I left my shoes a safe distance from the water and stepped into the cold surf next to Nick. He handed me the pole and said, “Okay, wait for this wave to go out and when you see the little air holes, scoop away.”

  When the surf receded I looked closely but didn't actually see any air holes, but I scooped up as much sand as I could anyway. That's when I discovered that wet sand is really heavy; I tried to lift the sieve but I couldn't get it off the ground.

  Nick laughed and said, “Boy, you were really going for the big haul!” as he took the pole from my hand and emptied out the sand and water. “Looks like you got a good bunch of them. Not bad at all. If you ever want a job let me know.”

  “Let's see, outdoor work and heavy lifting. I think I'll pass on that,” I said.

  Just then a ragged voice called out from behind us, “Hey, if there's any beer left in that bucket, save some for me! I'm celebratin'!”

  I turned and saw Captain Caleb stumbling down the trail towards us with a mostly-empty bottle of rum in one hand.

  “No beer, just bait,” Nick said, “but it looks like you've had plenty already. What are you celebrating?”

  Captain Caleb grinned maliciously and dragged his thumb across his throat in a cutting motion. “Brent Maxwell,” he said. “The job's done!”

  Chapter 5

  “What do you mean by that?” I asked.

  “I mean ol' Brentie got what was comin' to him!” Caleb slurred. “So much for stealin' Captain Caleb's land, huh? Ha ha ha!”

  “Hey, cool it, Caleb,” Nick said. “If you go around talking like that you'll get yourself in trouble.”

  Caleb dismissed this warning with a wave of his hand. “Aw, get off my back! It ain't every day Brent Maxwell gets his head bashed in, and I'm gonna celebrate it! Got clobbered with his own precious trophy that he was always braggin' about, too! Crushed his skull like an eggshell, ha ha! Bye-bye, Brentie! Say, Nick ol' buddy, if you ain't got nuthin' to drink down here, how about lendin' me a twenty or two so I can remedy that situation, huh?”

  “How do you know that Brent Maxwell was killed with his trophy?” I asked. “Nobody outside the house knew that.”

  Caleb squinted at me and wrinkled his nose. “You get off my back, too, lady! Somebody told me, okay?”

  “Who told you?”

  “I don't remember! Just somebody! Man, you guys are killin' my buzz; I ain't got time for this....” He turned and staggered back toward the trail.

  “Go home and get some sleep, Caleb!” Nick called. “And keep your mouth shut! You want to end up in jail?”

  “Maybe he should be in jail,” I said. “He practically confessed to killing Brent Maxwell before you warned him to stop talking! He knew exactly how the murder happened!”

  “News travels fast on a little island. I'm sure Dodie called somebody and somebody told somebody else and Caleb found out. I don't think he had anything to do with it.”

  “I wish I could be as sure as you are! Caleb was really mad about Brent Maxwell buying his land; you saw what he did at the party. And the sheriff didn't take him to jail last night, either! It would have been easy for him to come back to the B&B last night after everyone had gone to bed and sneak in; there are plenty of doors and windows and the locks are old. He could have surprised Brent in his room and killed him and gotten away without anyone knowing he had been there.”

  “Sure, maybe, but I don't buy it,” Nick said. “I know Caleb gets a few beers under his belt and starts trouble sometimes, but really he's pretty harmless. You've got to know how to take him, y'know? Once you've been living down here a while you'll understand.”

  “Except I'm not going to be living down here. This is just a vacation for me, at least it was supposed to be before the murder happened. Say, do you think if the investigation drags on until it's time for me to go that the sheriff will make me stay? I can't really be a suspect, can I? I hardly knew Brent Maxwell.”

  “I seriously doubt that will happen. But you don't need to leave, either. I don't know if you've heard, but the state of Florida allows people to move down here permanently.”

  “It's tempting,” I said, “but my parents are busy right now trying to find teaching job openings so I can apply as soon as I get back home.”

  “If you really want to teach why wouldn't you be looking for teaching jobs instead of having your parents do it?”

