by Sandi Scott
“What do you think of that?” Aleta said.
“I’m not sure, Aleta. But the guy has a motive.”
“He does?”
Georgie went on to tell Aleta about the conversation Norman and she had on the balcony after Luke had swam out into the water to rescue Herb.
“Herb had mentioned suing after Luke pulled him out of the ocean. Norman got wind of that and basically said if the man tried to sue his son he’d use stuff he learned at the FBI to take care of him.” Georgie nervously chewed her thumbnail. “Now, he didn’t say kill. But he didn’t not say it, either.”
“He’s a pretty dedicated papa-bear,” Aleta said. “But do you think he’d kill someone? Herb could have just been talking. He could have been blowing smoke trying to sound like a big man when he was really bluffing the whole time.”
“Maybe,” Georgie replied.
“Guys like him probably threaten to sue all the time, but are more interested in someone offering to settle out of court.” Aleta nodded. “As far as we know he didn’t contact a lawyer.”
“No. But we’d have no way of knowing that. Not unless he spoke about it.” Aleta looked at Dottie who was sitting at the edge of a picnic table away from everyone, clutching a bottle of water with a policeman on either side of her.
“Do you think she would tell us?” Georgie asked.
“I doubt it. How do you ask a woman not even widowed for an hour if her husband had contacted a lawyer a few hours prior to his death? It would make you look suspicious,” Aleta replied. “Not to mention the fact that you might walk away with a black eye.”
“Why?”
“Widows have very little tolerance for stupid questions.” Aleta smirked, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff people asked me after William passed.”
“Really? You never mentioned it.”
“I guess I sort of forgot about it until now.” Aleta snickered. “Isn’t it funny what will jog your memory?”
“What did people ask you?” Georgie leaned in closer.
“You know that Mrs. Becker from down the street?”
Georgie nodded her head.
“She asked at the wake if she could have William’s clothes because he and her husband Albert were the same size.”
“She didn’t!” Georgie was horrified.
“Yes. She said she’d even take his underwear.”
“No!” Georgie gasped. Then she started to giggle.
“I couldn’t even tell you how many of his friends asked for his tools.” Aleta was chuckling with tears in her eyes. “The real kicker was that Joe Pistello guy he worked with.”
“My gosh. I remember that name. William thought he was a jerk.”
“He was a jerk. Cheated on his wife. Drank too much. Just a real piece of work.” Aleta rolled her eyes. “He said that William borrowed a book from him and never gave it back. Could he pick a replacement from among William’s books?”
Georgie put her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut as she quietly laughed. Her red cheeks made the laughter contagious and Aleta started to laugh harder, too.
“I guess I won’t be asking Dottie a thing. I won’t even ask her what time it is.” Georgie cleared her throat as Norman and Luke headed back toward them.
After a few more questions and watching the paramedics lowering two men and a gurney to the rocky floor below the cliff, everyone on the Midhostel tour was ushered onto the shuttle to head back to the hotel. All of the group except for Dottie, of course, who would have paperwork and phone calls to take care of at the police station.
That was when Daniel made his first appearance to the group. He looked like he’d swallowed a baker’s dozen of bad oysters.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” Daniel pulled himself together. “Although we have suffered a tragedy, after speaking with Midhostel corporate, I was instructed to continue with the tour schedule for the next few days.”
“Where was he when Herb took a nosedive?” Georgie asked Aleta, but only got an elbow in the ribs as a reply.
“If you feel you must cut your trip short and want to head back home early, Midhostel will refund the price of a coach ticket after you submit the proper forms via the instructions on their webpage.” He swallowed hard. “However, local law enforcement recommends you remain here until the investigation is concluded. Personally, I think they are likely to rule Herb’s death an accident.”
“He wasn’t around. I remember looking for him to ask a question about the pig. I thought he was just getting more food or a drink or something but he was nowhere to be found.” Georgie looked at Aleta.
