She gave Rick her best politically correct smile and whispered back, “Truth be told, I was given an ultimatum. Be there or be square.”
Rick grimaced as he peered at Francine. He really had to talk to Alex about those ultimatums. Again. “Thank you for being here, Francine. I see you have no sharp angles today.”
Leaning closer, she said, “You two make quite a formidable team.”
“The chief?”
“You put me in a most difficult situation. However, I have found a resolution.” She fixed him with a pointed stare. “We’ll talk later.”
That didn’t sound good. At all. It probably meant payback and Rick could only hope he could afford the cost. When all the introductions and welcomes were out of the way, Deputy Cunningham launched into an explanation of what he hoped they’d find.
“We’re looking for little pieces of paper smaller than the tip of my finger. The good news is it will be a bright color. Rick saw a few of those pieces in a photo Joe Gray took when he found the body. This may be an impossible task, but whoever killed Dani Collins couldn’t have gotten it all—even if they tried. Our job is to turn over the rocks and dig down around them to see if we can find even one piece of confetti.”
Reese raised her hand and waited for the deputy to acknowledge her. “What if we don’t find any?”
“Let’s hope we do,” he responded. “For now, we’re operating on the theory that it would have blown into the rocks. So, that’s our focus. I only have one other issue. Miss O’Connor, I’m not sure if you should be on this search party—given your involvement.”
“Deputy, I do not now, nor have I ever, owned a taser. Until today, I had no idea they even had this confetti. Besides, I’m the most experienced in this type of work.”
Adam glanced at Rick, who shrugged. He did a quick visual check with the mayor, got another noncommittal response, and gazed around the group. It seemed there were no objections. “Then as far as I’m concerned, you’re in. If there are no other questions, let’s get started.”
“One last thing,” Flynn said. “Do you have a photo of the rice bowl fragment?”
“Yes,” Deputy Cunningham said, then his eyes opened in recognition. “Oh, right. Good idea.” He pulled out his phone and showed everyone a photo of the rice bowl, then explained it was the only evidence they’d found so far in the death of Dani Collins. When he finished, he said, “Let’s get to work, people.”
The focus was the seawall, and the searchers all agreed to split it up into small sections. Everyone was assigned an area about ten feet long, which they were to inspect. Isabelle was the eldest, so Adam paired her with Traci. He silenced her with a quick shushing sound when she complained about being the only one with a partner.
Isabelle pursed her lips and winked at him. “Yes, sir. Deputy sir.” She faked an exaggerated huff and said, “Guess that puts me in my place.”
Her sly smile betrayed what Rick suspected were her true feelings—Isabelle was glad to have a partner. Even before the search began, three more people showed up. In total, they had twelve searchers ready to look in and around the rocks for tiny pieces of paper.
Rick’s section was near where the body had been found. He got down on his hands and knees and began by crawling along the seawall. He spotted no evidence of any kind of foreign objects. Next, he went back over the section and, this time, moved the smaller rocks one-by-one. For those he couldn’t budge, he dug around with his fingers. He still found nothing.
He glanced up and down the line. Everyone was getting the same result. They were all coming up empty. After nearly an hour, the only discoveries were a few pieces of trash and an occasional clump of seaweed. Most of the participants had finished and were standing around talking. A couple sat in their sections sifting sand through their fingers. Flynn was still examining every square inch of sand and rock.
Her section was adjacent to Rick’s. When he finished, he plopped down and watched her painstaking search. He felt sorry for her. She, of anyone here, had the most to lose if this failed. Suddenly, she stopped and tried to fit her hand into a small crevice.
The opening was too small.
She pushed against the rocks, but couldn’t budge them.
Scooting backwards on the sand, she pointed at the hole and yelled, “I think I found something!”
CHAPTER 41
RICK
Rick scrambled on his hands and knees through the soft sand to where Flynn pointed. She backed further from the crevice as he and the others approached. Soon, the entire group stood in a circle, with Flynn staring directly at the opening. With the fervor of someone grasping for a good luck charm, she seized a strand of her hair that had somehow escaped her ponytail. Then, she sat in the sand, transfixed, and watched as the others converged around her.
