Cruel Capers on the Caribbean: A Kate on Vacation Mystery (The Kate on Vacation mysteries) (7 page)

“The man has made it to forty-five with a perfect driving record?” Skip’s voice mirrored Kate’s skepticism.

“I could keep digging but I doubt I’ll find anything. I think his identity is a fake.”

“Okay,” Skip said, “that moves him way up our suspect list.”

Our suspect list?

Kate hid a grin. Her husband was hooked.

S
kip divvied up assignments. “Kate, you take Spencer. Rob will go with you, uh, as a deterrent against the woman trying anything.” The two men exchanged a look.

Kate opted to pretend she hadn’t seen it, even though she could readily translate.
Keep her out of trouble if you can.

“Liz and I will check out Fredericks.”

Kate and Rob headed for Deck 7, where Susan Spencer’s cabin was located.

The center of the ship was open with banks of glass-walled elevators on each side. On one end, was a wide, carpeted stairway, with broad landings at each deck. Half-partitions of glass, topped by polished wooden railings, separated the landings from the open central area.

They positioned themselves on the Deck 7 landing, at the end of the corridor leading to Ms. Spencer’s door. The woman would have to cross in front of them to either take the stairs or one of the elevators down to the main dining room.

“I’ll get us a couple glasses of wine, for cover,” Rob said. He headed for one of the many bars scattered throughout the ship.

Kate stood by the glass half-partition and rested one forearm on the wood railing. She glanced down. Three decks below, tables and lounge chairs were scattered around the main lobby, beside yet another bar. On a small stage, a slightly over-the-hill woman in an evening gown was crooning fifties-era popular tunes while her tuxedo-clad partner tapped out the melodies on a baby grand piano. Three couples swayed on the tiny dance floor. Others were trickling into the lounge, seeking pre-dinner drinks.

Rob had no sooner returned and handed her a glass of chardonnay than Ms. Spencer’s door opened. They pretended to be watching the dancers below as she walked past them and headed down the stairs. Following at a discreet distance, they soon found themselves at the entrance to the main dining room.

Ms. Spencer crossed the room and joined a table occupied only by women.

“We’re waiting for our friends,” Rob told the maitre d’ when he tried to direct them toward their table.

They stood near the doorway. Rob glanced at his watch and put on an impatient look. Kate was impressed. She hadn’t known he was such a good actor.

After a few minutes, she came to the conclusion that Susan Spencer knew most of the people at her table. They were chatting and laughing like old friends, not like people who had just met. “I have an idea. I’m going to ask if I can join them, tell them I had a fight with my husband.”

Rob cocked his head for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll go on to our table and keep an eye on you from there.”

Twenty minutes later, Kate noticed Skip and Liz were now sitting at their table. She wondered what they’d found out about Fredericks.

After the main course had been served and eaten, Kate patted her lips with her napkin and stood up. “Guess it’s time to make up. No point in being pissed at him for the rest of our vacation.”

The ladies nodded their agreement. “Don’t let him off too easy now,” Susan Spencer said.

Kate smiled at her. “I won’t. Thanks for letting me join you, ladies.”

Back at her own table, she took the vacant chair next to Skip. She turned slightly away from him and whispered out of the corner of her mouth, “I’m pretending to be mad at you.”

He gave her a small nod.

As they ate dessert in silence, she glanced around the table. The daughter part of the mother-daughter team was staring across the dining room. Kate followed her line of vision.

Clem sat several tables away, poking at his plate and ignoring the buzz of conversation around him. Kate was surprised that he hadn’t ordered room service, but also glad that he was at least trying to remain a part of the human race. She didn’t believe Cora had committed suicide, but she wasn’t so sure that Clem wasn’t capable of it under the current circumstances.

She looked back at the young woman across from her. There was a small smile on the girl’s face as she watched Clem. Kate resisted the temptation to point out that catching a man on the rebound from a dead lover was not an auspicious way to start a relationship.

Dessert disposed of, the group quickly said their goodnights to their table mates, then headed for Deck 10.

Once out of earshot of other people, Kate said, “Susan Spencer is traveling with a group of friends. She was late booking because she wasn’t sure she would be able to get away from work. I don’t think she’s our killer.”

