Murder at Harbor Village

by GP Gardner

  At the big house, the chandelier and all the recessed lights were on in the lobby, illuminating it in the twilight, like a stage waiting for actors. Stephanie turned left and, as we turned into the parking area, I saw Lee from corporate sitting on the couch with her head tipped back, looking at the chandelier. Probably Stewart was there somewhere, working on switches or something. Poor guy. I hoped she wouldn’t fire him.

  We parked across the drive from my garage. There were only a few cars in the lot at this hour, just two SUVs parked side by side, and what I assumed was Riley’s car near the street, plus a couple more in the distance.

  “Let’s walk this way,” I proposed as we got out of the car. “There’s someone I want you to see in the lobby.”

  Stephanie came around to extract Barry from the car seat. “That rude woman?”

  “Yes. Did you see her?”

  “I noticed all the lights on,” Riley said. “That’s unusual.”

  I shrugged and laughed. “I wouldn’t know. This is my first night here.”

  But when we rounded the corner of the building, the lobby was totally dark. The windows reflected the five-globe street lamps around the intersection.

  “Ha!” Riley said. “That was quick. Well, ladies and Barry, I’ll say good night now. Nice to meet you, Stephanie. How long are you going to be here?”

  “We’ll leave in the morning. Then Mom can rearrange everything.”

  “Maybe you can meet Nita before you go,” Riley suggested. “If she’d known this little fellow was here, she’d have come with us tonight.” He offered his hand to Barry, who reached out with a laugh to slap it.

  Ah-ha! Nita had sent Riley to take me to dinner. I hoped she wasn’t planning to do any matchmaking.

  Riley patted Barry’s shoulder and raised his eyebrows at me. “Mexican Trains tomorrow night? Five thirty at the Bergens’.”

  “I thought it was Thursday nights.”

  He grinned and shrugged. “It was, once.”

  Uh-oh. They’d changed dominoes to include me? Affirmative on the matchmaking.

  Stephanie gave him an air kiss and said she’d be back frequently and he gave a little wave and sauntered off toward his car.

  I saw the cat as we neared the screen porch. Stephanie was carrying Barry and neither of them noticed the mostly dark shape hovering over the food dish. The cat stopped eating and watched as I closed the porch’s screen door behind me and went around Stephanie to unlock the apartment.

  “We’re going to brush our teeth and get ready for bed.”

  “I think I’ll sit out here a minute.”

  “Don’t let that woman worry you, Mom. You’ll win her over in no time.”

  “Thanks, honey. I’m over it already.”

  I closed the door to keep the cool air inside and sat on the wicker love seat. I wondered if the cat would be afraid of me, but that wasn’t the case. She came over right away and examined my ankles.

  “Hello, pretty.” I gave her back a slow stroke. Soft, like feathers.

  She blinked big yellow eyes, meowed a soft, raspy meow and sniffed my ankles and hems thoroughly before going back to her dish. When I went inside a few minutes later, she oozed past me and stopped just inside the door. Then she set off on a feline inspection tour, sniffing furniture and boxes, rubbing her cheeks against corners and pausing frequently to look around, as though she were expecting someone. All the while, her plume of a tail waved back and forth. When she disappeared among the boxes, I looked around, taking inventory and planning the rest of the unpacking. I expected Stephanie to come back for a chat, but the only sound I heard was the cat, checking out the litter box. Eventually I gave up and began turning off lights, heading for bed and, at that point, Stephanie appeared in the hallway, dressed in shorty PJs.

  “Mom, I think I forgot to lock the car. Will it be okay, do you think?”

  It was my first night at Harbor Village, and my own car was in a garage. I stuck out my hand. “Let’s not risk it. Give me your keys and I’ll check.”

  She showed me her remote. “You don’t have to walk all the way out. Just click this when you get halfway there. The horn will beep to tell you it’s locked.”

  I walked to the end of the sidewalk, past mostly dark apartments in my building. Lights were still on in about half the houses across the fence, and the five-globe lamps cast a pleasant wash across the sidewalks.

