The Coral Killer

by Anna Travis

  “What if he just picked it up because he didn’t want a deadly snake wandering lose next to his house? He might have realized it was out of venom, since it had already bit the cleaning lady.”

  “Or he wanted an excuse to get his prints on the nasty thing,” Ruby said with a shiver. “Can they get fingerprints off a snake?”

  Grannie pressed her hand to her full belly.

  “I don’t know, and I’d rather not think about it on a full stomach,” she said firmly. “You’ll have to add that to your research. Anybody else on the list?”

  “No,” Ruby said. “But maybe I can talk Kylie into hanging out with me tomorrow.”

  “What’s Kylie got to do with anything?”

  “Come on, Grannie!” Ruby said, blushing a bit. “I’m going to need to go investigate at the Cove, and if I go over there by myself, that gate guard Jimmy is going to think I’m looking for a date.”

  “Is he nice?”

  “Grannie!”

  “Is he?”

  “Nice enough,” Ruby admitted. “But his idea of dating is rum runners or something… And I already told you, I’m done with dating!”

  Grannie cleared her throat.

  “If I recall, what you said was that God would have to find you a husband, Himself,” she said with a smirk.

  “Yeah, well, I may as well had stuck with David if rum is what you’re looking for,” Ruby rolled her eyes.

  Grannie gave her a squeeze. “I’m just playing with you honey. I think you’re right not to go husband hunting.”

  Ruby laughed.

  “Husband hunting! Grannie, did you get that from those Eastman books? I swear I just read that today!”

  “Must have!” Grannie said, getting to her feet and heading for the library. “Well, I suggest you get back to your research? Joe’s coming back day after tomorrow. Try to be here and greet the passengers. I swear they leave bigger tips every time you do.”

  Chapter Seven

  A ngel yipped twice and Ruby looked up from her mystery novel to see an old red car pulling into a nearby beach parking spot. Kylie was seventeen, and she was driving the Rookie Mobile. Two blond heads bobbed in the back seat, and Ruby smiled as Tali and Peter waved at her.

  “Hey, sis!” Kylie said, as the three of them climbed out of the car and headed over to the aqua blue canopy.

  “Hi, Ruby!” Peter and Tali chimed.

  “What? No schoolwork today?” Ruby asked.

  “Aw, Ruby, shh!” Peter said.

  “Painting is hardly work, Peter,” Tali said. She rolled her nine-year-old eyes and slung a small bag down in the sand next to Ruby’s camp chair. It was bulging with brushes and water colors and two fat notebooks.

  Kylie dumped her purse in Ruby’s chair.

  “Can’t we swim for a bit?” asked Peter.

  “Well, duh. What’d you think I brought you for?” Kylie said. She gave her brother a little shove. “I’ll help Ruby with the rentals. Don’t do anything that will get me in trouble, or I won’t bring you next time!”

  Peter and Tali ran down to the water and jumped in.

  “Watch’em, Angel,” Ruby said, pointing to the two youngest West children. The dog barked once, and dashed down after the kids. Ruby smiled. Both of them were very good swimmers, but Angel would keep them out of trouble.

  Kylie tossed her thick braid over her shoulder and eyed her big sister.

  “You doing okay, Ruby?” she asked. “The other day was pretty crazy.”

  “I guess so,” Ruby shrugged.

  “You haven’t been answering your phone,” Kylie said. She took a drink from Ruby’s water bottle, then picked up Ruby’s phone. She swiped at the screen.

  “Aw, Kylie, you know I work at the beach,” Ruby started, but her sister laughed at her.

  “You have a waterproof phone! You just don’t answer it!”

  Ruby put her hands on her hips.

  “Well, I keep getting some calls from a strange number, so I turned the ringer off,” she said.

  Kylie held up the phone.

  “You mean this strange number?”

  “What? Yeah—”

  “Well, that would be Deputy Ian Prescott, trying to get your statement about the murder victim you discovered,” Kylie said. She shoved the phone back in the cup holder. “Don’t worry though. I saved him to your contacts. Next time he calls, it’ll go right through.”

  “What? Kylie! I don’t want that man in my contacts!”

  Kylie waved her perfectly manicured nails dismissively.

