Board Stiff: A Dead-End Job Mystery (20 page)

Alana doesn’t know I’m the woman private eye, Helen thought. I was careless and let Joan get killed.

“Hurry,” Alana said. “What if Cy stops by for the day’s receipts?”

“Then you’re in a heap of trouble,” Phil said. “So answer quick. Why didn’t Cy bribe Commissioner Wyman for his vote?”

“Once the restaurant burned down,” Alana said, “Cy couldn’t hold a reception for Wyman’s daughter, so he lost the chance to influence his vote. Wyman’s too careful to take cash. Cy would have paid for the reception and given Wyman a phony bill.”

“Which Wyman wouldn’t pay?” Phil asked.

“Oh, no, he’d write a check for it,” Alana said. “But Cy would never cash it. Wyman makes sure he has bills of sale and receipts for everything.”

“Thanks,” Phil said. “I’ll make that call now.”

He speed-dialed a number on his cell phone and said, “Agent Honeycutt? I have someone who wants to talk to you. The person I told you about. How soon can you get here? Twenty minutes? Good.”

He clicked off his phone and said, “He’s on his way.”

A woman wearing a T-shirt with a tabby cat curled under a palm tree rattled the door handle.

Helen went to the door. “We’re closed,” she said.

It was after dark when Helen and Phil left Cerise and walked back to the parking lot along the beach. The sea was smooth silver, stretching to infinity. Helen and Phil walked along the water’s edge, holding hands.

“Things turned out better than I dreamed,” Helen said. “We can close Sunny Jim’s case, and Randy and Alana are safe, thanks to FDLE.”

“We also know who killed Joan and Ceci,” Phil said.

“Valerie’s career is saved,” Helen said. “I called and she’ll be there when Bill is arrested for murder for hire. I also told her she wants to be at the Riggs County Courthouse tomorrow morning when the grand jury is convened.”

“FDLE can’t say what’s going on—not yet—but Valerie will be first with the story,” Phil said.

“Her courthouse sources are good,” Helen said. “Cal may not be able to talk, but she’ll find a leak somewhere.”

“Joan’s autopsy report showed she fought her killer,” Phil said. “The medical examiner got DNA from the skin under her fingernails. Cal says Cy has healing scratches on his hands and arms. If the DNA matches, they’ll have Cy for murder one.”

“Alana’s and Randy’s testimony should help the case,” Helen said.

“When Cy is charged with murder, Valerie will report that story, too,” Phil said.

“Best of all, Rob is gone for good,” Helen said. “ And we’re back together. Why did you forgive me?”

Phil gathered her into his arms. “Because I was wrong,” he said.

“I was wrong, too,” Helen said.

“But I was worse,” Phil said. “The night Rob was killed, I lied to the police about his death and covered up what I knew. I was guilty of the same thing you were. I just couldn’t admit it. It was too easy to fall into that trap.”

Helen silently agreed but said nothing.

Phil reached into his pocket and handed her a key. “It’s the new key to my apartment,” he said. “You already have the one to my heart. I don’t know what else to say, except I love you.”

“And I love you,” Helen said.

This time, when he took her into his arms, the pain was gone.

H
elen and Phil paddled out on the silk-smooth ocean, admiring the sunrise. Helen heard a small splash and saw a red snapper leap up in the water near her board. The ocean was that clear. She had a fanciful notion that it was the fish she’d saved on the beach.

“This morning is so beautiful,” Helen said.

“And so are you,” Phil said.

She smiled at her husband and nearly lost her balance.

“Whoa!” he said.

She righted herself just in time.

The early morning paddleboard session was a thank-you gift from Sunny Jim, along with a substantial bonus. He even paid Margery’s limo rental bill.

“You saved my business and my reputation,” he said.

The newly elected Riggs Beach City Commission voted to renew Sunny Jim’s beach location lease for five more years.

The firefighters had managed to save all eight of Sunny Jim’s paddleboards and eleven paddles. Insurance covered the rest of the damage. Jim was glad he’d backed up his data in his Riggs Lake computers. Now that there’s only one paddleboard concession on Riggs Beach, Jim’s business is booming. He bought Bill’s paddleboard equipment at fire-sale prices.

•   •   •

Bill Bantry did not get away with murder this time. He was convicted of the murder for hire in the death of Cecilia Odell and sentenced to thirty years in prison. He served only five. Bill was killed in a prison-yard fight.

•   •   •

Daniel Odell collected the million dollars from Ceci’s life insurance policy, then lost it in bad investments within a year.

Maureen Carsten, Ceci’s best friend, discovered that she was pregnant three months after Ceci died. Her husband had had a vasectomy. He divorced his unfaithful wife. Daniel told Maureen to “get rid of it.” He didn’t want a child.

