by Krista Davis
“That’s a good point. Then why didn’t the killer do the same thing with Howard’s body?”
“Ah!” Zelda held up her forefinger. “He was interrupted.”
I shouldn’t have giggled given the seriousness of our discussion, but Zelda had an answer for everything. And she made sense! I wondered if Marlee had interrupted the murderer. “So how do we find the killer?”
“Well, I’m keeping my ear to the ground. Someone must know who Diane was seeing, right? I mean, that’s the kind of thing that’s hard to keep quiet in a small town like Wagtail.”
Hadn’t Dave asked the same thing? But he had mentioned Augie, which was preposterous. How could Diane have managed to keep a romance under the radar when even visitors like Rae Rae had heard about Holmes and me?
At that moment, Pippin raced down the stairs and bowed to Trixie.
Trixie was game to play. I opened the sliding glass doors and accompanied them outside where they raced around on the grass.
A boat was arriving at the inn’s dock. I walked down to give them a hand. To my surprise, the captain and crew for the day were Augie’s son, Stan, and none other than Sugar McLaughlin, who had her eyes set on Holmes. I hadn’t seen her since her cosmetic procedures, but she looked beautiful. It had been Augie who told me about her beauty treatments. I hoped Sugar had finally given up on Holmes and started dating Stan. At least they were about the same age. “Hi! It’s a gorgeous day to play on the lake.”
Sugar eyed me. “I guess I don’t have to worry about Holmes arriving today while I’m out on the water.”
“Oh?”
“You wouldn’t have dressed like that if you thought he was coming today.”
I probably should have been offended, but her games were too juvenile. I tried not to laugh but teased her a little bit. “Maybe I dressed like this to fool you.”
Her smile faded.
Stan made a face. “She’s messing with you, Sugar.”
“I don’t know . . .”
“You’ll have a lot of fun with these folks,” I said. “They’re very nice.”
Trixie and Pippin raced onto the dock followed by Jim, Camille, Rae Rae, and Finch. Marlee walked down to the dock at a slower pace.
Pippin happily jumped on board the boat, quickly followed by his new best friend, Trixie. I coaxed her back to the dock with treats.
Stan helped the other passengers in. “Aren’t we missing one?”
I turned, expecting to find Marlee inching her way toward us. Instead, she was fleeing up the hill in the direction of the inn.
“Well now, what’s that about?” asked Rae Rae. “Honestly, I don’t know what to make of that young woman. I suppose I should disembark and see what the problem is.”
“You go and have a good time. I’ll look after Marlee.” I untied the lines and gave the boat a little shove as they cast off. I called Trixie, who reluctantly followed me back to the inn. There was no sign of Marlee.
Zelda gave me a strange look.
“Have you seen Marlee?” I asked.
Zelda flicked her eyes down.
“What does that mean?”
Trixie ran behind the reception counter and yipped playfully.
I looked over the counter and found Marlee crouched there.
“They’re gone,” I assured her. “How about I buy you lunch, and you tell me what’s going on?”
Marlee emerged from her hiding place rather sheepishly. “Okay.”
The door to Oma’s office opened. Dave nodded at us and left.
“Zelda,” said Oma, “this would be a good time for you to go to lunch. It will be very busy this afternoon, and I will need your help, ja?”
“Ja. Absolutely. Can I come with you guys?” asked Zelda.
I looked at Marlee. “It’s up to you.”
“Sure. The more the merrier. When they murder me, more people will know why.”
“Oh, liebchen!” Oma placed a reassuring arm around Marlee. “We will not let anyone harm you. Do not be afraid. I’m sure these murders have nothing to do with a sweet young woman like you.”
I wished I felt as sure as Oma that Marlee wasn’t somehow involved.
Marlee, Zelda, Trixie, and I walked over to Café Chat. We settled at an outdoor table with a bright yellow umbrella that was imprinted with their logo of two back-to-back cat silhouettes and placed our orders for iced tea and their house specialty, grilled chicken and shrimp salads.
“Okay, so what’s going on?” I asked.
Marlee paled. “I’m afraid of water.”
I tilted my head. Surely, she wasn’t going to try to dodge the question. I let a moment of silence convey my disbelief.
“I’m from Snowball.” She removed her sunglasses. “I left here to go to Los Angeles and try to get an acting job. You see how well I did with that. I’m a social media guru for a dog!”
“And you were embarrassed about that?” asked Zelda. “I think it’s such a cool job!”
“It’s not my ideal job. I’d rather be an actor, but this pays the bills. Then they said Pippin was going on vacation. Woo-hoo! I would finally get to go somewhere interesting. And wouldn’t you just know, they had to choose Wagtail, the one place I’ve been to a million times. I went full circle and came back to where I started.”
“Do your parents still live in Snowball?” asked Zelda.
“Yes. I will admit that it has been nice seeing them.”
“So that’s where you’ve been spending your nights,” I guessed.
“Yes. I felt safer there.”
“Safer?” I sipped my iced tea. “Why don’t you feel safe back home in the community you know so well?”
Marlee seemed uncomfortable and slid the sunglasses back on.
