Death in a Beach Chair

by Valerie Wolzien

  “In the cottage? But the sun is coming out; the day is going to be gorgeous. Who wants to spend a beautiful day like this indoors-”

  “Jerry’s right,” Susan spoke up. “Why don’t we all go kayaking?”

  “I think the storm stirred up the surf,” Jerry protested immediately.

  “Then how about a long walk on the beach?” Susan knew they needed to talk someplace where they wouldn’t be overheard.

  Jerry was as quick to agree as he had been to protest. “Sounds good to me. What do you think, Kath?”

  “I guess…” She looked around the tiny resort. “Apparently everyone is settling in for the day as if nothing unusual has happened.”

  Susan glanced around. The other guests did seem to be stretched out in lounge chairs around the pool or on the beach. Well, they were all on vacation, and the death really didn’t relate to their lives-as far as Susan knew. Had Allison come here alone or was someone-a friend, relative, or significant other-hidden away in a cottage, mourning her death in private? “Do we know if Allison was here alone?” she asked quietly.

  “Yesterday she was eating lunch with one of those men who always seem to be playing bridge,” Jed answered. “Maybe she’s here with that group.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Allison,” Jerry said. “At least, not the Allison I know.”

  “The Allison I knew didn’t even look like the Allison that was here,” Susan said. “She may have changed more than her appearance since I last saw her.”

  “So we’ll head up the beach for a nice, long walk and burn all these calories, right?” Kathleen interrupted as Trina arrived, steaming coffeepot in hand.

  “Oh, you’re going for a walk?” Trina asked, filling Jerry’s cup.

  “We thought we would,” Susan said quickly. “Any suggestion which direction we should go?”

  “The beach is beautiful both ways. West is quieter, of course. No homes or hotels in that direction. Just watch out for the sea urchins. You don’t want to walk on one. Their sting can make you pretty sick.”

  “We’ll be careful.” Kathleen stood up and turned toward Jerry. “Why don’t you bring your coffee back to our room, and you can drink it while I change? I want to put a two-piece swimsuit on and get another hat.”

  “I’ll wait out here,” Jerry said, picking up his cup and taking a sip.

  “I’ll come with you, Kath.” Susan jumped up quickly. “Jed can keep Jerry company.”

  The two women walked away together, and Susan, displaying what she thought was an amazing amount of self-discipline, waited until the door of the Gordons’ cottage had closed behind them and they were alone before asking the first of many questions. “What is going on with Jerry?”

  Kathleen responded with a question of her own. “Why didn’t you tell me that gorgeous woman was June’s sister?”

  “I didn’t know.”

  “I don’t know,” Kathleen’s answer almost echoed Susan’s.

  “Look, we only have a few minutes before either Jerry or Jed comes to see what we’re doing, so you tell me about the police and Jerry and-and whatever you know and I’ll tell you what I know about Allison while we’re walking on the beach.”

  “But-”

  “Kathleen, we can talk about Allison with Jerry and Jed. We might even learn something we don’t know, but if you think Jerry might be arrested for murder, don’t you think we’d better talk about that while we’re alone?”

  Kathleen was silent for a moment, picking at the terry cloth robe she had retrieved from the large queen-size bed she and Jerry had shared last night. “Okay. You’re right.

  “The problem… I think the problem,” she began, “is that Jerry thinks the police here are stupid.”

  “And that would mean what?” Susan prodded when Kathleen didn’t continue.

  “I don’t know. I mean, I know he didn’t kill anyone, but he does have a connection to the victim. Jerry seems to think the police will ignore that, but… well, only the most incompetent investigator wouldn’t look into their relationship.”

  “Don’t you think maybe you’re making too much of that? I mean, they just happened to be here at the same time, right?”

  “That’s not necessarily true.”

  “Of course it is! And I can prove it to the police. I was the person who made reservations for all of us, and I certainly didn’t know that Allison was going to be here when I did. I didn’t even recognize her when I first saw her. There was no connection between our vacation time and hers! Unless-” Susan suddenly realized what she was missing.

  “Unless Jerry told her when we were planning to be here,” Kathleen filled in the blank.

  “Do you think that’s possible?”

  “I have no idea. Of course, Jerry’s mentioned Allison to me, but the truth is, it’s sometimes difficult hearing Jerry talk about his life before we met so I don’t necessarily listen as closely as I might. And recently-” Kathleen stopped talking, and Susan began to fear for the hem on the robe she was picking at.

  “You know, we can just ask Jerry if he’s seen Allison recently and if he mentioned our trip to her,” Susan said.

  “No, we can’t! Susan, we can’t!”

  “Kathleen, you just said that Jerry is putting himself in jeopardy by ignoring the police, but now you’re also trying to pretend that there isn’t a serious problem here.”

  “No, no, I’m not. You weren’t sitting nearby when the police were interviewing us. You didn’t see the expressions on their faces. You didn’t hear Jerry blabbing on and on about how long he had known Allison, how she used to spend every Thanksgiving with him and his dead wife. How she used to bring such interesting gifts to his dead children.”

  “It sounds a little weird.”

