Island Intrigue (25 page)

Trill, trill, trill.

Missy lifted her cell phone off her belt. “Some darn tourist wanting a ride this night of all nights—”

“TRILL, TRILL, TRILL.” Calvin's eyes were wild, his small body quivering. “BARK! TRILL, TRILL, TRILL.”

“Goodness,” Sabrina said.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of movement through the cracked dining room door. Sabrina went over and swung it open, just in time to see a woman in a long white dress, black hair and gold mask, holding a big beach bag, disappear into the kitchen.

“I'd like to talk to you,” she called to Cleopatra. “Virginia?”

Cleopatra ran.

Chapter Thirty

“Virginia?” Sabrina said, as she followed the woman through the spacious kitchen. “I just want to ask you a question!”

“CHEEP!” Calvin called.

Virginia apparently didn't feel like answering any questions. She reached the side door leading outside and spent a few precious moments fumbling with the lock. Sabrina almost reached her when she threw the door open and vanished into the darkness.

“Sabrina? What's going on?” Missy called.

Sabrina ducked out the door into the velvety darkness of the side yard garden. The smell of burning logs and crackling leaves filled her nose as she pushed through bushes and branches and ended up in the front yard of the house next door to the Tittletott House. A white form was fleeing across the yard and Sabrina suddenly realized that a killer was escaping.

“Halt! Police!” she cried. Behind her she heard crashing and cursing as Missy struggled to follow her through the brush.

“Sabrina?” She turned to see Lima decked out in an awful purple leisure suit, dark sideburns and wig, and a pair of cheesy sunglasses. “What on earth are you doing?”

“I'm catching a killer!” Sabrina took off in pursuit of Cleopatra and Lima lumbered after her.

“Stop!” Sabrina yelled.

“Cheep!” Calvin clung to Sabrina's shoulder, his tiny wings beating in excitement.

As she ran, thoughts zoomed through her mind, misplaced pieces of the puzzle falling into place. The missing phone, the mud boots, the woman on the bike. It all was beginning to make sense. It was a spur-of-the-moment plan, with several unforeseen obstacles, but it had been pulled off in the end. Sabrina even had the motive.

Heads turned as Cleopatra crashed into a street-side trashcan and it clattered into the road, spilling trash everywhere. Mouths gaped as Sabrina, Lima, and Missy came barreling down the street behind Cleopatra, doing a pretty good imitation of an Army training exercise sans tires as they tried to avoid the rolling cans and rotten vegetables.

Sondra Lane's band, dressed as Mozart, Beethoven and other musical figures, had set up on the corner of Post Office Road and they were playing rousing tunes as couples in matching costumes danced in the middle of the street. Cleopatra tried to dash through the middle of the crowd, but right at that moment the dancers handed their partners off and Henry the Eighth grabbed Cleopatra's free hand and spun her around into Cupid's arms, who surreptitiously pinched her behind as he twirled her around. Cleopatra dropped the beach bag, and the powerful smell of gasoline filled the air. Out of the corner of her eye, Sabrina saw two gallon milk jugs leaking gasoline slide out of the beach bag.

A punch to the stomach dropped Cupid to the ground, and Cleopatra took off down the street again. Henry the Eighth tried to grab Sabrina as she raced by, but stepped back when he saw Lima bearing down on him.

“Well I never!” Aunt Mary Garrison Tubbs, who was dressed as a pudgy Cat Woman, was livid. “Lima Odel Lowry, what on earth do you think you're doing?” She fell in behind them, followed by Henry the Eighth.

They were nearing the ferry docks, which were closed. On the other side of the docks was the small public beach where families waiting for the ferry often picnicked. Tonight, a huge bonfire had been built, and crowds of people bobbed for apples, tried to dunk the pirate dressed up as Walk-the-Plank Wrightly, and rolled watermelons at the bowling pins.

“Where we going?” bellowed Henry the Eighth.

“Lima!” screeched Aunt Mary.

“Sabrina?” called Lima.

“Clear the way!” Missy shouted.

“Stop that Cleopatra!” Sabrina yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Cheep!” Calvin shrieked in delight.

Cleopatra looked back over her shoulder at her noisy entourage and then dove into the crowd. Sabrina was right behind her.

“Hey, lady, wait your turn!” said an irate man as she trod on his toe and elbowed him in the stomach.

“Sorry,” Sabrina panted.

Cleopatra dodged around the barrel full of water where Mother Theresa was doing her best to fish an apple out of the water with her teeth, and pushed past a lady dressed as a VW, who bumped into Mother Theresa, who ended up headfirst in the barrel.

