The break room doubled as the observation room, so no one was allowed to use the soda machine while a suspect was being interrogated. Emmett put the ‘in-use’ sign on the glass window of the break room, popped a dollar in the soda machine and got himself a Dr Pepper, turned on the sound from the interrogation room and sat down at the break table. Holly was already talking to Mrs Hunt.
‘So sorry about your oxygen, Miz Hunt,’ she said. ‘I wish we’d known!’
‘I tried to tell that sheriff of y’alls, but he wouldn’t listen to me!’ the old biddy said.
Holly laughed. ‘Well, you know men!’ she said.
‘Don’t I, though. Hell, Darby was just like his father. That man had a lump of coal for a heart, I’m telling you the truth.’
‘Good,’ Emmett said into the walkie. ‘Keep her talking about her husband.’
‘So what happened to your husband?’ Holly asked.
Elizabeth Hunt grinned like the Cheshire cat. ‘I killed him,’ she said.
‘I’m thinking her elevator don’t go to the top floor,’ Emmett said.
‘How so?’ Holly asked, with a quirk of her head.
‘Fed him to death! The man did love a breaded and fried pork chop! Mashed ’taters, chicken-fried steak, fried chicken, rice casserole, macaroni and cheese. Sometimes all in the same meal, come a Sunday. We used to do it up grand come a Sunday,’ the old woman said.
‘Sounds delicious,’ Holly said, although Emmett could tell she was gagging just a little bit. The girl was like a vegetarian or something.
‘You know it. But Darby comes home and he won’t eat a thing. I fix him all the things that used to be his favorites – butter beans and ham hock, collards, five-layer chocolate cake, but he wouldn’t eat a damn thing! Just sits there and picks at his food, like mine wasn’t good enough for him after he been in the pen. You think the food in the pen’s any good?’
There was silence for a moment, then Holly shook herself. ‘Oh! You’re asking me?’
‘You’re the one I’m talking to, aren’t I, for God’s sake!’ the old woman said.
‘Well, I’d guess that the food wasn’t that good in the pen,’ Holly summed up.
‘Damn straight!’ Mrs Hunt said, puffing out her chest. ‘I even made him cheese enchiladas!’ She leaned forward and said, ‘I got a friend, Miranda, she’s from Mexico. She taught me how to make ’em. They’re real good. Want me to make you some?’
‘Sure!’ Holly said with more enthusiasm than Emmett figured she meant. ‘Did Darby like the cheese enchiladas?’
‘Hell, no!’ his mother said. ‘Stuck his nose right up at ’em. Accused me of trucking with Mexicans. I said as how I only had that one friend, so that would be trucking with “a” Mexican, not “Mexicans!”’ She laughed heartily at this. ‘After he came home he was right mean about coloreds. You know, all of ’em: black ones, Mexicans, Jews and A-rabs. Couldn’t abide them A-rabs. Heard a lot about that once he got home, I can tell you that!’
‘So bring up his death,’ Emmett said in Holly’s ear. ‘See if she has any idea who might have killed him.’
‘I was so sorry to hear about Darby’s death,’ Holly said.
‘I wish he’da married you,’ the old woman said, patting Holly’s hand. ‘You’da made a better wife that that damned Cheryl, always with the stuck-up ways. Never did like that little bitch!’
‘Well, ma’am, I wasn’t even born back then,’ Holly said.
‘’Course you were!’ the old lady said.
‘Don’t argue with her,’ Emmett said in Holly’s ear. ‘She’s a taco short of a combination plate, remember? Just let her rant on and let’s see what happens.’
There was a barely discernible nod of Holly’s head. ‘So who do you think shot him? Did you see anybody outside that night?’
The old lady shook her head. ‘Didn’t see nothing ’cept what was on the TV. We were just sitting there watching the TV, one of my favorite reality shows – the one where they dance?’ Holly nodded her head. ‘I like that one. They wear real pretty clothes. We were just watching that then the whole front window plumb blows out! And I turn to my boy’ – her face got red and she began to tear up – ‘to say how somebody broke out the window, but my boy, my Darby, he’s lying back in his chair and there’s a hole right between his eyes. Right between his eyes!’ She screamed the last part and began to bang her head on the table.