  “That’s what I’m telling you! It was more than a little weird! It was bizarre and strange and odd and peculiar and-and damn near self-incriminating. Jerry made Allison sound like a long-lost…”

  “A long-lost what?”

  “A lover.”

  Susan was shocked. “Kathleen, you know that’s not true. It doesn’t even make any sense! Jerry was married to Allison’s sister. There was never, ever a hint of anything between them. Believe me, I would have known if there was. June would have told me!”

  “That’s not necessarily true.”

  “Of course it is! Kath, you don’t understand. I knew June as well as I know you. She would have told me-” Susan suddenly realized exactly what she was saying. “You’re not telling me something.”

  “I told you how Jerry was distracted about work. I didn’t tell you that there was something else.”

  “Another woman?” Part of Susan couldn’t believe she was even asking this question.

  “It’s possible.”

  “Anything is possible,” Susan said, completely miserable at the direction their conversation was taking. “What do you know?”

  Kathleen dropped the robe back onto the bed before answering. “That’s the trouble, of course. I don’t know anything. Not really.”

  “But?” Susan asked.

  “Jerry being involved with another woman would explain a lot of things.”

  “He said it was problems at work,” Susan interrupted to remind her friend.

  “Well, he would, wouldn’t he? And remember that Jed told you nothing unusual was going on at the office.”

  Susan couldn’t argue with that.

  “Although I don’t think he was stupid enough to give the police the impression that his relationship with Allison was anything other than the loving relationship between in-laws…”

  “Which is in itself a bit strange.”

  “Why?”

  “I always got the impression that he and Allison didn’t get along all that well. In fact, I thought that was why they always ended up with us at Thanksgiving.”

  “What do you mean? We always eat Thanksgiving dinner with you.”

  “Oh, but that’s because… well, it’s because you hated cooking so muc
h when you and Jerry first got married.”

  Kathleen smiled for the first time since hearing about Allison’s murder. “I still hate cooking and last year we celebrated at my house. What you mean is that I didn’t know how to cook when Jerry and I got married and no one in their right mind would have trusted me to prepare a meal as elaborate as Thanksgiving dinner.”

  Susan smiled back. “True.”

  “I’m thinking that you’re thinking that June was a wonderful cook, so that’s not the reason why she and Jerry and their kids celebrated Thanksgiving at your house when Allison came to visit.”

  “That’s one thing I’m thinking.”

  “What’s the other?”

  “I’m thinking that we’re going to have to get over being uncomfortable talking about June and the girls if we’re going to help Jerry.”

  Kathleen took a deep breath, stood up a little straighter, and became the woman Susan had been friends with for the past decade. “Damn right. So let’s go on that walk.”

  NINE

  The police came between the Henshaws and Gordons and their walk.

  “I’m so sorry, but we’ve been told to insist that everyone remain within Compass Bay for the time being.” A tall woman with an impeccable auburn French twist and skin so pale that Susan could only wonder at how much sunscreen it took to accomplish this in the Caribbean stopped them as they began to walk around the jetty.

  “By whom?” Jed asked.

  “By the island’s police chief,” the woman said, while Susan tried to adjust to her husband’s impeccable grammar.

  “Is everyone being asked to remain on the premises or just some of the guests?” Kathleen asked.

  “The staff has been interviewed and allowed to get on with their work. Those who work different shifts have been allowed to go home and rest before returning to work to pick up their regular schedule later in the day. This is a very small island and everyone knows everyone else. Anyone doing anything unusual will be quickly reported.”

  “The police seem very sure of your staff,” Kathleen said.

  “They have reason to be. They know that we are very careful whom we hire and who remains in our employ.”

  “Yes, but there do seem to be fewer people around,” Susan said. “Perhaps many of the guests have decided to remain in their cottages.”

  “Well, there were two parties of guests who were scheduled to fly back to the mainland later this morning and who have been allowed to do so.” For the first time since she had barred their way, the woman faltered slightly. “The police apparently determined that those who were allowed to leave had nothing to do with Ms. McAllister’s death.”

  “And how did they know that?” Susan asked.

  “I can’t tell you how their minds work, but I can suggest that you not underestimate them. Now, if you will excuse me, I have many extra things to deal with immediately due to this unfortunate event.”

  “I gather that was Lila. The woman who manages this place?” Jed asked.

  Jerry and Kathleen nodded.

  “This is weird,” Susan said when the two couples were alone together. She didn’t expect anyone to disagree.

  “Maybe it’s not. Maybe there’s something more sinister going on here,” Kathleen suggested.

  “What do you mean?” Jed asked, wandering over to an upturned kayak and sitting down.

  “Kath thinks the police are going to arrest me for Ally’s murder.”

  “Do you know who killed her, Jerry?” Kathleen asked angrily. “Do you even know anyone else here who knew her? Are you willing to put your future in the hands of a police department you know nothing about in a foreign country? Are you?”

  “Do you know if Allison was here with someone else?” Susan asked.

  “Did you speak with her?” Kathleen asked.

  “I think we should find out who else knew Allison,” Susan said, pressing her point when Jerry didn’t answer.

  “I believe our guidebook to the island mentioned something about a local U.S. embassy office. Perhaps we should call there before any more time passes,” Jed said quietly.

