Sea Salt Caramel Murder (A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Book 4) Read online

  “Well,” Hawk said, “seems like we're in a real spot, Nikki.”

  Nikki didn't reply. In her mind, she studied every feature of the Chinese man. Then she studied the briefcase she saw the man carrying. Outside the storm grew worse as the seas began to dig a watery grave for the doomed ship.

  Chapter Six

  “She's with me,” Hawk told a man resembling a scarecrow with dark, stringy, black hair.

  The man, wearing a neat and crisp blue and white uniform, moved away from the door leading into the medical bay. Hawk motioned for Nikki to follow him. Nikki nodded, looked to her left at Lidia and Herbert, and asked them to stay out in the passageway. “You can count on that,” Lidia promised.

  Walking into a medium-sized room with a green and white linoleum floor, Nikki carefully absorbed the layout: White metal shelves holding medical supplies attached to the left and right walls, three medical beds were pushed up against the back wall, an examining bed sat in the middle of the room, a wooden desk sat under a white medical cabinet on the right wall. The medical bay, Nikki guessed, appeared normal—normal except for a dead body lying on the examining bed. “Well?” Hawk asked Dr. Carter Rowen.

  Dr. Rowen looked at Brody. Brody was standing at the wooden desk nibbling on his thumbnail. “Shouldn't you be getting us back to the home port?” Nikki asked him.

  “I heard the conversation between you and Mayfield,” Hawk told Brody in a stern tone. “So go turn this ship around and—”

  “I can't,” Brody interrupted Hawk in a desperate voice. “I can't even call the Captain's death into the mainland.” Nikki watched Brody pull a piece of paper out of his pocket. “When I left the dining room I went back to the bridge to call the doctor. My immediate goal was to turn the ship around and head home, but this note was taped to the bridge door.”

  Hawk took the note from Brody and read it. Shaking his head, he handed the note to Nikki. “He has to keep the ship on course and make contact with the Coast Guard or the mainland only when contacted.”

  “And I have to pretend everything is okay,” Brody added.

  “If you disobey,” Nikki read the note, “more people will die.” The killer states he has eyes everywhere.

  Dr. Rowen didn't seem bothered by the note. Instead, he walked to the wooden desk, brushed Brody aside, opened the top right drawer, and brought out a bottle of brandy. “Lovely voyage,” he said, opening the bottle. Nikki watched him take a long, hard swig. “Now,” he said, putting the bottle of brandy back into the desk drawer and focusing on Captain Mayfield, “about our dear, distinguished captain here.”

  “What do you know about the dart?” Hawk asked following Dr. Rowen over to the examining table. Nikki, still holding onto the note, followed Hawk.

  “Bamboo,” Dr. Rowen answered Hawk, “with a very small needle attached to the tip. The tip of the needle was dipped in poison. What kind of poison I do not know, but,” Dr. Rowen said, pointing to Captain Mayfield's body, “as you can see, whatever type of poison was used, it is very deadly.”

  “And the killer—or killers—probably have more of that poison,” Nikki said worriedly.

  Hawk nodded. “Makes me want to put a suit of armor on.”

  Nikki turned her attention away from Captain Mayfield and focused on Brody. “Mr. Lane, tell me about yourself. I don't mean to be pushy, but Detective Hawk heard Captain Mayfield mention a ship called the Blue Pearl.”

  Brody stiffened. Dr. Rowen folded his arms together and chuckled arrogantly. “Our dear Mr. Lane has a dark past,” he said.

  “Shut up,” Brody warned Dr. Rowen.

  “Or what?” Dr. Rowen chuckled again. “You see,” he told Nikki, “Mr. Lane was once the captain of a very fine cruise ship called the Blue Pearl. The ship belonged to a company in China.”

  “China?” Nikki asked.

  “Shut up, Rowen,” Brody barked again. Hawk held up his hand and shook his head.

  Dr. Rowen sneered at Brody. “Mr. Lane's wife is Chinese, didn't he tell you? Anyway, he began work on the beautiful Blue Pearl. Oh, but tragedy struck. On a very dark and stormy night, Mr. Lane ran the ship into a cargo ship. The Blue Pearl was severely damaged and began to sink. Luckily no soul perished. Afterward, Mr. Lane was tarred and feathered, so to speak, and his life as a sea captain was over.”

