“Cheryl…”
“I am an excellent carpenter. And you have no right to talk about things you know nothing about. Everyone on the island, everyone who knew Noel… or knows me… everyone would tell you that what you’re saying is completely untrue. Completely!”
“And beside the point entirely,” Howard roared. “Miss Pigeon, what are you going to do about that slut you have hired?”
“That slut?” Josie was stunned. “What slut?”
“She hired more than one slut, Howard! You heard her admit it! Who knows what those women are doing when we’re not watching!”
Josie realized what was going on-or at least enough to ask the correct question. “What did you see?”
“We saw one of your carpenters with one of those television people!” Cheryl crossed her arms and stepped back as though she was a lawyer who had just finished an elaborate closing argument.
“Who?”
“The young one,” Cheryl said. “In fact, you could say the young ones. That girl on your crew and that boy who came along with Courtney Castle.”
“Annette and Chad?” Annette and Chad were the problem? Josie was so relieved, she felt faint. These horrible people didn’t know about the murder! They were talking about Annette and Chad! “What about them bothers you?” she asked quietly.
“Well, that slut and that-”
“Annette is not a slut.” Josie spoke firmly, and it seemed to have an impression on Howard.
“That may be. But we’re not concerned with her morality here. What she does on her own time is, naturally, her own business. But you should be concerned about what she does while you are paying her, don’t you think?”
“Well, I…”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t want to be paying people to have sex.”
“I’m not doing that!” Josie protested.
“Howard, you are, as always, missing the point completely!” Cheryl inhaled and aggressively stuck out her rather large breasts encased in shimmering turquoise polyester. “The point is not what they were doing! The point is where they were doing it!”
“Well, I don’t know!” Her husband seemed to be alarmed by her statement. “They-”
“They were doing it practically on our property! That is the point!”
Howard quickly added his agreement. “My wife is right. That’s the point! She-”
“Annette.” Josie supplied the name.
“Okay, Annette, if you insist. Annette was supposed to be working, doing what you pay her to do, and she was over on our property necking with that young man!”
“That’s all? They were necking and you’re upset about that?”
“You are missing the point, young lady! They weren’t working-”
“Perhaps Annette was on a break,” Josie suggested. “She is allowed two fifteen-minute breaks a day as well as half an hour for lunch. What she does during that time is her own business-although, of course, she is not supposed to be trespassing on your property.”
“Exactly! That is exactly the point we’ve been trying to make!” For the first time this morning Josie saw a faint smile on the other woman’s face.
“I always warn everyone who works for me not to trespass,” Josie lied. She hadn’t, in fact, thought it was necessary. The women who worked for her were well trained and intelligent. They knew they shouldn’t be wandering around on property that belonged to others. “I’d be happy to remind Annette of that particular policy, if you like.”
“And what about the young man she was with?” Cheryl asked.
“Look, he’s not my problem. You’re going to have to talk to Bobby Valentine-he’s the show’s producer-if you want Chad Henshaw warned.”
“We know who Bobby Valentine is. We had him over for cocktails just the other night.” Cheryl was smug. Josie got the impression that Cheryl considered this a social coup.
“Well, he’s the one to talk with about Chad. And I don’t know what he can do. Chad isn’t an employee. He’s a summer intern. He’s not paid. You can’t fire a volunteer, can you?”
“You know nothing about it. Summer interns may not be paid, but they get college credit for what they do. That’s probably important to him.”
“Maybe. All I know is, he’s not my business. Period. As I said, I’ll remind Annette not to trespass on your land.”
“That’s all you’re going to do?”
Josie was beginning to find these people-and this conversation-tedious. “What in heaven’s name do you want me to do? Fire her?”
“Yes. Get her off the island.” Cheryl’s answer came out as a shriek.
“Are you nuts? For necking with a young man on your property? What the hell is wrong with that?” Josie realized her voice was rising and she was in danger of screaming back. “You must be completely crazy. You-”
Howard interrupted, his voice booming deeply over the soprano rantings of the two women. “You are right. We are overreacting. You just remind that young woman to stay on her side of the property line and we’ll all be fine. Come along, Cheryl. Live and let live, as I always say.” He grabbed his wife’s arm and propelled her off the deck and back into their home.
Josie was left standing on the sidewalk, her mouth open.
TWENTY-THREE
DESPITE THE ADVICE of health gurus, the American Medical Association, and her mother, Josie believed that problems were best dealt with under the influence of lots of caffeine, starch, and sugar. Sam, straight from the bakery, brought all three in large quantities.
“I should wait until my coffee break, but-”
“It’s breakfast,” Sam urged, opening a bag and handing her a large rectangle of cake covered with thick, powdery streusel topping.
Josie noticed he was carrying three bags. “How much did you get?”
He chuckled. “I love a woman who loves her food! Don’t worry. There’s more than enough. Three slabs of cake and it’s all for you and your crew. I have a toasted bagel in the car to munch on when I get hungry.”
Probably without butter or cream cheese. Josie loved this man, but she didn’t share his taste in food. “Sam, something strange happened this morning.”
He was instantly alert. “Something to do with Courtney’s murder?” he asked quietly.
“No, nothing that serious, but it’s… I… I’m in an awkward position. You see, I sort of had a run-in with the couple next door.” She explained what had happened, then was disappointed in Sam’s response.
“Sounds to me as though they’re making a mountain out of that molehill everyone’s always talking about. I know she hasn’t worked for you long, but what do you think about Annette?”
“She’s a good carpenter. But she’s young and in love and-”
“What I was asking-and I should have put the question more clearly, I admit-was do you think she will do what you tell her to do?”
“I don’t see why not. She knows I’m the boss and I haven’t seen any signs that she has trouble with that fact.”
“So warn Annette not to neck with her new boyfriend on the neighbors’ property-or in their sight-and don’t worry about the… What are their names?”
“Cheryl and Howard. I don’t know their last names.”
“Well, then, don’t worry about what Cheryl and Howard think.”
“You’re right. I’ve had problems with cranky neighbors before. I guess I just let this upset me because of everything that’s been going on around here.”
“Understandable.” Sam looked down at her. There was a serious expression on his handsome face. “Josie, I had trouble sleeping last night. I kept thinking about what happened here yesterday and wondering how I could help.”
She beamed. What a nice man!
“So I called this woman I mentioned to you yesterday. The one who worked for public television.”
“The one you used to date.” The smile had vanished from her face.
“Yes. I didn’t tell her about your problem, of course. But I did explain that I was interested in learning more about Courtney Castle.”