  “Did you speak with her?” Kathleen asked Jerry again.

  “I think Jed has made an excellent suggestion. We should find that guidebook-or a phone book-and insist on speaking to a representative of our government,” Jerry said, ignoring his wife.

  “Fine. You and Jed go call the embassy. Susan and I will just sit here and twiddle our thumbs.” Kathleen, despite her words, folded her arms across her chest and turned to look out at the sea.

  “We’ll be here when you’re done,” Susan said, speaking more calmly than her friend.

  “We won’t be long,” Jed said, getting up and following Jerry back toward the cottages.

  “Don’t you think it’s a little odd that the police are allowing some guests to fly home and others aren’t even permitted to leave the resort?” Susan asked after a moment of silence.

  “I think it’s more than odd. I think it’s sinister. They’ve focused their investigation on one or a few suspects, and they don’t care about anyone else.”

  “If that person is Jerry, then Jed’s suggestion that we call the embassy office is probably a good idea,” Susan said.

  Kathleen didn’t answer right away, and when she did she changed the subject. “Who keeps moving around those chairs on the pier?”

  Susan frowned. “I think everyone does. James seems to straighten out the chairs around the pool and on the patio in front of the cottages, but everyone moves them wherever they want to sit. The day we got here someone had dragged two chairs down the stairs to the beach, and there were a few chairs out on the gazebo during the day yesterday and then late last night they were gone, and the chair Allison was found on was moved out.”

  “You were out there last night? I thought you and Jed went to bed when we did.”

  “We did, but I wasn’t tired and couldn’t sleep so I wandered outside. I actually sat for a while on the edge of the pier. The stars were amazing!”

  “Did you see Allison?”

  “I didn’t see anyone. I did think that maybe there was someone in the gazebo. In fact, I might have stayed there a lot longer, but I heard strange noises and I was afraid that I had interrupted a couple who were enjoying the fresh air and each other at the same time.”

  “Or perhaps someone was killing Allison as you sat there.”

  “I-my God, do you think that’s possible?” Despite the sultry heat, Susan experienced a sudden chill. Had Allison been killed while help was only a few feet away? So much had happened in the past few hours, but she could still remember the feeling that she wasn’t alone in the dark. She turned back to her friend. “Kath, do you think-”

  But Kathleen, without a word of explanation, had turned around and was jogging back toward the cottages. It took Susan only a moment to realize that Jed-and only Jed-was loping toward her, a very nonvacationing expression on his face. “Jerry’s been taken away,” he explained when they met.

  “By-By the police? They’ve arrested him?”

  “I don’t know. I just know he’s on his way into town with a police escort.”

  “Then we’ve got to get hold of the U.S. embassy right away.”

  “There are embassy representatives here already. One of them was looking for Kath. They’re probably together now.”

  “So what do we do?”

  Jed shook his head, obviously perplexed. “Wait and see, I guess.”

  “Wait and see? Are you nuts?”

  “What do you propose? I’m willing to consider any other suggestion.”

  “I-I can’t think of anything,” she admitted.

  Jed surprised her by reaching out and putting his arm around her shoulders. “Why don’t you snuggle over here next to me?”

  “Jed, I know we’re on vacation, but-”

  “Let’s try to look as though you’re upset and I’m comforting you.” He interrupted her protest and pulled her closer. “We need to talk and th
is is not exactly a private place,” he added in a whisper.

  Susan got the idea at once. “What?” she asked, turning and snuggling her face into his chest where she was sure no one would overhear or overlook their conversation. “Is Jerry actually under arrest?”

  “I didn’t hear anyone put it quite like that. He was asked to come to the police station in town to answer some questions about Allison. I thought it was pretty obvious that they knew about his relationship with her. Anyway, the woman from the embassy suggested that it would be a good idea to do as requested, and she went along with them without anyone questioning her right to do so, as far as I could tell.”

  “And Kathleen is with someone else from the embassy? Where are they?” Susan asked, leaning back and gulping a deep breath of fresh air.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “What do these women do at the embassy? Who called for them?”

  “I don’t know what their positions are, but they got here in a timely fashion and they seem to be respected by the islanders who are in control of the situation.”

  “I suppose that’s good. But do you think we can trust them?”

  “Trust them?”

  “To help us. To make sure Jerry isn’t accused of Allison’s murder.”

  “I don’t think that’s their job, Sue. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t go over to the office and make some calls. I thought cottages without phones were such a good idea when I read about them in the brochure, but it’s turning out to be a real inconvenience.”

  “Who would you call?”

  “Friends at home. Lawyers. Anyone who might know the law down here and what we’re becoming involved in-”

  “Yoo-hoo! Henshaws! Up here!”

  Susan and Jed turned and looked up. Standing on the top of the breakwater was a heavyset woman Susan recognized as one of the card-playing group. She smiled weakly.

  “I need to speak to you and it’s a lot easier for young people like you to come up the steps than for an oldster like me to waddle down.”

  Susan and Jed exchanged glances.

  “Now I might be interrupting a romantic moment or I may not, but I really think we should have a little chat. It has to do with the murder.”