boat steady for her.
“Anything?” Mary watched as Suzie inspected the inside of the boat. “Reeds.” She pulled them out from underneath her feet. Then she glanced around the open harbor. Off to the far side of the harbor was an outcropping from the woods that was laden with reeds. “That way.”
“Hold on, let me come with you. Let me just take Pilot back.” As Mary said the words, Pilot launched into the boat.
The entire boat rocked back and forth, in such a way that made Suzie cry out and grasp the edges. Pilot sat down, his tail wrapped around him, and gazed up into Suzie’s eyes.
“Sure Pilot, that didn’t rock the boat at all.”
“I guess we all might as well go.” Mary heaved herself into the boat before Suzie could stop her.
“Easy! Careful!” The boat rocked wildly for a moment, then settled. Pilot wagged his tail happily between them.
“What if this thing sinks? Should we get lifejackets?” Mary gripped the edges of the boat.
“That section of the harbor is similar to a swamp. Paul never takes his boat down there because he says it’s too shallow. Even if it does sink, we should be all right.” Suzie grabbed the sole paddle in the boat and began to steer the boat away from the dock. She continued to paddle. It didn’t take long for them to disappear into the tall reeds. The water was so shallow that there were places that Suzie had to use the paddle to push against the sandy bottom.
“There.” Mary pointed to a small structure that looked similar to a shack. Tied to the lop-sided old dock in front of it, was the remainder of the rope.
“That must be where the boat was stored!” Suzie began to push the paddle through the water quickly.
“Suzie!” Mary gasped as she pulled her feet back towards her. “My shoes are soaked.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to splash you.” Suzie continued to paddle.
“No, you didn’t splash me, Suzie. There’s a hole in the boat!” Mary pointed to the large puddle that had gathered between their two seats. “We’re going to sink!”
“It’s okay, don’t worry. We’re not very deep, we can wade to that little patch of land.”
“And then what?” Mary met her eyes. “We already have no signal out here.”
“It’s okay, we’ll figure it out once we’re on land.”
Pilot sniffed at the water, gave a sharp yelp, then jumped out onto a small strip of land. It was too narrow for all of them to fit.
“Pilot, don’t!” Suzie stood up as the dog took off along the strip of land. “Pilot, come back!”
“Suzie! The boat!” Mary grasped the sides as the boat began to sink. “We have to get out of here or we might get tangled up in it. We can go on the land from the other side and get to Pilot from there.”
“You’re right.” Suzie reluctantly looked away as Pilot disappeared into the tall reeds. She turned her attention back to the boat. The water was above her ankles already. “You first, Mary. We’re just going to have to wade through the water. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, I can do it, Suzie, don’t worry.” Mary began to ease herself up into a crouched position. Before she made it all the way up, a figure appeared at the edge of the patch of land, covered in a long cloak.
“Who is that?” Suzie ignored the fact that the water crept up along her calves as she stared.
“Catch this!” The figure tossed some rope in their direction. The voice was distinctly feminine, but Suzie didn’t recognize it. After a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed the rope.
“Suzie.” Mary looked up at her, her eyes wide. “You know—”
“I know.” Suzie frowned. �
��But we have nowhere else to go.” She bent over and tied the rope to the boat. A moment later the figure began to pull the boat towards the land. With every foot that passed Suzie’s heart sank with dread. The closer she came to the person on the edge, the more certain she became that she recognized her.
Chapter 16
“Where are they?” Paul paused at the edge of the porch and stared down at Wes.
“I don’t know.” Wes pulled his hat off and ran his hand back over his head. “I’ve called Mary several times, and she hasn’t answered. I tried Suzie as well and her phone went straight to voicemail.”
“We should tell Jason.” Paul descended the steps to the parking lot, and glanced back once over his shoulder. “I don’t think Pilot is in there, either.”
“I already called Jason. He said he hasn’t heard from either of them, and as far as he knew their only plans were to relax and have a quiet afternoon.” Wes narrowed his eyes. “Which makes me even more worried.”
“You’re right, those two and a quiet afternoon don’t exactly go together.” Paul shoved his hands into his pockets. “We need to figure out where they went. Mary didn’t send you any texts or anything that might give you a clue?”
“No, I haven’t heard from her since I dropped her off here after lunch.” Wes shifted from one foot to the other. “I did come down on her rather hard when I heard about her following Monroe. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Hey, you were just looking out for her.” Paul placed his hand on his shoulder. “You can’t blame yourself for that.”
“Maybe if I hadn’t been so firm about it, she would have been willing to tell me where she and Suzie were going.” Wes closed his eyes briefly. “Sometimes I forget just how capable those two are.”
“Yes, me too. But Suzie will never let me forget it for long. Look, we know they were investigating Amelia’s murder. Which means they likely followed a clue somewhere. But where?”