Murder in Bermuda: Book 1 in the Murder in Paradise Series

by Penelope Sotheby

Anna waited outside the room for the couple to leave. She was determined to put them into their place the moment she got out of the room. Quickly, she dialed Pauline's cell phone.

  “It’s them.” Anna whispered into the phone.

  “Who is it?” Pauline pressed. “Where are you? I should come up to you.”

  “It was Roger and Meadow. They admitted to the murder. Roger also told Meadow I was the only one on to them. That I would be taken care of soon. I am going to confront them right now. I really am.” Anna replied, forcing back tears. “If I die, know that I cherished our friendship. But I need to take care of this now. I can’t wait for the cops to do their job.”

  “I’m calling the police right now.” Pauline said. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  With that, the phone went dead and Anna slid it into her pocket. She was ready to take care of this now, not when Detective Michael Maese decided to finally show up and maybe take action. She’d get the confession and take down two of the most sinister criminals she’d ever encountered.

  As the door to the Honeymoon Suite opened, Anna stepped out in front of the door and stood her ground. She glared at the couple, who gave her a look of shock.

  “Not so fast.” Anna shouted. “I know what you did. You are disgusting people.”

  “She was stressed, I massaged her.” Roger sighed. “It wasn’t anything more. Meadow just lost her husband.”

  “I’m going to file a complaint against you.” Meadow snapped. “How dare you accuse me of anything?”

  “I dare because I don’t take kindly to murderers.” Anna snapped. “We all know the two of you killed

  Tony. For the money and for the chance to be together. You do realize you could have had $25

  Million from the trust Meadow would have had if you just had gotten married. Tony didn’t need to die.”

  “Wait, you were going to inherit $25 million if we got married?” Roger barked.

  “How do you know about that?” Meadow demanded. Enraged, she fixed her eyes on Anna.

  “Your father told me while he was drinking bourbon and I was having some grenadine and sprite. A drink he mistook for hard alcohol and opened up to me about the two of you.” Anna responded.

  “Instead, you teamed up on Tony and killed him. A helpless, good man who, in no way, deserved to die.”

  “Watch your mouth right now.” Roger warned. “I already told you this had to stop. I don’t know what your disturbing obsession is with us, but you have this all wrong. You’re on thin ice. I will not put up with anything further from you.”

  “You’ll need to wait for the police.” Anna replied. “That’s right, Detective Michael Maese is on his way now. Get ready to go to jail.”

  Anna stood back with a smile on her face. She couldn’t believe she had finally done it. She had nabbed the killers and finally solved a murder. It turned out there really wasn’t anything to this after all. Her heart was racing when she heard her phone ring and looked at it. The number came up restricted.

  “This is Anna.” she answered.

  “This is Detective Michael Maese.” replied the low growling voice. “Your friend, Pauline, said you had some important information on who killed Tony Giovanni.”

  “It was Meadow Giovanni and Roger Fox. I have them here now, if you’d like to arrest them.” Anna replied with satisfaction.

  “What evidence do you have that supports your theory?” the man on the phone asked, slightly annoyed.

  “I heard them confess to the murder.” Anna replied. “They personally said they killed Tony?” he pressed.

  “No, they were a little more cryptic about it.” Anna carefully spoke. “I wouldn’t say they actually said it in those words.”

  “Do you have any evidence linking them to the crime? More than hearing something you took as an admission?” The irritation was very apparent in his voice.

  “Well, no but−” She was cut off.

  “I know who you are.” The man boomed in the phone. “You are letting accusations fly without anything to back them up with. You need to stop trying to work your own investigation right now or so help me, I will come up there and I will haul your ass to jail. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, but−” She was unable to continue as the line went dead.

  “Sounds like that didn’t go your way.” Roger snarled. “Did the cop tell you to mind your own damn business?”

  “Well, no.” Anna replied. “Not in those words. But I was just thinking–”

  “Enough!” Mr. Puccio came into view. His face beet red with fury. “What did you just do?”

  “She accused me of murdering my husband.” Meadow sobbed and sought comfort in Roger’s arms. “What kind of horrible person goes around and makes up wild accusations like this, especially after I have suffered the loss of a loved one?”

  “You need to take disciplinary action against her. I will not have the help talking to us this way.” Roger snapped.

  “Oh, you’re a petty criminal. Don’t pretend you are suddenly upper class now.” Anna smirked. Grabbing her by her shirt collar, Mr. Puccio yanked Anna to the side.

  “I’ll deal with her immediately. First, an apology, Anna.”

  “On behalf of the Grand Palatial Hotel, I offer our sincerest apologies for my unprofessional behavior. We strive to provide exceptional customer service to all our visitors. Please accept my apologies, a complimentary meal in our five star restaurant, and your room is on the hotel tonight. If you need anything else, please let the hotel know.” Her words were cold and insincere.