Holly ran around the table and grabbed her head. ‘Oh, Miz Hunt, don’t do that! Please! I’m here, it’s gonna be all right. Please, Miz Hunt!’
The old lady turned and buried her face in Holly’s Deadhead T-shirt, and began to cry. Holly patted her back and looked up at the mirrored wall, behind which Emmett sat. She didn’t know where he was, yet she was staring right at him. Funny how that works.
‘This has been a weird trip,’ Early said.
Both boys sat on the bottom bunk in their part of the suite, Transformer figures in hand.
‘Yeah,’ Johnny Mac said. ‘But kinda fun, too.’
Early grinned. ‘Yeah. And, well,’ and here Early’s face grew red, ‘I kinda like Lyssa.’
Johnny Mac nodded. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘She’s nice.’
‘I mean,’ Early said, his face darkening, ‘like – like. Ya know?’
Again Johnny Mac nodded. ‘Me, too. I mean, Janna.’
‘Yeah?’ Early said.
This scintillating conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both boys looked at each other, then at the door, then back at each other and jumped up, running to open the door. Janna and Lyssa were on the other side.
‘Hey,’ Johnny Mac said with a big grin, echoed by Early.
‘Hey,’ both girls said in unison.
‘Y’all wanna go spit in the ocean?’ Janna asked.
The grin left Johnny Mac’s face. ‘Can’t,’ he said. ‘My dad threatened to have us locked up in security if we got out again. And I think he meant it. How did y’all get out?’
Janna shrugged. ‘My mother made me promise I wouldn’t leave the cabin. She keeps doing that, although it rarely works.’
‘Mine took sleeping pills and is out like a light. She has no idea where I am. Can we come in?’ Lyssa asked.
Johnny Mac and Early looked at each other, shrugged, then Johnny Mac said, ‘That would probably be against my dad’s rules. But,’ he said, and grinned, ‘I got a deck of cards. If y’all sit on that side of the doorway and we sit on this side, we can play cards!’
Everybody grinned at this solution so Johnny Mac ran into the bunk-bed area and came back with a deck of cards.
‘Anybody know how to play Crazy Eight?’ he asked. ‘It’s just like Uno, ’cept the take two cards are the twos, and the change suit card is an eight. Wanna try it?’
‘Sure,’ Janna said and sat down, Lyssa following suit.
The boys sat down on their side of the door jamb, but on sitting down Johnny Mac found something poking him. He reached in the pocket of the shorts he’d pulled out of his dirty clothes that morning, and found the note he’d discovered under the door days ago.
‘Oh, shit!’ he said. ‘Look at this! I forgot all about it. What with two murders and everything!’
Everyone stared at the note: You breathe a word about today and you’ll be sorry. Sure would be a shame if your mom had an accident! Don’t tell anyone about this note or anything else, or oops, SHE FELL DOWN THE STAIRS, OFFICER.
‘Where did you get this?’ Janna asked.
‘It was under the door when we got back here one night,’ Johnny Mac said. He looked at Early. ‘Which night was it?’
‘It was the night after we were in Georgetown,’ Early said. ‘See where it says, “You breathe a word about today—” Today must be that day in Georgetown.’
‘Yeah, I think you’re right,’ Johnny Mac said.
‘Then it must have been written by Josh!’ Lyssa said.
‘No,’ Janna said. ‘That’s not Josh’s handwriting. It’s too . . . neat. You could barely read Josh’s writing. I know – he sent me a note one time and it took me and my mom both to figure out what it said.’
‘Why was he sending you a note?’ Johnny Mac asked, wondering why a teenager would be sending a little kid like Janna a note. He wasn’t jealous, he told himself, it was just wrong.
‘We were all going to their lake cabin for the weekend and he sent a note through his mom – this was before Crystal, of course – for me to bring my scooter.’
‘You have one of those electric scooters?’ Lyssa asked.
‘Yes, and I love it! But the roads around the lake cabin are dirt and—’
‘Ladies!’ Early said. ‘This note, OK?’
