Wilmington, NC 05 - Murder On The ICW

behind us and pressed the thumb latch. "We don't want to be interrupted," she said. "Go on."
    I took a step further into the apartment. A galley kitchen opened into the foyer. Beyond that was the living room and we entered it next. The lights were out and even though it was still daylight outside, the interior of the apartment was dim. The only light came from a gurgling fish tank with fish floating on top of the water, belly up. "Oh, poor babies," I said. "No one fed them. Well, that explains the funny smell. Did you know he had fish? Were you ever here before, Melanie?"
    "Never," she said.
    "Well, where did you . . . ? You know. Last summer?"
    "My house on Sandpiper Cove. While the rest of you were at the beach house." She didn't sound proud, I will give her that.
    "I don't want to talk about that. I'm ashamed of the things I've done in the past. I'm a new person. From now on, I am behaving differently where men are concerned," she assured me.
    I gave her a little hug. "I'm proud of you. And you've always been so ethical in business. It was only with men that you lost your head."
    "I know. I confess. But they're all so cute, Ashley. I love'em all."
    "Okay, Mel. So what are we looking for?"
    "I don't know. Something to confirm my faith in Joey. That he wasn't involved in anything underhanded. Something to reassure me that my judgment was not all bad. I know -- oh, I know -- if we had looked closely at Mickey, we'd have found worms in the larder -- that's why I broke it off with him. But not Joey."
    "Look, Mel, Mickey had something going when he was killed. He told me someone owed him a lot of money and he was not leaving town until he collected. And you can be sure the money was not legitimately earned."
    "Okay, well, here's Joey's desk. Let's go through the drawers. See what's there." She pulled out the middle drawer.
    Seeing detached cables under the desk, I said, "Oh, look, the cops must have taken his computer. See, it’s gone."
    "And there's not much of anything in these desk drawers. The police must have acted on Walt's suggestion that Joey was involved in something illegal and seized his papers. Wonder what they took."
    I moved back into the foyer. "I'm ready to get out of here. The cops might come back. I don't want to get caught here."
    "I don't think they'll be back soon. They affixed that yellow tape," Melanie suggested.
    "Well, why didn't they lock the door?" I asked.
    She shrugged. "Maybe they thought they did. Come on, we'll just take a quick peek in the bedroom since we're already here. Then we'll leave." She sighed heavily. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. I don't know what I expected to find here."
    She walked down a hallway that led to an open doorway. It had to be the bedroom, it was the only room left.
    When she reached the doorway she froze and breathed out a sharp, "No!"
    "What?" I squealed and hurried to catch up.
    She turned quickly and seized me by the shoulders, propelling me backward down the hall. "Don't look. Don't look."
    "What is it? What, Mel?"
    Her wide eyes met mine. "It's Ali Shariff . He's been shot in the head, just like Joey! Come on we're getting out of here. I'm already in enough trouble. I'm not going to be blamed for this." She was yanking tissues out of her purse, using them to seize the door knob. She pushed me out the door and onto the landing before I could utter a single protest. Then used the tissues to wipe the door knob and the outside of the door.
    "But he could be alive," I argued.
    "No. He definitely could not!

30

    "I can't believe we left Ali that way," I told Melanie.
    It was the Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving, and we were strolling around Festival in the Park at the Wrightsville Beach Municipal Park. There were booths, live music, rides for kids, an art show. The booths featured handmade crafts and works of art by local artisans. Melanie had already filled two shopping bags with Christmas presents and I was catching up fast.
    "That was the nicest Thanksgiving we've had since Daddy died. With Aunt Ruby and Binkie , Cam and Jon, it's like we have a family again. But, oh! I miss Mama and Daddy so much."
    "So do I, shug , but they'd want us to be happy, and to love the folks that have been sent into our lives. "
    I gave her a startled look. "God, Melanie, you have changed."
    "Well, I could have died. That was a wake up call. Was I really that bad?"
    "No. Never. Not when the chips were down. But other times, you did have an attitude," I