A Special Delivery To Die For (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 2) (7 page)

Chapter Eight

Bailey turned around in the small cabin. She was trying to pace, but it wasn’t very effective considering the room was only large enough to allow for three or four steps before she had to turn again. She liked to pace when she was in deep thought, but this was proving impossible. She plopped down on the bed instead.

“Ok, what have we learned about Ana?” Maddie started.

“We learned that we were lucky to have never met her,” Bailey said. “I’ve never seen someone with so many enemies.”

Maddie gave a slight chuckle. “You’re absolutely right, but let’s review the details anyway, shall we?”

“Sure, good idea,” Eleanor’s voice came over the speaker on the laptop Bailey had brought with her.

“All right, let’s see,” Bailey started, “she’s the owner of the most exclusive travel agency in town.”

The other two agreed. “What about competition?”

“She has no competition—it’s the only travel agency in town.”

“But has she made it impossible to start a new one?”

Maddie sat upright in her seated position. “That’s an angle we’ve never considered.”

“What’s that?”

“Thomas. He’s certainly capable of opening up his own agency and yet he chose to be in a lesser position and work for Ana. That always felt wrong to me.”

“Do you think Thomas had to get rid of Ana in order to take over the agency?”

“Well, he certainly had his finger on the numbers of everyone who hated Ana. He didn’t have to look very far to find out what we needed. Maybe it’s something he’s been planning all along.”

“That’s true,” Eleanor agreed. “It was almost as if he was expecting someone to come investigate.”

“He certainly did seem prepared,” Bailey added, “and this cruise. It’s hard to believe he could pull something like this together in just a matter of a few days.”

“But it still doesn’t quite feel right. He just doesn’t strike me as the murdering type.”

“Well, let’s put him aside for the moment. Who else do we have?” came from the computer.

“We have Michael Hale,” Bailey put in.

“Who’s that?”

“He’s the one that lost thousands of dollars on two failed archaeological trips. Ana wouldn’t give him a refund,” Bailey contributed.

“That could prove to be a strong motive,” Eleanor said pensively.

“Yes, but those trips were years ago. Why would he wait until now?” Maddie asked. “Besides, Eleanor, if you could see him you’d know $20,000 is nothing to this man. He’d hardly notice it missing.”

“Still, he’s worth considering. He’s still angry enough to come on this cruise and vent his feelings about Ana,” Eleanor added. “Once you’ve been burned, it can sometimes be hard to forget. I know I’ve seen plenty of people kill for far less than that.”

“All right,” Maddie complied, “that’s suspect number two. What did you find on your end?”

“Well, you two have found tons of Ana’s enemies, but I’ve found just the opposite. She has loads of people that absolutely adore her, including the mayor and his wife.”

“Really?” Both Madeline and Bailey seemed surprised.

“From your perspective it may seem like everyone in the world hates the woman, but I can assure you that’s not the case. As a matter of fact, it was the mayor’s wife that pressured Chief Connors to start the investigation of her murder.”

“That’s it!” Maddie exclaimed. “I knew the old crank wasn’t smart enough to figure this out on his own. Someone had to be behind him starting the investigation.”

“Well, you’re certainly right on that account,” Eleanor agreed, “and there’s another thing you were right about.  While she has plenty of friends that are willing to step up to the plate and support her, she still has her share of enemies as well.” Eleanor began shuffling through a stack of papers on her desk. “Bailey your computer skills paid off. Hacking into her email account brought up loads of useful information. It is loaded with emails from people who hated her completely. Some of these emails can actually be considered threatening by today’s legal standards.”

“Yeah, Bailey is really good at chopping computers and getting information for me,” Maddie said proudly.

Bailey fell back on the bed, rolling her eyes, “It’s called ‘hacking’ Gran, not chopping.”

“Oh, sorry, Bailey,” Maddie apologized. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the terminology just right. Bailey is good at hacking,” she repeated to Eleanor.

“Well, that package you sent me took me a while to go through, but in it I found hundreds of threatening letters, emails, and texts in her personal files.”

“Wow!”

“But when I went online, I found a host of angry reviews about her travel agency. It’s obvious she has more than her share of unsatisfied customers. I’m willing to bet that the majority of them are right there on the boat with you.”

“When you were going through them, Eleanor. Did any one of them stand out as being more threatening that others?”

“Quite a few actually.” Eleanor commented as she looked carefully through the papers. “You have to be pretty angry to write threatening comments to someone and send it through the Internet. Anyone who does that must have lost all manner of reason. They must know that it will eventually be brought to light.”