  “It was proven that the captain of that cargo ship was drunk,” Brody said in a desperate voice now that his secret was out. “We were caught on the outer edge of a typhoon. I was pulling the ship inland—the sea was unbearable. I didn't see the cargo ship. Suddenly, it appeared over a wave and crashed into the port side of the Blue Pearl.”

  “Oh, but it was also proven that you had a hint of whiskey on your breath, as well,” Dr. Rowen added.

  “That's not true. I never drank on duty,” Brody yelled. Running his hands through his hair he began to pace around the medical bay. “It's true, I was once a drunk. I spent many years on the bottle. But then I met my wife, and she is a God-fearing woman. She changed me. I never went to church before, but we did, all the time.”

  “I believe you,” Nikki promised Brody. Walking over to the man, she put her hand on his shoulder. “Your wife is sick, isn't she?”

  “She has a rare blood disease. The medical treatments are costly. I knew Captain Mayfield from the old days. One day he called me out of the blue and offered me a job. Money was tight; my wife needed her medical treatments, so I accepted,” Brody explained. “I moved my wife to Seattle and began working on this ship.”

  “Was Mayfield involved in any shady side-doing?” Hawk asked.

  Brody tensed. “Detective Hawk, my job was to sail this ship. What Captain Mayfield did was his business. My only concern is my wife and a paycheck. This ship brings in good money—a lot of money has gone into making this ship what it is.”

  “But?” Nikki asked, reading Brody's facial expression. The man was withholding something.

  Brody looked at Dr. Rowen. Dr. Rowen shrugged his shoulders. “Don't look at me. I only give out seasickness pills.”

  “Talk to me, Mr. Lane. Please,” Hawk insisted.

  Brody walked over to the wooden desk, sat down in a black chair, and placed his hands together. “Captain Mayfield was using this ship for something. I don't know what, and I never did. It's like I said, my main concern is for my wife and a paycheck,” he confessed.

  “Go on,” Hawk told Brody.

  “I've seen certain passengers on this ship...shady characters, as you cops would say. I never asked questions, though. But when I kept seeing the same repeat passengers, I became suspicious. So last month, I set up a hidden camera in Captain Mayfield's room. Boy, if he had caught me, he would have fed me to the sharks...but I have my wife to take care of, you understand. If Captain Mayfield was involved in a criminal activity, I couldn't take the chance of being connected with him.”

  “I understand,” Hawk assured Brody.

  Brody rotated his neck to release tension before he continued. “It's true, Captain Mayfield was involved in criminal activity. He was smuggling diamonds, guns, counterfeit money—but not drugs.”

  “And you caught this on the hidden camera?” Nikki asked.

  Brody nodded his head. “I put the tape in a safety deposit box at my bank. You know, just in case Captain Mayfield tried to pull anything, I had a hidden card up my sleeve to play.”

  “While willfully breaking the law by not reporting the man to the authorities,” Hawk added.

  “Detective Hawk, do you have a sick wife?” Brody snapped. “Do you see your wife sick day in and day out? Do you see your wife so weak at times that she can't even make it to the bathroom on her own? Do you fight with a selfish insurance company that refuses to pay only twenty percent of her medical bills? Do you, huh?”

  “No,” Hawk admitted.

  “Well I do,” Brody said, fighting back tears. “This company pays me good money, money that pays for my wife's medical treatments. So if I broke the law by not reporting the man who got me this
job, then arrest me. But let me tell you something, Detective, when the life of your loved one is on the line, you do your job and keep your mouth shut!”

  “Bravo,” Doctor Rowen clapped.

  “Shut your mouth,” Brody warned in a voice that caused Dr. Rowen to immediately stop clapping. “My wife is home with a caretaker right now. My only concern is getting back to her. But if I dare turn this ship around or send out an SOS, more people might be killed. So tell me, what should I do, Detective?”

  Hawk rubbed the back of his neck. Looking at Nikki he nodded. “I gotta go find that Chinese fella, Nikki.”

  “His name is Lei Johnson. He's half-Chinese and half-American,” Brody told Hawk and then disclosed the man's cabin number. “Listen to me, you can't go playing John Wayne, Detective. I'm acting captain of this ship now. You have no proof that Mr. Johnson is the person who killed Captain Mayfield.”

