Part 3 (1/2)
I focused on lining up the salt and pepper shakers, the sugar, syrup, and catsup bottles in a row and managed not to cry. ”But what about you? The state police want to see you again?”
”Two hours yesterday. More today. You heard I drove the victim back to his hotel Friday night in my cab? Of course you did. Everyone in town knows it.”
In a bigger town, it might be considered a conflict of interest for the bouncer in a bar to have the power to take away a patron's keys and then load that person into a cab the bouncer owned. But in Busman's Harbor everyone wore multiple hats and we thought nothing of it.
Gus dropped a huge plate of blueberry pancakes and a side of bacon in front of Chris. ”Thanks.” Chris was genuinely surprised. Gus didn't believe in table service.
”Don't get used to it.”
Chris picked the plastic maple syrup dispenser out of the little formation I'd created and applied its contents to his pancakes.
”Tell me, from the beginning,” I said.
He dug into his pancakes and ate. The moment stretched and I wondered if he was going to say anything. Finally, he spoke. ”They all came into Crowley's about ten, a little after. Since it's so early in the season, I was the only bouncer on, working just inside the door, checking IDs. From there, I can keep my eye on the bar and the dance floor, pretty much the whole place.”
”And by 'they all' you mean . . . ?”
”The bride, the groom, the best man, and three bridesmaids.”
The entire wedding party, except Michaela's teenaged brothers, who were too young to go out to a bar after the rehearsal dinner. By three bridesmaids, Chris meant the maid of honor and the two others. I didn't correct him.
”Were they drunk?”
”Not when they arrived. A couple of the bridesmaids were a little silly, but I've seen people come in a whole lot worse. The bride wasn't drinking-she had seltzer and lime-and the groom nursed one beer the whole time he was there.”
Made sense, the happy couple would have wanted to be bright-eyed for the big day.
”And Ray Wilson?”
”I'd have sworn he was stone cold sober when he came in, but I must be losing my eye, because after a couple drinks, he was completely gone. And you know the drinks at Crowley's.”
Over-priced and watered-down, especially for tourists. And more watered-down later in the evening. ”So what happened?”
”The best man and the bridesmaids all got pretty happy. There was a lot of dancing, initially as a group, but later with some of the other customers.”
”Many local people there?”
”Aside from the employees? Just a few.” Crowley's is mostly too expensive for the natives. ”Any of my people?”
”Your people?” Chris grinned, but he knew what I meant. ”I don't think so.”
But then, he paused. I sensed there was something he wasn't telling. ”What? Who?”
”Sarah came in about 10:30.”
”Sarah Halsey?”
”She works for you.”
”Yeah. I'm just surprised. A schoolteacher with a kid at home-”
”She's not allowed to blow off a little steam?”
”Sure, I guess.” I indicated he should go on.
”The groom left after about half an hour.”
”Wait. Tony left?” It seemed odd for the groom to leave his own party so quickly. ”Why?”
Chris shrugged his shoulders. ”No idea. I didn't think about it at the time. Anyway, not too long after that, the best man started drinking heavily, getting handsy with the women on the dance floor, stumbling. At a little before one, the bride and bridesmaids wanted to leave. The bride told Wilson to go back to his hotel and go to bed. He refused. She was pretty mad. They were both yelling. So I stepped in and told her I'd take care of him.”
”And?”
”The ladies left. It was almost closing and the place had really emptied out, so I left the bartender to close up, put the best man in my cab, and drove him to the Lighthouse.”
The Lighthouse Inn was a large hotel about five minutes from Crowley's. It was called the Lighthouse because, rumor had it, from one of its thirty-eight rooms, if you leaned as far over the balcony as was humanly possible, you could see d.i.n.k.u.ms Light. Ray and a number of the wedding guests were staying there.
”Did you walk him inside?”
”Nope. Now I wish I had. I wish I'd tucked him into bed, to tell you the truth. I thought he could make it on his own. Last I saw him, he was stumbling out of my cab toward the lobby.” Chris rubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin. The chin with the dimple. ”That's all I got.”
He glanced over my head at the big clock over the threshold between Gus's dining room and the counter area. I've always felt the clock was Gus's way of saying, ”You've finished eating. Now get the h.e.l.l out of here.”
”Can't keep the cops waiting.” Chris stood and I did, too. I wanted to go with him to the police station, but figured that wouldn't look good, what with him being the last to see Ray and me finding the body. I wanted to give him a hug, but we'd never actually touched. So I walked him to the front door and wished him good luck.
”Earth to Julia.”
I realized I was standing in the front room of Gus's, my mind a million miles away, while Gus refilled the saltshakers and the catsup bottles and got ready for the post-church rush. I grabbed a gallon jug of syrup from behind the counter and helped out. Preparing to feed a big crowd was something I knew how to do.
We worked in silence for a while, then Gus said, ”I'm sorry for your trouble. Is it bad?” He knew the murder was bad. He was asking about the business.
”I don't know when they're going to let us open. Every day that goes by is killing us financially.” And increasing the chances the bank would call our loan. ”That's a.s.suming anyone will want to come party on an island where there's been a grisly murder.”
”Don't worry. You'll probably get so many of those rubberneckers out to see where it happened, you'll make more money than ever.”
”Maybe.” I wasn't comforted. I didn't like the idea of profiting from Ray Wilson's death.
”The police know who did it?”
”I don't think so. From the questions they asked her yesterday, Livvie thinks it's got something to do with the people from New York who hired us to do their wedding reception.”
”The state police think people from New York City took a man out to your island in the middle of the night and strung him up on your staircase?”
”Absurd, isn't it?”