Mobsters and Lobsters (A Hooked & Cooked Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) (9 page)

Without thinking, Hannah rushed toward Petunia, furious that the detective even considered shooting the defenseless pig. In one scoop, she had Petunia in her arms and carried the squealing pig away from the snack bar. “You ought to be ashamed,” she scolded the detective.

“Well, get it out of here. Next time, I won’t give a warning.” The detective glared at Hannah. “What’s your name?”

“Hannah Holiday,” she said loud and clear, but knowing deep down that this would come back to haunt her.

“Oh, Petunia. Are you all right?” Pearl glared at the group of detectives. Hannah could see that she was shaking with anger. “Hannah, you saved my baby. I’ll be indebted to you forever.” Pearl took Petunia and kissed her head. She attached the leash and walked back to Rocky. “Are you just a dumb coward? Why didn’t you rush in and save Petunia?”

Rocky flicked his wrist. “It’s only a pig. We coulda had her for dinner.”

Pearl slapped Rocky on the cheek. “You stupid kid. You’d better watch your tongue or—”

Rocky cut her off and hissed, “Be quiet Nana before you say something—” His eyes darted to all the other people watching their drama. “Before you say something you can’t take back.” The scent of sweat lingered in the air as he stomped away from Pearl and passed close to Hannah.

Sherry left the office and headed straight for Hannah. “You’ve certainly made a mess of my vacation. I wanted a scenic quiet spot to relax and,” she waved her hand around, “all it is here is chaos, pigs, and murder! Don’t expect me to pay for this. I’m letting you know right now that I’m demanding a refund.”

“So you’ll be checking out? I’ll refund the unpaid balance,” Hannah said, trying to remain calm.

“No, I’m not checking out. I’m not allowed to leave this . . . this . . . this
joke
of a vacation paradise. I expect a refund for the whole week I prepaid.” Sherry stood with one hand on her hip and jabbed the finger of her other hand in Hannah’s face.

“Unbelievable,” Hannah replied under her breath as she turned her back on Sherry. What had she gotten herself into, dealing with psycho guests like this nut case? Was it true that the customer was always right? Hannah didn’t think so. Not in this case when the events were completely out of her control.

Pam motioned for Hannah to join her in the office. “Not how I expected to start my day. How about you, Ms. Holiday?” Pam closed the door behind Hannah.

Hannah didn’t even feel that comment warranted an answer so she sat and waited.

Pam sat in Hannah’s chair with her elbows on Hannah’s desk and her hands clasped together. “You found the body?” Pam stared.

“Technically, I think it was Petunia who found the body.”

“The pig?”

“Yes.”

Pam jotted down a quick note.

Hannah imagined it said something like,
smart aleck witness, probably the murderer.

“How did the pig get loose?” Pam leaned back in the chair. “I was under the impression that the pig would be under control while it was a,” she cleared her throat, “a guest here.”

“Apparently, Petunia figured out how to open the cottage door. It won’t happen again,” Hannah promised.

Pam’s left brow rose. “I hope not.” She paused.

The silence made Hannah nervous. What did Pam already know?

Pam leaned forward. “You were the first
person
to find the body?”

“No. That would be Sherry Wolfe, my guest staying in Cottage Three. I heard a scream and assumed Sherry was startled by Petunia until she pointed to the legs sticking out from under the snack bar.”

“But
you
called 911.”

“I did. Sherry told me to call.”

Pam scribbled some more notes.

Blames other people for actions
, Hannah imagined Pam writing.

“Do you know who the deceased is, Ms. Holiday?”

Ahh, Hannah thought, now Pam was getting down to the nitty gritty. She sighed. “I believe it’s Lenny DiMarco, my guest who was supposed to be staying in Cottage Two. The guest who rented the boat that capsized.”

Pam pursed her lips. “And why do you
believe
it’s Mr. DiMarco? Did you crawl under the shed and get a good look at him?”

