“He was standing by a sign advertising a Pirate Festival. That sounds like fun.”

“It does. Let’s find out more about the festival. Keep a look out for Ocean View. Ruth said the restaurant is on the left.”

While we looked for the turn, I speculated whether Ruth would feed us enough information about the mysterious Jasmine to add her to our growing list of suspects.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

There’s Ocean View!”

I swung a sharp right and spotted The Tybee Sandwich and Ice Cream Shop. “Where should I park?”

“There’s a lot behind the building.”

We parked, and walked around front. It was wonderful to walk without my cane and minimal pain. Now that I’d had my knee replacement I often wondered why I’d waited so long.

Like most establishments in Tybee, the sandwich shop boasted an ocean motif. Large fishing nets adorned the walls. A shelf covered in a variety of conch shells ran the perimeter of the room just below the ceiling. Numerous sea items decorated the walls: oars, antique ship wheels, compasses, and several mounted fish, including a huge blue and green sailfish. Some wise-guy had placed a fake bloody hand in the shark’s mouth.

I spotted Ruth sitting in a corner booth. She waved us over and we scooted onto the bench opposite her.

“Hi. Did you have any trouble finding the restaurant?” She took our pocketbooks and placed them next to her giving us more room.

“Not at all. We did see a pirate, though.” Dee Dee scanned a menu.

“The Pirate Festival is an annual event Tybee hosts to attract tourists during the off season. It’s great fun. There’s a parade where everyone dresses up in a pirate-themed costume and walks downtown. A king and queen are crowned. It’s fun if you like that kind of arr-ful entertainment.”

“Won’t Nana like that?”

I gave Dee Dee a stern look. “Don’t even think about getting her involved in a pirate festival.”

“Ha! You know she’ll find out one way or the other. She might as well join in the fun.” Dee Dee could afford to laugh. Nana wasn’t her responsibility. Last year in Marietta, we attended a Civil War Ball and Nana dressed like Scarlett. She got into the character so much she insisted she was really Scarlett. Just about drove me crazy.

“You’re right, but don’t encourage her.”

A waitress, outfitted in a pirate themed white dress and black apron, approached our table. “Hi. May I take your order?” I hadn’t even looked at the menu.

“Ruth, do you have any suggestions?”

“Try the fish filet sandwich with fries and salad. I think you’ll like it.”

I handed the waitress my menu. “I’ll take that, please.”

“I’ll have the same thing,” Dee Dee said. The cute waitress wrote down our order and sashayed toward the kitchen.

Ruth looked around, placed her elbows on the table, and leaned in toward us. “Can you tell me what you had in mind when you suggested we meet?”

“Could you tell us about Jasmine? What happened to cause so much dissension between Grace and Jasmine?”

Dee Dee elbowed a warning. After the waitress set down our drinks and left, Ruth continued.

“It’s a long story, but I’ll try to give the short version. As you know, Grace is an icon in the community. I mean was, bless her heart. I think she must have been one of the founding fathers.” Ruth gave a nervous little laugh at her own joke. “Anyway, Jasmine was a newcomer to Tybee and a pretty young thing at that.

“Grace had been the president of Save the Sea Turtles for as long as I can remember. When it came time to vote for new officers, Jasmine had the audacity to run against her. Nobody, and I mean nobody, dared to run against Grace. She’s been unopposed for years.” She stopped to take a breath and glanced around again, as if she thought Grace might walk through the door any minute.

“I guess Grace didn’t take too kindly to Jasmine?” Dee Dee took a long sip from her sweet tea, let out a big “ahhh,” and set her glass back down.

“Ha! That’s an understatement. Grace was out for blood. I don’t know how she did it, but she dug up all the dirt she could on Jasmine, and then made sure everyone in the club knew about it.”

“What did she discover that was so awful?” I was beginning to get a feel of just how mean and spiteful Grace had been.

“She’d made some bad decisions when she was young. We’ve all done things in our youth we wish we could go back and change. Grace found out Jasmine served time in jail for possession of marijuana. Even though it had been over fifteen years, members didn’t want someone with a record for their president.”

Another waitress returned with our orders. The food looked and smelled delicious.

“Wow, get a gander at these sandwiches. They’re Papa Bear size.” Dee Dee was right. The portions were the largest I’d seen. Steak fries covered three-fourths of the plate. We took a few minutes to doctor with condiments waiting on the table.

“Mmm, this is good.” A glob of tartar sauce oozed out on the corner of Dee Dee’s mouth. I pointed to my mouth to clue her in. She shot us an embarrassed look and wiped off the offending sauce. Quiet enveloped our table while we tamed our hunger. Once sated, we talked between bites.

“Ruth, what did Jasmine do when she wasn’t allowed to run?” I dipped a crispy fry in a lake of ketchup and popped it in my mouth.

“She was madder than a pirate who’d lost his booty. Jasmine stood up at the meeting and told Grace she was going to put a stop to her antics. Then she just walked out. I haven’t seen her at another meeting.” Ruth pushed her empty plate away.

“Ladies, would you like dessert?” Our lady pirate offered dessert menus.

“I don’t know. I’m full as a tick.” I patted my belly to prove it.

Dee Dee elbowed me. “Hey, speak for yourself.” She pointed to a picture on the menu. “Look at this.” She jabbed her finger at a chocolate dessert. “Pirate’s Booty. I’ll have this please.”

My mouth watered. “Wanna share?”

“I don’t think so.” Dee Dee looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Ruth said she’d share with me so we ordered two Pirate’s Booty double chocolate desserts. Oh well, what’s a girl to do? After all, we were on vacation.

We sat back to wait. “Ruth, can you tell us how we could get in touch with Jasmine?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

She works at one of the local tourist shops, Pirate’s Treasure. She’s listed in the phone book as Jasmine Watters.”

“Dee Dee, are you getting this down?” She nodded as she wrote in her notebook.

The waitress returned with our desserts. I cut mine in half and handed Ruth a portion. Dee Dee stuck her finger in the icing and plopped the gooey sweetness into her mouth. “Mmm. Aren’t you glad you ordered your own?”

The next few minutes were quiet except for a few mmms and aahs as we devoured the scrumptious treat. We thanked Ruth for her help and said our good-byes.

“The list grows longer,” Dee Dee noted.

“Who’s on the roll so far?”

Dee Dee retrieved her notebook and shoved it toward me. “Take a gander.”

1.  Mary Sue Bartlett – Grace’s former cook.

2.   Bert Watkins – Grace’s ex-husband.

3.  Jasmine Watters – wanted to run for president of Save the Turtles.

“Dee I know we don’t have George written down. I mean there’s no need for him to be on the list, but I still have qualms about him.”

I drove back toward the Inn.

Dee surveyed our list of suspects. “We can’t forget to find out his address and tag number tonight so Beau can run a background check on him.”

I had an idea and slowed to make a turn. “Let’s take a detour and check out the lighthouse.”

“Sounds good to me. Your camera’s in the backseat if you want pictures.”