A Special Delivery To Die For (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 2) (6 page)

Chapter Six

The following morning Madeline and Bailey had just about had enough. They wanted at least one day when they didn’t have to hear people rant about their issues with Ana. It was painfully obvious that the woman had little regard for anyone other than herself. Exhausted, they both plopped down into two lounge chairs and settled in for a little R&R.

Maddie wore her big sunglasses so that people would not realize that she was observing them and Bailey was sporting a cute little spaghetti strap coral sundress with a matching headband. Her sunglasses weren’t as obvious as Maddie’s, but they did the trick. They knew that as long as people thought they were just unwinding and enjoying the sunshine, they were more inclined to act themselves.

The only problem, Maddie thought, was that no one seemed inhibited about talking about Ana. She’d never heard of someone having so many enemies. While she had already ruled out quite a few people, there were still a few that were clearly at the top of her list.

While she was meditating on all those who were possible suspects, figuring out the angles and motives for each one, a young man arrived and, without saying a single word, fell into the lounge chair next to them. An exhausted sigh escaped his lips and both women gave him a surprised look that he didn’t seem to notice.

“So,” Maddie said, breaking the silence. “Mr.???”

“Hale. I’m Michael Hale,” he said as if she should already know who he was. “Don’t you remember me from the dinner last night?”

“Oh, yes. Mr. Hale.” She did finally recognize him. “I’m so sorry, but yesterday was kind of like a whirlwind.” She gave him a warm smile and put a gentle hand on his and he seemed to calm down. She said looking in the direction of Mr. Hale. “Do you have an Ana story you’d like to share?”

Mr. Hale had the appearance of a powerful businessman dressed in his full-blown business attire. Maddie gave him a visual appraisal and wondered what was his story. He wore a three-piece, finely tailored business suit. Who wears a business suit on a Paddleboat Cruise, she wondered. He seemed extremely uncomfortable with the crowd and looked out of place. He looked a lot like Mr. Bartlett Finchley on that episode of the Twilight Zone where the machines all turned on him.

He carefully folded his hands together before he started by addressing the story Parker had told the night before. “I can certainly relate to Mrs. Milhorn’s tales of woe on her honeymoon. It was unfortunate indeed that she would have had such a horrid experience. However, I must congratulate her on leaving well enough alone after that awful first experience.” He placed a hand on his chest and continued in a slight British accent, “I on the other hand, did not have the common sense to take my business elsewhere and as a result have had the misfortune of being taken by Ana on two separate occasions.”

Both Maddie and Bailey sat up in their lounges to give him their full attention. They leaned in to hear the details of Mr. Hale’s ‘Ana experience.’

“On the first occasion,” he started, “I invested several thousand dollars into an Egyptian Archeological dig. We were to explore the sight of the lost city of Tanis for six weeks. My wife and I were thrilled at the prospect. Unfortunately, we arrived in Egypt only to be told that the entire excursion was cancelled due to a sandstorm in the region.” He paused for effect. “We were given one free night in a 5-star hotel and then sent home.” He gave a long sigh of exasperation, “And I had donated nearly $20,000 for the privilege.”

The ladies both gave a surprised gasp to reward him for his story so far.

“When I approached Ana about a refund, she told me that because my payment was considered a donation and not an actual fee for the trip, there was nothing she could do. The money was already sent to the archeological team that was sponsoring the dig.”

Speechless, Maddie couldn’t think of any way she would have recovered from a $20,000 loss. As a matter of fact, she couldn’t even imagine having $20,000 to spare for a single vacation. “And what happened the second time?” she inquired.

Mr. Hale looked as if he had completely forgotten that he had said two experiences to tell, but he quickly recovered. “The second event was even worse. This time, I made sure that the money I gave was not a ‘donation.’” He made the air quotes sign for donation. “But again, the trip was cancelled.”

“Another sandstorm?” Parker asked, obviously intrigued by the man’s money.

