Board Stiff: A Dead-End Job Mystery by Elaine Viets

“He asked to be alone with his wife after she was pronounced dead. Becky, one of the ER nurses, is a friend. She’s been keeping tabs on him. Becky checked on me about ten minutes ago. She says the staff is disgusted by his behavior.”
    “What did he do?” Helen asked.
    “He didn’t cry or even act sorry,” Jim said.
    “Maybe he’s in shock,” Phil said.
    “Becky says a lot of men don’t cry, and shock makes some people numb or confused. Daniel just looked at his wife, then asked for a place to make calls. Becky took him to the family lounge and offered him juice and graham crackers. When she came back with his apple juice and crackers, he was on his cell phone talking to a lawyer. That was his first call! She heard him say, ‘So do I have grounds for a wrongful death suit?’ Becky came straight out to tell me. She says she’s seen people more upset when their dog died.”
    “Do you have liability insurance?” Phil asked.
    “Five million dollars,” Jim said.
    “That much?” Phil raised his eyebrows in surprise.
    “I have to,” Jim said. “It’s what a responsible company does. I have a lot of exposure renting paddleboards to the public. My business does well and I have some family money. My dad died in a car accident and his insurance paid out a million dollars. When I was in the ER after Dad got hit, I wasn’t calling any lawyer. I felt like I was moving underwater.”
    “When are they going to release the body?” Helen asked.
    “After the autopsy,” Jim said.
    “An autopsy! Why? She drowned,” Helen said. “It was an accident.”
    “They have to find out why she died,” Phil said. “Ceci’s death looks like a drowning accident, but it could have been caused by a medical problem, a stroke or an aneurysm.”
    “She’s too young to have a stroke,” Jim said.
    “They happen at any age,” Phil said.
    “Her death is just wrong,” Jim said. “Ceci was a nice lady. She was supposed to go home tomorrow after a vacation. Now she’s going back in a box with that greedy bastard.”
    “It is sad,” Helen said, patting his hand. “But you can’t blame yourself. I liked Ceci. Can’t say the same about her husband—she might still be alive if she was wearing that life jacket. You look pale, Jim. Have you had any lunch? Can we get you coffee? A sandwich?”
    “Not hungry. Too jittery for coffee,” Jim said. “I’ve had four cups since I got here. I’m gonna use the men’s room. I’ll be back.”
    He headed down the hall, his walk oddly jangly, as if he couldn’t get his legs in sync.
    “Phil, do we tell him about Officer James’s odd questions?” Helen asked when Jim was out of earshot.
    “Not yet,” Phil said. “We’ll face those problems if and when they happen. I just hope the husband doesn’t decide to sue.”
    “Can he do that?” Helen asked. “Daniel laughed his wife right out of her lifesaving life jacket.”
    “You’d be surprised how a good lawyer can twist this situation,” Phil said.
    “I wish I’d called that police officer when I found the tide table in Daniel’s towel,” Helen said.
    “So what if Daniel had one?” Phil said.
    “He circled the tide time when Ceci went out on her board.”
    “Still doesn’t prove anything,” Phil said. “They give them away on the pier.”
    “But he sent his wife out at the worst time,” Helen said.
    “She went herself,” Phil said. “He was on the beach when she drowned. He even tried to rescue her.”
    “Looked to me like he was trying to hinder the rescue,” Helen said. “Screaming and thrashing around in the water.”
    “He panicked when he didn’t see his wife,” Phil said. “Not everybody has a cool head in a crisis. Why are you shivering?”
    “Because all I’m wearing is a swimsuit and a thin cover-up,” Helen said.
    Phil dropped some coins in the coffee machine and handed her a cup of black coffee. She wrapped her hands around its warmth gratefully, then sipped the bitter