Death of a Hot Chick (11 page)

“
You mean because of her
note?”

Kaye stepped away from the bench. “Mother
called last night. She’d heard about Nicole’s unfortunate
death.”

“
And you told her I found the
body.”

“
That may have been mentioned, but
mothers seem to know these things. I merely confirmed that we are
helping the police with their investigation.”

Which we weren’t. But Kaye was in full
warning mode, so I asked, “When is she coming?”

“
Let’s discuss it all later. We have
an appointment at ten fifteen.”

I could have pointed out that the relaxing
Sunday she promised me was nowhere in sight. Instead, I muttered,
“Why am I not surprised?”

Chapter 8

10:15 A.M.

When we got into her car, I didn’t bother
asking Kaye where we were headed. Even before she pulled up at
Bayside Marina, I knew we’d be looking at boats for Mr. Joline’s
charity. Her first words confirmed my fear.

“
We need a list of boats that will
give us the best possibilities for use by the
handicapped.”

“
I don’t get it. What does Total
Living Futures have to do with boats?”

“
Actually, there is some thought
behind the name of the charity. It has to do with the total
environment for the handicapped so they may live their lives as
their non-handicapped neighbors do. As you mentioned, horseback
riding has become an accepted way to improve the lives of the
handicapped. Mr. Joline suggests similar benefits would derive
from—“

”
Do you believe all that? I mean about
the boats?”

“
That is beside the point. We’ll
select at least five boat types.”

“
Five? You’re really going to do it?
Even though you know it’s a stupid idea?”

“
Perhaps the idea seems stupid to you,
but....” She hesitated, then added, “That consideration is
completely irrelevant. When I uncover his duplicity, not to mention
the murder of his daughter....”

“
I get it. Don’t be such a professor.”
But Kaye was already on her way.

We cruised the marina, jotting down
the names of one sailboat,
three trawlers, and one
go-fast power boat to study further, but murder remained on my
mind.

I trailed Kaye as she headed for the parking
lot, talking more to myself than to me. “Nicole wrote the note, but
why? She sent me after him....” She looked at me. “She obviously
believed her father capable of murder. Although you found the note,
I’m assuming that originally she wrote it for herself. Possibly as
a form of validation.”

“
Well, sure.” Instead of opening
Kaye’s car door, I said, “I’ll see you later. I’m headed for
Snapdragon
.”

“
Come with me first. I promised Mr.
Joline I’d report at the earliest opportunity,” Kaye told me as she
opened her door.

“
He’s expecting you on a
Sunday?”

“
Probably not,” she said. “But we are
investigating a murder. I’ll have you back in no time at all. Or,
perhaps you’d like to stop over for lunch.”

I could handle lunch with Kaye. Especially
if it included one of her amazing desserts. I got in, pulled the
visor down, checked the mirror. I tried to pat my hair into place,
but that didn’t help much. I pushed the visor back. “Maybe Mr.
Joline isn’t even home.”

Kaye continued driving. She didn’t speak
until after she pulled up in front of a large home with a sloping
lawn, evergreen trees, shrubs, but no flowers. “I told him I’d
bring an expert on boats.”

“
I’m the expert?”

“
Yes.” As she preceded me up the walk,
she added, “Beef up your résumé if he asks.”

“
Résumé? I have a résumé?”

“
Experience, then. Actually, I want
you to see the man at home—and his wife if possible. After we
leave, I’d like your opinion. In light of Nicole’s note, you
understand. Did she really fear her father that much? I can’t
accept that she would have killed him, but, did he kill
her?”

“
Am I supposed to do psychic tricks
now?”

“
No,” Kaye said. “I’d ask the same of
anyone. A second opinion, if you will.”

A small woman opened the door. “Yes?” she
said. “Oh, you’re....”

“
I’m Kaye Schroder, Mrs. Joline,” Kaye
said, holding out a hand to shake. Mrs. Joline stepped back and
pulled her hand to her chest. Kaye tipped her head and reclaimed
her hand. “This is Cyd Denlinger, the marine expert your husband
wants to see.”

