Dog Bones and Dead Bodies, page 9
Since she was already on Facebook anyway, Tassie impulsively checked to see if Jack was on there too. More importantly, if he was, hopefully, he hadn’t set his page to private.
He was on there.
And it wasn’t set to private.
Bingo!
Jack didn’t post a ton, but the photos he’d uploaded made Tassie smile. From how many of them were taken outdoors, he clearly loved communing with nature. He didn’t spend all his time skiing and hiking though. There were lots of pictures indoors too. Some were with family, others with friends, but it was the pics of him with Gus that she loved the most. She couldn’t have picked a favorite if she had to, although the ones of him with his dog right after he rescued the Lab mix were absolutely precious.
So, even though Tassie hadn’t found anything to help her solve Conrad’s murder, she had fun getting to know a little more about Jack. She almost sent him a friend request but chickened out at the last minute. Maybe she would after they had a few more “dates” at the dog park.
Or they solved Conrad’s murder, whichever came first.
If she were lucky, maybe that’d be today.
For Reel Sportfishing was located about a mile past the dog park so Tassie decided to drive instead of walk. Like many places in Bluewater Bay, they’d renovated an older home and turned it into a business. White siding with navy-blue shutters, it had a cute front porch with a few rocking chairs as well as a walkway with a railing that led down to the water’s edge and the fishing boats docked there.
After parking her SUV, Tassie made her way to the front door, Baxter in her arms. She wasn’t sure what kind of stuff could be lying around on the ground outside a charter fishing business, and she didn’t want to take any chances with his little feet.
“Okay, Baxter,” she said. “Put on your game face.”
The bell above the door rang as Tassie opened it and walked inside. Photos of smiling fishermen and women proudly displaying their catches, artistic pictures of fishing boats, and colorful shots of the bay and ocean at sunrise and sunset decorated the walls to either side of the room. She even spotted Conrad in some of the photos.
“May I help you?”
Tassie dragged her attention away from the pictures to find the woman behind the counter regarding her with a friendly smile. Mid-forties, she had shoulder-length curly black hair and wore a tee with the words For Reel Sportfishing and the company’s logo on it.
“I’m looking for David Campbell,” Tassie said.
“He’s out back by the dock. We’ve got an afternoon charter leaving in an hour or so.”
Thanking her, Tassie quickly made her way out of the building and down the sloping walkway to the dock behind the building. Having lived in Bluewater Bay her whole life, she was no stranger to boats. Oddly enough though, she’d never been on one specifically for fishing. Probably because she didn’t eat seafood.
There were two boats docked behind For Reel named Reel Deal Two and Reel Deal Three. Since Reel Deal One was nowhere in sight, she assumed that meant it was out with a charter. About fifteen or so people were hanging around the area, filling out paperwork and checking gear. Baxter seemed as interested in everything going on as she was.
Tassie glanced around, trying to find David. She’d seen his photo on For Reel Sportfishing’s website, but couldn’t find him among the group.
“Looking for someone?”
She turned to see a tall man regarding her curiously—emphasis on tall. In his early thirties, he wore a heavy sweater under a waterproof jacket as well as a knit cap. He was kind of cute in a lumberjack way. Or rather, a deep sea fisherman way, she supposed.
“David Campbell,” she said. “The woman I talked to inside said he’d be down here.”
“Sure is,” the man said. “Come on. He’s right over here.”
Tassie followed him through the crowd of people to the far end of the dock.
“David,” he said when they reached the boat named For Reel Two and the stocky dark-haired man moving around on it. “Someone to see you.”
“Thanks, Allen.” Wiping his hands on the rag he held, David stepped off the boat and walked over to them as the other man—Allen—moved over to the craft. “What can I help you with?”
“I was hoping I could ask you a few questions about Conrad,” she said.
His eyes narrowed. “You a reporter?”
Why did everyone ask her that?
“No. I’m a…”
Drats. She couldn’t very well say she was a friend of the woman accused of murdering Conrad. If David was the real killer, that’d only put his guard up.
“True crime podcaster,” she finally said, mostly because it was the first thing that came to mind.
He grunted at that, though she couldn’t tell if it was because he liked podcasts or hated them. “You doing an episode on Conrad’s murder?”
Tassie nodded. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Sure.” Towel still in hand, he folded his arms. “What do you want to know?”
Whether you murdered him or not.
Nope. She couldn’t say that.
“Did Conrad have any enemies?”
David let out a harsh laugh. “Depends on how you define enemies. It might be easier to ask if he had any friends.”
“Which were you?” she asked.
“Depended on the day,” he said.
That was a surprisingly honest answer considering Conrad had been murdered.
“Were you more friends or enemies lately?”
His mouth tightened. “We were good once. I’d like to say we were the same friends we were when we first started the business twenty years ago, but we weren’t. Haven’t been for a long time.”
Over by the boat, Allen glanced their way but didn’t say anything.
“What happened?” she asked.
