by Nancy CoCo
“I . . . um . . . we . . .”
He sent me a small smile. “I don’t have any intention of rushing you,” he said, and pulled out his notebook and pen. “Let’s talk about the body you found.”
“Okay,” I said, confused by his ability to change subjects so quickly. “But wait, did you just ask me out?”
“When I ask you out there will be no doubt,” Rex said. “I want you to be sure that you’re ready to date me and aren’t just experimenting to see if you can live without Jessop.”
“I don’t experiment,” I said, and stuck my chin up. “Why would you think I would do that?”
“I have two ex-wives,” he said dryly. “I’ve had my share of rebound relationships.”
“You want a relationship?”
“When we go out, I intend to make it last,” he said, and shifted in his chair. “That means no ghosts in the closet. No back and forth about it.”
“I see.” I blinked. My mind was stunned by his words. Rex was above all a serious kind of guy. I would have to remember that.
“Tell me what brought you out for your walk this morning,” he said.
“Mal,” I said. “We went on our usual morning walk.”
“So you took your regular route?”
“Yes,” I said. “Pretty much every morning we go down the alley. Mal does her business and then we walk behind the Main Street stores. It’s usually less crowded.”
“Where did you come across Mr. Beecher?”
“He usually walks down the alley as well,” I said. “I see him regularly.” I tilted my head. “Do you think the killer might be targeting him and not me? I mean, he walks that way twice a day. Everyone knows this. Plus, he plays chess. I don’t play chess.”
“Your name was on the front of the note card,” he said.
“Oh, right.” I sat back and slumped.
“How did you come upon the body?”
“I was talking with Mr. Beecher about the proposal to pay for a side of Main Street to be included in the background shots for the mystery pilot that is being filmed on the island.”
“What proposal?”
“Jenn said that the production company is taking bids. Whichever side of Main comes up with the most money will be the side they film their credits and backgrounds on.”
Rex frowned. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I agree.”
There was a knock on the office door. Jenn stood in the hall with Dirk Benjamin beside her. “Hey, kids,” Jenn said. “Someone here to see Rex.” Then she whispered, “It’s Dirk Benjamin.”
“Hey, Rex, man, sorry, dude,” Dirk said, and strode in. The man was pure Hollywood with a toothpaste-commercial smile and muscles from here to eternity. “I lost you back there. But I’m here now.”
“Right.” Rex seemed less than thrilled.
“So what are we doing?” Dirk asked as he stepped into the room, filling the space.
“Yes,” Jenn said with a nonstop grin. “What are we doing?”
“I’m getting a witness statement,” Rex said, and stood. Surprisingly, he stood toe-to-toe with Dirk. I think I read somewhere that Hollywood preferred leading men under six feet tall. Still somehow my first impression of Dirk was that he was tall. Weird. “I don’t think you need to be in on this.”
“Oh, he can be in on this,” Jenn said. “Right, Allie?”
“I guess so,” I said.
“Good, see, the little lady said I could be in on this.” Dirk grabbed Jenn’s office chair, turned it around, and sat down on it backward so he could put his mighty forearms across the back of the chair. “Go on, dude, do your thing,” he encouraged Rex.
Rex’s eyes narrowed, but he sat down. “Where were we?”
“You were asking me how I found the body,” I said as helpfully as I could.
“Right.” Rex looked at his notes. “You were talking to Beecher about the filming.”
“Yes,” I said. “When Mr. Beecher asked where Mal was—” I looked at Dirk. “Mal is my puppy.”
At the sound of her name, my dog came running in. She went straight to Dirk and jumped her front feet up onto his thigh.
“That’s Mal,” I said.
“So you’re the famous body finder,” Dirk said, and rubbed Mal between the ears. “She’s a cutie.”
“Thanks.”
“Beecher asked you where Mal was,” Rex said to get me to finish my story.
“Yes,” I said, and nodded. “I looked for her and found her a block or so up from us sniffing around the Dumpster behind Doud’s Market and Mackinac Gifts. I called to her, but she wouldn’t come.”
