“What sort of thing?”
“Oh, believing that being a celebrity-even if only for a day-was important. You know, believing that the parents at Tyler’s school would think more of me if I’d been on television.”
“Well, as long as the show you’re on isn’t America’s Most Wanted or Cops, you were probably right. We are living in a culture that values celebrity.”
“I know. That’s probably what motivated poor Howard and Cheryl-that, and greed, of course.”
Sam yanked on the steering wheel and directed the car into a space at the curb. “Why don’t you tell me about this before we get to the house?” he suggested.
“Sure. It won’t take very long. You see, Cheryl and Howard wanted to be famous. So they got in touch with Courtney Castle and told her about the house they owned on the island. They were smart enough to realize that they needed to provide an added inducement for Courtney to choose their project. This isn’t the Bahamas; there’s no reason to come here to do a show because of the weather. So they hired Island Contracting. We’re unique enough to interest viewers.”
“Good point.” Sam nodded.
But Josie was still putting together the pieces. “Come to think of it, I’ll bet anything that, once we look into it, we’ll find out that the convenient schedule change of our other early-summer job had something to do with Cheryl and Howard.”
“Sounds likely.”
“Okay, so as I was saying, Cheryl and Howard told Courtney about this interesting house and the company that was going to remodel it. And then to clinch the deal they offered Courtney a customized trailer-the trailer of her dreams-if she would use their project for her television series.”
“So the trailer was a bribe.”
“Yes. And since they had bought the house under a corporate name rather than their own, Public Broadcasting wouldn’t make the connection. Because it must have been unethical for them to give her the trailer in exchange for getting their house on the air.”
“Definitely. And it must have cost them a fortune,” Sam said, thinking of the laws that governed the giving of gifts.
“They were going to sell their house for an inflated price and be on television as well. I guess it was really important to them.”
“Being on television?”
“Yes, the first time I met them, Howard talked about Cheryl getting ready for her television appearance-picking out the right clothes and everything. I didn’t think it was significant at the time. I figured she would just wander over and expect to be on television. And I didn’t think that would happen.” She grimaced. “The truth is that I was busy worrying about what I was going to look like on television and not thinking much about anyone else.”
“So what went wrong?”
“I suspect Courtney had never seen them before. Cheryl and Howard are one of the tackiest couples you would ever want to meet. I’ll never forget the shocked expression on Courtney’s face when she met them for the first time. I think Courtney either refused to give them airtime or else suggested they change their style. It all fits together, Sam. Cheryl and Howard were going to be segment three of the show, the segment about the neighborhood. But Courtney met them and decided no way.”
“And wrote the note that said ‘Kill Courtney Castle’s Castles segment three,’ ” he added.
“Exactly. The murder must have happened when she told them she was canceling their appearance. They were furious.”
“Of course.”
“And one of them picked up something heavy, slugged her with it, and killed her. Probably a piece of that damn sculpture.” She pulled on a lock of unruly hair. “I doubt if they actually meant to kill her.”
“And then they hid the body in the canoe?”
“Yes. Probably hoping we would find her and get blamed. They had already bragged to me about their connections on the island. If they know the island, they know the Rodneys aren’t awfully likely to arrest the correct person for any crime other than speeding.”
“But why did they move the body from the canoe? They were the ones who moved it, am I right?”
“Yes, their plan wasn’t working out. They left the note in the trailer, and when Bobby Valentine called the police-as I’m sure they thought he would-no one was arrested. They probably realized they had a problem when that happened. We knew the body was there. But we weren’t talking. I guess that spooked them and they waited until the house was deserted in the evening, took down the canoe, and removed Courtney. I imagine they would have dumped her in the bay, but that wasn’t a safe option once the island started buzzing with talk of a possible dredging.”
“So there they were, stuck with a body that was going to start to decompose,” Sam said, nodding.
“Yes, there aren’t a lot of refrigerators or freezers on the island where you can stash something that large and not expect it to be found right away.”
“Sounds as though you’ve done a bit of thinking about this yourself,” Sam said.
“Uh, yes. But that’s not important. What’s important is that I overheard Bobby Valentine arguing with someone when I was on the phone with you the other day. He must have been arguing with Howard. And that’s probably when Cheryl and Howard decided to pin the murder on him.”
“So they put the body in the trailer where he would find it.”
“Yes. But they panicked again and moved it. They probably thought he would tell someone about it, and when the body vanished, he would be arrested. That’s why they returned with the wig and left it there.”
“Josie, you may be right about all this. It makes a certain amount of sense. But I don’t see what happened that caused you to suspect them.”
“Annette and Chad.”
“Excuse me?”
“I never would have thought of Howard and Cheryl if they had just shut up. But they kept complaining about Annette and Chad being on their property and I suddenly realized why. Annette and Chad weren’t doing anything wrong. Howard and Cheryl were concerned about being seen moving the body, so they were upset when Annette and Chad slipped over their property line looking for a place to be alone. It must have seemed to Cheryl and Howard that whenever they planned on moving a body, there was a young couple necking in the bushes close by. Close enough to see what was going on. If they had cared to look.”
“Which they didn’t,” Sam guessed.
“When you were young and in love, would you have?”
“Even at this advanced age, I’m likely to be so involved in the person I love that I don’t notice a whole lot going on around me,” Sam said, pulling Josie over to his side of the car.
“Sam, don’t you think we ought to get going? We don’t even know if Howard or Bobby won the fight.”
“Remember, I’ve had some personal experience there. And, frankly, I’d place my money on Bobby Valentine any day.”
THIRTY-TWO
SAM AND JOSIE were enjoying a rare day at the beach. Labor Day was just around the corner and they both felt the need to relax and catch up on their reading. He had brought a pile of New York magazines and some New Yorkers. They lay by his side as he dozed in the sun. Josie had a trashy novel in her lap, but she was reading a letter.
Sam opened one eye and peeked out. “What’s that?”
“A note from Dr. Naomi Van Ripper.”
“A doctor… Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. She’s not a medical doctor. She’s the librarian from my hometown. Remember?”
“Of course, she was Courtney Castle’s friend. Why is she writing you?”
“To lecture me.”
“About what?”
“My personal relationships.”
“She has a lot of nerve. Her close, personal relationship with Courtney turned out to be a lie. Courtney was using her to get to the money her sister’s foundation was giving out, if I remember correctly.”