  “Apology accepted.” Meadow replied and nodded. “It has been a very stressful time for all of us. I know you meant well and I appreciate you helping to solve my husband’s murder. If it is all the same to the owner, I don’t want you to get fired for trying to help out. Perhaps put her on paid leave so that she can gather her composure.”

  “That is very gracious of you, madam.” Mr. Puccio replied through clenched lips.

  “It’s what Tony would have wanted.” Meadow replied with tears streaming down her face.

  “Very well, but let it be known you are thin ice, Anna.” Mr. Puccio gave her an icy glare. “No more missteps. If you bother these people again. I will have no choice but to terminate you immediately. You are suspended with pay for the next three days. You will stay in your hotel room and not leave without getting permission from me first. You can order room service when you are hungry. Now, leave.”

  Anna nodded and took off down the hall and down the stairs. She didn’t want anyone to see her crying as she returned to her room. As she exited the stairwell onto the floor she was staying on, she noticed Pierre and Cassandra talking. Cassandra kept touching his arm.

  Tears streamed down her face. She turned away from them and hurried to her room. An already bad day was becoming far worse now. There was no reason to even bother with this anymore. The man she was interested in obviously had moved on at this point. Her accusations and wild imagination got the best of her and she was on the verge of no longer having a job.

  She didn’t know how this day could get any worse, but part of her expected it to. It seemed like things just had a way of snowballing in her life and she had to accept it. Crawling onto the king sized bed covered in a white comforter, she sank into the darkness and wondered what she would change if she could.

  There was a knock on her door and Pauline came in. “How did it go?” her friend asked.

  “I’m on paid leave right now.” Anna cried. “I accused Roger and Meadow and Mr. Puccio found out. He was livid. He was going to fire me and Meadow spared me just seconds after I accused her of killing her husband.”

  “Did you ever think maybe they knew you were onto the affair she was having with him?” Pauline asked. “I know you wanted them to be the killers but it didn’t make sense to me.”

  “Then why didn’t you stop me?” Anna demanded.

  “I was hoping you would look at the big picture. You were pigeonholed into a single set
of suspects. You saw their guilt in everything they did. But they were too obvious, it couldn’t have been them.”

  “Who killed Tony?” Anna asked. “If I am so wrong, then who ended up killing him?” “I don’t have a clue. You are here for three days.” Pauline sighed and left the room. “Where are you going?” Anna called out.

  Pauline came back with seating charts and everything she had found dealing with the wedding. She looked at her friend and sighed.

  “Take a look over everything. Follow the clues. I suspect they are all here. You have the time and you are smart enough so you can do this. You just need to believe in yourself.”

  “Thank you, Pauline.” Anna smiled.

  “Now, don’t tell anyone I did this for you.” Pauline rolled her eyes. “Mr. Puccio is out for blood right now. So, we just need to pretend like nothing else is taking place and that you have moved on from the murder.”

  “But he asked me to solve it!” Anna offered. “I was doing what I was told.”

  “Now, he wants you to drop it.” Pauline winked. “But you and I both know how your terrible mind works. We know you’ll continue to explore the possibilities until you finally have the answers you are looking for.”

  “Well, that’s true.” Anna laughed. “Thank you for all of this.” “You’re welcome.” Pauline nodded. “Go get some work done.”

  With that, the older woman left and Anna looked over everything sitting in her room.

  There was plenty of information for her to go through and she began to wonder if it would pay off for her to continue. She knew Mr. Puccio wanted her to stop and put it to rest at this point but at the moment, the only thing she had left was the mystery.

  Reaching down, she picked up the seating chart and looked it over. There might be something here that could give her some ideas, an idea that would help her move on past the suspects she had now.

  Pulling her laptop out of the drawer, she pulled up the copies of the wedding video she’d transferred to it. If she was able to match up faces, she could watch as they walked around the room and determine who came close enough to the cake with enough time to have actually poisoned it.

  She wished someone had turned one of the cameras just enough to watch the cake but it rested just a few feet out of view, so there was no way to tell what was going on around it. That meant the best she could do with the video is get an idea of who was around the cake at the time.

  Her phone rang and she picked it up without checking the caller ID. “This is Anna.” Her focus was on the seating chart in front of her.

  “You’re next if you don’t let this go.” a hushed raspy voice warned and hung up the phone.

  Startled, she looked through the caller ID to see if it showed who made the call. Her stomach felt sick as she came across the number and the name. The killer had taken Tony’s phone and used it to call her. Now, there was no denying that the killer indeed knew who she was and knew she was still snooping into matters, which left her with a possible suspect to add to the list. Her trusted and dear friend, Pauline.

  Chapter 8