Murder on the Great lake

by Sandi Scott

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Not sure.” Georgie ordered each of them another Shirley Temple and they waited until the Catherine O’Leary was nearly empty before they ventured out onto the deck that was now being speckled by a steady rain.

  “WHO CALLED IN THE ACCIDENTAL drowning?” A loud male voice with a heavy Midwestern accent called out making Georgie snap her head in its direction.

  “Are you kidding me?” she muttered as she looked down the gangway only to spot a more than familiar face illuminated by the overhead lights along the deck. “That’s Stan.”

  “I thought that voice sounded familiar.” Aleta nodded. “But who was the ballsy-britches that called this in as an accidental drowning? That’s a little bold, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, I do.” Georgie said as she saw Richard Batt raise his hand and weave around a couple of stragglers who were waiting around either for the rain to let up or in the hope of overhearing a little more information on the gruesome mishap they could share the next time they were at the gym. He towered over Detective Stan Toon but Georgie’s ex-husband had a way of exuding an authority that made him seem, at least to her, like the tallest man in the room.

  Stan pulled out his notebook and looked up at Richard intently as Richard repeated the evening’s events. He didn’t see Georgie or Aleta when they walked past and descended the walkway finally landing on the solid, thick wood of the dock.

  “Do you want to wait and talk to Stan?” Aleta asked innocently.

  “No.” Georgie smirked. “He’ll have his hands full with this one.”

  “Georgie!” She looked up to see Richard waving frantically toward her and Stan looking shocked before his open mouth transformed into a devious half smile and he nodded his head.

  Richard muttered something to Stan before running down the gangway.

  “Georgie.” He panted. “Can you come by my office tomorrow? I’ll have your payment for you.”

  “Are you sure, Richard?” She asked feeling Aleta’s elbow poking her again.

  “Are you kidding? I’m putting a halt on several checks after all this trouble. Yes, I’ll be able to pay you in full.” He smiled as if this were nothing more than a miscommunication with a caterer or something.

  “Okay. How about nine in the morning?”

  “That sounds perfect.” He scratched his head. “Uhm, Detective Toon wanted me to pass you a message. He’ll expect you to stop by his office. He asked that you wear something yellow?”

  Georgie scowled up at Stan and shook her head.

  Since they had made their divorce final Georgie noticed that Stan was more attentive than he had ever been when they were married. He was a good husband and a great father to their three children. But after watching one too many John Wayne movies he decided it was the wild west for him and maybe, just maybe, he could tap into a previously untapped vein of gold in the mountains. It didn’t work out that way for Stan. Just like their marriage didn’t really work out for Georgie. But, they had stayed friends not for the children but for each other. It made life much simpler.

  But Stan was known to make his desires known if a certain mood hit him. That mood usually arose when he saw Georgie.

  She waved her hand at him as if she were shooing a fly from her face and did everything she could to hide her smile.

  “Thanks, Richard. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Georgie replied.

  “Tell Detective Toon we both said hello and Georgie will be in yellow when she comes to the police station.” Aleta giggled.

  Richard looked confused but nodded his head and bounded back up the ramp to the deck of the Catherine O’Leary and the waiting Detective Toon.

  “I really hope he pays tomorrow.” Georgie mumbled. “I’m in a pickle, that’s for sure.”

  “If you need anything you can let me know.” Aleta reassured her sister. “Mi casa, su casa. Besides, I have the feeling you’ll have another opportunity to paint soon. Full artistic authority to do the painting any way you want.”

  “What are you talking about?” Georgie asked.

  “Did I forget to tell you? Oh, well, I’ve got you some news.” Aleta looked up at the sky, a thin film of rain coating her cheeks within seconds. “I told Megan you’d be thrilled to draw a picture of her pet snake.”

  “You did what?”

  “I figured that it would be a perfect way to get you back for the Colon Expert comments you were making earlier. Did you know that Petunia, that is the snake’s name, is actually a sharp albino boa?” Aleta’s eyes glittered happily. “Those are the soothing soft yellow colored snakes. He’s still a baby, only about four feet long from tip to tail and only about four inches around.”