Cleopatra came to a screeching halt as she came face to face with Sergeant Jimmy McCall, who was standing massively in front of the bonfire. He turned in surprise as Sabrina yelled, “Stop her, Sergeant!”

“Now, what exactly is going on here?” Jimmy said as Sabrina, Missy, Lima, Aunt Mary and Henry the Eighth pushed through the crowd into the firelight. Cleopatra was looking around desperately, from Sergeant Jimmy and the bonfire, to the waters of the sound on her left, to the six-foot bulkhead on her right. Backed up to the bulkhead was the dunking stand, and the pirate on the dunking bench was startled as Cleopatra made up her mind and dove for the dunking booth.

She climbed the side, clutching at Walk-the-Plank Wrightly as she struggled to stand on his bench and step over to the edge of the bulkhead. The pirate pushed at her as Cleopatra wrapped her arms around his head and tried to keep her balance.

“I'll get her!” Mother Theresa sputtered in rage, and she took up an apple and aimed it right at the bull's-eye.

Walk-the-Plank Wrightly and Cleopatra dropped into the water with a resounding splash.

“Sergeant, I suggest you do your duty,” Sabrina said, as the two in the tank struggled to reach the surface.

“What exactly is going on?” asked Sergeant Jimmy McCall. “Who were you chasing?”

“Lima,” Aunt Mary spat.

“Sabrina,” Lima said.

“Cleopatra,” said Missy.

“The murderer,” Sabrina said as a head, without the black wig and mask, appeared at the edge of the tank. She shook her head sadly. “Gary Tittletott, it didn't have to come to this.” Calvin chirped nervously, and hid behind her neck.

Gary, coughing, looked like a wet, half-drowned rat, not the murderer that he really was. He glared at Sabrina. “Why couldn't you mind your own business, you damned tourist?”

A sudden thought occurred to Sabrina. “Where is Virginia?” she asked urgently. “What have you done with her?” She came up close to Gary's face, lit eerily by the crimson flames from the firelight. “Have you hurt her?”

Gary coughed again. “She's just sleeping,” he said, but Jimmy was already on the radio, calling to Billy to get over to the Tittletott House right away and check on Ms. Virginia Tittletott.

“Did you kill Rolo?” Aunt Mary demanded. “Gary Russell Tittletott, what have you done?”

“Get me out of here!” Walk-the-Plank Wrightly wailed, flailing around in the water of the dunking pen. “I didn't know he was a murderer!”

Jimmy grabbed the pirate by the back of his shirt and hauled him out of the water.

“I don't get it,” said Henry the Eighth, who was actually Greg Tubbs. “Gary killed Rolo?”

Sabrina nodded. “I didn't realize until Missy told me about the fight she heard between Virginia and Gary the morning of Rolo's murder. You see, Gary knew that Rolo was in town, and was threatening to reveal a Tittletott secret. He thought Rolo was going to tell everybody what Brad did fifteen years ago, about stealing the silver, and Gary wasn't all that upset by the prospect. Brad always got all the attention, and Gary was tired of living in his shadow. But Wednesday morning after his fight with Virginia, Gary realized he had something to lose if Rolo started revealing all the Tittletott secrets. You see, it was possible Rolo knew about—”

“Sid,” Gary moaned. “He was going to tell everybody about Sid. That bastard Brad.”

“And Gary couldn't bear if everybody knew that Brad was actually Sid's father,” Sabrina said softly. “That was just too much to bear. He started planning the murder right then. He knew Brad was going to meet Rolo that afternoon, because Brad had told them he was, but Gary didn't know what time or where. He took Missy's cell phone because already he was thinking about his alibi. In the lobby that morning, as Brad was leaving, Brad mentioned that he had an appointment at two. Of course, Gary and Elizabeth knew what appointment he was talking about. And just like I did, Gary saw the mud boots Brad carried in his bag. Unlike me, he realized where Brad was going. To the treasure tree. It was the only thing that made sense. Now he knew that Brad was meeting Rolo at the treasure tree at two and the rest should have been easy. He would kill him after his meeting at the treasure tree, there in the swamp where no one would find his body.

