3 Treasure Under Finny's Nose

by Dana Mentink

  Ruth shivered.

  “Cold?” Bobby asked.

  “No. I was just remembering finding Reggie here.” Her mind flashed back to the awful moment. Alva, Ellen, Dr. Soloski, even Roxie had all been witness to the terrible sight. She pulled her collar up around her chin.

  “Ruth, look.” Bobby pointed to a figure in a wet suit, climbing along the top of the rocky cliff. The person was silhouetted against the waning sun. “Isn’t that—”

  “Yes, it is. What is Dr. Soloski doing out here at this hour? What is he wearing? It couldn’t be a wet suit.”

  “I’m going to go find out.”

  Ruth put a hand on her arm. “Oh, no, you don’t. Those rocks are slippery, and Jack would most definitely not approve.”

  Bobby stiffened. “I’m just going to peek around the top and see where he’s going, and I don’t answer to Jack, by the way. I need to make a life without him.” Her look softened and she kissed Ruth. “Stay here, and I’ll be back in five minutes. Take my cell phone in case you need one.”

  Before Ruth could answer, Bobby was jogging up the beach toward the spot where Dr. Soloski had vanished over the top, after picking her way along the uneven path that led to the crest of the rock pile. Ruth tried to repress the anxious feeling in her gut by puzzling out the doctor’s odd behavior.

  Snatches of conversation played in her mind.

  Ellen’s grating voice. “Do you dive, Doctor?”

  The doctor’s reponse. “No, ma’am. I’m a land creature all the way.”

  So what was he doing heading into the surf wearing a wet suit? For a guy who was happiest in the trees, it didn’t seem to fit.

  The trees. A lightbulb flashed across her brain. He was an arborist, a person no doubt familiar with ropes—and all kinds of knots.

  Take it easy, Ruth. The man is a dentist. He’s from a wealthy family. Why would he want to kill Reggie? But he needed money. He’d told her how expensive the care was for his sister. Was he out looking for the White Queens, too? Had he encountered Reggie during the dive and murdered him?

  It still made no sense, but Ruth’s duty was clear. Even if it turned out to be her wild imagination at work, she had to get Bobby away from Dr. Soloski. With shaking fingers she dialed the police station, but the cliffs blocked the signal. She hastened a few steps onto higher ground with the same result. The cell phone was useless. There was no way to summon help except to return to town, and by that time it might be too late.

  She peered once again at the black pile of rock. There was still no sign of Bobby. Ruth took off her hat and left the cell phone on a pile of rocks well away from the advancing tide. Then she set off for the cliff.

  Jack listened again to the “signal unavailable” message on Bobby’s cell phone before he clicked off his phone. His car engine idled outside the empty dentist office. He’d already checked the man’s home with no luck. Ruth wasn’t at the cottage or the hospital and neither was Bobby.

  “Where is everybody?”

  When his phone rang a second later he snatched it up. “Jack Denny.”

  “Where are they?” Monk bellowed. “Where are my wife and niece? The message on my machine says they went for a walk, but that was an hour ago. Do you have any ideas?”

  Jack held the phone away from his ear. “I got the same message. Did she say where they went walking?”

  “No, only that they went out for fresh air. Maude hasn’t seen them, and Alva said they were at the hospital when Ruth asked him to bring his shell there, the one he boosted from the dentist. That’s the last he’s seen of her.”

  The shell? His suspicions were beginning to take on a more solid shade of black and white. “I’ll check with the nurses and call you right back.”

  The nurse told him a minute later that they’d headed toward the beach. He dialed Monk again. “I’m going to pick you up. I think I know where they went.”

  Monk sighed. “Women. Why don’t they ever stay where you tell ’em to?”

  Jack didn’t answer as he turned on the lights and siren and raced toward the cottage.

  In five minutes Monk was strapping his big frame into the passenger seat. “What do you mean you think it was the dentist? Why would he kill Reggie? I thought the guy was well-to-do and all that. He’s a professional man and all.”

