Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 03 - Secrets at Sea (24 page)

Tom did the same and went to the door and opened it.

Leslie Mitchell stood there. She was dressed in tan Capris, a black tank top, and tennis shoes. It was strange attire for two o’clock in the morning. Her face looked haggard, with puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

“Carmelita said you can help me!” she said, as she fell into Tom’s arms.

Chapter 28

I helped Tom bring her into the room. We set her on the couch.

“What’s the matter, Mrs. Mitchell?” I asked.

She grabbed her face in her hands and sobbed.

Tom sat down next to her and looked at me.

“Leslie!” I shouted.

She looked up.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Melvin’s dead.”

“What?” Tom and I said together.

She nodded.

Tom stood. “How did he die?”

“We ate in a little café in Puerto Vallarta. We always eat there. It’s a tradition. We both order the fish tacos, but I ate fish for dinner last night and didn’t want it again for lunch. Melvin loves fish and he especially loves fish tacos.”

“Okay, what happened?” Tom interrupted, trying to get her to the point.

“He got terribly sick.”

“In Puerto Vallarta?” I asked.

She looked at me. “No, not until we got back to the ship. We called the ship’s doctor, but Melvin got worse and worse and finally lost consciousness. He stopped breathing.” She gasped and dropped her head to her hands.

“Where’s his body?” Tom asked.

“In the ship’s infirmary. They’re going to take it off in Mazatlan.” She looked up, wiping her eyes.

“Why?” I asked.

“We’re in Mexican waters, so the body will be taken off at the next port. I have to go with it, but I don’t know what to do.” She looked at Tom. “Carmelita said you’re a police officer. Can you help me?”

“I don’t know anything about Mexican laws, laws at sea or how they apply to a death on a cruise ship,” Tom told her.

She grabbed his hands. “Please! Help me!”

We heard the lock on the door between the two rooms, click. Brian stuck his head in. “Is everything all right?”

“No,” Tom told him. “Come on in. Mrs. Mitchell needs your help.”

“Brian’s help?” Leslie Mitchell said.

I put my hand on her arm. “He can help.”

Brian stepped into the room. “What’s up?”

Tom told him about Melvin. Brian nodded and said, “I’ll make some calls and see what I can do.”

“How can an insurance salesman help me?” Mrs. Mitchell asked.

“I’ve done business in Mexico before. I’ve still got some contacts here,” Brian explained smoothly.

“Oh, thank you,” she said.

Brian went back into his room and a few seconds later, Carmelita rushed in. She went right over to Leslie and threw her arms around her, both sobbing.

I looked at Tom.

“Let’s go see what Brian’s doing.” he said.

I nodded. As we joined Brian in his room, he was just getting off the phone. “I’ve contacted the American Consulate in Mazatlan. They’ll have someone meet the boat and help her get her husband off and take the matter from there.”

“That’s good,” Tom said.

Brian shut the door between the two rooms. “They said an autopsy will be done and they’ll send me a copy of the results.”

“Do you think this is another poisoning like Adam Sherman?” I asked.

He nodded. “It seems your parents’ little cruising group is dwindling.”

“They’re being systematically eliminated,” Tom interjected. He handed Brian the note I’d gotten at dinner, just as his phone rang. He stepped away from Brian and me.

Brian read the note, then looked at me.

“No, it’s not from my dad.”

“You’re sure?” he said.

“Yes. If my dad were still alive, he’d have gotten a hold of me in the last four years. He wouldn’t have just let me think he was dead.”

“Well, this person knows Adam’s death was murder rather than an accident. That’s not common knowledge,” Brian suggested.

“I hate to say this, but why would the killer want me to stop? Why not just kill me?”

Tom coughed, obviously listening to our conversation as well as to the person talking on the phone.

“I’ve thought of that myself, Liza,” Brian said. “There has to be a reason you’re not just being eliminated like any other threat.”

“Maybe it’s because I’ve always got a bodyguard,” I nodded toward Tom.

“No, I discounted that,” Brian continued. “This guy’s killed cops along with his target. It certainly hasn’t stopped him before.”

“Then it’s someone who likes me?” I smiled.

“That’s a possibility,” Brian said. “It’s probably someone who doesn’t want to hurt you and keeps warning you off hoping you’ll stop on your own.”

“They don’t know me very well,” I said.

Tom came back. “It was Ramirez on the phone. They found the guy who drove the boat.”

“The one the purse snatcher threw my purse to?” I asked.

Tom nodded.

“Did the guy tell them anything?” Brian asked.

“He said he picked up the job off the Internet.”

“There’s an Internet site for purse-snatching jobs?” I asked.

“I guess so, but when Ramirez tried to get into the site, he couldn’t. Why don’t you give your friend a call tomorrow and see what he can do?”

“What time is it at home?” I asked.

Brian checked his watch, did a mental calculation, and said, “Two-thirty.”

“Okay, hand me your phone.”

“It’s a little early, Liza,” Tom said as he handed me his phone.

“Not for my friend.” I dialed Justin’s number. He was a teenager. He rarely got to bed before three and then slept until one or two in the afternoon.

He answered on the first ring. “Hey Teach.”

“Sleeping?”

He laughed. “Not for at least another hour or so.”

“That’s what I figured.” I told him about the purse snatching website.

“Wow? Criminals R Us?” He laughed.

“I guess so, but you tell me.”

“Okay, give me a minute.”

I heard him typing on the keyboard. “Did you get the other information you were looking into for me?”

“A little bit, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

My stomach tightened. “Tell me anyway.”

“Okay, I can find several incidents in cities your parents’ original flight plans said they were visiting that they didn’t land in.”

