by Cindy Bell
“I guess I'll find out tomorrow,” Ben said.
“And so will we,” Suzie said as she passed a glance to Mary.
Suzie stopped by Martin's room one last time, to offer him dinner, but there was still no answer. She noticed that the note under the door was now completely gone.
That night as she tried to get some rest, her thoughts turned to Paul out on his boat. She wondered what he was doing. Likely fixing up his traps and preparing for the early morning fish.
Chapter Five
Early the next morning Suzie and Mary met in the kitchen. There was breakfast to prepare for four guests. Though Suzie doubted that Martin would join them for that, Alice was there in her robe and fluffy slippers within minutes of the coffee brewing.
“That smells good,” she sighed as she settled down at the dining room table.
“What do you like in your coffee?” Mary asked warmly.
“Two sugars, one cream,” Alice said.
“Did you have a chance to enjoy your bath?” Suzie asked as she set a tray of fruit, danishes, and toast out on the table.
“Yes, I did,” she replied. “I would have preferred if it was ready when I needed it, but I have to admit the water was toasty and the bath was beautiful.”
Suzie smiled with relief. She was glad that Alice seemed to be having a better time now that she could have a bath. Now, if the plumber could get everything fixed properly she could finally feel comfortable again. She looked out the window and was relieved to see the plumber stepping out of his van. At least he would be working on fixing the problem.
“Good morning,” Jim said as he and Diana walked down the hallway towards the dining room table. They were both dressed for the beach, Diana in a bathing suit, Jim in board shorts.
“Good morning,” Mary said as she looked at the two of them.
“It's a lovely day for going to the beach. Feel free to take the chairs and a tent from around the back so you can enjoy the water without too much sun.”
“Thank you so much,” Jim said. “I have to say this place is absolutely wonderful.”
“I'm glad you think so,” Suzie said with a smile. “Remember we do have lunch and dinner available, but there are also several great restaurants in town you might enjoy. Cheney's is great if you like pasta, and there is also a nice diner that you can get a quick bite at.”
“Great,” Diana nodded. “I think we're going to spend most of the day out on the beach. Maybe we'll pick something up from the diner.”
“Do you have any plans for today?” Mary asked Alice politely.
“I'll probably do a little shopping, if there is any,” she said, her snooty attitude returning with force.
“Well, if any of you have any questions about Garber, or Dune House, please feel free to ask at any time,” Suzie said quickly.
“Thanks, we'll do that,” Jim said.
Suzie went to get herself a cup of coffee. As she stood in the kitchen she looked out over the sandy trail that led from the back of the house to the beach. She noticed that there were some footprints, and what looked like drag marks. She narrowed her eyes, wondering what had caused them. But there wasn't time to investigate as she had to get back to the guests. When she returned to the table she and Mary shared the meal with their guests. They chatted a little about Garber and then everyone went their separate ways.
After cleaning up from breakfast and preparing what she could for lunch, Suzie glanced at her watch. It was getting late, and she hadn't heard a peep from the plumber. She walked out onto the front porch. The plumber's van was still in the parking lot so she assumed he was still working. She stepped back inside and got involved in tidying up the guest rooms. She knocked lightly on Martin's door to see if anything needed cleaning.
“Martin, I'm just checking in to see if you need anything,” she called out through the door. There was silence inside, and then a slight scuffing sound. The sound made her a little uneasy. She really wanted to know what he was up to in there. “Martin?” she called out again.
“I'm fine,” he finally replied. “Please don't disturb me.”
Suzie was surprised by his words but walked away from the door hoping she hadn't interrupted anything important.
“Suzie, have you seen the plumber?” Ben asked as he walked into the kitchen.
“No, I was just going to check on him,” she replied.
“I just walked by the area where he is supposed to be working and I didn't hear a sound. I called out to him, but he didn't answer,” he explained with a frown.
“What's going on?” Mary asked as she returned from tidying up the common bathroom.
“Looks like the plumber might be missing in action,” Suzie sighed. “I hope he's reliable.”
“If his van's here and he's nowhere to be seen, then he’s probably under the house still,” Mary pointed out.
“Maybe,” Ben said thoughtfully. “But he didn't answer me when I called to him.”
“He might have just been getting something from his van,” Mary suggested.
“Yeah, we could have just missed each other,” Ben offered.
“Possibly,” Suzie said. “But, we better go make sure he's not under the house. He might be hurt.”
“I’ll go and try call for him again,” Ben said.
“I’ll come, too,” Mary offered.
“Let’s all go together,” Suzie said with a smile.
The three walked out of Dune House.
“I’ll just go passed his van and make sure he isn’t there,” Ben offered.
“Okay, we’ll meet you by the side,” Suzie said as she and Mary walked towards where the plumber should have been working. There was no sign of Doug when they got there.
“Doug,” Suzie crouched down and called through the opening. “Doug?” she said louder as Ben came towards them.
“No luck,” Ben said as he shook his head.
“Where could he be?” Mary asked.
“Here let me try,” Ben offered. “Doug? Doug are you there?” he called out. When he heard no response he crouched down. “Doug?” he called again. “I’ll go see if he is in there.”
