Nightmare in Nantucket (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Series Book 14) Read online

  “Bodies?” Rose asked.

  “I don’t know,” Lucy said. “I don’t think his bedroom closets are deep enough to hold bodies.” She caught sight of Ruth’s van parked in the same spot. “Good. They didn’t leave us behind.”

  Gloria opened the door and Rose and Lucy climbed in the back. “Well? I saw Smooth Hand Luke head down the dock so I figured he caught up with you.”

  “He gave me a tour of his yacht. He said he lives on it and does his business on the other islands plus the mainland. He’s only in Nantucket on Wednesday evenings and heads out first thing Thursday morning.” Lucy swept a loose strand of hair from her eyes. “Thank goodness.”

  Lucy scooched to the other side of the van so there would be room for Rose. “I tried to open one of his bedroom closets during the tour and he freaked out.”

  Ruth eased the van into drive and pulled out of the parking spot. “We watched as a very nervous Libby and David Thornton exited the restaurant not long after Luke. I recorded the whole thing. We can study the tape when we get back to the motel.”

  Brian shifted in his seat. “You think Luke is a drug dealer, his deal with Sean went bad and he murdered him?”

  “Maybe it’s Bill Harding, the restaurant owner,” Margaret said.

  “Or they’re partners,” Dot added.

  “What if Luke is a hitman and the Thorntons paid him to kill Sean,” Gloria mused.

  “But they liked Sean,” Alice said.

  “We need to go over all of our surveillance, audio and Lucy’s photos,” Ruth said. “Were you able to get some good shots of the inside of his yacht?”

  “Oh my gosh!” Lucy reached up and touched her earring. “I was so nervous, I forgot to take pictures. What kind of sleuth am I?”

  “A great one.” Gloria reached over and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry Lucy. We should have enough on tape and audio, not to mention the pictures you took inside the restaurant, to sift through and find some clues.”

  “I hope so.” Lucy brightened. “Hey Ruth! Make a pit stop at a convenience store on the way back to the motel. We’ll need some popcorn and munchies to snack on while we’re watching the videos.”

  Chapter 21

  The group assembled in the tidiest, non-odiferous suite of the three…Brian and Gloria’s suite. Ruth was one of the last to arrive. She swung the door open, dragging a large piece of luggage behind her.

  She eased the backpack she was wearing off her shoulders and handed it to Brian, who was holding the door. “Be careful when you open this up. There’s a relay box inside. I need it to transfer the files on my computer to the projector screen,” she explained.

  Brian unzipped the front of the backpack, pulled out a compact black box and placed it on the table.

  “I’ll pop the popcorn while you set up.” Lucy grabbed the bag of goodies from the chair and headed to the kitchenette’s microwave, tucked away in the corner of the suite.

  Ruth eased the piece of luggage onto the carpeted floor, snapped the locks and lifted the lid.

  Gloria peeked over her shoulder. “What is all of this?”

  Ruth glanced up and then turned her attention to the task at hand. “It’s a portable projector screen and tripod. It’s not as nice as the one I have at home, but when you’re traveling, this’ll do in a pinch.”

  Margaret crossed the room. She leaned over and peered into the case. “Ruth Carpenter. I declare I have now seen it all.”

  Ruth’s brow furrowed as she unsnapped the clasps on a large round cylinder. “Grab the other end,” she told Margaret.

  Margaret dropped to her knees and gently pulled on one side of the half cylinder while Ruth pulled the other. A large, white screen appeared. “This should do it,” Ruth said. “Click the button on top to lock the screen in place.”

  “That is so cool.” Lucy had finished popping the first bag of popcorn. She opened it up and grabbed a handful as she stared at the projector screen. “Where did you get this?”

  “I found it on clearance on the internet and figured someday it might come in handy.” Ruth scooted over to the case, reached inside and pulled out a set of poles. In no time, she had assembled a tripod. “Where should we put it?”

  “Over here.” Dot shifted the small dinette table out of the way to clear a spot.

  Ruth centered the portable projector on the tripod and carried it across the room. She placed her hands on her hips and studied her handiwork. “Perfect.”