“Well, that certainly makes sense for a logical thinking person, but some of these people here have been burned two or three different times. And with Ana having the only travel agency in town, if you wanted to book a nice excursion, you had to either handle all of the details yourself or travel to the next town to find a service to do that.”

“Good point. So, the concept of free enterprise was lost. These people were forced to work with Ana on such specialized travel packages so she repeatedly ripped them off because there was nowhere else they could go,” Bailey started to reason.

“Eleanor,” Maddie declared, “I need to see those emails you found. I think if we had them here Bailey and I could compare them to our notes on the people we’ve met on the cruise and come up with a viable suspect to hand over to the deputy sheriff here.”

“There’s a deputy sheriff on board?”

“Yes, I thought that was strange and I couldn’t figure out why until you told me that Connors has decided to investigate the case himself.”

“Well, he may very well come in handy. It sounds like you’re getting close to finding the killer. You want to stick close to him so that you’re not in any danger darling.”

“Point well taken,” Maddie conceded. “So, can you go through some of those papers and pick out ones that you really feel stand out from the rest and send them to me on my E-phone?”

Bailey sat bolt upright in the bed, nearly bumping her head on the upper bunk above. “It’s I-Phone Gran. It’s an I-Phone, not E-phone. It stands for Internet Gran, get it?”

“Oh.” Maddie turned back to the computer. “Can you send them to my I-Phone?” She asked looking to Bailey for her nod of approval.

Bailey gave her a thumbs-up sign, but it looked like her Gran was never going to get this new lingo even though she tries so hard. A look of pity, frustration, and sorrow fleeted across her face as she contemplated a future of explaining new terminology for the next twenty years.

“Also, can you go to my office at the bakery and find the notes I wrote on Thomas Jones and send them to me as well? There’s something about him that isn’t adding up and I want to look more closely at my first impressions of the man.”

“Why, is he a primary suspect?”

“Absolutely. He certainly has the motive and I believe that Ana may have been blackmailing him for something, but I can’t get him to really open up.”

“You will,” Eleanor encouraged. “You will. You have that way about you that makes everyone want to open up to you. Just be yourself and they’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“I hope you’re right, Ellie,” Maddie said exasperated. “But we’ve still got a little bit more digging before we can root out the killer. Right now there are too many possibilities; we need to narrow it down even further.”

“You’re right,” Eleanor agreed. “Can I make a suggestion?”

“I’m open.”

“Why don’t you get with the Captain and the deputy sheriff and give them a list of your top suspects. Then have them all invited to a private room for cocktails, that way you can scrutinize them without distraction from the other guests on the boat.”

“That’s an excellent idea!” Bailey said. “We’ve already ruled most of them out anyway.”

“I wish I was there with you!” Eleanor whined.

“You are,” Maddie encouraged. “You are with us, but Ellie, I think there’s just one more thing I’m gonna need you to send me.”

“Sure thing sweetie. What’s that?”

“The picture of the earring that we found on the bottom of my shoe. Can you send that to me as well?”

“Sure thing. I’m going to send them all to your I-Phone like you wanted, but I’ll also fax them to the Captain’s cabin, too. That way you can print them out and have a hard copy to work with.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Maddie took a deep breath, “Well, here goes. By this time tomorrow, we’ll be back home with the case closed—we hope.”

Chapter Nine

The small room off the Captain’s quarters was a welcome relief for Maddie and Bailey both. It was a quaint little private dining room the Captain often used to entertain his more elite guests when on the water, though only large enough to hold a group of about ten people comfortably.

The Captain stood by the doorway to greet his guests in his official uniform—a  black, well-fitted captain’s jacket with the four epaulettes on the shoulders and a snappy captain’s hat held securely under his arm. His curiosity was definitely piqued as he stood at the door awaiting his guests.

Maddie had approached him to tell him her plan. Captain Evans had reservations about the whole affair, but was definitely intrigued by this tiny woman attempting to solve a murder on her own. He agreed to the private party on the condition that he have his own ship security in the room with the suspects, who would only be informed of their role in the fiasco after they’d arrived.

She had arrived earlier that evening to make sure that everything was ready. A folder with all the information she needed was tucked safely away behind the bar and she was quite sure that the killer would reveal him or herself long before it was needed, but it was always safe to have a good back up plan. Deputy Sheriff Fellows was to be her escort for this small and intimate cocktail party and the only ones that knew what was to happen was the Captain, the deputy, Bailey, and herself. Even then she felt a little uncomfortable, but the Captain insisted it had to be that way.  The only thing she could do was comply with his orders.

