“What makes you think Sonja might have been involved?”
“She’s been acting strangely, throwing out strange comments. It’s pretty evident that she’s nervous and angry at the same time. And she’s looking shifty.”
“Thin gruel, my dear.”
“Yes, I know,” Deb admitted. “But she’s also the one who is so bound and determined to get out of here as fast as she can. The other two really want to stay but she’s pushing them to come with her. To me, she’s acting guilty. I think she might have done something. Maybe not the murder, but something.”
“Do you think Pam and Katers know?”
“No. They didn’t even suspect until this morning when it started becoming obvious that something was wrong. And then they didn’t know what to do.”
I shrugged, more for myself than anything. “Do we know what to do?”
Deb groaned. “I was hoping you would have a plan.”
I took a deep breath and thought fast. A plan. I needed a plan. Like a flash, one came to me.
“Deb, do you have a security system that records activity in certain parts of your house?”
“Yes, but it’s been on the fritz for months. Somehow we never get around to getting it fixed. I told Roy about that last night when he asked.”
“Do your friends know that?”
“That it’s not working? No, I don’t think so.”
“Good. Here’s what we’ll do.”
I went over my idea quickly and she agreed to do it right away.
“I don’t know if it’s the greatest idea, but at least it’s an idea,” she said.
“Gee, thanks Deb. Just get ready to put it into play. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Hurry. They’re packing and I’m fixing them some English muffins for the road. It won’t be long before they are off.”
I hung up and raced to get dressed in my usual jeans and long sleeved Henley. Bebe was still sleeping and I was pretty sure she would still be out when I came back later that day. I would be the same if I hadn’t had this call from Deb.
I fed Sami and he lashed his tail at me, just showing his disapproval of the amount of time I’d been gone lately. I stopped to say hello to Aunty Jane. She frowned at me and went on raking leaves in the back yard. She had a recent compulsion to keep things neat and orderly back there. Funny. She’s never seemed to care about it before. But she did now, and that was fine. I really did love the sweet old thing.
I hopped into my beat up little compact car and raced off toward where the rich people lived, but my mind was consumed with thinking about motives. What could Sonja’s motives have been? Love for Carlton? Rage at being ignored by him? Affection for Deb and wanting to help her free herself from a horrible possible stepmother? Gradually, the motive seemed to coalesce before my eyes.
What was it that motivated Sonja? Coming from an unhappy home life, she’d always found comfort and solace with Deb and her father. She thought she was in love with Carlton, but he scorned her for an artificial bimbo who made her retch. She thought she’d found a way to appeal to him with the snake charmer costume, but he didn’t even stick around to watch her dance. In anger, she went looking for him and instead found Marilyn in the swimming pool. Luring her to the edge, she strangled and drowned her, then panicked and tried to find a way to hide the costume, thus hiding her part in the crime. Poor Marilyn, at the wrong place at a bad time. Poor Sonja, a victim of her emotions. Poor everybody.
They were piling suitcases in the entryway when I came in ten minutes later. They greeted me with smiles and hugs and it felt almost normal. Maybe Deb and I were both making a mountain out of a molehill. I looked at Sonja hopefully. Come on girl, I thought. Show me that I’m all wet about this.
“I suppose you’ve heard that I was the snake charmer,” she said rather belligerently. “I don’t appreciate you giving the police my costume.”
My feelings of compassion for her were cooling rapidly.
“Why did you hang your costume on a rope over the side of the garage?” I asked. “Why were parts of your costume found around the swimming pool?”
Her mouth dropped at that one. She obviously didn’t realize how close she was coming to being a real suspect. She looked quickly at Deb. Suddenly, she was in a big hurry. “Well, we’d better get going.”
“Oh, don’t let me stop you,” I said cheerfully. “I just came by to pick up the surveillance tapes and take them to the police for review.”
That stopped her cold. “Surveillance tapes? What surveillance tapes?”
“From last night. The whole house is wired for cameras. You didn’t know that?”
Her face took on a haunted look. “Pam, Katers,” she called to her friends who’d gone back to check the bedrooms. “We need to get going.”
Deb came into the room with two old VCR tapes in her hand. “Here you go,” she said. “These are from two angles and cover the whole swimming pool area. I’m sure they’ll find something they can use on these.”
I took them and smiled at Sonja. “Maybe we’ll get a glimpse of that marvelous costume too,” I said. “We should have had photographers hired on for that one. Congratulations. That was spectacular.”
“Where are you taking those tapes?” she asked, blinking rapidly. “I’m going right through town. I could drop them off for you.”
“Oh no, I wouldn’t want anything to slow you down. I know you want to get home as fast as you can. Besides, I’ve got my morning all planned out. I’m going to take the coast route so I can come into town on the south side and pull into Jill’s coffee bar. I’ll run in and get my usual morning latte, then hop on over to the police station to drop off these tapes for Captain Stone, and maybe get my statement taken and out of the way while I’m there.”
“Better lock your car while you’re at Jill’s,” Deb suggested. “We don’t want anything to happen to those tapes.”
