by Jana DeLeon
“I would be mad too,” Ida Belle said. “And then you saw Martin here, living it up.”
Penny nodded. “I didn’t know for sure. But that first day, oh my God, I almost fainted right there on the spot.”
“But surely, after two weeks, you had to know it was him,” I said.
“I was home visiting my mother when he got here. I just got back a week ago. When I walked into the room and saw him there, I couldn’t believe it.”
“Did he recognize you?” I asked.
“No. I was just a kid with braces and thick glasses when he left,” Penny said. “And besides, Martin was never interested in anything but himself.”
“So how did you figure out that Otis was Martin?” Ida Belle asked.
She stared at us for several seconds, then her lower lip started trembling. Finally, she burst into tears, burying her head in her hands.
“I just wanted to make sure it was him before I called my mom,” Penny wailed. “I didn’t mean to kill him. It was an accident. I’ve ruined everything.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I glanced at Ida Belle and Gertie, who were staring back at me, equally confused. I’d assumed Penny might have called her aunt or mother, and one of them had come down to do the deed. I’d never figured the pretty young woman weeping uncontrollably in my living room for a murderer.
“Help me understand,” I said. “You had to know how dangerous it was, right?”
She shook her head furiously. “I swear I didn’t! I just thought if he broke out in welts I’d know for sure and he wouldn’t be able to leave. At least, not before my mom could get here and raise hell with the police. He was on the phone when we walked in the room. I heard him tell someone he was leaving just as soon as he landed the big one and it should only be a couple more days. I couldn’t let him get away.”
I looked over at Ida Belle and Gertie, who shrugged. So we had a confession but not at all the one we were expecting. And something about it was totally off.
“Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened,” I said.
“I’m going to go to prison, aren’t I?” she asked, then started wailing again. “Momma will never get over this. And Aunt Marsha will think it’s all her fault for marrying that horrible man in the first place. Oh my God. What have I done?”
That was an excellent question, I thought. Because one thing I found hard to believe was that Penny had sneaked puffer fish into Otis’s étouffée.
“Given the circumstances, the DA will go easy on you,” I said. “Don’t worry about that. You’ve never been in trouble before, right?”
The wailing scaled down to sniffling and she shook her head.
“Then you don’t have anything to worry about,” I said. “But if you tell me what happened, I might be able to help.”
She gave me a hopeful look, then nodded. “I rubbed it on his bedsheets and his pillowcase. I figured if he broke out in hives and his eyes swelled shut then it was him. He was really allergic. Wouldn’t even walk on grass for fear that some might accidentally touch his clothes. But I didn’t know poison ivy could kill someone, I swear.”
I relaxed and held in a smile. Penny was definitely resourceful. A little devious, but I admired that.
“Penny, you didn’t kill Martin,” I said.
“But…but he died, and I put those sheets on that day.”
“That’s true, but the sheets aren’t what killed him,” I said.
Her eyes widened and she looked from me to Gertie to Ida Belle, not quite believing her luck. “Are you telling me the truth?” she asked.
I nodded. “I can’t tell you how he died because the investigation is ongoing, and I’d appreciate it if you kept this conversation a secret until an arrest is made.”
“Of course! Absolutely,” she said. “Oh my God, I’ve been so stressed. I almost went to the sheriff’s department and turned myself in today.”
“It’s a good thing you didn’t,” Ida Belle said. “Benton is so incompetent, he might have tried you himself, then made you walk the plank.”
Her face flashed with anger. “He was so rude when he questioned us. Like we were all beneath him.”
“I’m pretty sure Benton thinks everyone is beneath him,” I said. “I wouldn’t take it personally.”
She started to speak, then hesitated, then finally started again. “Are you going to tell my boss what I did?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think you should be punished for trying to help your aunt. What Martin did to her was reprehensible. Besides, your boss has enough trouble to deal with already. No sense in giving her more.”
Penny nodded. “I didn’t know about Cynthia and Martin until after I did it. Then I was afraid she’d be blamed for what I did. God, I hope this is over soon. She’s been crazy—well, crazier than usual.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She’s always been moody, you know?” Penny said. “But a depressed kind of moody. But when I got back, she was all smiley and perky. Then the next day, she was angry again. Then the day after that, she baked brownies for the staff. Tied them up in pink fabric. Then Otis—Martin—was killed and she’s back to being depressed again, just even more so than usual.”
“Sounds like she’s having trouble processing all of this,” Ida Belle said. “Give her some time. She’s be back to her normal depressed self soon enough.”
“I hope so.”
A thought occurred to me and I frowned. “I hope you wash all the sheets in bleach.”
Penny grimaced, immediately understanding what my concern was.
“Not exactly,” she said. “The police still have the room closed off. I was hoping when they allowed us back in, I could get in there and get the sheets out before anyone touched them. I didn’t think about someone else being allergic until after I’d already done it, and I was afraid to go back into the room.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Gertie said.