  “I'm only going to question the man,” Hawk promised Brody. “In the meantime, you try to keep this bucket of bolts afloat.”

  “Detective,” Brody said, “we have a severe storm chasing our tail, and we're not going to be able to outrun it. When the storm catches up to us, we're going to hit swells that will make the bravest man on earth wet his pants and—”

  “Wait,” Nikki said, “if the killer wants you to keep this ship on course, he must be aware of the danger, which means whatever cargo he has must be really important.”

  “Remember, the killer didn't work alone,” Hawk told Nikki.

  Nikki nodded. “Hawk, the briefcase Lidia and I saw this Mr. Johnson carrying when he walked out of the bathroom? That must be the cargo.”

  Brody stood up from the desk. “I'm going back to the bridge. The storm will be on us within the next couple of hours. After that, this ship is going to be fighting for its life. I'll do what I can to make sure we come out of this alive.”

  Hawk waited until Brody left the medical bay before speaking. “Dr. Rowen, you didn't like Mayfield, did you?”

  “I despised the man,” Dr. Rowen confessed, “but he's my half-brother, so what can I do? After I almost lost my medical license, he hired me on as ship doctor.”

  “How did you almost lose your medical license?” Nikki asked.

  Dr. Rowen walked to the desk, pulled out the brandy, and took another swig. “I went into surgery drunker than a skunk, my dear lady.”

  “Come on,” Hawk told Nikki, disgusted with Dr. Rowen.

  Chapter Seven

  Out in the hallway, Nikki glanced at the few employees standing about and then turned her attention to Lidia and Herbert. “You guys better get to your cabin and batten down the hatches, okay?” she whispered in Lidia's ear. “Mr. Lane can't turn the ship around because the killer said if he does, more people will die. This ship has to stay on course. The storm Mr. Lane is worried about will be on us in about two hours.”

  “Oh dear,” Lidia whispered. Looking at Herbert she sighed. “Okay, honey, we'll be in our cabin. Where are you going to be?”

  “The Chinese man we saw is a Mr. Lei Johnson. Hawk and I are going to question him,” Nikki whispered and then hugged Lidia. “We'll come to your cabin later.”

  “Hawk, I demand answers,” Herbert stated, folding his arms together.

  “So do I,” Hawk told Herbert and patted the man on his shoulder. “You guys better get to your cabin and stay put. We'll be by later. Let's go, Nikki.”

  With careful eyes, Nikki studied the employees still standing around. When she spotted the young girl who had given her a bottle of water in the lounge earlier, she paused, began to speak, decided not to, and walked past the girl. Fifteen minutes later she and Hawk were standing in front of Mr. Johnson's cabin door. Hawk pulled out his gun and badge. “You knock,” he told Nikki moving her to the left side of the door as he moved to the right side.

  Nikki braced herself, stuck out her right hand, and knocked on the cabin's wooden door three times. “Mr. Johnson,” Hawk yelled, “this is Detective Daily. Please open up. I need to ask you some questions.”

  To Nikki's surprise, the cabin door slowly opened. Lei Johnson appeared, calm, collected, and intelligent. “Yes, Detective?” he asked in a cold voice. With patient eyes, he examined Hawk's badge.

  “May we speak inside your cabin, please, sir?” Hawk asked.

  “No,” Lei answered, stepping out into the passageway. Pulling the cabin door shut behind him, he examined Nikki. The woman was lovely in every aspect, but dangerous. Her eyes held a brilliance that was difficult to understand.

  “You are aware that Captain Mayfield is dead?” Hawk asked Lei.

  Lei took his right hand and knocked a piece of lint off of his suit. “I heard rumors, yes,” he answered. “Some low-paid servant on this ship informed me that Captain Mayfield had been killed by a poison dart.”

  “Yes,” Nikki told Lei, easing over to Hawk. Lei Johnson looked like a man who took good care of himself, muscular and fit. The last thing she wanted was for him to strike out at her unexpectedly. “The dart was made of bamboo.”

  “I see,” Lei said, narrowing his eyes. “And you, Detective Hawk, believe I am the killer?”

  Hawk held his gun down at his side. He had enough distance to get off a single shot if Lei tried anything. “I'm not implying anything. But it has been brought to our attention you have made this same cruise a few times. Also, you were seen leaving a public bathroom earlier with Captain Mayfield.”

