He hung up before she could say anything else. Uncle Troy wasn’t happy with her, but she had more things to add to the timeline. And more questions. If Nate was a possible murder suspect due to the loan, what would be his motive for committing murder? Unless he didn’t know that Meade had written off the loan.
As Alice would say, things were getting curiouser and curiouser. She went over to see if she could help the new customer find the perfect book. At least her mind would be taken off finding a killer.
At ten she closed up shop, and she and Watson walked to the ferry to ride over to chat with Cissy. This time, Dalton didn’t come to find her until they were almost at the Seattle terminal. “I can walk you to the ticket office, and then I have to get back to work. Just come back the same way. If you get confused, have Cissy walk you past the guard at the front entrance.”
“I have been here before,” she teased and then updated him quickly on what her uncle had said.
“Nate did come into some money a few years ago. He said a relative had passed. I’d heard him talk about starting a construction company, but he never implemented it. By the time he got everything in place, the lockdown happened, and no one wanted a handyman in their house.” Dalton walked with her to the place where they would disembark. “Nate always had bad timing.”
Cissy met them at the walkway and instead of going into the ticket booth, she took Meg a different way to the break room. “I need coffee to stay awake for the rest of my shift. Do you want some?”
“That would be great, but I have Watson with me.” Meg glanced down at the dog, who was excited to be somewhere new.
“No problem. They like pets here. During lockdown, most of the ticketing staff brought their dogs in. We had a lot of time to walk them. It was pretty slow.” She opened the door to a brightly lit break room and nodded to a table by the window where you could see the sound and the Ferris wheel.
When Cissy brought back coffee, she also had a bowl of water on the tray for Watson. “I didn’t know if you wanted sugar or cream, but I can go back.”
Meg took the water and put it on the floor, then took a seat. “I hope he can hold it for the way back.”
“We have a pet area next door. They set it up nicely for employees. I think they felt bad calling us into work as essential workers. So they increased our perks.” She put the cups on the table. Before she sat down, she asked again, “Cream and sugar?”
“No, I’m good. As long as it’s good coffee. And it smells like it is.” Meg took a sip. “Mmm.”
“I tell you, we get perks. And our benefit package isn’t bad, either. Dalton’s is better since he actually works on the ferry. I think they’re worried about the boat sinking or being bombed, so they pay better for those positions.” Cissy moved the tray to another table. “But you came to ask me more questions.”
Meg pulled out her phone and found the picture of Tabitha that she’d taken the day she’d talked to her at A Taste of Magic. “Your coworker mentioned seeing Tabitha, but have you seen her much? I wanted to make sure we were talking about the same person. I can show you a picture of her boyfriend, too.”
“Lilly Archer’s ex-husband. Yes. I know Tabitha. She’s always coming with him, and she’s very clingy. If she could wrap herself around him like a snake, she would. She’s always giving me an evil eye when I sell him the tickets. Like I could make him fall in love with me with a glance or a touch of my hand. Like that old movie about the woman who saves the life of the guy she’s in love with, but he doesn’t know she exists.”
“While You Were Sleeping. Yeah, I know that one.” Meg smiled at the comparison. She hadn’t seen Tabitha with Josh, but she could imagine her acting jealous. Probably having a hunch about the affair, but not knowing about it. Sometimes people get a feeling. Meg hadn’t with Romain, but she’d heard from more than one person that they had sensed something was wrong before they had proof. “So she came with Josh, Lilly Archer’s ex-husband.”
“Yes and no. Sometimes late at night, I’d see her getting a ticket alone. She always wore her hair in a ponytail and dressed in a hoodie and jeans to disguise herself, but it was her. I could tell by her eyes. She has mean eyes.” Cissy frowned as she remembered something. “You know, now that I think about it, Josh, the ex, used to come without her, too. He didn’t dress any differently, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes unless he was with her. I hadn’t realized that until now.”
Meg sipped her coffee. Why would Tabitha come over to the island at night? Alone? That didn’t make sense. Now that she knew about Lilly and Josh, his solo ferry rides made sense.
Cissy stood. “Is that it? I need to get you to the pet area and walk you back to the ferry. Then, with this magic elixir, I’m going to try to stay awake until we close the booth. They frown on us sleeping at the window.”
“Sorry. Of course.” Meg followed her to a nice patch of grass in a gated area where you could let your pet play. It even had a divider for big and little dogs. Watson watered a bush, then came back to her, ready to head home.
Cissy walked them to the ferry. “Stop by anytime. Maybe we can double-date sometime. My boyfriend works on the ferry, too, so we’d have to coordinate schedules, but it would be fun.”
She walked away before Meg realized what she’d said and could correct the misperception that she and Dalton were dating. A misperception everyone seemed to be having.
She texted the information about Tabitha to Dalton and Natasha, adding a question to both reports.Who was she meeting with on the island at night?
Dalton was the only one to reply before she got off the ferry.
What do we know about Jolene?
CHAPTER22
Even when you think you’re right, you may be wrong.
Jolene. Meg hadn’t even considered her a suspect. She’d found the body. If she’d killed Robert Meade III, wouldn’t she have built an alibi and let someone else find the body? And how had Dalton pulled her name out of thin air after hearing that Tabitha had been meeting with someone on the island without Josh?
She texted him a few times after she got home, with no reply. Natasha said that tomorrow she’d bring dinner to the bookstore after she closed her bakery so they could talk.
Dalton showed up at her door at seven on Saturday morning. “I’ve got the day shift today, and the ferry is going to be crazy with the farmers market and a show at the art museum, so I don’t have much time. But I wanted to let you know what I’m thinking and ask you not to go over to Summer Break today to talk with Jolene.”
