DUNE, DOCK, and a DEAD MAN: A Ravenwood Cove Cozy Mystery

by Carolyn L. Dean

“Good question. Whoever fired that gun into the engine would’ve had to be in the boat with the victim or be Anderson Bowles himself.”

  “Be Bowles himself? Why would he shoot the motor? He’d need that to get him back to shore safely.”

  “If someone was after him he’d try to defend himself. He might’ve had his own gun or he might’ve grabbed someone else’s. The examiner found traces of gunpowder on his hands, so he definitely fired a weapon not long before he died.”

  “He had a gun?”

  “He may not have had one of his own, but he definitely fired one. Also, the ME says there are no signs of a struggle, like bruising or marks on the body, and no obvious indicators that anyone else was in the boat.”

  “Did you find out anything else about the bullets?”

  James looked at Amanda’s eager face and cracked a grin. “I think you’re enjoying this as much as a new detective. When did you become an amateur sleuth?”

  She scoffed. “The first time I bumped into a dead guy in this town, that’s when.” She fiddled with her coffee cup, a bit embarrassed that he’d seen how much she was enjoying knowing the details of the investigation. “Maybe I just like a good puzzle, that’s all.”

  “Well, we can always use all the help we can get.” James shook his head. “To answer your question, we didn’t discover anything else about the bullet. Nothing. The striations on it don’t match any guns listed in the national database so we don’t know who owned it or where it came from. That caliber of ammo is very common.”

  Amanda turned over James’ words in her mind, considering all the options. “Ian said when he rented the boat to Anderson he had a cooler and a life vest with him. He also said he was acting kind of weird.” James looked interested and Amanda continued. “Well, Anderson may have been a psycho creep, but he’d never acted weird before, at least not to another guy. What if he was on drugs?”

  From the look on the detective’s face she could tell he was mulling over her question.

  “It’s possible, but nothing came up on the preliminary screening. We may find more when the full toxicology report comes back.” He was silent for a moment, obviously considering the possibilities. “If he was on drugs and hallucinating it would explain some of the behavior. The blurry vision, the confusion when he tried to pay with the wrong type of credit card, that sort of thing.”

  “And he was a young guy. Isn’t it kind of weird he’d have a heart attack at that age?”

  “It happens sometimes, but until we get a conclusive answer we don’t stop looking for clues. I’ll be following up with any other doctor records I can dig up and some other leads, and I’ll keep you posted about what I find.” He smiled. “Will that work for you, detective?”

  Amanda rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’s acceptable.”

  Chapter 11

  Amanda didn’t get much sleep that night. The thought of Anderson Bowles attacking her sweet friend kept rolling around in her mind, bringing up horrible images. She knew Meg had dated plenty of men before but there was a sort of innocence to her that made Amanda feel almost protective. She’d seen her friend lead with her heart many times, looking for love and always expecting the best, and Amanda hoped that she hadn’t been one of those women who had experienced the worst. Just before dawn, Amanda gave up on trying to sleep and checked her email for the upcoming reservations, arching her hands to type over the top of the fat orange cat that had pushed his way insistently onto her lap. Her website and the publicity about the sweet little Oregon beach town had been bringing her consistent guests every week, and she was actually able to set aside a bit of money for the ongoing renovation efforts. Now that she had the Inn clean and sound again, repainted with new windows and repaired trim, she was going to tackle some of the other projects, including updating the bathrooms and finishing some areas in the dank basement.

  Even as she was emailing confirmations to the potential guests and adding their information to her reservation calendar, her mind kept drifting back to Meg. If Meg had been one of Anderson Bowles’ victims, she wanted to be supportive of her and give whatever help she could give, but if she wasn’t a victim maybe Meg could still help her get some information that would help solve the mystery of Bowles’ death. When she thought back on her own disastrous love life, she knew she wasn’t in any position to critique anyone else’s.

  She texted Meg, knowing that she’d already be up and baking the delectable fresh pastries that the early morning coffee crowd would want, and when Meg offered to meet her at Cuppa she asked if Meg could come to the Inn instead. This conversation was going to be private in case Meg needed confidentiality or just a shoulder to cry on.

