Wedding Belles. Beth Albright

even more reason to stall.”

      “They can’t think we were involved,” Wayne protested. “We’ve already been cleared for the night of Walter’s death. Sure, things got a bit complicated between us since our uncle left the money to Walter, but, as we told the police, we haven’t been in touch with him, except by phone, for several months before he died.”

      The open-and-shut inheritance case I had envisioned with the Aarons was quickly disappearing into the horizon. “We need to find out about this woman Walter might have married. See if there are pictures. A name. Something we can check into to clarify the situation.”

      Wayne sighed. “I don’t remember him saying much about her other than he had only known her a couple of months. If he did marry that girl, it would have been the spur-of-the-moment. A real whirlwind thing.”

      “Well, even so, there’s got to be a record somewhere.”

      “We haven’t really gone through Walter’s effects,” Wynona chimed in. “Just kind of packed ’em up and shoved ’em in a storeroom. The thought of looking through all that stuff was too upsetting. There might be something in there, though.”

      I perked up. “Well, that’s a great place to start. Go and see what you can find.”

      “He sounded so in love,” Wynona added wistfully. “Why would his wife want to kill him if they just got married?”

      “Money can motivate people to do desperate things,” I said. “Then again, we have absolutely no proof that she’s had anything to do with Walter’s death at all. Do either of you know if Walter had any enemies on the boat?”

      “No,” Wayne said, getting upset. “Everyone loved him at work. He had been working that barge for over ten years. Walter did not jump, but I refuse to believe anyone killed him. I swear that barge company overlooked a safety measure and now they just don’t wanna pay. They are looking for every excuse under the sun to get outta settlin’ his insurance policy.”

      “I hope you’re right, Wayne, but regardless, we still have a possible new beneficiary floating around out there. That issue has to be resolved,” I said. “For our next meeting, I will need any insurance papers you can find. Information on his death benefits and all the policies he had with the barge company or anyone else. Whatever you can’t find among his personal effects, I will subpoena. We will get to the bottom of this, I promise.”

      I stood up and reached out to shake their hands.

      “Thank you so much, Ms. Heart,” Wynona said as she shook my hand. “We couldn’t fight those folks on our own anymore, and things look like they’re getting a lot more complicated.”

      I agreed. “Let’s meet in a few days. Call me when you have gathered your brother’s paperwork and we will set up a time. Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can find out anything from the police. I have some pretty good connections down there at the station, and they will assuredly want to talk to you about this mysterious woman.”

      I walked the Aarons out to the front lobby and said goodbye. I told Wanda Jo I had to get down to the river.

      I was sure hoping Sonny didn’t have another body part to show me. I was still recovering from the last one.

      6

      I made my way down to the dock, perspiration rolling down my chest. Women in the Deep South don’t sweat. We perspire. But let me tell you, we perspire a lot. One hundred and two degrees, with one hundred percent humidity—that’s the Deep South in August.

      The cement walkway stopped just short of the barge, leading me onto a rocky path bathed in red dirt. Sonny and Bonita were hunkered down on the deck of the tugboat that was pushing the barge.

      “Hey, Blake, glad you could get here. I heard you have some information regarding the Aaron case,” said Bonita, the gorgeous, plus-sized, African-American spitfire Sonny hired last spring. She had a degree in Criminal Justice from Tuskegee Institute where her parents were both professors. She was smart and highly opinionated and I knew from the start I liked her style.

      She looked amazing in a cream-colored suit trimmed in black and big, dangly earrings. No one else would dress like this searching for evidence except Bonita. But she’s a former pageant winner herself, and it was just her style. Her makeup was done to perfection, and not melting like mine was, even in this unbearable heat. Note to self: find out how she does it.

      “Yes, I just saw the Aarons. They are the sweetest people. They just want to get to the bottom of this.”

      I glanced up at Sonny. He was looking at me with a silent grin in his eyes. Hiding our feelings was always more difficult in person.

      “Well, the Aarons may have to wait a little longer to settle this case,” Bonita said. “We still have a lot of investigating to do.”

      “Can I come aboard? I’ll tell you about the new little wrinkle in this case.”

      I joined them on the tugboat, but had to stay well back from the cordoned-off area. Once there, I related the Aarons’ refusal to believe Walter was suicidal. That in fact, he had sounded happy when they spoke to him and was contemplating marrying a girl he’d recently met.

      Sonny’s gaze narrowed. “Did they say when they talked to him?”

      “Shortly before his death.”

      “Well, this certainly complicates things,” Bonita said, hands on her ample hips. “We’re going to have to interview the Aarons again. Do they know anything about the woman?”

      “No,” I said, “but we have another meeting coming up and they’re gonna bring whatever they find after going through Walter’s effects.”

      “Bonita and I are going to be in on that little search,” Sonny added.

      “Why? Did you find something?”

      “Can’t go into specifics.”

      As we walked toward the front end of the boat, I saw the crime scene tape.

      I looked around nervously. A tugboat pushed a barge up the river. That much I knew. Was that where they thought Walter fell off, in between the boat and the barge?

      I stopped, staring at the area where the two boats hitched together.

      I took in the gouges in the wood and the scrapes and scratches in the paint, which didn’t look to me as though they’d come from the normal tug and push of the equipment. Dark spots dribbled down the side. My heart sank.

      “Do you see something?” Sonny asked, already knowing I did, although he hadn’t shown me anything.

      “It looks like there was a struggle of some sort in this area,” I said haltingly, noting exactly how far along the front and side of the boat the crime scene tape extended. “A big struggle, like somebody didn’t want to go overboard, but maybe someone else had a different idea.”

      Bonita just stared at me, remaining silent.

      I turned to Sonny. “The coroner’s report said there was bruising on Walter’s forearms and shoulders.”

      Sonny looked grim, but unsurprised. He’d obviously seen that report long before me.

      “What do I tell the Aaron family, Sonny?” I asked. “I need to update them so they know why the barge company won’t settle.”

      “Sorry, Blake. This investigation is ongoing,” Sonny said. “We’ll need to talk to the Aarons again and go through all of Walter’s effects ourselves. I’ll call his siblings when I leave here and set up a time.”

      “Who do you think did this? The new wife?” I asked. “Walter’s been working here for over ten years and was apparently well liked.”

      Bonita raised her eyebrows and shot Sonny a meaningful glance. “Looks like we got us a tugboat captain to talk to again. That story doesn’t quite mesh