“In there?” Rick asked as he pointed at the spot.
He got a nod in return. “Toward the back. You can see it with a flashlight.”
Peering inside, Rick spotted a flicker of color, but nothing more. He looked at Adam, who was now next to him. He doubted if even Alex could get her hand in the small opening. He asked, “Do you think we can move the rock?”
“Let’s hope so.”
Isabelle and Traci offered Flynn their congratulations. Alex told her she knew Flynn would be successful and they exchanged a hug. Rick wasn’t so sure. Not yet, anyway. He and Deputy Cunningham each grabbed a side of the jagged mini-boulder. They rocked it from side-to-side until it moved ever so slightly. With a small win to fuel them, they renewed their efforts, jockeying the rock until the opening was large enough for the deputy’s hand.
Adam scrunched up his face as he seemed to grope around. “I can’t feel anything.” A moment later, he pulled out a handful of sand.
Everyone watched as he let the granules sift though his fingers. When the last grains were gone, a small, pink piece of paper was the only thing left in his palm.
A collective cheer went up in the group, then Isabelle Murdoch said, “Well, would you look at that!”
The deputy gripped the piece of confetti in his fingers and held it up. “Gotcha!” He pulled a plastic baggie from his pocket, dropped the pink dot inside, then sealed it.
Flynn reached into her backpack, which was next to her and pulled out a small magnifying glass. “Here.” She handed it to the deputy. “Is there anything on it?”
A slow smile spread across his face as he inspected what she’d found. “Bingo.” He stood, stretched, and looked around the group. “Good work, everyone. This looks to be exactly what we need.” He looked over at Alex and winked. “Well, munchkin. You masterminded this little get-together, are we done?”
“We’re totally good. This is awesome.” Alex beamed as Marquetta put her hands on the girl’s shoulders and squeezed.
The pressure behind Rick’s eyes built as he watched them. He couldn’t be more proud of Alex than at this moment. Or of the way Marquetta treated her. His voice cracked with emotion as he said, “Yeah, kiddo, awesome.”
Alex leaned back into Marquetta’s open embrace. Rick felt his chest grow tight as he watched them together. When she looked up and smiled at him, time seemed to stop. For once, instead of cursing his grandfather for the B&B’s financial condition, he said a mental thank you for bringing him and Alex to Seaside Cove.
Deputy Cunningham secured the baggie in a pouch on his utility belt. He then thanked everyone for coming and announced the end of the search. The group began to break up. People exchanged hugs and goodbyes, and a few idle conversations started. Marquetta told Rick she’d take Alex home and get back to work. Rick would rather have spent time with them, but knew they needed to hurry back. He waved goodbye, then returned to where Adam stood.
“What’s next, Deputy?”
“I go back and check the serial number. You can go home and get a little work done if you want. I’ll call you the minute I have an answer.” Adam acknowledged someone walking up behind Rick with a nod.
Rick turned, saw
it was Isabelle, and stepped to one side so she’d feel welcome. “Thanks for your help, Isabelle.”
“I didn’t do much,” she said. “But being down here reminded me of something. When I told you who I saw on the beach, I forgot to mention that I did see the lady who got killed. She was walking along the shore down there.” Isabelle pointed to her right, which was in the same direction as the jetty. “Don’t know why I didn’t remember seeing her before.”
Rick peered at Deputy Cunningham. Why hadn’t Traci mentioned this? “Did Traci see her, too?”
“I doubt it. I’d just tripped on a little raised section of the sidewalk, so she was watching me pretty close. That’s why she didn’t see the same thing I did. I was watching the lady and Traci was watching me.”
The way Deputy Cunningham’s interest perked up, it was clear he was hoping for something more. “Was anyone with her?”
“No. When I saw her, she was alone. She was down along the shore, and she had something in her hand.”
