Cruel Capers on the Caribbean: A Kate on Vacation Mystery (The Kate on Vacation mysteries) (10 page)

“Cora no doubt,” Skip said. “Darlin’, you gotta learn to let this stuff go when you’ve done all you can.”

Kate sighed again. “I know how to do that with my therapy clients. I guess I need to try to apply that skill here.”

“But have we done all we can?” Liz asked.

Skip shot her an
et tu, Brute
look. “Let’s not discuss this in the hall.” He gestured for the Franklins to follow them into their cabin.

Inside, Kate waved toward the loveseat. Liz and Rob settled on it. Skip sat on the end of the bed and flopped backward.

Kate found her list of questions. She looked it over. “We’ve checked out all of these, except two. Not that I’m totally satisfied with Jorge’s explanation of the dinner tray.”

“And we really don’t know what that strange Mr. Fredericks is up to,” Liz said. She had a glint in her green eyes.

Rob gave his wife a hard look. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, hon?”

“Well, I don’t know that I’d use the word
enjoy
, but it does kind of get your juices flowing, to try to solve a mystery. And I feel bad about Cora.”

“I can’t stop thinking about her daughter,” Kate said. “What will it do to her if she believes her mother committed suicide, abandoning her over a lovers’ quarrel?”

Skip let out a sigh. He sat up on the end of the bed. “What are the two remaining questions?”

“Dr. Hudson’s claim that he saw Clem and Cora fighting the day she died–”

“Which we’ve tried to get answered by calling his clinic,” Liz said.

“Yeah,” Kate said. “And the big question, how did the killer get out of a locked room with the door alarm set?”

“Might as well check out that cabin again.” Skip pushed himself to a stand.

Rob also stood up. “I’ll go with you and stand guard outside the door.”

Skip looked over his shoulder and frowned when he saw Kate and Liz trailing along behind them.

“I seriously doubt we’ll get in any trouble at this point,” Liz said. “All we have to do is threaten to call the news networks and tell them what goes on behind the scenes on cruise ships.”

Skip nodded but he still didn’t look happy.

He made short work of the lock on Cora’s cabin. Rob stayed out in the corridor as the others entered.

“Check out the balcony,” Skip told the women. He started examining the walls.

Kate drew back the curtain covering the glass door. There was no moon tonight. The stars sparkled like diamonds in the clear, dark sky.

She sucked in her breath. Then silently scolded herself,
We’re not here to enjoy the view
.

Liz opened the sliding door. They stepped out onto the balcony. The water was black ink below them.

“What I don’t get,” Liz said, “if they wanted to kill Cora, why didn’t they dump her off the balcony into the water?”

Kate pondered that for a moment. “If Jorge’s story is true, Cora likely died in the afternoon, while we were still docked at Cozumel. Maybe they did plan to come back during the night and dump the body.”

“But you found it first.”

Light from the doorway helped them examine the railing. As their eyes adjusted they were able to make out a balcony below them and another to their left.

They stepped back into the cabin. Kate closed the glass door.

Skip was shining a penlight into the closet.

“Balcony railing’s metal,” Kate reported to him. “It’s hard to tell if any rope or anything’s been attached to it. But there are other balconies below and to the side of it.”

Liz shook her head. “It would take a very agile and very brave soul to swing out over that water on a rope hoping he’d be able to get to one of them.”

“Take a look at this, ladies.”

They walked over. Skip stepped back and handed the penlight to Kate. She stooped and peered into the closet

“Check out the back wall,” he said.

“What’s that funny indentation back there?”

“A hidden compartment. It was covered by a wood panel. When you push on it in just the right way, it slides to the side.”

Kate crawled further into the closet and shone the penlight into the compartment. It was empty. The back panel of the compartment had a large hole in it, with ragged edges, as if someone had broken through it. A piece of wood had been placed over the hole from the other side as a repair.

She pulled her head out of the closet. Skip offered a hand. She used it to haul herself to her feet, then handed the penlight to Liz so she could look.

“Hang on.” Skip walked to the cabin door and opened it a crack. “Knock on the door down there,” he whispered to Rob, pointing to the left with his thumb. “See if the occupants are in.”

He returned to Kate’s side.

