Murder on a Mississippi Steamboat

by Leighann Dobbs

  “I don’t think so. I mean, it was an accident. No one needs to go poking around. Do they?” Oxley looked at his uncle.

  Dr. Montford cleared his throat. “I suppose an investigation is warranted any time an unnatural death occurs but I’m sure the police won’t find that there was foul play.”

  Nora wondered if his assurances were because he was oblivious to the fact that Delilah had been murdered or if he’d fixed things so that any evidence of foul play no longer existed.

  Julia’s pursed lips indicated she was thinking the same thing. “I’m sure they will be very thorough. Everything must be done properly, though. Giles has to maintain the reputation of the Miss Delta Belle.”

  “But no investigator has come aboard. Maybe they’ve already deemed it accidental?”

  “I think I heard that the investigator will come on board in Vicksburg. Or maybe you’re right. I really can’t say.”

  Aunt Julia pretended not to be too concerned. Oxley, on the other hand, looked very concerned.

  “Well, we shall let you go back to your discussion. I didn’t mean to interrupt but thought it would be nice to give our condolences,” said Julia. She then waited until they were out of earshot to speak again. “That was an unusual surprise to find Percival and Oxley are related. What do you make of it?”

  “In itself it doesn’t indicate guilt, but Oxley did seem concerned about the investigation.” Nora mentally moved Clifford Oxley to the top of the suspect list. “Though he did seem appropriately disturbed when I mentioned the violent nature of her death.”

  “Indeed. And his uncle examined the body. Makes one wonder if he might have removed some clues pointing to his nephew. He probably knew Oxley was involved with Delilah. They must be close if Oxley gave him tickets.”

  “As you always say, the spouse or significant other is usually the killer.”

  “But I also always say, that we should continue to explore every clue. So just because Oxley has a few points against him doesn’t mean we can rest. Artemis Leonard wouldn’t, and I can’t risk accusing the wrong person and having him prove that my investigation was faulty.” Julia sighed. “If only we could get into Delilah’s cabin and dressing room. Maybe we should check to see if Giles has a spare moment after all. I hate to give the killer an opportunity to cover his tracks.”

  Nora agreed, but since Giles was busy they had no choice. “Let’s focus on the suspects. We still need to talk to Vera Hinchcliffe, Max Lawton, Lily Sumner and Joy Morgan and possibly Johnny Stokes. Maybe we can corner Lily and Joy tonight.”

  “Hopefully we will run into one of the others on our walk. Oh look, there are the Hinchcliffes.” Julia waved at Martha who brightened and waved back. “Looks like our wish has been granted.”

  “What a lovely afternoon,” Julia crowed as they joined the Hinchcliffes at the railing. They were on the starboard side of the boat and the riverbanks were lush with hardwoods and shrubs, their green leaves bright in the sunlight.

  “It is indeed. Vera saw a deer on the side of the river earlier.” Beau looked at his wife proudly, as if seeing a deer was some sort of magical feat.

  “How unusual.” Martha’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Such an odd juxtaposition the beautiful countryside is to the grim event on the ship and impending investigation.” Nora decided to get right to the thing that might cause the killer to do something drastic. Even though everyone knew Delilah had died under suspicious circumstances, she hadn’t heard people mentioning an investigation, so once Aunt Julia had broken the ice with Oxley, Nora decided it might be just the thing to get a reaction.

  Martha frowned. “Investigation?”

  “Into the death of Delilah Dove.” Aunt Julia lowered her voice. “I hear an investigator will come aboard in Vicksburg.”

  Vera gasped, her face turning pale.

  Martha glanced at her with disdain. “It’s nothing to get the vapors about.”

  Beau looked at Vera protectively. “I don’t suppose that has anything to do with us.”

  “I suppose not,” Aunt Julia said. “You were roused from sleep like the rest of us, weren’t you? I mean, I did see you peeking out into the hallway, so I assume you were in your room.”

  “Of course I was in my room, where else would I be?” Beau looked confused.

  Julia shrugged. “I was just thinking the killer might have pretended to be in their room.” Her eyes settled on Vera whose face was now turning pink.

