Death of a Hot Chick (23 page)

Finley screwed up her face and said,
“Huh?”

Kaye leaned on her elbows. “I’m sure there’s
a modicum of intelligent discourse in there somewhere.”

“
Teddy. She’s writing about us. I
mean, she came to the marina and got all our information and
pictures. You know, about people who live on boats and the editor
wants vacation stuff for kids before....”

“
Slow down,” Kaye said. “You’re
rattling. Start over.”

Kaye was right. I nodded. “Okay.
First—Teddy came. To the marina, I mean. That’s because of
The Orbit’s
vacation supplement,
things to do before school starts.”

“
Okay, we’ve got Teddy talking to you
at the marina.”

“
And taking pictures. Actually,
someone named Reba took the pictures.”

“
How does that trap a killer?” Finley
asked.

Kaye waved her hands at Finley. “Don’t
confuse her.” She turned back. “You’re at the marina, Cyd. Teddy
talked to you.”

“
You’re treating her like a child,”
Finley yelled.

“
Oooh,” Kaye wailed and clenched her
fists. “I know what I’m doing. Bug off!”

“
Yeah, I know what you’re doing too,”
I said. “Both of you just shut up and listen.”

“
But...”

“
You too, Finley,” I said.

Kaye shrugged and sat back. Finley crossed
her arms, scowled, and followed suit.

“
I’m sorry I got excited. It just came
to me like a shot. The perfect trap. Teddy’s article will be in
Sunday’s paper including all about people who live on boats. The
killer will read it. He’ll find out that Lizzie was there
overnight, just like I was. I’ve already told the police everything
I know, so I’m not a threat. Lizzie’s boat is way closer to where I
found Nicole’s body. She didn’t see anything, but the killer
doesn’t know that.”

“
He’ll want to kill Lizzie. Is that
the plan?” Kaye said.

“
That’s like
my
plan that nobody liked,” Finley said. “So, you
say we’ll all be there to catch him in the act.”

“
You bet. Teddy’s article can hint
that Lizzie may have seen more than she admitted to. We move Lizzie
out of her boat to some safe place while we wait for the
killer.”

“
Hey, hey!” Finley put both thumbs up.
“I like it.”

Kaye pointed to one of her maps. “The marina
is one area I’ve selected. A secondary one, true. Perhaps we could
set that trap there. I know Mr. Joline frequents the area.”

I said, “The killer definitely frequented
the marina. It’s where Nicole was killed!”

“
But this Sunday? Much too soon. We
have to make arrangements. That could certainly work within my
plans, but say, in two weeks. Yes, a Wednesday, I
believe.”

“
This Sunday is when
The Orbit
will have the article. Did
you hear me? Some other time won’t fit into their
schedule.”

“
Hey face it, Kaye. Your little sister
beat you out. Didn’t I say she’s sharper than you give her credit
for?”

Kaye turned on me. “Teddy will name you,
too? How can you allow that?”

“
So it’s a go?” I said.

“
Wait, wait. We’ve got to plan how to
do everything. Aren’t we a team?”

“
I vote for Cyd’s trap,” Finley said.
“Sunday’s good. I’m not gonna wait around doing nothing for a
couple of weeks.”

“
Majority rules. Kaye, it’s only
Friday. We’ve got ’til Sunday. We have to move Lizzie out first, so
nobody gets killed.”

“
And get the law in,” Kaye added with
a sigh of capitulation. “Tell Lizzie she’ll move into my house. My
spare room is empty.”

Finley said, “We’ll have it all over and
done with before Monday morning.”

“
We must get organized. Cyd, you
contact Teddy. I’ll call the police to coordinate with them. Or
maybe Teddy should talk to Doug. Didn’t she have a thing for him
once? Finley, ah, do you know anyone else we could get to help
out?”

“
Might.”

They’d taken over my plan. They had to think
it would work. But it was still my plan. I said, “Teddy definitely
had a thing for Doug, once. Anyway, she’ll get a lot more
cooperation.”

“
If Teddy’s ‘thing’ is off, perhaps I
should contact the police.”

