Page 14 of Death at the Deep Dive

“He’ll live,” Nora said dismissingly. “A man his age should know better than to climb onto the roof to clean rain gutters. What did Vera have to say for herself? Has she hired you to find out what happened to Vernon?”

“I wouldn’t say I’ve been hired. There was no mention of payment. It was more the suggestion that it might be in all of our best interests if I figured out what actually happened.”

“That sounds a little sinister,” Kingston remarked.

Nora said, “Not at all. I think it was very sensible of her.”

“You don’t consider the timing suspicious?”

“Do you?” Nora looked in surprise from Kingston to Ellery.

“I’m not sure,” Ellery said. “Vera says her brother’s disappearance has haunted her for decades. So maybe the discovery of the coins just brought it all to a head.”

Kingston said, “Or maybe, the discovery of the coins served as a warning that the jig was up.”

Nora looked intrigued. “Then you believe Vera could be complicit in her brother’s disappearance?”

Kingston replied, “Don’t you?”

They beamed at each other.

Ellery said, “She’s on my list of suspects, for sure.”

“Do youhavea list of suspects?” Nora looked both surprised and pleased at this sign of initiative on Ellery’s part.

“Vera gave me her list. Which is one reason she’s on mine.” He pulled out his phone and showed them the photo he’d snapped of Vera’s list.

For a moment or two Nora peered at the list. “Eudora!” She glanced at Ellery in surprise.

“I know.”

“Good heavens,” Kingston murmured. “If she needed to grab your attention, that would be the way.”

Nora’s expression grew thoughtful. “Hmm. Yes, I suppose in the interests of complete impartiality, we have to consider Eudora.”

“Since when have we ever been concerned with complete impartiality?” Ellery asked. “And why did you never bother to mention I’m apparently, somehow, distantly related to the notorious Shandys?”

“Pshaw. Leave it to Vera to try and claim a close family connection.” Nora patted his shoulder. “Don’t pay any attention to that nonsense. If you go far enough back, we’re all related on this island.”

Ellery happened to catch Kingston’s fleeting expression, and he couldn’t help thinking Nora was maybe not being her usual forthcoming self.

She continued to frown over the list on Ellery’s screen.

He asked, “Are any of these people still alive?”

“I’m not sure. Barry Shandy is long gone. He was Vernon’s Uncle. They shared an obsession for treasure hunting, but they weren’t close. In fact, the opposite.”

“How long after Vernon’s disappearance did Barry die?”

“A few years after. But of course, if we’re considering Barry, we’d have to at least look at Rocky. Although a look is about all we can do.”

“Who’s Rocky?”

“Rocky is Barry’s son. He married Ginny Murphy.”

“Any relation to Cap Murphy?”

“Yes. Now, Ginny passed in…hmm…2000, was it? Yes, that’s right. Because everyone was worried about Y2K and the Millennium Bug.”

---