The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds (17 page)

Danielle sat on the
pathway bench next to Bill while Cheryl paced anxiously back and forth.

“Thanks for letting me
up,” Danielle said, shaking more sand out of her braid.

“Hey, I figured once I
called the cops and told them what I found, you’d be more likely to take off
than try to break my head open with that piece of pipe. You’re their problem
now, not mine.” Bill pulled a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket.

“I wasn’t going to hit
you over the head with the pipe,” Danielle insisted.

“It sure looked that
way.” Bill removed a cigarette from the pack and lit up.

“I just wanted to
protect myself.”

“I guess I understand.
The body in there, that’s your cousin, the missing girl right?” Bill took a
drag off the cigarette.

“Yes. Why did you come
down here?” Danielle asked.

“Got a complaint from
one of the renters. Said there was a nasty smell coming out of Hut Three.
Figured it was a dead rodent or maybe a cat.”

Cheryl stopped pacing
and looked from Bill to Danielle. “Is he talking about me? Was I that smell?”

“Who owns these huts?”
Danielle asked. She looked up to Cheryl and gave her an apologetic nod. Cheryl
frowned and resumed her pacing.

“Frederickport Property
Rentals.”

“The hut’s padlock was
cut.”

“
Y
eah, been that
way all summer. I kept meaning to bring down a new one. First week of summer
vacation one of the renters cut it off in a panic. His kids were screwing
around. The son locked his daughter in the hut and then ended up dropping the
key in the sand, couldn’t find it. She was screaming her head off so the dad
figured it would be faster to cut off the lock instead of getting another key
from us.”

“So anyone could have
gone in there,” Danielle murmured.

“I have a question for
you. How did you happen to be here? Judging by the condition of that body, it’s
obvious she’s been in there a while.”

“I was frustrated and
decided to do my own detective work and retrace my cousin’s steps. I ended up
here.”

“Retrace her steps? I
don’t remember anyone seeing her on the beach.”

“I should have said
possible
steps
. If Cheryl left Adam’s as he says, I’d expect her to come back to
Marlow House. After all, her car was there. Since she was new to town the
easiest way to find her way back in the dark would be by walking along the
beach. At least, that’s what I’d do.”

“What made you go into
the hut?” Bill asked.

“I don’t know. The huts
were between Adam’s bungalow and my place. Thought I’d look around and see if I
could find any clues. Any sign Cheryl had been in the area. When I noticed the
lock was broken, I decided to look inside.”

“You are a good liar,”
Cheryl laughed. “I have to say I am surprised! If I didn’t know better I’d
actually believe your story.”

“I better call Lily,”
Danielle said reaching into her purse for her cellphone. “I don’t want her to
worry about me.” She dialed Lily’s cellphone number.

“Dani, are you okay?”
Lily answered in a rush.

“Lily, I decided to retrace
Cheryl’s steps—if she had tried to walk from the bungalow back to Marlow House
by the beach.”

“Is someone there?”
Lily asked.

“I came across some
beach shacks. One was unlocked. Lily, I found Cheryl inside. It looks like
she’s been murdered.”

“Who is with you?” Lily
asked anxiously.

“Bill Smith, the one
who works for Frederickport Property Rentals—who owns the huts—happened to come
by. He’s called the police. They’re on their way down.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Did the body have the
necklace?” Lily asked.

“No, but I didn’t
expect it would be here. I have to assume that’s why someone killed her.” She
heard voices and footsteps coming from the pathway. Turning around Danielle and
Bill watched as close to a dozen or more police officers and responders made
their way toward them. Among the officers were Joe and Brian.

“I have to go now Lily,
the police are here.”

“Okay Dani. Be
careful.” Lily hung up.

“You found her?” Joe
asked when he reached the bench.

“Yes,” Danielle said as
she started to stand up.

“Please stay there Ms.
Boatman,” Brian said curtly. “We’ll get with you in a moment. Bill, come with
us.”

Almost three hours
later Danielle sat alone in an interrogation room at the Frederickport Police
Station eating a ham sandwich Joe had procured for her. She was ravenous and
wanted to go home. Her head ached from all the questions. She hadn’t seen
Cheryl’s spirit since they left the beach. Danielle wondered if Cheryl had
returned to Marlow House, stayed with her body, or perhaps she had moved on to
the next plane now that her body had been found.

The door opened and in
walked Brian.

“I see you got
something to eat,” Brian said as he tossed his notepad on the table and took a
seat across from Danielle.

“I would rather have
gone home to get something to eat. When can I leave?”

“Just a few more
questions.” Brian picked up the notepad and opened it. “You don’t seem very
upset at finding your cousin’s body.”

“Everyone deals with
these things differently.” Danielle knew the lack of tears was going to be a
problem. “But I cared enough about her to try and find her.”

“Her or the necklace?”

“I really don’t care
about the necklace, I never did.” Danielle was beginning to think the Missing
Thorndike should be renamed the Cursed Thorndike.

“Maybe not the necklace,
but the million or so bucks you’ll get when you sell it.”

“That will be kind of
hard to do now.”

“There is always the
insurance money.” Brian smiled.

“None of that matters.
The only thing that matters right now is finding whoever killed my cousin.”

“I can see how much it
matters to you. Considering the way those tears are flowing.”

“Okay, I will admit
Cheryl and I were not close. We’ve never been. And frankly, sometimes she
irritated the heck out of me. But I never wanted anything bad to happen to
her.”