  Amanda was upstairs, giving the final touches to decorating the main hall on the second floor, when Meg arrived. She heard a hesitant knock and when Meg poked her head in and hollered “Hello?” Amanda leaned over the stair railing. Meg’s blond hair seemed even curlier than normal, probably due to the damp air, and she’d tied a festive red ribbon through it to try to keep it under control.

  “Come on up! I’m almost finished.” Fresh cut flowers in hand, she headed back to filling the vases in main bathroom. She did her best to make sure that the fall colors were spread throughout the Inn, and today she was simply adding some fresh blooms to the little vases she kept in every bathroom. A couple of fat white candles tied with raffia and a stack of fluffy Turkish towels, and even the smallest room looked more inviting.

  Meg was smiling as she leaned in the doorframe of the bathroom. “Hey, I brought you some croissants. Where do you want them?”

  “I could smell them before you even got up the stairs! Thanks. Just set them there and I’ll take them back down to the kitchen later.”

  “Did you hear that James is organizing a painting party for Gramma’s house? You doing anything on Tuesday? Forecast looks like the weather should be pretty good, and we could use all the help we can get!” Meg’s pleading tone may have sounded a bit whiny but her grin was infectious.

  “I’ll do my best to be there, I promise.” Amanda gave the marble counter a last swipe with an old towel to make sure it was spotless and turned toward her friend. “Want to help me feed the chickens?”

  There was a thin blanket of morning fog still lingering on the bluff, with bits of sunshine trying to sneak through. As they walked out to the tidy coop, Amanda was still trying to think of how to ask her friend about her past with Anderson Bowles. Meg hadn’t gone into too much detail and if it was because she didn’t want to talk about a terrible experience, Amanda wanted to be respectful of that, but she had to know the truth. When she came back out of the henhouse, her egg basket nearly full with the day’s, Meg was happily clucking to the hens and throwing them feed corn while they milled around her, pecking at the rare treat.

  “You’re trying to be their best friend, aren’t you?”

  Meg chuckled. “Hey, you’re the one who steals their eggs. I want to be that nice lady who gives them goodies. It’s kinda like handing out candy to kids on Halloween. If you give ‘em the big candy bars you get instant popularity.”

  Amanda watched the chickens carefully. Even Dumb Cluck, the obnoxious rooster who loved to crow right before dawn and wake her up, seemed happy to stop protecting his hens long enough to let Meg stand just a few feet away and feed him.

  “Meg, I need to ask you a question, and I’m hoping you won’t be mad at me for asking.”

  That jerked her friend’s head up. “What question?” Her eyes were round with surprise. “I’d tell you anything, you know that.”

  Amanda sighed. “Meg, did Anderson Bowles ever attack you?”

  “Attack me?” Meg’s face flushed an uncomfortable red. “You mean, like…?”

  The unspoken end of her sentence hung in the air between them. “Yes, like that. I hate to even ask, but did he rape you?”

  Meg looked into Amanda’s eyes, the can of feed corn forgotten, her face serious.

  “No, he didn’t. When I finally met him in pers
on there was just something…off…about him. I didn’t know what it was but I knew it didn’t feel right. He’d said all sorts of amazing things when we were talking online and I fell for them all, hook, line, and sinker.” She upended the can, flicking the last bit of corn to the greedy chickens. “It turns out every word out of his mouth was a lie. Every single word.”

  The sense of relief washing over Amanda was nearly overwhelming. “Oh, sweetie-“ she reached over and hugged a surprised Meg, who was stiff in her sideways embrace. “I’m so glad! I was worried that you’d, that he’d…”

  “Gramma told me just a few days ago, about what kind of man he was.”

  Of course Mrs. Granger would tell her granddaughter. Amanda slipped her hand through the crook of Meg’s elbow and they started to walk back toward the Inn. She could tell her usually-cheerful friend was thinking quite a bit, and finally she let Amanda know what was on her mind.

