“Thank you,” Maris said, pulling out the chair and taking a seat. Although she waited for a few moments, Julia said nothing. “The coffee here is wonderful, don’t you think? But don’t tell Cookie I was here.” At that, Julia looked up. Maris dropped her voice a notch. “She’s been trying to wean me off caffeine since I arrived.” She arched her eyebrows. “She thinks she has.”
Julia had to smile a little. “Your secret is safe.”
Maris settled back into the chair. “The sheriff came and collected the flyer from the garden.” She paused for a moment. “I’m sorry about that business with Joseph.”
“Me too,” she said quietly.
Fab came over and deposited the latte on the table. A coffee colored heart was swirled into the foam. On the saucer was a small, round sugar cookie. Maris grinned at her. “Beautiful. Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” Fab said. She turned to Julia. “Would you like a refill?”
The young woman shook her head. “No, I’m good. Thanks.”
Fab nodded to them both. “Enjoy.”
Maris took a sip and set the cup down, warming her hands around it. “Oh, that is good.”
Julia took a sip of her coffee too.
“The sheriff will probably have the fingerprints rushed,” Maris said.
Julia grimaced. “Of course it’ll have my prints all over it,” she grumbled. “They all have my fingerprints. I distributed them.”
“Exactly,” Maris agreed. “The one in Joseph’s room. The ones under the pier.” Though Maris now had her suspicions of how they’d gotten down there, she would have to approach this carefully.
But before she could begin, Julia covered her face with trembling hands. “I can’t believe this,” she said, and began to cry.
Maris got up and went to the small table with the sugar, creamer, and napkins, and grabbed a handful. Fab looked on with concern and sympathy, but Maris motioned with her hand that it was under control. When she came back to the table, Julia was shaking her head. Maris handed her a napkin, and the young woman took it and wiped her nose.
“I swore I’d never get myself into a situation like this,” Julia said.
Maris cocked an eyebrow at her. “A situation like a murder?”
Julia blew her nose and then shook her head, the tears still falling. “No,” she managed to say. “Being a victim.”
Maris’s eyebrows flew up. “A victim? In what way?”
Julia finally looked at her. Even through the pooling tears, there was something deeply determined in her gaze. “I’ll tell you why I’ve devoted my life to environmental activism. Because of my cousin. He’s the one who taught me to garden when I was a child. He was the one who instilled a reverence for nature in me, who made sure I got tuition money when I needed it.”
Maris smiled at her. “He sounds incredible.”
“He was,” Julia said, her voice breaking. “He was an environmental activist too, but he became a victim. He died in a whale-hunting intervention. He…” She burst into a sob.
Maris pushed the rest of the napkins toward her. “I’m so sorry.” The young woman only took another napkin and blew her nose again. “Look, Julia,” Maris said quietly. “I think I can help you. I know you’re scared, and for good reason. But unless you tell me everything, there’s nothing that I can do.” The young woman glanced at her, wiping her nose. “If you can help me, then I’m sure we can get all of this sorted out. And I swear to you that you will not be a victim. But you’ve got to tell me what happened. Can you do that?”
Julia took a shaky breath, but sat up taller. Finally she nodded. “I will. I’ll do it for my cousin. For Xavier.”
OUTSIDE THE SANDWICH SHOP, once Julia had driven off, Maris got in her car. She took out her cell and dialed Mac’s number. Just from the sound of his voice, she could tell he was smiling.
“Maris,” he said, in that beautiful baritone. “How nice to hear from you.”
She smiled in return. “You’ll really think so once I tell you about the murder weapon.”
There was a sound on the other end of the phone as though he was switching it between ears. “What have you got?”
“I think you’re going to find the actual spear gun in the surf under the pier,” she said quickly.
“In the surf,” he said. There was a pause. “I don’t suppose you care to tell me how you know.”
“Not as yet,” she said. “I want to make sure it’s there first.”
“Making sure,” he said, not sounding too happy.
Although he couldn’t see her, she shrugged. “I don’t want to start pointing fingers until you can find the gun and see if it has fingerprints.”
“Fingerprints?” he said. “Assuming we can even find it, it’s been in saltwater.” He paused. “Although…”
Maris waited for a few moments, as though he might elaborate. When he didn’t she said, “Although?”
“All right,” he answered. “It’s at least worth a couple of scuba divers and metal detectors.”
“Search the water just north of where the body was found,” she suggested. “That’s everything I can tell you.”
“It’s good enough to start,” he said. “Not to cut this short, but this is going to be time critical. I’ll need to get on it right away.”
“Good luck,” she said.
28
Because Jude had recommended an oil change, the trip to the gas station had taken Maris longer than she’d planned. Even so, the Wine Down was still a couple of hours away, so she decided on a little detour into town. Ever since her internet research into oil derrick technology, she’d been bothered. After she parked outside the Main Street Market and got out, she paused and gave her temple a discreet tap to quickly review what she’d seen.
With a nod, she shouldered her purse and went inside. Howard had been rummaging for something under the counter behind the antique register, but stood up when he heard the bell on the door.
“Maris,” he said smiling. “Two shopping sprees in a week. Business must