I nodded. “But in the meantime, maybe we request no bed change until we leave.”
“I can do that for you,” Penny said. “I, uh…can I go now?”
“Sure. I hope our conversation didn’t get you into trouble,” I said. “If anyone asks, tell them I wanted your help getting a stain out of a dress.”
Penny gave us all a grateful look. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you keeping my secret.”
“No problem,” I said.
She rose from the chair and hurried out the door, probably anxious to get away before we changed our mind.
“So?” Ida Belle asked when the door closed behind her. “Do you believe her?”
“I don’t see any reason not to,” I said. “She did confess.”
“To a murder she didn’t commit,” Ida Belle said.
“She didn’t know that,” Gertie said. “She seemed genuinely distraught. I don’t think she was faking.”
“Me either,” I said.
Ida Belle nodded. “I believe her too. But we’ve believed some people in the past on things and been wrong, so I figured it might be a good idea to get a vote. What are you thinking so hard about?”
I looked over at Ida Belle and let out a single laugh. “I think I just put something else together. Not anything to do with solving the murder, but one of those things I couldn’t put my finger on after my chats with Cynthia and Betty.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Gertie said.
“Remember how I said I was sure Cynthia knew about the other women? Well, I think she baked something in the brownies to make Betty sick. Why wrap them all up with name tags unless you needed to make sure the right one got to the right person?”
“Ex-lax,” Gertie said. “It’s an old trick, but it works.”
I cringed. “That’s horrible.”
“It depends on who eats the brownie,” Gertie said.
I smiled, an idea forming.
“What are you so happy about?” Gertie asked.
“I had a thought,”
I said. “I’m going to have Byron get in touch with Benton and tell him he’ll want to test the bedsheets in Otis’s room once Benton has processed them.”
Ida Belle laughed. “The longer I know you, the more I like you.”
“But what if Benton just has someone else get the sheets?” Gertie asked.
I shook my head. “Chain of evidence. If Benton thinks the sheets are relevant to the case, they have to be collected by a law enforcement agency. And since Benton won’t allow anyone else to work the case, that leaves him to collect the sheets.”
“God, I hope he’s allergic,” Ida Belle said.
“Me too,” I said. “So, it appears we’re back to two suspects.”
“I wonder which one of them did it,” Ida Belle said.
Gertie sighed. “I wonder where our dinner is.”
Dinner finally arrived and we polished it off, along with two bottles of wine, and then sat on the balcony in a carb- and sugar-induced stupor. Gertie finally headed to bed and Ida Belle was close behind. I sat in my chair, staring out at the moonlit surf, mulling over everything that we’d found out that day. It was a lot to mull about. But unfortunately, none of it was forming a complete picture.
My cell phone rang and I answered Carter’s call.
“Well, since you answered your phone, I know you’re not in jail,” he said.
“Maybe they don’t have cell phone jammers here and you know I have ways of getting a phone behind bars.”
“Not without your usual cast of characters. Half the people in this town love you and the other half are scared of you. Most would do you a favor, even if it meant going against me.”
“I doubt that many people love me. I’ll agree a lot are scared.”
“So can I assume the troublesome twosome are also in residence?”
“Yep. They went to bed a little earlier.”
“It’s only nine o’clock. I can’t believe you managed to wear them out.”
“It’s been a really, really long day,” I said. “This is officially the most exhausting vacation I’ve ever been on.”
“And how many vacations have you been on?”
“Not a lot. Okay, two that I can remember before my mom died. I didn’t have time for such things once I was an adult.”
“Well, you’re doing a bang-up job of it so far,” he joked. “Did you managed to find out anything of consequence today?”
“Plenty. Unfortunately, none of it adds up to a single suspect.” I told him about our day, and all the information we’d gotten, ending with our very interesting but not-in-the-least-bit applicable conversation with Penny.
“Jeez, you guys have been busy,” Carter said when I finished. “I’m surprised you haven’t crashed already, especially since I’m sure you carb-loaded for dinner.”
“I’m tired, but I can’t sleep yet. If I go to bed, I’ll just lie there staring at the ceiling.”
“Can’t stop your mind from rolling through the data, huh?”
“No. I have to be honest, in a lot of ways my old job was easier. Other people figured it all out. I had a single function and didn’t need to know all the particulars.”
“Yeah, I get it. I don’t suppose it helps if I tell you it gets better.”
“Actually, it does,” I said. “Although I’m surprised you said it since it’s almost an endorsement of my new profession.”
“You’re going to do it whether I endorse it or not. Might as well do the best job you can, and if my advice can help, then I suppose I should give it.”
“Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?”
He laughed. “Maybe I miss you.”
“I’ll take it but I’m still suspicious.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else. So out of your two suspects, do you favor one over the other?”
“At this point, no.”
“Which one of them is lying?”
“Both. I mean, I think they were mostly truthful when we talked but it’s all the things they didn’t say.”