  “I hate snakes.” Georgie blubbered. “Snakes, spiders, mice, rats. You know this. How could you do this to me?”

  “Well, before you get too angry at me.” Aleta reached into her purse and pulled out a small piece of paper. “Here is half the fee up front.” She handed Georgie a check in the amount of $350 signed by Richard Batt’s girlfriend Megan.

  “Oh, did I say I hate snakes? I meant to say I hate not being able to paint them enough to get used to them.” Both ladies laughed.

  As they made it to Pablo the rain really began to pour.

  “Whew! Just in time.” Aleta sighed. “What a night.”

  “You’re right.” Georgie’s mind went over some of the odd things that happened in addition to the obvious ‘drowning’.

  Could the man with the kind eyes and pleasant personality have been suicidal? Slipping on the deck would have resulted in the man landing with a thud on his backside. She couldn’t imagine him losing such control that he’d toppled over the railing. It didn’t make any sense.

  “I don’t think it was suicide.” Aleta offered.

  “How did you know what I was thinking?”

  “I didn’t. It was the obvious conclusion people might draw since slipping off the ship seems pretty darn unlikely.”

  “I agree.”

  When Georgie walked into her house she was not tired. Bodhi greeted her with a series of snorts and a wildly wiggling donut-shaped tail.

  “I was not out late.” Georgie argued with the dog as he snorted and barked. “It was only a few hours.”

  Still more barking and tail chasing.

  “Oh, you think you deserve a Doggie-yum, do you?” She bent down to scratch him behind his ears and pat his sturdy ribs. “Fine. But I don’t want to hear another word about it. Do you know you are worse than my mother?”

  Bodhi let out a defiant sneeze and then sat down in the kitchen like a proper dog that never chewed slippers or gnawed on the coffee table legs.

  Georgie went to the pantry, pulled aside the curtain and reached into a pug shaped cookie jar. She pulled out a brown treat in the shape of a dog bone and tenderly gave it to the pug. He gobbled it as if he hadn’t eaten in a week.

  “Bodhi, you should really try chewing your food.” She scrubbed his head with her hand again and took a deep breath. As she stood watching her dog happily trying to lick as much of his face as possible, she felt a cold sensation on top of her head.

  Looking up she saw a dark brown circle on ceiling, dripping water onto the wildly patterned throw rug that covered her peach wall-to-wall carpet.

  “Not again.” She grumbled. “Bodhi, why didn’t you tell me we have a leak?”

  The dog twisted his head to the right as if he were shocked to hear it.

  “Where did I put that flashlight?” Georgie put her hands on her hips. “I can find seventeen silver twist ties if I need them for a project but when it comes to normal, everyday, useful items I don’t know where to begin.”

  Finally, giving up on finding her flashlight Georgie grabbed a kaleidoscope wand that she had purchased in New Orleans during a spur-of-the-moment adventure she took with Aleta to see an exhibit of Haitian art. When she flipped a small switch, the wand lit up brightly and swirled a magnificent rainbow of colors.

  “This’ll do
.” She stated defiantly. There was a wooden door just outside Georgie’s bedroom. Inside the set of stairs led up to the full attic. “I really need to get some of these things cleared out.” She directed the rotating light at some of the stacks of boxes and garbage bags full of things she had saved over the years.

  A few steps in, Georgie shone the light up and saw where the leak was coming from. She had tried to fix it with a few strands of duct tape over the sagging spot. “That didn’t work well.”

  In her frustration, Georgie grabbed an old metal washtub that she used to bathe Bodhi outside in the summertime and slapped it down underneath the leak to catch the drips.

  “I’ll think about this tomorrow.” She mumbled, making her way back downstairs where Bodhi was lying on the floor with his snout between his paws and his legs stretched out behind him. “No, thank you, Bodhi. I don’t need any help. You just stay where you are.”