“
Oh. Yes, of course. Come this way,
please.”

As Mrs. Joline turned and scuttled down the
hall, I said, “Non-related expert, I assume?”

Quietly, Kaye said, “I do not wish to hear
any nepotism complaints.”

We were ushered into Edward Joline’s
presence, which was the only way to put it. Mrs. Joline all but
bowed before him. “This is the marine expert.” Mrs. Joline
fluttered her hands and opened her mouth, but no name came out.

“
Cyd Denlinger,” Kaye said.

“
And...”

“
And I know Kaye,” he said brusquely.
“You needn’t introduce her.”

As his wife backed away, Kaye said, “Won’t
you stay, Mrs. Joline? I value your input to this committee.”

“
Why thank you,” she said,
beaming.

Her husband was not beaming, but he did
allow his wife to remain. “Young lady, what qualifies you as an
expert?”

“
Boost your résumé,” Kaye had said.
“I’ve worked around boats all my life. I’ve owned a sailboat, and
now own a trawler. As a commercial captain, I have helped a few
handicapped people board boats, so I’m aware of the problems. For
instance, a boat with a high freeboard is difficult for even an
able-bodied person to board if there isn’t some external access
such as a gangplank, or, alternately, a well-supported swim
platform with a door that can be opened.”

“
Yes, yes,” he said, with absolutely
no indication that he’d seen me at his committee meeting. “I
understand.” He turned to Kaye. “You must have a report. What is
it?”

“
We’ve selected five boats for further
study.” Kaye presented her list. “One sailboat....”

“
Surely there must be
more.”

“
Probably,” I said, then loaded up
with more buzz words like I was striving for an “A” in Language
Arts. “We chose five different configurations that should cover
most of the available boats in Smith Harbor. After researching
these types, you will need the individual owners’ permissions
before pursuing approval.” I couldn’t help adding a bit of personal
opinion. “Let’s face it, many owners will not be
interested.”

Kaye broke in. “I believe that may be a
problem we’ll have to address. I suggest we start the project with
a PR program that will increase the interest among boat
owners.”

“
Excellent idea. We’ll start with my
boat. Outfit it, parade it in front of all those namby-pamby owners
who don’t want to provide access to the less fortunate.”

“
Do you have a boat?” I asked—in my
role as the unaware boat expert. “What boat is that?”

“
Used to be my daughter’s boat. It’s
mine now.”

I shot a you-handle-this-one glance at
Kaye.

Fortunately, she picked up the slack. “We’ll
check it out. Definitely.”

Mrs. Joline squeaked little, “Oh,” and held
her hand up to her lips. “But dear, I don’t think she’d give....”
Edward Joline turned to her with thunder in his eyes. His wife
didn’t say another word.

“
What don’t you think, Mrs. Joline?” I
asked. “I’d like to know, as a maritime expert.”

Mrs. Joline smiled, stood, and said, “I
quite forget what I think. I do that all the time. Please excuse
me.” She left the room.

“
I’ve upset her,” I said.

“
Oh, no,” the relieved tyrant of a
husband said. “She doesn’t know anything about my charity work. I’m
really sorry to expose you to this, but her memory isn’t what it
used to be. You understand, I’m sure.”

It wasn’t until we’d reached Kate’s kitchen
that she said, “So what do you think of that family?”

“
For one thing, I think our lawyer
hasn’t done anything with those papers I signed.”

“
That is one reason I wanted to see
him today. I was quite sure Jonathan was more interested in his
golf game than your title.” She opened the refrigerator, poked
inside, and said, “Looks like we’ll have tuna salad.”

“
What if he had already filed the
papers and even talked to Mr. Joline? And what will Mr. Joline do
when he does find out?”

Kaye set a bowl on the table. She had that
glazed look that meant, “Shall we deal with this later?” What she
said was, “Do you have any new opinion of Mr. Joline?”

“
He definitely could have killed
Nicole. He expects obedience, and Nicole didn’t strike me as that
type.”

