“Guess you can tell who really ran this place,” Randy spoke up. “And I have to admit I’ll really miss James. Seems to me he personified the high standard of service that kept us coming back to Compass Bay year after year.”

“Has anyone heard if they’ve found him yet?” Rose Anderson appeared on the edge of the group and asked timidly.

“First, before you start to complain about the service, before we worry about the murderer’s whereabouts, please tell us how you figured out who killed Allison McAllister,” Ro asked again.

“It was a combination of things,” Susan began. “You see, I couldn’t connect Allison to anyone else at Compass Bay. Anyone except you and Jed and me,” she continued, turning to Jerry.

“I kept thinking about that myself,” he admitted.

“Well,” Susan continued, “since I couldn’t connect Allison to anyone except us, I couldn’t figure out who might want to kill her. I also couldn’t figure out who to ask about her. All the information I had about Allison was from the guests she spoke to before we arrived. And, like all of us, she just talked about the parts of her life that she wanted to talk about. Then it occurred to me that I was actually getting a fair amount of information. Allison had talked to you all more than… well, more than anyone ordinarily would. She came here alone and I assumed that she was lonely. But then it struck me that she was saying very specific things about herself and her life, all of which connected her to the Gordons. She was obsessed with them. She even wrote a semiautobiographical novel that made her sound like a victim of her sister. According to Rose, she got a big advance for it. I guess sibling rivalry is a hot topic these days.”

“June was always kind and generous to Allison-despite the tension that existed in their relationship,” Jerry spoke up.

“Allison also made sure everyone knew about my own experience investigating murders,” Susan continued. “And that struck me as odd. I have two great kids. My husband has a great job. I live in a wonderful town. There’s a lot you could tell people about me. Why did everyone here know about my sleuthing? Frankly, I was beginning to be embarrassed about it, and then it occurred to me that Allison must have told everyone for a reason.”

“What was that?” Rose spoke up.

“She wanted me to investigate-or rather-be involved in a murder investigation at Compass Bay.” Susan looked around and suddenly felt like a teacher trying to explain the theory of relativity to a group of second-graders: Everyone’s face was blank. “Allison came here planning the murder of Kathleen Gordon,” she explained.

“What?”

“Why?”

“How do you know?”

“I know it because she, in fact, did some other fiction writing. She wrote a diary that purported to record the last month and a half of her life. A month and a half during which she continued her passionate love affair with Jerry and during which Jerry promised to get rid of his wife and marry Allison. At least that’s what it said.”

“You know, whatever happened, you can patch up your marriage,” Peggy said, leaning forward and patting Jerry’s arm.

“It was complete fiction,” Jerry answered. “I love Kathleen. I couldn’t stand Allison. Period.”

“Men sometimes-” Peggy added.

“Peggy, shut up!” Frank roared. “Not all men have affairs. Not all men are married to you!”

There was a moment of silence while they all took this in. Then Susan continued her explanation.

“The diary was supposed to be discovered after Kathleen was murdered. I suppose Allison herself might have suggested that the cottages be searched. But Kathleen and I found it when we were searching Allison’s cottage. Kathleen read it and then claimed it had been stolen from her cottage. Kathleen doesn’t lie very well. I knew she had gotten rid of it somehow-probably just dumped it in the ocean.”

“You never asked her about it?” Joann spoke up.

“Sure I did, on the phone just a few hours ago. But I already knew Kathleen and Jerry were innocent. I just didn’t realize immediately that Allison must have been trying to prove the exact opposite. You see, nothing made sense because the wrong person died.”

“Why? Why did the wrong person die?” Randy asked.

“Because one tall, long-haired blond looks pretty much like the next in the dark. Allison had made herself over, and she had made herself into a copy of Kathleen. She was out on the gazebo in the dark; James came up behind her, strung a fishing line around her neck, and pulled it tight. He’s strong. She would have been dead within minutes. And, probably, James realized that he had killed the wrong person.”

“She came to the island to find someone to kill Kathleen,” Ro said.

“Yes.”

“Why would James, or anyone, do that?”

“Money. James liked working here, but he was living on the expectation of good tips. And tips are not a dependable source of income. In fact, there was no guarantee that he would even continue working here from day to day. When my kayak sank-and I think that was probably an innocent accident-there was a serious concern among the staff that he’d be sacked. Lila was furious with him. She couldn’t blame Allison’s murder on the staff, or Kath’s concussion… or the knockout drops put in Jed’s lunch-”

“Why was that anyway?” her husband asked.

“You were sitting in the restaurant, waiting for me to show up. James probably thought you might see him with Kathleen. He couldn’t risk that.”

“But why hit Kathleen?” Burt asked.

“I think he probably wanted to scare her away. But what no one knew is that Kathleen was a cop. She doesn’t scare easily.”

“That’s true,” Jerry said proudly.

“Anyway, Lila doesn’t expect accidents to happen here-ever. Those kayaks should have been checked for damage before they were put out on the beach. And that’s James’s job. This is a good place to work. Everyone kept repeating that. Everyone on the island who isn’t driving a taxi wants to work here. There’s probably no one on the staff who isn’t aware of being replaceable. One slip up and you’re out.”

“Sounds like Lila,” Burt Parker said approvingly. “She runs a tight ship.”

“And she’s hired many of James’s friends, relatives, and girlfriends. A lot of people depend on his continued employment. When he saw the opportunity to make some money to free him from this situation, he took it.

“Of course, the fact that Allison picked James to help her out was part of the problem I had investigating. Everyone here, with the exception of Lila, was protecting him. He could come and go without ever worrying that anyone would say anything to incriminate him. No matter what he did here he’d get away with it. Taking girlfriends on the beach at night was against the rules, but James knew no one would report him. There was probably no one else in the resort who could-quite literally-get away with murder.

“In fact, I had to leave Compass Bay to discover that he and Allison had been meeting.”

“Where did you go?”

“There’s a restaurant in town-the Coconut Hut-”

“More a dive than a restaurant,” Veronica said.

“Yes, I suppose.”

“But their lemonade is sensational,” Veronica went on, looking around as though hoping one would appear before her right now.

“And their bartender is a very observant young man, thank heavens,” Susan said, trying to return the conversation to the topic at hand. “He was working the day Allison was killed, and he saw her meeting with Jerry.”

“That meeting was completely accidental!” Jerry protested.

“And wouldn’t have happened if James had shown up,” Susan added. “The bartender said Allison waited impatiently for someone to appear. She was probably amazed when Jerry walked in instead of James.”

“I was trying to get away from Allison, and I couldn’t believe it when I walked in that door and there she was. I really thought I was going to go mad,” Jerry said. “I even considered making up some sort of excuse and taking Kathleen back to Hancock. Instead, I got back to Compass Bay as soon as I could and told Kath I wanted to eat dinner in town. I just wanted to get away from Allison and to keep Kathleen away from her. I thought things would be better when you and Jed arrived,” he added, looking at Susan.