Free Huckleberry Finished by Livia J. Washburn

weren’t actually questions, but I said, “That’s what it looks like.”
    â€œBut he didn’t confide his plans to you.”
    I shook my head with some emphasis this time. “No, ma’am, he did not. If he had, I would’ve stayed right with him, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him off the boat when we got here.”
    I would’ve done it, too.
    Again I thought for a second that Detective Travis was going to smile. Instead she said, “You didn’t see him after that?”
    â€œNo, ma’am. I looked for him when I saw he didn’t get off the boat with the rest of the passengers, but I never found him.”
    â€œWhere did you look?”
    â€œAll the areas on all three decks where passengers are allowed. I knocked on the door of his actual cabin, because I’d gotten the number of it from the passenger manifest that was e-mailed to me.”
    â€œWhich cabin is that?”
    I gave her the number. She made a note of it, then asked, “Did you try the door of that cabin to see if it was unlocked?”
    â€œUh, yeah, I did,” I admitted. “But I knocked first and called out to him. He didn’t answer. I didn’t figure the door would be unlocked, but I tried the knob anyway.”
    And my fingerprints were all over that knob, I thought, as well as numerous other places in the cabin. It’s a good thing I wasn’t a professional criminal. I don’t reckon I’d last a week.
    I sort of hoped that Travis wouldn’t follow up on that response, but naturally, she did. “Was the door unlocked?”
    â€œIt was.”
    â€œDid you go inside?”
    â€œI called out to him, like I said, and when I opened the door and did it again and he still didn’t answer…yeah, I went inside and took a look around. Right then, I was just concerned about him gettin’ off the boat like he’d told Mr. Rafferty that he would.”
    â€œDid you see anything unusual, any signs of a struggle, anything like that?”
    â€œNo. His bags were gone. The cabin really looked like he’d come in, packed up, and left. That’s what I thought had happened. I figured I must’ve just missed him leaving the boat somehow. I even walked into Hannibal to see if I could find where he’d rented a car to drive back down to St. Louis.”
    She looked at me, and again I couldn’t read a blasted thing on her face. “You were taking a lot of interest in this young man’s whereabouts.”
    â€œWell, sure I was,” I said without hesitation. “I can tell this tour’s gonna be popular with my clients. I didn’t want any of them causin’ so much trouble for the folks who run the boat that they’d ban Dickinson Literary Tours from future tours.”
    I didn’t see how anybody could argue with the logic of that. Detective Travis nodded like she understood. “Is there anything else you can tell me about Mr. Webster or the things that happened earlier today?”
    I thought about it and then shook my head. “I can’t think of a thing.”
    â€œYou don’t know of anyone who’d want to hurt him?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhat about the man he tried to punch in the casino?”
    â€œFrom what I understand, he didn’t even land that punch. Seems pretty far-fetched to me that anybody would break his neck hours later over it.”
    I didn’t mention my theory that Webster might’ve been trying to sabotage the riverboat and Rafferty had caught him in the act. Travis would come up with that on her own, if she was any sort of detective.
    â€œAll right, Ms. Dickinson, thank you. That’ll be all for now.”
    â€œFor now?” I repeated.
    For the first time, she actually smiled. “Until we have a better handle on this case, you won’t be leaving the Southern Belle , Ms. Dickinson, and neither will anyone else. This riverboat is staying right where