A Special Delivery To Die For (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 2) (4 page)

“Of course,” Maddie agreed. “It was a pleasure to meet with you, Thomas.”

“It was a pleasure to meet with you, too,” he said, and then he was gone.

Jessica moved over behind the desk and lit up the computer screen.

“May I have your names please?”

“Madeline McDougal.”

“Magdeline MacDougal,” Jessica repeated.

“No, Madeline. McDougal.”

“Isn’t that what I said?” she asked perplexed.

“No, you said Magdeline MacDougal. It’s Madeline.”

“Can you spell it for me please?”

“Yes. It’s M-A-D-E-L-I-N-E.”

“Oh, Madeline,” she repeated as she typed away at the keyboard. “And the last name?”

“Capital M-C,” Madeline waited to make sure that she got that right before she went on with the rest of the name. “Dougal, D-O-U-G-A-L.”

“Madeline McDougal. Got it.” She turned her attention to Bailey next, “And your name?”

“Guest.” Bailey was not about to go through a spelling fiasco with this nutcase. “Just put me down as her guest.”

“All right. I look forward to seeing you both there.”

“Oh, you’re planning to come, too?”

“Yes, several of us from the office will be there.”

“Great, we’ll see you then.”

Chapter Four

They arrived at the Paddleboat a little before six in the evening with their tickets in hand. They were told it would be a very casual affair and there was no need to dress up for the occasion. Maddie wasn’t really sure how extreme the event would be, but expected with all those who had a grudge against Ana, she should be ready for just about anything.

Bailey, on the other hand, came packing. She wasn’t about to take any chances with so many possible irate people on board. She had a small Kimbler Ultra CDP II in her handbag. She knew her Gran’s potential for getting into trouble and she was determined to be ready for whatever may happen on the cruise. She didn’t tell her Gran she was carrying a gun because she knew she wouldn’t approve, but nevertheless, they were planning on finding a murderer, which meant anything could happen.

As they crossed the ramp and boarded the Paddleboat, they were utterly surprised at the number of people present. Thomas gave them sufficient enough warning that they would have their hands full sifting through possible suspects, but they certainly weren’t expecting to see so many people with a grudge against Ana. The two women stood at the entrance to the dining room and observed the quiet remembrance of the woman’s demise. Of course, no one was speaking openly about his or her true feelings about Ana, but the whole affair seemed to have a celebratory feel to it.

“Well,” Bailey said, making a pretense of rolling up her sleeves, “how shall we do this? Divide and conquer or stick together?”

Maddie gave her granddaughter a sideways glance. One day, she’s gonna have to have a serious talk with that girl. “It’s a big room,” she said, “so why don’t we split up and meet together after dinner to compare notes.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Bailey agreed, stretching her neck as if she was about to go into a fight. “Let’s do this, Brutus,” and she disappeared into the crowd.

Maddie took a much more calm approach to the task at hand. She remained at the entrance and carefully observed the crowd from a distance, hoping to find someone that would stand out. She let out a barely audible gasp as she noticed Chief Connors’ Deputy Sheriff Fellows as part of the crowd. This was the second time she got the sense that Connors was doing more with the case than she had originally thought. She made her way over to him.

“Deputy Fellows,” she said in greeting, “fancy meeting you here.”

“Mrs. McDougal.” He said, giving her a kindly nod. “Fancy meeting you here, too.”

They stood side-by-side canvassing the crowd without speaking for a few minutes. Finally, Maddie couldn’t resist any longer. “Deputy, I have to ask. Are you here on official duty or did you have a grudge against Ana, too?”

Fellows smiled at Maddie. “Boss told me you were the tenacious type,” he said dodging the question.

“I think I just got my answer,” Maddie said. “I think I’ll just be moving along, I don’t want to distract you from your work.”

Maddie moved among the crowd listening to snatches of conversations as she passed by, hoping to glean enough information to join in on conversations about Ana so she could rule out suspects.