“Oh darn,” I said. “My locks don’t work for some reason. But don’t worry. It only takes me a minute to get my latte. She usually has it waiting for me. I’ll be back in the car and in charge of those tapes in no time at all.”
I’m sure you can see from this what the plan was. I wanted to fool Sonja into thinking the tapes that might incriminate her would be sitting on the front seat of my car with no one to guard them for a good couple of minutes. That left a nice opportunity for her to swoop in and grab them and have them destroyed. You wonder why she wouldn’t ask why the police hadn’t take the tapes themselves the night before? That would have been a hard question to answer. But you can usually count on guilty people to fall for things like this. Once they hear what it is, they become panicked and all they can think about is destroying the evidence against them. At least, I hoped that was true.
Of course, if she wasn’t guilty, she wouldn’t try to do anything. And then we’d know. At least we’d have a pretty good guess at what the truth was.
The purpose of it all? To give us clear evidence and to have something to show to Roy. That was about it.
We said our good-byes and I got into my car and headed off to the coast road. The morning sun was shining on the blue water and it looked as still as glass. Beautiful. I sighed, so happy that I lived in such a lovely place. I was just making adjustments for the scary cliff section of the road and thinking about how good that latte was going to taste when I heard a car coming up fast behind me. I looked in the rear view mirror and I could see the driver’s face. It was Sonja and she was coming fast. Her ancient Camaro was at least twice the weight of my little car and it was coming at me.
She was going to hit me! On purpose!
I opened my mouth, but instead of the scream I was automatically about to let out, I yelled for help. “Dante!” I shouted. But I knew there was not time for anyone to stop this. Sonja’s car was aimed right at me and she was charging. If she hit me at that angle, I was going over the cliff. My heart stood still. I jammed on the accelerator but there was really nothing I could do. I heard her whe
els screeching as she went into the turn. And now the scream really did tear through my throat and split the morning in two.
One part was me in my car, sailing out over the cliff. Then there was Sonja in her car, sailing out behind me, and crashing into the rocks below. Then, somehow, my car was back on the road again, screeching to a stop, turning to face the wrong way. But still intact. I might even be okay. Yes. It seemed I was. I could breathe again.
“Dante,” I cried, looking around. I couldn’t find him but I knew darn well he was there, somewhere. And I owed my life to him. Again.
Deb and the two other girls came driving up, pulling over and jumping out to come see how I was. And then we all stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the tangled wreck that had been Sonja’s car.
“Why would she do such a crazy thing?” I said to no one in particular. “Why Sonja, why?”
Deb shook her head. “She tore off like a mad woman once she knew you were gone. I really thought she would follow the plan and try to get the tapes from your car. But she got so angry, I guess all she wanted to do was destroy them. And you, if it came to that. You were just another obstacle in her way.”
“So now she’s destroyed herself.”
“I called 911,” Deb said, just as the sirens began to be heard coming ever closer. “And I called Roy, too.”
“Oh no,” I said. But I knew I was going to have to bite the bullet and listen to another lecture on how I shouldn’t be getting involved with murderers and deadly situations. There was no way to avoid it.
“Do you…do you see any sign of life?” Deb asked, staring down. The car had ended up just a bit higher than the current tide line, but the waves would soon be lapping at it.
I shook my head. “I don’t see anything,” I said. “It’ll be a miracle if she survived, don’t you think?”
And then the police were everywhere, scaling the cliff on ropes and heading down to see if Sonja could be saved. We watched carefully. Pam sobbed and Katers looked pale. Carlton arrived, looking grim.
And then Roy was there, sliding his arms around me from the back and holding me close.
“So you skated another one,” he whispered in my ear. “Close call, Mele. Much too close.”
I turned and buried my face against his chest and began to cry. I didn’t know exactly why. I was surprised. I usually don’t cry. But somehow, having him there, all big and strong and protective just broke through my barriers, and I cried. He held me as long as he could, but eventually he had to go be a cop, and I went back and sat in my car.
There I was, at the edge of danger again--at a place where fate met with the supernatural and strange things happened. Who could explain that? Not me. Some things just had to be accepted, not explained.
I knew that I was going to have to make a statement and try to describe how my car got hit by a muscle car from behind and ended up cleanly across the road instead of down on the rocks along with the muscle car that hit me. There was no way to explain it to normal, clear thinking human beings. And there was no way to explain about Dante. But I would do my best.
They brought up Sonja’s body. I was sad for her, but angry, too. She could have killed me. And she had killed Marilyn. Anyone who takes the life of innocent people gives up their right for sympathy, if you ask me. Still, I could regret what had made Sonja the twisted soul that she was. No one deserved that, either.
Deb came by my car to say good-bye. Pam and Katers waved.
“They’re going to be staying with us for awhile,” Deb told me. “They’re just too shaken up to go anywhere for now.”
I nodded, understanding. “We’ll have to get together one of these nights,” I murmured, only half meaning it.
“Sure.” Deb waved and headed for her own car.
Roy came by and opened my car door. “Come on,” he said, reaching for my hand to help me out. “You’ve been through a little too much to be driving yourself home. We’ll get one of the boys to take your car back for you.”