  “I’m not saying that the fact that I wasn’t one of his victims makes me smarter than anyone else. It could’ve been me that he attacked or drugged. I was just lucky.”

  “Thank God you were, and thank God you had good instincts.”

  “I actually have met some really great guys over the internet, and I don’t regret that. There are a lot of lonely people out there.” She gave a rueful smile. “Like me.”

  Amanda didn’t show her surprise. She hadn’t thought about her sweet friend being lonely.

  Meg paused, biting her lip in thought, then asked, “Do we have any idea how many women he…?”

  “No.” Amanda’s answer was nearly a whisper.

  “I can’t say that I’m sorry he’s dead.”

  “Me, neither.” Amanda had to ask the final question, just to be sure. “So you had nothing to do with his death?”

  Meg gave Amanda a playful wink. “If I’d known what sort of guy he was, or if he’d hurt someone I really loved, I might’ve capped him myself.” She shrugged. “You know what? I’ve decided I’m done with bad boys. Life’s just too short to have to put up with bad men.”

  “Absolutely,” Amanda agreed, and she clutched her friend’s arm a bit tighter as they walked toward the warmth and light of the Ravenwood Inn.

  Chapter 12

  A new day, and Amanda’s happy guests had finished their breakfast and headed off to explore Ravenwood Cove and the little beach towns around it, leaving her in the kitchen with only Oscar and a sink full of dirty dishes. Thank goodness she only supplied breakfast and evening snacks to her guests! Doing dishes was one of her least favorite things to do, but she gamely grabbed a scrubber and soap to make sure everything was spotless for when her guests returned. She also had to go upstairs and make sure that the new towels were set out and the beds were made, clean the bathrooms, and add her signature touch of leaving a Godiva chocolate on each person’s pillow. It was going to be a busy morning. With a resigned sigh, she started running the water in the big kitchen sink.

  She loved the Ravenwood Inn, even with all the work it entailed, but running a bed and breakfast and being sure that everyone was happy and fed was a huge task, let alone all the cleaning. Rolling up her sleeves, and turning on some high-energy music she tackled the kitchen first. Oscar watched from his plush dog bed, satisfied to be the supervisor since he had already had his breakfast.

  By the time she had everything shipshape it was time to go. Amanda grabbed her coat and keys and headed out the door to pick up Jennifer. She’d taken Jennifer over a small pot of homemade chili the day before, hoping to lift her spirits a bit after her father’s death, but as soon as they sat down at the cottage’s little kitchen table, Jennifer had dissolved into tears and Amanda had simply hugged her while her young neighbor had a good, long cry. Jennifer was lonely and still grieving the loss of her father, and finally confessed that it had been hard for her to even get out of bed in the mornings. “I don’t even know how to cook for one person,” she finally said, her voice full of regret. Hearing the pain in her voice, Amanda silently vowed to be a better friend to her, and offered to take her out for coffee and grocery shopping the next day. She’d seen a flicker of gratitude and hope in Jennifer’s eyes as soon as she asked, and with a final hug, their plans were set.

  Their time at Ivy’s Café was full of laughter and there were only a couple of times where tears threatened to spill over. Amanda listened to Jennifer tell story after story about her father, remembered as having a wicked sense of humor and a very protective side. When she told a story about the first time Jennifer had a date and her father followed behind in his car, Amanda had to wonder if it was because he was being a good dad or if it was because he was afraid that his underworld connections made his daughter a target for something terrible.

  Watching the emotions play across Jennifer’s face as she talked, Amanda couldn’t help but marvel at her strength. It was apparent she hadn’t known about her father’s profession until he’d gone into the witness protection program, and now that he was gone, Jennifer was all alone in the world and barely making ends meet. Even though she was listening carefully, Amanda was mulling over Jennifer’s situation when a sudden thought popped into her head. A huge grin spread over her face and Jennifer stopped in mid-sentence.

  “What? What is it?”