Liz crawled backward out of the closet. “Smells funny in there.”

Skip nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

Kate stuck her head in again and sniffed. “Kinda medicinal.” As she was extracting herself from the closet, Rob came into the cabin, closing the door behind him.

“He’s got a better nose than I do.” Liz pointed to her husband. “Skip found a secret compartment. Smells funny. See what it smells like to you.”

“Nobody’s home next door. They’re probably still at dinner.” Rob lowered his bulk to the floor and crawled into the closet.

After a moment, they heard a soft cracking sound. Rob’s broad butt quickly backed toward them. “I pushed a little against that board on the back and one side broke loose.”

He hauled himself to his feet and stepped out of the way so Skip could check it out.

Thirty seconds ticked by. Skip backed out and stood up. “I worked it the rest of the way loose. I think it must have just been glued into place. Comes out in the closet next door.”

“That solves our locked room mystery,” Liz said.

Rob shook his head. “Hole’s too small for a man to get through.”

“But not a woman.” Before anyone could stop her, Kate had dropped to her knees and was inside the closet.

She heard a sharp intake of air behind her. Then a sigh and Skip’s voice, “Just don’t get stuck in there. That would be awkward to explain.”

For a moment, she thought she wasn’t going to make it. One hip snagged on the edge of the broken wall. Then a small chunk of the thin wood broke loose and she was lying in a heap on top of several pairs of high-heeled shoes–not the softest thing to land on.

She crawled out of the closet, praying the cabin was indeed empty. It was.

Skip’s face appeared in the hole. “Can you get the piece of wood back up on that side?”

“No, but I can lean it up against the wall and it probably won’t be noticed.”

“Do that. I’m gonna close up the compartment from this side. We’ll meet you in the hall.”

Kate examined the panel. It was a square of unfinished wood. She leaned it against the back of the closet. It covered all but the very top of the opening.

She rearranged the jumble of shoes in a neat row and pulled some of the clothes on hangers over in front of the panel. Hopefully the occupants of the cabin weren’t obsessive about how their things were arranged. She quickly left the cabin, making sure the door latched behind her.

As they walked back toward their own cabins, she pulled splinters of wood out of the fabric of her good slacks.

“Get your tablet, Liz,” Skip said in a low voice.

She nodded and ducked into her door.

Once they were all settled in Kate and Skip’s cabin again, Skip said, “Check out who’s in that adjacent cabin?”

Liz turned on her tablet and started poking at the screen.

“What’d the compartment smell like to you?” Skip asked Rob.

“A little bit metallic maybe, but it also smelled like a hospital.”

“So now we know how someone got out of Cora’s cabin other than through the door,” Kate said. “But what the heck is that compartment for?”

“Something being smuggled,” Rob said.

“Drugs most likely,” Liz said.

“Why would it smell like a hospital?” Kate asked.

“Exotic fish or reptiles that are banned in the U.S.?” Rob suggested.

“Yuck.” Kate rubbed her hands down her bare arms. “I think I need a shower.”

Liz pointed to her tablet. “Folks next door to Cora booked their cabin six months ago. Middle-aged couple from Michigan. Nothing suspicious jumping out at me here.”

“What now?” Kate asked.

“Good question,” Rob said. “If we report that we found that compartment, we’ll have to explain how we got into the cabin.”

“And I doubt the captain is going to appreciate us bringing it to light that someone is using his ship for smuggling,” Skip said.

“Let’s tell the good doctor,” Liz said. “He can add it to his report to the authorities in Tampa.”

Skip nodded his agreement. “I hope we can find Madigan without having to page him. I’d rather not draw attention to ourselves at this point.”

T
hey walked down the ramp to the pier in Key West. Kate felt a bittersweet tug on her heart.

Last port of call.

Beside her, Liz echoed her thought. “Last day of vacation.”

“Are you gonna be able to relax today, darlin’?” Skip asked.

“I think so.
Now
I feel like we’ve done all we could do for Cora. We’ve shown how someone could–”

“And probably did,” Rob said.

Kate nodded. “Yeah, and probably did get out of that cabin after killing her.”