“She was no picnic to work with.”  She overheard Jessica’s comment as she passed by. It was enough to make her stop.

“Jessica,” Maddie interjected, “so good to see you again.”

“Ah, Mrs. MacDouglas,” Jessica smiled.

“McDougal dear,” Maddie corrected, a little embarrassed as she eyed the people whose conversation she just interrupted, only to be called by the wrong name.  She gave Jessica a chastising look that only a true Granny could pull of after being insulted in such a way.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I don’t know what’s wrong with my mind these days.”

“There, there dear. It’s probably just the stress of the last few days. It must be very hard at the office without Ana.”

“Hmph,” Jessica grunted.  “We’ve never been happier. Ana was a nutcase if you want to know the truth.”

“Really?” Maddie interrupted again. “How’s that?”

A group sigh came in unison. “Obviously, you didn’t know her very well,” said a red haired lady that looked like a round butterball turkey.

“Anyone who had ever done business with her will tell you,” a blonde woman with long, dangly nails joined in.

“Well, I was just about to get to know her when she passed,” Maddie explained.  “We were about to book a trip to Europe with her.”

“Well, you should thank your lucky stars that you didn’t,” said a tall man with a Texas accent. “She probably would have charged you an arm and a leg…”

“And a foot.”

“And an eye.”

“And a kidney.”

“And a…” There was a burst of laughter that ran through the group as they all enjoyed a little comic relief at Ana’s expense.

“Wow! Tough crowd,” Maddie joked.

“You won’t find any Ana lovers here,” one chubby little man said matter-of-factly. “Unless
you’re
one of them.”

“I have to be honest,” Maddie said. “I’m a little lost right now. Since I didn’t know Ms. Stevens, I simply don’t have an opinion one way or the other.”

“Well, what did you think this cruise was for? Didn’t they tell you it was for all those who had a problem with Ana’s business style? It’s sort of to make amends for the wrongs she did.”

“Well, not in so many words, but yes, they told me.” Maddie agreed. “I just thought it would be more like a posthumous roast or something fun like that.”

“Yeah, well. Wish we could have really given her a roast,” another lady interjected. “On a spit that is.”

Another burst of laughter from the group told Maddie that she was literally out of her league. These people were so angry about whatever happened that it would be difficult to narrow anyone down. And they were all outspoken.

She eased her way out of that conversation and moved through the crowd once again. She saw Bailey on the other side of the room, deep in conversation with a sharply dressed businesswoman.  Maddie wondered whether she was getting anywhere with her conversation. She was pulled out of her thoughts of joining Bailey by a familiar sing-songy voice.

“Maddie, darling. I heard you had arrived,” Thomas gave Maddie a gentle handshake, taking her hand and guiding her to a corner of the room where they could talk more privately. “I did a little legwork for you, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, really? What’s that?”

“Well, I knew that you didn’t know all of these people so I kind of sorted them all out for you,” he said. “Most of these people only have petty complaints against Ana. If you put them all together, they wouldn’t even have enough leverage to make a decent lawsuit.” He gave a nonchalant wave of his hand. “You don’t want to bother with those. They’ll be a waste of your time. What I did do though is put the heavy hitters at the same table with you for dinner tonight. That way, you’ll get one-on-one time with each of them.” He gave her a careful look like Astoria does when she’s done something she feels she deserves a treat for.

Maddie was pleased. It meant that she didn’t have to go on an endless fishing expedition looking for a virtual needle in a haystack. She rewarded him with a gentle grandmotherly type smile and a grateful thank you. It seemed sufficient, but she made a mental note to send Thomas a box of her famous cupcakes as soon as she was back at the bakery.

An hour later, dinner was announced and all the guests were ushered into an elaborately decorated dining hall. The room could have easily fed three hundred people at the ornately dressed tables, each capable of seating ten people around it. The round tables were laid out with what appeared to be some of the finest bone china she had ever seen and the silverware actually looked like real silver with gold trimming on it.

