Murder on a Mississippi Steamboat by Leighann Dobbs

Author:Leighann Dobbs
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838886714
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2020-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“Do you think I should have the salmon salad or the pork chops for lunch?” Aunt Julia peered over the lunch menu as they sat in her cabin after going through Delilah’s dressing room.

“How about you get the salmon and I’ll get the chops and we can split,” Nora said.

“Good thinking.” Aunt Julia put the menu down. “Now what did you observe from our visit to Delilah’s dressing room?”

Nora took a deep breath. “Well, a picture was missing, so that supports our theory that the killer had a prior connection to Delilah. They must have been in the picture together.”

“And the motive was not money, though I never thought that. It appears as if all her jewelry was there in the room.” Aunt Julia looked out the window. “Do you think Max Lawton was heading to the dressing room when we saw him? If so, he wasted no time in getting there after we spread the rumor of the investigation.”

Nora frowned. “But if Lawton was going to the room when he saw us and ran away, then that means he couldn’t have taken the picture.”

“There was another clue in the room, too.” Julia looked at Nora expectantly.

This was clearly a test to see if Nora had noticed. Nora thought for a bit. Had anything else seemed out of place? The fancy jewelry box was out in the open filled with gems and the necklaces were lying on the dressing table, though those weren’t worth very much. “The bracelet! All of Delilah’s other fine jewels were in the jewelry box.”

“Yes!” Aunt Julia seemed pleased that Nora was catching on to the art of investigating. “And what does that tell you?”

In Nora’s studies, she’d learned that men and women behave differently. She was sure the people on the Miss Delta Belle were no exception. But she didn’t like to make assumptions. “Delilah most likely wouldn’t have put the bracelet there. By the looks of things, she kept her fine jewelry in that box.”

“So I was right, the bracelet being on the vanity surface was out of place.” Aunt Julia looked pleased with herself.

“Yes, and not only that, there’s a high likelihood that a man put it there.” Nora dug in her purse for her cigarette holder. She’d heard that smoking was a good thing to do while thinking. “A woman would have recognized that there was only cheap costume jewelry on the vanity and probably would have put it in the jewelry box so as not to draw attention to it.”

Nora produced the cigarette holder and then rummaged for a cigarette. Noticing Aunt Julia’s frown she said, “I’ve heard smoking helps one think. And it is the modern thing to do.”

Aunt Julia looked skeptical but interested. “I don’t know. It doesn’t smell very good.”

Nora produced the cigarette and held it and the holder in her hand. She didn’t want to be rude and light up in Aunt Julia’s cabin, but wanted to finish the conversation. “We only have three male suspects… unless you include Sven.

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