A Fishy Discovery (Dune House Cozy Mystery Series Book 8) Read online

  “Thank you.” She sighed with relief and all at once she was struck by just how exhausted she was.

  By the time she arrived back at Dune House she collapsed onto the couch. She didn’t bother to get a blanket or even take her shoes off. As she snored Mary crept into the kitchen with the first light of dawn. She started coffee and a small breakfast without disturbing Suzie. However, when there was a sudden knock on the door Suzie nearly fell off the couch.

  “What? Where am I?” Suzie blinked as the ceiling spun above her.

  “It’s okay, Suzie, I’ll get the door.” Mary patted her shoulder as she passed her by.

  “Why did I sleep in the living room?” Suzie rubbed her eyes. As the night before began to resurface in her mind she finally embraced reality.

  “Suzie? You okay?” Paul smiled at Mary as he brushed past her. “I’ve been calling all morning.”

  “I’m sorry.” Suzie picked up her phone to see that it was dead. “I was so tired last night I must have just passed out. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, but we were going to go on a boat trip this morning, remember?”

  “Oh yes.” She yawned and blinked a few times. “Coffee first?”

  “Sounds great.”

  “I’ll just go have a shower quickly,” Suzie said as she headed upstairs to her room.

  “Come sit, Paul, I’ll make you some eggs and toast.”

  “Thank you so much, Mary.”

  Suzie joined them downstairs just as Mary had finished dishing up breakfast.

  “That was quick,” Paul said.

  “I’m quick when I want coffee.” Suzie smiled.

  As they shared breakfast Mary updated them on the wedding plans and Suzie filled her in on the jacket she had found.

  “I ended up dropping it at the police station.”

  “I thought you were going to take it to Jason?” Paul finished his toast.

  “I did, but he was occupied.”

  “How so?”

  “Never mind that.” She forced a smile. “I just hope we can find something on our trip today.”

  “You two, be careful out there. There’s a murderer on the loose.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Paul said.

  “Just make sure you’re careful with her.” Mary collected the dishes.

  “I will be.” Paul smiled. “Though don’t tell her that, she thinks I’m overprotective.”

  “With her you have to be. She’s always getting into trouble.”

  “I am sitting right here.” Suzie rolled her eyes. “And you’re one to talk about people getting into trouble, Mary. Should I tell him about the time that…”

  “No, don’t do that.” Mary laughed. “Just be careful.”

  “Don’t worry, I have no interest in going for a long swim.” Suzie stood up and washed the dishes that Mary piled in the sink. “I think we’d better head out though.”

  “I’m ready when you are.” Paul stood up.

  “Mary, call me if anything goes wrong with the wedding plans, okay? We’re in crunch time now.”

  “Trust me, you will be the first person I call.”

  Chapter Nine

  As Suzie and Paul walked to the docks Suzie tried to call Jason. She heard his voicemail.

  “He’s not answering.”

  “What happened last night?”

  “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Mary, because I don’t want to worry her about the wedding, but Jason and Summer were fighting when I showed up. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “Oh boy.” He breathed out a heavy sigh. “How bad was it?”

  “That’s the funny part. They were fighting about how much they cared about each other. It was kind of sweet actually.”

  “Hm. That’s a good sign.” He smiled. “Do you think they’re going to make it to the end of the week?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “It might be a better idea to just postpone the wedding.”

  “No, no.” Suzie shook her head. “It will ruin the magic.”

  “I thought you didn’t believe in the magic?” He smiled.

  “I believe in their magic. If they postpone the wedding, then what’s to stop them from postponing it again when something else comes up?”

  “You mean if someone else ends up dead?”

  “Don’t say it like that.” She frowned. “But yes, that’s what I mean. Or some other disaster happens. They picked this date for a reason. It was the day that they went on their first date. They really want the wedding to happen then.”

  “Well, then we better get this case solved before then.”

  “Good plan,” Suzie said when they reached the docks. Suzie’s attention shifted right away to one of the boats.