“Marlee, is there something we should know?” I wanted to add about the murders, but I thought she might tell us more if I didn’t press that particular issue just yet.
The waitress brought our salads. Zelda and I dug in while waiting for Marlee to respond.
“I guess I should tell you that my real name is Mary Lee. I thought Marlee would be better for an actor. Mary Lee sounds so old-fashioned.”
That wasn’t the kind of information I had hoped for.
“I had these two friends, Sugar McLaughlin and Stan Hoover.”
“And they were the crew on the boat today!” I said.
“Exactly. I’ve been trying to avoid them. It was so hard to stay away from Stan and his dad at Pippin’s lunch on the mountain. I had to beg Finch to bring me food! I thought the boat outing would be safe enough. Everyone wears sunglasses on the water. But then there they were. The very people I wanted to avoid. Even with the wig and sunglasses, I knew they would recognize me. They know my voice. They know me far too well.”
“Gosh, I’d think it would be fun for you to see your old friends,” said Zelda.
“It wouldn’t have been so great when they tried to drown me.”
I stopped eating and watched her facial expression. She seemed serious and genuine. Would it be rude to ask her to remove her sunglasses? I wanted to see her eyes.
“We all went to the same college a few hours away from here. Everything started out okay. Sugar and I were roommates, and Stan hung out with us.” Marlee munched on a grilled shrimp. “And then I started to notice things in Stan’s dorm room.”
“Things?” I asked.
“Yeah. Stuff that was weird for him to have. When I asked about it, he would tell me his mom had it sent to him.”
“Maybe she did.” Zelda speared a chunk of avocado with her fork. “Some moms are great that way. I can see Glenda sending care packages. She dotes on Stan.”
“I know his parents are nice people, but would a mom really send her son an expensive vacuum cleaner or a Waterford Crystal bowl? He lived in a dorm room!”
&nb
sp; Zelda winced. “Okay, so that’s not typical care-package stuff.”
“And then one day I found makeup in his room. One of those sets that has everything in it. You know, eye shadows, blush, lipsticks.”
“I love those,” Zelda exclaimed. “Was he majoring in theater?”
“It belonged to Sugar. My two best friends were having a romance behind my back. Sugar was still my roommate. And I noticed that she had a lot of new things, too. I didn’t think much of it at first, but as time went on, she had a fancy new camera and a charger for power outages and”—Marlee took off the sunglasses and looked at the two of us—“this is what finally tipped me off—shoes!”
“Lots of women have a thing for shoes.” Zelda sipped her tea. “I’ve been accused of that myself.”
“You don’t understand. They weren’t her size. She even asked me if I wanted some of them because they were my size. Who has brand-new shoes, still in the boxes, but they’re not the right size? I thought and thought about it. Even if you stole shoes from a store, you’d steal your size, right? So one day I followed them.”
Zelda and I had stopped eating.
“They were porch pirates. They stole packages that had been delivered and left on people’s doorsteps.”
“That’s really low,” I said.
Marlee swallowed hard. “I reported them to the police.”
That was the right thing to do, but I had a feeling it led to problems.
“Stan got three years in prison and a hefty fine. Of course, it totally messed up his college plans. When I was graduating, he was being released with ten years of probation. Sugar got one year in jail. I guess she’s on probation, too. My mom said she heard that Sugar had finished school.”
“And now you’re afraid to see them,” I stated.
“Not just them. Their families, too. Stan is his mom’s pride and joy. She’s furious with me. And Sugar’s mom is just plain insane. She’s a nut.”
“But they were the ones that committed crimes,” Zelda protested. “It’s not your fault that you did the right thing.”
“I don’t trust them.” Marlee took a deep breath. “And I don’t want to take any risks.”
Twenty-three
Zelda frowned. “I never heard anything about this. Did you, Holly?”
“Not even a peep or a hint.”
“Their families kept it very quiet around here. Not that I can blame them. What they did was incredibly stupid. Someone told my mom that Stan had left college to assist a medical team in a remote area of Tanzania.”
I snorted. “I suppose that would be difficult to confirm. But you’re not really afraid they’ll hurt you in some way, are you?”
“You bet I am! I know they’re living here peacefully, and their crime, while horrible, wasn’t violent. Stan is evidently working for his dad and taking on odd jobs. I have no idea what Sugar is up to these days. But Stan made it very clear to me that he will never forgive me for turning him in. He didn’t come right out and threaten to kill me, but I’d rather not take that risk.” Marlee toyed with her salad. “I couldn’t refuse to come here with Pippin. Jim would have replaced me in a nanosecond. I may not have the job I want, but I need the money.”
I wasn’t sure what I would have done in her shoes. But I probably wouldn’t have given up my job. “You had to hope all eyes would be on Pippin.”
“Exactly. I could hide in my room or at my parents’ house. Stan and Sugar didn’t even have to know that I was in town.”
I ate my salad, glad that Marlee’s weird behavior had been partially explained and that it had nothing to do with Howard’s murder. I debated asking her why she had been at Howard’s house the night he was killed. Or was that line of questioning better left to Dave? Would she be more inclined to tell me?