“
And I said....”

Finley said. “Kaye, do you want to find a
killer or do you want to stake out your own territory?”

Kaye sat, her mouth a thin line. Finally,
she said, “Find the killer. Cyd, when you talk to Teddy, sound her
out. She can decide who’s better to obtain police cooperation—at
least with Doug Yarnell. But we must get both of them to meet with
us. It will have to be tomorrow before the newspaper comes out. Any
suggestions?” she added, looking straight at Finley.

I answered. “How about meeting on my boat?
That’s handy for Lizzie and she’s got to agree.” Softly, I added,
“Maybe Nicole will come.”

“
What?” Finley said.

“
Her ghost, I mean.”

Finley stood, took a step forward, then
returned to her chair. “Cyd, you always did have an amazing
imagination.”

Before I could say another word, Kaye broke
in. “She does, doesn’t she? But we love her anyway.” She stood.
“Sounds like we have our plans well made. Finley, tomorrow morning?
How about noon for lunch? What do you think? At Cyd’s boat.”

“
After lunch. One thirty.”

Kaye jumped up and said, “I’ll drop you off,
Cyd.” Then she blew us out of there like a brisk wind on the
bay.

When we reached the sidewalk, I said, “That
was fast. What’s going on?”

“
My car is down the street,” was
Kaye’s only answer.

~
~

Once inside the car, Kaye asked, “What’s in
that bag?”

“
What’s going on?”

“
I’m thinking. The bag?”

I pulled out the Norris Charter cap, put it
on my head, then held up the blue-green T-shirt. “I worked today.
Got a uniform, you might say.”

Kaye turned the key, started the engine,
then glanced my way. “Cute.”

“
My size. My name on the pocket. I
don’t know whether I’m pleased or mad as hell.”

“
Why?” Kaye said as she glanced back,
then pulled into the road.

“
The usual.” But I knew Kaye was not
listening. She was thinking. And, she wouldn’t listen, or speak,
until she came to some kind of conclusion. Why did we have to leave
in such a hurry? I watched the street, and the buildings zoom
by.

It wasn’t until Kaye stopped at Smith Harbor
Marina that she spoke.

“
Finley doesn’t want to see Nicole’s
ghost and you were about to argue that there really is a
ghost.

“
Okay.” Arguing with Finley hadn’t
upset Kaye before. “And what else?”

“
How much do you know about Finley? I
mean recently, not years ago when you ran commercial boats with
her.”

“
Back then, I’d trust her with my
life.”

“
But now?”

“
She seems the same.
Almost.”

“
She’s moving out. Two suitcases are
opened up on her bed with folded clothing inside and piled
around.”

Instead of answering, I went on the
offensive. “You were snooping.”

“
Just being observant. Closet door
open with almost nothing but hangers inside. Packed boxes and
suitcases in the bedroom. A box in the bathroom half filled with
everything but toothbrush and comb. Oh, and one towel and one
washcloth hanging over the tub.”

I touched the pocket that held Nicole’s
note.

Kaye continued. “I opened her refrigerator
to get the iced tea and Pepsi. Practically empty, except for a bag
of lemons that she probably never got around to using. No leftovers
in little dishes or plastic bags.”

Did she keep leftovers? Probably ate them
all.

“
I’ve never been to Finley’s home
before, of course. But I noticed there was nothing personal inside.
It seemed more like a motel room. No pictures and no knick-knacks
at all.

“
No magazines or puzzles. I
noticed.”

What was going on? Was Finley moving out,
leaving? Would she still be in Smith Harbor tomorrow? Would she be
there Sunday when we caught Nicole’s killer? She said she would.
“Why didn’t she say anything?”

“
Because she killed Nicole and she’s
running away.”

Chapter 18

Finley kill Nicole? “That is too—too, too,
too....” She couldn’t. Not her cousin, after all that she’d told
us. I felt hysterical laugher threatening to burst out. I bit my
lip. Shook my head. “No! That’s impossible.” I knew, I just knew.
“And how did you find out about her bags, anyway?”