“No, worse,” Hale answered. “This time it was government intervention. It appears the Egyptian government was not inclined to have foreigners digging around their historical sites, something about the possible removal of ancient artifacts from the country. They cancelled my visa and sent me back home on the next flight. I didn’t even get the free hotel night that time.”

Hale let out a final breath of air to indicate that he had finished his story and there were no more details to add. He finally turned to the two women with a look of expectation. “Well then?” he said as if expecting something for his troubles.

Maddie and Bailey looked at each other, confused. “Well what?” Bailey responded. She was getting a bit tired of the “my tragedy is worse than yours” attitude. It seemed that everyone was trying to one-up each other in an attempt to sell the saddest story.

“What’s your Ana story?” Hale finally asked.

“Oh,” Maddie said. It hadn’t occurred to her that everyone would be expecting her to tell her own tale of woes in exchange for their revelations.

“Well, my story is not nearly as engaging as yours,” she said, trying to think fast and come up with a believable story. “We booked a cruise, much like this one,” she said, “and the cabins were absolutely horrible.” She continued, “They were in such poor condition, we were forced to get off at the first port, and fly home. The toilets were backed up, the air conditioner didn’t work, and there was an awful stench in the air.”

“Oh my,” Michel responded. “Well, I hear there’s a rumor going around that she didn’t have an accident like they said.” His eyes studied the two women to make sure that he had their full attention. “They said that she was murdered.” He said the sentence very slowly to give the right effect.

“Oh my!” Bailey said, feigning intrigue.

“Well, if you ask me, it’s good riddance. The woman created nothing but pain and misery for nearly everyone she met.” Michael stood up, adjusted his tie and was off to his next story telling experience without so much as a goodbye.

The two watched him leave and Bailey cried out in exasperation, “Gran, I can’t take this anymore. Is it possible for one person to be hated so much?” She started rubbing her head as she stood up. “I’m going back to the cabin for a little bit of peace and quiet. If I hear one more Ana story, I’m gonna scream.”

“Maybe we should head back to the cabin. I’m pretty sure that we’re getting close to identifying the murderer. I’m positive they’re on this boat with us.”

“Are you sure Gran? There are plenty more people that belong to the “Hate Ana” club that couldn’t make this cruise.”

“There’s no doubt about that, but from some of the things I’ve heard, if anyone hated her enough to kill her, they’d make sure that they were on this boat.”

~~~

Back in the cabin, Bailey kicked off her shoes and fell down on the bed. “Gran, who do you think it is?” she asked with her face in the pillow, her voice muffled.

“I have my suspicions, but I haven’t decided yet.”

“I think it’s Thomas,” Bailey announced.

“Granted, he is high on my list Bailey. But I’m not so sure.”

“Why not?”

“First, remember our first clue. The earring. And second, he just doesn’t seem like the type. I don’t know. My gut tells me that it’s not him. But I do think he knows more than he’s sharing.”

“Like what?”

“I’m not sure. He’s giving the appearance of being supportive, but he’s holding back,” she said, thinking out loud. “I think Ana was blackmailing him or holding some secret over his head. Why else would he choose to stay in such a horrible working situation?”

“Good point,” Bailey agreed, “But my money is on Hale. That was quite a story he had to tell.”

“I know, but he’s a man of pretty good means. $20,000 is a drop in the bucket for him. For someone to want to kill, losing money has to hurt. He seems to be just inconvenienced. Did you see that suit he was wearing? It probably cost more than $20,000 all by itself!”

Bailey was deep in thought considering their options. “Well, we need a little more information about Ana. There’s a lot more than meets the eye.  We should call Eleanor. See what’s she’s come up with while we’ve been away.”

“Good point,” Maddie agreed. “Did you bring your cell?”

~~~

Eleanor answered on the first ring. “My goodness, I was beginning to wonder if you two had forgotten about me? What took you so long to call?”

