Dead Before A Rival

by John A. Broussard

  “Thanks, Dolph. You’ve been a big help.”

  ***

  “Well? Was he?” Sid asked as they pulled away from Cliffhouse.

  “Huh? What?”

  “Going into one of your trances again, I see. I swear, if I didn’t know you as well as I do I’d think for sure you had petit mal.”

  “What was the question?”

  “Was Dolph any help?”

  “Huh? Yeah, sure. Some. Maybe a lot. We’re going to have to go back to the Jomark to be sure. The first thing I want to do, though, is to talk to David Rouse.”

  At first, Sid could not understand why the cats were not showing their usual enthusiasm when the providers arrived home. Then he realized the sound of their somewhat early arrival had caught the trio off guard. Bluebeard’s enormous yawn confirmed his suspicion. Though the three of them might have been caught napping, they had managed to make it to the refrigerator door and were sitting in front of it looking expectantly at the plastic bags with the groceries.

  While Sid fed them quickly to avoid being trampled, Kay put through a call to Rouse’s office. She got only the answering machine.

  “That’s funny,” she said, coming back into the kitchen. “David’s phone rings in his house as well as his office. He usually takes appointments until five-thirty or so.”

  “He probably had a no show and went off to dinner early someplace. Try him later. Are you going to tell me what you’re up to, or are you going to surprise me the way you usually do?”

  Kay smiled. “You know I can’t tell you anything until I know for sure. It would spoil my reputation for always being right. You’d be amazed at how far off I’ve been sometimes. I may be even more far off this time.”

  “One of these days the culprit’s going to get away, or drop a rock on your head, while you’re keeping your secrets to yourself.”

  After dinner, Kay tried David Rouse again with no better luck.

  “Do you think there’s a phone on the Jomark, Sid?”

  “I would think so. There’d be a radio phone if nothing else. I’m pretty sure I saw a phone line connected to it along with the AC they plug into when the boat’s docked. Call the marina, they’ll know. Could I ask what you’re up to first?”

  Kay was punching in the number of the marina, and started to answer when the phone rang at the other end. Copying down the Jomark’s number, she said, “Maybe we’ll go on a little excursion.” She was dialing the number she had written down while smiling at Sid’s reaction.

  “Not the Jomark,” Sid said in exasperation. “It’s after dark. Why can’t this wait until morning?”

  Putting down the phone after her call to the boat, Kay asked, “Where’s your spirit of adventure? What could be more romantic than the marina after dark, the soft sound of the waves lapping against the dock, the mournful noise of foghorns, the cry of the night birds? Besides, Captain Silva says he’ll have almond cookies and coffee waiting for us.”

  “OK. OK. At least there’s not much danger of our pulling a Melvin Kemp and boarding the wrong boat.”

  Chapter 23

  Sid grudgingly admitted to himself the marina at night was picturesque. The lights were subdued, and they cast shimmering reflections on the water. The evening was still, as it usually was during the in-between period when the onshore breezes of the day stopped and the offshore breezes of the night had not yet begun.

  Captain Silva had a gangway light on for them and welcomed them aboard. After he had served them their coffee and pushed the platter of cookies across to them, he said, “I’m all set for more questions.”

  “Kay’s the one who has all of them this time. I’m just the chauffeur this trip.”

  “I don’t have many,” Kay said.

  “The more the merrier. I’m like most old sea dogs. I always enjoy company, even if I have to pay a price to get it.”

  Kay laughed. “I hope this won’t be a heavy price,” she said. “but I do have a few questions.”

  “Fire away.”

  “Did you go down to the staterooms anytime in the morning of the day the Jomark was in Honolulu.”

  “That one’s easy. I don’t get to Honolulu often these days, and I have a couple of old friends there. I also have an older brother who’s in a nursing home on the windward side. So, about eight-thirty or so in the morning I asked Mrs. Forbes if she thought she’d be needing me. When she said no, I waved good-bye to the passengers. I didn’t get back until about eight, eight-thirty or so that evening, just in time to get in on the Marshal fracas. Jeff was on his way to bail him out.”