“I understand she was
contesting your aunt’s estate. With her out of the picture, that takes care of
that problem, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t think she had
a claim in the first place. Do you seriously think I had something to do with
my cousin’s death? Do I need to hire an attorney?”

“I don’t know, do you?
You had a motive,” Brian reminded. “With her out of the picture you don’t have
to share your inheritance.”

“I think the killer’s
motive is fairly obvious—the Missing Thorndike. A dozen or more people saw her
leave Marlow House with the necklace. Joe was there, he knows I was still at
Marlow House when she took off.”

“So what do you think
she intended to do with the necklace? Why steal it with so many witnesses,
especially if she expected to claim half ownership to it?”

“I’ve given that a lot
of consideration…” It wasn’t a lie, she had thought about it a great deal. But
the conclusion she drew was not hers, it was Cheryl’s version of the story. “My
cousin wasn’t a jewel thief. She was irresponsible and flighty but I don’t
think she intended to sell or keep the necklace. She was borrowing it for the
night as a lark.”

“A deadly lark.”

“I don’t think she
realized how foolish it was to be running around with that thing on.”

“You wore it to the
open house.”

“I wore it to get
publicity for my grand opening. I didn’t think anyone would try and steal it
with so many people around, and Joe was there.”

“Do you think Adam is
responsible for her death? You were pretty emphatic he was responsible for her
disappearance. I understand his company owns the hut where she was found.”

“I sort of doubt it,”
Danielle shrugged. She still didn’t like Adam, yet she didn’t want to falsely
accuse him of the crime. “I would expect him to put her body in the ocean, not
in a hut his company owns. Especially considering anyone could go into it
because of the broken lock.”

• • • •

After Danielle was
finally allowed to go home, Brian sat with Joe discussing the case.

“You don’t seriously
think Danielle was involved in her cousin’s murder?” Joe asked.

“Joe, you’re too close
to the case. You’re not being objective.”

“We’re not
that
close. Sure, Danielle is a friend, but I’m not opposed to arresting a friend if
they break the law. And especially if I believe they murdered someone.”

“Even a woman you’re
dating?”

“Danielle and I have
only gone out a couple times. Hell, I haven’t even kissed her yet.”

“Why not? Maybe she’s
not really interested in you—maybe she’s just using you?”

“No. Actually, I
thought the reason was that I haven’t tried to kiss her yet. You keep
forgetting I was there. I met her cousin. I have no doubt she took off with
that necklace and ran off with Adam.”

“I asked Danielle if
she thought Adam was responsible for her cousin’s murder, and she said no,”
Brian said.

“Really? That surprises
me considering how she went on about him after Cheryl went missing.”

“I agree. Plus I think
her rational for his innocence is a little weak,” Brian noted.

“What was that?”

“She said if he killed
her, she would expect him to dump her body in the ocean, not in a shed he
owned.”

“I don’t suppose you
pointed out we’re pretty sure Cheryl was murdered in the shed, not taken there
postmortem.”

“No, I didn’t say
anything. As far as I am concerned we have two prime suspects: Adam and
Danielle.”

“Okay, give me your
theory on Danielle for a suspect.”

“The motive is there,
obviously. After she went missing you didn’t stick around Marlow House, so it
is possible Danielle left, right?”

“Sure, but none of us
knew where Cheryl went.”

“How do you know? We
know Cheryl went down to the bungalow with Adam the first day she met him.
Maybe she said something to her cousin. Maybe Danielle had a good idea all
along where Cheryl and Adam took off to.”

“But you forget the
wine. Someone drugged the wine.”

“Yeah, about the wine.
Who was the target, Adam, Cheryl, or both of them? We know it was a bottle from
the party. According to Adam, Cheryl took it from the table in the side yard.
He said those bottles had been opened and lightly re-corked.”

“Are you suggesting
Danielle drugged the wine?”

“She could have seen
her cousin take it. It’s possible she got the bottle from Cheryl’s hiding
place, drugged it and put it back in the bushes. Makes Cheryl and Adam more
manageable once she gets to them.”

“You’re making a lot of
far-fetched assumptions. And you’re forgetting I was with her the entire time.”

“You never left her
side?”

“Only to use the
bathroom. Sometimes I was in the next room. But she never went outside without
me.”

“Maybe she had an
accomplice. I don’t know, I’m just saying it is possible she was responsible.”

“Let’s say you’re
right. Explain to me how Danielle just happen to have Rohypnol on her? Not
something you normally have around the house,” Joe asked.

“Maybe she intended to
use it on Cheryl all along, but in another scenario. Danielle is the one who
mentioned dumping the body in the ocean. Maybe she intended to take her cousin
down to the beach some night, enjoy a little wine. And then when Cheryl passes
out, drag her down to the ocean and get rid of the body.”

“You have a fertile
imagination, Brian,” Joe scoffed.

“You never saw anything
between them that might suggest Danielle would be capable of something like
this?”

“What, you mean bashing
her cousin over the head? Of course not…” Joe paused a moment as if he were
remembering something.

“What is it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing
really,” Joe shook his head.

“Come on Joe, what did
you remember?”

“Before the party
Cheryl accused Danielle of hitting her.” Joe moved restlessly in his chair.

“Any indication the
story was true? What did Danielle say?”

“We were all right
there. Didn’t see what happened exactly, they were behind us. I know Cheryl was
grabbing at the necklace, wanting to try it on. Next thing I know, Cheryl is on
her butt and claiming Danielle smacked her. Danielle said she tripped. I
figured if it really happened it was more a knee jerk reaction on Danielle’s
part, considering how Cheryl was all over her.”