“Well”âI leaned my elbows on the counter, my fingers around my warm mug of teaâ“before I give my blessing, I want to know how you plan to take care of her. She has been practically family to me my whole life and I won't see her hurt.”
“Right.” He straightened, undaunted by my reaction. “I have a nice three bedroom cottage not far from her apartment. I own mine outright and want to live there. She would have more room and I have a nice patio with a garden in the back.”
“I see.” I sipped my drink thoughtfully. “What will you do with her things?”
“I plan on letting her redecorate. The place has been a bit run down since my wife died so it needs a good remodel. I'd let Frances remodel it to her tastes. I trust her instincts and I want her to feel like it's her home, too.”
“And finances?” I pressed. “I know Frances has some money stashed. I don't want to find out that you are itching to spend it.”
He straightened farther, clearly offended. “I have more than enough to take care of both of us. I would never drain her money. She earned that. Besides”âhis shoulders relaxed a bitâ“we both have good jobs where our employer would be hard pressed to find replacements.”
I let a hint of a smile cross my face. “So you don't have any plans to run off to Europe or travel the world? Not that those are bad things, butâ”
“I have enough money that we could do that if that is what will make Frances happy, but she told me just yesterday that she is happiest when she's working at the reception desk of the McMurphy. It makes her feel useful, keeping an eye on you and Jenn and your pets.”
As if on cue, Mella jumped up on the counter and brushed along Mr. Devaney's arm, begging for pets. He absently brushed his hand along her back and down to the tip of her tail. She arched against him, turned, and asked for more.
“So, what you are telling me is that you are going to ask Frances to marry you and you want my help planning something big.”
“Yes,” he grumbled and put the mug to his lips to taste his tea.
“And that you plan to let Frances remodel your home to her liking,” I added.
“Yep.”
“Ah, and you can stay in her apartment while the remodel is going on,” I surmised.
“That's the plan,” he said, his hazel eyes shining.
I leaned in closer and Mella weaved her way over to me. “And you promise to take good care of her and that you will both continue to work at the McMurphy at least through this season.”
“That's the plan,” he said again.
“Well, then, you have my blessing.” I lifted my mug up. “Cheers!”
“I wasn't asking for your blessing,” he muttered, and yet he clinked his mug with mine.
“Don't worry,” I said after I sipped tea. “Jenn will come up with something fabulous.”
He nearly spit his tea out. “Oh, no, no. no, I don't want one of those ridiculous proposals where everyone on the street starts dancing.” He waved his hand to emphasize. “I want something very small and intimate, but I want it to be a surprise. I need you girls to help me plan the right date and tell me if I'm dressed right. That sort of thing.”
My grin grew.
He scowled at me so I hid my happiness. “Of course. We won't do anything you don't want us to do.”
“Good.” He stood. “I've got to go work on the closet door in 203. It's sticking.”
“Jenn is so going to love this,” I said as he walked toward the door.
He stopped just at the door, let out a long exaggerated sigh, and walked out without a word. I grabbed Mal and danced her around my kitchen.
Some things were worth celebrating with dance.
Chapter 4
“I heard some juicy gossip,” Jenn said as she walked into the business office the next afternoon. I looked up from my computer screen, which was filled with inventory and what I needed to order for the next two weeks of fudge making.
The office was quite large, but crammed with file cases. In the center were the two big oak desks that faced each other. Jenn usually occupied one desk and I used the other. If I had things my way, she would start up her own event planning business and use my office. Right now, she worked for me, but was making a lot of connections on the island. She was the best event planner I'd ever knownânot that I'd known a lot of them, but still. She had organized me in a matter of weeks and with her event ideas, was bringing in record attendance to the McMurphy.
I hadn't asked her yet, but I hoped that at the end of the season, I'd be able to convince her to stay and make a go of it. The fact that I'd introduced her to her current boyfriend, Shane, was all part of the plan. If they got serious, it would be another reason for her to stay.
Not that I minded running the place alone, but it was nice to have friends about. And what wasn't there to love about Mackinac Island?
“Is your juicy gossip more important than the sixty pounds of cane sugar I need to order before they cut off shipping for today?”
Jenn sat on the corner of my desk and crossed her arms over her spotless chiffon blouse. “Of course it is. It involves the investigation on the girl you pulled out of the lake.”
I sat back and drew my brows together. “What do you know? Do they have any idea who did it?”
“It's serious stuff that could potentially rock your world,” Jenn hinted. Her poker face was strong. I had no idea what she was going to say next.
“Spill,” I demanded. “If only so I can get the supplies ordered under the deadline”âI glanced at the clockâ“which happens to be in the next fifteen minutes.”
“Fine, don't let me drag out the suspense.”
“Tick, tick.” I tapped the watch I wasn't wearing.