  “Too bad, Judah’s orders,” she said. “He’s their roommate, remember?”

  Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sister, and at Judah, even though he wasn’t there.

  “Very mature, Ruby,” Kylie said, clicking her tongue. A funny look spread across her face. “Well, you win. You won’t have to talk to Ian on the phone.”

  Ruby’s eyes widened. Kylie never gave up this easily.

  “What do you mean? Why?”

  Kylie pointed over Ruby’s shoulder. Ruby spun around to see a Sheriff’s truck parked by her Jeep, and Ian Prescott headed straight towards them.

  “Yeah,” Kylie muttered. “I can totally see why you wouldn’t want to hang out with him. If all cops looked like that, I’d start speeding, just so they’d pull me over!”

  Ruby’s face flushed as Ian joined them. She desperately hoped he had not heard her sister.

  “Morning, Kylie,” he said with a friendly nod at Kylie. “Morning, Miss West.”

  “I’m sorry I haven’t answered the phone,” Ruby said quickly, hoping Kylie wouldn’t say anything else.

  “No problem, Miss West,” Ian said. “Lots of people don’t answer if they don’t recognize the number.”

  Kylie laughed and Ruby turned red. Miss West?

  “Do you have a few moments?” Ian said. “I really need to get your statement.”

  Before Ruby could say she was working, Kylie piped up.

  “I can watch the rentals, Sis. You go right ahead.”

  “Great, thanks, Kylie,” Ian said. He turned back to Ruby. “Let’s go talk by my truck, if you don’t mind.”

  Great! Ruby thought. She’s Kylie and I’m Miss West! Where did Judah and Joe find this guy?

  They reached the truck and Ian pulled a notepad out of the front seat. He eyed her carefully.

  “This won’t take long, Miss West,” he said, clicking his pen.

  “You can call me Ruby,” she said, suddenly feeling very awkward. He was so annoyingly tall that Ruby had to tip her head back to look up at him. The sun flashed in her eyes, and she wished she had grabbed her hat.

  “Okay, Ruby,” Ian said. “I just need you to tell me what happened Monday.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  It took longer than Ruby thought it would. For some reason the story had been much easier to talk about in the comfort of Grannie’s kitchen. Standing here in the sun, squinting up at this man who insisted on standing way too close, the whole thing was very different.

  Maybe it was because he had thought she was a murderer. Or maybe it was because he was the competition. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was handsome.

  Either way, Ruby was relieved when he thanked her for her time and climbed back into his truck. She turned and headed back over to the canopy, where she shoved her hat on.

  “So, how’d it go with Deputy Dimple?” Kylie asked with a smirk.

  Ruby’s face flushed.

  “Kylie! Knock it off!” She glared at her sister, then stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled hard. Down by the water, Peter and Tali looked up. She waved them over, and gave Kylie another dark look.

  “I’m just messing with you, Ruby!” Kylie said. “I know you can’t stand him.”

  Peter and Tali came rushing up, dripping and laughing. Ruby flung her towel at them and pointed to a picnic table.

  “Time for nature study,” she said.

  Peter mopped his face off and shoved the towel a
t his little sister. He grabbed the art bag which caught on the camp chair as he took off running. The chair went flying, along with everything in it.

  Ruby’s waterproof phone tumbled into the sand, unharmed, but Kylie’s purse was another matter. The contents scattered everywhere, and at the sight of it Ruby felt the color drain out of her face, and she barely heard Kylie shouting at their little brother.

  “PETER!” Kylie yelled.

  “Sorry, Kylie!” he called back, still heading for the table with Tali beside him.

  “That boy!” Kylie said, turning back to collect her stuff. “He’s—Ruby? Are you okay? What’s the matter?”

  Ruby shook herself.

  “It just… When we found the cleaning lady, the stuff from her purse was scattered everywhere… It’s… I don’t know…”

  Kylie stared at her for a moment, and then she reached over and hugged Ruby.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “It must have been pretty horrible. I shouldn’t have messed with you.”

  “It’s okay,” Ruby said. She forced herself to smile at her sister, and the two girls started collecting Kylie’s sandy things.

  Ruby suddenly snapped her fingers.

  “There was a card scanner on the floor,” she said, her voice hushed.