  At the corner of the garages I looked across at the still-dark lobby of the big house. There was no person in sight, anywhere. I aimed and pressed Stephanie’s lock button.

  Her horn beeped and the car lights blinked twice and, at almost the same instant, the headlights flashed on both of the SUVs parked in the center of the lot. An engine started, and the car facing away from me began to move in a big loop, circling back toward my position. I turned and walked behind the garage to see that the walkout door was locked, and then I headed for my new apartment and bed. It had been a long, long day.

  * * * *

  Friday morning I woke at the usual Atlanta time. A calico cat was curled up against my shins.

  “Good morning,” I greeted her, and she stood and stretched, all four feet close together, and soaked up a little petting. “Wonder what your name is. And how could anybody abandon you?”

  She purred and twisted about in tight little circles of ecstasy. Loose hairs floated in the air.

  “I’ll get you a brush today,” I promised.

  After a few minutes, I got out of bed and went to my suitcase, lying open on the floor in front of the closet. I got the jeans I’d worn yesterday and pulled on a stretchy bra and a clean black tee. The cat watched every move then hopped off the bed and shot out to the kitchen as soon as I headed that way.

  “Okay,” I told her, speaking quietly, “we’ll move your dish inside.”

  But when I went out to the porch to get it, I was distracted by odd noises coming from somewhere beyond the garage. I heard voices and throbbing engines, gravel crunching and, slicing through the other sounds, the harsh static of a two-way radio. A fire truck, I imagined, but I hadn’t heard any sirens.

  “I’ll be right back,” I told the cat. And I walked down the sidewalk to see what was going on so early.

  Stephanie’s car was parked just where we’d left it, and one of the SUVs—now I saw it was silver—was a few spaces beyond, near the center of the lot and not far from the side door of the big house. Maybe it belonged to the night security man, based on the fact it was there both early and late.

  The big house was dark and silent, but the other parking lot, in front of Nita’s garage building, was a hive of activity, with half a dozen police cars, a fire truck and two ambulances, all of them with lights pulsing.

  Another police car sprayed gravel as it went through the intersection without stopping.

  I walked closer, keeping near the garages, then stopped when I reached Harbor Boulevard. The excitement, whatever it was, seemed to be at either the indoor pool or the new outdoor pool, which had been under construction on my previous visit.

  Someone wearing what appeared to be a white bathrobe walked in a wide arc around the emergency vehicles. It might be Dolly, since she claimed to swim early in the mornings. She was looking over her shoulder toward the pool, making slow progress, and didn’t see me wave. A police officer trailed her at a distance, shouting something I couldn’t make out.

  “Okay, okay!” the woman yelled back, and the officer pointed in my direction.

  “Dolly? Dolly,” I called. “Is that you?”

  She looked toward me vacantly. “Yes. Who is it?”

  “Cleo,” I said. “Nita’s friend. I moved in yesterday.”

  Dolly came closer. “You’re who? Nita?”

  I walked toward her. “Remember me? I’m Cleo Mack. We played dominoes a few weeks ago.”

  She came closer, pee
ring at me inquisitively. The policeman was still following her.

  “Oh, yes, Cleo. I remember you. Robert Mack’s wife. It’s getting to where I can’t see anything.” She lifted a corner of the towel draped over her arm and patted short, slicked-back hair. “I don’t usually greet friends looking like this. You’ll have to excuse me. You got here just in time for the excitement, didn’t you?”

  She sounded casual and social, considering the time of day and circumstances, whatever they were. The policeman was still walking in our direction.

  “What’s going on?” I gestured toward the vehicles.

  She was dismissive. “Oh, some fool in the pool. Drowned, I suppose. I called nine-one-one and went inside to swim, and now they’re acting like I’m trespassing.”

  “I think he wants to talk to you.” I pointed to the policeman who was now right behind her.