“Oh, Ellie. We’ve been so busy here. It’s just one thing going on right after another.”

“Well, I hope you have some information for me, I mean you’ve been there for three whole days.”

“Yep. Two more to go,” Bailey groaned. “Not what I was expecting for a Paddleboat Cruise.”

“Did you find out anything interesting?”

“Sure did,” Maddie said, “a lot.”

“I did, too.” Eleanor said. “Wait until you hear this.” The two women leaned into the phone to hear the details. They thought about putting her on speaker, but decided against it just in case someone may have been listening at the door.

“Your Police Chief friend, Connors, has decided that Ana’s death was not an accident after all.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know what happened, but he’s actually launching his own investigation into Ana’s death.”

“The travel agency has been shut down pending an investigation of the entire staff.”

“Oh my goodness! They must’ve uncovered something that we don’t know about.”

“Well, according to a friend of mine at the Coroner’s office, drugs were found in Ana’s blood stream. The amount of drugs found in her blood could have been the reason she fell down the steps.”

Maddie and Bailey looked at each other. This was certainly a new twist in the case. “Or pushed,” Bailey added.

“Evidently, they feel that it was not enough to kill her, so they think that she was drugged just enough to get her disoriented and then hit on the head with something. Then the murderer staged the fall to cover it up.”

“So, the true murderer would have some access to drugs of some kind.”

The three women shared notes and discussed the details of the case well into the evening. By the time they hung up the phone, Maddie was pretty sure that she knew who the killer was, but she needed one more piece of evidence to cinch it.

Chapter Seven

The final night of the cruise promised to be the most exciting of the entire week. A formal dance affair had everyone arriving at the ballroom in his or her most elegant clothes. By the end of the five-day cruise, it seemed that most of the guests had also tired of the Ana bashing and had moved on to other subjects.

The room had been elaborately decorated to represent a trip around the world with each service station featuring cuisine from that region. The ballroom was adorned with  decorations from each of the seven continents lined the walls surrounding the dance floor in the center.

Maddie and Bailey had arrived early so they could choose a table in the front of the room near the dance floor allowing them to see everything that was going on. Back in their room, they had decided to dance with as many of the men as possible and buddy up with many women to see if they could determine the killer before the night was over. They were both mentally and physically exhausted from the all-inclusive cruise and were looking forward to the entire thing being over with soon.

The room was in full swing with a live band playing to a latest collection of tunes from around the world and everyone was having a great time. Bailey was being swung around the dance floor by a middle-aged man, Paul, who was filling her ear with his story of a botched African safari and Maddie was resting her aching feet while chatting away with Parker at their table. An involuntary yawn escaped her lips as she sat through another long version of the same story of their ruined honeymoon at the dude ranch. She was quite thankful when Thomas, turning out to be an insightful man, extended a hand and pulled her up on the dance floor. As much pain as her feet were in, she still welcomed the chance to get away from Parker and enjoy herself for a minute.

As they spun around the floor, Maddie was quite surprised that Thomas had turned out to be such a good dancer. Interestingly enough, he also proved to be adept at maneuvering the conversation back to where he wanted to go. She sensed that he was more serious than ever and she began to worry that he had become more concerned about him being named as a suspect.

“So, have you discovered the identity of the elusive killer?” Thomas asked.

“I’ve narrowed it down to a number of primary suspects,” Maddie answered. “And I have you to thank for that.”

“Moi?” He feigned surprise, but for once Maddie wasn’t entirely sold on his act.

“Yes, you,” she confirmed.

“But, I told you. I’m just not that kind of person. I couldn’t possibly kill a fly.”

Maddie gave him a genuine smile. “Oh, but Thomas, I think you can kill a fly if he was annoying enough. But, while you may be at the top of my list, there are a few other suspects that I still haven’t ruled out yet.”

She was a little surprised to feel the tension in his muscles relax in response to her words and realized that while he put on the pretense of having everything under control, the death of his employer had really worried him. She bit her lip and contemplated this man she was getting to know quite well.

