Gunpowder Chowder (3 page)

Cal examined the café next. He removed the plywood covering the snack bar area. “This only needs a few new boards and a couple coats of paint. Let’s take a look at the inside.” He pulled on the door leading to the small space behind the snack bar. The bottom hinge broke, leaving the door hanging lopsided.

Cal tipped his head. “I think a new door will fix this problem.” Inside, everything looked ready for a new season. There were a half dozen tables with a view of the ocean and a small kitchen in the back. “A good scrub and you should be good to go. What next?”

Hannah pointed to the cottages in the back. “I haven’t been inside any of them yet but the last one looks to be in the worst shape.”

Jack was almost back to the cottages by the time Cal opened the door to cottage number four.

Hannah gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “That’s one of the men who was here yesterday.”

Cal rushed inside to check for a pulse even though by the looks of him, there was no life left in the crumpled body. A big splotch of red stained the blue polo shirt.

Chapter 3

Jack was on the phone.

Cal guided Hannah away from the scene to a picnic table next to the café.

“He was here yesterday,” she repeated. “Alive.” She sat with her legs splayed in front while leaning back against the table. The waves continued to wash in and out, the sun beat down, warming her head, but she couldn’t get rid of the image of the blood soaked polo shirt.

“Looks like Vern finally pushed the wrong person’s buttons.”

Hannah looked at Cal, her eyes wide. “All because he wanted this piece of property?”

“He did want this property but there are plenty of other reasons someone might want him dead. Pam will sort it all out. I hear the siren now.”

Hannah stood up, watching several police cars screech into her quiet spot. An ambulance followed. Too late for them to help, she thought. Jack motioned for a police woman to follow him to cottage number four.

“What’s going to happen now?” Hannah asked Cal.

He shrugged. “I suppose we’ll have to answer questions before we can leave. This is a crime scene. Do you have someplace else you can stay?”

“I’ll figure something out.” She didn’t have a clue what that something might be but her natural curiosity flipped on, making her determined to find out what happened in cottage number four. Her cottage. Her responsibility.

Jack and the police woman approached Hannah and Cal. Jack introduced Hannah to his daughter, Officer Pam Larson.

Hannah stared at the shotgun Officer Larson was holding, wondering where she found it.

“Is this your gun, Ms. Holiday?”

“Well, it was my Great Aunt Caroline’s gun. I guess it’s mine now.” Hannah thought it was an odd question. They should be gathering evidence and figuring out who murdered Vern instead of asking her about an old gun.

“Did you leave it inside the cottage where we found Vern Mason?”

Hannah’s head swiveled to look at the front of her cottage, cottage number one. She knew she left it leaning against the cottage after Vern and Chase left. Or did she bring it inside? “No,” she finally answered. “I left it over there.” She pointed to her cottage.

“Did you know the victim, Ms. Holiday?”

“No. Yes. I didn’t know him. He came here yesterday and introduced himself. Chase somebody or other was with him, too, and they were arguing.” Hannah felt Officer Larson’s eyes boring into her own. She looked away. What was happening?

“You’ll have to come to the police station and give a statement. I’m keeping the gun as evidence.”

“Evidence?” Hannah said, her voice barely a whisper.

Officer Pam Larson turned around, heading back to cottage number four. The covered body was wheeled out on a stretcher and the ambulance drove off. Silently.

She looked at Cal. “Does she think I shot Vern?”

Hannah felt his hand on her shoulder. The warmth seeped through her jacket. “Don’t worry. This will all get sorted out.”

“Sorted out?” Hannah slumped back onto the picnic table bench, all strength drained from her legs.

“Do you want me to take you to the police station?” Cal asked.

Hannah nodded. “I don’t even know where it is.”

Officer Larson returned, asking Hannah to follow her. Jack said he would keep an eye on Nellie. The drive to the police station was only about ten minutes but it sped by much too quickly for Hannah’s liking.

Cal tried to calm her nerves. “Pam is a fair person. Just tell her what you know. She needs to gather all the facts, and Vern
was
found on your property so it makes sense that she’s starting with you.”

Hannah nodded. She breathed in and out. Slowly. Letting the air work some magic to calm her fears. What did Great Aunt Caroline dump her into? Hannah’s mother had always warned her, don’t let Caroline suck you into her renegade life as an unmarried business woman. And not even a proper business in their mind, but what they called Caroline’s hippy snack shack and beach cottage rental business.

Cal pulled into a parking lot, breaking her from her memories. “I’ll go in with you.”

Hannah nodded.

The police station was a one story brick building, cold and sterile. It had none of the charm of the downtown buildings with their windows decorated for the Christmas season. A flag snapped in the wind, making Hannah jump.

Cal put his hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have anything to be worrying about, do you?”

“Right now? Maybe my future?”

“Just tell Pam what you know. She’s after the facts. Don’t let her blunt demeanor intimidate you. It’s how she is.”

“You keep telling me to tell her what I know. I arrived in Hooks Harbor yesterday. I don’t know anything!” Hannah’s voice raised to a near panic.

Cal explained at the front desk why they were there and Hannah was guided to an office in the back. Hannah stood in the doorway, waiting for Pam to give her instructions. Pam continued to type on her laptop without acknowledging Hannah’s presence.

Finally, she closed her computer and motioned for Hannah to sit in the only chair available. A wooden chair with a straight back. Pam rested her elbows on her desk and entwined her fingers, leaning slightly toward Hannah.

“So, tell me, Ms. Holiday, when did you arrive here in Hooks Harbor?”

“Yesterday morning.” Hannah forced herself to answer the question. Only the question. Without any unnecessary chatter even though with her nerves about to explode, her mouth threatened to babble.

“Walk me through your day.”

