Sabrina was surprised to find the gate at Ditleff Point open with no police officer manning the gatehouse. Only one police cruiser sat outside Villa Nirvana. Sabrina parked behind it and climbed the short steps to the great room, where Lucy Detree was opening windows and doors. The stench of spoiled food filled Sabrina’s nostrils. Dirty plates littered the tables around the room. She gagged as she joined Sergeant Detree in opening the French doors overlooking the pool, where insects had infested the plates left behind by the police.
“Gross,” Sabrina said. A variety of bugs dispersed after their feast was interrupted.
“He’s disgusting,” Lucy Detree muttered under her breath.
“Excuse me?” Sabrina had barely heard Sergeant Detree’s words, which could only refer to Detective Hodge.
“It’s disgusting,” Sergeant Detree said louder.
“Look, I know you want to talk to me, but do you mind doing it while I soak these plates before I need to have an exterminator out here?” Sabrina began stacking plates. She wished she had plastic gloves on.
“Sure.” Lucy Detree began making a pile of dishes, to Sabrina’s surprise.
They carried the plates into the kitchen and placed them on the counter next to the deep stainless steel double sink. Sabrina ran the hot water from the faucet until it was near scalding, then put the stacks Sergeant Detree handed her into the sinks while she drizzled dish soap over them. Their silent camaraderie disarmed whatever apprehension Sabrina had had about talking to the Sergeant.
“Thank you. Would you like to sit at the counter while we talk? I can probably find some ice tea or seltzer downstairs in the service kitchen if you’d like,” Sabrina offered.
“I’m fine,” Lucy Detree said, sitting on the same stool Sabrina had found Sean Keating at on the morning that should have been his wedding day. So many things had happened in such a short time. Sabrina felt dizzy. She slid onto the stool opposite the policewoman, grateful to be off her feet, comforted by the soft breeze coming through the windows overlooking Fish Bay.
“Where is everyone else? I thought there would still be police officers here,” Sabrina said.
“They released the scene a little while ago. Your people can come back, as long as it’s just the owners. No renters. Yet.”
Sabrina was encouraged by the word “yet.”
“I’ll let them know,” Sabrina said. She doubted Sean, his parents, or his sister would want to return to Villa Nirvana now or ever. She wouldn’t be surprised if the villa went on the market after the murder had been solved.
“Sabrina . . . may I call you that?” Lucy Detree started.
“Of course,” Sabrina replied.
“What do you know about the so-called skinny-dippers?”
Sabrina almost fell off her stool. All Lucy Detree wanted to ask her about was the silly skinny-dippers? Well, hallelujah. This was one conversation she didn’t mind having with the police.
“They’re a pudgy white couple who seem to know when villas are unoccupied. They come and skinny-dip in the pools. Until recently, they’d only been spotted by people in neighboring villas. I saw them myself the night I took the Keatings up to stay in Bella Vista on Bordeaux Mountain. The Ten Villas online availability schedule showed it as unoccupied, so I guess that’s why they hit it.”
“But none of your occupied villas have been hit?”
“Life has been so crazy, I almost forgot. They hit Villa Mascarpone yesterday. You remember where that is, don’t you?” Sabrina asked. She didn’t want to mention the murder that took place there just months before for fear of ruining the collaborative tone of the conversation.
“Of course. Go on,” Sergeant Detree said.
“The people renting it had been shopping at Mongoose Junction. When they returned to the villa, they apparently interrupted the skinny-dippers.” Sabrina was curious why the police were so interested in the annoying, not-so-funny couple when there was a murderer loose on the island, but knew better than to ask.
“Why didn’t they report it to us?” Sergeant Detree asked.
Gulp.
“I said I would do it for them.” Just when she was building rapport with Lucy Detree, Sabrina realized she had once again stepped on her own feet.
“Is there any reason you didn’t?” Sergeant Detree leaned forward, folding her hands on the counter.
“I just forgot. It seemed like a petty crime compared to what happened out here.” Sabrina sat back on her stool, resisting the intensity of Sergeant Detree’s gaze.
“Sabrina, are there any details about the skinny-dippers’ visits to your villas you can remember? Anything else about their appearance or behavior?”
Sabrina sat in silence for a few seconds concentrating on the two occasions she knew about.
“Just that they appear to be middle-aged and chubby. Oh, and they always leave a hibiscus floating in the pool. It’s kind of their signature. Maybe a ‘Thank you for letting us use your pool.’”
Lucy Detree sat up straight on her stool.
“Hibiscus. You know, I don’t see any hibiscus here at Villa Nirvana. Funny, because they are everywhere all over the island,” she said.
“The bride wouldn’t hear of it. She said they were too ‘common.’ She liked exotic, fragrant flowers. Gardenias were her favorite. That’s why you see them everywhere here. They were the only flowers being used for the wedding. An all-white theme. Elena sure knew what she liked and what she didn’t,” Sabrina said.
“So finding a red hibiscus blossom in the pool here might be significant.”
“Absolutely.” Sabrina was astounded by the possibility that the skinny-dippers might be killers.