“Are you going to take me?”
“Of course.”
I smiled at him. “I get to ride in a cop car?”
“Why not?”
I sighed happily as he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. Then we started toward where he was parked.
“Want to go get something to eat with me?”
I nodded. “And then can we go for a long, long walk on the beach?” I asked him. “So we can talk and think and straighten out this crazy world.”
He grinned and leaned down to kiss me. “You got it, lady. I’ve got the time if you’ve got the need.”
I sighed and nodded. As he helped me into his car, I saw him looking back at mine, at where it had been and where it had ended up, with a puzzled look on his face. There were going to be questions. He wasn’t going to be satisfied with the answers.
But that would be later. Right now, we had a beach to get to.
The End
Recipe
Mai Tai—nothing else tastes quite so tropical. Or looks it, with a piece of juicy fruit speared into the mix, maybe a little paper parasol, and a nice fat Maraschino cherry in among the ice cubes. Yum!
But what if you don’t drink alcohol, can’t abide rum, or just want something fancy to serve the kids? That’s where the Mock Mai Tai comes in. Try it!
Mock Mai Tai No Ka Oi
6 oz orange juice
6 oz pineapple juice
6 oz cranberry juice
6 oz lemon-lime soda (7up, Sprite, Fresca-you choose)
1 TBS Orgeat syrup
1 TBS Maraschino syrup
Stir gently, then pour into tumblers over ice cubes and add that Maraschino cherry or a slice of orange or pineapple. Enjoy!
Sami’s Story
By J.D. Winters and Dakota Kahn
J.D. Winters and Dakota Kahn worked together to bring you this cat’s-eye view of the world. Starring Sami, who has guested in many of the Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries, as he has an adventure and sacrifices his comfort and some fine hours of sleep, but never his feline dignity.
Mele and the Calendar
Hi. I’m Mele Keahi. I usually narrate my own stories, but this time, I’m laying the groundwork for Sami, my aunt’s big black cat. He needs to make a case for himself, so I volunteered to let him use some of my space here. I think you’ll understand why as we go along.
It all started…well, it was my fault, actually. And I thought it was such a good idea at the time. You see, I’m the Activities Director for North Destiny Bay. I plan art walks along the beach, picnics for seniors, square dances for charity—all that sort of thing. When I was asked to come up with a fundraiser, I decided it would be a good idea to do a community calendar. Some groups use muscle-bound men, others use local prize-winning gardens—I thought it would be cool to use pictures of our best cats.
We solicited photos from cat owners all over town and had a panel of judges to pick the best ones to be the monthly pictures. I had no doubt Sami, my aunt’s beautiful feline, would be one of the most popular, and I took in a great picture of him lounging in the yard, showing off his tummy and looking benign.
I was so sure it was a photo anyone could love. It didn’t even enter my mind that he might lose. I mean, there weren’t even all that many entries!
We have another cat living with us. That’s my fault, too. I was the one who found the body of his owner after he’d been pushed off a cliff, so I thought it only fair that I take the victim’s big gray cat named Silver home with me. I thought he and Sami would be best buds.
No such luck. They hate each other. So when it turned out Silver had a place in the calendar—Mr. November, no less! And Sami had been shunted aside, feelings began to run high.
“I don’t know how this could have happened,” I wailed to Bebe as we opened the envelopes announcing the results. “How could anyone take a look at that gorgeous face and give a shrug? He’s the best cat ever!”
“I know,” she said, looking as outraged as
I was. “If I’d known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have sent in the picture of Silver.”
There was a scraping noise from the window. Sami was pawing the glass and looking very intense to signal that he wanted to come in. Bebe and I stared at each other in dismay.
“What do you think?” I whispered to her. “Will they figure out what’s going on? I mean, they’re just cats, after all.”
She stared at me as though amazed at how insensitive I was being. “Just cats who hang out with a ghost,” she pointed out, referring to Aunty Jane, our family spirit. “Something tells me the news will spread fast.”
My heart fell. I hated to think of that big old sleek black cat feeling belittled by anything.
“You know, if the people on that panel could only see what an exceptional cat Sami is, I’m sure they’d change their minds,” I said. “If they knew about how he’s helped me solve crimes! If they could see him in action.”
Bebe shrugged as she walked over to let him in. “But they can’t. And at this point, it will just seem like you’re whining if you try to tell them. Too bad you didn’t write something up about him from the beginning.”
“Yeah. Too bad.”
He looked like a happy cat as he dashed in and headed straight for his food dish, tail high. I followed him over and gave him a chunk of his favorite tuna soufflé. He rubbed against my wrist before he took a bite, then gave me the squinty eyes that seemed to radiate love.
I sighed. I’d really let him down. How was I going to make this right?
We moped around for the rest of the evening, so depressed we didn’t even feel like cooking, so we shared a package of ramen and listened to an oldies CD on the player. Usually we would be singing along raucously, and even dancing a little, but tonight we just sat there, glum.
Mele's Ghostly Halloween Caper: Plus Sami's Story by J.D. Winters and Dakota Kahn (Destiny Bay Cozies Mysteries Book 6) Page 8