“Carin was definitely murdered,” Jenn said with the matter-of-fact emotion of someone with inside information. “My secret source says that she wasn't breathing when she hit the water.”
“Oh, dear. That's terrible. Do they know how she died? I didn't see any gunshot wounds or knife marks.”
“She was hit in the back of the head with a blunt instrument and snapped her spinal cord,” Jenn said with less enthusiasm. “She died instantly.”
“That's horrible,” I said. “So whoever killed her dumped her body in the water?”
“Most likely.”
I shook my head. “I can't imagine.”
“There's more.”
“Okay.” I leaned toward her. “Do you know the killer?”
“No, but there is talk about a person of interest.”
I sighed and glanced at the clock. “Seriously, Jenn, I've got five minutes before they make me wait a day on delivery.”
“Oh, right.” She stood, making a shooing motion with her hands. “Get the inventory done. I'll go downstairs and get us both some coffee. This might take awhile.”
I rolled my eyes as she left the office. Who does that? Who leaves a person in suspense? This was not television. I did not need a commercial break. I worked hard to squash my curiosity and concentrate on the inventory order.
Twenty minutes later, purchase order in place, inventory as done as I was going to get it, I walked into the living room of the apartment to see if Jenn had come upstairs yet. Mella jumped up to greet me and rubbed against my legs. I reached down to run my hands along her thick soft fur. “Hi baby. Where are Mal and Jenn?”
She reacted to my question by jumping up on the countertop and looked at me with soulful kitty eyes.
“Right, they're not here and you are, so why do I need anyone else?” I muttered as I scratched her kitty ears.
My cell phone rang. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. “Hello?”
“Hey, Allie,” came a voice from the other side.
“Jenn? Where are you?”
“I'm downstairs. Rex is here. I told him you were doing inventory and weren't to be disturbed, but he's in his investigation mode.”
“I'm done. I'll be right down.” I ended the phone call and looked at the cat. “They're downstairs. You could have told me.”
She looked at me as if it wasn't her job to keep track of anyone and then she nudged the counter door where the cat treats were kept.
“Fine. You get a treat for letting me pet you. I am your faithful servant.” I opened the cupboard and pulled out the bag of cat treats and dumped a handful on the countertop. “We'll keep this between you and me.” I kept Mella in the apartment as much as possible during the day when the fudge shop was open to people walking in and out. The last thing I needed was for her to get in the way of hot sugar and get hurt. She didn't mind so much. I'd learned that she wasn't a fan of the crowds that came in during demonstrations.
We settled on her domain of the owner's apartment during the day and the entire McMurphy during the night. Jenn said it was okay that Mella was an indoor/outdoor cat. When the weather was nice, sometimes I'd let her out to hang around the back deck and grab some sunshine. She rarely wandered off, which was odd since she had just shown up at my back door one day. I would have thought she was an alley cat, but she took to being indoors much better than being out.
Since we'd had her spayed, I figured it was okay to let her choose when and where she wanted to be. I'd had the vet put a chip in her for identification and she wore a soft pink collar with her name and my phone number on it in case she got lost.
Downstairs was a madhouse. Sandy was doing the last of the day's demonstrations of fudge making. Tourists were three deep around the fudge shop windows both inside and out. Mal jumped up from her bed beside Frances and the reception desk and greeted me as I came down the staircase. I patted her and picked her up to rub her ears. Jenn and Rex stood beside Frances who sat on her tall stool behind the receptionist desk.
“Hey guys,” I said. “What's up?”
“Allie,” Rex sad, his blue police uniform perfectly pressed. How he managed to always be so well-groomed after a long day never ceased to amaze me. His hat was in his hand and he wore a gun on his hip. His bald head had that sexy as hell look of an action star.
“Hi Rex. What's going on? Is there news on Carin Moore?”
He frowned. “Can we talk upstairs?”
My gaze went to the filled lobby. Guests were sitting on the couches, enjoying the Wi-Fi. People near the coffee bar were enjoying a five o'clock cup.
“Sure.” I gave Frances a look. “What's with all the people?”
“Downtown is hopping due to the yacht races,” she said. “People heard that you pulled a girl out of the marina this morning and wanted to be a part of the scene.”
“Seriously?” I asked and glanced around. I noticed for the first time that it wasn't the fudge making demonstration that people were looking at. They were here to get a glimpse of me and Rex. I swear they were leaning toward us as if to catch every last word.
“Seriously,” Jenn said. “Liz McElroy published an early morning news blog about the incident and people have been coming in off and on all day. Sandy can't keep up with the demand.”
“But I've beenâ”
“At the yacht club.” Jenn turned me by the shoulders and pointed me at the staircase. “Then you've been upstairs doing inventory.”
“Right,” I said.
Mal rested her head against my shoulder as if to sympathize with my lost day.
“Come on, Rex. Let's go up to the office.”
He followed me and Jenn up.