“It usually is. So what’s your next move?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. That’s why I’m still sitting on the patio instead of snoring in my pillow. Hey, there was one thing I forgot to tell you. Something you might be able to help with.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.”
“There are Feds here.”
“Feds?” His voice changed from casual to serious. “You’re sure?”
“They had that look.”
He sighed. “Any idea why they’re at the resort?”
“I didn’t spot them until we were on our way back to the room. They were talking to the resort manager. I got close enough to read their lips, but all I caught before they left was ‘Barefoot Key’ and ‘speak to owner.’ I’m going to be on the lookout for them tomorrow or maybe see if I can get something out of the manager, but I was wondering if maybe you could put out some feelers among your people.”
“I was afraid you were going to ask that. Do you know how vague your information is?”
I knew exactly how little I had. Calling up contacts and asking if they happened to know of an agency that might have two men on Quiet Key mentioning Barefoot Key was just short of nothing. And if they were here about the identity theft thing, then likely no one would be gossiping about it. Identity theft simply wasn’t sexy enough for bar conversations.
“What about you?” Carter asked. “You can’t tap anyone at the CIA?”
“They weren’t CIA.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do. We have a certain look. It’s hard to explain.”
“No. I get it. I’ll make some calls, but I wouldn’t expect much.”
“I don’t expect anything, so we’re good. Thanks, though. It means a lot to me that you trust me enough to do this.”
“I have no problem trusting you on the big things. It’s the medium things, like Ida Belle and Gertie, that I’m wary of.”
“That makes two of us.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
In an attempt to relax, I took a long, hot shower and then put on my usual sleepwear of shorts and a tank top, hoping it would trick my mind into shutting down. My body was on board, but unfortunately, I lay staring at the ceiling for hours before my body finally gave my mind the finger and took over.
It didn’t last long.
That morning I couldn’t even blame the sun for waking me because I rose before the sun did. I could see the dim glow on the horizon and decided I might as well fix coffee. If I managed to drink it all before Ida Belle and Gertie got up, then I’d just go for round two. But as I walked into the kitchen, I saw I wasn’t the only one up before the chickens. Ida Belle had already brewed up some morning glory and was sitting on the balcony with a cup.
There were worse things than watching the sun come up over the ocean, so I poured a cup and joined her.
“Did you manage to sleep?” Ida Belle asked as I stepped outside.
“Kinda. But I dreamed the whole time, so I don’t feel like it.”
“Did you dream the solution to our mystery?”
“I wish. But there is something that’s been bothering me. Something we never really addressed. We’ve been so focused on Cynthia and Betty as the two best suspects, but we have multiple sources saying Otis planned on leaving soon and two saying he was about to make a big haul. So who was the big haul? It couldn’t be Cynthia or Betty, and as of yet, no other name has surfaced.”
Ida Belle nodded. “That is odd. If he had a big paycheck on the line, then you’d think someone would have seen or heard about it. Someone from the mainland, maybe?”
“Maybe. But the old guys in the bar were under the impression that he’d tapped out his audience over there.”
“If it really was the paycheck that was going to set him up big time, then maybe he changed up his routine. Kept everything quiet.”
“I guess so. But still…”
“Yeah. Still.”
“I talked to
Carter last night. He’s going to see if he can find out something about the Feds.”
“You think he’ll be able to?”
“I don’t know. It’s a long shot. The information I have is so vague—two guys in suits, the two Keys. I don’t even know which agency it is.”
“And you’re sure they’re Feds?” Ida Belle asked. “They couldn’t be lawyers or real estate developers?”
I shook my head. “Lawyers and real estate developers rarely wear guns with their suits. And the good ones have custom-made suits. Not off the rack, which is what you can afford on a Fed salary.”
“They were strapping?”
“Yeah. That I’m sure about.”
Ida Belle nodded. “You would definitely know what to look for. You think we should try to shadow them? Assuming we can find them or that they’re even still around?”
“Maybe. I’m a little worried that we might be busy avoiding Benton.”
“You think he’s going to get the okay from the DA to arrest Gertie?”
“I think he’s pushing hard for it. He’ll never get the DA to press charges. Especially not when Byron produces an entire list of better suspects, but he could tie her up for a day or two.”
“This vacation is far more work than I thought it would be,” Ida Belle said. “Maybe next time, we should go on separate vacations.”
“Then who would keep Gertie out of jail?”
“We could try leaving her in Sinful.”
“Carter would never forgive us.”
“Probably not,” Ida Belle agreed. “So what’s on the agenda for today then?”
“First, sunrise over the ocean. Then breakfast. Then hopefully anything but running from Benton.
Ida Belle sighed. “I wish the pieces formed a clear picture. Hell, even a fuzzy one would be nice.”
“Me too. I’m sure there’s something we’re missing. And I don’t mean things we don’t know. I’m talking about in the things we do know.”
Ida Belle nodded. “I agree. I feel like when you can’t think of the right word. It’s there and you get a tiny flicker but not enough to latch onto.”