Page 39 of Light of Day (Sea Smoke Island #1)

Luke called in Marigold to fill out the paperwork required to put Amy Lou in the lockup, and to keep an eye on her. It was a lot to leave in Marigold’s hands, but they still had at least one other arsonist at large, as well as a murderer.

He checked his phone again. After he’d arrested Amy Lou, he’d texted Heather to let her know.

Heads up…Chen believes our suspect is a woman. Think scarves and big feet. But not Amy Lou.

But Heather still hadn’t answered.

As they were heading out of the constable’s office, Chen’s phone buzzed. A moment later she put it on speaker so they could both listen. “The toxicology results just came back on Simms,” the police chief told them. “They found Rohypnol in his blood. He was drugged as well as strangled.”

“Okay then. Text me the report, would you?” After Chen hung up, she said, “This is puzzling. If Denton was drugged, why would he need strangling?”

Luke decided to play out the scenario. “Okay, you’re Denton. I’m the killer. I’ve already drugged you somehow.”

“You must be someone he’d accept a drink from.”

“Right, so you trust me enough to share a drink. You get drowsy, but you haven’t drunk quite enough to make you unconscious. You’re a big guy, after all.”

“So at some point the killer improvises. You say, look at that view, or whatever.” Chen turns around, her back to Luke.

“And I grab my scarf and wrap it around your neck until you pass out. Then I roll your body off the cliff.”

“You’re a real jerk, you know that?” Chen joked.

“Haha.”

Chen’s phone buzzed, and she clicked on the incoming text. “Nope. That theory’s out. This amount of Rohypnol would knock out an elephant. Not only that, but it was probably injected. It would be hard to ingest this much.”

“Did they find a needle mark?”

“With all the saltwater damage to the corpse, it might not be possible.”

Luke paced back and forth across his office. “New scenario then. The strangulation didn’t work. Denton fought back. That’s when the killer brought out the hypodermic loaded with Rohypnol.”

She shook her head. “If they had that ready, why not lead with it? A drugged victim would be easier to strangle.”

And then it came to him. “It was two people.”

Chen snapped her fingers. “That’s it. One of them went for the strangle, and when that didn’t work, the other stepped in with a hypodermic. Then they both rolled him off the cliff. Boom.”

Jesus. The number of killers on the island had just doubled.

“So we’re not just looking for a woman anymore.”

“No, I’d say we’re looking for two people, both of whom have reason to want Denton out of the picture. It’s possible they didn’t intend to murder him, maybe things got out of hand. But we know for sure they wanted to silence him. Have any other possible motives surfaced in this mess?”

“Not a one. Denton was well-liked, he was a widower still mourning his wife’s death, he had no children?—”

He broke off as something occurred to him. Was it possible that he had a secret child? Was that why he’d left his house to the mysterious Sasha Mackey?

His phone buzzed, making his heart jump. Maybe it was Heather finally checking in.

Even though the number on his screen was unfamiliar, he answered.

“Luke Carmichael? The constable?” a breathless voice asked.

“Yes.”

“This is Gabby Ramon. I think something’s happened to Heather. I finally got my phone working again and she’s not answering her texts. I’m driving to a water taxi right now, but I’m afraid I won’t get there in time. Can you hurry?”

Through the fear making his jaw clench, he asked, “Where to?”

“I don’t know! If you find out anything, call me at this number. For now, I’ll head to the inn.”

He quickly called Sally and found out that she and Heather had parted ways hours ago. Heather had hitched a ride with Heidi Ochoa on a golf cart…headed for the inn.

Heidi was a woman. She worked for the Carmichaels. Had his father recruited her to do their dirty work? He tried to imagine that giggly girl strangling someone with a scarf. Maybe she had a hidden dark side.

“Did you happen to see what Heidi was wearing?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Some uptight outfit for the front desk.”

“A scarf?”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“Come on,” he called to Chen as he closed up his phone. “We have to get to the inn.”

“Check you out, acting like the boss of this investigation.”

“Heather is missing, last seen on the way to my family’s fucking hotel, and that’s where I’m going,” he said firmly. “And so is my truck. So?—”

“Let’s hit it.”