So I wasn’t surprised to wake up by myself the next morning and to see Fred walking down the beach in the distance. I got some coffee and joined Sister and Frances on the balcony. That was when I was informed that our deafness was my fault.

“Lord, Sister!” I said. “Major Bissell was supposed to have arrested Berry an hour or so before we went down there. How was I to know it would take him longer to get some of the information because it was Sunday?”

“What information was he looking for?” Frances asked.

I propped my feet up on the railing. “A couple of things. One was his record as a land developer, and the other was a connection between him and Laura Stamps.”

“What did he find?”

“That Berry West was basically a con man. He’d been involved in a couple of developments but both of them had gone bust. A lot of people had invested money in them, bought lots, et cetera and lost all they’d invested. Criminal charges were filed against him, but somehow he’d managed to squeak out from under them. It’s why he left Georgia, though. I doubt he could have gotten away with another scam there.”

“What about Laura?” Frances asked.

“She’s his sister-in-law. His wife was Eddie’s sister. That’s how he found out about Blue Bay Ranch.”

“Tell me his wife died a natural death,” Sister said. “I’m sure you know.”

“Well, yes, I do, and she did.”

Frances sipped her coffee thoughtfully. “I’m glad Jason wasn’t involved. What I can’t figure out is how you knew it was Berry and Laura.”

“Put two and two together,” I said. I’m sure Sister said, “bullshit,” but my ears were ringing so I could have been wrong. “I woke up at five o’clock in the morning and—remember that dream I told you about? About someone making somebody get on the elevator?”

“I remember.”

“Well, I was half awake and suddenly I realized it was Berry’s voice I had heard. You know how you get those insights sometimes?”

This time there was no mistaking the “bullshit!”

“Shut up!” I told Sister. “Anyway”—I gave her my schoolteacher look—“I figured it had to be Laura he was having the fight with. She hadn’t done something she was supposed to do. And what could that be? I asked myself.”

“I’m sure you’re going to tell us,” Sister said.

“The answer came to me clear as a bell. Laura was to deliver Millicent to the boat.”

“God!” Sister moaned. “That man was just after my money and I tongue-kissed him.”

“That’s understandable,” Frances said. “He was kind of cute. I guess he’s spread all over the bay now, though.”

We thought about that a moment. Then I continued with my story.