“Don’t you think Daniel has dealt with tougher hombres than Herb?” Aleta whispered to Georgie.
“Herb was making a big deal about being told to have a drink when he’s an alcoholic. Maybe he thought Herb was going to sue him, too.” Georgie spoke softly to her sister.
“You don’t push a person off the cliff for that. Hey, did you ever think that maybe Herb thought he could pretend to get hurt and almost fall off a cliff in order to sue Germain’s and he overstepped?” Aleta arched her right eyebrow as she looked at Georgie.
“Way to rain on my parade, Aleta.”
“Your parades are creepy, Georgie.”
Chapter 6
The bus ride back to the hotel was a somber one. June and Forrester sat closely together, their keepsake photo in June’s lap. Hector was looking out the window as Pam quietly snored. She’d fallen asleep almost as soon as everyone was onboard, oblivious to what had happened. Even though it was a beautiful seventy-five degrees, she’d covered herself in a Germain’s beach towel she’d bought at the souvenir shop.
Norman and Luke also looked out the window as the palm trees and miles of beach and water passed.
“It’s like a tomb on this shuttle,” Georgie whispered.
“Yeah, who would have thought The Bickerson’s brought so much to the table?” Aleta replied. “I’m not saying everyone should be acting like nothing happened, but I’d have thought this would make for an exciting topic. Let’s face it, he wasn’t related to any of us. It’s okay to speak about it, isn’t it?”
“Maybe everyone’s in shock,” Georgie replied. “Look at Daniel, for example. He’s got something on his mind, that’s for sure.”
Once at the hotel everyone scattered for their rooms, undoubtedly to discuss the event of the evening privately and decide what they were going to do about the offer to go home or stay. Georgie and Aleta were no different.
“I’m not leaving,” Georgie said. “I don’t think Herb accidentally killed himself. But if he did, it was nothing less than he deserved. The guy was a jerk. I see no need to pretend he wasn’t.”
“I agree. But I do think he was just the kind of person to have a slip-and-fall at a casino or Wal-Mart and then sue for the imaginary spill on the floor,” Aleta replied from the bathroom.
“I think I’m going to see what our neighbor thinks. I want to see if he’s softened up a bit or if he still sounds like he threw Herb of the cliff by the scruff of the neck.” Georgie spoke softly, pointing to the wall of their next-door neighbors.
“Okay. I’m going to get some ice.” Aleta stepped out of the bathroom. “I don’t know if you know this, but I managed to swipe a couple squares of Hawaiian wedding cake when no one was looking.”
“When did you do that?”
“When people were being questioned by the police.” Aleta shrugged. “There wasn’t anything else to do.”
“I’m glad you’ve got your priorities in order.”
“I always do.” Aleta waved as she pulled the hotel room door open just as Georgie was going to the patio door.
No sooner had Georgie stepped outside than Norman appeared on his balcony.
“What a night.” Georgie started.
“Yeah. Georgie, I owe you an apology,” Norman said, leaning on the railing.
“What for?”
“For the way I went on back there. Luke to
ld me I sounded like a real jerk. He even said that I had taken the place of Herb as the guy making people feel uncomfortable.” He sighed. “So, I’m sorry for being such a hardhead.”
“It’s okay, Norm. People deal with things differently. Besides, who expects something like this to happen on their vacation? Everyone was blindsided.” Georgie patted his hand.
“I called my wife and told her. You know what she said to me?”
“What?” Georgie took a seat.
“She said she always knew my temper would get the best of me.” He chuckled.
“Wives have the tendency to know their husbands better than they think.” Georgie watched Norman, wondering in the back of her mind how sincere his apology really was.
“She might have to fall off a cliff, too.” He laughed, shaking his head. “No. No. I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
“Georgie?” Aleta peeked out the sliding door. “Emily wants to talk to you for a second.”
“Oh, that’s my niece,” Georgie said. “Good night, Norman.”
“Goodnight ladies,” Norman said, shifting his gaze to the pool and palm trees as if Georgie and Aleta were already gone.