“He won the lottery, for one thing,” David grumbled. “We’d talked about buying more boats and hiring additional captains for years, so I figured when he came into all that money, he’d put some of it into the business. Instead, the jerk told me that he was dissolving our partnership and opening his own charter fishing company. Not only that, but he was going to take our best customers with him. There was no way I was going to let that happen. And I told him that too.”
Tassie held her breath. Could this be the confession she’d been waiting for? Having your business partner betray you and threaten to open his own company and steal your best customers sounded like a motive for murder if she’d ever heard one.
“When you say you weren’t going to let that happen, you mean…?” she prompted.
“I was going to hire a lawyer,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if I could keep Conrad from dissolving the partnership, but I was sure going to try.”
Tassie didn’t have a law degree so she wasn’t sure about that either. She should have known that David wouldn’t confess to murder just like that. It would have been too easy.
“But then Conrad was murdered,” she said.
She left out the word conveniently.
David let out a snort. “Whoever did it saved me some money on legal fees, I can tell you that.”
“I’m sure.” She glanced over at the group of people waiting for their excursion to go out then turned back to David. “I heard that Oliver Bolton, the man found buried in Conrad’s backyard, was a regular on your charters.”
David’s brow furrowed, what seemed like genuine sadness filling his eyes. “Yeah, he was. Shame what happened to him. Oliver was a good man.” He glanced at Allen. “Isn’t that right?”
“Sure was,” Allen said, walking over to join them. “Came fishing with us once a week like clockwork. We were all stunned when we heard he’d been murdered.”
“And buried in Conrad’s backyard,” David added.
Tassie looked from one man to the other. “Do you think Conrad killed Oliver?”
David frowned again. “Considering he was buried in Conrad’s yard, who else could have done it?”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Allen agreed. “Kinda weird. Conrad and Oliver were pretty tight. They must have had some kind of falling out I guess.”
“When did you see Oliver last?” she asked.
David thought a moment. “Had to be a few weeks ago.”
“Yeah,” Allen said. “I was wondering where he was when I didn’t see his name on any of the charters going out. He went fishing once a week like clockwork.”
Laughter from the people further down the dock drifted in their direction and David glanced that way.
“I’ve gotta get this charter out,” he said to Tassie. “Hope you got enough for your podcast. Make sure you let the world know what a lowlife Conrad was, huh? I don’t want anyone feeling sorry that creep is dead.”
Tassie watched him make his way over to the waiting fishermen. Well, those were certainly strong words.
“Wow. He really didn’t like Conrad, did he?” she said. “Then again, Conrad was going to steal his business so there’s that.”
“I’m not sure it was just his business that David was worried about Conrad stealing.”
Tassie turned to look at Allen. “What do you mean?”
He hesitated, a dilemma clearly going on in his head. “I shouldn’t say anything.”
Grrr. Tassie grit her teeth. Then he shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place. If he knew something that tied David to Conrad’s murder, she needed to find out what it was.
“Come on. You can’t leave me hanging like that,” she said. “I promise it won’t end up on the podcast.”
That was true.
Allen thought a moment before letting out a sigh. “Okay. But you didn’t hear it from me.” His gaze went to his boss then back to her. “Rumor is that David’s wife was cheating on him. Not sure with who, but the other guys and I think she was having an affair with Conrad.”
Tassie gaped, not sure what to say to that bombshell.
David’s wife was cheating on him with Conrad? Maybe it was all that lottery money he won?
“Was David here at work around the time Conrad was murdered?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I was off that day. Kim at the front desk would probably know.” Allen gazed at her for a moment. “I gotta go, but if you need anything else for your podcast, you can come back, if you want. I’d be glad to talk to you some more.”
Was he blushing a little? She gave him a smile. “Thanks. I will.”
He nodded. “Take care.”
Tassie stood there long after Allen walked away, trying to wrap her head around what the man had just told her. She couldn’t imagine any woman having an affair with Conrad, no matter how hard she tried. But if David’s wife had been having an affair with Conrad, then that gave him even more motive for murder.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“I don’t suppose we can simply go ask David’s wife if she was having an affair with Conrad, huh?”
From the safe confines of his car seat in the SUV still parked outside For Reel Sportfishing, Baxter gave Tassie a pointed look.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” She sighed. “Well, if we can’t talk to Mrs. Campbell, then we’ll do the next best thing—talk to Estelle. If anyone knows who’s cheating with whom, it’s Bluewater Bay’s foremost gossip.”
There was only one problem. Today was Snicker’s birthday and Estelle had mentioned on her Facebook page that she and Snickers would be spending the day with her sister and her dog in Cutler’s Cove. She’d have to wait until tomorrow to talk to Estelle.
As for asking Kim at the front desk whether David was at work when Conrad was murdered that was a no-go too. Kim would have wondered why Tassie hadn’t simply asked David when she’d talked to him. And if Kim mentioned it to David, it might make him suspicious. She’d have to come up with another way to find out.
Which was probably a good thing since she had to get back to Pupcakes and mind the shop so Abby could meet up with Isaac at the dog park.
