Overboard on the Ocean

by Ellen Jacobson

  “But if he’s a murderer . . .” Scooter’s voice trailed off, and he quickly did his calming ritual. After exhaling sharply, he said, “Don’t you think it would be dangerous to be face-to-face with Herbert?”

  “Where did he want you to meet him?” I asked.

  “At Alligator Chuck’s BBQ Joint.”

  “A restaurant. Perfect. It’s a public place, and it’s always crowded. If Herbert thought you were on to him, he wouldn’t be inviting you to meet him there. He’d meet you someplace out of the way, a dark, desolate place where no one would see if he—”

  Scooter held up his hand. “I get the picture. So, you’re coming with me?”

  I looped my arm through his. “Absolutely. You’re not going to invest our money into the company without my sign-off.”

  “Oh, I have no plans on investing,” Scooter said quickly. “You don’t need to worry about that. Especially given what I know about it’s finances.”

  “Is this because of that document someone put under our cabin door on the cruise?” I asked. “You never did explain exactly what that was about. All you’d said was that it was proof their investment opportunity was a scam.”

  “Tell you what, let me go in and leave a note for Hank telling him that I have to reschedule, then I’ll explain it to you on the way. We’ll come back and pick up your car later.”

  By the time we got to Alligator Chuck’s, my head was pounding. Scooter had reeled off all sorts of numbers and financial terms. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but I trusted Scooter. If he said that it was evidence of Fletcher’s company committing fraud, then it was.

  As we sat in the car waiting for Herbert to arrive, I asked Scooter what he had done with the document that night.

  His face turned red. “I’m kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I destroyed it. I know that you would never have done something like that. It could have been used as evidence later. But I think I was in shock at having discovered what Fletcher was really up to. I wasn’t thinking.”

  I put my hand on his. “It’s okay. Hopefully, you didn’t eat it.”

  He laughed. “I still can’t believe Dominic did that. But, no, I tore it into tiny pieces and threw it in the recycling bin.”

  “Obviously, it wasn’t meant to be put under our door. Who do you think it was intended for?”

  “I assume Fletcher. But I’m not sure who left it for him. It could have been Herbert.”

  “Since it had to do with the company’s finances,” I said. “Makes sense considering Herbert is the CFO.”

  “It also could have been Anthony,” Scooter said. “He has an MBA and knows all about corporate finance. Don’t forget, he was, for all intents and purposes, managing the so-called investment opportunity.”

  “But why would either Herbert or Anthony have left that document for Fletcher? Especially something so incriminating. Isn’t that the type of thing you don’t want in writing?”

  Scooter drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Unless you were trying to blackmail someone. It might have been Herbert’s way of saying to Fletcher, ‘I know what you’re trying to pull.’”

  A knock on the passenger side window startled me. When I saw it was Herbert, I rolled down the window and smiled brightly. “We’ll be right in.”

  “Oh, are you joining us, Mollie?” Herbert asked.

  Scooter leaned across me. “Mollie is the CFO in our marriage. I don’t make any financial decisions without her input.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Herbert said. “I’ll go see if they can change the reservation to a table for three.”

  Once Herbert walked into the restaurant, I burst out laughing. “Chief financial officer? Me? I couldn’t even remember the password to our online account.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Scooter said. “If you really want to know more about finances, I can teach you.”

  “You’ve got a deal,” I said, shaking his hand. “Now, let’s go trick a killer into confessing.”

  * * *

  Scooter and I slid into the booth on the opposite side from Herbert. As the waiter handed menus to us, Herbert looked around the restaurant. “I can see why they call this place Alligator Chuck’s. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many alligators in one place before.”

  “Thankfully, they’re not alive.” I pointed at a dark green piñata hanging over our heads. “That’s the only kind of alligator I like. One you can fill with candy.”

  Scooter twisted in his seat and gestured at a large wooden statue by the hostess station. “A local chainsaw artist carved that. The detail is remarkable. You’d almost think it was real.”

