Hopefully she wouldn’t have to resort to something drastic.
Chapter Two
“They’ve left her all alone, let’s go introduce ourselves.” Aunt Julia sprang up from her chair. For a woman nearing eighty years of age, she was quite sprightly. She exuded a younger energy. The skirt of her green stout-waist dress rustled as she messed with it. “I’m sure there is a good story there.”
Nora rose, and straightening the drop waist of her peach-colored sheath dress over her narrow hips she glanced back at the bar. Max Lawton was gone. He wasn’t at the crowd in the front of the room, either. Curious.
Aunt Julia was already at the table introducing herself, she turned and motioned for Nora to speed it up. “… and this is my grand-niece, Nora Marsh.”
“Martha Hinchcliffe.” The woman managed a smile and held out her hand. Nora shook it. The woman had a surprisingly firm grip. “Pleased to meet you.”
“We’re in for a lovely trip.” Aunt Julia glanced out the window. The boat was still at dock and you could see the Mississippi stretching out behind it like a blue ribbon. The river was wide in this spot and there were some buildings dotted along the banks, but mostly there were green fields as far as the eye could see.
“That’s what I’ve been told.” Martha gestured for them to sit and Aunt Julia—who studied people like an entomologist studied insects—plopped down next to her eagerly. Anyone of interest who Aunt Julia met eventually ended up as a character in one of her books.
“I saw you with a younger couple earlier. Perhaps your son?” Julia raised an eyebrow.
Martha cracked a genuine smile, pride shining in her eyes. “Yes, that was my boy Beauregard. My only child.”
“And the woman?” Aunt Julia asked.
Martha’s smile faded. “His wife. Vera.”
“Such a pretty young thing,” Julia said.
Martha’s mouth pinched and she shifted in her seat. “Well, looks aren’t everything, now are they? One certainly must consider character. One wouldn’t want to spend the rest of one’s life with a boring limp noodle.”
“Certainly not.” Julia’s eyes shone with the excitement of a new find as she continued her interrogation. “But it’s lovely of your son and his wife to include you on their trip.”
Martha shifted in her seat. “Well, I suppose. Beau has always been an attentive son.”
Momma’s boy, Nora translated in her head.
“How lucky you are.”
Martha snorted. “As you can see, he isn’t much company. His nature tends toward the quiet side, which is why I always pictured him with a woman who was a bit more outgoing. Someone who could bring him out. But now that he has his wife to tend to, he’s even less company.”
Aunt Julia winked. “Young married people do need their time alone.”
Martha frowned, perhaps picturing what that entailed.
“Oh look. Here comes Giles.” Apparently Aunt Julia was done with her interrogation of Martha Hinchcliffe. She rose from her seat. “Come, Nora, let’s say hello. Lovely to meet you, Martha.”
Julia rustled off and Nora nodded at Martha and hurried after her aunt.
As she joined her, Aunt Julia whispered in her ear, “What do you make of that? Sounds like Martha would have chosen someone different for a daughter-in-law. Vera sounds boring.”
“I’m not so sure about that. The way she was hiding back there seems to indicate there is another layer to Vera. Maybe Martha needs to look past the surface.”
“That would be your area of expertise, dear. I think now that we have been introduced, the three of them bear further investigation. Martha would make a perfect murder victim—”
“Julia!” Giles Hendricks held out his arms. He was a happy man, short and balding with a gray mustache that twirled up at the ends. He wore an expensive pinstripe suit and a red tie. He kissed Aunt Julia on each cheek then held out his hand to Nora. “Nora, dear, so glad to see you again.”
“And you.” Nora had met Giles a few times before and liked him.
Giles turned to a tall man beside him. The man was in his late fifties and had thick white hair and a craggy, stern face. “This is our pilot, Sven Nordby. I practically stole him from the Green Line. He’s one of the best river pilots in the south.”
That explained the navy-blue outfit with gold epaulets and white captain’s hat. Sven didn’t crack a smile at the compliment, he simply bowed toward each of them as Giles made introductions.
“We’re about to get underway. I was just introducing Sven around before he disappears into the pilot house.” He turned to Sven, who looked eager to get back to his domain. “Would you ladies like a tour of the boat?”
Aunt Julia’s eyes lit up. More settings for her mystery books danced in her head, no doubt. “That would be wonderful.”
Giles held out both elbows and they each took one. “Then let’s start on the sun deck. We can accompany Sven to the pilot house.”
Chapter Three
The pilot house wasn’t very exciting. It was a small room with a large wooden wheel that sat above the sun deck directly in front of the tall smokestack. The room was a bit warm and loud with the noise from the boilers below. Sven seemed eager to get rid of them. He virtually ignored them as he instructed his staff of two stewards and a co-pilot to clear away the ropes and pull up the gangplank.
They didn’t stay long before proceeding to the sun deck where they had a bird’s-eye view of the landscape. The scene was impressive, with the setting sun lighting the undersides of the clouds in hues of pink and lavender, which were reflected on the water. Rolling green pastures dotted with crops and grazing cows flanked both banks.
“Just lovely,” Aunt Julia said.
“Thank you. This is the best deck on the boat as it has no rooms and you get an almost three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view.” Giles turned slowly, his arms spread. It was quite a view—the only thing blocking it was the smokestack and pilot house on the bow.
They walked to the stern and from this vantage point Nora could see down into the giant red paddle wheel. Aunt Julia leaned over the railing to get a better look at it, most likely trying to figure out if you could hide a body in there.
Giles grabbed her arm. “Careful, Julia, you wouldn’t want to fall into that thing. The railing is not very high and it would be easy to topple over. If the ship were to jerk to a start, you would be killed, drowned and battered by the wheel.”
“Really?” Julia didn’t seem the least bit deterred. She was probably already planning a steamboat murder book. “I hardly think I would fall in. I’d tumble onto that ledge there.” Aunt Julia pointed to a two-foot section on the other side of the railing that jutted out just below the deck.
“That’s a safety feature to prevent such an occurrence, but let’s not tempt fate.”
Giles steered Aunt Julia away from the railing and launched into a spiel about how he’d renovated the boat to have the feeling of a golden-age steamboat but with more luxury. Nora could tell by the way he spoke about the ship that it was a passion of his and the success of this maiden voyage was very important to him.