I gazed at her while she ate and wondered if she was telling the truth. Was I getting jaded from hearing too many people lie? Dave could easily verify what she had said about Stan and Sugar. I might even be able to find news articles about it online.
“I think you’re safest at the inn,” said Zelda. “There are always a lot of people there, and we have a full house right now. If you so much as scream, a whole bunch of people will come running.”
“I don’t know what Sugar’s momma is up to,” I said, “but Stan’s mother is busy looking for her stolen dog. I doubt that she’s even thinking about you at the moment.”
Zelda waved her fork. “Besides, they might yell at you, which would be embarrassing, but seriously, they’re nice women who wouldn’t hurt you. They’re just very protective of their babies.”
“You two have been so kind to me. You must have thought I was a complete nutcase.”
I paid the tab for lunch and left a generous tip. “Sometimes it’s better to tell people what’s going on. Rae Rae, Jim, Camille, and Finch would stand up for you in a heartbeat. Maybe you should tell them,” I suggested.
“Do you think Sugar and Stan will be invited to tea this afternoon?” asked Marlee.
“I don’t know. I would suspect they’ll need to return the boat and clean it up.” We left Café Chat and strolled back to the inn. “After all they went through, I’m surprised that they’re still friends. Are people on probation allowed to pal around together?” I mused.
“Ohhh! Don’t start that. I’ve learned my lesson about turning people in,” said Marlee.
Zelda hurried back to the reception lobby, and Marlee took the stairs up to her room.
I was on my way to see Oma when my phone rang.
“Holly, it’s Donna, Diane’s sister. Could you swing by for a minute? I’m a little worried about—”
“About what? Donna? Donna, are you there?” The line had gone dead.
Twenty-four
I called Donna back immediately. Her phone rolled over to voice mail. Frustrated and worried, I called Dave and told him what had happened. “It might not be anything more than her phone going dead from not being charged. Or—”
“I’ll meet you there. If you get there first, do not go inside. Did you hear me, Holly?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I hung up and ran down the hallway to get a golf cart key. Trixie raced alongside me. She knew something was up.
I grabbed a key and told Zelda where I was going. I had some doubts about taking Trixie but paused long enough to grab a leash from the office.
When we drove up to Diane’s house, I was relieved to see Donna standing on the sidewalk. I parked the golf cart and sprang out with Trixie securely on the leash. We dashed toward Donna. “Are you okay?”
Donna’s cheeks were flushed. “I think my heart rate has almost gone back to normal. Thank you so much for calling Dave. Someone was in the house!”
“Did you see him or her run out?”
“Not yet. Dave is in there now. I was scared out of my wits. The door to the closet in Diane’s bedroom was cracked open just a couple of inches. I didn’t think a thing about it. I called you because things weren’t where I left them. Then I saw movement in the closet. I was so shocked that I dropped my phone! I ran out as fast as I could.”
“I would have been terrified,” I said. “But I don’t understand why you called me. Did you think I had been in the house?”
“No. It seemed to me that someone was looking for something. Maybe that was why Diane was murdered? I called you to ask what that might have been. Were there any rumors about something special or valuable in her possession? Was she seeing anyone she might not have mentioned to me?” asked Donna.
Everyone seemed to be asking that. “Not that I know about. But I see what you’re getting at. Maybe someone wanted something she had, and she caught him in her house.”
“Exactly.”
The front door opened, and Dave propelled a little boy forward, holding him by the collar of his shirt. “It appears that this young man was your intruder. I have
called his mother.”
“Jacob Minifree,” I said, “what are you doing here?”
“Hi, Holly.”
He didn’t look the least bit flustered. I would have been crying if a cop hauled me out of someone else’s home. “Jacob, what were you doing in Diane’s house?”
He was completely serious when he said, “I came to see Pippin.”
“Pippin?” asked Donna. “Why would you think Pippin was in the house?”
“Because I saw him.” He blinked at us with innocent brown eyes. “He went into the house.”
“When was that?” asked Dave.
“The day I saw him at the inn.”
Dave’s eyebrows jumped. “When was that?” he whispered to me.
“The day they arrived.”
“Have you seen Pippin?” Jacob asked Donna.
Donna smiled at him. “I’m afraid not.”
“Will Pippin come back to visit again?”
“Honey, I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Donna gazed at me with a bewildered look.
Jacob faced Dave. “Am I under arrest?”
Dave’s eyes met mine. I assumed he was wondering whether to scare the little guy.
“Yes,” said Dave.
Jacob’s mother rushed up at that moment.
“I’m under arrest,” said Jacob proudly.
His mother took his hand. “How dare you frighten him? He’s just a little boy. The mayor and the chief of police will hear about this.”
Dave sighed. “Children are not allowed to hide in other people’s houses. Jacob needs to learn that. It’s called trespassing.”
Jacob’s mother turned her ire on Donna. “Everyone else loves it when my children visit them. What do you have against inquisitive little children? The nerve of you, calling the cops on a little boy.” Still holding on to Jacob’s hand, she walked away much too rapidly for his short legs.
“Donna says it looks like someone has been going through Diane’s things,” I said to Dave. “Could it be Jacob?”