  “Guess that’s about it, then.”

  “You mean that’s all of it? I really did get off easy this time.” Captain Silva actually seemed to be relieved at how little had been asked of him.

  A nagging doubt, which she had had some time before but had dismissed, came creeping back as she detected the relief in the captain’s tone. It suddenly ballooned up to monstrous size and made her wonder if all her recent conclusions might not be completely wrong. There’s only one way to settle this, she decided.

  “Captain, there is something else, something rather important. Sid and I have heard Bart threatened you. Specifically, he claimed you’d retrieved a parcel of something off the island here, the day before the Honolulu trip.” Sid had not expected Kay to go off in this direction but, like her, he watched Captain Silva’s lined face closely to see what the consequences of the question might be.

  The pause following the question lengthened, and Kay wondered if there would be any answer at all. The captain’s face was unreadable. Finally, he shrugged and said, “What the hell! You’re going to find out about it sooner or later, I might as well tell you right now.”

  He paused again, this time obviously deciding where to start and, likely, deciding what not to tell his listeners. “I told you a few minutes ago about my older brother who’s in a nursing home. Well, he’s not all that old. He happens to have a brain tumor that’s gradually turning him into a vegetable. It’s inoperable. In fact, there’s no known cure. There is a drug that’s showing promise. The only problem is, it isn’t available.”

  “Not available?” Kay asked. “I don’t understand.”

  “Ever hear of RU-486?”

  Sid shook his head, but Kay answered, “Isn’t that the abortion pill which was developed a while back in France?”

  Captain Silva smiled. “Right you are. The French prefer to call it a contragestive. Since you know what it is, you can see why a new and similar but far more effective product is unavailable in this country.”

  “Sure, but what does it have to do with brain tumors?” Sid asked.

  “Some Swedish scientists have been trying it on the kind of brain tumor my brother has. The results are, according to them, ‘very promising.’ I found out about it when I talked to the doctor who’s treating Daniel. He said this new drug is a long shot, but it’s the only thing he knows of that’s ever showed any signs of shrinking the kind of tumor my brother has.”

  “So you volunteered to get some,” Kay said, “Right?”

  Captain Silva nodded, but Sid shook his head. “I don’t understand, he said. Surely the doctor could have gotten some of it through regular channels.”

  “Uh-uh,” Captain Silva said, then emphasized the point. “There’s no possible way he could have gotten it. Some big labs on the mainland have tried to get it for experimental purposes, and the government just won’t let them have it. There are one or two exceptions, but that’s carefully monitored research and absolutely not for medical treatment. It would be a waste of effort to try and get any for treatment if recognized laboratories can’t get it for experiments. To make matters worse, the doctor works in a Catholic hospital. He’d be out of a job if he even asked for the drug.”

  “Couldn’t he just have a lab in France send him what he needed through the mail?” Sid asked. “Seems to me no one would be the wiser.”

  “Not these days. Since the anti-drug frenzy has hit, t
he US mails are fair game for all the snoopers. You’d be amazed how many detection dogs there are sniffing at mail sacks. I know some of the people in the trade, and I found out the safest and surest way to get it here. So I called a friend in Panama. Right now, you can get anything you might ever want in Central America, and a lot of things you might prefer not to have.

  “On one of its regular runs, a Panamanian freighter dropped off a small packet for me. I went out to pick it up with Kerwin aboard, the day before the Honolulu trip. Kerwin knew what the packet was for, and I know I can trust him. Everything went fine except there was a small fishing boat out there. I had to take a chance because the water was getting rough. It would have been easy to lose the package if I hadn’t gone for it then.”