  As she got undressed and ready for bed Georgie’s mind kept turning back to the accident on the Catherine O’Leary. Of course, the leak in her roof was bad. Heaven knew how much that would cost to fix and without her payment from Richard Batt she’d have to dip into her small savings and she didn’t want to do that.

  “Georgie, it’s called a rainy day fund for a reason.” She tried to comfort herself. “I wonder if Deck had a rainy day fund?”

  The next day the sun was shining as Georgie and Bodhi marched over to Aleta’s house for their usual coffee and pastries. But what she saw made her gasp and shake her head.

  “Okay, before you turn your nose up at this I want you to have an open mind.” Aleta instructed Georgie as she read her expression.

  “Please don’t tell me that’s granola.”

  “Now, Georgie, do you mean to tell me that nothing rubbed off on you from that cruise last night?”

  Georgie wrinkled her face as if Aleta told her she was going to give her a shot in the derriere with a needle.

  “Really, Georgie. Try it for me. Look, they are made of steel cut oats, dried cranberries, cinnamon, honey and a sprinkling of chia seeds.”

  “You sound like you’re possessed. What have you done with my sister?” Georgie shouted as she peeked into Aleta’s face like she was searching her eyes for someone else who might be looking back. “The power of chocolate compels you! I’m getting Father Merrin on the phone. This is way out of my league.”

  Aleta put her hand on her hip and shook her head at her sister’s shenanigans.

  “You know I hate that movie you’re quoting.”

  “Hate the movie?” Georgie teased. “I can’t believe I’m living it. If you ever tell me you are giving up meat...I’ll have to kill you. Trust me, they’ll never find the body.”

  “Well, I’d hate to think you did a half-assed job of disposing of the evidence. Sit down and I’ll get you some coffee.”

  Aleta grabbed their usual coffee cups, filled them to the top and set them on the kitchen table while Georgie petted Freckles who had come to rub a greeting before curling up on the couch with Bodhi.

  “My roof is leaking again.”

  “Oh, no.” Aleta took a seat and sipped her coffee. “I thought you had that fixed?”

  “The duct tape didn’t hold.”

  “Duct tape?” Aleta chuckled. “I have a good handyman. His name is Justin Holland. Prices are very reasonable. But Georgie, why don’t you call Stan? You know the man is good around the house. He’d be happy to fix it. My gosh, he’d probably be happy to re-shingle your whole roof if you needed it and do it for free.”

  “I know.” Georgie replied, the corners of her mouth were pulled down as she looked at the plate full of granola crumbles and searched for a piece that looked edible. “But I’m afraid if I ask him to help he won’t leave.”

  “Are you afraid he won’t leave or are you afraid you won’t want him to leave?”

  “Please, Aleta. I’ve been on my own for too long. The last thing I want is someone cramping my style. No matter how good-looking he still might be.” She frowned. “I don’t think I can eat this.”

  “Just one bite. It’s not arsenic.”

  Finally, mustering up courage as if she were about to run across eight lanes of speeding traffic, Georgie popped a granola nugget in her mouth. It crunched loudly in her head.

  “What do you think?” Aleta smiled.

  “Have you tasted it?” Georgie looked at her sister skeptically.

  “No.”

  “So I was your guinea pig. You heartless woman.

  Aleta started to laugh. “Does it taste good? Should I make more for Christmas presents?

  “Not if you like your friends. If you give them this they’ll be wondering what the heck they did for you to be so mean.” Georgie pushed herself up from the table and went rummaging through Aleta’s kitchen cabinets. “Aha! Breakfast is served.”

  She put a package of pinwheels on the table, sat down, tore the bag open and handed her sister the first chocolate covered marshmallow and cookie treat.

  “Those were for a special occasion.” Aleta pinched her lips together as she took the cookie.

  “Dying of hunger is a special occasion.” Georgie answered as she took a cookie for herself and sat back down at the table. “Speaking of dying. That was some ordeal last night, right?”

  “I am quite shocked.” Aleta said with a mouthful of chocolate pinwheel.

  “Yeah. I have to go and get my check from Richard. I’m interested to see what his whole take is on it now that the sun is up. Sometimes that makes everything look quite different.”