  “I haven’t figured out a motive yet. I may be totally wrong, but I did find out he is strapped for cash. His mother left everything in trust to the sick daughter and Soloski was left without a dime.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah, but sister gets the bundle when she’s twenty-one.”

  “Oh boy. I’ll bet he’s going to have her sign some papers on her birthday to give the wad to her loving brother, or—” Monk shot him a look. “Who gets the money if she dies?”

  “Who do you think?”

  “Uh-oh.” Monk fisted his hands on his knees, his wide forehead bisected by creases of worry. “But really, Jack. What does it all have to do with Reggie?”

  “I don’t know, but Soloski needs plenty of income to pick up the tab on what insurance doesn’t cover for his sister. His previous dental practice failed and left him near bankruptcy, but he’s somehow been paying for her care all this time.”

  “So where’s the cash coming from?”

  “My question exactly.”

  Ruth watched the path carefully as she climbed the rocks. Inch by inch, the tide was filling in the cove far below. Getting past one more projection of rock should reveal Bobby’s location. She carefully picked her way along and peeked around the black crag.

  There was no one there. She looked in all directions for any sign of Dr. Soloski or Bobby. Where had they gone? If they’d climbed back down to the beach over the other side she would be able to see them on the ground below.

  A sound made her turn.

  “Hello, Ruth.” Dr. Soloski’s face was hard in the dusky light. His wet suit gave him an otherworldly appearance, as if he were a part of the rock from which he’d seemingly emerged.

  Ruth tried to level her voice. “Oh, uh, Dr. Soloski. Where did you come from? I was, just, uh, looking for my niece.”

  He pointed to a crevice in the rock that she hadn’t noticed before. It was virtually invisible, sheltered by a gnarled twist of black. “She’s down there. Why don’t you go join her?”

  Ruth’s breath grew shallow. Without taking her eyes off the dentist, she inched closer to the hole. “Bobby? Can you hear me?”

  “She can’t hear you.” He smiled. “Too windy. Go on down and see her.”

  “I don’t think—”

  He grabbed her arm and propelled her toward the edge of the crevice. Her feet skidded on the wet rock. Soon she was forced down into the gap, scraping her elbows as she fought for balance. A rope ladder led down into blackness. Ruth looked at the man. “What will you do if I don’t cooperate?”

  His cruel smile told her the answer.

  Feeling as though she’d stepped into a bad movie, she grasped the damp rope and climbed down.

  Bobby lay at the bottom, bleeding from a cut on her head and chin. Ruth knelt next to her. “Oh Bobby, did he hurt you?”

  “He shoved me and I fell. I think I broke my collarbone. I’m sorry, Aunt Ruth. I’m sorry I got us into this mess with Dr. Scary here.”

  “Shut up,” Soloski said as he stepped off the ladder and joined them. “You’ve caused me no end of trouble. I’ll have to harvest early now, and that cuts into my cash flow.”

  Though the dark walls seemed to close around her in a black fist, Ruth decided the best course of action was to try to stay calm and keep him talking. “Harvest what?”

  Bobby pointed into the dark water that was now lapping over her shoes. She peered into the inky surface. Glimmers of white shone in the weak light. It clicked. White treasure, only a different kind than Señor Orson’s pearls. “White abalone. You found a stash of white abalone, and you’re poaching them.”

  “I wasn’t looking for them. It was dumb luck real
ly. But there they were one day when I was out on a dive avoiding your monstrous librarian. There they were, a treasure trove right under everyone’s noses. The best ones are the deepest, eighty feet or so.”

  “But they’re an endangered species. You might drive them into extinction.” Ruth realized the stupidity of her statement as soon as she said it. “You don’t care, do you? You killed Reggie because he stumbled onto your little business?”

  He shrugged. “A minor glitch. He was a nobody. I didn’t figure anyone would be nuts enough to be in the ocean at night. That’s when I harvest. The camera guy must have been a nut because there he was, swimming up from the lower vent. I suppose I should have handled it better, but I was so surprised I just dropped the rope over his neck and strangled him. More instinct than anything else. Your son was a bigger problem. He saw me heading out of my hidey hole. I tripped and one of the abalone fell out of the bag and smashed.” He shook his head. “Such a waste. Anyway, your nosy son was right there to see it all, so I had to disable him.”

