“Clifford Oxley and three others from the band had pajamas on, so apparently they weren’t at the party, if there was one. And wasn’t one of the backup singers on the sun deck when we got here?”
“Yes.” Nora squinted her eyes and thought. The singer at the railing wasn’t the one they’d met previously. Lily had come up after, but hadn’t she been in her street clothes too? “And the other one arrived soon after.”
“Which brings up another question. If someone pushed Delilah, where did they go after?” Julia capped her pen and stood. “I think there was a good ten minutes or so between the scream and when we arrived on the scene. But others were already there. How long did it take them to show up?”
“I suppose we could ask.”
Aunt Julia pressed her lips together. “Maybe, but we don’t want to be obvious about our intentions. I think Giles wants to keep this all hush-hush. Wouldn’t want to cause a panic with guests thinking there is a killer on board. On the other hand, we might want to let the suspects know that things are being looked into; could force them to make a mistake that proves they are the culprit.”
“Hopefully the killer had a specific reason for killing Delilah and there’s not some madman running about ready to push all of us overboard.” Nora cocked her head to see what Julia had written on the paper. “So, who do you have for suspects so far?”
“Without knowledge of motive, I’ve started with the person closest to Delilah, which in this case appears to be Clifford Oxley.”
“He did seem quite upset when he saw her.”
Aunt Julia nodded. “Almost too upset, don’t you think, dear?”
“His performance was a bit overly dramatic. Falling on the body and holding up her limp hand. But people grieve in different ways and I don’t think we can necessarily read anything into that. If I had to give a professional opinion, I do believe that he was genuinely distraught. He would have to be a good actor to pull that off. Who else do you have?”
“Vera Hinchcliffe. She made an awfully quick recovery to be out at night.” Julia’s eyes narrowed. “Her behavior at the reception was quite suspicious, I just can’t put my finger on why.”
“Is it possible she really was sick? She seems… pampered. Maybe she needed an afternoon nap? Anyone with an ounce of curiosity would have wanted to investigate that scream. She was in her pajamas, which indicates she was roused from bed. I remember seeing her fluffy slippers.” Nora smiled proudly. Aunt Julia would be impressed she’d remembered that detail. Obscure clues were really Aunt Julia’s forte and Nora was working hard to get better at that.
“Very good.” Aunt Julia pointed the nib of her pen at Nora. “But do you remember her robe? It was cinched tight. What was underneath? Pajamas or street clothes?”
Nora scrunched up her face. “I don’t think one could see. But she came with Beau and I know he was in his room because his head poked out when we heard the scream. Wouldn’t he have known if Vera wasn’t in there?”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps she was very clever about it. She seems the type. He poked his head out after I did and several minutes had already passed by the time I looked out. If he is a heavy sleeper, Vera could have slipped out, pushed Delilah over the rail, then run back and entered the cabin again pretending to him that she had simply been peeking out in the hallway to see who screamed.” Aunt Julia paused as if considering the plausibility of this scenario. “Then again, Beau appeared to be a bit agitated about something at dinner. He was nervous. Maybe they are in on it together.”
Nora glanced at the list again, the name Max Lawton jumped out at her. “What about Max Lawton? He’s on your list.”
“Did you see the way he was looking at Delilah during the reception earlier? I suspect they are not strangers.” Aunt Julia raised her left brow knowingly. “And he was one of the first on the scene and he was wearing street clothes. Not to mention he was glaring at Oxley when he was making that big scene next to the body.”
“He didn’t look like he’d lost a lover, but his demeanor was attentive, as if he was closer to the deceased than he wanted to let on,” Nora said.
“I don’t know if we can rely on Percival Montford to examine the body properly,” Aunt Julia said. “He’s clearly got some memory issues with that watch and he seems a bit contrary. Set in his ways.”
“He does, but something is a bit off there. It’s almost as if he protests too much about the watch. Most people with failing memories try to cover it up, they don’t make a big fuss like Doctor Montford is doing. But I can’t imagine why he would want to call attention to it. And even if he did, what would that have to do with our murder?”
“Interesting observation.” Aunt Julia wrote down Nora’s thoughts about Percival. “I wonder… would the killer have come back to the scene or stayed away? Perhaps if this was premeditated, the killer might have hidden some pajamas nearby to make it look like they had been roused from bed.”
“Or worn pajamas to kill her.” Nora ran a finger down the suspect list. Max Lawton, Clifford Oxley, Vera Hinchcliffe, the two backup singers. “Only two of our suspects were in pajamas. Clifford Oxley and Vera Hinchcliffe.”
“Of course, it’s possible that the killer simply ran off and didn’t come back to the scene at all. That would be most logical. Unless the killer was very clever.” The wrinkles on Aunt Julia’s forehead increased. “And why did Sven Nordby not see anything? Yes, yes, I know that the smokestack obscured the view, but something must have been going on up here before she was killed. Surely he would have seen Delilah and her killer as they came up the stairs or walked the deck?”
“If they argued, surely he would have heard it. Not to mention her scream.” Nora considered Sven Nordby. With his severe demeanor he was hard to read and she hadn’t noticed anything that would lead her to believe he was the killer. But he was closed off and unemotional which would make it easier to hide. “You don’t suspect him, do you? What motive would he have?”
“Maybe the motive didn’t have anything to do with Delilah herself. She could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. What if Sven is up to some shenanigans and Delilah just happened to witness something she shouldn’t have?”
Nora considered this. “Shenanigans? Like what?”
Aunt Julia’s eyes twinkled. “Who knows? Maybe there is some corporate espionage going on or an illicit affair or something illegal like a hidden supply of moonshine. Sven would be able to quickly run back to the pilot house before anyone was summoned by the screams. In fact, of anyone on the boat he would have the easiest getaway. Still, I suppose the co-pilot would have noticed and the way Delilah died did seem rather personal.”
Nora blanched, remembering the misshapen hand. Violence like that usually happened when someone had personal reasons to hate the victim. “If someone really did stomp her hand to a pulp, I don’t think they liked her very much.”
“Or they were very angry with her.”
Visions of the look exchanged by Delilah and Max crossed Nora’s mind. “Like if she were having an affair.”