  Vera fisted her hand on her hips and glared at Aunt Julia. “Now, you see here. My Beau was in the room sleeping. I can vouch for that. He’s a good man and I don’t appreciate you casting aspersions on his character.”

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Vera’s hands flew to her lips. She glanced at Martha with round eyes. No doubt she regretted making the outburst in front of her mother-in-law. Nora got the impression Vera wanted Martha to think she was perfectly polite and flawless. She need not have worried though, because Martha was gazing at her daughter-in-law with sudden admiration in her eyes.

  Julia rushed to apologize. “Oh dear, I am sorry. Didn’t mean to imply a thing! Well, look at the time. We best go back to our cabins.”

  Julia tugged Nora away.

  “Really, Auntie, you didn’t have to be so blunt. Haven’t we discussed how you should leave the questioning to me? I know how to do it so that the suspect doesn’t realize they are being interrogated. Now Vera is mad and it’s going to be difficult to draw more information out of her.”

  “Sorry, dear. Sometimes I can’t help myself,” Julia said. “But wouldn’t you say that Vera’s quick reaction indicated that she spoke the truth?”

  “Yes. It usually takes a few seconds for people to make up a lie.”

  “Good then, the whole conversation wasn’t in vain. Though it may not mean anything, Vera just confessed that she wasn’t asleep at the time of the murder. Because how could she be so sure that Beau was actually there sleeping if she herself had not been awake?”

  Chapter Ten

  They made a circuit of the decks, Aunt Julia becoming more irritated on each pass as they didn’t run into any of the other suspects. As they walked along the lower cabin deck, she cocked her head. “Do you hear music?”

  Nora listened. She thought she heard the mournful notes of a saxophone. “Maybe, but the dining room is closed.”

  “Yes, but if someone is there perhaps we can wheedle our way backstage and get into Delilah’s dressing room without having to wait for Giles.” Aunt Julia headed toward the stairs.

  As they descended, a few notes drifted up, but the music stopped before they got to the bottom. The dining room was empty except for the saxophone player, a tall fellow with friendly eyes and a ready smile. He was putting his instrument away.

  “I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your playing.” Aunt Julia nodded toward the shiny brass instrument.

  “Thank you so much, ma’am, that means a lot.” The man lovingly laid the saxophone in a blue-velvet-lined case.

  “I’m Julia and this is my niece, Nora.” Aunt Julia stuck out her hand.

  “Kenny.” The man shook her hand. “I was just practicing. I like to practice in the actual room as opposed to the dressing room. Helps me get a feel for the sound. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

  “Not at all. I have a great appreciation for music and I realize it must have been hard to play given what happened to Delilah Dove. Did you like working with her?”

  Kenny shrugged and snapped the case closed. “She was okay. It’s awful what happened.”

  “Yes, but I appreciate how professional you all are, never missed a beat.” Aunt Julia tittered at her joke.

  Kenny simply nodded. “Well, I best get to work. We’re changing the stage to a moon and stars theme tonight.”

  He started taking the banners off the podiums that he and the other instrumentalists stood behind on stage. Currently the stage was decorated in a motif of musical notes.

  Aunt Jul
ia glanced toward the door that led backstage. “Let us help you. I’ll get the door.”

  Before Kenny could refuse, she ran to the door and opened it. Since Kenny’s hands were full, he nodded his thanks and passed through. Nora hurriedly picked up a decoration—a string of glitter G-clefs—and followed him.

  They walked behind Kenny down the hall passing Delilah’s dressing room with its closed door.

  “Oh, how nice, you still have Miss Dove’s name on the door.” Julia tried the knob.

  “Mr. Oxley is going to pack it up tomorrow. It’s locked now, though.” Kenny’s brow furrowed as he noticed Julia’s hand on the knob.

  “Sorry, just curious.”

  “We need to put the decorations in there.” Kenny nodded toward the locked room they’d seen on the tour with Giles.

  Aunt Julia perked up. “We can go in there?”

  “Right now we can. To switch out the stage. Usually it’s locked too,” Kenny said.

  The room was about the size of Delilah’s dressing room, but much less organized. As they’d been told, it was a storage room with various decorations, podiums, chairs, music stands and trunks full of costumes.