  Alice, who was the last to arrive, wandered into the suite. “What is that?”

  “Ruth’s portable projector and screen,” Gloria said. “We don’t have enough seats. Let’s go grab a couple extra chairs from next door.” Lucy, Margaret, Dot and Rose headed next door and returned, each carrying a chair.

  They arranged the seats in a semi-circle so everyone had an unobstructed view of the screen.

  “Ruth, you’re a genius,” Dot said.

  Ruth’s faced turned red. “Aww shucks, it ain’t nothing.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short, Ruth. This is awesome,” Gloria said.

  With the projector in place, Ruth settled in at the small table to begin downloading the files and setting up the relay box to project the files to the big screen. “I think I’ve got it.”

  Alice pulled the curtains shut and turned off the lights before taking her place next to Lucy.

  “We’ll start at the beginning with the footage of the motel room before Sean Brodwell’s body was removed.” It took a few moments for Ruth to adjust the footage so that it was clear.

  The audio was garbled, except for the brief mention of drugs. The only thing they could hear were muffled voices, shoes shuffling and an occasional car as it passed by on the street out front.

  For the most part, it was uneventful and Gloria’s eyelids began to grow heavy. She nodded off at one point and jerked awake, hoping no one noticed. “I didn’t see anything.”

  “Me either.” Lucy ripped open the top of a snack size bag of peanut M&M’s, poured a handful into her hand and then tossed them into her mouth.

  “Let’s move onto Dot’s impromptu police pursuit,” Ruth teased.

  They all watched as Dot strolled across the motel parking lot. You could almost read Dot’s mind as she abruptly stopped in front of Sean Brodwell’s motel room and peered through the window before she pulled her cell phone from her purse.

  She glanced behind her before she lifted the phone and angled it toward the window.

  Everyone chuckled and Dot covered her eyes as she spun around and tore down the sidewalk at breakneck speed. She disappeared around the corner. Two uniformed officers, who were in hot pursuit, followed behind.

  Ruth stopped the video when it got to the part where Ruth and Gloria ran past the front of the van as they followed Dot and the officers around the corner and out of sight.

  Brian grinned and gave Dot a gentle hug. “Thanks for taking one for the team…for me, Dot.”

  “You’re welcome, Brian.” She lifted her chin and gave the giggling group a haughty gaze. “That’s what friends are for.”

  “You’re right,” Gloria nodded. “That’s what friends are for.”

  Next up were the pictures Dot took before the officers’ foot pursuit. The first one was a blur. The second shot was the clearest and showed the pillow, the unmade bed and a section of the dresser.

  Ruth tapped the keyboard and the top of the dresser’s contents came into view.

  “Wait a second!” Gloria said. “Over there, on the left hand side. It looks like a wad of cash.”

  Ruth shifted the camera and zoomed in. Sure enough, sitting next to the television set was a small stack of folded money.

  “We suspected Libby Thornton gave Sean Brodwell Andrea’s home address during their last meeting. What if she gave him money?” Gloria asked.

  “What if Sean was the Thornton’s drug supplier and he was blackmailing them to keep quiet?” Brian said.

  “It makes sense. The drugs, the cash, the
hand off,” Ruth said.

  “Perhaps the Thorntons, tired of being blackmailed, decided to hire a hit man to take Brodwell out,” Margaret said. “So they hired Smooth Hand Luke.”

  They finished watching the rest of the footage, along with the footage of the restaurant where they caught a glimpse of the Thorntons inside Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Restaurant. Libby Thornton appeared extremely nervous when the couple emerged.

  “This whole fiasco is tied to the Thorntons, somehow,” Gloria said. “I’m going to confront them in the morning, tell them I know they purchased illegal drugs from Sean Brodwell. I’m also going to tell them I think he was blackmailing them and they were paying him off in cash.”

  “Don’t forget to mention hiring a hitman,” Brian said.

  “Smooth Hand Luke,” Lucy, Rose, Ruth, Dot and Margaret said in unison.

  Alice shook her head. “I still no believe Mr. and Mrs. Thornton are killers.”

  Gloria watched as Ruth disassembled her projector and packed up her other equipment, all the while plotting to confront the Thorntons first thing the next morning.