  “I'll admit they're a lot more enthusiastic about it than I am. When I was 18 I had a good job at an upscale restaurant that I liked a lot. I didn't want to quit to go to college but my parents weren't convinced that I couldn't have a future without a degree. My cousin is a school teacher and she makes a good salary, has health insurance and retirement benefits and all that, so they thought that would be a good career for me. You know how parents are, they want you to get a job that's safe so you can take care of yourself.”

  “Sure, but at a certain time in your life you have to decide for yourself what you really want to do,” Nick said. “You've got your whole life ahead of you and a whole world of possibilities. You ought to try something different; and if it doesn't work out, you've always got this sand flea job to fall back on.”

  “You should be a motivational speaker!” I laughed. “I don't think I'm cut out for a job on the beach, though. According to Charlie Gleason I would end up with an army of no-see-ums all over me and I'd have to spend the rest of my vacation picking them out of my hair.”

  “Hey, that reminds me; with all this excitement we never did manage to get to Golden Happiness Isle to pick up that flat iron. How about we go up there this afternoon and we can get dinner while we're there?”

  “That sounds like fun,” I said, “But I don't know if I should.”

  “Yeah, I hear you; you're still getting over Wayne dumping you and you don't trust yourself around a man like me, being on the rebound like you are. But I'm not talking about a date; I just mean we could grab some food while you're shopping.”

  I started to count to ten, but I had to keep going till I reached fifteen before I could regain my composure and ignore the egotism. “No, I meant that I don't know if I should go without asking the sheriff if it's okay to leave the island first,” I said through gritted teeth. “And what makes you think I'd go on a date with you anyway?”

  “You know how it is; women come down here for a vacation and they want to have a romantic interlude with the dashing young sea captain like they read about in romance novels. It's a vacation thing, I guess. But I'm not interested in being anyone's boy-toy for a couple of weeks.”

  Romantic interlude? Boy-toy? The Delaney curse strikes again! One minute he's funny, witty and pleasant to be around and the next minute he's totally lost his mind and is maddening, exasperating and other adjectives that I was too angry to think about at the time.

  “Well, don't worry about me,” I said. “I'm not interested in going to Golden Happiness Isle with you, either. I'm going back to Aunt Sam's to hang out with the murderers, since they make better company than you!” I turned and stalked off indignantly toward the trail.

  “You forgot your shoes,” Nick called.

  I stalked back indignantly to get my shoes.

  When I got back to the bed and breakfast, the sun was sitting just above the ocean and the blue of the sky had turned to pinks and purples. I saw Buff driving away in a big van and Dr. Brad following in his car. I assumed they were taking the body away for a post-mortem, and I was glad to see it. Having a dead body in the house would creep me out even if there wasn't a murder involved.

  As I stepped inside I saw Sheriff Landon standing in the hallway, talking on the phone. The conversation seemed one-sided.

  “Yes, Mayor, I know how you feel but --- I know, Mayor, but it's only been a few hours since --- Of course I understand your position, but ---”

  It sounded like the case wasn't going as well as she had planned. I looked around for Aunt Sam and found her sitting on the patio working a crossword puzzle.

  “Oh, I'm glad to see you, dear,” she said. “I hope you found something good to eat. I sent Dodie home for the day, so we'll be fending for ourselves for dinner tonight.”

  “Yes, I went into Archibald Village and had a nice time. How are things going here? I heard the sheriff on the phone with Mayor Croaker just now and it didn't sound good.”

  “Oh, it's no worse than I expected. No one has an alibi they can prove, and since all of the suspects handled the Sneaky on the boat ride from Golden Happiness Isle, Buff found everyone's fingerprints on it. Lois told them all not to leave the island, but I don't think she's got any good leads.”

  Just then Sheriff Landon came out onto the patio and sat down heavily on the deck chair opposite Aunt Sam. She took off her hat and tossed it onto the table and said, “I have to wear this hat to look official, but I hate it. It gets my hair all sweaty and I look like a drowned rat when I take it off. I should have picked a different career....”

  “Is the news that bad, Lois?” Aunt Sam asked.

