Pier Pressure

by Rose Pressey

  “She’s right. I do suspect her. I think it’s a bad idea for you to be involved with her, Maggie.”

  “Well, I’m going to investigate this, and I’ll be the one to judge whether I should get involved or not.”

  He shook his head. “Just please be safe. What did she tell you about the case? Do you have any details that you can share with me?”

  “Sorry, I don’t have anything like that yet.”

  Did Jake think I was lying to him? It was true though. She hadn’t given me information yet.

  “There was one thing though. She thinks people are following her,” Dorothy said.

  I looked at her as if telling her to be quiet. She went back to the socks she was knitting and continued weaving the yarn.

  Jake leaned back in the chair and sighed. “You’ll let me know if you find out anything significant? I would love more than anything not to be suspicious of her right now. I just can’t help it.”

  “I’ll make sure to let you know,” I said.

  I was being honest. If I thought something was important I would share with him. I didn’t want to put my life in danger any more than he wanted me to be there.

  Jake’s phone rang. He looked at the number and then he said, “I have to go, but would you consider going out to dinner tonight? That is if you’re not mad at me still.”

  “Well, I did have a lot of things to work on with the case, but I suppose dinner would be okay.”

  He stood from the chair. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”

  “Seven sounds good,” I said.

  Chapter 4

  It was now twelve noon. I had the rest of the day until Jake picked me up for dinner. I wanted to get a few things done in regards to the new case. Number one, I would go to the boat dock and ask around about Robert.

  Another thing on my list was to find out more about my new client. If Jake was suspicious I had to follow up on his feelings. I would be stupid to ignore it. One way I would find out more about Cora was to put a tracking device on her car. Sneaky? Yes. It had to be done.

  Also I wanted to speak with not only her friends, but her enemies. Friends might only have nice things to say about her. Of course, the enemies might have bad things to say. With any luck, I’d be able to pick out the truth.

  Placing the tracking device on the car without being caught would be another hard task. Nevertheless, I was up for the challenge.

  “Okay, Dorothy, I have a few errands to run.” I grabbed my purse and headed for the door.

  Dorothy rushed over and stood in front of the door. I still didn’t understand how she moved so quickly. She hopped around like a cricket. “Not so fast.” She held her hands up.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Don’t play innocent with me, Missy.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I know what you’re up to. These so called ‘errands’”—Dorothy made air quotes with her fingers—“are really things pertaining to this case.”

  I sighed. “So what? I have to start working on it.”

  “I know you and I know you are likely to get yourself in trouble. Therefore, I am going with you.”

  Dorothy acted as if I wasn’t an adult. She rushed over and stuffed the knitting needles into her giant handbag.

  “Dorothy, I don’t need a babysitter,” I said.

  She scoffed. “Don’t be so sure about that. We need to get some lunch while we’re out.”

  Dorothy marched out the door and past me with that giant pocketbook draped on her shoulder. She surreptitiously left a trail of breadcrumbs as she walked toward the car. She was constantly feeding the seagulls. I swatted at the birds as they dive-bombed toward my head. Dorothy got into the car and waited with her handbag on her lap. At least I had my car back. It had recently been stolen. For a short time I had driven Jake’s scooter. He called it a bike. Actually, I had kind of enjoyed riding the thing.

  I slipped behind the steering wheel. A couple seagulls flew close to the windshield. Dorothy stared straight ahead as if she hadn’t seen a thing. I cranked the engine and backed out of the parking space.

  “Where are we headed?” Dorothy asked.

  “I thought first we’d swing by my new client’s place.” I stared the car.

  “Oh, you want to ask her some questions?” Dorothy pulled out her knitting needles.

  “No, I want to put a tracking device on her car.” I backed out of the parking space, ignoring Dorothy’s stink-eye.

  Dorothy stared at me. “Are you serious?”

  I pulled out onto the street. “Completely serious. We need to know if she’s being honest.”

  “How will following her accomplish that?” Dorothy asked.

  “By the places she goes. We can see if she has any connections with people who would be suspicious.”

  “Like people who have access to explosive devices.”

  “Yes, I suppose that is one thing.” I stopped at a red light.

  “How are you going to put the device on her car?” Dorothy asked.

  “I’ll just slip it in the wheel well when she’s not watching,” I said.

  “You make it sound so easy,” she said.

  Dorothy and I arrived at the address Cora had given me. The home was beautiful and large, with palm trees lining the drive. The lawn was well manicured and bright red flowers overflowed from the planters on the front porch stoop.

  “Nice place,” Dorothy said as she studied the house.

  I looked around at the other equally impressive homes. I wondered if I should talk to the neighbors and ask if they’d seen anything unusual. Maybe they’d seen strange people hanging around or heard something. Any little bit would help. I’d add that to my to-do list. Finding time to do it would be difficult.

  Dorothy shoved the knitting needles into her purse. “Okay, what do you want me to do? Where do you want me to put the tracking device?” She wiggled her fingers at me, suggesting that I hand over the device.

  “No can do, Dorothy. I’m putting the device on the car myself. You’ve never done this before.” I shut off the engine.

