Chapter 27
The three of them stood around the open drawer. Inspector Severac pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and reached into the drawer to pull the little clear bag out from under one of Paul's shirts. He held it up for the Harts to get a better look. "I don't think that's white flour," Jennifer said. "Cocaine?"
"Excellent guess, Mrs. Hart. Probably. My conclusion is, this little bag, and many more like it, was what the captain was searching for, no?" Inspector Severac speculated.
"I would say that's a fair conclusion," Jonathan agreed.
"Indeed," Jennifer echoed his thoughts.
The Inspector laid the package back in the drawer, and turned to the Harts, "I need to call in the rest of my team. Please excuse me." He started to walk into the other room to use the phone and then turned back to face them. "I'm sure this goes without saying. However, please do not touch anything else."
"Of course," Jonathan answered, before turning to his wife. "Nico said he was looking into Paul as the contact Captain Paul was using to move drugs into the States," Jonathan reminded Jennifer as he paced the floor in front of her.
"Yes. I hate that Nico was right. Paul was such a nice man."
Jonathan stopped his walk and turned to face her, "Me, too, Darling." Then he started pacing a second time. "However, all of this still leaves us with some unanswered questions."
"Like who killed Paul? Or, Like who took the rest of the bags, assuming there were more."
"Both of those could have been Hazel." He turned around again, heading back towards Jennifer. "No, I was thinking more like who was the mysterious man who purchased our drinks before vanishing last night?"
"And who wanted us not to remember something from last night?" Jennifer followed his line of thinking. Jonathan nodded his head. "You remember the evening better than I do… Was there anything special we talked about?"
"Honestly, whales," he answered as he stopped directly in front of Jennifer.
"Whales?" Jennifer repeated.
"Whales." He leaned closer to her, "The topic of whales was all you wanted to talk about."
"So why were both Captain Paul and Paul King murdered? Where has Hazel disappeared? What do drugs and whales have to do with each other? And," she asked, lightly brushing her lips against his, "Did we learn anything we didn't already know about whales?"
"Honeymooners," the Inspector said with a sly smile as he stood in the doorway to the bedroom where the Harts waited. Jonathan returned the grin, turning to face the Inspector, and sliding his arm around Jennifer's shoulders. "Dispatch said your bloodwork came back, Mrs. Hart. They found chloral hydrate."
"What is that?" she asked. Something on the nightstand caught her eye. She moved closer to get a better look at a notepad with writing on it.
"It has several uses. Things like sleep medicine or as a sedative before minor medical or dental treatment."
"Hey, guys…" Jennifer started when she figured out what was on the notepad.
"Which means it's something a nurse could get pretty easily?" Jonathan wondered out loud as he moved closer to the Inspector.
"Guys…" Jennifer tried again.
"That makes Hazel a prime suspect," the Inspector continued.
"Hello!" She nearly shouted, causing the two men to turn to face her. She smiled and pointed to the notepad. "I think she's headed for a 3:30 flight off the island."
"I guess that answers one question. We do have one more question, now that I have talked to the office," the Inspector continued. "Niko did not come into work today…"