Fifteen minutes later, Tassie walked into the doggy bakery to find several customers and their dogs shopping for treats. Waving at them, she hurried over to where Abby was behind the counter eagerly waiting for her.
Her sister grabbed her purse from one of the drawers behind the counter along with Finn’s harness and leash. “Okay, we’re off to the dog park to see Isaac. Wish me luck.”
Tassie laughed. “You got this.”
By the time the last customer had picked out their treats and left, Tassie had come up with a plan to find out if David had an alibi for the time of Conrad’s murder. Thanks to Lucy talking her into trying out with her for the spring play in high school, she had to learn how to do a southern accent. Even though she hadn’t done it in years, she was confident she could still pull it off. She had to hope that the woman at the front desk didn’t recognize her voice. Or remember that there wasn’t a family from Mississippi up here on vacation. Now, she simply needed a few minutes to make a phone call between customers. If someone walked in while she was on the phone, she’d have a lot of explaining to do.
From where he relaxed on his plush bed, Baxter watched as she picked up her cell phone and opened Google.
“Show time,” she told Baxter.
Quickly finding the number for David’s charter fishing company, she dialed, then waited.
“For Reel Sportfishing. This is Kim,” a woman’s voice answered.
“Hey there, sugar. I sure hope you can help me,” Tassie said, pitching her voice a little higher and drawing out the words a little longer. “My family and I are up here on vacation from Mississippi and did some charter fishing the other day. We had such a wonderful time that I wanted to send a gift basket to the captain of the boat as a thank you. Thing is, I can’t remember his name for the life of me.”
“That’s not a problem,” Kim said. “What day did you and your family take the charter?”
“Monday.”
“Morning, afternoon, or full day?”
Oh, drats.
“Afternoon,” Tassie said hesitantly. “Then again, we had so much fun that it could have been the full day. You know how time flies!”
On the other end of the line, she heard Kim tapping on the computer. “If you went on the afternoon charter, Bill was the captain. And for the full day, Gary.”
“Bill or Gary. I thought it was Darren or Derrick. I really am so bad with names, but I thought it started with a D.”
“The only charter captain we have whose name starts with a D is David and he left early that day, so Bill covered the afternoon charter.”
“He did?” Tassie asked. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Kim said.
“That was very helpful,” Tassie said. “Thank you so much.”
She hung up and looked at Baxter excitedly. “Did you hear that? David didn’t have an alibi for the time of the murder. Unless he was at the dentist or something, of course. But for our purposes, we’re going to say he wasn’t. Which makes him our number one suspect!”
Of course, she still had to confirm his wife had been having an affair with Conrad. And make sure he didn’t have an alibi she wasn’t aware of.
But one thing at a time.
Also, hopefully, Kim didn’t tell Bill or Gary about the gift basket because neither of them was getting one.
Abby came back a little while later, a beaming smile on her face. Beside her, Finn seemed equally happy.
Tassie grinned. “I take it that things went well with Isaac.”
“They did!” Abby exclaimed. “I admitted that I only booked a session for Finn so that I could meet him, and he told me that he’d already figured that out. We’re having dinner tonight and I can’t wait!” She bent to get Finn out of his harness, then gave him a pat. “Oh! I just realized! I ran out so fast before that I didn’t get to ask what happened at the charter fishing place.”
While they straightened up the shelves and figured out what treats they needed to bake more of, Tassie filled her in on everything she’d learned at For Reel Sportfishing.
“After we close, I’m going to stop by the police station and talk to Jack,” she added.
Abby waved her hand. “Why don’t you go now? I’ll lock up.”
“You sure?”
Her sister nodded. “Yeah. Go.”
Five minutes later, Tassie and Baxter were heading for the door.
“Have fun with Isaac tonight,” she told her sister.
The police station was only a few doors down from Pupcakes so it didn’t take long for her and Baxter to get there. Emily Miller, the uniformed officer at the counter, was on the phone when they walked in. She gave Tassie a wave as she and Baxter swung open the half door that divided the lobby from the main part of the station. Since Tassie stopped by to see Lucy regularly, all the cops knew her.
Lucy was at her desk, headset on, fingers tapping away at her keyboard. When she caught sight of Tassie and Baxter, she held up a finger, said something into her mic to the patrol officer she was talking to, then smiled and waved them over.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Lucy said. “I’ve checked out half of the restaurants on the list you gave me and think I have a winner, but I’m going to see what the rest of the places offer in regard to catering just to make sure.”
“Excellent,” Tassie said. “I owe you big.”
“Don’t think I won’t remember you said that when Andrew and I want a night out and need a babysitter.”
“Deal,” Tassie said with a laugh.
She looked around what Lucy always referred to as the bullpen. In addition to Lucy’s desk, there were four other desks the uniformed officers used when they were on duty, all of which were empty at the moment. There were two offices off the main room as well, one belonging to the chief of police, Hugh Pennington, and the other to Jack, but both doors were closed.
“Is Jack here?” she asked.
Before Lucy could answer, the door to his office opened and he strode out. Jack stopped when he saw her, clearly surprised.