  Chapter 22

  Gloria stepped inside the Ocean View Resort lobby and gazed around. She had tossed and turned all night, wondering what Andrea would say when she found out Gloria confronted her parents with the accusation they were purchasing illegal drugs. She pushed the nagging thought aside and focused on her game plan.

  Brian, who refused to let Gloria confront the couple alone, made his way over to the small sitting area off to the side to wait.

  Gloria eased in behind a lush potted plant near the elevators. She stood there for what seemed like forever and her hip started to ache.

  She shifted her feet and glanced at her watch. It was ten-thirty a.m. Brian and Gloria had already been there a couple of hours and she was starting to get odd stares from the hotel’s bellhops as they passed by.

  Gloria was about to give up and began making her way across the lobby to where Brian sat reading the morning paper when she spied the couple emerging from the bank of elevators.

  She retraced her steps and stopped abruptly in front of them. “We need to talk.”

  Libby Thornton curled her lip. “What are you still doing here? I thought you would be on your way home, now that Andrea left.”

  “You know full well Brian Sellers is unable to leave the island until police have cleared him as a suspect in Sean Brodwell’s murder.”

  Brian stepped into view and directly behind Gloria. “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Thornton.”

  Libby ignored Brian and focused her attention on Gloria. “We’re late. We’re on our way to meet friends for brunch at the country club.”

  “You were buying street drugs from Sean Brodwell before his death,” Gloria whispered.

  The panicked look on Libby Thornton’s face told Gloria everything she needed to know. She had hit the nail on the head. She hurried on. “I think he was blackmailing you to keep quiet so you hired a hitman to take him out.”

  “That’s absurd,” David Thornton sputtered. “We had nothing to do with Sean’s death.”

  “Is that why you were talking to Smooth Hand Luke over at Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Restaurant last night?” Gloria asked. “Sean met with Luke before his death. Maybe you hired Luke to kill Sean and it was time to pay up.”

  Libby Thornton turned white as a ghost and she clutched her husband’s arm. “Make them go away.”

  “We did not hire Luke to kill Sean Brodwell,” David Thornton insisted as he wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist. “What do you want from us?” he asked grimly.

  “We want you to tell the police what you know. Even if you didn’t have Brodwell murdered, he was blackmailing you. Maybe he was blackmailing Luke and Luke murdered him,” Brian said.

  “Why were you meeting with Luke at Barnacle Bill’s last night?” Gloria asked.

  “Because we knew Sean had met with him and wondered how much the man knew about us,” Libby admitted. “Luke was Sean’s...” Her voice trailed off.

  “Supplier,” David Thornton said. “Sean met with Luke for a business transaction.”

  Brian rubbed the stubble on his chin and rocked back on his heels. “So you paid Luke off to keep quiet.”

  “Sort of.” David Thornton said. “Look. Let’s move over to a quiet spot.”

  The four of them stepped outside and to the right of the hotel’s entrance. “Libby is addicted to painkillers. She can only get so many to ease her back pain after being hit by a car while crossing Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan a couple years ago. Sean and his parents are members of our local country club. One afternoon, we struck up a conversation with Sean and he offered to uh…help us out.”

  “We knew one of his connections was here on Nantucket so we invited him to join us. When we found out Andrea had decided to fly out to see us, we didn’t dare mention Sean was here since Andrea didn’t care for him.” Libby gave Brian a quick glance. “It wasn’t planned.”

  David Thornton clenched his fists. “We saw another side of Sean when he arrived. He knew Andrea did not know about her mother’s…suffering. He began hinting around it would be a shame if Andrea found out. Finally, he outright told us he wanted ten thousand dollars cash to keep quiet.”

  “So you paid for his silence,” Gloria said.

  “Yes,” Libby said. “We paid him to keep quiet. The last payment was made the day he died, but I assure you we had nothing to do with his death.”

  Somehow, Gloria believed Libby Thornton. Perhaps it was because she couldn’t fathom someone as sweet and loving as Andrea having parents capable of murder.

  “If you didn’t kill Sean, who do you think did?” Brian asked. “Luke?”