“Fredericks got room service,” Liz said. “We only got a glimpse of him when the kitchen delivered his tray.”

“Looks his age and then some,” Skip said. “Fair number of wrinkles. Dark hair, salt and pepper mustache. Average height and build.”

Liz turned and stared at him, eyes wide in exaggerated amazement. “Like I said, we only got a glimpse.” Then her face sobered. “He looked pretty tense to me.”

“Why the hell would a man go on a cruise by himself and then get room service?” Rob asked.

“Maybe he caught Cora’s cold,” Liz said.

Kate started to laugh at what she assumed was a tongue-in-cheek comment. Then she stopped walking. The others turned toward her. “He very well might have, if he’s the one who killed her.”

~~~~~~~~

T
he next day was another “Fun Day at Sea” according to their itinerary, but the Franklins and Canfields weren’t focused on having fun. They were focused on solving a murder.

Over breakfast, Skip said, “We need to talk to Clem, and track down that Dr. Hudson.”

“We may not find him,” Kate said. “They were calling for him to come to the purser’s desk yesterday, right after we set sail. He and his wife may have missed the boat.”

Skip nodded. “I’ll check with the purser and catch up with you all in a little while.”

When they finished eating, the threesome went to locate Clem.

He wasn’t all that hard to find. Once again, he was sitting at a table on deck, staring into a cup of coffee.

“Have you had breakfast?” Kate said as they sat down.

Clem shook his head without looking up. “Not hungry.”

“Cora wouldn’t want you to... fall apart over her. She’d want you to go on.”

Clem’s head snapped up. “How the hell would you know what Cora would want? You hardly knew her.”

He dropped his head again and covered his eyes with one hand. “I’m sorry. She would read me the riot act for that.”

“No, you’re right,” Kate said. “It’s just something people say at times like this. But I do know that Cora loved you. I think she’d want you to take care of yourself.”

He was silent. The hand covering his eyes shook.

“Clem,” Liz said, “we don’t think Cora’s death is going to be investigated.”

“It looks like it may fall through some jurisdictional cracks,” Rob said.

Clem’s hand dropped away. He stared at them.

Kate patted his arm. “We’re going to try to piece together what happened. Rob’s a lawyer and my husband’s a private investigator.”

Clem seemed to perk up. “Really?”

Kate nodded. “I thought about what you said, that Cora wouldn’t commit suicide because of her daughter. Carrie needs to know, one way or the other, what happened to her mother. But if the killer turns out to be her stepfather, is there other family to take her in?”

Clem shook his head. “Cora’s father’s still alive but he’s in his seventies. I’ll...” He stopped and cleared his throat. “I’ll take care of Carrie. I’ve been living with her and Cora for almost a year. She’s a good kid, just going through a wild phase. Hell, even if Bill isn’t the murderer, I may fight him for custody.”

Kate cringed inside but she kept her expression neutral. Just what the girl didn’t need, another custody battle.

She studied Clem’s face. Something was nagging at her.

Rob leaned forward. “The day Cora died, are you sure you never talked to her in person?”

Clem’s brow furrowed, then he shook his head slightly. “The last day I spoke to her in person was, what? Monday? The day after we set sail, and we had the big fight. When I saw you all on deck.” He glanced from Kate to Liz. “She was right. I was rude that day. I apologize, ladies.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “You really are true friends, if you’re willing to try to find her killer.” He ducked his head. His shoulders shook.

Liz patted his arm this time. “You said you got a voicemail from her that day. Did you save it?”

Clem nodded. He pulled a slim phone out of his pants pocket, tapped on it a couple times, and held it out.

Rob took it and listened. He handed the phone to Liz. She examined it for a moment, then hit a few buttons. “Here’s the date and time of the message. She must have called right after she talked to you, Kate.”

A stifled sob escaped from Clem’s throat. He dropped his gaze to the table. “I’m sorry.”

Kate put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “It’s okay.”

Skip walked up. He hesitated, then said to Kate, “You were right. The Hudsons missed the boat in New Orleans.”

Clem looked up in confusion.

“Dr. Hudson said he saw you and Cora arguing on the day she died,” Kate said. “We were going to try to pin him down, time and place-wise.”