“What's going on, Rex?” I asked as we stepped into the office.
He closed the door behind us and leaned against it. “I thought I'd update you on the investigation and ask you a few more questions.”
“Sure.” I sat on the edge of my desk. “I understand she was positively identified.”
“Yes,” he said with a nod of his head. “The woman you pulled out of the marina was Carin Moore. Once her parents identified her, we had her body taken to St. Ignace for an autopsy.”
“Is that standard?” I asked.
He nodded. “In suspicious cases, it is.”
“What was suspicious? I mean she drowned, right? Was she drinking?”
Jenn coughed. I studiously ignored her. I wasn't going to let Rex know that Jenn had already told me the gossip.
“On further investigation, we found damage to the back of her skull so we've flown her over to the ME's office to see if the damage was sustained before or after she was in the water.”
“Poor thing,” I said. “Was there a party or something last night?”
“There were in fact several parties last night,” Rex said. “We're trying to narrow down where she was and when.”
“Okay, so what can I do for you?”
“I understand that you and Jenn might have overheard Carin fighting with someone yesterday.”
I glanced at Jenn who looked just as surprised by this news as I was. “What do you mean?”
“Were you two at the yacht club yesterday around four
PM
?”
“Yes.” I looked at Jenn and then back at Rex. “We had a consultation on the setup for this evening's affair. Jenn helped plan the event. Sandy and I created chocolate centerpieces. We had a meeting with the manager and a few of the committee members to go over last minute details.”
“And do you remember if you overheard an argument at that time?”
I pulled my thoughts to that afternoon.
Jenn and I were in the dining room going over where tables were to be set up. Paige Jessop, my boyfriend Trent's sister, was on the committee and had the idea that we should make small ships as party favors to match the centerpieces.
“That's a vague question,” I pointed out. “What are you fishing for?”
“Just asking a simple question,” Rex said. “When you were at the club did you see Carin Moore there?”
“I don't remember her,” I said. My thoughts went to the dead woman in the silk dress.
Had she been at the club?
“I was busy putting together what we would need to create individual chocolate ships. I thought it was a great idea, but it's more complicated than you think.”
“Wait,” Jenn said, her eyes lighting up. “I do remember seeing her. She had golden brown hair and hazel eyes, right?”
“Yes,” Rex said with no inflection.
“There are lots of women who fit that description,” I said with a frown. “How do you know it was Carin?”
“Because Paige got really tense when she walked into the club,” Jenn said. “There was definitely something going on between them. I was going to ask you to ask Paige the next time you saw her.”
“I haven't seen Paige since that afternoon,” I said. “Trent's been busy prepping his businesses for the busy weekend. I'm supposed to see him tonight. He's taking me to the yacht club fund-raiser.”
“So Paige Jessop reacted when Carin Moore entered the yacht club that afternoon?” Rex took a notepad out of his breast pocket and made a note.
“Yes,” Jenn said. “Paige excused herself and I asked Rachel Buckhouse who the woman was. She told me it was Carin Moore and that there was some sort of bad feelings between Paige and Carin.”
I stared at Jenn. “Paige would never hurt anyone.”
“Oh, I'm not saying she did anything.” Jenn held up her hand as if to stop my thoughts. “Rex, don't you dare make any notes about that.”
“All I'm doing is writing down that you asked Rachel Buckhouse and she said there was something between the two women.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “It's common knowledge that Carin and Paige were not friends. Let's get back to the day at hand. You said that Carin walked into the club and Paige tensed and then left the dining room.”
“Yes.”
“Where did she go?”
“I'm not sure,” Jenn said with a frown. “I got involved with the planning.”
“That's right.” I snapped my fingers. “I started listing the things we would need to make the ships, estimating the time out loud and you offered to help.”
“Yes, I said if I helped with the molds we could assembly line the production and be done in time. We asked Sandy if that were possible. Sandy said that there wasn't enough time to make all ten molds. So we discussed with Rachel and decided on two molds. Rachel said she would go get Paige and ensure that would work for her.”
“Did Rachel leave the room?”
“Yes,” Jenn and I said at the same time.
“She came back a few minutes later and said she couldn't talk to Paige but would get back to us within the hour,” I said. “So Sandy and Jenn and I left to get started on the mold making. We were actually able to make three molds and stayed up quite late last night putting together the tiny ships. I had some gold and silver edible leaf and we spent the morning wrapping the ships in foil. They turned out quite stunning. I think Paige will be pleased.”
“Did you see Paige or Carin again after that?” Rex asked.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “Sandy and I were deep into the details of making the ships and enough fudge for today's crowd.”
“So Paige didn't get back to you about the ships?”
“Rachel called us thirty minutes later and said that Amy Hammerstein, the head of the committee, agreed to three molds and our pricing,” Jenn said.
“I see,” Rex said. “Did you ask her why she talked to Amy and not Paige?”