CeeCee held up her cell phone as an excuse and then pushed out of her seat, moved to the middle section of the boat and took a seat with no one around.
Looking a little peaked, Sheila was pressed against the window and holding the chair handles with a white- knuckled grasp. The rocking of the boat was soft but unrelenting and seemed to have renewed her worry.
I thought it might help her get her mind off of the fact we were on a boat if we talked about Mary Beth.
“I had dinner with a friend who knew Mary Beth Wells,” I began. Dinah peered at me with a question in her eyes, and I mouthed, “Mason.” Her eyes opened wide, and it was clear she wanted more information, but that would have to wait until it was just the two of us. “Nothing he said about her seems to go with any of these motifs. She was married to the son of Lance Wells, the famous dancer-actor. She was connected to his dance studio, but her husband didn’t inherit any of his father’s talent. She and her husband went to all the entertainment-industry charity dinners.” I shrugged as I looked over the panels. “There’s nothing here that goes with any of that. We have the Casino Building, Sagittarius guy, a house, a sitting cat, a standing cat, the Arc de Triomphe, the weird circles, the vase of flowers, the wishing well—which we know is Mary Beth’s signature—and then the double-size panel with the rectangle. Since the very first panel is the Casino Building, does that mean that everything else refers to something on Catalina?”
“The diary entry referred to time she spent on an island, so that makes sense,” Dinah said. “But whatever happened, it happened over twenty years ago.” She was holding the sheet of paper and turned it over as she put it down. “Hey, look at this,” she said pointing. There were words on the back:
“How could I have missed that?” I said, surprised.
“Well, Pink, it’s not such a mystery,” Adele began as she stood and picked up the page. “Sometimes I think I should be the detective around here.” Adele held up the diary entry and pointed out it only covered a little over half the sheet. “It’s a complete thought, so why would you look for more on the other side? And even if you did,” she said demonstrating turning over the paper, “the line is written in such light pencil and just where your finger is likely to cover it up, you could easily just not notice it.” Adele took a bow as she finished and laid the sheet down before returning to her seat.
I glanced over to see if I had succeeded in distracting Sheila, but she still looked upset.
I pointed to the image of the house. It was certainly not a generic house. The overall shape had a Victorian feel, but it was the roof that stood out. It was shaped like an inverted ice cream cone. “I bet this house is on the island. Maybe if we find it we’ll get a way into the puzzle.”
Dinah looked skeptical. “But how are you going to manage that?”
“We could ask somebody. Maybe it’s Mary Beth’s house.”
Adele snorted. “Not really, Pink. People married to famous dancer’s sons have unlisted phone numbers and people don’t give directions to their houses.” Adele adjusted her sailor cap, which had fallen forward. “But there might be another way.” Adele knew she had our attention and held onto it for all it was worth. She innocently looked out the window and back toward the snack bar and finally at all of us. “Oh, you want to know what that way is, huh?”
She dragged the suspense out another beat or two and then continued. “Obviously you’ve never been to Avalon.” She addressed the three of us. “It’s basically the only town on Catalina, and it’s where our boat will be landing. There are only around thirty-five hundred residents, and it’s only a mile square. Most of the town is spread up the side of the hills.”
Adele stopped. Dinah and I looked at her, waiting for the punch line. Adele looked confused and then apparently realized we hadn’t gotten her meaning.
“Okay, Pink and everybody else, the point is, it’s not that big, so finding a house shouldn’t be that hard.”
I was glad Adele didn’t ask me what I was going to do when I found the house. I hadn’t figured that out yet. There didn’t seem to be anything else to discuss, so I put the piece back in my tote bag.
“Let’s explore the boat,” Dinah said. She nodded toward Sheila. “C’mon, walking around will make you feel better.” Now that I knew I wasn’t going to be seasick, I was up for it and got up quickly. Sheila, still looking at me as though I were her lifeline, followed.
CeeCee had fallen asleep with her mouth open, her cell phone still in her hand. She was snoring softly and her straw hat was cockeyed. I looked around for anyone pointing a camera at her. It was just the kind of picture she worried about showing up on some tabloid website. It wouldn’t be hard to come up with a good caption:
We went upstairs and outside. The air was brisk and I was glad for my jacket. Our boat zipped past cargo ships hanging around waiting for their turn to come into the harbor to get unloaded.
Further on we caught up with and passed a barge with a big Vons grocery store truck on it. Adele had stuck with us like glue and continuing with her in-the-know news about Catalina explained the barge was the only way for things to get to the island. Weather permitting, it made the trip five times a week. Weather not permitting, nothing got to the island, which was why all the residents had a stash of frozen bread, dried milk and canned goods.
We had the outside deck to ourselves, for a bit, but when the boat’s captain announced over the intercom that we were going to pass through a pod of dolphins, a few people came from inside and joined us to look over the side.
I saw a dolphin just below the water swimming alongside. It was pretty neat but turned out to just be a hint of what was to come. The one was joined by many, and they began to jump out of the water in an arc as they swam next to the boat. More and more dolphins showed up. We looked at them and they looked back at us.
Sheila finally had some color in her face and let go of the death hold on my arm as she became lost in dolphin magic. Even Adele was speechless. Only CeeCee missed it all. She was still inside, dreaming about her deck chairs and margaritas.
“The dolphins are a good omen,” Dinah said as we leaned against the railing and savored the moment.
“I hope you’re right.”
Dinah glanced around. Sheila and Adele had moved to the back of the boat to watch the dolphins as they swam around in the wake.
“So, you had dinner with Mason?” she said.
“It was nothing,” I responded. “I’d called him thinking he would have some information about Mary Beth.” But it was useless. I couldn’t just gloss over the details with my best friend, so I told her the whole story about being stuck on my own front porch because the She La Las had taken over. And, yes, I mentioned that Mason had kissed me.
“When’s Barry coming back?” she asked.
I shrugged. “When his case is over. Whenever that is.” Dinah rocked her head from side to side. “If he doesn’t hurry, he may not have a girlfriend—” She stopped herself. “I know you think
I rolled my eyes in response.
When I looked ahead I saw the island. We seemed to be traveling parallel to it but getting closer at the same time. From here it appeared mountainous and empty, and I wondered about everything I’d read online about it. Other than the occasional boat near the shore, it looked uninhabited. Adele had mentioned that most of the island was wild. Besides Avalon, there was only one other village, Two Harbors.
The engines began to slow just as Avalon finally came into view. Boats bobbed in the harbor and beyond that was the town. Adele had been right: The town seemed to be draped on a slope and looked almost too adorable to be true. Glancing over to the side of the harbor opposite from where our boat moored, I got my first view of the Casino Building. With its round shape and red roof, the landmark definitely stood out. Even in person it looked like a bath-powder box or maybe a giant casserole dish.
CeeCee was just waking up when we walked through the cabin to collect her. Then we joined the crowd waiting to get off. Once we’d disembarked, I realized just how small Avalon was. After walking maybe a block, we had curved around the harbor and were on the town’s main drag.
Since it was February and a weekday, the small crescent-shaped beach was deserted. Most of the people getting off the boat seemed to be locals. The few tourists followed the same path we did down the street of restaurants, shops and hotels that faced the water. A green pier sticking out in the water offered boat rides and fishing trips. Everything was small and cute.