Clem shook his head. “I didn’t argue with her. I didn’t see her that day. Last time I talked to her....” He broke off. Burying his face in his hands, he rocked back and forth in his chair. “Cora, Cora, I’m so sorry!”

He looked up at them, his eyes haunted. “The last two times we talked, I was mad at her.”

Kate squeezed his shoulder again.

Skip’s expression was grim. “Clem, we’re gonna do our damnedest to find out what happened to her.”

Despite what had just registered in her brain, Kate’s heart swelled. She gave her husband a small smile as she stood up. Then she turned her gaze back to Clem.

He was once again staring at the table.

“Clem...”

He looked up. His eyes were brown so it was hard to be sure, but his pupils seemed dilated. Had he lied to Cora about bringing drugs on board? Or had he found a supplier amongst the staff?

“What?” he said.

“Get something to eat.” Kate turned away.

“Take care of yourself,” Liz said as she and Rob rose from the table.

Clem merely nodded, his gaze back on his coffee cup.

Once out of earshot, Skip said in a low voice, “Fredericks was two people behind me in line at the passenger relations desk. I was going to wait ’til he finished whatever business he had there, then talk to him. But when I turned around after asking about the Hudsons, he was gone.”

“Let’s see if we can find him,” Kate said.

“Where should we look?” Rob asked.

She shrugged. “I guess we just wander around.”

Skip nodded. “Too dangerous to go knock on his door, especially since we haven’t got a good reason to do so. But if we see him around the ship, we can try to start up a conversation.”

They didn’t find Fredericks. He found them. “Good morning,” he said from behind them as they were strolling near the pool area. They all turned. “How are you folks doing today?” His tone was far more cheerful than his appearance–a navy windbreaker with the Carousel Cruises logo on one shoulder over new-looking blue jeans. His mouth was the only part of his face that was smiling.

Skip stuck out his hand. “Skip Canfield.”

After only the slightest of hesitations–so slight Kate wondered if she’d imagined it–the man extended his own hand to shake Skip’s. “David Fredericks. Are you all having a good time?”

They all murmured that they were. The guy was definitely American but Kate couldn’t detect any regional dialect.

“So what have you folks been up to?” The false cheerful tone seemed to be getting harder to maintain.

“Playing tourist, enjoying the pampering,” Liz said.

Looking for a killer
, Kate added in her head.
Could it be you?

“What’s your favorite part so far?”

“Cozumel,” Kate and Rob said at the same time.

Kate glanced at him, but his eyes were on their suspect.

“What’s your favorite part?” Liz asked.

“Oh, I think it would have to be the food.” Fredericks patted his slight paunch and let out a fake chuckle.

Then why are you getting room service?
Kate wanted to ask. She doubted it was as good as the food at the buffet or in the dining room.

While she was trying to figure out how to couch that question without giving away that they’d been spying on him, Fredericks asked another one of his own. “I heard you inquiring about the Hudsons. They friends of yours?”

“We only know them in passing,” Skip said.

“If that’s the case, why were you asking about them?”

Kate narrowed her eyes at the man.
Why are you asking about why we were asking about them?

Rob spoke up. “We were just curious about the ship’s procedures. We heard them being paged yesterday afternoon, and wondered if that meant they’d missed the boat.”

That’s kinda lame.

But it was no more lame than the rest of this strange conversation, and Kate couldn’t think of any better fib to tell the man.

“Do you know the Hudsons?” Skip asked.

Another minimal hesitation. Kate was fairly sure she wasn’t imagining it.

“Also only in passing. I met them on a previous cruise. They probably don’t remember me. How about that Cora Beall and her boyfriend, you know them well?”

“We had struck up a shipboard friendship with them,” Rob said, “before she was killed.”

“Yeah, that was a real shame. I heard a rumor the boyfriend did it.”

Kate winced. Time to squash that rumor if she could. “The captain seems to think it was suicide.”

Fredericks turned to her. His dark eyes bore into hers for a couple seconds.

Then the fake smile was back. “Well, you all have a wonderful day.” He turned on his heel and walked away.