The building was deserted. Rusting metal chairs stood about equally disreputable metal tables displaying the remains of a meal. A large mouse-Susan refused to think rat-scurried across the filthy floor. The place was a mess except for the large bulletin board hung on an unpainted wall. Messages, printed in heavy black marker on thick white paper, had been hung neatly. Curious, Susan wandered over close enough to read them.
The first was a listing of each cottage and its occupants. Under the names (first and last of each member of the party) was the check-in and checkout date, the guest’s hometown and state, and services that had been reserved. Susan noticed that the honeymooners were scheduled for sequential massages every other afternoon, as well as room service breakfast to be delivered daily-and promptly-at eleven A.M. Beside this order someone had written “KNOCK FIRST!!!!!!”
Moving even closer and squinting, she realized that each guest’s name had been annotated, and, some, judging from the variety of handwriting, by more than one person.
Next to the Henshaws’ cottage number and their names was written “neat & nice” then a couple of stars, and finally “detective wannabe.” Slightly insulted, Susan continued her perusal.
The Gordons were depicted by three amateurish sketches of skulls and crossbones and a lot of exclamation points. Susan frowned.
Joann and Martin weren’t well loved by the staff, she noted. “Pickie!” someone with minimal spelling skills had written. “Kayak 1-3 MWF” read another. “Slobs!” said yet another note.
Susan was intrigued by the note next to Veronica and Randy’s cottage: “Large pitcher of rum punch-no ice-room service at four P.M. each day-do not be late!” “Nothing else matters, man!” someone else had added. “One drink for my lady and one more for the road,” an apparent Sinatra fan had scrawled. It had been edited by another, turning it into “5 drinks for that lady and none for the road.” The final editing said, “That’s no lady, that’s his wife-STAY AWAY!”
Equally interesting was the complete lack of comment next to Ro and Burt’s cottage. Names. Dates. Nothing else.
But Rose Anderson also had nothing written by her name. Was that because there was nothing to say about the shy, timid woman, or had someone erased any notations-as Susan suspected had been done next to the Parkers’ names?
“Mrs. Henshaw. I understand you’ve been looking for me.”
Susan turned and discovered James leaning against the doorjamb, arms folded across his chest.
“Yes,” she answered. “I wanted to thank you for all you did today. And I have some questions.”
THIRTY-TWO
Jed was sitting in the bar, a large, untouched gin and tonic on the table before him. “If you’re not careful, the staff will be leaving notes in the staff lounge about your drinking habits,” his wife said, sitting down beside him.
“What?”
“It’s not important. Jed, I know where Kathleen is!”
“So do I. At home in Hancock. How do you know?”
“How do you know?” she asked at the same time.
“You first,” Jed urged.
“James told me. Apparently he’s related to the owner of the taxi company and knows the driver who took her to the airport.”
“Not surprising. That young man seems to know everyone on the island-and be related to at least half of them.”
“How do you know about Kathleen?”
“Frances Adams told me. Kathleen called her-”
“From Connecticut?”
“Yes, let me explain. Do you want a drink of your own?” he asked, as Susan picked up his glass and sipped.
“Yes, but that’s not important! Go on! Tell me everything!”
“There’s not a whole lot to tell. Kathleen called the embassy office this afternoon while I was with Jerry. She spoke to Frances Adams, who came down immediately and told us about the call.”
“Why did she take off?”
“Kathleen said she left Compass Bay and flew home to see if she could discover anything that would help Jerry.”
“And what did she find out?”
“Nothing. She told Frances Adams that the trip was a waste of time. And, of course, now she has another problem.”
“What?”
“The island police are not at all happy about her leaving. They’re threatening to arrest her if she returns to the island.”
“Can they do that?”
“Apparently so. At least, they can hold her, which is really the same thing. Frances suggested that she remain in Connecticut until this is all resolved.”
“Boy, is she an optimist! I can’t imagine how that will happen.”
Jed instantly looked concerned. “So you didn’t come up with anything today?”
“I’ve asked what seems like a hundred questions, and visited parts of the resort I didn’t even know existed, but I can’t tell you that I’ve learned anything that will help Jerry.” She frowned and picked up his drink again, raising one eyebrow at him.
“Go ahead and finish it,” Jed offered.
“I wonder what Kathleen thought she would learn about Allison in Hancock,” Susan mused.
“She wasn’t investigating Allison,” Jed said, waving to a passing waiter. “She was interested in June’s death. We’ll have a pitcher of rum punch and two glasses,” he ordered.
“And a large glass of water, a notebook and a pencil, and… and whatever you have available to eat,” Susan added. “I’m starving.
“You know, that might be important,” she continued. “Kathleen must think there’s something suspicious about June’s death. Does she think it was murder?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t remember there being any suggestion of that at the time.”
“No, I don’t, either. And I’m sure we’d remember,” Susan added.
Jed leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “Sue, if that auto accident wasn’t an accident, doesn’t that suggest that Jerry is a murderer?”
Susan considered that. “I wonder if that’s what Kathleen is thinking.”
“I have no idea. I sure wish I’d had an opportunity to talk to her.”
“Can’t we call?”
“No. She said she was heading into the city to check on some things and she would call as soon as she had something to tell us.”
“But-”
“Frances Adams said the less communication the better, Sue. She is concerned that the police department might decide that the embassy office is interfering with the investigation and take it out on Jerry.”
“Is that all Kathleen said?”
“She had seen Jerry’s parents. At least, she mentioned talking to his mother. They’re worried, but the kids are fine. Kathleen wanted Jerry to know that, of course.”
“Did she explain why she trashed their cottage before leaving?”
“Not a word about that. Oh, here are our drinks.”
“Cook just pulled these from the oven. Be careful, they hot,” their waitress said, putting a big tray of fried plantain and soft-shell crabs and two dipping sauces on the table between them. The young woman stooped closer to Susan’s head and continued. “We thank you for good words about James,” she whispered so quickly and quietly that Susan was sure she alone heard.
“What was all that about?” Jed asked.
“Probably another of James’s relatives… or girlfriends. They were worried that he might get in trouble after my kayak sank today.”
“Your kayak sank?”
“Yes. There was a hole in it.”
“How in God’s name did that happen?”
“Shhh! Jed, not so loud! I don’t know how it happened. It just did. James towed me in.”
“James put a hole in your kayak?”