Hannah slowly and carefully tried to remember every detail. She started with meeting Jack, going to breakfast at his house, walking Nellie and seeing the man she thought was Chase walking toward her property. She told Pam about meeting Vern and Chase and how she heard Chase tell Vern he wouldn’t let Vern steal the property from him again.

Pam sat up straighter. “Do you remember the exact words?”

Hannah looked around the office. “Yes, he said, ‘just like her crazy aunt, but I won’t let you steal that property out from under me. Again.’ He was so angry, it sent chills up my spine when he said it.”

“Did you threaten them to leave?”

Hannah felt a rush of heat in her cheeks. “I was scared. I saw my great aunt’s gun leaning just inside the front door of her cottage. Well, it’s mine now.” She stared at Pam. “I didn’t even think about what I was doing, but I picked up the gun and walked back outside. I didn’t point it at them or anything. I just walked back outside and asked them to leave. That’s when I heard Chase’s words to Vern.”

“What time did all this happen?”

“I think it was late morning. I don’t know the exact time. After they left, I took Nellie for a walk on the beach to think about my next step with the café and cottages.” She paused. “I was trying to sort out if I was up for the task.”

“Did you figure it out?” Pam offered her first somewhat friendly smile but it looked forced.

Hannah laughed. “Yesterday I thought I had it figured out, but today?”

“Today?” Pam prompted.

“I don’t know anymore.”

“Did you see anyone else yesterday?”

Hannah sat forward. “Yes, I almost forgot. Last night, around nine or so, Nellie started to bark so I let her out. A couple of kids were walking from the beach toward the cottages, but when they saw me, they ran off.”

Hannah noticed Pam’s jaw clench several times. “We’ve had some problems with partying at your place when it was empty. What did you do with the gun after you threatened Vern and Chase?”

Hannah held her hands up, palms out. “I wouldn’t call it
threaten
. I told you before, I was holding the gun when I asked them to leave. After they left? I leaned it against the cottage I was staying in and forgot about it until I saw it in your hands earlier.”

“Did you go into the other cottages?”

“I walked around and looked in the windows but I didn’t have the energy to deal with anything but getting cottage number one cleaned up enough so I could be comfortable sleeping there.”

Officer Larson nodded and handed Hannah a business card. “Thank you for coming in. Here’s my contact information if you think of anything else.” She stared at Hannah meaningfully. “Anything.”

Hannah rose from the chair and turned toward the door, but before she walked out, she pivoted. “There is one more thing I just thought of. It’s probably nothing, but . . .”

Officer Larson nodded for her to continue.

“I heard a couple of loud booms this morning. Actually, the first one, more like a crack, woke me up. After I bumped into Cal, he said there was some blasting in town. The first one, the one that woke me up, sounded awfully close and different from the ones I heard when I was talking to Cal.”

“Did you investigate the noise when you heard it?”

“I went outside but didn’t see anything, then Nellie ran off and I followed her down the beach. At the time, Cal’s explanation made sense, but now, well, I wonder if it was the gunshot I heard.”

“What time was that? I can check if there was blasting going on when you heard the noise.”

Hannah crunched her mouth and looked at her watch. “I didn’t check the time, but working backwards, it’s almost noon now, it must have been around eight when I heard the first crack?”

“Thank you Ms. Holiday. Please don’t leave town.” Pam opened her laptop and Hannah assumed their meeting was over.

Cal was waiting in the parking lot, talking on his cell phone. He snapped it shut when he saw Hannah walk outside.

“All set?”

She nodded.

“Pam didn’t eat you for breakfast?” He checked the time. “Or lunch?”

Hannah smiled. “It was okay. Glad it’s behind me.”

He opened the passenger door of his pickup for Hannah, then jogged to the driver’s side and climbed in. “How about we stop at my place for some lunch.”

“Sure,” she answered since she had no idea where else she could go until the police were done investigating her place.

Cal drove through town and turned into a parking lot.

Hannah looked at him. “This is a marina.”

“Yup, it’s the Bayside Marina.” He parked his truck. “That’s my place,” he pointed, “the white boat with a blue top.”

“You live on a boat?” She tried to hide the shock in her voice but was completely unsuccessful.

Cal chuckled. “Yeah, I get that reaction all the time. Uh oh, here comes Chase Fuller, the owner, probably not someone you care to bump into after your meeting with him yesterday.”

“Well, well, well. Look who my least favorite tenant dragged in.” Chase scowled at Hannah. “I hope you left your shotgun home.”

Cal grinned. “Speaking of shotguns, Chase, where were you earlier this morning?”

“What kind of stupid question is that? Were you looking for me to finally pay your rent? You know I always take my jog on the beach from eight to nine.”

“Interesting. Right about the time Vern was shot.”

Chase’s eyebrows shot up out of sight under his shaggy hair. “What are you accusing me of?” With that, he turned and stormed off, turning his head a couple of times to glare at Hannah and Cal.

Chapter 4

Cal laughed out loud. “That certainly riled him up.”

“Do you know when Vern was shot?” Hannah asked.

“Not exactly, but when I opened the door and saw him, I don’t think it could have been much more than an hour before we arrived.” Cal led Hannah down the dock to his boat. “Watch your step.” He reached for her hand but she jumped gracefully from the main dock to the back of his boat. “Go ahead into the cabin and I’ll see what I can find for us to eat.”

Hannah opened the door. The cabin was small but tidy and cozy. The left side had a long, cushy L-shaped bench seat surrounding a table on two sides. The right side of the cabin had a small counter, sink, and stove. A refrigerator was nestled under the counter. Beyond all of that, in the front of the boat was the sleeping area. You wouldn’t be able to stand there, but you could sit up.