  “Marcie says she's giving me one week to solve this case, and then she's calling the police in Golden Happiness Isle to take over.”

  “Wouldn't it be a good idea to call them to help you out anyway? They've got a lot more resources and it would make things easier on you and Buff.”

  “Yes, I could use the help but it's not that simple,” the sheriff sighed. “Mayor Croaker has this silly rivalry with Mayor Higgins from Golden Happiness Isle and she doesn't even want to let him know about the murder until it's solved. She thinks it would be an embarrassment to Admiral Archibald Falls to call for help, so if I can't solve this murder in seven days and Mayor Croaker has to call for help, you can bet I'll be out of a job!”

  “Surely even Marcie couldn't be that foolish!”

  “Her no-good nephew got fired from his job at that aquarium in Orlando for fishing in the tanks, and he's been out of work for a couple of months now. I think Marcie's just itching to give him my job! You've got to help me solve this case, Sammie.”

  “Me?” Aunt Sam looked startled. “What on earth could I do to help?”

  “Plenty! You've got a knack for figuring people out and you've solved some tough mysteries that I didn't have a clue about.”

  “Oh, those were just little things; nothing like a murder.”

  “It's not that much different, Sammie,” Sheriff Landon said. “I know you can help me solve this case. Besides, the main suspects are all living under your roof; who better than you observe them for suspicious behavior?”

  “Well, if you say so, but I can't promise that it'll do any good,” Aunt Sam said. “Teri and I will do our best, and if we find out anything that might be useful to you, we'll let you know.”

  Wait a minute! How did I get roped into this? I was about to lodge a formal protest, but Sheriff Landon said, “That is music to my ears. Now I'd better get going. Call me right away if you learn anything.”

  After she had left, I turned to Aunt Sam and said, “What did you tell her that for? I don't know how to investigate a murder! I've watched a few episodes of CSI, but I usually zone out when they start talking about the technical stuff.”

  “Oh, we're not doing anything as complicated as all that,” Aunt Sam replied. “You see, whoever murdered Brent Maxwell had a reason for doing it, right?”

  “Well of course, even I can see that, but-”

  “And the murderer is lying about where they were when Brent was killed.”

  “Yes, so?”

  “So all we're going to do is talk to the suspects. If we can find out who had a motive to kill Brent and catch someone in a lie, we've got something to give the sheriff. It's one thing to plan a crime, but it's another thing to talk about it afterwards without slipping up. Sooner or later the killer will make a mistake.”

  “I don't think it will be as easy as that,” I said. “Besides, I'm not trained to be a detective and I don't know how to interrogate people. How am I supposed to catch someone in a lie when I don't know how to tell if they're lying in the first place?”

  “Why, you were a teacher, dear. I'm sure you had plenty of experience with students lying to you about being tardy or missing assignments and so forth, and you had to learn to see through the lies.”

  “Sure, but that's a far cry from investigating a murder!”

  Aunt Sam shrugged. “I said the same thing to Lois, but here we are and she still needs our help. And it's not just her job on the line, either; can you imagine what it will do to the bed and breakfast's reputation if news of an unsolved murder gets out? It surely won't help business very much; I might have to make budget cuts to stay open. I'd hate to have to let Dodie go, but...”

  I put my head in my hands. It hadn't taken long for this vacation trip to turn into a guilt trip. “Oh, okay,” I groaned. “I guess I can try to talk to some people. Where do we start?”

  Just then I saw figure walking up the lawn from the beach. In the twilight I could only make out the silhouette, but from the glow of the cell phone in the figure's hand I could tell it was Dawn.

  “Hi, Dawn, how are you holding up?” I asked as she crossed the patio.

  “Not so good. This Crossy Chicken game is like, super hard!” Dawn murmured. “I can't get the stupid chicken to cross the road- Dude! That truck came out of nowhere! That's such BS....” She continued inside without looking up at Aunt Sam or me.

  “Maybe we should start there,” Aunt Sam said.

  “With Dawn?”