  “Why would a cleaning lady need a card scanner?” asked Kylie.

  Ruby shook her head. “I think I know exactly why.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Kylie’s eyes were wide as sea turtle eggs.

  “So you’re telling me you think the maid was robbing tourists?” she asked.

  “Definitely,” Ruby nodded.

  “And you think some sun-burnt credit company thug is on Leyenda, hunting down credit thieves?”

  Ruby nodded again.

  “And you don’t think it was him?”

  “Nope.”

  Kylie exhaled heavily. “I don’t know, Ruby. Maybe you better call Ian—”

  “What? No way!” Ruby cried. “I mean… Well, people don’t talk to cops! I should look into things first! I really don’t have anything to report yet.”

  “But you should tell him about the scanner—”

  “He should know about that,” Ruby said quickly. “They would have processed it.”

  “I don’t know…”

  Ruby ignored her sister completely. She was too excited to have a break in the case. Maybe she really could solve it before Ian did.

  “I’m gonna go over to the Sandy Turtle and do some digging,” she said. “You wanna come?”

  “What? Me?” Kylie pointed over at Peter and Tali. “I’m not bringing them to investigate anything! Mom will kill me!”

  “Oh! Yeah, totally,” Ruby said, stuffing her phone into her pocket and grabbing her bag and keys. “They have to get their school done… How ‘bout you watch the rentals for me?”

  “I—”

  “Thanks, Kylie!” Ruby called, dashing off to her Jeep. “I owe you one!”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Ruby pulled right up to the gate. Jimmy slid the glass door open and stepped out into the heat with his clipboard.

  “Hey, Ruby! Got another delivery?” he said.

  Ruby pointed to the empty roof rack.

  “Not today, Jimmy,” she said. “I’m here to see you.”

  Jimmy fumbled the clipboard and it clattered to the pavement. His mouth hung open.

  “I’m really shook up by what happened Monday,” Ruby said, hoping she could get Jimmy to talk without having to flirt with him. “Is the renter lady okay? I mean, we found a dead lady and a coral snake. That can totally freak a person out.”

  “Oh, yeah, I think Ms. Mavis is okay,” Jimmy said, scratching his head and retrieving the clip board. “We had to find another house for her to stay in though. She pitched a fit about sleeping in a crime scene, and the higher ups didn’t want the bad P.R.”

  “I’ll bet!” Ruby said. In her head she repeated Ms. Mavis several times, so she would remember the name.

  “I’m just glad Nancy’s crazy ex hasn’t come around,” Jimmy said. He stuck his thumbs in his pockets and stood taller. “We’d have to keep him out, and that would be a job.”

  “Nancy?”

  “Yeah,” said Jimmy. “Nancy Pillisky. You know, the cleaning lady… Or at least, she used to be.”

  “Oh,” Ruby answered. The memory of Nancy Pillisky dead on the floor flashed in front of Ruby’s eyes. Ruby shook herself. “I thought the maids didn’t clean places while they were being rented? Don’t they just come in between clients?”

  “Usually,” Jimmy said. “Not sure what Nancy was doing over at the Driftwood place. Ms. Mavis wasn’t supposed to check out until today.”

  “Mavis is leaving?” Ruby gasped.

  “Well, no,” Jimmy said, running his hand across his forehead. He was starting to sweat in the sun. “The Cove gave her a free week, what with, well… you know.”

  Ruby changed subjects before Jimmy could rush back to his AC unit.

  “What about the boyfriend?” she asked quickly.

  “Boyfriend? No, Ms. Mavis was here alone. Had some friends in for part of the trip, but no boyfriend that I saw.”

  Jimmy was turning out to be a veritable wealth of information.

  “Oh,” she said slowly. “What about Nancy’s boyfriend? The ex?”

  “Him?” Jimmy said, trying to stand taller again. “Total loser. She dumped him a week ago. Big fight out in the parking lot, right over there…”

  Jimmy pointed and whistled.

  “That must have been pretty bad,” Ruby said. “Why’d she dump him?”

  “Don’t reckon I know,” Jimmy said, wiping his brow again. He tugged at his polyester collar.

  “Aw, come on, Jimmy, you know everything that goes on around here,” Ruby said.

