Page 15 of Beneath Still Waters

“Exactly, but that doesn’t explain why he was looking for me. Maybe he assumed, since he’d never seen me out on the water, that I wouldn’t know his technology was abnormally advanced for his boat.”

“Possibly. Whoa!” The boat still lay on its side as Duke rounded the curve by the lake with a massive square cut into the hull.

“The hole? Yeah, they decided to open it from the side to get the drugs out since Bailey was the sole owner and they had to get it out of there before that storm hit.”

“Plus, it’s not safe anymore.” She flexed her foot up and down to relieve pressure on her knee.

“Bailey couldn’t have been working alone, or the blood under his fingernails wouldn’t have belonged to anyone else. Either he had a partner in crime, or someone found out what he was up to and tried to stop him.”

Ferd gripped the armrest. When had Bailey become the criminal? Though the drugs in his boat would be a good indicator. Bailey hadn’t been the cleanest person she’d ever seen, but blood under someone’s fingernails wasn’t a cleanliness issue. He’d been in a struggle.

“How did he still have anything under his fingernails? The entire interior of the boat was soaking wet. Like it had gone under the waves or something.”

“We haven’t figured out yet how that happened.” Duke slowed as they passed the bend in the road.

“We had a big storm the night after he saw us on the shore. We found him two days later.”

“It was still abnormally cool those two days, but the coroner would’ve accounted for that when he estimated the time of death which was roughly twelve hours before we found him.”

“So, what happened in the forty-eight hours between when we saw him and when he died?”

“All good questions. I think it’s time we talked to those who knew him best. Let’s go talk to Maddie.”

Ferd couldn’t hold in a snort. “Maddie the mortician.”

“The very same.”

THIRTEEN

Ayoung blonde woman with streaks of lavender hair and large emerald green glasses bent over a man with the pallor of cottage cheese, brushing his hair behind his ear. He lay in a huge open cardboard box on a rolling gurney.

She glanced up at them and smiled, her eyes round through the thick glasses. “Duke. Wasn’t expecting you today.” She carefully crossed the man’s hands over his chest, closed her eyes for a moment, and bowed her head.

When she opened her eyes, Duke said, “I have a few questions for you about Bailey Nosboum, when you have a second.”

She looked down at the man in the box. “Richard was a big guy. This will take about three hours. Will you need more time than that?” Her large blue eyes were surprisingly open and welcoming.

“That’s more than enough time. I didn’t realize cremation took that long.”

Ferd waited until Maddie had opened the little door, lined up the box, and carefully slid him inside. Her insides tensed. Nope.Not in her job description. Seeing Bailey had been enough death. Now here they were, seeing more.

Duke followed Maddie to a little office down the hall. Unlike the subdued blue carpet and the oddly yellow walls, her office had been painted a soft pink with electric pink and bright blue accents. The back of her laptop sported a thick layer of anime stickers.

“Okay, you only come see me when you’re having a death problem.” Maddie rested her elbows on her desk, clasped her hands together and rested her chin on them. “Despite telling you multiple times that you can come see me anytime you want.” She blinked rapidly.

Duke shifted in his seat. “Sorry, this is work . . .” He looked away.

She laughed, but Ferd wasn’t sure if she found his discomfort funny or the situation. “I’m Ferd Kincade, by the way.” She gave a smile instead of offering a handshake. Instinct said she wasn’t a hand-shaker.

“Nice to meet you. So, this is about Bailey? No one has come to collect the body or schedule a funeral. We have nothing. We haven’t had him long, but usually I hear from someone by now. Maybe the police have a hold on him that I haven’t heard about?” She shifted her gaze back to Duke.

He shook his head. “Our investigation is over once you have him. We have a fund for things like this if no one comes forward soon. We could cover a small funeral for him.” Duke leaned back in his chair.

“So, you want to see who shows up at a funeral? That’s always interesting, honestly.”

“Exactly,” he said. “The people who come to bid him farewell may have legitimate reasons for being there, or they may have something to prove or something to find out. We would need to record the whole thing, without anyone noticing if possible.”

She nodded with a huge grin. “I love it. We can do that. I feel like an undercover agent already.” She hummed theMission: Impossiblemusic.