  “What now?” Dolly shouted to him. “I’m going, I’m going!” To me, she said, “Can they really tell us we can’t be here? I pay rent, and they won’t even let me swim.”

  She set off, stamping her way to the middle of the intersection before the officer got her attention.

  “Ladies,” the cop called, motioning for Dolly to come back. He was a big, hefty clone of the actor Samuel L. Jackson, with a shiny brown head, black-framed glasses and a black uniform covered with patches and pockets and flaps and leather pouches. “I’m going to need your names since you’re the only people around. Just a formality.” His voice was deep and reassuring, like a radio announcer.

  I asked, “What happened?”

  “I told you, someone drowned.” She looked at the cop. “Who was it?”

  “Your name is?” He was looking at me, pen poised over a notepad. His name, Chief Boozer, was printed on a patch above his pocket.

  I gave him my name and apartment number and told him I needed to get back there, since no one knew where I was.

  He nodded, and I told Dolly I’d see her later.

  I told Stephanie what was going on outside while we prepared toast and fruit. We didn’t have a lot of breakfast foods to choose from, so the meal didn’t take long. As I cleared the table the drowning victim was on my mind. Probably an Assisted Living resident who had wandered away during the night.

  Stephanie called Boyd and summarized the accident in a few words before discussing her plans for the day. Meanwhile, Barry was making truck noises as he marched a path through the maze of moving boxes.

  There was a knock at the porch door and I saw Chief Boozer waiting.

  Barry tried to follow me onto the porch and set up a little howl when I closed the door with him still inside.

  “My grandson,” I said to the chief.

  He nodded. “I understand you’ll be working here, Ms. Mack, and I wonder if you can help us. We need to identify this woman.”

  “Dolly Webb didn’t know her?”

  “She didn’t look. Some people are squeamish.”

  “I’d be glad to help,” I didn’t want to be considered squeamish, “but I haven’t met many people here yet.”

  “Just come take a look.”

  I agreed. “Let me tell Stephanie where I’m going.”

  Chief Boozer talked while we walked. “I’m thinking she’s too young to live here. Might be a staff member. Or somebody’s daughter.”

  That gave me a jolt. Having a daughter of my own, I’d have to try to help.

  “Or maybe she lives nearby,” the chief went on. “The office staff isn’t here yet and people in that back building are busy with dressing and breakfast. All their residents are accounted for, they say.”

  We crossed the parking lot, sand and gravel crunching with our steps. There was yellow crime scene tape around the pool now. I was imagining what a body would look like after a drowning. How long had it been submerged? Or had it floated? Would gulls have gotten to it?

  “Surely someone here will know her.” Someone other than me.

  Boozer shrugged. “Some of the people who live here aren’t exactly playing with a full deck, you know.”

  Did he mean Dolly?

  The fire truck and a couple of police vehicles were positioned around the ambulance, blocking the gaze of onlookers now beginning to trickle out of the apartments to stand in clusters around the parking lot or on the porch of the big house. We went between vehicles, into the circle of officials, and I saw Jim Bergen with the group of responders. He gave a little nod and inched forward. All eyes turned toward me.

  The body was under a white cover, on a gurney behind the ambulance. Probably some senile lady who wandered away from her apartment, I imagined, or one of Jamie’s assisted living residents who hadn’t been missed yet. Why hadn’t they summoned Jamie for the identification? Or anybody other than me.

  A medical attendant stood by the gurney, waiting for the Chief to give a signal.

  He nodded and took my elbow. In case I fainted, I supposed.

  I knew who it was as soon as I saw a bit of the water-soaked green dress, but I made myself look at the blotchy face. There were remnants of bright lipstick, the skin was puffy and wrinkled, eyes closed, and the hair dark and wet and crudely pushed back from her face.

  I turned away from the gurney and nodded to Chief Boozer.

  Chapter 4

  The chief gave a signal and I heard the clank of the gurney as the attendant rolled it into the ambulance.

  The doors slammed, and I cleared my throat. “Her name is Lee—Lee something. She’s in charge of this facility but works out of Houston and is here only occasionally. The residents may not even know her.”