“Be careful, Ben!” Mary said fretfully. Ben went on his haunches and crawled under the house.
Suzie and Mary looked at each other nervously as they waited for a response.
“Oh no, oh no!” Ben’s voice bellowed from under the house and Suzie and Mary looked at each other in shock as they jumped at the sound of his worried voice. Ben scrambled out from under the house. When he got to his feet his face was white and his eyes were wide. “He's down there,” he stammered out.
“What’s wrong then?” Suzie asked anxiously.
“He's dead!” Ben exclaimed.
“What?” Mary gasped as she grabbed her son's hand. “Are you sure? Maybe he's just knocked out?”
“No, Mom,” Ben said, his voice trembling. “I'm pretty sure,” he lowered his voice. “He’s dead.”
“I'll call an ambulance just in case,” Suzie said shakily and pulled out her cell phone. She fired off the details. She then called Jason as Mary tried to soothe Ben. He was obviously shaken up.
“Suzie, I'm going to take Ben inside,” Mary said quietly. “We'll keep everyone away from this area.”
“Thank you,” Suzie said. “Ben, are you okay?” she asked with concern.
“I think so,” he replied nervously. As Mary took Ben inside, the ambulance pulled into the driveway, it must have been only moments away when the call was made. The medics followed Suzie’s directions to get to Doug and went under the house just as Jason's police car pulled up. He kept his lights and sirens off out of respect for Suzie's guests.
“What happened?” he asked as he jogged up to her. Two more police cars pulled in behind his. Suzie guessed it might have been the entire Garber police department.
“I have no idea,” Suzie replied. “The plumber went under the house to do some repairs. It had been almost three hours since the last time we saw him, so w
e decided to go find him. Ben offered to go under the house to see if he was there. That's when he found Doug. He said that he was sure he’s dead.”
The medics emerged and one shook his head indicating that Doug was definitely deceased. Suzie’s heart dropped as she realized that her worst fears were confirmed.
“Okay, Charlie go check it out,” Jason directed one of the officers that was walking towards him. “But be careful. Don’t disturb anything, it could be evidence.”
When Charlie came back out from under the house his expression was grave. He held up a metal shovel that was speckled with blood.
“I've got the murder weapon,” he said with confidence.
“Well, don't touch it!” Jason said with exasperation. He handed Charlie a plastic evidence bag. When he turned back to Suzie his expression was serious. “I'm going to have to talk to Ben and Mary as well as your guests, Suzie.”
“Why?” Suzie asked. “I'm sure none of them had anything to do with it.”
“Well, that may be but I have to find out where they were around the time of the murder so we can eliminate them as suspects,” he rested his hand on the side of his gun belt and looked very determined.
“I know you're just doing your job, Jason,” Suzie said quietly. A man was dead, and now her guests would be subjected to a police investigation. It was not the bumps she expected on an opening weekend. “I'll get you their information.”
As the two stepped into Dune House, Alice was entering through the side sliding door. She had said she was going shopping, but she was dressed for the beach.
“Alice, could I speak with you for a moment?” Suzie asked as she blocked her from walking down the hallway towards her room.
“What is it?” Alice asked as she glanced towards Jason. She winked lightly at him when she caught him looking at her tiny bikini.
“There's been an unfortunate incident, and I'm afraid the police will need to question all of the guests,” Suzie explained hesitantly.
“What kind of unfortunate incident?” Alice demanded to know. “Did somebody die or something?”
“Actually, yes,” Suzie replied with a frown. “The plumber that was working under the house, was killed.”
“Great, just great,” Alice rolled her eyes. Suzie winced at her lack of sympathy but she said nothing about it.
“It's just routine in situations like this to find out where everyone was around the time we estimate the death occurred,” Jason explained. Suzie could tell that he was trying his best to play down the event for the sake of the B & B, but she also knew that he had a job that he had to do.
“Oh, this is ridiculous,” Alice said with a sharp shake of her head. “It's none of your business where I was or what I was doing. I am here on vacation,” she added with building frustration.
“And I want you to get back to that vacation as soon as you can,” Jason offered in a docile tone. “But I can't do that unless you can confirm to me your whereabouts.”
Alice blew out a breath of air through her nose and crossed her arms.
“All you need to know is that I had nothing to do with any of this. Any other questions I'm not answering without a lawyer present,” she insisted.
Jason glanced over at Suzie briefly and then back to Alice.
“This really will be over with if you just answer a few of my questions,” Jason attempted to persuade her.
“I'm not answering any more questions,” Alice said sternly. “In fact, I expect a full refund for my stay here this weekend,” she added and looked pointedly at Suzie.
Suzie narrowed her eyes. She was doing her best not to lose her cool, but Alice was really pushing it. Since she and Mary had already discussed offering their guests a complimentary stay in the future, she wasn't opposed to the refund, but Alice's attitude and refusal to cooperate was really grating on her nerves.
“Here is my card,” Jason said as he handed her a business card. “When you get in contact with your lawyer, have him contact me.”
Alice took the card begrudgingly. Then she turned and walked away with a flick of her long, dark hair.
“She's rather difficult,” Jason said grimly when Alice was out of earshot.