  “Penny mentioned alligators at the marina,” Herbert said. “Do you ever worry about them attacking your cat?”

  “It’s a huge worry,” I said, feeling my heart start to race at the thought of losing my beloved calico. “Mrs. Moto loves swimming, but we’ve told her that absolutely under no circumstances is she to dive into the water at the marina.”

  “She’s a smart cat,” Scooter said. “I think she’s figured out that it’s not safe to go for a dip there. I haven’t heard any reports of the marina alligators being dangerous. If there was, I’m sure they’d remove them.”

  Herbert pointed at a lifelike alligator stuffed and mounted on the wall. “I suppose that’s what happens to the dangerous ones.”

  “It’s a shame when it comes to that,” Scooter said. “If you’re really interested in seeing a lot of alligators in one place, you should go to the Everglades or to Pete’s Gator Farm.”

  “Pete’s is on my list of things to do,” Herbert said. “I saw one of their brochures at the hotel.”

  I leaned forward. “But you’re not going to have much time for leisure activities like that now if you’re not retiring.”

  “You’re probably right,” Herbert said as he looked through the menu. “Have you had the alligator bites before?”

  “I have,” Scooter said. “They’re pretty good, especially with the dipping sauce. Want to split some as an appetizer?”

  “Will it be enough for three?” Herbert asked.

  Scooter smiled. “Mollie refuses to eat them. Don’t worry, it will be plenty big enough for the two of us.”

  After placing our order, I turned the conversation back to Herbert’s change of heart. “You seemed pretty enthusiastic about retirement. What made you decide to go back to work?”

  Herbert placed a napkin on his lap. “While Anthony and I had agreed that I would sell the company to him, the paperwork hadn’t been signed prior to his death. Since I still own the company, that took retirement off the table.”

  “So when Fletcher died, you got complete control of the company? Sylvia didn’t inherit his shares?” Scooter asked.

  “Correct.” Herbert hesitated for a moment, then looked at Scooter. “Normally, I wouldn’t share this kind of information, but since I’d like you to come on board, it’s important that you know how the current partnership agreement is structured. We can use it as a starting point for our own agreement. According to provisions that we made, upon Fletcher’s death, his shares reverted to me.”

  “Sorry, I’m kind of slow when it comes to this type of thing,” I said. “What do you mean by his shares reverting to you?”

  “Basically, Fletcher and I had a fifty-fifty split in terms of ownership of the company,” Herbert said. “When Fletcher died, all of his shares were transferred to me. I own one hundred percent of the company now.”

  “And what would have happened if one of you had left the company to pursue something else?” Scooter asked.

  “In that case, the shares would have been split differently. The person who remained would get fifty-one percent and the person who was leaving would get forty-nine percent.”

  “That means the remaining partner would call all the shots?” I asked.

  “That’s right. He would have the controlling interest,” Herbert said.

  I cocked my head to one side. “But
why the original fifty-fifty split? Fletcher was the CEO. Doesn’t that mean that he had the bigger role? Why didn’t he own more of the company in the first place?”

  “No, not at all. When we set things up, we each took on a role that best suited our skillsets. I have a finance degree. It made sense for me to take on the CFO role.” Herbert gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m kind of a nerd if you haven’t noticed. Fletcher was better with people than I was. He was good at making presentations and closing deals.”

  “You mean he was good at schmoozing people,” I said, as the waiter set our appetizers on the table.

  Herbert shrugged. “It’s part of the job. That’s one of the reasons why I want to bring Scooter on board. He has good people skills. I know what my strengths are. I’m better in the background, crunching the numbers.”

  Scooter chewed thoughtfully on one of the alligator bites, then said, “Being in charge of the finances is a serious responsibility. The books have to stand up to the scrutiny of auditors. Have you ever had any problems before? Things not matching up or audit findings that required additional investigation?”