  “Yes, for someone whose future husband was brutally murdered less than 24 hours ago, she doesn't seem too upset about it. Perhaps it wasn't a big surprise to her?”

  “Maybe. I still don't know if I'm the right person for this job,” I said. I certainly didn't feel like the right person for the job. Shouldn't we find some famous detective who happens to be vacationing in the area to solve the case, like they do on TV?

  “You'll feel more confident after you've had supper and a good night's sleep,” Aunt Sam said. “We'll start looking into this murder first thing tomorrow morning. It won't be so bad; how hard can it be to have a conversation with Dawn?”

  I sighed. Apparently I was going to have to find out.

  Chapter 6

  The next morning after breakfast I reluctantly started hunting down my first suspect. At first I thought Dawn had left for the beach again, but then I saw that she was sunbathing by the pool. I stood in the hall looking at her through the window, trying to figure the best way to approach this whole interrogation thing. I decided I would go up to her casually and start a conversation, and considering that Dawn isn't the brightest bulb around, I could probably slip in some questions about the murder without her even noticing what I was doing.

  First I would need a reason to be hanging around Dawn, so I went back to the RV to change into my swimsuit. I would act like I was just going out to the pool to swim, and then I'd strike up a conversation. Yes, that would work. Right? I was about to put on my bikini but then it occurred to me that it was going to be really hot today and I didn't want to get sunburned if I had to spend a long time talking to Dawn. I decided to wear my new swim shirt instead of the bikini bra.

  As I walked down to the pool I wondered if Dawn wasn't actually as dumb as she looks. What if it is all an act to throw suspicion off herself? None of us knew anything about her other than she was Brent's girlfriend. It wouldn't have been hard for her to murder him. When Brent and Dawn went to their rooms, there was no one else on the floor except Gavin who was passed out in his own room. She could have simply walked down the hall, killed him with the statue and returned to her room without anyone seeing her. If someone did catch her in the hall, she could make up any silly excuse for being there and with everyone believing she's just a brainless bimbo, no one would think twice about it. In fact, she had been in the hallway that night and she had made a silly excuse about her bathroom door! Maybe I was onto something.

  Dawn was sitting on a chaise lounge looking at her phone when I got to the pool. I said “Hi” to her and she just nodded. I put my towel and tote bag on the chaise next to hers. I was about to go into the water when she said, “Are you going to swim in that tee shirt? You look funny.”

  “It's not a tee shirt,” I replied. “It's a swim shirt. I haven't done any sun-bathing yet and I don't want to get burned. How's the water? Have you been in yet?”

  “No, I have some work to do first. It's hard to get my mind on it because I feel so totally bummed.”

  “I understand,” I said. “I'm so sorry about Brent. It must be really difficult for you to deal with on your own and not being around your own family.”

  “Brent?” she looked puzzled. “He's dead. I thought you knew that. My problem is that I'm going to do a video for my followers online and I need a manny and a peddy in the worst way. There's only two places on this whole island that do them and when I called this morning they said they were booked.”

  She was more concerned with getting a manicure and pedicure than she was about Brent. Why was I not surprised? She put the phone down and took some nail polish out of her tote bag. I decided to swim a couple of short laps to prove that I had really come down to the pool to swim. I did the side-stroke so that my hair wouldn't get too wet and when I got back to the end of the pool where I had started I felt something heavy on the top of my head and the next thing I knew my head was under water! I came up gagging and gasping for air and saw Dawn standing over me at the edge of the pool.

  “Why did you push my head under water?” I yelled.

  ”Well, I've been waving at you trying to get your attention and you didn't seem to see me,” she answered.

  “Why didn't you call me?”

  “I don't know your name, and I need help.”

  “What's wrong?”

  “I need to film my un-boxing video right away and I set up my phone on the table next to my chair but the wind keeps blowing it over. I need you to hold it.”

  I choked back a few expletives as I climbed out of the pool, but before I could say anything Dawn shrieked, “Oh, no, when I put my foot on your head my nail polish wiped off on your hair! Now I'll have to put more on.”