  He shrugged. “Pretty obviously someone had a glass on us. As you know, word travels fast on this island. I’m sure Bart isn’t the only one who heard about the pickup and suspected it was something quite different. Incidentally, there’s no way you can check on my story, since I’m not about to tell you who the doctor is. Kerwin just had to take my word about what was in the package. That was before he was officially hired, incidentally. I took him along because I needed someone, and I’ve known him for a long time. I wasn’t sure about Dolph, and I knew I couldn’t trust Bart. It seems my lack of trust was borne out.

  “I don’t imagine that you’re much concerned about what was in the package. The answer to what you’re really concerned about is still the same. I didn’t kill Bart. There wouldn’t have been much point to it, since there are plenty of others who know the story by now. I have to admit, though, I don’t think he’s any great loss.”

  Neither Sid nor Kay felt the need to pursue the topic.

  There is one other thing,” Kay said. “Before we leave, could we go through the staterooms, again?”

  The captain grinned and relaxed. “Nothing could be easier. Have some more cookies, first. How about some refills? “

  When the three of them walked through the lounge, Kay said, “Do me a favor, Sid. Go into one of the staterooms, close the door and make yourself comfortable. I’ll tell you when you can come out.”

  Sid looked at the captain and said, “She had a deprived childhood. Her folks wouldn’t let her play hide and seek.”

  Turning to Kay, he said, “The things I do to maintain my conjugal rights. Which room?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Any one will do.”

  “What do I do then?”

  “Nothing. Just wait there until I tell you to come out.”

  The bemused captain leaned against the bulkhead while Sid went into the first port stateroom and closed the door. Kay entered the first starboard stateroom, left the door open, went through the stateroom into the bathroom and flushed the toilet. Coming out quickly, she repeated the process through the remaining unoccupied passenger staterooms. Opening the door to Sid’s room, she said, “You can come out now. What did you hear?”

  Sid was standing in the doorway, his mouth half open. “Well, I’ll be damned!” he said. “I heard five toilet flushes and you walking in and out of each stateroom.”

  “What’s it all mean?” asked the puzzled captain.

  “It means that, to understand it, you have to understand how Kay’s mind works. Believe me, it’s taken a lot of years for me to get even an inkling of how it does.”

  ***

  “I told you we should have called first.”

  “I can’t understand it. Even if he went out to dinner, he should have been back by now.” Kay was looking in exasperation at David Rouse’s house and office as she was expressing her bafflement.

  “He’s entitled to his night out. After all, he isn’t committed to anyone, not even to Joanna. I’m sure she doesn’t hesitate to have her night out now and then. I wish I hadn’t had any coffee. I’ll be awake half the night, but Silva brewed it up special for us, and I hated to say no. “

  “Well. If it’s any consolation, I’ll be awake too. I’ll need the hours to think this through, anyway.”

  “I take it you’ve crossed Silva off your list, for sure.”

  Kay nodded. “He’s got too good an argument. There really wouldn’t have been much point for him to kill Bart to cover up the pickup. Even Samantha Dalquist knows about it. Once anything gets to her, it’s all over.”

  “Do you think he was telling the truth about what was in the package?”

  “I think so but, as the captain said, that’s really not our concern.”

  Sid agreed. “I guess that does it then. You won’t have to do much thinking. We know who the murderer is. The case is solved.”

  “Yes, except we’re a long, long way from proof. Can you see any prosecuting attorney moving on the basis of what we have? Emil isn’t exactly the most aggressive of prosecutors. Also we’re missing the biggest item of all.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Motive.”

  “I’ll let you work on that. I have to be in court, wide awake, at eight-thirty for an arraignment. So I’m taking a sleeping pill as soon as I get home.”

  Kay was not listening. Instead, she said, half aloud, “Why couldn’t it have been something simple like money.”

  Chapter 24

  “Craig called,” Leilani announced to Kay and Sid when they arrived at the office the following morning. “He said Qual won’t be in this morning. He’s not feeling well.”

  “Qual, not feeling well?” Sid remarked. “I can’t believe it. I can’t even remember the last time he was sick, never mind sick enough not to show up to work.”