  Herbert slowly wiped his mouth with his napkin. “What exactly are you asking?”

  “If I do go ahead with this partnership, I need to make sure that everything is legit,” Scooter said. “Fletcher had a reputation for not exactly doing things by the book.”

  Herbert sighed. “It’s true that sometimes Fletcher put the company, and me, in a difficult position. But that’s another reason why I’m hoping you’ll join, Scooter. You’re a straight shooter. You don’t play fast and loose with the rules.”

  After taking a bite of my fried cheese, I said, “I’m curious. What would have happened if you had retired when Fletcher was still alive?”

  Herbert furrowed his brow. “But I didn’t.”

  “Just humor me. I like to think through hypothetical scenarios,” I said, dabbing at a bit of greasy cheese which had fallen on my lap. “Pretend that you had retired. Would you have retained your shares? That fifty-one percent forty-nine percent split you described?”

  “Under normal circumstances, yes.”

  “Normal circumstances. What does that mean?” I asked.

  Herbert dunked an alligator bite into some dipping sauce. “You know, when things are normal.”

  Scooter gave me a sideways look, then turned back to Herbert. “I think what Mollie is getting at is if there were any provisions in your partnership agreement which would cause your shares to revert to Fletcher. Perhaps a morality clause or something to do with financial irregularities? That kind of thing.”

  Herbert looked at Scooter sharply. “Are you implying that I’ve done something immoral?

  “Gosh, no,” Scooter said. “You know what lawyers are like. They’re always insisting on including clauses like that in contracts.”

  “Oh, lawyers.” Herbert rolled his eyes. “They can be such a pain, can’t they? Sure, we had all the standard clauses in our agreement.”

  I leaned forward, fascinated as Scooter continued to drill into the intricacies of legal documents. “Okay, hypothetically speaking, if one of those clauses applied, then would you have had to relinquish your shares to Fletcher?”

  “Correct,” Herbert said.

  “Okay, let’s just play this through. Say you were out of the picture and Fletcher owned all the shares in the company. Once he died, what would have happened? Who would have gained control of the company?”

  Herbert shrugged. “I’m not sure. It probably would have depended upon his will. The company might have gone directly to Sylvia, or potentially bypassed her, and gone directly to their two daughters.”

  “Not to Anthony?” Scooter asked.

  “I really don’t know.” Herbert furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure this line of hypothetical questioning is fruitful. What we need to discuss is a partnership agreement between the two of us. How someone structures their will is a personal matter.”

  While the waiter set our main dishes down, I considered the best way to take the conversation forward. Scooter appeared to have exhausted the line of questioning around the partnership agreement. It’s not like I could come right out and ask Herbert to tell us how he killed Fletcher and Anthony. Getting someone to confess to murder wasn’t that straightforward.

  Before I could figure out a strategy, Scooter jumped back in. “What are your top short-term priorities for the company, Herbert?”

  Herbert scowled. “Fire Madison. That’s job number one.”

  “Really? Isn’t she a good secretary?” Scooter asked, trying to mask the surprise on his face.

  “That woman spends more time deciding what lipstick to wear than she does answering the phones,” Herbert said. “Don’t even get me started on her filing system.”

  “I suppose you had to keep her on, because of Anthony,” Scooter said.

  “That’s one reason,” Herbert muttered as he cut into his steak.

  “Oh, are there other reasons?” I asked casually.

  “You mean like the fact that she’s a back-stabbing little . . .” Herbert clamped his mouth shut and shoved his plate back. “Did you know that little strumpet and her no-good boyfriend tried to tell everyone that the person who murdered Fletcher was me?”

  I cocked my head to one side. “So, you think it was murder? When I saw you at the community center with Anthony, you told me that Fletcher’s death was an accident.”

  “To be honest, I don’t really care if someone killed Fletcher. Good riddance, however it happened.”

  “Some people might say that it’s in your best interests that they’re calling it an accidental death,” I said. “After all, you don’t have an alibi for when he was killed.”