‘Oh, right,’ Janna said. ‘OK, so Josh didn’t write this. And I know Ryan didn’t either—’
‘It looks like a woman’s handwriting to me,’ Lyssa said.
‘It does!’ agreed Janna.
‘We need to check out Josh’s cabin,’ Lyssa said. ‘See if we can find anything incriminating.’
‘Don’t you think the ship’s security people have already done that?’ Johnny Mac, as son of a sheriff, pointed out.
‘Probably, but they weren’t looking for notes written by a woman!’ Janna said.
‘Exactly!’ Lyssa agreed.
‘Didn’t Josh share a room with Ryan?’ Johnny Mac asked.
‘Yes, but Uncle Vern moved him into their cabin when Josh died. The security people wanted that cabin closed off, and Uncle Vern didn’t want Ryan in there by himself, you know, after what happened and all,’ Janna said.
‘I bet old Crystal loves that,’ Early said with a big grin.
‘Yeah, I bet!’ Lyssa agreed, grinning back.
‘So how do we get into Josh’s cabin?’ Johnny Mac asked. ‘Especially with us not being able to leave this one.’
‘We don’t leave, the girls go,’ Early said. ‘And as to how – I think we need to call a steward. I have a hankering for a soda.’ He was grinning from ear to ear, but Johnny Mac didn’t have a clue as to why.
When Mike and I finished our beers, I headed down to the security office to talk to Heinrich. He was in his office staring at the computer.
‘Anything interesting?’ I asked.
He hit something, and said, ‘No. You?’
‘Well, maybe. Seems Crystal Weaver has a lover and he’s on this ship.’
Heinrich’s eyes got big. Made me feel good – I knew something he didn’t! It’s the little things that get us through our golden years.
‘And I take it it wasn’t Lance Turner,’ he said, sitting back in his chair.
‘Nope. Somebody we don’t know about.’ I told him about the kids’ encounter with Crystal in the ship’s corridor. ‘However, the lady does get around! She went after Mike Tulia earlier in the cruise. He says he was gonna turn her down, even before he got caught,’ I said.
‘What makes you think the guy in that cabin wasn’t Mike?’
‘It wasn’t his cabin. And the kids have been around Mike enough to have recognized his voice. They recognized Crystal’s. And, besides, how would he get into somebody else’s cabin?’
‘There are some empty ones on the ship. Do you know what the cabin number was?’ Heinrich asked.
‘No, but the kids might. You want to go get ’em and see if they can find the place?’
‘Sure,’ Heinrich said, standing.
They were in luck – the steward was Louisa, the one they had the first couple of days and who was new and a little scatty. They needed that.
‘Hi, kids,’ she said, coming up to the open door. ‘Y’all need to get in or out – can’t have you blocking the corridor. It’s not big enough for two people as it is.’ But she said it all with a smile, which took the sting out of the reprimand.
The girls got up and went into the cabin with Johnny Mac, while Early got his soda from Louisa and then proceeded to hug her. Startled, she hugged him back and laughed. ‘How sweet are you!’ she said, not noticing him slipping the skeleton card out of her pocket.
‘You’ve just been such a big help to us is all,’ Early said and smiled.
She patted his head, waved at the other kids and took off. Closing the door behind her, Early turned to the others and held up the skeleton card.
‘Oh my God!’ Janna said, covering her mouth with her hands as she began to laugh.
‘This’ll get us into any room we want!’ Early said.
‘Good thing Josh is already dead – if he knew you had that, he’d be ripping off the entire ship!’ Lyssa said.
Johnny Mac stood up and walked slowly up to his friend. He held out his hand and Early took it and the two embraced in a manly fashion. ‘You’re the bomb,’ Johnny Mac told him.
Heinrich and I headed to our cabin where the boys were holed up. Thankfully they were right where I left them, playing cards on the bottom bunk of their part of the suite.
‘Hey, guys,’ I said upon entering the room.
‘Hey, Dad!’ Johnny Mac said with some enthusiasm, until he saw Chief Heinrich and froze in place.
I instantly knew what my son was thinking – that Heinrich was there to take the two of them to the brig.
