“Can I see the list?” Mama smoothed her hair. Color returned to her cheeks. If it gave her hope to look over the names I didn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t.
Dee Dee threw back the covers, pushed her feet into her kitty slippers and padded over to her pocketbook. “I’ll get it. I think I stashed it in here.” She dug in her bag and came up with the notebook. She raised it in the air. “Ta-da.” Dee Dee handed me the tablet and then settled on her bed, cross-legged.
I glanced at the names when the door flew open and Nana burst in. “What are you girls up to? How could y’all leave me out of the party?” If her lip drooped any lower she’d have to carry it in a wheelbarrow.
“Good morning to you too, Nana.”
She gazed downward under hooded eyes. “Oh, good morning.”
“We’re not having a party. Detective Baker took Laura downtown again. Trixie was fixin’ to go over the names of some suspects she and Dee Dee have compiled,” Mama said.
“Well, what are you waiting on? I’m here now, so you can start.” I started to roll my eyes but thank goodness I caught myself just in time. I didn’t feel like an early morning lecture from Nana.
Nana looked me directly in the eyes. “Don’t even think about it, Missy.” Good grief! How does she do that?
Mama scooted close to me so she could see and Nana plopped down on my other side. “Let’s see. There’s Mary Sue Bartlett.”
“She used to work for Grace as a cook and housekeeper.” Dee Dee chimed in.
I continued. “She left Grace for a position at a downtown restaurant and before she knew it she had her own local cooking show. She thrived, until Grace accused her of stealing her recipes. Edna said Grace stalked Mary Sue and threatened to sic her lawyers on her. She freaked out and quit the restaurant. She waitresses in a fast food place now. She barely makes enough to support her daughter.”
Dee Dee shook her head.
“Low-down, good for nothing…”
“Nana. Be careful.”
“I was only going to say skunk. Actually that’s too nice for her. I’ll have to think of something else.” I had no doubt she would.
“She certainly has reason to dislike Grace, but who else is on your list?” Mama leaned over and took a gander at the names.
“Edna’s been Grace’s head cook and house-keeper for the past fifteen years. Laura told us she knew Edna was unhappy. I don’t think Laura had any idea how miserable Edna really is. When we mentioned her death she said, ‘That’s one lady I ain’t gonna miss.’
“Why in the world would she stay?” Mama repositioned beside me.
“That’s a good question. We wondered that, but she cleared it up when she said Grace threatened to blackball her. She told Edna if she left, she would never work on Tybee Island again. Since Edna makes her home with Grace, there wasn’t much she could do about it. She felt stuck.”
“Shoot, if Grace wasn’t dead I think I could kill her myself.” I knew Nana was kidding, but what a sad commentary for someone’s life when no one would miss you.
“You can understand why we put Edna on the list. She had plenty of reasons to want Grace dead. When we talked with her she certainly didn’t seem like a killer, but people have been known to kill for less,” Dee Dee said.
Mama scrunched up her face. “Is that all the names you have?”
“No. It seems Grace made a lot of enemies, including her ex-husband, Bert. Edna shared how they used to have these awful fights in front of the guests. She was even afraid one of them would kill the other one. She said he just up and left one day - moved to Savannah.
“Grace got the better end of the deal, financially. If that’s not a recipe for murder, I don’t know what is.”
Nana grabbed hold of the notebook and pulled it to herself. She pointed at a name scrawled near the bottom. “Who is this Jasmine?”
Dee Dee filled her in. “We met this really nice lady, Ruth, at Seaside Sisters. She invited us to eat lunch with her. She was full of gossip – I mean information.”
“That’s right. She couldn’t wait to spill the beans. Jasmine, a young lady with the Save the Turtles Association, tried to run for president against Grace. It was a decision that turned out to be a big mistake in the end.” I drew in a deep breath and continued.
“According to Ruth, Grace dug deep until she found dirt on Jasmine. Her contacts found out that Jasmine had been arrested for marijuana possession. Even though it was a misdemeanor and she never had to serve time, the rules of the association state you can’t run if you have any kind of criminal record.”
Nana shook her head.
Dee Dee scooted to the edge of her bed. “Yeah, and Jasmine was so mad she vowed to get even with Grace. She threatened her in front of the entire group of turtle savers. She definitely earned her place on the list of suspects.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When are we going to talk to them, Trixie?” Watery blue eyes from behind thick lenses stared straight at me. I knew Nana was serious as a hound following a scent.
“Uh.” I cleared my throat and looked at Dee Dee to throw me a lifeline. She shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows. I was sinking fast. “Dee Dee and I have this covered, Nana. Maybe you can keep your ears open over at Ocean View Inn when you visit George.”
“What can I do?” Mama tugged her housecoat a little tighter around her.
“Mama, you can keep your ears open, too. I think all the guests at Grace’s could be considered suspects. We know they all had opportunity. What we need to find out is if they have a motive.”
“Let’s add them each to the list,” Dee Dee suggested. She rummaged around in her pocketbook for a pen and handed it to me.
“Throw out names and I’ll write them down.” I poised my hand ready to write.
Everyone spoke at once. I threw up my hand, palm turned out. “Whoa. One at a time. Mama, who did you say?”
“What about Bubba Maxwell? He seems nice enough, but he kinda’ gets on my nerves.”
“Huh,” Dee Dee said. “He gets on everybody’s nerves. If he won the lottery like he says he did, then the motive wouldn’t be money.”
“There might be something in his past we don’t know about. We have to find a way to uncover any motives.” I wrote down his name.
“There’s that sweet young couple KiKi and Nick Sanderson. You know, the cute kids that are tatted up.” Great. All we needed was Nana spouting ‘hood speak.’ An image appeared in my mind of Nana covered in tattoos from head to toe. Believe me, it was not pretty.
“We need to write them on the list, too. At this point, no one is exempt. Even the guests here at Seaside.”
Dee Dee returned from the bathroom and plopped down on her bed. “Where are we?”
“We were talking about that sweet couple, KiKi and Nick.” Nana pushed her glasses up her nose.
“Oh, don’t you just love their tattoos? What I’d give to be young again.” Dee Dee had this faraway look in her eyes.
“Like you’d be covered in ink if you were?” Please. What was happening to everyone? Did the salt air addle their brains?
Dee Dee turned a little pink. “Well, no. But it never hurts to dream about ‘what if.’”
Dee Dee thought a moment. “That leaves John Porter and George.”
“George? Why in the world would you mention him?” Nana nearly choked on her indignation. “He’s the nicest man you’d ever want to meet.”
I shot Dee Dee a look that meant, ‘way to go.’ She just shrugged.