Free 4 Maui Macadamia Madness by Cynthia Hickey Page B

inside, I’ll unlock the door for
you.”
    “No, open a bedroom
window. I don’t want to be seen going in the front door.” He hefted me up and
almost tossed me through and onto my head. My flip-flops fell outside
somewhere.
    It wasn’t until I
stood up, that I realized Mr. Jamison had died in the bathroom. The very room where I now stood barefoot. Eeew . I
rose on the balls of my feet. Had they laid his body here after pulling him
from the tub?
    The
tub.
    I forgot my
squeamishness and stared through the gloom into the white porcelain coffin
shaped tub.
    Both Mr. Jamison and
Mrs. Aldrich had died in their bathtubs.

 

 
    Chapter Eleven
    I would not take a bath while
on Maui.
    “Summer, let me in.”
Ethan’s loud whisper drifted through the open window.
    I padded out of the
bathroom and into the bedroom where I shoved up the window. “Sorry. I was
transfixed by the tub. Are you aware both deaths occurred while taking a bath?
I’m so glad I’m a shower person, because no one is going to convince me to take
a bath on this island.”
    “I love you, you
silly goose. I never know what you’re going to say.” He pulled me back into the
bathroom. “Now, what?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “What do we do next?
You’re the expert.”
    Usually I stumbled
across evidence by accident. I considered it a strange gift from God. I chewed
my pinkie nail. “Look for anything out of the ordinary.” I turned in a slow
circle and kept my eyes open.
    The bed lay unmade.
A rumpled towel lay on the bathroom floor. A popular brand of men’s shower gel
and deodorant sat on the lip of the tub. Discarded clothes were on the floor by
the sink.
    A box of
chocolate-covered macadamia nuts sat on the bedroom dresser. I dashed into the
bathroom and glanced at the empty counter. Next to the tub, someone had pulled
up a vanity stool. To set a different gift box of nuts on, perhaps? And the
outlet sported a lovely red button to prevent electrocution when dropped in the
water. I started to think Office Manano had lied to
us about Mrs. Aldrich’s death. Wasn’t it building code to have outlets updated?
    Manano definitely fed us false information to try
and determine how much we really knew about these two deaths.
    “Ethan?”
    “Yeah.” His voice came from the closet.
    “Did we get more
than one box of nuts?”
    He appeared in the
doorway. “What?”
    I grabbed his hand
and pulled him toward the dresser. “I’m no genius, but I’m pretty sure the
police would have taken the poisoned nuts. Why does Mr. Jamison have more than
one complimentary box?”
    “Maybe he bought
one.”
    “Maybe, but I don’t
think so.” I propped on the edge of the bed. The box was stamped with the Wahine Bed and Breakfast logo. The hotel didn’t have a gift
shop, so purchasing the box didn’t sound feasible to me. “The police obviously
took the box that contained the nuts that killed him.” It seemed strange to me
that they would leave this one here, untested, but I’d seen stranger things.
“We need to talk to the maid.”
    “In
a minute.” Ethan pulled a
folded sheet of paper from the closet. “I found this in an inner pocket of a
suit. It’s an email about building a resort in Kihei ,
and it isn’t a very nice one.”
    “Here? Where the B
& B is?”
    “Maybe.” Ethan sat beside me. “That could give us a
possible motive.”
    I skimmed the
printed message. “It reads more like a hate letter. Mr. Jamison seems to have
stiffed someone in regards to the proposed resort. We need to find out who .”
    “Then we have our
killer.” Ethan took the paper from me.
    “That’s what I’m
hoping.” I still had no idea why someone wanted to kill me, though. It couldn’t
be because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That made absolutely no
sense.
    “I’m going to show
this to Joe.” He slipped the letter into the back pocket of his jeans.
    I grinned. “I’ve
corrupted you. You’re tampering with possible evidence.”
    “Only
to