  “Let’s get out onto the boat.” Paul started to head towards it.

  “Suzie wait!” Mary's voice made her turn back to the parking lot. As Mary approached Suzie waved to her.

  "Mary, what are you doing here?"

  "We have a big problem."

  "What is it?" Suzie studied her friend.

  “The cake. It isn’t going to be ready on time. I guess there is some kind of shortage of the type of chocolate that she planned to use and now they won’t have it ready for the wedding.”

  “So, tell them to use a different chocolate.”

  “She won’t, she says that is the only chocolate that will work in that cake. We need to order a different cake. I’ve been trying to reach Jason, but he’s not picking up his phone. So I went by his house, and he’s not there. I went by the police station, and he’s not there either. I’m starting to think that he took off.”

  “Took off?” Suzie raised an eyebrow. “Jason, I don’t think so.”

  “Wedding jitters?” Paul frowned. “I doubt Jason would do that.”

  “Then where is he?” Mary asked.

  “Maybe he went to speak with Mike’s wife. Or maybe he’s following up on another lead. He might have forgotten to charge his phone, just like I did. Mary, I’m going to be honest, Jason isn’t going to care what kind of cake it is. Just pick one out of those that Summer originally chose, and the frosting, and it will be fine.”

  “Okay, I’ll head right over to the bakery. But if you hear from Jason, let me know. I’m worried about him.”

  “Jason can handle just about anything. I’m sure he’s fine. But if I hear from him you’ll be the first to know.”

  “Thanks Suzie. I'd better get to the bakery right away.” As she hurried off Paul gave Suzie’s hand a tug.

  “Look who’s here.”

  “I know, I noticed right away. He’s been watching us. But it looks like Pedro has his eyes on us, too.” She noticed him looking at them out of the corner of his eye.

  “Yeah, fishermen don’t like it when people step on their turf. I want to go talk to Mike.”

  “Let’s get going, Paul. We probably shouldn’t rile him up again.”

  “No, I’m going to find out once and for all if he saw that man that Pedro saw. If he did, then we might be able to figure out who it was. I’m not going to let Robbie’s death go unsolved because Mike has an attitude problem.”

  “Just remember to keep it mellow, Paul. We don’t know if he’s the murderer and we can’t afford to add another complication to this situation.”

  “I’ll be good, I promise.”

  Suzie studied him for a moment. She wasn’t the slightest bit reassured. She followed him to Mike’s boat. The moment that Mike spotted them headed towards him he groaned.

  “What do you want?”

  “Mike, I want to know if you saw a man wearing a yellow jacket hanging around Robbie’s boat. Don’t hold out on me or you will pay for it.”

  “Oh, look at you big tough guy?” He laughed. “Showing off for the girlfriend?” He rolled his eyes. “Nice try, pal, but there’s not one hair on your bushy head that intimidates me.”

  “Enough.” Suzie pushed past Paul and climbed onto the boat.

  “Again with the trespas
sing?” Mike glared at her. “You think because you’re a woman I won’t throw you right into the water?”

  “Watch it!”

  “It’s okay, Paul.” Suzie turned back to Mike. “I know that you probably want to actually. Considering the problems that you’re having with your wife, you probably have a lot of anger at the moment.”

  “She told you about it?” He frowned.

  “No, I haven’t even spoken to her. I noticed that your laundry is piled up and you’re sleeping on your boat. What’s going on with your wife, Mike?”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “No, it’s not. But sometimes it takes a woman to explain a woman. I might be able to help give you a little insight into what’s going wrong.”

  He sighed and rubbed his hands together. “She wants me to give up fishing.”

  “What?” Paul’s voice softened. “Really?”

  “She says I don’t spend enough time with her, I’m always gone, and she’s always worried. She knew what I did for a living when we got married. Now, all of a sudden it’s a problem.”

  “Oh Mike, it’s not a problem.” Suzie smiled warmly at him.

  “Huh? How is it not a problem?”