I smiled and shook my head. ‘Nobody’s going to jail, boys, so lighten up.’ I saw my boy breathe again. ‘We need you to take us to where you saw Mrs Weaver when the whole wig thing happened.’
The boys looked at each other and Johnny Mac shrugged his shoulders. ‘We can try, Dad, but all these halls look alike.’
‘True enough,’ I said, ‘but I know where I was when I found y’all, so maybe we can figure it out from there.’
Both boys nodded and we headed out. I went to the door of Esther Monte’s cabin and took off down the corridor I’d been on, and rounded the first corner. It sure did look exactly like every other corridor.
‘OK, this is where I turned and saw y’all. How far up do you think you were?’ I asked the boys.
Johnny Mac and Early jogged up a few doors then turned and looked at me, conferred, then walked towards me a door more, then another. ‘About here, I think,’ Early said.
Heinrich checked his roster of cabin occupancy. ‘That room is occupied by a retired couple from Ohio,’ he said. Scanning, he said, ‘But the cabin one back is unoccupied.’
The boys turned and walked back to that door, looked back at us, conferred again and Johnny Mac said, ‘Yeah, this could be it.’
Using his pass key, Heinrich opened the door of the unoccupied cabin. It was bigger than our cabin by about twice the size, had a king-sized bed, a real dresser and a bigger bathroom. The king-sized bed, however, was unmade and obviously used fairly recently.
‘You got DNA capabilities aboard ship?’ I asked Heinrich. He just stared at me.
‘Figured you didn’t.’
‘Why would you need a DNA test, Dad?’ Johnny Mac asked. ‘I don’t see any hairs or anything like that.’
The boy watched too many CSI shows, but even so, some things he didn’t understand, thankfully – like certain fluids that I had no intention of telling him about.
‘You’re right, son,’ I said. ‘I don’t see any hairs either. Why don’t y’all wait in the corridor while the chief and I take a look around.’
Johnny Mac and Early had barely stepped out of the cabin, door still open, when Janna and Lyssa shot around the corner from Lyssa’s cabin.
‘Johnny Mac!’ Janna cried out. ‘We’ve been looking for you!’
‘We got in and boy, did we find—’
‘Shhhh—’ both Johnny Mac and Early said, grabbing the girls and pointing into the cabin.
‘What’s going on, John?’ Johnny Mac’s dad said as he came to the door.
Johnny Mac smiled big at his dad. ‘Look who found us!’ he said.
‘Hi, Sheriff,’ Janna said with her sweet smile.
Lyssa gave the sheriff a finger wave.
‘Aren’t you girls supposed to be in your cabins?’ the sheriff asked.
‘Yes, sir,’ Janna said. ‘That’s where we’re headed.’
The two girls, hand in hand, turned tail and headed back in the direction of Lyssa’s cabin.
‘What were they talking about, John?’
‘Huh?’ Johnny Mac countered.
‘They got in what? And what did they find?’
‘Gee, Dad, I don’t know. They were fixing to tell us, then you interrupted and scared them and they ran off.’
‘You know, boy, I can tell when you’re lying,’ his dad said.
‘Sir, I am not lying. They were going to tell us something, but you came to the door and it scared them and they ran off. I do not know what they were going to tell us. Do you know what they were going to tell us, Early?’
Early looked at Johnny Mac for a moment, then smiled big. ‘No, Sheriff, sir, I do not know what they were going to tell us. And that’s the truth.’
Johnny Mac’s dad gave them the stink-eye for about a full minute, then walked back into the cabin.
Emmett spoke softly into the walkie. ‘Holly, get her cleaned up, give her a soda and see if she wants something to eat. I got more questions once she calms down.’
Again, the slight nod of Holly’s head.
Emmett left the break room, taking down the ‘in-use’ sign as he did. Just in case Holly brought the old woman into the break room to pick out her own soda. You just never know.