“The question is why is she being so difficult?” Suzie mused with a frown. She was beginning to think that Alice might just be hiding something.
“Honestly, her evasiveness makes her look pretty suspicious,” Jason admitted. “We'll look into her and see if she has any connections to Doug.”
Suzie nodded. She felt queasy. She wanted to believe that none of the guests at Dune House had any involvement with Doug's death.
“Hello?” a timid voice called out that Suzie recognized as Jim's.
“Jim and Diana must be back,” she said to Jason. “Hopefully, they'll be more forthcoming.”
Jason and Suzie walked out into the lobby where Jim and a very sunburned Diana were glancing around apprehensively.
“What's going on?” Diana asked when she saw Suzie. “Why are the police here?”
“Unfortunately, there's been a death on the property,” Suzie explained carefully.
“I just need to ask you a few questions about where you both were this morning when the death occurred,” Jason added.
“A death?” Jim stumbled out. “Who was it? Not any of the guests or staff I hope?”
“No,” Suzie shook her head, and then let Jason take over.
“It was a plumber who was working under the house on some pipes,” Jason explained. “Can you tell me where you were today?”
Diana sighed and pointed to her crimson skin. “I fell asleep on the beach.”
“I was swimming,” Jim frowned. “We've been on the beach since after breakfast.”
“Okay, and did you notice anyone suspicious around Dune House at any time during your stay?” he asked as he made a note.
“No one other than that strange fellow in the suit,” Jim replied. “I saw him walking down to the beach and waved hello, but he just hurried off back towards the house.”
“He wasn't suspicious, just different,” Diana corrected him. “He just wasn't very friendly.”
“So, is this a murder?” Jim pressed. “Should we be concerned about our safety?”
“No, there's no need for that,” Jason said firmly. “This seems to have been a targeted crime, and there will be a police presence while we investigate.”
“It's still pretty creepy,” Diana whispered.
“I understand,” Suzie nodded. “I'm sure this was not what you expected to happen on your weekend away, however it has happened and I am sure that the police will get to the bottom of it. I would like to offer you a complimentary stay at some point in the future, if you would be interested.”
“Well,” Jim said slowly. “It's not your fault this happened. No one can predict these things.”
As the couple walked down the hall towards their room Suzie felt some relief that they had not been as difficult as Alice.
Chapter Six
There was only one guest left for Jason to speak to. Hopefully, he would prove more obliging than Alice but Suzie doubted that that would be the case.
“I still have to speak with Martin Cotes,” Jason said as he turned to Suzie. “Any idea where he might be?”
“As far as I know he hasn't left his room,” Suzie replied. “He didn't show up for lunch today. Other than Jim and Diana seeing him outside, I haven't heard of anyone seeing him.”
“That's a little odd isn't it?” Jason asked thoughtfully.
“He is a little odd,” Suzie pointed out. “He brought all kinds of equipment with him, I'm not sure what it's for. I assumed he's working on some kind of project.”
“Well, let's go and see if he's in his room,” Jason suggested. The two walked towards the room that was still closed up tight. Mary came down the stairs as they did.
“Ben is beside himself,” she said with a sigh. “He's never seen anything like this before.”
“I'll need to tal
k to him, too,” Jason said quickly. “But we can give him a few minutes to regain his composure.”
“Good, thank you, Jason,” Mary said. Jason and Suzie continued on to Martin’s room.
When Suzie and Jason got to Martin’s room Suzie felt a bit uneasy. She could not believe that someone had been murdered at Dune house. She steadied her breath as Jason knocked heavily on the door to Martin's room. When he received no answer he tried the handle.
“It's locked,' he said. “Suzie, do you have a key to the room?”
“I do,” she nodded. “But do you think it's right to barge in?”
“Well, with one person dead on the property we need to make sure at the very least that everyone is accounted for and not hurt.”
“You're right,” Suzie nodded. She reached into her pocket and retrieved a small key ring. She stepped past Jason and slid a key into the door knob. She turned it and twisted the knob at the same time. As the door swung open she braced herself. She had no idea what they might find inside. Would Martin be hurt or worse? Would he even be inside?
“Excuse me, Mr. Cotes?” Jason called out as he stepped in behind Suzie. It was clear that he was there, as he was sitting at the small table with a pair of headphones on. That explained why he hadn't answered the door, he could not hear the knock. When he glanced up to see Suzie and Jason standing inside the door he jumped.
“What are you doing in here?” Martin demanded. “I asked not to be disturbed.”
“I'm very sorry, Mr. Cotes, but this police officer needs to ask you a few questions. There was a murder on the property.”
“That's terrible,” he said as he edged closer towards the equipment piled on the floor.
“What's all this?” Jason asked.
“It's just some things I brought along with me,” Martin shrugged. “Beach combing, that kind of thing.”
Suzie raised an eyebrow. She wondered how he could have been beach combing if he had rarely left the room.
“Ah, I see,” Jason nodded but he was still looking skeptically at the equipment. “Well, all I need to know is where you were today.”
“Oh I, well,” Martin pushed his glasses further up. He looked over at Suzie, as if she might have the answer. “I was here, most of the day,” he explained.