  “I have a brilliant idea, one that will help us both out. Jennifer, you need a job, right?” At her friend’s confused nod, she continued. “Well, if you don’t have anything else lined up, how about coming to work with me at the Ravenwood Inn?” She saw a flicker of resistance on Jennifer’s serious face and suddenly realized that she might consider Amanda’s offer as some form of charity.

  “You should see me trying to manage that whole place by myself! I run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Please say you’ll come work with me, even if it’s just temporarily. I could really use the help, and you’d be doing me a huge favor by saying yes. Please?”

  Jennifer sucked in her breath and seemed to weigh the offer, then finally broke into a smile. “Well, I certainly couldn’t beat the commute time.” Amanda laughed, knowing that her quiet neighbor could just slip through the loose board in the fence between their houses to walk to work.

  “It’s a deal!” she said enthusiastically, and stuck out her hand. With a simple handshake, Amanda had her first employee ever.

  Coffee achieved, they stepped outside, still laughing, when a cold gust of wind whipped through Main Street, sending tumbling leaves rolling down the sidewalks. Potted plants and shop awnings shake and tremble at the sudden blast of autumn air.

  “I can’t believe I forgot my jacket,” Jennifer said, rubbing her hands up and down her arms in a bid to keep warm. “These days I think I’d forget my head if it weren’t attached.”

  Amanda smiled, her eyes kind. “Stress will do that to you. We’re not that far from your place. It’d only take a couple of minutes to go back and get it, if you want.” Jennifer agreed and when they’d driven back to the cottage she handed Amanda the house key.

  “Would you mind getting it? It’s right inside, on a chair by the door. I’m expecting a registered letter from the government, and it looks like the mail’s been delivered already. It’s kind of important.”

  As soon as Amanda opened the front door and flipped on the light switch she could see the red fleece jacket right where Jennifer had said it would be, on an overstuffed armchair in the tiny living room. The room still smelled of chili and spiced tea from her visit the day before.

  Just as she reached out to grab the collar of the fleece coat she caught a sudden blur of movement out of the corner of her eye, coming at her with ferocious speed from the arched kitchen doorway and so fast that only her instincts made her turn toward it. There was a bright, sharp flash of red, a sound like buzzing bees in her head, and a sickening sense of falling, falling, falling…

  It was all a big, dark, warm cloud. Amanda was swimming in it, hearing things around her that made no sense at all but that seemed to be more and more insistent and demanding. Aman
da tried to brush away the sounds became louder and she finally reluctantly swam upward through the fog trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her head. Her eyelids were so heavy she could barely open them but she just wanted to tell whoever was yelling at her to shut up so she could sleep. With monumental effort, she at last heaved open a single eyelid. There was someone standing over her, someone she knew, and he looked scared.

  This was a first, him looking scared. It hurt to even pull the memory from her swollen brain but at last his name surfaced.

  “James.” It came out as a croak, but his face broke into a frightened grin. “Paramedics are on their way. Just stay with me, Amanda. Stay with me…”

  She really wanted to, but the effort was too much. Back to sleep…

  Chapter 13

  Everything was quiet and sanitized white when Amanda finally woke. She was looking straight up, trying to focus her eyes, flat ceiling panels above her. The pain in her head throbbed viciously but she stifled a moan as she ran a hand over the smooth sheets and tried to turn her head to see where she was, but at the first whimper of sound she felt someone grab her hand and Lisa was leaning over her, her face full of alarm.

  “Don’t try to move. Stay still, and I’ll let the nurse know you’re awake.” She took Amanda’s silence for compliance and within seconds a second woman was leaning over her, checking her vitals and also telling her not to move. It took Amanda a bit to slowly realize that her neck was in a padded brace, so she tried to keep still while the nurse did her quick examination, and could hear the sigh of relief when the woman smiled and straightened up.

  “Looks like you’re doing much better. The doctor said your x-rays are clear and you could remove the neck brace if you want. You may still have some soreness but it won’t damage anything to have it removed.” At Amanda’s approval the nurse slowly undid the Velcro tabs on the brace and opened it, pulling it off and putting it on the bedside tray.