Page 27 of Beneath Still Waters

Duke leaned out of a room attached to the living room so she could see him. “Did you say something?”

“Yeah, there are these notes on the fridge that Bailey left for himself. Dude’s own personal planner.” She pointed at them.

Duke came around. “Hmm, I wonder what he meant by ‘bank’ and who H and K are?”

“My thought was Kevin and Heath, but why not just put their names? He used Kelly’s on this note, so he’s not opposed to writing them. Maybe it was to conserve space on the tiny slip, or maybe it’s important?”

“Good point. I hadn’t thought of that.” Duke frowned. “And why even write that note if the boat was missing? And if your boatwasmissing, wouldn’t you take down the note? You don’t have to remember that anymore.” Duke ticked off his questions on his fingers.

“The notes look fresh. They aren’t even curled. Maybe he found his boat later that same night? Or his boat wasn’t really missing. Is it possible Bailey was a part of something he never wanted to be but couldn’t get out of? We keep getting mixed signals about this guy, but it could be that he’s actually acting differently with people on purpose. It’s pretty hard to profile someone who never acts like themselves.” Ferd had firsthand experience.

“Possible. I’m not ready to say Bailey’s death was his own fault for getting into things he shouldn’t have, or to rule out that he wasn’t part of the crime. My reason for feeling that way is that someone got that stash of drugs into the hull of his boat without cutting a hole, meaning they knew him and the boat better than any of the investigators who looked at it. Seems like the owner would know about a hidden access point.”

Duke knew boats way better. She hadn’t considered a hatch. “I didn’t see an opening when I looked around, before I fell through the floor anyway.” At least those cuts had scabbed over and weren’t likely to get infected now.

“Exactly. I think George, the California guy, is a false flag. Maybe peripherally connected to whatever this is, but not the one who bashed Bailey’s head in. He’s the one who appears to have enough money for Bailey’s navigation system. Where else would he get it, and why? We’ll need to take a picture of this note and ask Kevin and Heath what they know. They seem to have a connection to Bailey’s boat that they didn’t hint at when we met them.”

Making their weird encounter even weirder. “Just so I'm clear, Kelly isn't a suspect, even though she spread lies about him. Jonie isn't a suspect because she didn't know him all that well. We still need to find Samantha, the mystery girlfriend. Paul is a solid no. Heath and Kevin are weird but have no motive. Did I miss anyone?”

Duke frowned as he stared at the notes. “Honestly, I think we need to keep the ex-wife on our radar. She was angry about losing support and fighting to get it back. That’s motive.”

“Got it. Did you find anything?”

He turned to look behind him at the room he’d left. “It’s more what Ididn’tfind. Kelly said she wasn’t going to come back here, but the place is clean. For all the beer cans she claimed to clean up, there’s none here. None in the fridge. There are no dirty clothes in this apartment. Either he did laundry right before he left on that fateful trip, or someone cleaned up in here. I have to wonder if they didn’t come even before the forensics team did, because there was no mention of anything in their notes either.”

That was odd. Had it been Kelly, or someone else? “But why would the forensic team leave those notes? And that begs thequestion: did he actually write them, or were they left behind by someone who figured we’d be back here?”

Duke took out his phone and grabbed a picture of them, then bagged them for evidence. Ferd headed to the living room. The couch cushions weren’t indented from use. There was no clutter from living. No receipts. No blankets for grabbing to take a nap. Even though there was a television on the wall, she couldn’t find a remote anywhere.

“We’ll need to find out if he had a cell phone,” she said as she picked up a coffee table book.

Under it was a short note written on a pretty, blank greeting card.Monica,I’m so sorry you’re mad at me all the time. I’m not the man you thought I was.

TWENTY-THREE

Duke glanced at his watch as they got out of the car. “Think we have enough time to talk to her and get to Ahab’s by six? We could split up?”

She would absolutely do that if this were her job, but it wasn’t. She couldn’t ask questions admissible in court without him and his badge present. “I think we have time. She isn’t going to let us ask much without calling her lawyer.” If Paul’s statements were true.

“True. Some people are trigger happy. She’s lawyer happy.”

Ferd wiped her face clear of emotions as they stepped onto the stoop. The house was one of the nicest she’d seen in Piper’s Ridge. Two stories tall, but likely the basement was also finished. It probably boasted over 3000 finished square feet . . . for one person since Monica Nosboum had no other marriages listed in her file.

A woman opened the door in a light pink cotton track suit embroidered with the word ‘pink’ in huge letters across the chest. A black cat dashed out between her legs.

“Agh!” She raced after the cat.

Ferd crouched slightly and reached out to catch the animal if it came her way. Cats liked her, but this one was avoiding everyone. It hissed as the woman Ferd presumed to be Bailey’s ex-wife pounced on the wayward feline.

The large, shiny black feline hissed and flailed, digging into Monica’s arms. “You beast!” She stomped to the front door and chucked the animal inside.

When she turned around, she held one hand over the bloody scratches. “Can I help you?” She glared daggers at them.

“Sorry about letting your cat out. He must do that often.” Duke nodded at her hands, covered in scratches. “Those look painful.”

“Yes. He gets out almost daily. The neighbor’s cat is in heat, and she refuses to spay her. I’ve even offered to pay for it. But no,” she elongated the last word and rolled her eyes.

“I’m Duke Campose and this is Ferd Kincade from the Piper’s Ridge PD. We’re here to talk to you about Bailey Nosboum. Can we come inside?”