Aleta slid the door shut behind Georgie and snapped the lock in place before closing the curtains.
“I’m sorry, Georgie.” Aleta took Georgie by the hand and pulled her to the edge of the bed to sit down. She grabbed her purse and pulled out a ball of paper napkins. “Emily isn’t on the phone. I didn’t want Norman to hear what I’m saying.”
“Where’s the ice?” Georgie asked.
“Forget the ice,” Aleta said, as she carefully placed two little wedges of cake on one napkin for Georgie and the other two on a napkin for herself. “You won’t believe what I heard in the hallway.”
Aleta went on to describe the incident that had clearly shaken her.
“There was a bit of commotion in the hallway coming from Pam and Hector’s room,” Aleta said, before taking a bite of slightly mashed wedding cake.
“That’s not a surprise. She’d had quite a bit to drink,” Georgie said, as she stood to grab the complimentary bottled waters that were on the dresser. “I don’t think I saw her take a single bite of food, either.”
“Well, Hector was trying to calm her down from the sound of it. She was talking loudly. Not screaming. Not crying. But she was making it clear she wasn’t happy with him, if you can believe that.”
“What was she upset about? Did she even realize that Herb was dead? She was sleeping like a baby on the bus.”
“I don’t know about that. But as I was casually slowing my stroll past their door to listen, I saw Daniel hurry from his room. He looked even worse than he did on the bus ride back.”
“Is that possible?” Georgie started on her second piece of wedding cake.
“He looked like death warmed over. He slammed his door shut and stomped down the hallway toward the elevators. Of course, I had to follow.”
“He didn’t see you?”
“Nope.” Aleta took the bottle of water out of Georgie’s hand and downed a big gulp. “He was too distracted. Too worried.”
“About what?”
Aleta described to Georgie how she followed Daniel down the long hallway. He was barefoot, still in his jeans and a Hawaiian shirt, but his skin was pale and shone with sweat. He got to the elevator and began pacing back and forth after pressing the down button.
“I stood just out of view against the wall,” Aleta explained. “Across from me was a framed pastel drawing of a bouquet of orchids next to a pile of seashells. I kept an eye on Daniel’s reflection in the glass while I listened. The next thing I knew he was talking on his cell phone, saying that he couldn’t believe something was happening. He kept yelling at the person he was talking to, saying not to tell him to calm down, that this was making things worse that he could ever have imagined.”
Aleta continued. “When I peeked around the corner, I saw Daniel standing in front of the elevator with his hand over his eyes. There were sweat stains at his armpits and I can’t be sure, but I think he was crying.”
Taking a deep breath, Aleta got the rest of her story out in a rush. “I thought I heard him saying something like, ‘How could I have been so stupid? What am I going to do?’ He kept shifting from his right foot to his left and back to his right again. That was when I heard a ping and the red going down light lit up at the end of the elevator bank.”
“Was that it?” Georgie asked her sister.
Aleta nodded, “Pretty much, although I distinctly heard him say he had to get out of here as he stepped into the elevator. Then the doors slid shut and that was that.
“Well, that sounds like everything but a direct confession.” Georgie wiped her hands and took the water bottle for a swig. “I’ll bet I know what happened.”
“What?” Aleta popped the second piece of cake into her mouth whole.
“I’ll bet he went to talk to Herb, you know, to smooth things over regarding the whole alcoholic comment.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Aleta nodded.
“Maybe he asked Herb to come and talk with him in private. I’m sure Herb was uncooperative and probably more than a little rude. Things escalated when Daniel realized he was getting nowhere talking to this jerk, and maybe gave Herb a little shove, or maybe Daniel just took a threatening step toward him. The next thing Daniel knew, Herb was no longer standing in front of him. He’d met his doom at the bottom of Germaine’s Cliff of Death.” Georgie speculated wildly, waving her hands in the air and slopping water out of the open bottle that was still in her hand. “ That’s what I’m going to call it from now on, by the way. Germaine’s Cliff of Death.”
