“How are we going to interview all these people?” Dee Dee motioned at the list I still clutched. “You’re not officially working, so you can’t use that as an excuse.”

“That’s not exactly true. I’m not working on a particular article, but I am collecting research while I’m here to use later on. I don’t see why I can’t do the same with interviews.”

“Trixie, we need to be careful. One murder’s already been committed. I don’t want one of us to be next.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I wore my usual khakis paired with a teal short sleeve tee. Dee Dee dressed in jeans with a bright pink shirt and a cute matching scarf. A myriad of colorful bracelets jangled on her wrists. Her sneakers matched her top. Even though Dee Dee shopped in the Womens’ section, she didn’t let her size stop her from being stylish. I envied her confidence to wear fun colors and kicky new styles.

I raised the blinds and glanced toward the beach. A little ways beyond the fence a man and woman stood talking. I squinted to see if I could identify them. I thought I recognized Ellie, but wasn’t sure about her companion.

“Dee, come here. See if you can figure out who’s talking with Ellie.”

She placed her face against the pane, her breath fogging up the window. “It looks like that man staying at Ocean View Inn.”

“John Porter?” I hip bumped her aside so I could take another gander. “It does look like him. What in the world are they talking about? They look like a couple of seagulls trying to take flight.”

“If I moved my arms that fast my skin would flap in the wind and I’d be in danger of knocking myself out. Let’s corner her at breakfast and get some answers.” Dee Dee grabbed her oversized tote and a sweater.

“Okay, let’s go.” I grabbed the suspect list, and shut the door.

“What’s on our agenda besides interviews?” Dee Dee called over her shoulder as she descended the stairs.

“Why don’t we drive to town? They’re having an arts and crafts festival today, and then tomorrow night they host the Swashbuckler’s Bash. Everyone dresses up and parties under a big tent. Think we should go?”

“Sure. Might as well have fun while we’re investigating. Think we can escape without Nana finding out?”

I shook my head. “I doubt it. Nana never misses a beat.”

Nana appeared from nowhere. “Were you talking about me?”

“Nana! You scared me to death. Took at least ten years off my life.”

“Aw, don’t exaggerate, Trixie.” Nana hooked arms and walked with me to the dining room. “You’re just feeling guilty because I caught you.”

“We weren’t exactly talking about you Nana. We were discussing the big pirate festival tomorrow night and your name came up,” Dee Dee said.

I can’t believe she told Nana about the festival. There go our plans. I reached over and pinched a healthy wad of flesh on Dee Dee’s arm.

Her recently waxed eyebrows raised in an arch. “Ouch, what did you do that for?” She rubbed the offended area. Realization hit and her eyes opened wide. “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess it’s too late to stuff the cat back in the bag?”

“Tell me more about this pirate festival. Sounds like something I’d love to attend.” Nana shuddered with excitement. “Let’s go tell Betty Jo.”

I looked at Dee Dee. “Yep, too late.”

Dee Dee shrugged. “Don’t worry about Nana. I’ll help you keep an eye on her. You’ll see. It won’t be so bad.”

Yeah, famous last words.

We stepped into a dining room amid wonderful aromas. I grabbed a plate and filled it with bacon, eggs, hotcakes and various pastries. No such thing as calorie counting on vacation. Ellie was sitting alone and I made a beeline for her table. This would be the perfect time to question her. “Is this seat taken?”

“No. Please join me.” She moved her utensils so I’d have room for my plate.

“Hey, Dee Dee! Over here.” I motioned for her to join us.

Dee Dee’s plate harbored a hearty breakfast, too. No skimping on our watch. She pulled out a chair and sat across from me.

“Hi.” She eyed Ellie’s plate of muffins, fruit and yogurt. “No wonder you stay so slim.” Ellie’s face turned a pretty shade of pink. She was a lovely girl. I wondered what if any role she played in Grace’s murder.

“Ellie. Tell us about the Save the Turtles Convention. I know Grace was the president of the Tybee chapter. Are they still going to hold the meeting?” I shoveled a fork full of eggs in my mouth.

“That’s a good question, Trixie. I’ve talked with some of the other attendees and the organizers are going ahead as scheduled. The local members planned a memorial for Grace on the last day. Even though she had the personality of a riled up porcupine, she contributed so much to saving the sea turtles. She’s a legend in her own right.” Ellie took a tiny bite of muffin – probably bran.

“Too bad she had to ruin her good works with her surly nature. Seems she cared more about turtles than she did humans.” Dee Dee waggled her fork.

“Do y’all remember the argument Laura and Grace had the first day we arrived? Do you think that Laura really killed her?” Ellie appeared much too happy about Laura’s troubles.

“No, we don’t. That’s why we’re helping her.” Dee Dee turned to me for assistance.

“That’s right. Ellie could you tell us where you went the night I found Grace’s body?”

Her green eyes opened wide and she stumbled over her next words. “Uh, I went into town. Don’t you remember? I spent time at the Pirate’s Pub with some of my friends attending the convention.” Something about her answer seemed a little too contrived, but her response would be easy enough to check out. I decided to go for broke and charged ahead with the next question. “We saw you talking with John Porter this morning on the beach. Where do you know him from?”

She squinted at me, then turned to Dee Dee. “Ladies, I don’t believe my personal life is any of your business.” She scooted her chair back. “This conversation is over.”

“Wow,” Dee Dee exclaimed, watching her bolt out of the room. “If she doesn’t have anything to hide she sure has a funny way of showing it.”

“I agree. She might not be guilty of murder, but she’s hiding something.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

I stacked up our dirty dishes and scooted my chair back. Dee Dee grabbed a pile as well and we headed to the kitchen, still discussing Ellie’s hasty departure.

Louise stood at the sink, up to her elbows in sudsy water. “Hey, ladies. Thanks for bringing the plates. Just set them on the drain board.”

Checking to make sure we were alone, I thought this would be a great time to talk to her. “Louise, do you know Edna very well?”

“We’ve known each other over ten years. She’s been working for Grace for fifteen and I’ve been with Laura for ten. We hit it off right away. I guess having so much in common made it easy to become friends.”

Dee Dee pulled out a chair for me and picked up the line of questioning. “Did she ever talk about how Grace treated her?”

Louise rubbed her nose with her arm, leaving a wad of bubbles on the end of her snout. “She sure did. There wasn’t any love lost between them two. Grace treated Edna like a mat to wipe her feet on. She cried on my shoulder more than once. But she was stuck. She doesn’t have any family since she never married and her folks passed. At the time, it made sense to live with Grace. After a few years, things weren’t so rosy anymore. Any time she talked about leaving, Grace threatened to blacklist her. Told her she’d never work on Tybee again. She had poor Edna scared half to death.” Louise pointed to the dishes. “Could you hand me another stack, dear?”

Dee Dee gathered up a precariously high mound and carried them to the sink. The work keeping a bed and breakfast was never ending.