As expected, Thomas was the first to arrive. He appeared a little miffed that he was not allowed to have a hand in planning this intimate affair. After all, it was his travel agency that had booked the cruise and he felt slighted that the Captain would call a private affair without consulting with him first. He wore a nicely tailored navy blue leisure suit that was far removed from his usual flamboyant style of dress. It gave off a very professional image that spoke of his newfound position in the company. Bailey entered with her hand on his arm, working hard to reveal her mortification at being escorted by the likes of Thomas. But as usual, she would always be willing to comply with her Gran’s wishes, no matter how strange.

Captain Evans greeted them warmly and handed them over to a hostess to show them their assigned seat at the table. Bailey immediately sat down in her seat when the waiter pulled her chair out for her, but Thomas remained standing.

“Thank you,” he told the waiter when his seat was indicated, “but I need to check on the events of the evening to make sure they go right.”

“I appreciate your dedication to your job,” the deputy commented, “but for this event, you’re not working. Why don’t you sit down and act like a real guest for a change?”

Thomas’ face was full of insult, but he took his seat just the same, perching himself right on the edge. Resting his chin in his hands it was obvious that he didn’t know what to do when he wasn’t working. He took his assigned seat next to Bailey and started fiddling with the napkins on the table.

“You don’t know how to be normal, do you?” Bailey asked.

“Pardon?”

“You don’t know how to be just a normal guy. Sit down. Have a casual conversation. You have to be right in the middle of everything, don’t you?”

“Well, I’ll have you know that I’m plenty normal.”

Bailey gave him a small smile that showed her irritation was fading. In its place she felt a little pity for him.

Maddie came and joined them at the table, taking a seat next to Thomas. As usual, she was perfectly perched to see everything going on in the room. Not that it mattered; the room was small enough that nothing would be done without being observed by others around them. “What a lovely evening,” Maddie started. “Wasn’t it nice of the captain to have this little private soiree for us?”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Thomas said peeved. “I just don’t understand why I wasn’t informed about it.”

“Well, there’s always a reason for some things Thomas, even if we don’t understand them at the moment,” Maddie gave him her most grandmotherly type voice.

There was movement near the doorway and they looked up to see Michael and his wife make their appearance. Clearly, they wanted to be recognized as the wealthiest of couples on the boat, which wouldn’t have taken too much effort. Their grand appearance was greeted with gasps as Mrs. Hale entered dressed to the nines. Maddie thought that they had gone a little overboard, but she guessed that a personal invitation from the Captain can do that to some people.

Maddie could tell from the scornful look on his face that he was disappointed to see the rest of them there. He actually thought he was going to be spending an evening with an elite class of people. She chuckled a little within herself, but she only allowed Michael to see her most sincere face.

The Milhorns arrived shortly afterwards. Parker was again jeweled to the max, with diamonds and gold dripping off every finger and dangling earrings. It occurred to Maddie that she might have been the one that lost the earring at Ana’s house. She would have to find a way to work that into the evening.

Eleanor had arranged to have everything Maddie had requested couriered to her by powerboat. Paddleboat cruises were not meant to take passengers far or fast so a powerboat could easily have caught up with the lumbering boat as it meandered gracefully in the river.

There is only one person missing
, Maddie thought and as soon as she arrived, the show was ready to start. She didn’t have to wait long for Jessica to appear at the door. She seemed winded and flustered as she stumbled into the room. Then Maddie realized why—she had been drinking, and quite a lot by the looks of it. She wondered why she and Thomas had not arrived together. A quick glance at Thomas told her that they had a falling out of some sort. The two cut eyes at each other and it was apparent to everyone that there was no love lost between them. Once Jessica was seated at the table, Maddie gave the Captain a nod, he gestured to his security team and they took their position at the door.

Maddie stood up at the table and looked at the group in front of her. One of these people was a murderer and now was the time to prove it. She cleared her throat and started.

“First of all, I want to thank all of you for coming to this small event on such short notice.” She glanced around the table and saw confusion on everyone’s faces with the exception of Bailey, who knew what was about to happen.

“I need to explain something to you. The Captain extended each of you an invitation at my behest. This event was planned by me, not the Captain.”