  “And how many times have you done this?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

  I frowned. “None. That still doesn’t mean I’ll let you.”

  “Fine, I’ll get my own device and put it on the car.” She clutched her purse to her chest.

  “You will not,” I said. “And why would you put a device on there when I have one on there already? Who’s handling this case?”

  “You, but I’m the assistant,” she said.

  “Yes, you are the assistant, and all we need is one device.”

  “Okay.” She scoffed. “Fine, one device, but I can do the next one?”

  “We’ll see,” I said as I opened the car door.

  “So what do I do?” she asked.

  “How about you go out there and just be my lookout? You can make sure she’s not seeing me actually put the device on the car.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?”she asked

  “Maybe just go to the door and talk to her while I’m over at the car. Make sure that she can’t see me over there. It’s a pretty good distance from the driveway to the front door, so I doubt she will.”

  “What am I supposed to talk about?” Dorothy said.

  “I don’t know. How about the weather?”

  She shook her head. “How about I tell her that we came to ask her questions about the case?”

  “Good idea, she likes you. You can tell her that I got a call and that I’ll be right there.”

  “That sounds like a good plan.” Dorothy opened her door.

  Dorothy and I got out of the car. She headed for the front door and I made my way over to the Mercedes. Once Dorothy was at the door,I hurried over to the other side of the car and hunkered down by the wheel so that I was hidden from view. I hopedthat I knew what I was doing. I’d never done this before and if I didn’t get it right Dorothy would insist that I let her do it. She seemed to be pretty much an expert at everything
she’d ever gone to do, so maybe I should let her handle it. Sometimes I bumbled my way through things. Nevertheless, I had to get this over with.

  I reached up under the wheel well and placed the device on the car. My fingers were crossed that it actually worked. My luck it would fall off. Or even worse what if Cora discovered that it was there? Though I suppose she wouldn’t know who had put it there. She was already convinced that someone was following her. Maybe someone was, but that was what I was here to find out. What reason would she have to lie? Thank goodness this part was over.

  I’d just gotten the thing on when voices grew closer to me.I jumped up from behind the car and raced around to the other side. Dorothy and Cora were coming toward me. Why had Dorothy let her over here? Now I looked completely suspicious. I always gotthat strange look on my face when I was doing something that I didn’t want to be caught doing. I thought Cora realized something was going on by the way that she looked at me.

  I held up my phone. “Sorry about that. I got held up on a phone call. I didn’t want you to have to listen to me yammering on.” I laughed nervously.

  I supposed she believed me because she smiled. “Dorothy said you have some questions for me. You know I want to help any way I can. This is important, not only to find my husband’s killer,but to keep me from going to jail for something I didn’t do.”

  Cora basically repeated everything that she’d already told me while she was in my office. I’d already realizedwhy she wanted to hire me. Cora didn’t need to convince me again. I was already working on the case for her.

  “If you’ll excuse me now.” She placed her hand to her forehead, as if fainting was imminent.

  “Before you go, there was one more important thing I need to find out, and I’m not sure I can get that information from the police,” I said. “Have they mentioned what type of device was on the boat?”

  Corashook her head. “They won’t tell me anything because like I said, they think I’m involved. They’ve been asking me, trying to get me to tell them what it was.”

  “Hmm,” I said. “I suppose I’ll have to find this out another way.”

  “You have other ways?” Cora’s eyes widened.

  “That’s why I’m a private investigator,” I said with a smile.

  “Right,” she said with a chuckle. “I have to go now.”

  “Well, I’ll be in touch as soon as I find out anything further.”

  “That’s all the questions you have for me?” Cora asked.

  “That’s it. I’ll be in touch.” I turned around and marched for my car.

  When I reached the car door, Dorothy wasn’t with me. I turned around and hurried back to Dorothy. She was still talking to Cora.

  I looped my arm through Dorothy’s. “Okay, we’re out of here now.”

  I gently pulled Dorothy with me.

  “Bye.” Dorothy waved.

  Once we were a good distance away, I said, “We have to get out of here before she starts getting suspicious or before you accidentally tell her I put a tracking device on her car.”

  “I’m shocked that you think I would do something like that,” Dorothy said with a huff.

  “You’ve been known to slip up a time or two,” I said as we got into the car.

  Cora stood at the door of her house as I pulled away from the curb. She had no idea that the tracking device was on her car. Now I would be totally paranoid.

  “Did she mention anything else?” I asked.

  Dorothy scoffed. “I’m not going to answer that. And no, I didn’t mention the device, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She pulled out a peppermint and shoved it in her mouth. “You’re making me nervous. What’s gotten into you today?”

  Chapter 5

  Dorothy and I were at the boat dock now. This was where Cora said her husband had kept his boat. Jake had already talked with people around the dock, but now it was my turn. Maybe there were details people had left out or forgotten.

  Seagulls circled the bright blue sky in giant loops. Maybe they’d gotten word that Dorothy handed out treats. Boats swayed up and down in rhythm with the choppy waves. Sunshine blanketed the air with warmth. I’d gotten used to the Miami weather now. Though I still got hot and my makeup always slid off my face. It was tough to look glamorous doing this job anyway. I wasn’t sure how Abby managed it. Though glamor seemed to be totally natural.