  “It looks like you have plenty of things to work with here.” Aunt Julia helped Kenny put the banners on a shelf.

  “Yeah, we like to change it up,” Kenny said.

  Aunt Julia started wandering around. “Look at these decorations, so colorful!’ She opened a trunk. “And these look like Christmas things. Wouldn’t it be fun to travel on the Miss Delta Belle for Christmas, Nora?”

  “Sure, if you don’t like snow for Christmas.” Nora handed the sparkly G-clefs to Kenny, who put them away.

  “Uh… Mr. Oxley doesn’t like us lingering around in here.” Kenny started toward the doorway.

  “Oh no?” Aunt Julia made her way around the room. “Why is that?”

  Nora did her own survey of the room. She didn’t see anything valuable, unless it was hidden in one of the trunks along the wall. She doubted that, as they were banged up and scruffy, with scratched paint, brass corners worn down to the black metal underneath and one even missing one of the oak straps.

  “I guess he doesn’t want things stolen. He had a problem with that in the past. He’s usually here supervising.”

  Aunt Julia looked intrigued. “Really? I wonder where he is now?”

  “Beats me.”

  “Oh, well, we won’t linger then.” Aunt Julia headed for the door. Kenny exited the room, making sure to leave the door closed.

  Aunt Julia hovered in front of the star’s dressing room. “It’s so sad what happened. But you know I do wonder… what was Delilah doing up on the sun deck in the middle of the night fully dressed in a gown? Was there a staff party that night?”

  Kenny shook his head. “No. Mr. Oxley frowns on late-night parties.”

  “She must have been with someone,” Nora said. “Do you know who?”

  Kenny’s eyes shifted to the left, indicating that he might know but probably wasn’t going to tell. Perhaps he’d seen or heard something, but Nora wasn’t sure how to press him on it.

  “Where were you at the time?” she asked.

  “I was asleep in my room.” Kenny pointed to a doorway at the end of the hall.

  “Do you all have your own rooms?” Aunt Julia asked.

  Kenny shook his head. “We double up. I room with Buddy the drummer.”

  “And you were both asleep at the time?” Aunt Julia pressed.

  “Yeah. I woke up and went into the hall. Mr. Oxley practically ran me over.” Kenny glanced at the very end of the hall.

  “Is that his room down there?” Aunt Julia asked.

  “Yep.”

  “And which direction was he coming from?” Aunt Julia asked.

  Kenny looked at her funny. “From his room, like I said.”

  Aunt Julia pressed her lips together and nodded. “Yes, I bet it was quite a shock to hear that scream and then find out who had done the screaming. Did it take you long to come out into the hall?”

  Kenny thought about that. “I guess it took a few minutes. I was fast asleep. The scream woke me and it took a while to get my bearings. Then I grabbed my robe. Buddy was rummaging around for his and then we rushed into the hall.”

  “And you all ran up to the sun deck together?”

  “Yes. Well, some of us were faster than others, but we eventually got there. By then they’d pulled Delilah up and…”

  Aunt Julia patted his arm sympathetically. “I’m sorry to bring up such terrible memories. Well, I suppose we must run along. Thank you again for such wonderful entertainment.”

  “My pleasure.”

  They made their way through the empty restaurant. “That was interesting,” Nora said. “Do you think Oxley could possibly have killed Delilah then rushed back down here and pretended he was coming out of his room?”

  “The timing seems unlikely. I have an idea as to how we can find out, but for now we best get ready for dinner. At least there we will be able to corner some of our suspects.”

  Chapter Eleven

  That night in the dining room one never would have guessed there had been a murder on board. People ate their food and sipped sparkling water—Nora noted that Aunt Julia’s glass was clear—as if they’d forgotten all about Delilah’s death.

  Despite Aunt Julia’s earlier gaffe with the Hinchcliffes, Martha waved them over with enthusiasm. Tonight she was wearing a sky-blue gown loaded with rhinestones on the top and a matching ostrich-feather boa. The outfit was more fitting for a younger woman, but Nora was finding that Martha was rather unconventional. Interestingly enough, Vera was seated at the table next to her mother-in-law. Every other time Beau had been in the middle. Johnny Stokes was also at the table.