  “She’s just showing you how much she loves and values you. You see it as her trying to take away your passion. But what she’s really trying to do, is hold as tight as she can to you. She’s scared of losing you. Maybe you’ve been a little too distant lately, not taking the time to show her how much you value her. Those things add up in her mind, and soon she thinks the only way to save the marriage is to have you at her side all the time. I’m pretty sure if you just talk to her about what might be bothering her, you two can work this out.”

  “I never really thought about it that way. I have been distracted lately. I have more runs than I can handle sometimes.” Mike’s expression relaxed. “I’ll talk to her about it. Maybe I need to cut back.”

  “Oh, and you know what? There’s a perfect opportunity for that conversation. A special romantic dinner at Dune House and a room for the night.”

  “I can’t afford that.” He scrunched up his nose.

  “You don’t have to. It’s on the house. A little romantic evening will soften her heart to you. It’s a great time for the two of you to reconnect.”

  “Really. For free?”

  “Yes, if you tell me about the man with the yellow jacket, it will be.” Suzie set her hands to her hips and looked straight into Mike’s eyes. “We’re all after the same thing here. Right?”

  He nodded slowly. “All right. I did see him. In fact I saw him right next to Robbie’s boat. I didn’t know what he was up to, but I figured it had something to do with Robbie, and I didn’t want to get involved.”

  “When did you see him?” Suzie held his gaze.

  “A few hours before Robbie turned up dead and then an hour or two before. I remember because I thought he had been snooping around for quite a while.”

  “And you never mentioned this before?”

  “Look, it’s not like I got the man’s ID or something. I don’t know who he is.”

  “Did you notice anything about him physically?”

  “He was a bit thicker than most. He also had his jacket hood covering his head the second time I saw him, which was strange because it wasn’t raining and it wasn’t that cold.”

  “Anything else about him stand out?” Suzie tried to keep a soothing tone to her voice. “Maybe a hair color, a scar, something about the way he walked?”

  “Sure. He had this strange wiggle to his left toe. No. It’s not like I dated the guy.” Mike rolled his eyes. “I told you all I could. All right?”

  “All right.” Suzie nodded. “Thanks for the information. I’ll make sure you and your wife have a free night at Dune House and dinner as promised. We can arrange the date for any time after this weekend. Okay?”

  “Thanks. That is if I can convince her to come. I don’t think me being a murder suspect is going to make her too eager.”

  “Don’t worry about that.” Suzie patted his arm. “Just cooperate with the police and focus on what you can do to remind her of just how much you care.”

  “Okay. I will.”

  As Suzie stepped off the boat, Paul offered his hand to steady her. She took it, along with a deep breath. “It seems to me that whoever this man in the yellow jacket was, he had a very strong interest in Robbie and his boat.”

  “Yes, let’s see if we can track him down at one of these locations.” He led her to his boat and they climbed on. Once they were off to sea, Paul looked over at her. “You were amazing with Mike.”

  “I just tried to reach his heart.” Suzie shrugged. “A man like that, you can’t come at him, you have to work your way around all of the anger to get to the good stuff.”

  “Kind of like me?”

  “No, nothing like you.” She kissed his cheek. “You’re all good stuff, Paul. You just think you have to be tough.”

  “Just like you.” He smiled.

  “Yes.” She laughed. “Just like me.”

  Suzie looked out at sea and suddenly felt nervous at the thought that maybe she had just invited a murderer to stay at Dune House. However, one glimpse of Paul relaxed her. As the minutes passed she relaxed more and she began to run through possibilities in her mind. As kind as she’d been to Mike, he was still a suspect. So was the man in the yellow jacket. So far the only lead they had was that it appeared that the killer was someone that knew Robbie. She hoped that retracing his steps that day might lead them right to the killer.

  “Here’s the first stop.” Paul pulled up to a small residential dock. When he did Suzie looked out over the sloped backyard that extended from the water. To her surprise, a flash of bright yellow caught her attention. The moment she saw it she couldn’t believe it, but a second later she was certain. Even from the distance she could see that the man had no hair.