While Maddie was quite comfortable in the setting, Bailey tried not to look like she was never at such a posh affair, but it was hard to try to fit in when she looked down and saw three forks. She didn’t know which one went with what. She felt the blood rush to her face, which apparently showed. With Maddie sitting on one side of her and Thomas on the other, she fingered her silverware trying to decide if she should wait until the food was served and then copy what the other guests were doing or just wing it.

Maddie however, leaned over to her and whispered. “Don’t worry about the silverware darling. There’s a simple trick that works every time. When the first course arrives, start with the first piece to your right, and work your way in from there.”

Thomas, however, leaned in and explained the purpose for each of the utensils she had before her. Finally, he said, “Don’t worry about it. Just follow my lead and you’ll be just fine.”

Maddie gave him a grateful nod. Now she knew she had to send him some cupcakes. He was a doll, but he was also a suspect so she needed to keep her wits about her for the time being. She muttered a quiet thank you and settled in for a lovely evening.

Next to Thomas was a couple; Parker Milhorn and her husband Andrew. Next to them was Michael Hale and his wife, Jessica and then Jessica, both employees of the travel agency. The last seat was a no show; Maddie decided she’d have to find out more about Janet Davis after the cruise.

By the time the first course had arrived, the wine had been flowing freely for quite a while and it took only a little prompting to get the tongues wagging and everyone in a relaxed mood. Thomas spoke first; as if on cue, he stood up and took a knife and hit the side of his glass. Maddie cringed at the sight. This was not just a regular glass from the kitchen; this was real crystal stemware. She hoped it would hold up to this kind of beating, but she was relieved when nothing happened. Thomas cleared his throat and waited for the room to quiet down.

“So, we know we’re all here because we all knew Ana at some point in our lives and felt that she had in some way had an impact on us and our lives. Some of us have bigger stories to tell than others, but we at the Stevens Travel Agency have scheduled this event in order to ensure that every one of you leaves here happier with our agency than when you came. Over the next few months, we’ll be visiting each and every one of you in an effort to make amends for the losses or correct any issues that you may have experienced. In the meantime, enjoy your meals, and share some of your positive life with Ana stories among each other.”

Parker, a tall, stately brunette in her thirties, with the air of an aristocrat was already a few shades into the wind. Her eyes had that slightly glazed look that gave you the impression that she was already impaired, but when she spoke, her voice came out in complete control.

“Let me start us off,” she said. “My ‘Life with Ana’ story starts with our honeymoon. Oh, pardon me. I suppose I should introduce myself first.” She placed her lavishly jeweled hand on her chest. “My name is Parker Milhorn and this is my husband, Andrew.” The five-fingered jewelry case was extended towards a mousy looking little man next to her.  “When we planned our honeymoon, we had made it very clear to Ana that we wanted a quiet little place where we could spend some time alone, just the two of us. Right honey?” She looked over at the mousy man next to her.

“Yes, dear.”

“We were very adamant about that.”

Maddie thought to herself that maybe Parker was adamant, but the man next to her didn’t seem to know much about speaking up for himself.

“Anyway, Ana recommended a nice little Dude Ranch in Massachusetts. I thought it was a wonderful idea.” Her hands were waving in the air with grand gestures for each sentence she made. “So we booked a week at the Tall Pines Ranch near Boston.” Parker stopped to take a sip of her jostling drink she was waving around with her grandiose gestures.

Maddie thought she wouldn’t make it to the end of the story and she was pretty positive that the drink wouldn’t last whether Parker drank any of it or not.

Parker continued, “At first, everything seemed to be perfectly fine. We had a private room on the edge of the property, which was pretty well secluded from any of the other guests on the property. The first two days were fine. But then we got word that there was a blizzard coming.  The hotel made us move from our private cabin and into the main quarters with the other guests.” Parker stopped to take a bigger sip of her drink. This time she drained the glass. “Gan Bei!” she shouted.