Valerie Wolzien - Death in a Beach Chair

Susan was still upset when she arrived at Compass Bay. She didn’t bother to smile at Lila, working behind the front desk. She didn’t stop at the gift shop to see if Kathleen had called out. She didn’t even stop to see Kathleen. She stormed into her own cottage. Jed would make her feel better in this crisis as he had done in every crisis during the thirty years of their marriage.

If only he would wake up.

Miserable and impatient, Susan shook her husband awake. It wasn’t an easy task. He muttered and pulled away from her without opening his eyes.

“Jed! Wake up! You’ve been sleeping all afternoon. I need you.”

“Sus-” His right eye opened.

“Jed. We have a real problem. No one believes Kathleen was assaulted.”

“Kathleen… assaulted. Is she okay?” Both eyes were now open, but Susan stopped shaking him. When she found Kathleen on the ground, she had screamed. Everyone had come running. Everyone except for Jed.

“Have you been sleeping all afternoon?” Susan asked.

“I… all afternoon? What time is it?”

“It’s almost six o’clock. You were going to take a nap right after lunch.”

“I guess I did.” He sat up and shook his head. “I haven’t felt like this since I got drunk my freshman year of college.” He looked at his wife. “Did you say six o’clock?”

Susan glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. “Six-oh-three.”

“And Kathleen. You said she was hurt.”

“She was. Jed, you haven’t heard anything all afternoon?”

“I’ve been completely unconscious. Almost like I was drugged or something.”

“I’d bet anything that that’s just what happened to you. You were drugged. At lunchtime. By someone who didn’t want you to find Kathleen.”

Jed looked at his wife. “I don’t get it. I’m still a little woozy. Tell me what’s going on. From the beginning.”

“I went to see Jerry.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Sort of. He kept telling me that Kathleen and June were very much alike. It’s not true, of course. I’ve thought about that so many times since I saw him. Kathleen is almost nothing like June.”

“Of course she isn’t. Go on.”

Susan smiled, glad her husband agreed with her. “Anyway, while I was in town, I went into a bar. I know, it’s not like me, but I was thirsty and that’s not the point. The point is that the bartender had seen Allison and Jerry there together the afternoon before she was killed. They weren’t exactly getting along.”

“Let’s just hope he doesn’t tell this to all his customers.”

“True. Anyway, I came right back here to find Kathleen. I didn’t tell her what Jerry said about June, but I did want to see if she knew Jerry and Allison had been together. But I couldn’t find her anywhere. I was looking down on the beach when I saw her arm sticking out from beneath a kayak. She was unconscious. I screamed. Everyone in the place came. Well, everyone except you. I must have been upset. I should have realized you weren’t there. Did you know that the bride is a doctor?” she asked, changing the subject.

“No, go on. What had happened to Kathleen?”

“Someone hit her over the head. She thinks she was unconscious for quite a while.” Susan looked at her husband, waiting for his response.

“And no one else saw her in all that time?” he asked.

“That’s the problem,” Susan said. “No one did. I didn’t think of that. And neither did Kath. We called the police because we thought that the murderer must have been the one who hit her. Well, I still think that’s possible.”

“But the police don’t agree?”

“Of course not. Apparently everyone thinks Kathleen was just pretending to be hurt-despite the large lump on the back of her head-and no one is going to investigate anything. I went to see Frances Adams.”

“Again? The woman must be getting tired of us!”

“Maybe. But, although I didn’t like what she was saying, she did manage to get me to see what everyone else is thinking.

“Anyway, that’s the story of my day. It’s been horrible. Every time I think I’ve found something that might help Jerry, it has turned out to be just the opposite.”

“Where’s Kathleen now?”

“In her cottage. She’s sleeping, too. You know, I should check on her.”

“Good idea. You do that and I’ll use the bathroom and join you two. It sounds as though we could all use a drink before dinner.”

Susan hurried next door to the Gordons’ cottage, realizing, guiltily, that she should have checked on her friend’s condition before waking up Jed. Not bothering to knock, she opened the door and peeked in.

She need not have worried about disturbing Kathleen. A quick look around the room was all it took to be sure that her friend wasn’t there.

This time, she didn’t scream, although the room was in a shocking state. The bedding was on the floor, dresser drawers emptied onto the bare mattress, and looking through the open door into the bathroom, Susan could see makeup, shampoo, and the like spilled onto the countertop and tile floor.

“Good God!” Jed appeared in the doorway behind her.

“Kathleen’s missing,” Susan said.

“You’re sure she’s not just hiding under all this mess?”

“No. She may be hurt. Doesn’t it look to you as though there was a struggle?”

“It looks to me as though someone was searching for something.” He walked in and picked up a paperback from the floor and replaced it on the nightstand. “You know, this could all have happened after Kathleen left the cottage. She could be sitting on the beach reading a mystery novel or drinking some rum punch.”

“Or unconscious under a kayak,” Susan said. “Okay. Let’s look around. If we find her, fine. But we can’t search the beaches in both directions. If she doesn’t turn up right away, I say we call the police. Or Lila. Or maybe we should call Lila first and then call the police.”

Jed looked at his watch. “I’ll look around all the cottages west of here. You take the gift shop, bar, restaurant, pool area, and beach. Keep an eye on the time.” He looked at his watch. “We meet back here in fifteen minutes. There’s a murderer loose. Don’t take any chances.”

“You, too!” Susan turned and got to work.

They met back at the Gordons’ cottage as planned, Susan arriving a few minutes late.

“Where have you been?” He sounded worried.

“Saying hello in what I hope was a perky manner to half the guests in the resort. It’s predinner drinks time, you know. I didn’t want them to think something else odd had happened. You didn’t find her?”

“No, but James was down by the water putting away the kayaks. He says he’s been walking between the cottage and the beach for the past hour or so and hasn’t seen anything unusual.”

“Did you tell him about this mess and all?”

“Just asked him if he’d seen Kathleen. He said no and-”

“That he’d been walking back and forth, etc.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“So we call the police,” Susan said.

“And we tell Lila,” Jed added, following his wife toward the office.

Actually, Lila called the police. Susan couldn’t tell whether or not Lila believed her, but it was obvious that a possible intruder at Compass Bay wasn’t something she could ignore. Once again the police arrived almost immediately. Once again there were two men. This time, however, Susan was pleased to note that they listened with great seriousness to Susan and Jed and assured them that they would immediately organize an all-island search. While Susan gave one Kathleen’s description, the other got on the phone with headquarters.

“I think they’re doing all they can,” Lila said when the three of them were together again. “Perhaps it’s time for dinner…”