He went back to his – Milt’s – office, sat in his – Milt’s – really nice swivel chair with the arms and the high back, and thought. Did the McDaniels do this? If so, which one? Or was it like that old movie Jasmine made him watch, that Agatha Christie thing, where they all did it? It wasn’t like he didn’t know who Agatha Christie was, like Steve McDaniel had implied; he’d seen all the movies. In the movie he was thinking about, all the suspects took a turn stabbing the bad guy, but old Darby Hunt just got shot the once. And, like his mama said, right between the eyes. Now it took a hell of a talent to break through glass and manage to shoot somebody right between the eyes. Emmett couldn’t have done it himself. Hell, he didn’t know anybody who could. It seemed to him that if someone in the McDaniel family was that good a shot he’d have heard about it. But who else was there? He wondered if Beth Atkins, Darby Hunt’s daughter, had a boyfriend – or for that matter, a girlfriend, if his hunch was right – who felt the girl needed to be free from a dad like Hunt? Even though she’d been legally adopted by her aunt and uncle, old Hunt might have thrown a stink now that he was out.
Emmett picked up the phone and dialed Beth Atkins’ home phone number. A machine picked up, and Emmett remembered she was probably at the high school, teaching. So to the machine, he said, ‘Miss Atkins, this is Deputy Emmett Hopkins from the sheriff’s department. If I’m unable to catch you at school, would you please return my call at either of these numbers.’
He rattled off the sheriff’s department number and his cell number and hung up, then got the number for the high school and dialed that. A school secretary answered on the third ring. It must have been between classes, because the noise on her end of the phone was deafening.
‘Sheriff’s department!’ Emmett said loudly. ‘I need to speak to Beth Atkins.’
‘Who?’ the woman shouted at him.
‘Beth Atkins!’ he shouted back.
‘Oh! She’s doesn’t have a class next period so she’s probably headed for the teacher’s lounge. Let me put you through there!’ the woman shouted.
‘Thanks!’ he shouted back, then heard the blessed silence of the phone being transferred and ringing on the other end. When a woman picked up, Emmett said, ‘Miss Atkins?’
‘No, she’s not in here right— Wait. Beth! It’s for you.’
He heard the phone drop, then a new voice. ‘This is Miss Atkins.’
‘Hey,’ Emmett said. ‘This is Emmett Hopkins from the sheriff’s department.’
‘Yes? I thought I was through with you, Deputy,’ she said, but there was no rancor in her voice.
‘Just a quick question. I was wondering if you had a significant other in your life—’
‘Who would kill my birth father for me?’ She laughed. ‘No, Deputy. I have no, as you say, “significant other” in my life right now, and I hope I’d have the sense to pick one who wouldn’t kill a family member just because I didn’t like them much.’
Emmett sighed. ‘OK, ma’am, it was just a thought. Sorry to bother you.’
‘No bother,’ she said. ‘Call me with crazy questions any time.’
‘How about this one: did you know your dad – I mean, Darby Hunt – had a girlfriend?’
‘No, I didn’t, but I’m not surprised. There are all sorts of women out there with self-esteem so low they feel the need to get romantic with murderers. I understand serial killers get love letters from women all the time.’
‘True enough, but you’d think an educated woman like Reba Sinclair—’
‘Who?’ Beth asked.
‘Reba Sinclair. She’s the principal—’
‘I know who she is, Deputy.’ There was a small silence, then Beth Atkins said, ‘We need to talk.’
There wasn’t much to see in the unoccupied cabin, except the unmade bed. Heinrich and I split up and I escorted the boys back to our cabin. Jean was propped up on her bed reading when we came in.
‘Hey, guys,’ she said with a big grin. I took a look at my wife. She has one of those faces that just make you wanna smile. Beautiful hazel eyes, a pert nose, a generous mouth with a smile full of straight white teeth like a toothpaste commercial, and freckles. I love her freckles. The woman I saw before me was my wife, all right, but something was wrong.
‘What did you do?’ I asked her.
Her formerly beautiful hazel eyes, now dimmed by all the gunk surrounding them, got big. ‘What?’
I studied her face. It wasn’t just the eyes. Her freckles were gone.
‘Gosh, Mom,’ Johnny Mac said, ‘you look beautiful!’ He threw his arms around his mother’s neck and she hugged him back.
She did look beautiful, if your standard of beauty was a model in a magazine. My standards were a bit higher – I prefer real women. Ones with a little meat on their bones, a face you could see, wearing clothes that recognized their womanliness. I couldn’t see my wife’s face – all I could see was makeup.