“It was probably the rice bowl fragment,” Rick said. It had to be. Even if it was, they might still have nothing. This was impossible. Another dead end. He glanced at Adam, who he suspected had the same thought.
“Thanks, Isabelle,” the deputy said. “Every little bit helps.”
Not always, thought Rick. Sometimes new information only complicated matters. His phone pinged with a message from Marquetta. Rick pursed his lips and muttered, “Of course he did.” Turning to Adam, he said, “Why don’t I hang out with you? All I have to do when I get back is paint a room—and that’s not something I’m in the mood to do.”
“I thought you needed that room tomorrow.”
“It appears we suddenly have a room available. That message was from Marquetta, our Spanish friend cleaned out his room and left his key on the front desk. By the way, with everything else going on, I forgot to mention that he works for Exploration International. Nobody quite knows what his role is.”
Adam pulled out the notepad from his pocket and seemed to ponder something for a moment before he made a quick note. “Well, he hasn’t been a person of interest—until now. I guess we’d better get started. If I have to launch some sort of international manhunt for a Spaniard who fled Seaside Cove, I’d like to get it started before dinner.”
“Hot date?” Rick asked.
“Nah, TV dinner. But it was one of the chief’s favorite expressions. He hated missing a meal.”
They returned to the police station. When they entered, Rick pointed at the chief’s closed door. “You think he’s in there?”
“Not likely,” Adam said. “He hates being locked up. The chief always liked to keep a watchful eye on his kingdom. I think he’s gone.”
“For the day?”
“I suppose that depends on what the mayor said to him.”
Rick stared at the closed door, recalling Francine’s comment and wondering what she’d meant about needing to talk.
CHAPTER 42
ALEX
July 22
Hey Journal,
Me and Marquetta had a great talk on the way back to the B&B. She kept telling me what a great organizer I was. But I totally couldn’t have done it without her. Most of the people we called helped with the fundraiser we did for the Sachettis, so it wasn’t too hard to get them to agree.
When Mrs. Murdoch said she didn’t think she could make it, Marquetta told me to call Miss Peterson. She said she would get Mrs. Murdoch there for sure. I had to let you know it was awesome. All those people and all of them helping. I’m so stoked about Miss O’Connor finding the confetti. Now I gotta go out to the box on the street and get the mail. My dad made mail duty one of my daily chores. It’s kinda fun cause I’m the one who looks through all the stuff that came in. It’s mostly really cool looking ads. Daddy always says we don’t need any of it, but I’m gonna keep trying. Someday he’ll think what I find is a good idea!
Bye for now,
Alex
The mail looks kinda boring today. There’s an ad for a funeral home and a real estate agent and another bank credit card offer. Daddy always has me shred any of the stuff that has our information on it. There aren’t any good ads here today. Except…we got a legal notice for Mr. Spaulding. That’s weird. He’s only staying here for a couple more days. He’s been saying he’s gonna move to Seaside Cove, so I wonder if he told the post office to use our address.
He’s gotta be in trouble with the cops. I bet he has a wife and kids and he’s not making his support payments. It could be worse, too. If he’s hiding out and I give this to him, I could be aiding and betting on a felon. I think that’s what they called it on one of those cop shows Daddy was watching. I should ask Marquetta. She’ll know, but she won’t want to open the letter. Rats! It would be a huge mistake to give this to Mr. Spaulding if he’s avoiding his family.
Maybe there’s a way to see what the letter’s about without him ever finding out. I can do the same thing we did with the wallpaper. The wallpaper steamer thingy is still upstairs. I put the letter under my shirt and finish getting rid of the rest of the junk, then climb the stairs and go to the Jib Room.
The steamer is still in the bathroom where my dad left it. Daddy emptied the tank, so I have to fill it up. I’m not sure how much water this is gonna take, but I don’t wanna run out. When I plug the steamer in, it makes a huge racket ‘cause it’s on the tile floor on its side. I grab it, but what do I do next? Can I put the envelope face down on the floor? Will it work?