  Herbert took a deep breath. “Actually, I do have an alibi. I just didn’t want to get the young lady into trouble.”

  Scooter and I exchanged glances, then I asked, “You mean you were with someone when Fletcher died?”

  “Yes. Cindy works on the cruise ship. If her manager found out that we were together, she would have been fired.” Herbert put his head in his hands. “I feel like a fool. When she offered to go to my room with me, I thought that she really liked me.”

  “So the two of you were in your cabin?” I prompted.

  “Turns out she was after money,” Herbert said bitterly. “That’s like all women, isn’t it? They’re always after something.”

  Scooter cleared his throat. “Not all women.”

  Herbert’s face flushed, then he looked down at the table. “No, you’re right,” he said quietly. “Not all women. You’re one of the lucky ones, having Mollie by your side. I was lucky too. My wife was an amazing woman.”

  “She was sick for a long time, wasn’t she?” I asked gently.

  “That was the hard part. She lingered for so many months.” Herbert took a deep breath, then got to his feet. “Is it okay if we do this another time? I can email you the draft agreement. Take a look at it. Have your lawyers check it out, and then we can talk on the phone while I’m in Cleveland.”

  “You’re going to Cleveland too?” I asked.

  As Herbert threw some cash on the table, he said, “What do you mean?”

  “Sylvia and Madison are flying back home tonight as well.”

  “Great. Two people I really don’t want to see. I hope they’re not on my return flight.”

  “So you’re planning on coming back to Coconut Cove?” I asked.

  “I’m thinking of relocating here,” Herbert said. “If Scooter can work from here, I can too. There’s no reason why the business has to be in Ohio, right? If I live in Florida, I’ll be able to sail more frequently. Plus, not shoveling snow would be a bonus too.”

  After Herbert left, Scooter turned to me. “Well, I didn’t see that coming.”

  “Yeah, our number one suspect has an alibi,” I said. “But we still need to check it out.”

  “You’re going to ask Velma if she can help?” Scooter said.

  �
�Uh-huh. Hopefully, she knows Cindy and can get her to confirm what Herbert said. No reason to go through official channels at this point. We don’t want to jeopardize Cindy’s job.”

  Scooter picked at his hamburger. “Now, we just have to figure out who the murderer is.”

  “It’s not going to be easy,” I said.

  “Good thing my best girl is so smart.” Scooter grinned at me. “You’ll figure it out in no time.”

  16

  Abracadabra!

  Turns out, I’m not that smart. Our investigation came to a standstill. It seemed like everyone and their brother had jetted off to Cleveland. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but Herbert, Sylvia, and Madison had all left Coconut Cove. Even Dominic seemed to have flown the coop. Without any of the people who had a connection to Fletcher and Anthony around, it was impossible to make any progress.

  The only thing we managed to accomplish was to confirm Herbert’s alibi for when Fletcher had been killed. Unfortunately, the others had alibis as well. Sylvia, Madison, and Dominic had all been at the magic show.

  Scooter and I did go see Chief Dalton, trying to get an update on what was going on with the investigation into Anthony’s death. Except he stonewalled us, throwing out his usual response of “No comment.” Frankly, he seemed relieved that Sylvia had left town. No more talk of parrots, gangplanks, and pirate outfits was a good thing in his books.

  By the time the weekend rolled around, both of us were dispirited. Usually when we were feeling down, it had something to do with Marjorie Jane—a boat project gone wrong or an unexpected expense. That kind of thing. Only this time, we were in a funk all because we hadn’t been able to bring the killer to justice.

  Bringing a killer to justice. Yeah, I know that sounds corny. Though there are bad people out there. Some really bad people and some of them escape justice. They’re out there roaming around, enjoying life, while the friends and families of their victims struggle to get back to some semblance of normal. Sure, sometimes the victims aren’t the nicest people on the planet. Take Fletcher, for example. But murder isn’t the solution.