  Ruth was overwhelmed with rage. “Disable him? You could have killed him. All to make a few bucks.”

  “More than a few. My buyers will pay two hundred dollars each for these babies, the big ones anyway, plus a nice bonus for the trouble I take to smuggle them out of here. I’ve already sold almost five hundred of them and I figure I can scrape another five hundred or so before the lot is depleted. I ship the shells overseas and get a nice bit for those, too, before they’re made into cheap jewelry or whatever.”

  He smiled in satisfaction. “All things considered it’s enough to cover my expenses, at least until my beloved sister turns twenty-one next month. The abalone supply should hold out until then. When Mommy Dearest’s trust fund kicks in, I won’t ever need to sell another thing as long as I live.”

  Ruth’s feet felt chilled to the bone as the water lapped her ankles. “Maude thought you were wealthy.”

  He laughed. “The old prune. She would believe anything, as long as it came from the mouth of an eligible man.”

  Bobby groaned. “Why did you come to Finny anyway?”

  “I came to this nowhere town to escape some creditors. There isn’t exactly a wealth of patients here so I had plenty of time to check out the beach. While I was diving one day, I noticed there is a vent along the cliff side about fifty feet down, so I dove to check it out, and bingo. I didn’t know they were white abalone at first. I’d have been happy to poach any kind, really. Lucky they were a rare type. Restaurateurs will pay extra for them.”

  “And you said you didn’t dive,” Ruth said bitterly.

  “I said a lot of things you bought, hook, line, and sinker.”

  “So why did you try to run her down and break into the house?” Bobby said, her voice thin. “Was there any particular reason for that?”

  “I saw her at the library researching, and she had the shell that idiot Alva took from my office. I wanted to get it back, or discourage her from doing any more poking around.”

  “You are insane,” Bobby said.

  His smile shone white in the dark. “Insanely rich, soon. Rich people are forgiven all their little foibles.” He glanced at the water. “The tide’s coming in. I’ve got to go and be prepared to be suitably grieved when your bodies wash up on the beach.”

  Ruth fought a swell of panic. “You can’t leave us here to die.”

  Dr. Soloski began to climb the rope ladder. “I could kill you first, if you’d like. I’m pretty good with knots.” His laughter echoed through the cavern as he ascended and pulled the rope ladder up in his wake.

  She could not restrain a shriek of abject terror as the ladder slithered upward and disappeared. The only sound was the rush of surf filling in the rock tunnel and then retreating, each time bringing the frigid water a few inches higher.

  Ruth tried to move Bobby to a drier spot, but she resisted.

  “Just help me up. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Wondering how that was going to be possible, she hooked a shoulder under Bobby’s arm and pulled her to a standing position.

  The girl grimaced, leaning unsteadily against the rock, the water now up to their knees.

  “Can we climb out?” Ruth peered upward into the circle of sky that was now a deep pearly gray, thick with clouds.

  “I don’t see how. The rocks are sheer and even if we did he might be waiting at the top. Did you call Jack before you came to get me?”

  Her heart constricted. “Yes, but there was no signal.”

  Bobby put her arm around Ruth and chafed her shoulders. “It’s not good for the babies to have your body temperature drop.”

  Ruth’s smile was grim. “It’s not going to be good for them when I drown, either.”

  The circle of freezing sea water had reached her waist. She tried to climb up higher on the rocks to keep her stomach out of the wet, but her feet couldn’t get a purchase on the slippery rock. “You’re right, there’s no way to climb up and no one will hear us if we scream.” The panic had now morphed into a numb blanket of terror that wrapped around her insides and seemed to squeeze the breath out of her.

  Bobby looked into the dark expanse of water. “Then we’ll have to go down.”

  Ruth wondered if perhaps Bobby hit her head in the fall. “What?”