  “You are correct. Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No. It won’t take me long. Plus I’ll have to run to the bank and get things deposited and check out what it will cost to get my roof fixed.” Georgie shook her head. “In fact, I better shake my tail feather and go get dressed. Mind if Bodhi stays with you for a while?”

  “Of course not.” Aleta leaned and peered into the family room. Bodhi and Freckles were snuggled together so tightly as they slept it was hard to see where one started and the other ended. “That is one weird relationship.”

  “That’s what people say about us. See you later.” Georgie joked as she waved and walked out the front door.

  UPON ARRIVING AT FIT Family Gym Georgie was surprised at how full the parking lot was at such an early hour. As she walked into the gym she immediately heard shouting.

  “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that the towels have to be folded this way! If you don’t they are too hard for the members to grab them. It makes a mess! It looks disorderly! Can you understand that? Can you work with me, please?”

  Georgie walked in slowly and followed the loud voice. Around the corner in front of the big glass window looking out on the peaceful landscape was Richard yelling at a young man wearing a Fit Family Gym uniform.

  The patrons were most wearing headphones as they pedaled, walked, or climbed their way to a healthier self. They paid very little attention to what was going on around them. Georgie found it a little unnerving. It was like she was invisible with dozens of people around.

  Richard looked up and saw Georgie standing there.

  “Now, go do like I told you.” Richard squawked at the man who nodded his head and turned and disappeared through a doorway marked employees only. “Hi, Georgie. I wasn’t expecting you so early.”

  Georgie’s heart sank. Maybe she should have brought Aleta with her. Whenever a client said they weren’t expecting you so early, they usually meant they didn’t have your money.

  “Well, I do hope I’m not interrupting.” Georgie smiled innocently.

  “No. I’m just a little on edge. Come on in to my office.” He held the door open and gave her a frustrated smile.

  “How can you possibly be on edge in this office?” Georgie took a seat and sweetly smiled. “I know you are probably upset about Mr. Zannowski. But that was out of your control.”

  “That’s what you say.” Richard hissed as he took a deep breathe.
“Look. I’m just going to come right out and say it, ‘I can’t pay you right now.’”

  Of course you can’t. Georgie sighed and folded her arms over her chest.

  “I will. I promise.” He put his hand out to reassure her as he could read the frustration on Georgie’s face. “But until the investigation about Decklin Zannowski’s death is closed I might need to hire a lawyer.”

  “What?” Georgie gasped.

  “Yeah.” Richard snorted. “Someone had the nerve to tell the police I wasn’t acting right. Acting right? What does that even mean? Because I didn’t fall down on the ground crying and screaming? I mean, what is acting right?”

  “Well, I’m very sorry about this change in your plans.”

  “I mean, it was an accident. The Captain of the boat didn’t have a freak out. Are they calling him a person of interest?”

  “How do you know it was an accident? Did the police say that?”

  Georgie watched Richard’s expression. He sniffed and smirked and stretched his arms back, thrusting his massive chest out in front of him.

  “Look, you were there. The deck was totally drenched and that wood gets super slick when it is wet. Add to that that Deck was drinking and the railing of that barge was questionable at best. Yes, common sense says it was an accident.”

  Georgie had talked with Deck and didn’t recall him being the least bit intoxicated. However, she didn’t know him. How he handled his alcohol was a mystery to her. But, if the railing was not up to par, well, that might be something to look at.

  “Although, even if he did fall overboard on accident, I’d think a guy that fit would certainly know how to swim.” Georgie mused.

  Richard didn’t hear her. He was too focused on himself and the possibility that he might have to retain a lawyer. In fact, he babbled on, not just about Deck’s stupidity for falling off a cruise ship but about the police not knowing what they were doing, the people who were at the event who didn’t see anything, the corruption of Chicago politicians and the fact his rent on the building was going up.

  “None of it makes any sense.” He finally ended his tirade. “Sorry, Georgie. I will get you your money but I just don’t have it now.”