“Can you send me a list?”

“Sure, and I found a newspaper article about the Philips.”

“Norma and Donald Philips?”

“Yes, they were killed in an automobile accident five months ago.”

“What?”

“Yes, okay, I’m into the website. It has two sections -one where you can check people’s resumes who need jobs and another where you can list a job you want done.”

“Hang on a minute.” I turned to Brian and Tom and asked, “Anything in particular you want to hire someone to do?”

“He got in already?” Tom asked.

“Sure.”

“Can I talk to him?” Brian asked.

I shook my head.

“Okay, ask him to tell you how he got in and I’ll have my own people do the work.”

I told Justin what he said.

“That won’t work, Teach. The password is rotating. It will change as soon as I log off. What does he want me to look for?”

I repeated to Brian what Justin said.

“Are you sure I just can’t talk to him?” Brian asked.

“Nope, but I can turn the phone so he can hear you.” I held the phone toward Brian.

“See if there is a resume for anyone willing to kill.”

“Did you hear that?”

“Yes, I already checked that out. You can hire anyone to kill anyone in this site. There are ten resumes listed for killers and five jobs. Do we want to pick a killer?”

“Do you want a killer or a job?” I asked the men.

Tom coughed, Brian got closer to me. “See if there is anyone who specializes in sequestered witnesses.”

“There are two that indicated previous witness kills. Teach?”

“What?”

“Hand the man the phone, Teach. This is ridiculous.”

“No, I’m not going to do it,” I told Justin. I didn’t want the Feds to find Justin. Quite a few things he does for me aren’t exactly legal. How would I ever explain to his mother that I got him arrested?

“I’ll be fine,” Justin insisted. “He won’t be able to contact me again unless I want him to.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.”

“What’s going on, Liza?” Tom said.

“He wants me to hand the phone to Brian.”

Brian held out his hand. “It would be easier, Liza.”

“Are you sure?” I asked Justin.

“Yes.”

I handed Brian the phone. He went over to the desk in his room, opened a file and sat down.

I turned to Tom. “Justin says Norma and Donald Philips were killed five months ago in an auto accident.”

“That’s two more people in the cruising group who are dead, Liza. I’m telling you someone is killing them off, one by one.”

Carmelita came through Brian’s door.

“How’s Mrs. Mitchell?” I asked.

“She’s a wreck. I walked her down to her room, gave her one of my little blue sleeping pills, and tucked her in for the night. I’ll go with her tomorrow when they take Melvin’s body off the ship. A woman should not be alone at a time like this.”

I nodded. “That’s nice of you, Carmelita.”

“I’ve known them for ten years, it’s the least I can do.” She glanced at Brian. “What’s the Fed doing?”

I shrugged. “His job.”

“Well,” she sighed. “His job is constantly interfering with my beauty sleep. I liked it better when I thought he was an insurance salesman. Then he’d leave to make his cop calls. I’m going to take a long hot bath.” And she went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Brian walked over and handed Tom his phone.

“Where’s my friend?” I demanded.

“I’ve got him in contact with my tech people. Together they’re going to do some research on the resumes. He’s really good, Liza. He found the job to kill Betsy.”

“What?” I asked.

Brian nodded. “Yes, it was listed on the website several weeks ago.”

“Her name and everything?” Tom asked.

“Yes.”

“Can we find out who picked up the job?”

“That’s just it; it was pulled before it was assigned to anyone.”

“Why?” I asked.

“My guess would be the person who killed Adam, Inga, and your parents saw the listing, spoke to the person who posted it, and had it removed. I imagine he feels that this is still part of the original contract.”

“A conscientious killer, how nice.” Tom shook his head.

“Okay, if we assume my parents, Adam, Inga, and Betsy were killed because of what Adam and my dad saw in Texas, why kill Melvin and the Philips?”

“Wait,” Brian said. “Who are the Philips?”

“They were part of my parents’ cruising group and they were in an automobile accident five months ago.”

“Maybe it was just that, an accident,” Brian suggested.

“Out of nine people, seven are dead. That’s too coincidental,” I told him.

“Who does that leave?” Tom asked.

“Carmelita and Leslie Mitchell.”

“What about Dorian?” Tom asked. “He was always on the cruises with them.”

“Okay, then three are still alive. That’s worse odds than any disease I’ve ever heard of,” I said.

“And now, you’ve been added to the list,” Brian suggested.

“I’m not so sure. I wasn’t in the original group and the only reason I’m being warned off is because I’m looking into the other deaths.”

“If you stop, you won’t be a target,” Tom reminded me.

“But Carmelita, Leslie, and Dorian will be.”

“I’ll watch Carmelita,” Brian said. “Leslie’s getting off tomorrow with her husband’s body. I’ll get agents to go with her as an escort and then home with her. She’ll be protected.”

“That leaves Dorian,” I said.

Tom smiled wickedly.

I frowned. “He’s got to be told.”

“I’ll tell him,” Brian said. “This is an FBI investigation, so it should come from me.”

“Let’s go back to our room and get some sleep,” Tom said.

“I’ll let you know if I hear from the tech guys.”

Tom nodded and then said to me, “Head for bed, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“More secret cop stuff?” I asked.

He smiled and pushed me through the door. I went into our room and climbed into bed. A few minutes later, Tom joined me. I snuggled next to him.

He kissed me on top of the head. “Try and get some sleep, Liza.”

“Want to tell me what you and Brian talked about?”

“No.”

“Well, if I sleep tonight, it’s going to be a miracle,” I said.

“We’re supposed to meet at the Carousel Room at ten-fifteen for our shopping, lunch and beach excursion. Do you want me to cancel it?”