“But the water heater broke, and by the time Gary and Elizabeth had cleaned the water up, it was almost two. He had to hurry now, he could only hope that Brad's meeting with Rolo lasted longer than just a few minutes. He dressed in some of Virginia's clothes and donned a blond wig—it was one of Elizabeth's, I believe—and put on one of those neon visors and sunglasses. He meant to look like a tourist, knowing nobody would pay him any attention, but he was wearing Virginia's clothes and from a distance a few people thought it was her over in Waver Town. He took the gun out of the gun closet and while Elizabeth took her daily nap, he rode one of the Tittletott rental bikes over to the Old Wrightly House. Behind the house was the shortest path to the treasure tree. He knew I wasn't going to be home, because I told everybody that morning I was going to spend the day at the beach. He parked his bike there, and was planning on heading to the tree but that's when he must have heard Rolo snipping roses on the other side of the house. I brought roses to the Tittletott house that morning, you see, and everyone knew how Rolo felt about the roses. What happened then, Gary?”

Gary spit out water, and looked around at the circle of townspeople.

“I shot him,” he said. “I came around the side of the house, and I shot him. I wanted to do it at the treasure tree, but it was too late by then. I had to shut him up, don't you see? I had to keep him from telling everybody about Sid. But the gun wouldn't fire again, and Rolo was lying there, kicking his feet and cursing. I picked up the pruning shears, and I—and I—”

“You finished him off,” Sabrina said. “And then you knew you had to provide yourself with an alibi. You called Mary Tubbs and asked her to get hold of Henley to see if he could come fix the water heater and call you right back to let you know. You called the Tittletott House and forwarded the calls to Missy's phone. When Mary—one of the biggest gossips on the island—”

“Excuse me—” Mary began, and was shushed impatiently.

“When Mary called back, you answered the phone, and she thought she had called you at the Tittletott House. You chatted with her, as Rolo died in the grass at your feet. After you hung up with Mary, Virginia called you from the school, which just improved your alibi.” Sabrina paused and the silence was complete except for the gentle washing of waves on the beach and the crackle of flames.

Calvin chattered excitedly.

Sabrina smiled, and stroked Calvin's small, quivering body. “If it wasn't for Calvin, I'm not sure I would have figured it out. He saw the murder, you see. The night of the murder, he was making strange noises that I didn't understand. One was the sound of the gun, but the other…the other was the sound of Missy's phone ringing, when Mary called Gary back.”

“It wasn't much of an alibi, but Gary never expected to be a suspect. It was an extra precaution, wasn't it, Gary?, because you didn't plan on anybody finding Rolo. You're a careful man, and you wanted to cover all your bases. You may or not have known that the police could find out the calls were forwarded from the hotel, but really, what reason did they have to subpoena phone records? The case against Brad looked pretty open and shut.

“When you hung up with Mary, you cleaned the pruning shears, put them back in the shed, and you dragged Rolo's body to Dock's boat. That was dangerous, because someone could have seen you from the water, but you were careful, and made sure no one was around. You put the body in the boat and covered it with a tarp, and rode your bike back to the house in your blond wig and tourist costume. In fact, you almost ran me over, and I didn't recognize you. You planned on coming back that night and taking Rolo's body out into the sound and dumping it. But Dock decided to go out in his boat that afternoon, and that was when it started to go bad. But you still had your alibi, and you planted the gun in Brad's room for extra protection.”

“I don't know why they didn't arrest him,” Gary said. “It was all his fault. I would have never done any of this if it wasn't for him. If only—” Gary's mouth shut with a snap, and Sabrina saw the small secret smile on his face.

“Jimmy,” Sabrina turned quickly to the police officer. “I suggest your officer at the Tittletott House warn Brad that Gary might have set him a trap—maybe a broken balcony rail, or his brake lines cut, or something like that. After all, the first attempt failed, didn't it, Gary?”

The secret smile vanished.

“First attempt?” Jimmy inquired.

“Gary tried to poison Brad right after the murder, I think,” Sabrina said. “That's why Brad was so sick. I suspect Brad's life expectancy would have been limited if Gary hadn't been caught. And where was he going tonight, disguised as Virginia, with two gallon jugs of gasoline? I have a feeling that he was going to tie up another loose end. Me.”

“But why, Gary?” Several people called out. “Why would you do such a thing?” Jimmy stepped forward and hauled Gary out of the dunking booth.

Gary stared at his neighbors, looking pitiful as he stood dripping in the sand. “He was always better than me,” he finally said. “I never could do anything right.”

Sabrina fished the crayon pictures out of her purse and held them up in the firelight. “Did you draw these, Gary? Back when you were a little boy, and you first started feeling like your best was never good enough, and that nobody was paying you any attention? Soon after that you started setting fires around town, trying to get attention. Isn't that right, Gary?”