Once the steam starts coming out, it only takes a couple seconds. This is so awesome. I put the steamer back on the floor and it makes that awful racket again. I scramble over it. The plug’s hard to pull out, but I finally get it. When I turn around, Marquetta is standing in the bathroom door with her mouth hanging open. She looks at the letter on the floor, then the steamer cord in my hands, and then me.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing, Alexandra Atwood?”
Holy crap, she’s never called me that before. I’m totally gonna go down for this. “I can explain. Kinda.”
“Good. Because the first thing I want to know is whose mail you’re tampering with.”
The envelope’s laying there on the floor with its back flap open. Oh man, I was so close. I’m busted. I can’t lie to Marquetta. She’ll see it on my face. I hang my head and look at the letter on the floor. “It’s for Mr. Spaulding. It’s a legal notice. I didn’t want to be betting on a fugitive or something really bad.”
Marquetta stares at me awhile, then she says, “First off, it’s not betting on, it’s aiding and abetting. And second, what you’ve done is called mail tampering.”
“But it was delivered here. Look!”
I grab the envelope and show her. She reads the address, then she sighs. “We have to fix this.”
“But shouldn’t we read it first? What if he’s hiding out from the cops or something? We wouldn’t want to be helping him. Right?”
“Young lady, you are not getting out of this one. Come with me.”
I follow her downstairs to the kitchen. Then Marquetta does something I totally never expected—she opens the envelope. She pulls out the piece of paper inside, reads it, and holds it up for me to see.
“What’s it mean?”
“His landlord is evicting him from his place of business. The building is being renovated and the rents are going up. The poor man said he’s trying to relocate here and this explains why. How do you feel about all those wild theories now, Alex?”
I can feel the tears building. I’m wrong? Again? “Mr. Spaulding’s not a bad person?”
“Would you like to read the letter yourself? There’s a lot of legalese in there.”
“What’s that?”
“Big words you won’t understand.”
I wince at how angry she is. Marquetta’s never gotten so mad at me. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to try and help Daddy, and I didn’t want to be...helping a fugitive.”
She shakes her head
and pulls me close to her. “Sweetie, you have a very vivid imagination. But sometimes you let it get the better of you. The only reason I opened that envelope was to prove how wrong you were. It doesn’t excuse what you’ve done. We’re going to have to find Mr. Spaulding and tell him you opened his mail by mistake.”
I keep my arms wrapped around her and my voice gets lost in her T-shirt. “Marquetta?”
“What, Sweetie?”
“How am I gonna explain that I used the steamer thingy on his envelope? He’ll know I was snooping and he might wanna sue me.”
“I hate to say it, but on that point you could be right. The big problem is, he won’t sue you, he’ll sue the B&B.”
She closes her eyes and gets a real serious look on her face, then puts the letter back in the envelope. “Seal this up, take it to the front desk, and open it with the letter opener. Then, you find Mr. Spaulding and tell him you opened his mail by mistake.”
CHAPTER 43
RICK
All the way back to the B&B, Rick thought about what the taser confetti meant. It made finding the person who stunned Dani Collins a sure thing. Did it do anything about her murder? Not if they couldn’t prove the taser was what killed her. He was still deep in thought as he entered the front door.
Rick was on his way to the kitchen when he saw Alex standing in front of Mr. Spaulding, who sat on one of the couches and wore another of those gaudy Hawaiian shirts. At least he wasn’t wearing shorts and black dress socks this time.
They both glanced in Rick’s direction, and he acknowledged them with a nod as he approached. “What’s going on, Alex?”
She bit her lower lip and her face scrunched up into an expression he recognized. His shoulders tensed. What had she done? Before he could ask, Mr. Spaulding held up an envelope.
“It’s okay, Rick. Your daughter opened a piece of my mail by mistake.”
Rick frowned and did a double take. “Your mail? How did that happen?” He stared at his daughter. “Alex?”
Clues in the Sand Page 17
