G'Day to Die: A Passport to Peril Mystery - By Maddy Hunter Page 0,66

was right! Someone had poisoned her wine yesterday. But which one of my suspects had slipped her the stuff? And for God’s sake, why? One thing was for sure: there was so much tension between the guests right now, I was terrified the body count was going to rise. “I realize the phone call you received at the dam yesterday never happened, Henry, but have you had any word from the authorities about when they’re going to show up? I mean, how long does it take to drive across town to cuff someone?”

“Lit’s find out.” He punched a number into his phone. “Carol, this is Hinry. What can you till me about the blokes who are seving that arrist warrant?” He listened attentively, nodding and frowning as the woman talked. “Ah, brilliant. Any mintion who they’re going to nab or why? I see. Thanks. I’ll keep you posted.”

“What did she say?” I blurted.

He struggled to suppress a smile. “Carol is six foot five with a nick like a bulldog and chist hair up to his jaw. Carol’s a bloke.”

“At least his parents didn’t name him Sue.”

“The old Johnny Cash song!” Henry enthused. “The whole country’s taken a fancy to all your modern American music artists. Johnny Cash, Dill Shannon, Doris Day.”

Oh, God. “What about the authorities?”

“According to Carol, they should be on the island alriddy, so we need to sit tight and wait for thim to show up.”

“They’re coming all the way to Kangaroo Island to make the arrest? Why didn’t they do it in Adelaide?”

He regarded me thoughtfully before pressing redial on his phone. “This is Hinry again. Why didn’t the police make the arrest in Adelaide?” He paused, rolling his eyes. “Easy on, it’s a fair question. You don’t have to—I was only—Flaming hill.” He disconnected and gave me a sour look. “He said he invited the authorities to the office for tea and interrogation, but they declined his invitation.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll translate. He doesn’t know any more than what he’s already told me.” He threw a cautious look around us. “I’d appreciate it if you could keep your group out of the thick of things when the police arrive, Imily. I don’t want anyone ilse gitting hurt.”

I gave him a thumbs-up. Good thinking to isolate the group from the perpetrator. You just never knew what a cornered rat might do.

Chapter 15

Our footgear sent up a deafening clatter as we walked the boardwalk leading down to the beach at Seal Bay Conservation Park. “I apologize for the wind,” said the park ranger in charge of our group, his hand anchoring his wide-brimmed hat, “but there’s nothing between here and Antarctica to stop it.”

The ocean roared before us, angrily whitecapped and aquamarine in the sun. Waves pounded the sand where scores of sea lions basked like garden slugs. “The colony here numbehs about five hundred, but on average, you’ll see no more than a hundred snoozing on the beach at any one time. Whin the weather’s poor, they hid for higher ground and snuggle under the scrub on the dunes.”

The dunes swept east and west, rolling toward high, rocky headlands that were stark as an Irish moor.

“Whin we’re on the beach, I’ll ask you to git no closer than four meters to the animals. If they feel thritened, they’ll give chase, and I can guarantee you don’t want to be singled out by a five-hundred-kilo bull.”

“How much is five hundred kilos?” asked Lucille Rassmuson.

The ranger smiled. “Enough to roll you flatter than piecrust. Be careful on the stairs now. They’re fairly steep. Hold on to the railings.”

A logjam formed at the top of the stairs as guests with bad knees and replacement hips waited their turn to grab the handrails. Roger Piccolo appeared at my side, looking impatient with the holdup. “All this could be avoided if the AARPers would lose the diet colas and knock back a few health shakes. Have I mentioned that our products actually regenerate joint cartilage?”

We’d already had this conversation. I whipped out the sympathy card. “Would you like to sign this while you’re standing here?”

“What the hell. The old crone didn’t do me any favors, but you have to admire her kid for being so devoted to her. He looked worse than she did after she collapsed.” He signed the card and handed it back. “He’ll probably feel guilty for the rest of his life about signing her up for this tour, but hey, when you’re as old as she was, the old Pearly