  Vera looked radiant in a gold gown laden with pearls and gold beads that showed off her figure to advantage. She appeared relaxed and fully recovered from the excitement of the morning. Beau couldn’t keep his eyes off her. In contrast, Nora had worn a lavender low-waisted dress that made it look as if she had no figure at all. At least it complimented her red hair and fair skin, or so Aunt Julia said.

  Julia seated herself next to Johnny. “I do hope you are recovered from your shock during breakfast this morning.”

  He looked confused. “Shock?”

  Julia lowered her voice but in a way that everyone could hear. “The death of that singer… Delilah Dove.”

  Johnny blanched. “Oh, yes. Well, that was disturbing.”

  “Indeed, even more so to discover it might have been… well… there’s no easy way to say this. It might not have been an accident.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I heard that someone pushed her.” Aunt Julia shot Nora an apologetic glance. At least she was starting to realize when she overstepped her bounds in the investigation duties.

  Nora leaned over Julia to address Johnny. “Don’t let my aunt worry you, she has an overactive imagination. Either way Delilah’s death is a tragedy. So young… she must have been around your age, right?”

  “Yes, she was a few years older.” Johnny gulped his water, perhaps realizing that the way he’d said that implied he knew her age. He could have read it in any paper, but Nora wondered…

  “Oh? Did you know her?” Aunt Julia must have wondered too. Nora kicked her under the table.

  “Know her? No. I mean, I just heard.” Johnny fiddled with his fork nervously. “Why would someone want to kill her?”

  Aunt Julia shook out her napkin and spread it on her lap. “I can’t say. I don’t suppose anyone here saw anything…” She glanced up, looking around at each of them.

  They shook their heads.

  Martha leaned in toward Julia. “Have you heard anything more about the investigation?”

  “No. But I’m sure if it was murder, the killer will be brought to justice.” Aunt Julia took a sip of water and stared at the suspects over the rim of the glass.

  Beulah and Harry Entwhistle joined the
table.

  “It’s a bit strange tonight.” Beulah glanced at the stage where Kenny played a soft tune on the sax. The melancholy notes drifted out into the room, setting a somber mood. Later on the full band would join him and Lily would take over for Delilah. “To think just last night we listened to Delilah Dove and tonight….” She drifted off, her hand reaching up to fiddle with her brooch.

  Johnny looked at her sympathetically. “It is, isn’t it. But don’t worry, we’ll make the best of it.” He cast a glance at Nora and Aunt Julia who nodded. The waiter came and they ordered dinner and the conversation turned to more mundane matters. At least Aunt Julia didn’t bring up her mystery novels again.

  Nora watched the others as she ate her pork chops. The chops were stuffed with cornbread and were quite delicious and the asparagus tips on the side were perfectly cooked. She would have loved a nice wine, but the ship was dry. The suspects all seemed a bit nervous, but who wouldn’t be after having been informed a murder had happened? She noticed that Max Lawton wasn’t in the dining room. Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen him make any friends on the trip and he often ate alone. She assumed he preferred to spend his time at the gambling table and, perhaps, murdering passengers.

  Vera barely ate a thing, though Nora supposed that was her norm. She wouldn’t be able to eat much if she wanted to keep that figure. As Vera nibbled a piece of lettuce, her eyes darted about the room as if expecting the killer to come at her—or a police officer to come arrest her.

  Johnny had taken an interest in Beulah, trying to calm her, as the old lady was visibly upset about what had happened to Delilah. Good thing she hadn’t heard Aunt Julia mention murder—at least not unless she had very good hearing—but Nora supposed the rumor would get around to her eventually.

  Johnny must have been a kind soul, as Nora had gathered from the look in his eyes when he’d talked about his grandmother. He joked with Beulah during dinner and, after the plates were cleared, he took her out on the dance floor when it became obvious she wanted to dance and Harold didn’t seem to want any part of it. Johnny whirled her around somewhat carelessly. He wasn’t a great dancer, stepping on her feet a couple of times but helping her not to fall. Nora made a mental note to avoid dancing with him.