“That’s not like her,” Jenn said. “Mal is really well trained.”
“Then what happened?” Rex said, and gave Jenn a look for interrupting.
“I went to get her and realized that she wasn’t sniffing trash but a person. I asked him if he was all right, but he didn’t answer. I then bent down to shake his shoulder but he was stiff. It was clear he was dead. I called 9-1-1.”
“Did you see anyone else in the alley?” Rex asked.
“No,” I said.
“Could you tell how he died?”
“No,” I said. “He looked like he was sleeping. His back against the building and his hat over his face.”
“He was staged,” Rex said, and made a note.
“How awful,” Jenn said, and put her hand to her mouth.
“You should have seen it,” Dirk said. Old Rex here—”
“Officer Manning,” Rex corrected him.
“Right, dude, this guy goes up to the dead guy and lifts the hat off him with a pen. It exposed a bullet hole right above the eyes. There was blood and brains everywhere.”
“Oh, my!” Jenn said.
“Okay, let’s not get too carried away,” Rex said. “Allie, did Mal see anything else?”
“Not that I was aware of,” I said. “I picked her up and held her until you came along.”
“Right. Then that’s all I needed for now,” Rex said. “You know how to get ahold of me if you come across anything else.”
I stood and sent him a quick smile. “I will.”
“Cool,” Dirk said, and stood. “Now what, boss?” He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “We go find the bad guy?”
“Something like that,” Rex said.
“Dude, you have the best job,” Dirk said.
“Excuse me,” Rex said. “Let’s go, Dirk.”
“Bye, Dirk,” Jenn said as she ogled him on the way out.
“Bye, Jenn, is it?” he asked, and kissed her hand. He winked at me and grinned.
“Oh boy,” Jenn said, and fanned her flushed face.
“I thought you were in love with Shane?” I teased her.
“Oh, I am, but I think Dirk is on my list.”
“What list?”
“The one where you get a free pass if he ever looked my way,” Jenn said with a smile.
“I think I’ll pass,” I said, and shook my head. “He isn’t the brightest bulb in the box.”
“Who cares when he looks like that,” Jenn said. “Now tell me, were there really brains everywhere? How did you handle it?”
“Dirk lost his breakfast,” I said, and sat at my desk. I watched as Jenn carefully returned her chair to its place under her desk. “You are never going to clean that chair again, are you?”
“Nope,” Jenn said, and sat in it. “Oh, it’s still warm.”
This time I rolled my eyes. “Hey, who’s watching the front desk?”
“I have a bell set up,” Jenn said. “There’s a sign to press for service.”
“And the room keys behind reception?”
“All locked up,” she said, and lifted the master key in her hand. “Sandy is in the fudge shop and we are all set right and tight.”
“You know, Shane’s on the island working the case,” I said. “Are you going to meet him for lunch?”
“If you don’t need me, that would be great!” She smiled wide. �
��Who knows, we might see Dirk.” She scrunched her shoulders and wiggled side to side like a little girl with a crush.
“Jenn!”
“What? A girl can’t have a crush?”
I had to laugh. How Jenn could think of two guys at once was beyond me. I had enough trouble with dating to make any judgments.
Chapter 3
Later that afternoon, I sat at Frances’s desk after checking in new guests. Thanks to Jenn’s good publicity, we still had both hotel floors open and almost filled. I had to give her credit for keeping the business running at the end of the season. We would be full for the weekend with the Butterfly House fund-raiser as well.
The doorbells rang and a porter came in with a giant bouquet of mixed fall flowers. “Wow, those are lovely,” I said.
He glanced around the flowers. “These are for Allie McMurphy,” he said.
“That would be me,” I said, and took the flowers. I fished a tip out of the receptionist drawer and tipped the porter. I read the card on the way to the reception desk. It said:
To my darling, Allie. These are to let you know
I’m thinking of you. Love always, Trent.
Oh, boy.