“Well, that explains it,” came a snide remark from Thomas. “Had I known, I would have been more than happy to offer you some assistance in planning it.” He cast a negative glance at the meager dinner table decorations.

“You’re probably right, Thomas. I’ve spent a few days with you by now and I know that you are the best when it comes to planning a party.”

Thomas seemed to be a little appeased by the compliment, but still not quite satisfied at being excluded.

“At any rate, I’ve asked you all here to help me to solve the case of Ana’s murder.”

“Murder!” Parker exclaimed. “I thought it was an accident.” She looked genuinely surprised.

“That was the police’s initial ruling,” Maddie concurred, “but recent discoveries have indicated that there was enough evidence to arouse suspicion of foul play.” The table was silent as they all looked up expectantly waiting for more news. “And I believe, that the murderer is right here at this table with us today.”

There was a cacophony of chatter that erupted at the audacity of the statement. Maddie continued, “I will show you my evidence and then explain to you why I think you may have had the motive and the opportunity to commit such a heinous crime.”

She began to pace around the small room as she spoke. “I have to confess to you that I have never met Ana, nor have I done any business with the woman.”

“What’s that story you told me about….”

Maddie raised her hand to stop him in midsentence. “I’m sure that some of you believed that I was here to vent my anger the same as you and I allowed you to believe that so that you would speak to me freely as you already have done.” She canvassed the table and saw offended looks, but not outright hostility. “So, shall we begin?”

The Captain reached under the bar and brought out the evidence folder and handed it to her.

“My involvement with this case started a little over a week ago when I arrived at Ana’s home to deliver an order of baked goods for a private party she was planning for the evening. I found the door to her home open and on closer inspection I found this scene in her kitchen.”

She laid a photo in the center of the table and everyone leaned over to get a closer look.

“As you can see, the table is set for two people, but only Ana’s body was found. The spilled wine had been there long enough for it to dry and leave the wood flooring stained, probably permanently. This indicates that the murder had happened the night before and the culprit had long left the scene.”

The group remained speechless, attentive to her every word. “But what was most interesting was this.” She pulled out the earring and showed it to the group. “Naturally, when I discovered this little piece of evidence stuck to the bottom of my shoe, I assumed that the killer was a woman.” She placed the earring on the table so that everyone could see it. “But when it arrived here on the boat by courier last night, I noticed something different. Notice the post there? It’s rather thick for an earring. Most earrings actually have a thinner post so that it can go through the ear without having to apply a lot of pressure, but this  post is nearly double the thickness of an average earring.”

The men at the table leaned in a little closer to examine the object. They had not paid much attention to women’s earrings before, but this actually intrigued them a little bit. Parker actually took one of her earrings off and laid it next to the object and they could all see that it was indeed considerably thicker than an earring post.

“That lead me to one conclusion. It’s not an earring at all, it’s a cuff link, and that would naturally belong to a man.”

“Are you saying that the killer is a man at this table?” the Captain asked.

“No,” Maddie said. “What I am saying is that a man at this table can actually identify the murderer because he was there the night Ana was killed.”

Murmuring broke out around the table. “Well who is it?”

“Don’t keep us in suspense!”

“So, I got to wondering, what person knows the most about Ana and all of the things she’s done? Well, when I asked that question, only one name came to mind. Thomas Jones.”

“Ahhhhh,” Thomas jumped from his seat shrieking like a little girl. “No!” He cried running towards the door where the Captain’s guards deftly blocked his way. He turned back to the crowd.  “I didn’t kill her. I didn’t. I swear!” He pleaded with the group. He knelt down in front of the guards and began to bawl loudly. “I’m not a murderer, I’m not.”

Maddie toyed with him for a moment and then calmly stated, “Of course, you didn’t Thomas.”

Everyone in the group turned and looked at Maddie confused.

“But you just said…”

Maddie raised her hand again to stop the chatter. “I know. I understand the confusion, but if you’ll just bear with me one minute, I’ll explain.” She paused to wait for the chatter to die down.

“At first, Thomas was very high on my list of suspects. He had the most to gain from Ana’s death. He was second in command; he would finally get the recognition and the bump in salary that he felt he deserved. She had kept him in the shadows for years, which certainly gave him the motive.” She paused to catch her breath. “And he knew about the order being delivered to her house. My guess is he probably frequently visited her house to discuss company business.”

“That’s right,” Jessica pointed out. “At least twice a week.”

“But why did you rule him out?” Parker asked.