“Oh! Sure.” She consulted her computer. “He’s signed up for the five-thirty drill so he should be here any minute.”
“We’ll wait for him in the pro shop.” Anton gestured toward the retail space filled with golf and tennis products. “Will you tell him where we are when he gets here?”
“Of course, Mr. Quintrell.”
They sat in leather armchairs while a handful of customers browsed and chatted around them.
Learning Kelly’s identity was the first real lead he’d had, in addition to the discovery of his boat off the coast of Cape Hatteras.
A commercial fisherman had reported theCamdenballto the Coast Guard, who’d then investigated. They’d discovered it unmanned and adrift. Because the fuel had been spent, they’d towed it to their base. Then they'd looked up the registration papers he’d filed and pinpointed him as its owner.
In the days since he’d received the call from the Coast Guard, he’d made arrangements to have theCamdenballtransported back to Groomsport. He’d also spoken with Detective Holland, informing him that a crime may have been committed on the boat and asking if he’d sweep it for evidence. Holland had told him the Feds had jurisdiction over crimes at sea and given him a number to call. Jeremiah had called it. The man on the other end of the line had been polite and sympathetic but had stated that unless Jeremiah could offer proof that foul play had occurred on theCamdenball, they could not intervene.
Jeremiah had hunted for a solution online and found one in the form of a freelance forensics expert named Eleanor Dobbins. The references she’d provided checked out, so he’d explained to Eleanor over the phone that he suspected he’d been attacked on his boat and wanted evidence gathered off it. Eleanor had asked him follow-up questions in a voice without inflection. She frequently let long pauses sit between them. At the end of the conversation, she’d offered her services.
He was willing to pay for quick answers, so he’d used his checkbook to convince Eleanor to drop everything and fly here from her home in Phoenix. His boat would arrive the day after tomorrow and Eleanor would arrive that same afternoon—
Jeremiah watched a twenty-something man enter the country club’s foyer. He checked in with the receptionist, who gestured toward where they were sitting. The man made his way in their direction.
In unison, Jeremiah and Anton pressed to their feet.
Nothing about Hank’s description had led Jeremiah to think that Hank could have been Alexis’s lover. But this man? Yes. Kelly was as tall as Jeremiah. He had an athletic build and a tan. His brown hair was trimmed in a modern cut and held in place with gel. His Adidas clothing looked as new as the racquet bag he carried.
“Jeremiah and Anton?” Kelly asked.
They introduced themselves and shook hands.
“I haven’t had a chance to give you my condolences,” Kelly said to Jeremiah. “About Alexis. I’m sorry. She was great.”
Jeremiah nodded. “I wanted to meet you because of her. You saw her a few days before she died. Is that right?”
Kelly set the tennis bag on the floor and crossed his arms. “Yeah. We hit for about forty-five minutes one night after I got off work.”
“How did she seem that night?”
“Seem?”
“Yes. How was she acting? Like her usual self? Unlike her usual self?”
He took a breath and raised his brows. “It was more than a year ago.”
“I know. I’d still like to know what you remember.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, is there a particular reason why you’d like to know?” He glanced at Anton, then back at Jeremiah.
“Just trying to find closure,” Jeremiah said. That answer was vague but believable enough that Kelly would be rude to question it.
“She seemed normal,” Kelly said. “That night when we hit. She acted one hundred percent like her usual self.” There was a hint of defensiveness in his body language.
“Do you remember what you talked about that night?”
“I don’t. We typically talked about regular stuff, though. Tennis. The town, the weather, restaurants, movies. My job. Her life.”
“Would you say you were close?” Anton asked.
Kelly frowned. “I’d say we were friends. We’d been mixed doubles partners for a while.”
“How long?”
