Page 37 of Tiki Hut Tragedy
She leaned back in her chair, staring blankly at the screen. Maybe it wasn’t Dixie who had caused the chaos leading to her death. Maybe it was someone else.
Millie finished her preliminary search and typed in peppermill pills, confirming what Wendy had mentioned, that the product was touted as a natural stimulant, to increase appetites and relax stomach muscles.
At the very bottom and in tiny print was the company’s disclaimer: the product had not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administrationand was not intended to treat, cure, diagnose or prevent disease.
Out of curiosity, she clicked on the “buy now” button.
“Jumping peppermill pills.” Millie’s jaw dropped. “Two hundred dollars for a few tablets?”
She clicked away and promptly tracked down an online forum dedicated to the product. Over and over, the number one complaint was that it caused fatigue.
Was it possible Dixie had taken too many of the pills, been startled by something while on the tiki hut excursion and mistakenly created a panic? She fell over the side, and because she’d ingested the pills, Dixie’s reflexes were sluggish and she drowned?
Millie grabbed a yellow pad and began jotting notes:
-Who else was taking Blue Lane Peppermill pills?
-Did anyone in the group notice Dixie acting out of sorts or strangely?
-Who was wearing life vests?
After finishing, she folded the sheet and tucked it into her pocket. It was time to head back to the galley to wait for the scavenger hunters.
Not long after she arrived, the Belly Busters and Barty started trickling in, one right after another. Millie and Felix took turns going down the list and sharing the locations of where the scavenger list items could be found.
Roxanne and another woman Millie remembered chatting with briefly tied for first place. “Congratulations to the winners. The head of our food and beverage department has come up with a fitting prize.”
Annette wheeled a metal cart across the room. “Sticking with the foodie theme, I’ve whipped up a gastronomical spread guaranteed to fill even the biggest bellies.” She plucked the cover from the topof the cart, revealing an array of foods. “Each dish is high in carbs, unhealthy fats and over-processed ingredients, all the good things in life.”
The trays were crammed full of flaky croissants, creamy pasta Alfredo, New York-style pizza, decadent cookies, cream cheese pastry and even a triple-tiered chocolate cake.
The winners grabbed a plate and began loading it with food while the others gathered around to watch.
“There’s more than enough for everyone.” Roxanne motioned to her colleagues. “Dig in.”
The women dove into the cart of food, elbowing one another, all trying to compete and beat each other at loading up their plates. In the blink of an eye, the trays were empty.
Barty’s eyes grew round as saucers. “They are very hungry.”
“No kidding.” Millie shot a quick look at the table Annette had set up for the contestants. Foodwas flying, but at least it wasn’t flying through the air—more like being gobbled up in record time.
Taking advantage of her captive audience, Millie made her way around the table, refilling the Belly Buster’s drink cups. “I’m sorry to hear about Dixie’s passing. I know some of you were close to her.”
Gail the Gobbler reached for her napkin and dabbed at her lips. “None of us were close to Dixie.”
Millie arched her eyebrow, gazing at Astrid, who gave a slight shake of her head. “Dixie…wasn’t the most popular.”
“She was pompous, rude, arrogant,” Hannah rattled off. “I didn’t wish her dead, but I’ll be the first to admit I won’t miss her.”
“Everyone knows you didn’t like Dixie,” Wendy said. “The feeling was mutual.”
“At least we weren’t cabinmates,” Hannah replied. “If we had been sharing the same cabin, we wouldn’t have lasted a day.”
Millie’s heart skipped a beat. “You and Dixie were cabinmates?”
All eyes turned to Wendy. Now the center of attention, she began fiddling with her drink straw. “I mean, she wasn’t entirely bad.”
“Paint any picture you want,” Roxanne said. “We all know how you felt about Dixie, especially after what went down the other night.”