  “Craig says Qual hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Craig’s trying to convince him to go to the doctor. Qual wanted one of you to look through his in-basket and cover any routine stuff. He said to call him if you have any questions.”

  Laura came through the door just in time to catch the end of what Leilani was saying. “I’ll check through it if you two have something else on.”

  Leilani stared at Laura. “You don’t exactly look chipper yourself.”

  Laura grinned. “It was kind of a tough night. I didn’t get much sleep.”

  Leilani clucked her disapproval. “You need to get married and settle down.”

  Laura’s grin changed to a laugh. Nodding toward Sid who was still drowsy from his pill and Kay who was trying to suppress a yawn, she said, “Leilani! Just take a look at the married couple.”

  Leilani looked at all three of them and joined Laura’s laugh. “It must be nice to be young.”

  “There are lots of calls to make, Leilani,” Kay said. “I’m going to keep the switchboard working for the next couple of hours. While I’m at it, would you see if you can get Dr. Rouse. His first appointment is usually at eight. Put him through to me or Sid as soon as you get him. Tell him it’s important.”

  Laura’s eyes lit up. “Sounds like you two are on to something. Are you going to share.”

  “I will as soon as I finish my phone calls.”

  At eight-thirty a call came through from Hank. Since Kay was on the phone, Leilani routed the call to Sid. By then, Leilani had become tired of getting the answering phone at David Rouse’s office. Seeing the light go out on Kay’s latest phone call, Leilani went over to her office to announce the lack of success in contacting David. As she was telling Kay about not being able to get her call through, Sid came out of his office, his face grim, and said, “It’s no wonder you can’t get him. That was Hank. He says that David Rouse’s body has just been found by some opihi pickers near Olea Cove, just about a mile-and-a-half from Cliffhouse.”

  ***

  “Hank’s convinced it’s a suicide,” Sid said, concerned about Kay whose eyes were moist with tears. “I told him we’d be coming right over.”

  Kay shook her head and coughed to clear her throat. She picked up her phone. “I’m going to have to let Qual know,” she said in a low voice. “He’s going to be pretty upset. He and David were becoming close friends.”

  “Hurry. Hank says the station’s a madho
use. Everyone from Cliffhouse is crowded into his office and Joanna is hysterical. He won’t listen to our theory at all, so we’d better get there fast.”

  Receiving no answer at the other end, she frowned and hung up. Sid, catching her look and impatient to leave, said, “Hank says there’s a radio reporter at the desk doing a live broadcast and adding to the general confusion. Qual and Craig have probably already heard about it and are on their way over.” Kay looked dubious and stopped to give last minute instructions to Leilani about a client due in that morning. Sid, who had already sent Laura off to take his place in court, waited impatiently at the reception desk.

  Craig came in just as they were about to leave. “Qual told me to bring you this,” he said, holding out a briefcase. “He says it’s important.”

  Kay quickly shuffled through the papers in the case. “I don’t see anything here that’s urgent. There’s the Stanning appeal papers, but he has another three weeks to get those in, and a transcript of a trial I don’t even recognize. Maybe he sent over the wrong stuff. I’d better give him a call?”

  “There’s no time,” Sid said, starting for the door and turning to Craig. “We have to get to the station. When Laura gets back from court she can call Qual to find out what has to be acted on this morning.”

  Hank’s office was a madhouse. Corky and Sam were trying to console an inconsolable Joanna. Hank was telling the police operator to hold up on anything except emergency calls after he had tried unsuccessfully to get a coherent story out of an incoherent Sam, all the while being interrupted by the ringing of the phone. He looked up in exasperation as Sid and Kay rushed in.

  “So far, all I can find out is David Rouse came by the house yesterday afternoon around five. Shortly afterwards he disappeared. His car is still there, but no one knows where he went to. They called the station last night around ten, but there was nothing we could do then. That’s all I’ve been able to get out of them so far.”