  Jimmy’s smile flashed back into place.

  “Well…” he said, thinking it over. “She called him ‘dead weight.’ Really set old Patrick off! He shouted ‘We’ll see who’s dead weight!’ and drove off squealing his tires. You can still see the marks on the road.”

  “Did you tell the deputy about all this?” Ruby asked.

  “No. Why? Do you think I should?” Jimmy asked, as if the idea had never occurred to him. “Do you think it has something to do with Nancy?”

  “It might,” Ruby said. She peered over the gate. “Hey, Jimmy? Do you think you could let me in? I was hoping to take a look around. You know, help settle myself over the whole thing…”

  Jimmy took a step back and held the clipboard up like a shield.

  “No way, Ruby! I got in hot water for letting you in here the other morning,” he said. “The higher ups found out, what with Nancy and all, and they’ll sack me if I let anyone else in!”

  Ruby made a face. “Sorry Jimmy,” she said. Ruby started up the Jeep and put it in reverse. “I don’t want to get you in trouble. I really did have a delivery that day. Or at least I thought I did. That Mavis lady said she didn’t order a board.”

  Jimmy lowered the clipboard and put a hand on the Jeep’s door.

  “Are you snooping around Ruby?”

  Ruby bit her lip.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I guess I am.”

  Jimmy nodded. “Nancy wasn’t perfect. But she was always nice to me and the other guards. That’s why we let her keep her lunch and her meds in the fridge here…” Jimmy hesitated, but then he added, “That Patrick guy, I think he’s a busboy at Gilligan’s.”

  “Thanks, Jimmy,” Ruby said.

  He nodded and let go of the Jeep.

  “Wait? Meds?”

  “Yeah,” Jimmy said, nodding. “She had one of those pen things. You know, for when your throat closes up.”

  “An EpiPen?”

  “Yeah! That’s it!” Jimmy said. “I guess we better figure out what to do with it… I’ll see you ‘round?”

  Ruby smiled. “Next time I have a delivery. Thanks Jimmy.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Late that afternoon, Ruby
followed her grandmother down to the paddle shed. She wanted Grannie to go over her suspect list with her, so, as tired as Ruby was, she was going along for Grannie’s daily paddle.

  Ruby snapped the shed door open.

  “What’ll it be today?” she asked.

  “I’ll take the red SUP,” Grannie said with a grin. “Want to bring Angel?”

  “Nah, I already fed her and told her to stay put,” Ruby answered as she pulled the massive red board off the shelf and lowered it onto the ground. Then she pulled a second board off the rack and backed out the door.

  Grannie took one end and the two of them walked to the river’s edge. They sat the board in the grass and went back for the second SUP. Ruby reached for it, but she gave a little shriek and backed away.

  “What? What is it?” Grannie asked, peering over the board. “Oh, Ruby! It’s just one of those silly new iguanas.”

  Grannie poked at the eight-inch long creature and it skittered away.

  “Sheesh,” Ruby said, her heart hammering in her chest. “All I saw was its head. I’ve been so jumpy lately, I thought it was a snake!”

  They picked up the board and started towards the water.

  Grannie shook her head. “Those crazy lizards move further north every year.”

  Ruby laughed and climbed onto a board, paddle in hand. “As long as it’s not those ridiculous things that live down in the Keys! Last time we visited Uncle Teddy there was one in the tree that was four feet long! Gross!”

  Grannie got on her board and the two of them pushed away from shore, heading out just far enough to go past the neighborhood docks. “So? Did you learn anything today?”

  “I learned that Jimmy is a wealth of information!” Ruby said with a chuckle. She took a deep breath of salty air. “You can pretty much ask him anything!”

  “That’s handy,” Grannie said.

  “Yeah,” Ruby said. “I couldn’t get in, but I learned the names of both the victim and the renter.”

  “What about Grumpy?”

  “Didn’t get that far,” Ruby admitted. “But the victim’s ex-boyfriend is named Patrick and he works at Gilligan’s. They had a fight right in the parking lot last week… He called her dead weight!”

  “People say things when they’re angry or hurt,” Grannie cautioned. “Course they also do things… Like throw drinks in somebody’s face—”