Christmas Family Style in Savannah: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Bo by Hope Callaghan (summer reading list txt) 📕

“Not only was she carrying a knife, but the shape and size are consistent with the wound found on Roxy’s neck.”

“She was stabbed with her own knife,” Carlita popped out of the chair. “What if…someone went to where Roxy was being held, let her out, they argued and then Roxy pulled her knife on them. A fight ensued, the other person managed to get ahold of Roxy’s knife and stabbed her with it.”

Mercedes picked up. “After stabbing her, they panicked and shoved her over the side of the ship. By the way, the knife hasn’t been recovered.”

“Then that’s a plausible explanation,” Pete said.

“You said there was one more thing,” Carlita prompted.

“Sam has the coordinates of where Roxy’s body was recovered. His next tour doesn’t start for another hour. He offered to take us to the location.”

“Did you tell him yes?” Pete shoved his chair back.

“No. I told him I would check. Do you want to go?”

“Please.”

Mercedes turned her attention to her cell phone and tapped the screen. “He said he’ll meet us in front of the Waving Girl statue.”

The Parrot House was even closer to the river than Carlita’s place, only a block and a half away. The Flying Gunner was nearby, its pirate flag blowing in the wind.

There was a four door-sedan with tinted windows parked nearby, and Carlita could see men wandering around the upper deck. “The investigators are still on the ship.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure they’re tearing the place apart,” Pete sucked in a breath. “This isn’t good for business. Anyone walking by who sees my sign will also see the cops snooping around.”

Carlita hadn’t thought about it, but if she had to guess, the local news had already picked up the story and mentioned Pete’s ship unless the police were still withholding that information. Even if that were the case, “anonymous sources” could easily spill the beans, particularly with a sensational story of an unidentified woman going overboard from a pirate ship during a Christmas boat parade.

They found Sam standing next to the Waving Girl, studying his cell phone. He looked up as they drew close. “That was fast.”

“We were at Pete’s restaurant,” Mercedes said. “Did you see the cops crawling all over Pete’s ship?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to miss the unmarked police car.” Sam held up his phone. “I’ve been working on the coordinates. We’re north of where Roxy’s body was found.” He led them down the sidewalk, passing by the high-end hotel where Jersey Joe was staying.

Carlita briefly wondered if he had picked that location, already knowing Roxy’s body was found in the vicinity.

Several yards past the hotel, Sam slowed and then stopped. He turned to face the river. “The other parade boat picked her up right about here.”

“Do you know who it was, who found her?” Pete shaded his eyes and studied the water.

“I don’t.” Sam shrugged. “I do know it was a boat with a hippopotamus on it. One of the guys down at the precinct said he saw a photo of the boat and noticed a big balloon on board.”

“That’s it,” Carlita snapped her fingers. “I took a picture of the boat because Noel was so excited about it. As a matter of fact, I took a bunch of pictures last night.”

Sam’s app watch chimed. “That’s my reminder. I gotta head home and grab my stuff for the next tour.”

The four of them made their way back to Walton Square. Mercedes continued walking with Sam while Carlita returned to the restaurant with Pete.

Carlita caught something out of the corner of her eye. She watched as an EC Security Services van careened around the corner and came to an abrupt halt in front of the restaurant.

Elvira hopped out and hurried over. “I’ve been trying to track you down.”

“You have?” Carlita checked her phone. Sure enough, there was a missed call. She turned the volume on. “Sorry. I had the volume off.”

“Tony told me you were over here. He was with some goony guy in a black suit. I’m guessing it was the guy the big cheese sent down here to find out what happened.”

“You would be correct,” Carlita sighed. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah. I figured you might like to know Roxy’s official cause of death was by drowning.”

“We heard,” Pete said.

“You did? Well, I bet you didn’t know she was stabbed with her own knife.”

“We heard that too,” Carlita said.

“Seriously?” Elvira shoved a hand on her hip.

“Hey, Boss.” An employee stepped onto the porch. “Sorry to bother you, but we’ve got an issue with a delivery.”

“I’ll be right there.” Pete turned to go.

“Wait.” Elvira stopped him. “I’ve been researching the city’s tunnel system and area shipwrecks. Do you know anything about some sort of pirate ship that sank to the bottom of the ocean that was possibly carrying a chest full of priceless treasure?”

Pete smiled. “A pirate’s treasure lost at sea?”

“Precisely. I found this odd little drawing on my tunnel wall, and I’m thinking it might be a map to something good.”

“Do you have a picture of it?”

Elvira patted her pocket. “I do, but I’m not ready to show it to you.”

“Because you think if I do know anything about a sunken ship, and have some idea about its location, then I’ll search for it myself.”

Elvira muttered something unintelligible under her breath.

“As a matter of fact, there was a big storm that skirted the Savannah Coast back in the late 1700s. There was a ship, carrying a boatload of treasure headed to Spain for the king. It went down with only a couple survivors who managed to make it to shore and tell their tale.”

“And it was never found?” Elvira’s eyes lit.

“Correct.”

“Could you give me a better idea of where it went down?”

Pete’s eyes twinkled with