Trent and I had broken up after I caught him kissing my cousin Victoria. She claimed she didn’t know I was dating Trent. He claimed the kiss didn’t mean anything between old friends. I told him I needed a break to think about our relationship.
Then things got messy.
I was a bridesmaid at Frances’s wedding and Rex was the groomsman assigned to be my partner. Rex asked me to dance and things got a little close, ending in a kiss. My timing has always been bad. It seemed that Trent had shown up uninvited to the wedding reception to “surprise” me and saw me kiss Rex. It was all a tangled mess.
I have to admit that I wasn’t any good at dating. I’d spent my high school days in the kitchen. I gave up a chance to go to the prom for the opportunity to watch a lecture and cooking demonstration by one of my favorite chefs. College was a blur of occasional dates mixed with work as an apprentice in a candy shop. Frankly, I concentrated so much on learning everything I could to run the McMurphy that I never went through all the drama most people wade through in early dating years. I suffered for it now.
“Gorgeous flowers,” Jenn said as she came downstairs. “Who are they for?”
“Me,” I said, and placed them on the reception desk for everyone to enjoy. “From Trent.”
“Oh,” Jenn said, and then read the card. “Ooh!”
“Right?” I sat down on Frances’s tall stool. “What am I going to do?”
“Well, honey, you are in a place a lot of women would envy. You have two gorgeous men who want to date you. Bask in it.”
“What? No,” I said, and shook my head. “Basking is not the right thing to do here.”
“Then how do you feel about Trent?”
“What’s not to like? He’s gorgeous, rich, and a great kisser,” I said sadly. “Except that he is not around a lot. He’s got businesses in Chicago to attend to as well as businesses here on Mackinac Island. I’ve seen less and less of him as the summer goes on. Once the ferries stop for the winter and his businesses here close, I’ll see even less.”
“If you love him, you could close the McMurphy on the off-season. Lots of people do it. I’m going back to Chicago in a couple of weeks. You could come stay with me.”
“You’ve decided to go back to Chicago for sure?” I said, surprised at how disappointed I felt.
“Yes,” she said. “You know I was only here for the season.”
“I know, but I had hoped that you might decide to stay. You’ve got some good business going here on the island.”
“I have a chance to work with Antoinette in Chicago. She is the it girl in event planning there right now. If I can work for her for a year or two, I can snag some really wealthy clients and improve my résumé.”
“Right,” I said, and sighed. “What about Shane?”
“Shane and I are okay,” she said. “He understands that I have ambition. There’s no reason we can’t still see each other. I can come visit here and he can come visit there. We’ll work it out.”
“I don’t know if I’m up to working things out like that in a relationship.” I put my elbow on the desk and rested my cheek on my palm. “I’ve spent my whole life preparing to live and work and be at the McMurphy full-time.”
“I blame that on your Papa Liam,” Jenn said with a frown, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Just because he liked being here with your grandma, doesn’t mean he should have raised you to think this is the only life for you.”
“I know there are other ways to live,” I said. “I grew up in Detroit. Went to college with you in Chicago. I don’t want those other ways.”
“And what about Rex?”
“Rex? Is handsome, sexy, a local—but he’s been married twice before” I sighed. “One ex-wife can be labeled a mistake, but two? I don’t know.” I shook my head. “If I date Rex and things go bad, it will affect the entire island. Remember how it split everyone apart when Trent and I were on the outs due to his grandfather being found dead in my utility closet? I’d hate to think of what would happen if I dated Rex and then we broke up.”
Jenn laughed out loud. “Girl, you are way overthinking this. Nothing is as serious as you think. It’s life, enjoy it and play around a bit. Okay?”
I sat up straight. “Enjoy it,” I said. “I wonder if anyone told Jack Sharpe that.”
“Jack Sharpe?”
“The guy Mal found dead in the alley. Do you know him?”
“I don’t.”
“I understand he worked in Jessops’ stables and spent a lot of time fishing.”
