Chapter 49
Where the hell is everybody? Ruby texted to Cora. Cora grimaced. Did they want to involve her? Ruby was doing what she came here to do. Teach. Mingle. Retreat. Did Cora want to inform her about Adrian?
“What?” Cashel said, catching her grimace.
“Your mom. Should I tell her what’s going on? I mean, she’s out there, probably having a fabulous time,” Cora said.
“I understand your hesitation,” Cashel said. “But she will be pissed if she finds out and thinks we’ve kept it from her. Mark my word.”
“You’re right,” Jane said. “I’d want to know.”
“Okay,” Cora said, and texted her back.
The room was buzzing with police officers, both uniformed and not. Some were on their phones, some were on their laptops.
“Look at this,” one of them said to another one. Cora stood and moved to a better place, where she could view what the officer was pointing to.
“This link is tracing somewhere,” he said. “Watch it.”
“What’s the link to?” Cora asked.
Both looked up at her.
“This is the link to Mr. O’Malley’s research at the courthouse. You were right. Someone was watching him,” the man said.
“But who?” Cashel said.
“It’s a sophisticated hack,” the officer said. “It’s going to take some time for this to run.”
“What the hell is going on?” a feminine voice said from behind them. It was Ruby. “Where is Adrian?”
“We don’t know,” Jane said. “We’re trying to find him.”
“Well, sitting in a room in the middle of the resort ain’t finding nobody,” she said.
“We’ve searched the premises and teams are hunting the island for him,” Cashel said. “You were in class. We didn’t want to disturb you.”
“What’s this?” she asked, pointing to the computer.
“This is the proof that someone was watching me when I was researching Adrian’s case. Probably the same person who drugged me and might have Adrian,” Cashel said.
“Lordy bee,” Ruby said, obviously amazed at the technology.
Suddenly the screen flashed. “Okay,” the man said. “I think I’ve got it.”
“What? What is it?” Ruby said.
“It links to a computer at the courthouse. A public one. One that anybody could be using,” the man said with a note of disappointment.
“But wait,” Cora said. “Don’t people have to sign in to use them?”
“Not anymore,” he responded. “But we could pull the tapes from the security cameras. Jacobs?”
“On it, sir,” he said.
“So we’re trying to find a left-handed person who was using the computers Saturday afternoon?” Jane asked.
“I don’t think many people use those computers,” the officer said. “It’s a small island and most people have their own computer these days. This will be easy.”
“Let’s hope we’re right about it,” Cashel said. “And that it leads us to the person who can tell us where Adrian is. If they drugged me, God only knows what they’ve done to him.”
“But why?” Ruby said. “Why would people bother with you two? I don’t understand. It makes no sense.”
“I know, right?” Jane said.
The officers quieted.
“Well, the answer is, as ridiculous as it sounds, Adrian is a murder suspect, and Cashel his attorney. That more than connects them to this island and puts them in the public eye,” Jane said.
“Yes, but we know Adrian couldn’t harm a fly. And Cashel was doing his job,” Ruby said, then paused. “Someone is setting up Adrian.”
“No,” Cora said. “I don’t think so. He texted Marcy. He was an ex-boyfriend. Then she turns up dead, poisoned by someone who obviously knew about her allergy. It does look suspicious. The police have to check everybody out.”
“But he didn’t do it,” Ruby said. “We know that. The police should realize that by now.”
“He does have an alibi for the second murder,” one officer said.
“Doesn’t that let him off the first one?” Ruby persisted.
“Not necessarily,” the officer said.
“Do you mean there could be two killers on this island?” Jane said.
The officer shrugged. “We don’t know now.”
“We’re doing our best,” another one said.
A cell phone rang. One of the detectives picked up and walked to another part of the room.
“Well, are you hungry, Cashel? I can bring you something. It’s getting late,” Ruby said.
“No, Mom, I’m not hungry,” he said. “Thanks for offering.”
The officer who left the group came back, face fallen in confusion. “I’ve gotten some disturbing news.”
Cora reached for Jane’s hand and gripped it firmly. “Adrian? Is he . . . ?”
He shook his head. “No. Nothing about Adrian.”
“Then what is it, man?” Ruby said.
“The person who was using the computer at the courthouse was Zooey,” he said. “Our second victim. She was there about a few hours before . . . she was killed.”
The room silenced. One officer in the corner stopped keyboarding. Another one walked over to the circle.
“Well, that puts a whole new spin on things, doesn’t it?” he said.
“So, what was she hiding?” Cashel said. “What didn’t she want me to find out? And who was working with her?”
“What do you mean? I don’t follow,” Jane said.
“She was not at the Drunken Mermaid. I’m certain I would have remembered. Someone there drugged me.”
“Just because you didn’t see her doesn’t mean she wasn’t there,” Cora said.