  “Paul, that’s him! The man from the docks that Mike and Pedro saw!”

  “Where?” Paul jumped off the boat onto the dock.

  “There, just past the trees. See?” She pointed to a clump of trees in the yard.

  “Yes, I do.” Paul began to run towards the man. Suzie climbed off the boat as fast as she could. She had no idea how Paul might react once he got his hands on the man that might be responsible for Robbie’s death.

  Chapter Ten

  By the time Suzie caught up with the man in the yellow jacket, Paul had already tackled him to the ground. He had him pinned beneath him.

  “What are you doing? Let go of me! Help!” The man beneath Paul screamed as loud as he could. Suzie’s gaze fixated on the bright yellow shade of his jacket.

  “Stay down and I won’t have to hurt you.” Paul’s gruff voice was strained with the force it took to hold the man down.

  “Don’t hurt me, please. What do you want?” The man grew still. It struck Suzie that he didn’t act or speak like someone that was guilty. He didn’t act like a murderer.

  “Paul, let him up.”

  Paul stood up and kept one hand on the man’s arm as he got to his feet. The man turned to look at Suzie with wide, fear filled eyes. His stricken expression combined with his slight frame made Suzie’s heart drop. Suzie continued to study him, he certainly wasn’t thick set like Mike had said.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know. Why are you two doing this to me?”

  “Why did you murder Robbie?” Paul held his arm tight in his grasp.

  “Murder Robbie? What are you talking about? You two have the wrong man.” He straightened his shoulders. “Let me go, and I won’t call the police. Just let me go, and we can forget all of this ever happened.”

  “I don’t think we can do that.” Paul narrowed his eyes. “Several witnesses place you at and around Robbie’s boat just hours before he was killed.”

  “Wait a minute, that Robbie? He’s dead?” He looked between the two. “Someone killed him?”

  “Someone i
n a bright yellow jacket with a bald head.” Paul pulled him closer.

  “Wait a minute, Paul. Let’s just hear him out.”

  “I don’t know what you think you saw, or anyone else saw, but I had nothing to do with Robbie being murdered.”

  “What were you doing near his boat then?” Paul eased his grip on the man’s arm.

  “I’m a mechanic. Not a boat mechanic specifically, but an engine is an engine. Robbie asked me to look at his boat because he’d had some problems with it. That’s all I did.”

  “How come I’ve never seen you around the docks before?” Paul glared at him.

  “Because I’m new to the area, I used to work in Parish.”

  “What’s your name?” Suzie pulled out her phone.

  “Gill, Gill Smith. You can look it up.”

  Suzie typed the name into her phone and saw that Gill Smith was indeed a mechanic. “So Robbie hired you?”

  “Yes. Well, not exactly. He paid me in shellfish.”

  “I see.” Paul met Suzie’s eyes over the top of the man’s head. “What repairs needed to be done?”

  “How about you try telling me who you are first?” He pulled his arm from Paul’s grasp. “And maybe why you tackled me?”

  “I’m Paul, and this is Suzie. Robbie was a friend of mine, and I’d like to find out what happened to him. Since the description of the man last seen around his boat included a bright yellow jacket and Robbie came to this location on the day of his murder I assumed that you might be involved in his murder.”

  “And tackled me.” He cleared his throat. “Well, you’re wrong. I had nothing to do with any murder. However, someone was certainly out to get him.”

  “Why do you say that?” Suzie stepped closer to him.

  “Because it was a new boat and the repairs I needed to do to the engine were not from wear and tear. Someone sabotaged it, on purpose.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Trust me, I’ve been working on engines for over twenty years. I know when something is from wear and tear, and when someone wants to keep a boat from going out on the ocean. Someone did just that to Robbie’s boat. He picked me up late in the morning and asked if I could listen to the sound he was hearing. So we went on a little ride around and I did hear it. I told him I’d work on it for him.”