  “Aunt Ruth, listen to me carefully because we don’t have much time. Dr. Soloski is right, there’s a vent below us. I’d say it’s probably twenty feet down from where we are standing. It connects this tunnel to the ocean. That’s how the good doctor gets in and out at high tide.”

  “What are you saying, Bobby?” There was a frantic edge in Ruth’s voice as the water crept toward her shoulders.

  “We’ve got to dive down and swim to that opening and out into the cove. If it’s big enough to fit the doctor in scuba gear, and Reggie, then we can fit, too.”

  Ruth’s eyes widened. “I can’t do that. I’m not even a good swimmer when there aren’t waves and slippery rocks and two babies inside me.”

  “Stick close to me and I’ll try to pull you along, but once we’re out in the ocean you’ve got to make for shore. I’m going to be slow, so you just get out as fast as you can.”

  Her head whirled. “Bobby, you might drown. We both will probably drown. This is crazy. Maybe we should wait for help.”

  Bobby’s black hair formed a helmet around her face. She pointed to the water that lapped her chest. “Aunt Ruth, we’re going to drown right here, right now, or die of hypothermia. It’s the only way out. Can you do it?”

  No, her mind screamed. Dive into that freezing blackness and hope for a hole to squeeze through? She could not do that, it was too much. But how could she not give the babies that chance? How could she decide for them that they would all drown in this horrible cave and never see the precious light of day? How could she end their lives before they’d felt their father’s caress or seen the love in their parents’ eyes?

  She thought about Monk, who would be mad with worry, and Bryce, who would have no one to wake up for if they died. She reached out a hand to Bobby. “Father God,” she said, “give us the strength to fight for our lives. Help us to find our way back to the people who love us, if that is Your desire, and give us peace to accept Your will if it is not.”

  Bobby squeezed her frozen fingers. “I love you, Aunt Ruth. We’re going to make it.”

  “I love you, too, Bobby.” She took a shaky breath. “The babies are getting cold. Let’s dive.”

  The dark feeling in Jack’s stomach increased with each mile. He radioed the station to arrange for backup and a fire department response. Coast Guard, too, though they would not arrive for a half hour or so.

  They’ll be fine. We’ll probably meet them walking back from the beach. Something told him it was not true. They pulled off as near the sand as they could get. Nate screamed in behind them, flashers still going. Half skidding, half jogging, they made it to the gravel trail.

  “Look,” Monk cried. He held up Ruth’s hat an
d the phone. “She left them here for us to find. I know it.”

  Dr. Soloski emerged out of the darkness. He froze for a moment, his eyes taking in the three men. Then he took another step toward them.

  “I was coming to get help. It’s Bobby and Ruth. They were up walking along the rocks and the tide came it. I tried to get to them, but the surf is too rough.”

  Monk took one look at the man, and then he was on him like a mountain lion. His hands fastened around Soloski’s throat over the rubberized wet suit. “My aunt Petunia’s bonnet, you were trying to get help. What did you do with them?” His roar made the doctor flinch.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dr. Soloski gasped. “I was trying to save them.”

  Jack and Nate tried to pull Monk’s hands away.

  Jack felt the desperation well up inside him. “We know you killed Reggie. Don’t compound your crimes here by adding two more lives.”

  “Four,” Monk said, savagely. “Don’t forget Ruth’s got twins on board.”

  The prone man gave Jack a look that showed for the briefest of seconds the wickedness under the veneer of gentility. “You’ve got no proof of anything, and if I were you, I wouldn’t waste time with accusations when two women are probably drowning right this minute.”

  “Where are they?” Jack shouted.

  Soloski only laughed.

  Monk let go as if he’d been burned and ran on toward the surf. Jack followed, leaving Soloski for Nate to handcuff.

  They raced along over the shifting pebbles. The outline of the rock pile was silhouetted against the last rays of sun. Waves crashed against the wall, sending arms of foam clear to the top.

  Jack stared desperately, trying to pick out any sign of Bobby or Ruth. The narrow path that joined the beach to the cliffs was already underwater. “Bobby!” he shouted. “Ruth! Where are you?”

  The wind flung the words back at him.