‘After the facial I decided to get a professional make-up job,’ Jean said, looking at me with what seemed like a bit of fear in her eyes. Something I’d never seen before and hoped never to see again.
And I realized that, after eleven years together, my wife might not know what a beautiful woman she is. That all her years on crutches had taken their toll on her self-esteem when it came to her looks.
I removed my son and said, ‘My turn.’ I sat down beside her and kissed her. ‘You look beautiful,’ I said, touching her cheek. ‘But I prefer the freckles.’
‘Yes, but you’re weird,’ she said, smiling back.
‘You look real pretty, Miz Kovak,’ Early said.
‘Thank you, Early! Now, tell me, where have you guys been and what have you been up to?’
So we told her about the unoccupied cabin and the unmade bed and that we really found nothing at all.
‘No way for DNA testing?’ she asked me.
‘Mom! There wasn’t any hair!’ Johnny Mac informed her.
‘Oh,’ she said, looked at me, and then back at our son. ‘Right. Of course.’
It was getting late and I was up for an early supper. Just as we were about to leave, the phone rang. I picked it up and heard, ‘Hey, Milt, it’s Mike.’
‘Hi, Mike, what’s up?’
‘Esther’s getting room service tonight. She doesn’t feel like facing people right now. So Lucy and I are taking the girls to the buffet for dinner. Janna asked me to call you and see if the boys could join us. Believe me, I won’t take my eyes off them for a second this time.’
‘You’d better not,’ I said. ‘God only knows what damage they could do.’
‘I hear you, I hear you!’ Mike said. ‘Besides, Lucy will be with me and she’s a lot more trustworthy than I am.’
I laughed. ‘Let me check with the boss,’ I said, put my hand over the phone and said to Jean, ‘Mike and Lucy are taking the girls to the buffet for dinner and want them to come,’ I said, pointing with my head at the boys.
‘Oh, please, Mom! Please! I hate that fancy food!’
‘Yes, Miz Kovak, please!’
I cocked my head at her. ‘Last dinner on-board,’ I said. ‘Romantic evening, just the two of us.’
Jean looked at the boys, then at me, then back at the boys. ‘OK. But if you two do anything—’
‘We swear, Mom! Don’t we, Early?’
‘Yes, ma’am, we swear!’
Into the phone I said, ‘It’s a go, Mike. I’ll bring ’em to you at the buffet.’
Twenty minutes later I found Jean at our designated table, sipping a glass of wine from a bottle. ‘How much did that cost us?’ I asked.
‘We have one free bottle of wine. This is it,’ she said.
‘Shit,’ I said. ‘Free? Good deal at twice the price.’ I poured myself a glass and picked up the menu, looking for today’s treat. Squab stuffed with wild rice and peeled grapes. Ah, shit, I thought. Peel me some grapes, baby! That was for me. When the waiter came, I ordered the squab, with a side of white asparagus, an appetizer of escargot (it was good the first time; what were the chances it wouldn’t be good the second? Slim to none, I figured), a wedge salad with bleu (that’s the way they spelled it) cheese, figs and pecans, and a dessert taco, which was like one of those taco shells they put salad in, except sugared and filled with flan and fresh fruit. That’s what the menu said. I figured there was no way it was gonna be bad. I hadn’t had anything on the ship yet that didn’t make me wanna slap my mama it was so good.
After the waiter had gone, my made-up wife asked, ‘Do you know what squab is?’ She’d ordered the same thing, so I couldn’t have gone off too bad.
‘One of those little chickens, right?’
She grinned at me. ‘No, honey, it’s a baby pigeon.’
I was quiet for a moment. ‘A pigeon?’
‘Yep,’ she said, taking another sip of wine.
‘Like one of those flying rats that hang around in downtowns and shit on everything? Like that?’ I asked.
‘Yep.’ She laughed at the expression on my face. ‘Except these, I’m sure, are from sterilized farms, and don’t grow up, so how can they shit on anybody’s downtown?’
‘I’m gonna eat a baby pigeon,’ I said under my breath, then took a big swig of my wine. ‘Don’t tell the boys.’