  “Maggie, are you listening to me.” Dorothy waved.

  I snapped back to attention.

  “Where do we start?” Dorothy asked.

  “I suppose with the first person we spot who looks willing to speak with us,” I said.

  “That sounds like a terrible plan,” Dorothy said.

  I scoffed. “It’s not so bad.”

  “It looks as if everyone is hiding from us.” Dorothy scanned the surroundings.

  “They don’t know who we are. Why would they hide?”

  Though I was beginning to have my suspicions too. We walked closer to the boats, but I still hadn’t spotted anyone. If I left without talking with anyone I would be really upset. There was an empty slip and I wondered if that was where Robert’s boat had been. I didn’t know exactly what I would be looking for exactly. It was a good thing I wasn’t searching for a specific boat. They all looked alike, although Jake had told me there was a difference between the boats. They were all large and white. The only variation being a trim color and a name on the back. When I glanced over I caught Dorothy easing something from her purse.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” she said sheepishly.

  “What’s in your hand?” I motioned for her to show me.

  Finally, she opened her fist and the breadcrumbs tumbled to the ground.

  “You’re obsessed,” I said.

  “Have you seen their sad little faces?” She tossed some of the crumbs.

  “Actually I have—when they’re attacking me.”

  “There are people over on the pier.” Dorothy said, changing the subject.

  The pier was down from the docks and a few people were fishing. Since I hadn’t spotted anyone on the boats, I figured it might be a good idea to go over there. “Okay, let’s go over there.”

  Dorothy and I walked over to the pier. Halfway down Dorothy grabbed my arm.

  “What is it? Did you see something? Is there someone I should talk to?” I asked.

  Dorothy’s face had turned a pale shade of green. She wobbled a little.

  “You don’t look so good,” I said.

  “Maggie, have I ever told you that piers make me sick?”

  “What are you talking about? Why would they make you sick?” I asked.

  “It’s the water,” she said breathlessly. “There’s so much of it.”

  “That doesn’t make sense, Dorothy. You’ve been boating, surfing, paddleboarding, and scuba-diving. None of that bothered you.”

  Dorothy kept her death grip on my arm. “Don’t forget waterskiing.”

  “Maybe I should take you back to the car. This doesn’t seem like a great idea.”

  “No, no, I’ll be fine,” Dorothy said with a wave of her hands. She attempted to stand steady. “Now where to?”

  I stared at her for a moment. “If you’re sure.”

  “I suppose you want to speak with that man at the end of the pier?” She pointed. “All the way at the end of the pier.”

  “Sounds good.” I held Dorothy to steady her.

  “Why can’t he fish right here at this end of the pier? Now we have to go all the way out there.”

  “Why don’t you stand right here and wait for me? It’ll just take a second.”

  Dorothy shook her head. “No way. I need to be there in case you need me.”

  I knew she wasn’t about to give up. The only way she’d get off the pier without me was on a stretcher. Dorothy managed to walk all the way to the end of the pier with me, although I had to hold onto her arm. I asked anyone who would make eye contact with me if they knew R
obert. Everyone shook their heads no. I wasn’t sure if they were doing that because they didn’t want to talk or if they really didn’t know him. Although this wasn’t the boat area, so it was likely they wouldn’t know him.

  I wanted to get back to the boats so I could see if anyone had shown up yet.

  “All right, we’ve talked to enough people,” Dorothy said. “Let’sget back on dry land.”

  I still couldn’t understand how she did all of the things in the water. The pier was the one thing that scared her. I guessed everyone had their quirks. We made our way back over to the dock,and luckily this time there were a couple of people out. They were near the empty slip where I figured Robert’s boat had been. No one was looking at us. It was as if they were avoiding eye contact. They wouldn’t get off that easily though.

  A man with salt-and-pepper hair and wearing no shirt was working on his boat. As I approached he looked up.

  “Good afternoon,” I said in a pleasant tone.

  He eyed us up and down. “May I help you?”

  “Do you happen to know the man with the boat that was kept over there?” I pointed. “The one that exploded.”

  “Yes. I already talked to the police,” he said.

  “I know, but I’m a private investigator looking into the case. Can you tell me about him?”

  “Like I told the cops, I saw the wife over there early in the morning. It just seemed odd that she would be there at that time in the morning.”

  “Why do you think it was odd?”

  “It’s just she never went out on that boat. So for her to be there at such an early hour was unusual.”

  “Why were you here?” I asked.

  “I just came over because I was going fishing. Otherwise I would have never known she was there. That would have been bad for the case.”

  “Right, so you were convinced that she is the one who did this?”

  “Who else could it be? She didn’t like the boat much anyway from what I could tell.”

  “I thought you said she never came over here? How would you know?” I asked.

  Dorothy crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Yeah.”

  “Well, when I say never, I meant not often. She was over enough that I knew who she was, but when I did see them together they were fighting,” he said.