“I didn’t even know they had organized crime here,” said Andy, shaking his head.

“They didn’t have it last time we were here,” said Brandy. “I’m sure of it. Must have traveled over from the big city when things got too hot for them over there.”

It certainly seemed as if the ills of the big city were spreading to the country now.

He got up and opened the door a crack.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Looking to see if they’re gone,” he said. As far as he could tell, the room had been sealed off with that yellow crime scene tape the police liked so much, but of the officers themselves there was not a single trace.

“Looks like the coast is clear,” he said.

“Good. Then we can finally go down to the beach. Did you order that packed lunch like I told you to?”

“What?”

“Packed lunch, Andy.”

“Why are you talking about a packed lunch, woman?” he snapped. “There’s been a murder right under our noses, and another one around the corner. We’re probably in the middle of a gang war so I think it’s time we got out of Dodge. Before these maniacs target us!”

“But why would they target us? We’re not rich or anything, like this dead guy was.”

Prince Abdullah had been more than merely rich. He had been of noble and royal heritage, according to the one conversation Andy had had with him over breakfast a couple of days ago. He was part of the royal family of Abou-Yamen, he had said, and had plenty of brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and uncle and aunts, and all of them were princes and princesses, as far as Andy understood. Hundreds of them. But when he asked the prince if he was in town for business or pleasure, the prince had clammed up on him, and had merely smiled and bid him adieu. It was all very mysterious, he thought. And now the guy was dead. So maybe the reason he was in town had something to do with why he had been killed?

“But I don’t want to go,” said Brandy. “We just got here, and we paid for two whole weeks.”

“It’s not safe here anymore, honey.”

“I don’t care! Just look at the streets. They’re still teeming with tourists. So why can’t we be like them, huh?”

“Because whoever killed the prince must have been keeping an eye on him. And if they saw that he talked to us, they might come after us as well.”

“I don’t see why they would,” she insisted stubbornly.

“Whatever the reason they killed the prince, maybe they figure he told us about it. And they can’t have any witnesses.”

“Witnesses to what! We don’t know anything!”

“They don’t know that we don’t know,” he said, making her eyes glaze over a little. Even though he loved his wife dearly, he had never been blind to the fact that when God doled out the brain cells, she hadn’t been first in line. She hadn’t even been part of the first batch.

“Okay, look at it from the perspective of the killer,” he said. “He sees us talking to the prince, so he figures we’re all part of the same entourage. So who’s to say he won’t come after us next, huh? And when that happens, I want to be far away from here.” And never come back. There were many other places they could visit, up and down the coast. They could head up to Cape Cod maybe, or Nantucket even. And hope this killer didn’t follow them up there.

“Let’s just head down to the beach,” she said. “Forget all about what happened. The police are on top of things and before you know it, they will have nabbed the prince’s killer and things will go back to normal.”

Clearly, Brandy had no clue. No clue whatsoever. “We’re leaving,” he said. “Pack your bags.” And when she still didn’t make any sign of getting a move on, he snapped, “Unless you want to be killed as well?”

She wasn’t happy about it, but still did as she was told. And so he started throwing his own stuff into a suitcase as well. The sooner they were out of there the better.

CHAPTER 11

“Prince Abdullah was your client?” asked Chase, much surprised.

The estate lawyer nodded. “No idea why he’d come all the way to Hampton Cove, since I’m sure he must have excellent lawyers in his own country. But it would have been a great coup for me, so I wasn’t going to complain.” He shrugged. “Though now it looks as if I won’t be getting to meet him after all.”

“You hadn’t met yet?”

“No, we were supposed to meet tonight, over dinner.”

“To discuss what?” asked Odelia.

“I’m not entirely sure,” said the man. “He hadn’t told me what it was he wanted to discuss with me yet. I was hoping he’d send me some more information about his expectations, so I could prepare myself for our dinner, but so far he hadn’t.”

“So you have no idea why he wanted to meet?” asked Chase.

“He’d written me a letter—an old-fashioned letter, if you please—complimenting me on my work for a friend of his. A man named Isaac Furnish, who works as a tennis coach in one of the resorts along the coast. Apparently Prince Abdullah had been a guest at the resort and had met Isaac. He must have told him about my work, or at least that’s what I think happened. How else would he have picked me to do his estate planning for him?”

“So that’s what you think he wanted to do? Plan his estate?”

“Can you elaborate, Mr. Hartshorn?” asked Odelia.

“There isn’t much to tell,” said the lawyer. “Most people don’t think about their estate until it’s too late—in other words when they’re dead. It’s important to think about it before you die, so you can plan things in advance, and prevent your heirs from having to pay estate tax.”

“Prince Abdullah, did he have heirs, that you know of?”

“No, he wasn’t married as far as I know. And he didn’t have kids.”

“But he was well-off?” asked Odelia.

“Oh, absolutely. One of the richest people in his country. Or at least his family is very rich. He’s related to the king, you see. So in that case, it matters who you leave your fortune to, I can tell you that right now. When someone dies intestate, his fortune will go to his next of kin.”

“And in the case of Prince Abdullah, this would be…”

“I have no idea!” said the lawyer, spreading his arms. “I’m sure he was going to tell me all about it over dinner. Why? Do you think he was murdered for the inheritance?”

“It’s a possibility we have to look into,” said Chase. “Though there could be other motives as well, of course.”

“And the people who shot me?” asked the lawyer. “What’s going to happen now?”

“Now we’ll try to find them and put them away,” said Chase in that reassuring tone that he did so well.

“But in the meantime? They tried to kill me once, and failed. So you think they’ll try again?”

“There’s every chance that they will,” Chase admitted.

“So…” He gave them a questioning and hopeful look, and Odelia knew what he was going to ask even before he opened his mouth. “Can I have some police protection, please?”