“Well, who do
you
think it is?” she asked him.

Thomas took a step backward, raised his arm, and spun her around before he answered. “Well,” he said thoughtfully, “Michael Hale had a pretty compelling story, don’t you think?”

“Well, anything is possible, I guess,” she contemplated all the information she had collected so far and said, “but there is still a lot to be considered and any one of these people could be the one.”

“But look at all the money he lost at the hands of Ana,” he stated. “If you ask me, he’s probably lost more money than all the people here combined.”

“Perhaps, but money is not the only motivator for murder.”

Thomas was quiet for a minute. “I suppose, but it would be a big one for me,” he conceded.

Maddie eyed him suspiciously. He seemed to be pushing Michael in her direction for some reason. Thomas spun her around the room once again, sending her into a bit of confusion for a minute.

“You know,” he thought aloud after a rather elaborate twirl. “If you hadn’t delivered your specialty cookies when you did, it’s no telling when Ana’s body would have been found.”

Maddie stopped for a brief second and eyed him more closely. How did he know that I was delivering cookies to Ana? She thought about all of the conversations she had had with Thomas since that awful day and was quite sure that she had never told him anything about what was being delivered.  She also thought about the muddy footprints that were leading away from the back door. It has been raining all night; certainly they would have been washed away before she arrived that morning. That meant that someone had to have been at the house that day or had only recently left. So many things were running through her mind at the time that she felt she needed a break.

Maddie stared at Thomas through a new lens. Here was a man that appeared to have it all together, but something was off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but Thomas was not turning out to be who he appeared to be.

Thomas’ face reddened under her scrutiny and he took a self-conscious step backward. “Um, I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me,” he said finally, “I have to check on the menu in the kitchen.” He turned and left Maddie standing alone on the dance floor.

She stared after him and then slowly walked back to her table, deep in thought. She had only sat at her table for a few seconds before Bailey was at her side.

“Gran, what’s wrong?”

Maddie didn’t respond.

“Gran, I saw what happened. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Bailey,” she said, snapping out of her revelry. “It’s Thomas. I’m rethinking what I had originally believed about him.”

“I know, Granny. But what did he say?”

“Nothing major, honey. He just asked me about the cookies I delivered for Ana.” She said thoughtfully.

“Well, chances are he’s her assistant so he probably placed the order for her.”

“I don’t think so. This was for a private event, not done through the agency. I’m sure I didn’t tell him about the cookies.” Maddie was trying to remember that first conversation with him. “I’m sure I told him about the delivery, but not about the cookies.” She said finally, “I never reveal the contents of any of my customers orders for events. It’s a policy I’ve always had.”

“So, how did he know?” Bailey questioned.

“I don’t know, but I will find out!” Maddie said, thinking out loud.

Bailey looked around the room of characters. All of them had a reason to hate Ana, but she felt that the majority of them just disliked the lady. And most of them didn’t dislike her enough to want her dead. Those that ranked at the top of her list still didn’t give her enough evidence to prove that they were the killer. Something was missing. She turned back to her Gran. “Listen, Gran. I think we need to go and have another chat with Eleanor. We’re missing something.”

“Good idea. Maybe she can fill in the blanks for us.” But Maddie didn’t move.

“What’s wrong Gran?”

“I’m thinking that the only way Thomas would have known about the cookies was if he was at the house when I delivered them.”

“Yeah, but Ana died the night before, right?”

“Mmm hmm. That’s right.”

“So maybe he arrived after the murder just like you did,” Bailey reasoned.

“Possibly, but when I was at the house, no one was there. I left after the police arrived so he couldn’t have been hiding somewhere. The police would’ve found him. He must’ve been there before I arrived. The footprints could have been his.”

“Let’s go back to the room and think this thing through. This way we can run it all by Eleanor and see what we can come up with.”