“I think I’d want something conclusive before I turned her over to the family, but the hair’s the right color,” Mia pointed out. “And why would he have Mindy’s driver’s license if he hadn’t had Mindy?”

“Good point.” Beck took his phone from his pocket. “Might as well give Rich Meyer a call, get him over here right away.”

“We need some good crime scene techs, and we need them soon,” Mia noted.

“I’d just as soon put Lisa on it. The fewer hands on this deck, the better,” Beck said as he dialed. “Besides, Lisa’s had a lot of training in lifting prints and she’s damned good at collecting trace. We’re going to be sending anything we find to your lab anyway. The only other option is to call in the state, and I’d rather leave them out of it. If I let Lisa process the scene, there’s no one on board except you, me, Lisa and the ME. That okay with you?”

“It’s fine with me. By the way, I told Lisa she’d make a great federal agent,” Mia told him.

“Don’t get any ideas, she’s worth two of anyone else I have. Council’s already approved her promotion to detective, thank you very much. We just haven’t told her yet. Maybe not as glamorous as being a fed, but she likes her home life.”

Beck stopped pacing when his call was answered. “Yes, this is Gabriel Beck in St. Dennis. I need to speak with Chief Meyer immediately…”

Beck finished his call, then immediately placed another one to his dispatcher.

“ Garland, I need Lisa down here right away. Did you call her like I asked you to?” Beck began to pace again. “Well, try her again. Page her. Call her house. Maybe she stopped home for something and hasn’t checked her messages yet…”

“Is everything all right, Beck?” Mia asked. “You look annoyed.”

“I need Lisa and she hasn’t called in.”

“When I spoke with her early this morning, she said she was going out to that shopping center outside of town, the one that has the gym and the coffee shop. She was going to show around the photos of the three victims, see if anyone recognized one or all of them.”

“Yes, I know where she went and why. She should still be answering her page. Garland said he’s paged her twice without a response.”

He glanced behind him at the showroom beyond the dock. “ Duncan, call up there to Singer’s and ask Todd if he’s spoken with Lisa in the past hour or so. I need her now.”

“Right, Chief.” Duncan nodded and trotted off up the steps.

A crowd began to gather, and Beck spent the next fifteen minutes asking them all to leave. Garland reported back to Beck that Todd Singer was out, showing a boat to a client, but was expected back any time, and that Lisa had not been in the showroom since it opened at nine.

An annoyed Beck sent Duncan back to the station for an evidence kit, then walked over to Mia and said, “ Duncan should be back in a few minutes. We can get started then.”

“I’ll be here.” Mia nodded and wished she was wearing something other than the new short, slim skirt and shirt she’d picked up at Bling the night before. Not exactly what to wear when crawling around a boat looking for evidence.

She opened her bag and searched her wallet for receipt for her purchases, and hoped the shop’s phone number was printed on it. It was, and she dialed the number on her cell phone.

“Vanessa, it’s Mia…yes, thank you, it was fun. I would definitely love to come back. Listen, I…yes, I love the outfit, as a matter of fact, that’s why I’m calling.” Mia explained what had happened, where she was, and what she was going to have to do.

“So I was wondering, if those cute jeans that I was looking at are still there, if I could run down and pick them up, they’re more suitable to what I have to do this morning than what I have on. No, no, I wouldn’t ask you to do that…”

Mia paused, considering Vanessa’s offer to run the clothes over for her.

“On second thought, I would appreciate it enormously, if it isn’t going to put you out too much. It would save time. Thanks, Vanessa. No, I have no preference. Any shirt is fine, the simpler the better. Just a basic T-shirt would be best.”

Mia thanked her again, and dropped the phone back into her skirt pocket.

“Odd time to be clothes shopping,” Beck said.

“I really wasn’t prepared for this. We can’t get onto the boat until we have the equipment, so in the interim, I thought I’d change. Vanessa has offered to run over with a few things I tried on last night but didn’t buy because I didn’t expect to need them. It won’t hold us up. I’d just be more comfortable climbing around on the deck of that boat in something other than a skirt.”

He glanced at her abreviated hemline. “Good call. I’ll meet you on deck when the ME gets here.”

Beck set off after Hal, who was carrying two orange cones across the parking lot to block off the entrance in an effort to keep out the gathering crowd of spectators.

Mia paced along the dock, watching for Vanessa.

“Well, wasn’t someone saying last night that this guy was going to make a bold move soon? I’d say this qualifies.” Susan joined Mia on the dock.

They both turned to watch the Cameron cruiser pull into the lot. Chief Meyer got out of the car, and caught up with Beck. They spoke briefly, then walked toward the boat.

“It was a surprise.” Mia nodded, as the two men passed her silently. “But this isn’t quite what I was expecting.”

“Are you kidding? This is about as ballsy as they come,” Susan insisted. “Ballsy as leaving the other body in Beck’s car. And just as much of a jab at Beck, if you ask me.”

“Because Hal is the former chief of police?”

“That, sure.” Sue nodded. “And because Hal is Beck’s father.”

20

Mia stared in silence at Sue.

“Ah, I take it you didn’t know that?” Sue asked.

“That Hal Garrity is Beck’s father?” Mia shook her head. “No. I had no idea.”

“I forgot that you’re not from here. It certainly isn’t a secret.”

Mia looked over her shoulder to the end of the parking lot, where Hal was blocking off the drive, then glanced back at Beck, who stood on the deck of the Shady Lady. The two men stood in exactly the same position, right hand on right hip, and though impossible to see their faces, even from a distance, the similarities in their body builds were unmistakable. Mia wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before.

Several people were gathered on the opposite side of the building that housed Todd Singer’s showroom. On his way back from the station, Duncan stopped to turn away the curious, except for Vanessa Keaton. Apparently crime scene tape wasn’t intended to keep out members of the chief’s family.

Or maybe it was just that Duncan had a thing for Vanessa, Mia thought as she watched the officer’s eyes follow the pretty young woman along the boardwalk.

“Mia, here are your things,” Vanessa called to her. “God, does this thing just keep getting crazier and crazier or what?”

“It’s pretty crazy, all right.” Mia met her halfway.

“How is Hal? Is he okay?”

“I think he was a little shaken up. As anyone would be.”

“Is it that woman from Cameron?” Vanessa handed Mia the bag she’d brought from Bling.

“It could be her,” Mia nodded, not wanting to discuss what they’d found on the body until they were certain. “We’re not positive. Chief Meyer is on the boat now with Beck.”

The sound of tires crunching on stone drew their attention.

“I see Dr. Reilly is here already.” Vanessa nodded in the direction of the van that had just arrived. “I’ll bet she never expected anything like this when she moved to St. Dennis from Baltimore.”

“She’s been kept busy, that’s for sure.” Mia looked around. “Where’s a phone booth when you need one?”

“What?” Vanessa frowned, then laughed. “You mean to change?” She pointed up the rise to Singer’s. “Todd has a ladies’ room. I’m sure he won’t mind if you use it to make a quick change. Come on, I’ll walk up with you.”