“
I saw the evidence when I took a
potty break before you came.”

“
She did
not
kill Nicole. I refuse to believe that. Maybe
she’s changing apartments.”

“
Don’t be surprised if you never see
her again.”

Firmly, I said, “Kaye, listen to me. Finley
did not kill her cousin. I’d stake my life on her.”

“
You’re that sure?”

I nodded.

Kaye continued, “Let's say, if she comes
tomorrow, you are right.”

I watched as my sister drove away. She
was wrong. She had to be. I headed for my dock and realized Wes
must have replaced a light bulb. As I got closer to
Snapdragon
, I realized someone was on
board, sitting in my only folding chair.

“
Hi, Lizzie,” I said, before I got
close enough to startle her completely. I added a completely
unnecessary question. “Waiting for me?”

Lizzie didn’t answer at first.

“
Lizzie?”

“
Wait till I stir my stumps a bit,”
she said, then rocked her shoulders and rubbed her eyes. I sat on
the deck box and waited.

Lizzie leaned forward and whispered. “That
guy was here again. The same one. I scared him off.”

“
We’re going inside.” As I punched in
my combination, I added, “Hot chocolate, okay?”

“
Got marshmallows?”

“
No. Sorry.” Nothing looked disturbed.
“I do have graham crackers.”

“
Nobody got inside this time,” Lizzie
said. “It was the same guy I saw before. Wes thinks I’m seeing that
turkey that made like he was dead. You know, Chester
somebody.”

“
Maybe you’re not safe protecting my
boat. Not that I don’t appreciate it like crazy, but he could be
the killer.”

Lizzie plunked herself down on the settee.
Shook her head. “Hard figuring out what this world is coming to.
Killers.”

“
We have to catch him, whoever he is,
or we won’t be safe.” I saw a golden opportunity to get Lizzie’s
cooperation. “There’s a lot of people who want to catch him. Me, my
sister, Nicole’s cousin, and the police. If I promise you’ll be
safe, will you help?”

“
Nobody can promise that.”

“
Yes, I can. You wouldn’t be here at
all. You’d be spending the night at my sister’s house in town. Away
from the marina. All you have to do is let Teddy use your name in
her article and we’ll do the rest. We’ll get the police. We’ll stay
in your boat to protect it.”

She didn’t say, “No,” so I told her more as
I heated water, poured it into cups with cocoa mix, and served it
up. I ended with, “We’ll get together tomorrow at one-thirty, here,
to make final plans.”

“
Stay at your sister’s
house?”

“
You bet.”

“
What’s she got to eat?”

“
She’s a fantastic cook.”

“
Might as well.” She took a graham
cracker. Nibbled it, blew on a spoonful of cocoa and sipped it.
“Tomorrow, you say? You don’t make any plans without
me.”

After Lizzie left, after Teddy returned my
call and agreed to include our names in Sunday’s article, I pulled
out the note Nicole had hidden in the anchor locker. I rubbed it, I
caressed it, I laid it against my cheek.

“
Nicole, are you here?”

There was no appearance, no answer.

“
It wasn’t Finley, was it?”

~
~

Saturday, July 29

A half-day’s work at Bayside gave me a bit
of change before another session with my co-conspirators. I stopped
at the corner deli and picked up three gourmet sandwiches to cut up
into quarters and a bag of red grapes. Nice and colorful. Water
would be the beverage. After all, it would officially be after
lunch time. I was hungry, but I didn’t eat any of those goodies.
Once home, I had one of the overly ripe bananas sitting in its
plastic dish on top of the counter.

Kaye arrived with her sugared pecans.
“They’re still warm,” she said. “I thought you might like a
taste.”

Okay, so big sis was still in supervisory
mode. “Nice addition. Thank you,” I said. One does not alienate the
bearer of tasty tidbits.

Finley came with mints. “Just happened to
have them around,” she said.

“
Thanks,” I repeated. What was up with
all the food additions, I wondered.

As if she’d read my mind, Finley said, “I
forgot to get them out last night.”