Maureen, pregnant and newly divorced, wept to Daniel’s parents that their son wanted her to abort their only grandchild. Daniel reluctantly married his lover, after his parents threatened to disinherit him.

He looks very tired these days. Daniel Odell Junior still doesn’t sleep through the night.

Maureen Carsten Odell gained forty pounds after the birth of the baby. She can’t seem to lose the weight. Daniel padlocks the fridge door after dinner.

•   •   •

Valerie Cannata broke the story of the arrest of Bill Bantry of Bill’s Boards, and the FDLE investigation into bribery, corruption and murder in Riggs Beach. She won two more Emmy Awards for her exclusive coverage of the murders of Ceci Odell and Joan Right.

Valerie’s contract with Channel Seventy-seven was renewed with a substantial raise. She bought another bookcase to hold her new Emmys.

•   •   •

Alana Roselli Romano was charged with being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Joan Right. In return for her cooperation with the authorities, she served six months in prison and two years’ probation.

Cy’s frequent text messages helped establish that he used Alana to meet Joan Right at the pier. Alana currently works at a Riggs Beach T-shirt shop and lives in an apartment with a view of the alley.

•   •   •

The chief of the Riggs Beach police resigned and was charged with six counts of grand theft and eleven counts of official misconduct. Five officers and Detective Emmet Ebmeier were also convicted of taking bribes and multiple ethics violations.

Ebmeier forfeited his house, thirty-foot sailboat, Harley, Mercedes and BMW. The other officers were also forced to forfeit any possessions related to the bribery.

•   •   •

Randall Travis Henshall pleaded guilty to murder for hire and arson. In addition to his incriminating recording of the conversation with Bill Bantry, his cell phone had several text messages that backed his claim. Randy had three operations for skin grafts on his back. Because he cooperated with the long investigation, he was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.

•   •   •

Cyrus Reed Horton was charged with multiple offenses, including the first-degree murder of Joan Right. Facing the death penalty, he ratted out Commissioner Frank “the Fixer” Gordon. For his testimony against Gordon, he received life without the possibility of parole. Cy works in the prison kitchen.

•   •   •

Joan Right was buried next to her parents in a private ceremony in Riggs Beach. Helen, Phil, Kevin and the rest of the staff of Cy’s on the Pier held a sunset memorial service for their friend on the beach.

“You were kind, brave and hardworking, Joan,” Kevin said. “You were loved by your friends and colleagues. You will be missed.”

Helen floated a wreath of purple orchids into the water and said, “I will remember you, Joan, and your courage. May you have eternal rest.” Afterward, Kevin told Helen and Phil, “You gave my friend justice. Thank you. Fat, lazy Cy is sweating in the prison kitchen, working harder than we ever had to. And he’s paid even less than we were.”

•   •   •

Commissioner Frank Gordon was convicted of multiple counts of bribery and sentenced to thirty years in prison and a fine of five hundred thousand dollars. He was unable to sell his home to pay the fine and the lawyer’s fees. His house, pool and a half acre of waterfront property were washed away when his seawall crumbled during a tropical storm.

His wife divorced him and married an orthodontist. His stepson has straight teeth.

•   •   •

Commissioner Charles Wyman was convicted of bribery in return for gifts, including a thirty-foot cabin cruiser, a new shingled roof, pressure washing and painting of the exterior of his home, five thousand square feet of wall-to-wall broadloom, two Mercedes and a low-flush toilet. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and five years of supervised release, fined one hundred thousand dollars and forfeited all the proceeds from his offenses.

•   •   •

Wilma Jane Wyman’s wedding was canceled when her father was arrested. Her car salesman fiancé said her father’s reputation was bad for his business image. Wilma Jane works as an exotic dancer at a joint that features “burgers and babes.”

•   •   •

Riggs Beach mayor Eustice Timmons and the other members of the Riggs Beach City Commission resigned and were charged with multiple counts of bribery and ethics violations. They were sentenced to a total of more than two hundred years in prison.

•   •   •

Helen suffered from recurring nightmares after Rob’s death. She received a call that no one had claimed Rob’s body in the St. Louis County morgue. Helen arranged for a quiet funeral for her ex-husband. Phil insisted on flying to St. Louis with her.

No one attended Rob’s burial except Helen and Phil. The funeral and other expenses cost fifteen thousand dollars, the amount Rob had demanded the night he staggered into Kathy’s backyard. Helen thought it was worth the price to finally bury her ex and her guilt.

The night they returned, Helen gave Phil the gift she’d bought him at the little store: a classic edition of
Crossroads: Eric Clapton
.

Phil gave her a new special edition of the best of the Rolling Stones. He is learning to appreciate the Stones, particularly “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”