“That’ll get the tourists to spend their money.” Aleta wrinkled her nose.
“Are you kidding? Had there been a murder at Germaine’s before this I would have been asking that cabana boy for all the details.”
“You would, too,” Aleta teased. “And still with the cabana boy? He was the entertainment.”
“Tomato, tomato.” Georgie shrugged and began to get ready for bed. “Hey, I almost forgot. I brought us a surprise,” she said, digging through her make-up bag that was almost as big as a regular piece of luggage and stuffed to the brim. “Where are they?”
“I can’t imagine how Daniel is feeling right about now.” Aleta sighed. “The poor guy. It was an accident. I’m sure it was. Herb was a jerk. Not to speak ill of the dead, but he really was. I’ll bet there was a long line of people back in Chicago wishing he was dead.”
“A-ha! There you are you little devils.” Georgie chuckled before pulling two packets from her bag. She handed one to Aleta.
“Princess Huna’ai Pineapple Lava Facial Mask.” Aleta read aloud.
“See what it says at the bottom?” Georgie smirked as she ripped hers open and began to smear it across her face. “Guaranteed to bring out the smooth subtleness of dew-kissed, island skin in all of us.”
“Boy, that really smells like pineapple.” Aleta pulled hers open and did the same.
“It’s better than smelling like lava, I suppose,” Georgie said, as she smoothed it over her forehead, cheeks and chin. “I think we better keep an eye on Daniel. It sounded to me like he was looking for a reason to get out of here. If he leaves the island, good luck finding him on the mainland.”
“He’d never survive prison.” Aleta mused.
“No. He’s too much of a gentleman. But, I guess he’s not such a gentleman that he’d admit to murder. Maybe he’s harder than we think.”
“That southern drawl is deceptive,” Aleta said. “I think the sweet smell of this stuff is giving me sugar overload.”
“Dew-kissed island skin, Aleta. Dew-kissed.” Georgie urged her sister. “We are supposed to leave this on for fifteen minutes, then rinse with cool water. You know, I almost forgot what Norman had said since you had such a newsflash when you came back from getting ice.”
“Oh, yeah. That guy was my first guess as to who pushed H
erb off Germaine’s Cliff of Death,” Aleta said. “What did he have to say for himself? He was anything but compassionate. He had the case solved before they even thought it was a homicide.”
Georgie quietly told Aleta the conversation she had with Norman.
“Yikes. That casts a dark shadow on him now, doesn’t it?” Aleta rubbed her arms to chase away the chill of having such a strange bird in the hotel room right next door.
“He also had a motive. The whole Herb almost drowning debacle.” Georgie rolled her eyes. “He looks like the kind of guy who would do anything to protect his kid.”
“Isn’t it weird?” Aleta talked out of the side of her mouth as she continued smoothing the mask on her face. “It’s like it was time for Herb to die and the universe tried to call him home by drowning, but Luke got in the way. So, destiny did things another way and knocked him off a cliff.”
“Destiny. AKA, Daniel—or Norman.” Georgie chuckled. “How’s your face?”
“Hardening u, Aleta said, as she touched the clay on her cheeks.
“Okay. Time to wash it off.”
“Georgie, we’re forgetting one important piece of the puzzle.”
“What’s that?” Georgie’s voice was muffled by the wet face cloth she had buried her face in.
“Dottie.”
“Oh gosh, I plum forgot about her. If I ever saw a case for justifiable homicide it was with her.” Georgie wiped the black clay from her face and inspected the familiar lines carefully. “Do I look like a dew-kissed islander?”
“You look like a common-sense Midwesterner.”
“I’ll take it,” Georgie said. “I wonder if she’s still with the police.”
At that moment there was a knock at the door.
“Who could that be?” Aleta whispered.
Georgie shrugged and quietly walked to the door. When she looked out the peephole her breath stuck in her throat.