“Don’t you want to try the coconut pancakes with burnt sugar syrup?”

“No, just the regular kind with regular syrup,” her husband answered, getting up and pushing his chair away from the rain that was blowing through a slit in the heavy plastic. “I’ll be right back,” he assured her. Then he pulled the tarp aside and disappeared into the rain.

Susan looked over at Kathleen. “I wonder what that was about.”

“I wonder where our waitress is. I could really use some coffee.” Almost before the words were out of Kathleen’s mouth, their waitress was at their side, coffee in hand.

“Can you take our orders now?” Susan asked.

“I…” She rummaged in her apron pocket. “Oh, I forgot my pad. I’ll be right back.” And before anyone could protest, she was gone.

“Well, at least she left the coffeepot,” Kathleen said, picking it up and filling all their cups.

“You can’t expect the service to be normal when a murdered woman was just discovered close by,” Jerry said, pouring cream into his coffee.

“Who said anything about murder?” Susan asked.

Jerry seemed startled by this question. “I thought everyone knew. She’s dead. There was a fishing line pulled tight around her neck. It couldn’t have been an accident.”

“But-”

Kathleen interrupted before Susan could ask another question. “I don’t understand why you say that. She could have drowned accidentally. She might have become entangled in the fishing line after her death.”

“But she wasn’t found in the water. She was found sprawled on one of the deck chairs. She was wet, but it was from the rain. She was murdered.” And suddenly, without any warning, tears were running down Jerry’s cheeks. “I-I think I’d better go back to our cottage,” he muttered, getting up.

Kathleen didn’t waste a second before following him.

Their waitress reappeared, notebook in hand, to discover Susan sitting alone at the table. “Why don’t you just put the coffees on our bill and we’ll get back to breakfast in a bit,” Susan suggested, standing up. “I think I should find out what’s going on.”

“They’ve taken her away,” their waitress said. Then she moved closer and lowered her voice. “She was a guest, you see. They don’t want to upset other guests. They don’t want everyone to think they might get murdered in their sleep. Not good for business.” She stood up and spoke more loudly. “Of course, maybe you weren’t going to join your husband.”

“Actually, I was.”

“Your husband may’ve gotten the last look before they covered her up. You can’t see her anymore. I told you. They’ve taken her away.”

But Susan had gotten up and was heading for the pier, despite the rain, despite the woman’s protests. Jed was among the least impulsive of men. If he had felt the need to check out the dead woman, there was a reason for his behavior. And she was going to find out what it was.

SEVEN

Susan found Jed sitting on the pier in almost exactly the spot she had stood the night before. He looked miserable and she slid down beside him on the bench and took one of his hands in hers.

“I can’t believe this,” he said, staring out into the rain. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Susan squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a comforting manner. “No one expects a murder to happen while they’re on vacation, but we should try to not let it bother us too much, Jed. After all, it’s not as though we know the woman who died.”

“That’s just it, Sue. We do.”

“We do what?” she asked slowly, hoping she didn’t know the answer.

“We do know her. That is we did. I was just sitting here trying to remember the last time we saw her-before yesterday, that is. I mean, I saw her. We both must have seen her. But we didn’t recognize her then, and now…”

“Jed, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Allison. I didn’t recognize her yesterday. She’s changed a lot-and for the better, too-but something seemed familiar, and just now, even though she looked awful-pale and grayish with that horrible thing around her neck, and her tongue-”

Susan interrupted quickly. “I get the idea, Jed.”

“What I’m saying is I knew who she was. This time.”

Susan was becoming more confused as every second passed. “You said her name was Allison?” she asked, mentally reviewing the women with that name in her circle.

“Allison. You know, June’s sister.”

Now Susan had two unknown women to deal with. “June and Allison,” she repeated slowly. “Jed, the only June I’ve ever known was Jerry’s wife.”

“Exactly! June Gordon! Jerry’s first wife! You must remember her sister, Allison. She came to visit for holidays. Heavens, she must have had Thanksgiving dinner at our house half a dozen times.”

“Or course I remember. She was the only person I’ve ever known who was allergic to cranberries. Although I did wonder-June’s sister is here? Was here? Was murdered here?” She asked the questions breathlessly, suddenly realizing the import of what Jed had told her.

“Exactly.”

“But…”

“Listen, Sue, I didn’t recognize her at once, either, but we have to talk some things over right now. While we’re alone.”

“But…”

“We have to decide what-how much-to tell the police and whoever else ends up in charge here!”

“Jed, I don’t understand. You’re not making any sense.”

“I’m trying to tell you. June’s sister was here. She was killed here. Jerry could end up on the list of suspects. He-”

“Why would Jerry be suspected of killing anyone?” Susan paused and examined the expression on her husband’s face. “Jed, you know something about this that I don’t know, don’t you? Something about Jerry and Allison?”

“I think someone’s coming,” Jed said, not answering her question. “Why don’t we talk about this later-when we’re alone.”

Susan, completely mystified, could only agree. She got up and followed her husband back down the dock, toward the shore. The rain had almost let up, and on the horizon, a thin line of sunlight promised better weather to come. “Did Jerry recognize her-”

“Sue, not now!”

“Okay, but let’s go back to our cottage and you can explain exactly what’s going on.”

“No. We’ll go back to the restaurant and continue eating our breakfast. And we won’t say anything to anyone that might indicate that we knew Allison.”

“But…”

“Let’s not say anything in public that might be misunderstood, okay?”

“I guess.”

The restaurant had filled up, and Susan realized immediately that they would be conspicuous if they didn’t talk about the murder. Everyone, staff and guests alike, was discussing nothing else.

“The rain has stopped. Why don’t we see if they’ll serve us out on the patio,” Jed suggested.

“The seats are awfully wet. But I guess that doesn’t matter. I have my swimsuit on underneath this dress.” She glanced around. “I don’t see Kath or Jerry.”

“They’re probably in their cottage.”

“Then we-”

“We are going to go sit down and eat breakfast-in public. Maybe once Kathleen and Jerry see where we’re sitting they’ll come join us,” Jed said, taking her elbow and guiding her over to a table beside the pool.

“Why here?” Susan asked. Then suddenly, and without benefit of a second cup of coffee, she realized what was going on. “We’re sitting here because Kath and Jerry can see us by looking out the window of their cottage, right?”

“Yes, and we’re as far as possible from the police as we can get,” Jed added.

Susan looked over her shoulder and spied the group of uniformed men sitting around a large table next to the bar.

“They’re policemen? They’re certainly not acting like policemen. They all seem to be drinking rum punch. Don’t you think that’s a little unprofessional so early in the morning?”

“I think we don’t know anything about the police force on this island. They could be highly qualified and professional or just the opposite. I don’t know which possibility is the worst.” Jed stood up abruptly. “I’m going to go see if I can find someone to serve us.” He walked off, leaving Susan to worry about what all this meant. She and Jed had been married for years, and as far as she knew, he had never known more about the private lives of their friends and neighbors than she did. But in this case, at least, she had apparently been wrong. She turned around in her seat and studied the other guests. Who was missing? Who had she failed to recognize as the sister of Jerry’s first wife yesterday?