The words were no sooner out of her mouth than they heard a commotion toward the front of the ship. Another narrower gangplank had been lowered to the pier there. An ambulance and two police cars, lights flashing, were parked nearby on the dock. Several uniformed officers and a couple men in business suits swarmed up and down the gangplank.

“What the heck?” Skip said.

Kate spotted Clem’s tall, lean figure amongst the men. His long hair dangled along the sides of his bowed head. A police officer followed close behind him. Ted Madigan trailed along further back.

“Let’s see what’s going on,” Rob said. “I’ve got a bad feeling Clem may need a lawyer.”

“Why the ambulance?” Liz asked.

“My guess is Cora’s body is inside it,” Skip said.

A uniformed officer stopped them before they could get to the group now clustered around the Key West police cruisers. But Ted Madigan saw them and walked over.

“Ms. Beall’s lawyer got wind of what happened,” he told them in a low voice. “Cops seem to suspect her gentleman friend.”

“Are you going with them to the station?” Rob asked.

The doctor nodded. “They said they’d give me a ride back to the ship.”

Rob turned to the others. “I’ve been to Key West before. You all go on without me. I’ll catch up later.”

Kate chewed on her lower lip, reluctant to abandon Clem, especially since it was probably their phone call to the lawyer that had set all this in motion.

Rob gave her a stern look, then his face softened. “They’re not going to let you anywhere near him. Let me handle it. I’ll call you when I know anything.”

She allowed herself to be led away by Skip. As they walked away from the dock, she glanced back. The young woman from their table in the dining room was standing at the ship’s railing. She was watching the hubbub centered around Clem.

Kate felt a pang of pity for the girl.
Honey, you never really did have a shot at getting his attention.

“Let’s find a coffee shop and regroup,” Liz said.

They wandered around for a few minutes.

“I don’t see any coffee shops but this place has free wireless.” Liz pointed to a sign in the window of a bar.

Skip narrowed his eyes at her. “Why do you need an Internet connection?”

Liz gave him an innocent smile. “I just want to see what’s hit the news so far.”

They settled around a table and ordered coffee. They waited in silence until the waitress brought a fistful of mugs and a pot of coffee to their table. After she’d poured the brew into their cups, Liz gestured for her to lean in closer. “I don’t mean to sound judgmental, but are those people over there drinking beer at nine in the morning?”

The waitress chuckled. “A lot of locals consider any hour to be cocktail hour.”

Liz shrugged, then pulled her tablet out of her oversized purse and set it on the table. She started tapping on its screen.

They sipped their coffee for a few minutes. Finally Liz looked up. “Nada. They’ve managed to keep a lid on it so far.”

Kate breathed out a long sigh. “Good. Clem’s life will never be the same if it comes out that he’s suspected of killing Cora, and he’d have no shot of getting custody of her daughter, even if he’s acquitted.”

Skip cocked his head at her. “Why are you so sure he’s innocent?”

“I’m not completely sure.” Kate hesitated, wondering if she should mention that she’d thought his pupils had been dilated the other day. “He seems genuinely devastated by her death. Either he’s innocent or he’s a very good actor.”

“Humph,” Skip said. “He writes screen plays so he probably hangs out with actors. Could be he’s learned a few tricks of the trade.”

Kate opened her mouth to tell them that Clem might be using drugs.

“My money’s on that Fredericks dude,” Liz said. “I think he’s a hit man hired by Cora’s husband.”

“But how would he know about the secret compartment in the closet?” Skip asked.

Liz cocked her head to one side. “Maybe he didn’t. He looks pretty fit, and if he’s a hit man he’d probably have the skills and the nerve to swing to another balcony. Maybe the compartment’s a coincidence.”

Skip opened his mouth.

Kate smiled at him. “I know, you’re allergic to coincidences, but they do happen.”

Skip gave her a mock frown. “I was going to remind you all that Cora was probably killed during the day, while we were docked at Cozumel. I doubt the killer did any swinging from balconies in broad daylight.”

“Maybe he hid in the cabin,” Liz said, “until we left port and it was dark.”

Skip shook his head. “I think our killer went through that compartment. The fact that the side was broken out of it and then repaired, that’s just too big a coincidence. But it’s possible the hit man cased Cora’s cabin ahead of time and found the compartment.”