“See, a man who knew how to play,” Jenn said.
“Except he’s dead now.”
“But that has nothing to do with you, right?”
“I wish,” I said, and sighed. “Rex thinks his killer might be trying to bait me somehow.”
“Why?”
“They found a note in Jack’s hand and it had my name on it.”
“Oh, dear, I certainly hope they don’t think you killed that man.”
“No,” I said, “thank goodness they don’t think I killed him. But Rex fears his killer might be trying to play a game of cat and mouse with me. He thinks Jack was killed somewhere else and left for me to find.”
“What was in the note?” Jenn asked.
“The opening to a game of chess.” I went to the closet in the hallway under the stairs and pulled out a chessboard. “I don’t play chess. Do you?”
“No,” Jenn said.
“Well, Mr. Beecher told me the move was the white king’s knight.”
“That’s creepy,” Jenn said, and watched as I set the game up on the coffee table between the couches near the elevator.
“I think he wants me to make some sort of move.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Mr. Beecher said he plays chess. I’ve asked him to come visit and discuss opening moves with me.”
“I certainly hope the killer doesn’t think you’re going to kill anyone to find him.”
“Me too,” I said as I felt my eyes widen. “I don’t think he expects me to kill. I think he wants me to figure out who he is. So when Mr. Beecher comes I’m going to get the names of all the members of the chess club.”
The doorbells rang and I looked up to see Liz McElroy walk into the McMurphy and make a beeline for me. Liz was the lead reporter of the Mackinac Island Town Crier. She was also a dear friend. Liz was tall and slender with dark brown curly hair and intelligent eyes. Today she wore a pale blue camp shirt and a pair of khaki cargo pants. “Hello, ladies.”
“Hi, Liz,” Jenn said. “What brings you by?”
“Murder,” Liz said. “Allie, I heard your pup found another body this morning. There sure are a lot of killings going on this season.”
“I don’t know what it’s all about,” I said.
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br /> “I understand it was Jack Sharpe you and Mal found in the alley behind Doud’s and Mackinac Gifts.”
“You heard right,” I said. “There isn’t really much to tell. Have you talked to Mr. Beecher?”
“Not yet,” Liz said. “Did he see what happened?”
“He was with us when Mal found Jack.”
“I’ll make a note to interview him as well,” Liz said, and poured herself a cup of coffee from the small coffee bar I kept stocked in the back corner of the lobby.
“He’ll be here soon,” I said. “If you want to stick around.”
“I will, thanks,” Liz said, and walked up to the desk. “Gorgeous flowers.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Trent bought them for her,” Jenn butted in. I sent her a look.
“Really?” Liz said with interest.
“That is not fodder for the Town Crier,” I said, and stubbornly set my chin.
“Don’t worry, I won’t write about your flowers in the paper . . . yet,” Liz said, and sipped her coffee. “This is merely friendly banter.”
“I know better than that,” I said. “You are always telling me everything is on the record. But right now, my love life is off-limits.”
“Too bad,” Liz said. “These are pretty flowers.”
The doorbells rang again and I shooed the girls off to the lobby while I registered new guests. They were the Biltmores and they were in for the week. I put them in room 305, took them up to the room, showed them the small suite with a king-size bed and small couch. “The porters will bring your luggage up from the docks and I’ll set it inside your room,” I said. “There is a great bar across the street if you want something to eat. It’s on the water with some spectacular views.”
“Thank you,” Mrs. Biltmore said. “You look so much like your Grandma Alice.”
“Thanks,” I said with a quick smile. “I’ll be around if you need anything.” I closed the door behind me and went down to the lobby. Usually it was Frances who dealt with checking guests in and out. I mostly worked in the fudge shop, while Frances managed the hotel aspects of the McMurphy. With Frances gone this week, I was getting a real feel for hospitality.
When I got back to the lobby, Liz and Jenn were talking to Mr. Beecher. They all sat on the two couches facing each other. A chess set was between them and Mr. Beecher was telling my friends how to play the game.