“
Not as an adult,” Kaye said. “When I
first met Nicole she was a cowering, immature, gawky
child.”

“
Yeah, you’ve told me
before.”

But Kaye continued like I hadn’t said a
word, yakking non-stop while she tore lettuce into bits.

I grabbed the plates and said, “Stop. Tell
me something new, like Mr. Joline’s duplicity you want to uncover.
Exactly why did Nicole send you after her father?”

Kaye turned with a piece of lettuce in each
hand. “I could say, ‘Maybe I was just thinking aloud.’ ”

I nodded.

“
Which I was, of course.” She sighed a
“you-got-me kind of sigh” and continued. “Nicole was convinced her
father’s main charity was himself. She asked me to infiltrate, if
you will, and try to find his financial records. That was also why
she was buying up stock in his foundation.”

“
Have you found any records with
proof?”

Kaye shook her head and went back to
shredding lettuce. “The appointed finance committee only handles
money coming in.”

I put the silverware on the table.

“
When Nicole was a child, her father
controlled her completely. Her mother, as you can see, was
absolutely no help. She was as bad off as Nicole. Worse, because
she never left.”

“
Well, hardly worse. Nicole’s
dead.”

“
There is such a thing as a living
death.”

I doubted that Nicole preferred her real
death, but I wasn’t about to argue. “And now he wants my boat.”

“
Sounds like you are
correct.”

“
So, maybe he killed Nicole for the
boat.”

Kaye placed folded napkins under the forks
I’d laid out. “Of course not. No one knew she’d signed it over to
you. It had to be more than that.”

“
If looks could kill, he’s done
everyone in already.” I filled glasses with milk and added, “He
didn’t do it. Nicole was soaking wet. She must have been drowned.
How could a father hold his daughter under water until she was
dead?”

“
Personally, I don’t think anyone
could do that. But obviously, someone did.”

Since I’d find no jobs on a Sunday at
Bayside Marina, I had the entire afternoon to work on
Snapdragon
. I turned onto my dock and
saw Lizzie sitting on my deck box.

“
That guy was here again.”

“
Lizzie, do you mean the man who was
inside? I’ve changed the combination. He didn’t get in again, did
he?”

“
Saw him from a ways back. He tried to
open your door. Good thing I hustled over here. He turned tail for
sure. Didn’t look good. Thought he might come back, so I just hung
around a little.”

“
You’re protecting my boat! Oh,
Lizzie.”

“
Well, maybe. He did scoot when he saw
me. But I ain’t much protection. Just sitting here, minding my own
business, that’s what I’m doing.”

I knew better. “Come on inside and tell me
about it. I have a couple of cookies just waiting for us.”
Fortunately, they were Kaye’s.

“
Wasn’t anything, really. I’m not that
hungry, but I’ll take one of those cookies if you don’t
mind.”

Inside, I opened my cupboard. “It was the
same man you saw before? What’s he look like again?”

“
Oh, I’ve seen him around. Sorta
young, you know. Maybe your age, maybe a little older. You could
ask Wes who he is. Maybe he knows.”

I handed Lizzie a cookie, and without
mentioning I’d already tried that, sat down with my own cookie.
“Perhaps a bit more description will help Wes. Hair color, height,
anything more about his clothes?”

“
About maybe five foot, eight.
Scrawny. Brown hair that needs a comb, sure enough. Jeans with
holes that didn’t come from any teen-age, what you call, boutique
place.”

“
I’ll ask Wes if he knows a guy like
that.”

“
He ain’t here.”

“
He’s.... That’s right. It’s Sunday.”
Whack my head, I thought. “Nobody’s here.” The guy Lizzie saw knew
that, he’d counted on it. He might come back. I’d work on the boat
the rest of the day, for absolutely certain. “I’ll talk to Wes
tomorrow.”

“
Yep,” Lizzie said. “I’d do
that.”

I finished my cookie and poured two glasses
of water. “Anything else you remember about the guy?”