“No. The shorts were familiar and—”

Pam dipped her head and looked at Hannah over the rim of her glasses. “And what, Hannah?”

The interruption and name switch was not lost on Hannah. Was Pam trying to sound friendlier to get more information? Who knew, but it was time for Hannah to come clean. She sighed and looked at her hands. “Ruby recognized him.”

“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” Pam jotted down a few more comments. “Do you want to keep playing this cat and mouse game or are you going to tell me everything you know? I
will
find out eventually, and if your sister is in trouble, the sooner we get to the bottom of this mess, the better for her.”

“Honestly, I don’t know much. Ruby only told me that she knew Lenny a couple of days ago. She’s afraid of him but it’s her story to share. I do have something else though.”

“Lenny DiMarco’s camera?” Pam asked.

“Well, yes. He left it in here.” Hannah pointed behind the chair Pam sat in to a black camera bag. “But there’s more.” She pulled the folded paper from her pocket. “I found this outside a few minutes ago.” She smoothed the map out on her desk and slid it close to Pam. “I think this is what brought Lenny to Hooks Harbor and possibly what he was looking for under my snack bar.”

Pam studied the map. “A treasure map? Are you daft?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Your dad has a map like this that I found in my Great Aunt Caroline’s things after I moved in. He planned to study it but I think it’s been forgotten until now.”

Pam flicked the map away. “I’m more interested in your guests. What can you tell me about Pearl Martini and her grandson? That was an interesting crew visiting her the other day. Not exactly the type of visitors Hooks Harbor is used to.” Pam tilted her head. “I’m not done looking into their stories.”

“Pearl was a friend of Great Aunt Caroline’s when they were kids. Jack remembers her.”

“And?”

“She has a treasure map, too. She claims Caroline sent it to her.” Hannah leaned forward. “But here’s the weird part. She got the letter with the map a year
after
Caroline died.”

“So she told you?”

“That’s right. At the time I had no reason
not
to believe her. Your father told me Pearl’s first husband, Tony Amato, had ties to the mob. And he’s in town, too. Doesn’t it seem like too much of a coincidence that all these people arrived with the same goal in mind?”

“What goal? To kill Lenny DiMarco?”

“No. To find a buried treasure.”

Pam looked at Hannah for several seconds before she started to laugh. “You’re joking, right? I really don’t have time for this baloney.” Pam stood up. “Send your sister in next, Ms. Holiday.”

Hannah stared in disbelief. Officer Pam Larson never liked Hannah from the first day she met her, but this was important information connected to a murder investigation. How could she be so flippant and dismissive about it? Ruby was headed for serious trouble if her freedom depended on Pam to connect all the dots to solve Lenny’s murder.

Pearl owed Hannah a favor for saving Petunia’s life, and now she was more determined than ever to cash in on it.

Chapter 11

Friday morning dragged into Friday afternoon with little hope of the police clearing out before the school bus dropped Olivia off from school. Finally, Officer Pam Larson finished questioning everyone. Lenny’s body was gone but the yellow police tape remained around the snack bar. The yellow tape of death for Lenny DiMarco
and
Hannah’s snack bar grand opening.

Ruby was despondent. She told Pam everything—the truth about her relationship with Lenny; that Lenny was Olivia’s dad; that she had visited Lenny, at his request, earlier in the week; and how she spent the last five years running away from him. “It’s not looking good,” she told Hannah. “Every time Pam scribbled down some notes, it felt like a nail sealing my fate as the prime murder suspect.”

Hannah squeezed Ruby’s shoulder. “You had to come clean with Pam and there’s no time to dwell on it. Let’s move on. I invited Pearl over for coffee. We need to get her on board with your situation and find out who the short fat guy is. Pearl owes me.” Hannah measured coffee for her coffee machine and got it started.

Ruby stayed slumped in the chair. “Olivia will be out of school soon so I’ll take her back to our house and stay out of your way. I don’t want her to get wind of any of this Lenny mess. I’ll have to explain it to her someday, but I can’t think about that conversation at the moment.”