  A couple of people made notes while I talked.

  “How do you spell Lee?” one asked.

  I shook my head. “I’ve never seen it written. Oh—the last name’s Ferrell. She’s a big donor to public television.”

  One of the cops let out a soft whistle.

  “How sure are you?”

  I looked up at Chief Boozer. “I met her for the first time yesterday and she was wearing the same green dress. The staff members here can tell you more than I can.” I imagined him talking to Patti. “Try Jamie Barnes in the Assisted Living Building. She fills in when Lee isn’t here.”

  He offered to have one of his people walk me back to the apartment, but I told him I was fine. And I wasn’t alone. Stephanie was here, and Jim Bergen was waiting to walk back with me. He tried quizzing me about details but I was distracted, saddened that someone so young and strong could die so suddenly. There was a sense of personal loss, too. Fairhope had been a new start, a place untainted by loss. Now I was reminded; bad things happened everywhere.

  “Is your daughter still here?” Jim asked.

  I snapped out of my reverie and invited him to come in and meet Stephanie and Barry.

  He was quite taken with Stephanie, who always looks pretty and feminine and flirts with old men, but he had no rapport with Barry.

  “Stephanie will be leaving soon,” I told him. “Can she stop by and meet Nita?”

  “Cleo, that’s an excellent idea.” He consulted his watch. “Nita’s not an early riser, but nobody could sleep through this noise today. Let me go back now and bring her up to date. Then you come over whenever you get ready, and I’ll get out and see what I can hear. Good plan. Bye, little fellow.” He reached to pat Barry’s head but backed off when Barry glared at him.

  Stephanie had been busy while I was out, unpacking glassware and dishes and arranging things in the china cabinet, along with table linens and decorative stuff I should have gotten rid of. She had a pile of boxes waiting to be cut down for recycling. When that was done, the three of us went out through the courtyard and the lobby of my building.

  “So this is where you’ll get mail.” Stephanie went to the bank of boxes to look for number eight.

  There were a few people outside, standing and talkin
g or walking. I saw two police cars parked near the swimming pool, but the yellow tape was gone.

  Nita must have been watching for us. She opened the door before we got to it.

  “Oh, Cleo! How terrible! I just can’t believe this.” Then she saw Barry and lit up.

  Stephanie got a hug. Barry got a double handshake, with Nita down on his level as she addressed him.

  He hid behind his mother at first and grinned coyly at Nita. He’d probably never seen such a tiny adult. But he warmed up quickly and gave her his cutest smile.

  When we were leaving, Nita lagged behind and asked quietly, “How do you suppose she managed to drown?”

  I told her my theory about the shoes. “I didn’t see her feet this morning, but the shoes must’ve tripped her.”

  “Or maybe she turned an ankle and fell,” Nita said. “I heard the shoes were Jimmy Choos.”

  She certainly didn’t seem to be troubled by a drowning. I let the professional side of me take over. “At least she didn’t work directly with residents, so they won’t feel a personal loss. And I hate to say it, but the people who did know her didn’t like her very much. Maybe this won’t be a big trauma for the community.”

  “But such a terrible beginning for your new job. I hate that.”

  I smiled and nodded my thanks and Nita patted my shoulder. She seemed to have a direct line to my thoughts.

  “Remember to come at five thirty for dominoes. We’ll have a lot to talk about tonight, but we won’t let it spoil the evening.”

  Stephanie and Barry were waiting at the edge of the porch.

  I said to Nita, “Thank you for sending Riley to take us out last night.”

  “Oh, did he? How nice.” She wasn’t admitting anything. “Riley is a special person.”

  “We went to the restaurant on the pier,” Stephanie said.

  Hearing that, Barry sprang into action, rising up and down on tiptoes and speaking directly to Nita. I got the message when he pointed skyward.

  “He fed the gulls at the pier,” Stephanie translated. “Not last night, but on an earlier visit.”