  Lei glanced at Nikki. He remembered seeing her in the hallway after leaving the bathroom. “Detective, I run a diamond business. My card.”

  While gripping his gun tighter, Hawk watched Lei reach into his jacket and retrieve a business card. Reaching out his left hand, he took the card. “Sea Diamonds,” he read aloud.

  “I sell diamonds to people on vacation. This ship, as you can see, is quite remarkable. Only the wealthy can afford passage, unlike those who purchase cheap tickets on those cheesy cruise ships that sail to overpriced tropical islands.” Lei explained. “I made arrangements with Captain Mayfield to begin selling diamonds on this ship. I was in the bathroom with Captain Mayfield earlier. I went to the bathroom to retrieve my diamonds. Captain Mayfield was holding them in the ship’s safe for me. I know a bathroom is an unlikely place, but one has to be careful.”

  “Why were you so rude on the dock earlier?” Nikki demanded. “You walked right past my friend and were very rude.”

  “I have not been in a very pleasant mood, I'm afraid,” Lei explained. “On the last voyage, it was brought to my attention that Captain Mayfield was smuggling diamonds, guns, and other items on this ship. It was also on the last voyage that Captain Mayfield threatened my life.”

  “How so?” Hawk demanded.

  “He told me that I would begin smuggling his diamonds for him, or he would hold my diamonds in the ship’s safe and not return them to me. I did as he ordered me to do. This morning, I returned to the ship to get my diamonds. Captain Mayfield gave them to me, only they were fakes. I was very angry. I have since calmed down.”

  “Why?” Nikki asked. “I believe you would very upset.”

  “I was,” Lei assured Nikki, “but my diamonds were returned to me about an hour and a half ago.”

  “They were?” Hawk asked curiously.

  Lei nodded. “I heard a knock at the cabin door. When I opened it, I saw a briefcase sitting out in the hall. The suitcase contained my diamonds.”

  Nikki gave Hawk a confused look. “About an hour and a half ago... Captain Mayfield was murdered about an hour ago.”

  “Mr. Johnson, a witness saw you enter the dining room, look at Captain Mayfield, and then leave. Shortly after, he was murdered. Can you explain your presence in the dining room?”

  “I went to confront Captain Mayfield,” Lei confessed. “I wanted to accuse, insult, and embarrass the man in front of the passengers. I was furious. Then, at the last second, I decided that if I wanted my diamonds back, I needed a different approach. I left the dining room and ventured to Capta
in Mayfield's quarters. I entered his cabin and began searching for my diamonds.”

  “But to no avail,” Nikki said.

  Lei shook his head. “I'm afraid not. I returned here, to my own cabin, and began trying to conceive a plan. That's when the underpaid boy knocked on my door and told me there had been a murder. Shortly after, there was another knock on my door.”

  “The second knock on your door revealed your diamonds, is that right?” Hawk asked.

  “Yes,” Lei answered allowing a smile to touch his lips. “I have examined each diamond, and they are authentic. I wish I could repay the good Samaritan who returned my diamonds, but I'm afraid that person remains anonymous.”

  “Mr. Johnson, remain in your cabin for the time being. If your diamonds are as valuable as you say they are, then you could become a target,” Hawk told Lei. “Also, a very dangerous storm is about to trap this ship in open water, so it's gonna get rough. I need you to stay where I can find you. Go back in your cabin, lock the door, and stay put, okay?”

  “Before you go,” Nikki asked, “can you describe the person who told you Captain Mayfield had been murdered?”

  Lei glared at Nikki with cold eyes. “The employees of this ship all look the same to me... it's the uniforms,” he said. Slithering back into his cabin, he closed the cabin door and locked it.

  “He's lying,” Nikki told Hawk as they walked away from the cabin door.

  “Yep.” Hawk shoved his gun down into a belt holster on his right hip. “Right now Lei Johnson is our number one suspect.”

  Chapter Eight

  Walking to the elevator, Nikki suddenly felt as if a huge rock struck the boat. The ship began to list dangerously to its starboard side. Unable to keep her balance, Nikki crashed into Hawk. Hawk threw out his hand, balanced himself against the right wall of the passageway, and quickly threw his left arm around Nikki's shoulder. “Whoa...settle down,” he told the ship.