“Before you go, let’s look through all the photos you downloaded from Lenny’s camera. Pam took the camera bag and I forgot to tell her we kept copies of the images.” Hannah grinned. “Oops, my bad.”

Meg knocked on the partly opened door and the smell of seafood filled the room as she entered. “I brought you some food. With all that police tape around the snack bar, we may as well dig into these lobster rolls so they don’t go to waste.”

Hannah imagined the taste of the sweet lobster morsels as soon as Meg mentioned it. Her mouth watered. “You always drop in at the right time with something delicious to eat.”

The three women sat around Hannah’s table. Eating occupied their mouths for several minutes. Hannah placed the last quarter of her lobster roll on her plate, sat back, and sighed. “Oh man. That’s a special treat. How did you know that was exactly what we needed now, Meg?”

Meg chuckled. “Everyone’s the same. Food distracts us from all the stress and worry in our lives. If I wasn’t always on my feet running all over the place, this,” she patted her own stomach, “would be out here with all the comfort eating I do.” Her arms extended in a circle in front of her lap.

“Yeah, right. You’ll never have a weight problem. You and your twin brother Michael couldn’t put on weight if you tried. I think you both must have the skinny gene,” Hannah said with envy lacing her voice.

“Speaking of Michael,” Meg said after she licked her fingers. “He told me some interesting characters have been hanging around his Pub and Pool Hall. He made sure to tell me to mention it to you. Seems he overheard your name pop up in a couple of the conversations.”

“Oh? They wouldn’t be scruffy mobster creeps by any chance? Four older men driving Cadillacs and one young stud who thinks his only job here on the planet is to drive women crazy?”

Ruby stood up. “Who could you be describing, Hannah? Is Rocky Amato working his charms on you? I thought I saw you flirting with him earlier.” She laughed as she walked to the door. “I wish I didn’t have to leave this fascinating conversation, but the bus is almost here. Call me later and fill me in.” She waved on her way out.

Meg watched Hannah. “You seem to know who Michael was referring to. Quite the description, especially about the young stud. Friends of yours?” Meg asked.

“I know who Michael was talking about, but I wouldn’t even go as far as to say I
know
them. And they certainly are no friends of mine. You know the woman in Cottage Two? Pearl Martini?”

Meg nodded. “Can’t miss her with that purple hair and red sports car. And her pig. Is that mob with her?”

“Mob is right. I’ve heard they actually have ties to the mob, or at least, Pearl’s ex-husband
had
ties. What were they doing at the pool hall?”

Meg shrugged. “It’s a great place for creeps like them to hang out without bringing too much attention to themselves. Michael might not have paid as much notice if your name hadn’t come up. Several times.”

Hannah opened Ruby’s iPad. “Let me show you something. I think this is the key to all that’s happening.” Hannah brought up the images of the map.

Meg slid her reading glasses from the top of her head down to rest on her nose. “I’d be lost without these. Okay, let me take a look at this.” She pulled the iPad closer. “This looks familiar. Did Caroline have a map like this?”

“She did. Jack has it now. What do you think? Did Caroline ever talk about a treasure buried around here?” Hannah leaned closer to Meg to keep her eye on the map while Meg studied it.

Meg pulled her glasses off and chewed on one arm. “You know? She did mention something, but more in an off-handed, joking way. As I recall, she said something like—
wouldn’t it be funny to convince people there was a buried treasure around here? What scoundrels would that attract?
I thought it was a gimmick she concocted to bring in more business.”

“Looks like it worked. I wonder if she expected it to bring in a murderer, too,” Hannah said. She flipped the cover over the iPad and pushed her chair away from Meg.

“We might be able to find out something interesting at the Pub and Pool Hall.” Meg grinned at Hannah. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Probably. Tonight would be just perfect to make a visit. Check out the local flavors, and the not-so-local trash.”

“What time should I pick you up?” Meg asked.