Page 68 of Death at the Deep Dive

He was never cruel. Never a coward. If he’d changed his mind, he’d have told me. We never lied to each other. Never.

Besides, he’d never have deserted. Why would he? He loved the navy.

Joey killed him. I know it. I saw it in her eyes today when we ran into each other at the Royale. She was having lunch with her stepson, that poor child with the stammer and the charming habit of stealing change from everyone’s jackets in the cloakroom at the Deep Dive. The excuse was the boy’s birthday, but she was only there to show off her new hat. An idiotic thing that looked like a giant green thimble.

Joey hates me for what she did. She blames me. And I hate her. And blame her. I know what she did—and she knows that I know.

My only comfort is she’s miserably unhappy.

Almost as unhappy as me.

Ellery let out a long careful breath. Instead of being relieved to learn Eudora was not guilty of murder, he felt like there was a weight on his heart.

“I don’t think she ever got over it. I think it ruined the rest of her life.”

Watson thumped his tail.

“As for Joey… It’s not proof,” Ellery said. “Eudora didn’t see it happen. She doesn’t knowwhathappened. A couple of months earlier, she believed he’d run off with someone else. Just like everyone else thought. For all Eudora knew, Joey thoughtshe’dkilled Vernon.”

Another patient tail thump from Watson.

A few days before Christmas, Eudora had handed the doubloons over to Vera, and that was the final mention of Vernon.

Sorting through the photos in Vera’s box, which seemed to have all been taken that fateful summer, almost made it worse in that, until Ellery was staring at sunburned, smiling faces of people his own age, the characters in this drama had been just that: characters.

Now they were real people.

Now he knew his aunt Eudora had been beautiful. That she had dimples and curly black hair and a mischievous smile. That she favored cat-shaped sunglasses and bathing caps with blue flowers. He knew Vernon had gray-blue eyes and a grin that would be hard to resist—and that most of the time he was grinning at Eudora. Also, he couldn’t help noticing, Vernon would not be an easy guy to take down, which made Ellery suspect that whatever had happened to him had happened when he wasn’t paying attention—or from someone he didn’t see as a threat (which was probably everyone).

He knew now that Vera had been really lovely, that her love for leopard print was nothing new, and that even back then, she had never been without a cigarette in her hand. He knew that her favorite seating arrangement was on Tony Bernard’s lap, and that Tony Bernard looked at her like he still couldn’t believe he’d got that lucky.

He now knew Tackle Shandy had looked just like his dad, Rocky, and that Barry Shandy did not like having his photo taken and was not shy about showing it.

And Ellery knew now that Joey Franklin had been what, in her day, they calleda dish. She was a cuddly armful of beehive blonde hair and false eyelashes and pert full breasts barely contained by her (inevitable) pink polka-dot bikini top. He knew that Douglas Franklin was rarely without a cigarette, a drink, and a racing form (even when he was tending bar), and that he usually appeared to be hungover, which probably wasn’t helped by the fact that his wife was usually posing for Vernon. In every single photo, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin both wore wedding rings. If theywereseparated, Ellery couldn’t help thinking that no one had told Douglas.

Real people who had experienced real tragedy.

Oh, and then there was the Franklin boy, James. A skinny kid with a snub nose, Ed Grimley hair, and a permanently worried look on his pinched face. He was always hovering, like a little ghost, on the edge of those fading snapshots. In fact, half the time, he was partially cut out of the photo, so that there was nothing left but his small hand groping for something that wasn’t there.

Ellery was on his way out the door to drop Watson off at Jack’s and maybe take a quick shower and brush his teeth before meeting James at the Deep Dive, when Nora arrived.

“Oh!You gave me a start, dearie. You’re working very late.”

Ellery gazed beyond Nora to where Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Clarence, Mrs. Ferris, Mr. Starling, and Kingston were lurking.

“I thought you already held your emergency Silver Sleuths meeting this afternoon.” Ellery couldn’t help adding, “And yesterday. And the day before.”

“Er, we’re in the midst of a case, dearie. Also, Mrs. Ferris wasn’t able to join us earlier. And we must hear Kingston’s report after his trip to the newspaper morgue.”

Kingston smiled uncomfortably. “I don’t want to raise anyone’s expectations. I really didn’t discover much.”

“It’s all part of the larger picture,” Nora assured him.

“What did you find out?” Ellery asked.

Kingston opened his mouth, but Nora said quickly, “No, no. Not here. Let’s go inside. We don’t know who might be listening.”

Given the frightening speed and reach of Pirate Cove’s underground communication system, she had a point.

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