Chapter 27

Annie checked on the brisket, the scent of which was filling the house. It was browning nicely. The boys and Mike were out for a while, so she decided to look up Harold Tuft’s wife, Sharon. It was disappointing. She seemed to have led an exemplary life; no arrest records. But that didn’t mean much when it came to murder—the human condition continued to fascinate. The woman she was writing about, Mary Schultz, who killed her father, was not someone you’d think of as a murderer. She’d never done anything illegal her whole life. She simply snapped one day and chopped her father to pieces.

Gruesome. And scary. How far was the woman pushed to lead her to that moment?

So Annie went back to her passenger list to see if Sharon Tuft was on it. There were three Sharons, but none of them were Tufts. Annie returned to her computer and tried to find a record of Sharon Tuft’s maiden name, and there it was: Milhouse. Sharon Milhouse was on the passenger list. Annie’s stomach clenched.

She picked up her cell phone to call Vera. She was unable to get through once again.

So she tried to text Vera instead.

Harold’s ex-wife, Sharon Milhouse, is on the passenger list. Your killer?

Send.

Annie had no idea that it would be so difficult to reach her friends on this cruise. It was kind of maddening, but they’d be back by midweek, in time for Beatrice’s Christmas bazaar and then for Christmas itself the following week.

Annie shut off the computer and grabbed her purse, remembering that she needed to pick up more potatoes. She bundled up in her coat, hat, scarf; it was cold outside and the last time she checked it was still snowing.

The cold met her with a punch when she walked out of her house. She lived close to the grocery store, about two blocks, but it was so cold that she thought for a moment about driving. But by the time the car warmed up, she could be at the store, so she walked, with the new-fallen snow soft and powdery beneath her feet. A smoke scent filled the air as she walked down her block. Several houses were using their fireplaces or woodstoves and smoke curled from their rooftops.

Annie wrapped her scarf tighter around her face. Dang, it was cold. One more block to go.

A halfhearted snowman was in the yard of the Jenkins family, which made Annie smile. This was not a good snow for building. It was soft and airy, giving off little sparkles when light hit it in a certain way. The skies were completely overcast—moonstone gray.

Annie smiled as an older couple passed her on the sidewalk, right before she turned into the grocery store parking lot. Walking down the aisles of the store, she heard someone call her name and turned to find Beatrice with several bottles of wine in her hand.

“How do?” Bea said. She looked distracted. Maybe annoyed. Annie was getting good at reading Beatrice.

“I’m good. Just picking up more groceries for tonight,” Annie said.

“Oh yes, Hanukkah. Well, have a good one,” Bea said.

“Thanks. How are you and what are you up to?”

“I’m okay. Heading over to this committee meeting. I’m hoping some wine will calm them all down,” she said, and clicked her tongue.

“Good luck with that. What do you hear from Vera?”

“I talked with her a couple of hours ago. She seems worried about Sheila.”

Annie nodded. “But what about the murder investigation?”

“Investigation?” Bea said. “There really won’t be one until the FBI gets on board tomorrow. That ship’s security team doesn’t have their act together.”

“I sent Vera the name of Harold Tuft’s ex-wife, Sharon Milhouse. She’s on the passenger list,” Annie said.

“What about the ex-husband?” Bea asked.

“He’s in jail for embezzling from Allie’s company, so he’s not involved at all.”

“Mercy,” Beatrice said. “Do you think a woman could have killed them both?”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, and more so now that I’m writing about the Schultz case, it’s that women are very capable of murder,” Annie said.

“I think you’re right,” Bea said after a moment. “I’ve always thought there might be more of them out there than what we know. Women are smarter than men and don’t get caught.”

That statement sent chills through Annie.