  “That would be our guess,” David said.

  Gloria remembered how Lucy had mentioned the mysterious death of Luke’s girlfriend on his yacht. “I think there’s one more clue we need to dig into. It appears Smooth Hand Luke is not only a drug supplier and extortionist, he could also be a killer.”

  She turned to Brian. “Let’s head back to the motel.”

  Libby Thornton’s hand trembled as she reached out and grasped Gloria’s arm. Her eyes shined with unshed tears. “Please, don’t tell Andrea. I…”

  A wave of sympathy washed over Gloria. “Mrs. Thornton, you and I may not see eye-to-eye but it is not my place to discuss this with your daughter.” She shifted her gaze to Brian.

  “Mine either,” he said.

  “Thank you both,” Libby said. She let go of Gloria’s arm and turned to face Brian. “I’ve treated you disrespectfully and for that I am sorry. I hope we can start over.”

  “Of course,” Brian said graciously. “Mom.”

  Gloria chuckled.

  Libby gasped and then grinned.

  Even David Thornton laughed.

  Libby had one last thing to say. “I…would go to the police, Brian.” She gave her husband an uneasy glance. “It’s just that in our social position…”

  Brian lifted his hand. “I understand. You don’t want to air your dirty laundry.” He shrugged. “It’s okay. Maybe if you could drop by the station and put in a good word for me.”

  “Of course,” David Thornton said. “The chief of police is a friend of mine. I’ll see what I can do.”

  Brian and Gloria slowly exited the hotel property. “I’m missing something here. I know I am,” Gloria said. “We need to research the accidental death of Luke’s girlfriend. I don’t ever recall hearing Luke’s last name.”

  When they reached their motel room, Gloria found a note tucked in the door. She unfolded the note and handed it to Brian. “I left my glasses inside. What does it say?”

  “It’s from Ruth. She said they went over the video footage one more time this morning and Lucy thought she found a clue so they were headed back to Barnacle Bill’s restaurant to have a look around.”

  “I wonder what kind of clue,” Gloria said. She slipped her keycard in the door and then pushed it open. She dropped her pu
rse on the couch and headed to her laptop to turn it on. “I’ll let this warm up while I freshen up.”

  When she emerged from the bathroom, she settled in front of the computer and opened the search bar. “I don’t know the girlfriend’s name.” She sent a text to Lucy to see if she recalled Luke mentioning the woman’s name. Lucy quickly replied:

  “Her name was Miranda and I remember thinking it reminded me of Miranda Rights. He said she drowned near Martha’s Vineyard. Gotta go. We’re onto something.”

  Gloria thanked her before typing drowning death, Miranda, and Martha’s Vineyard in the search bar. She hit enter and scrolled the screen. On the second search page, she found a small news story. It was almost two years old. It talked about the mysterious death of Miranda Farver of Hyannis, Massachusetts, who drowned while on Luke Chalton’s yacht during a storm squall.

  Although the authorities suspected foul play, no one was ever charged, including Mr. Chalton, for Ms. Farver’s death, claiming insufficient evidence.

  Gloria’s pulse quickened as she read the last paragraph:

  “Local Nantucket business owner, William Harding, owner of Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Restaurant was the only other passenger on board the yacht, The Fathom, and he was quickly cleared of suspicion by the Nantucket Police Department.

  Gloria blinked rapidly as she stared at the screen. It dawned on her what she’d been missing, the small clue she’d overlooked. “Luke Chalton aka Smooth Hand Luke didn’t kill Sean Brodwell.”

  Gloria lunged for her phone. “We need to call Ruth. If they’re over at Barnacle Bill’s snooping around, they’re all in danger.”

  Chapter 23

  Ruth eased the van into a parallel parking spot a block away from the seafood restaurant. She turned to Lucy. “How can you be certain the guy we spotted walking past the crime scene and wearing a baseball cap was Bill Harding?”

  “I already told you,” Lucy patiently explained. “It was the small tattoo near the collar of his shirt. I could’ve sworn Bill Harding had a similar tattoo, right there.” She pointed to the side of her neck. “He wanted to make sure Sean Brodwell was good and dead.”