Kathleen turned and feigned an identical interest in the horizon. “That having a look around her cottage just might tell us something significant about Allison McAllister. Something that might lead us to her murderer.”
“You got it! So first we find out which cottage it is and then we figure out a way to get inside.”
“Sounds good to me,” Kathleen said, turning back to her meal.
Susan did the same, somewhat reluctantly. The food was wonderful, but they had things to do and people to see. Kathleen apparently felt the same way, but, as agreed, they took their time, enjoyed their desserts, and were just about to leave when Lila strode across the room toward them.
“There’s a phone call for you,” she informed Kathleen. “You can take it in the office if you like.”
Kathleen got up immediately. “Of course.”
“And I wonder if I could possibly speak to you for a moment, Mrs. Henshaw.”
Susan repeated Kathleen’s words, albeit a bit less enthusiastically. “Of course. Why don’t you sit down?”
“I…” Lila looked over her shoulder. Most of the guests who had stopped eating to watch her passage across the restaurant and Kathleen’s retreat in the opposite direction, now turned to their plates and their lunch companions. “I think perhaps we should speak someplace more private. You see, it’s my job to make sure our guests are satisfied with the time they spend with us.”
“Of course. We could go back to my cottage,” Susan suggested.
“Good idea. If you’re done with your meal?”
Susan grabbed the notes that still lay on the table, stuffed them into the pocket of her slacks, and, followed by Lila, walked back to her cottage. Their progress was slow as Lila stopped at table after table to check on her guests or just to chat. Susan stood by awkwardly. Now that Kathleen was gone, Susan was the focus of many curious looks, and she found herself wondering which of the diners had sent the notes-and why.
Lila finally disengaged and they continued on their way to the Henshaws’ cottage. Once inside, Lila wasted no time getting straight to the point.
“The murder-and the arrest of your friend-has become something of an amusement here and I wanted to talk to you about it.”
“An amusement?” Susan said. “I don’t understand.” And I don’t know what I can do about it in any case, she added to herself.
“It’s just one of those things that happen in a resort,” Lila explained. “This is a small place and we’re somewhat isolated. So the guests themselves can have quite an impact on everyone’s vacation. For instance, we once had four cottages of competitive chess players staying here. By the end of the week they were in residence, more than half of the other guests had learned to play the game, and there was talk of a resort chess tournament. And then the players left, and everyone lost interest and went back to lying in the sun, swimming, and beachcombing-our more usual offerings.”
“But murder isn’t exactly a game.”
“Certainly not. But I believe I’m beginning to see evidence of an emerging group of Miss Marples and Hercule Poirots.”
“I don’t see how I can help that. If the other guests want to-to pretend to be detectives. I don’t see that anything I can do will stop it,” Susan protested, feeling a bit guilty about the notes stuffed in her pockets. She was, in fact, planning to encourage the guests who had sent them to become involved in her investigation.
“You misunderstand me. I’m not trying to discourage them. That’s the last thing on my mind. Many of the guests I’ve talked with seem to be quite well informed about your past, and they assume you will be working hard to make sure your friend is freed.”
“Of course, but-”
“And apparently many of the guests want to help,” Lila continued before Susan could explain that any knowledge of her past had not come from her. “Your waitress told me of the notes sent to your table during lunch. And I believe there are more in your mailbox in the office.”
“I don’t see what I can do to-to discourage them. And, to be honest,” Susan added, “I was hoping to talk to any guests who may have seen something unusual the night of the murder, or who spoke with Allison the week before she died.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You misunderstand me. I want you to include-or at least make the other guests feel as though they’re being included in your investigation.”
“But I thought-”
“I confess that my original feeling was that the guests should not be involved in all of this. And I was worried about the police being around, although the local police are always exceptionally considerate in their attempts not to annoy the guests.”
Why should they? They’ve already made an arrest, Susan thought.
“But there is so much sympathy for Mrs. Gordon and, of course, for her husband. I believe many of our guests want to help them. I’m asking you to accept their kind offers of help-if you possibly can.”
Susan contemplated what Lila was saying. She was sure that Lila didn’t think she-or any of the guests-would find the murderer, and she wondered at Lila’s apparent willingness to add some sort of murder weekend theme to the resort’s list of activities. On the other hand, she was going to talk to some of the other guests as soon as Lila left her alone. She didn’t need Lila’s permission to talk to anyone about anything. But if she could get Lila’s assistance… “I’d be happy to include anyone who’s interested,” she said. “And it would help if I could speak with some of the staff about all this.”
Lila looked at Susan, seemingly considering her statement. “I keep the staff busy. They have very little free time, although it does not always appear this way to the average guest. The staff understands that they are to be pleasant to the guests, so they are willing to stop and chat and answer questions anyone might ask, but not at the expense of their work.”
Susan realized immediately that while Lila was perfectly content for her guests to be occupied in some rather strange murder game, she didn’t want her employees distracted from their work. She was about to ask for permission to look around Allison’s cottage when Kathleen walked in. “How is everything?” Susan asked immediately. “Who was on the phone?”
“It was Jed,” Kathleen answered, glancing over at Lila. “He says everything’s fine. The lawyer was there for a bit and talked with Jerry. He’s gone on to the police station. Apparently he has some friends there or something.
“Jed also said our bank at home is going to wire money directly to a branch here on the island-apparently it isn’t that difficult to do-and that he’s going to hang around with Jerry for a bit.” A frown appeared on her face for the first time. “He said they were playing cards.”
“Wow! They must be bored! That doesn’t sound like them at all.”
“I was thinking the same thing. How is everything going here?” Kathleen asked, including Lila in the question.
“Fine. We were just-” Susan began.
“I’m sure you and Mrs. Gordon will be able to handle this. If I can do anything, please let me know.” Lila was walking toward the door of the cottage as she spoke. Had she not been forced to go around Kathleen to get outside, she would have been out of sight before finishing her sentence.
“Thank you.” Kathleen’s response was polite, but her voice puzzled.
Susan waited until the door had swung shut and they were alone before speaking. “She wants us to include the other guests in our investigation. She came here just to make that point.”
“Really? How odd.”
“The strange thing is that she hasn’t even considered the possibility that it might be dangerous.”
“Of course not. Because she thinks Jerry is the killer. You and I know that he would never kill anyone. So we know the one thing she doesn’t. We know there’s still a killer loose at Compass Bay.”