Lake Effect Murder: A small-town cozy mystery set on the Lake Michigan shores (The Rán Hollander Mystery Series Book 1) by Lakota Grace

Author:Lakota Grace [Grace, Lakota]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-30T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The next day, Rán walked down Singapore’s main street, dodging couples and little kids with ice cream cones. In the summer, it seemed every second shop sold ice cream. Rán paused for a moment outside a shop advertising candied apples, peppermint puff candies, and, of course, the ubiquitous Mackinac Island fudge.

Maybe she could buy some as a bribe for Freya’s two little girls. And eat it yourself, her inside voice taunted. She walked on, needing to catch the captain of the Star of Singapore before he left on the afternoon cruise.

Sure enough, there was the historic boat, docked behind a ticket office. People stood in rope-separated queues waiting to board. Rán shoved her ID at the ticket taker, one “Davida,” according to her badge. The young woman was African American, in her early 20s, with long, elaborately braided hair. She had multiple piercings, including a ring through one eyebrow.

“Rán Hollander from the constable’s office. I need to see Captain Johansson. Is he aboard yet?”

“Let me check.”

The young woman made a confirming phone call. Then she unhooked the rope barrier and let Rán pass.

She walked along a narrow outside aisle and up a steep flight of stairs to the top deck. There, she located the captain in the pilothouse, checking equipment in preparation for the cruise. He was a short man in his 50s, dressed in a flashy uniform with epaulets, probably for the benefit of the tourists. His longish gray hair was tucked under a plastic-brimmed captain’s hat.

“Yes?” he said impatiently. “What does the constable’s office want now?”

“It’s about the Hollander death.”

The man muttered an explicative. “Louis Riel took my statement.”

“We’re just rechecking the facts, to be sure we haven’t missed anything. Please, go over it one more time.”

“Look,” the captain said, “I’m sorry for the man’s death and all that, but there was nothing I could do. He had too much to drink, fell overboard and automatically I’m to blame. I did everything humanly possible to locate him. And then I got the remaining passengers safely back to shore. And spent the rest of the night helping the crew clean up after the seasick ones, I might add.”

“Just a few additional questions to ask and then I’ll be out of your hair,” Rán said.

“Okay, but make it quick. What did Riel forget?”

He was listening with half an ear, but also barking instructions to the engine crew and keeping an eye on the growing crowds on the shore, pressing against rope lines. Rán had the feeling if she lingered beyond the cut-off time, he’d not hesitate to toss her off the stern without a life vest. To it, then.

“What time did the Hollanders arrive at the vessel?” Rán asked.

The captain had glanced at her credentials, but her name hadn’t registered, apparently. That was fine. She’d not bring it to his attention.

“Sometime around two p.m., I think. We were scheduled to take off an hour later, and I was down on the main deck greeting folks at they came aboard. We do that, you know.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.