“Did you know him well?” Heather asked.
“Just through the competition,” Missy explained. “When I was an audience member, I knew that Mac was talented. I took over the coordinator position a few years ago. Mac was always very nice, and he raised the bar on what could be created out of sand. He was a crowd favorite. Kids loved him too. It’s a real loss for the competition and the community that he’s gone.”
“You mentioned spying and sabotage,” said Amy. “Was that a real problem at the competition?”
“Yes and no,” said Missy. “As the competition got bigger and bigger, some of the entrants became more suspicious of their competitors. We’ve had some complaints where someone thought the others were spying on their castle.”
“Was Mac one of them?” asked Heather.
“I know he was very secretive. Sometimes he built a whole shelter to hide his work from prying eyes.”
“He set up a tent this time,” said Heather.
“But I never got any official complaints from him about the other competitors,” said Missy. “Maybe he thought that he warded them off on his own.”
“Maybe we should back up for a minute,” Heather said. “Can you explain this competition in more detail? And tell us how many people were involved?”
“Of course,” Miss said. “The Sand And Nautical Debris Castle competition—”
“What was that?” asked Amy.
“The Sand And Nautical Debris Castle?”
“Right,” said Amy. “What is that?”
“Oh, it’s the full name for the competition,” Missy explained. “Contestants can use items they find washed up on the shore as well as sand for their pieces. It’s usually driftwood and seashells that are incorporated.”
“The S.A.N.D. Castle competition,” Amy said, nodding.
“We have several categories that people can enter. There are children’s divisions and adult ones. Sometimes there are themes for the categories. This is the first year we have a giant sandcastle competition. They need to be big enough for an adult to stand inside.”
“That’s the category that Mac Dugan was in,” said Heather.
Missy nodded. “He built one last year that size that won in an adult category. It was so impressive that we decided to see what other large castles could be made. It’s really a shame that he won’t be a part of it now. Mac was the one who inspired it. And this is sure to be the biggest year for the competition.”
“What do you mean?” asked Heather.
“Because the castles are so big?” asked Amy.
“Because the prizes are so big,” said Missy. “We usually find a sponsor for each of the categories. One year we had contestants make cars out of the sand because the sponsor was a rental car agency. They offered gift cards for their services as a prize. The largest prizes we’ve ever had were a few hundred dollars. But this year the grand prize is ten thousand dollars.”
“Why is it so high?” Heather asked.
“And is it too late to enter?” Amy joked.
“The giant castle that Mac made last year caused a sensation. People loved how big it was and wanted to see more of them. In fact, we have a TV show from a travel channel coming to film this year’s event. We were able to get a lot of sponsors to donate because of that and came up with a large cash prize.”
“That is exciting,” said Heather. “The winner would get the money and acclaim on TV.”
“And we have a celebrity judge joining the panel this year because it’s being filmed.”
“Really? Who?” asked Amy.
“Mia Milo,” Missy said proudly. “She’s on a popular show with dragons.”
“Impressive,” said Amy.
“But don’t tell anyone that,” Missy said. “We’re trying to keep it under wraps until the day of the competition. I only told you because you’re looking into a murder. You need to know everything just in case it relates, right?”
“Right,” Heather agreed.
“Though I don’t know why a TV star would want to kill a sandcastle sculptor,” Amy added.
“It’s such a shame that Mac won’t be able to be a part of it this year,” Missy said with a sigh. “I’m sure he was working on something special.”
“He was going to be in the giant castle section of the competition?” Heather said, double-checking.
“That’s right.”
“How many others were competing in that category?”
Missy thought about it. “Besides Mac, we had six other entrants. We have more entrants in other categories, but building a giant castle is a big time investment and requires some skill.”
“Still,” Amy said. “If you win, you’ll get ten thousand dollars.”
“Did Mac have any rivals within the category?” asked Heather.
“It was always such a friendly competition,” said Missy. “I can’t believe that one of our entrants would murder Mac.”
“People have killed for less,” Heather said.
“And whoever did this also destroyed Mac’s castle,” said Amy. “Making sure there’s no way it could still be entered in the competition.”
Missy looked less certain. “I still don’t think that anyone involved in the S.A.N.D. Castle competition could be a killer, but I could get you a list of the entrants.”
“We would appreciate that,” Heather said.
She was pretty sure that the list of entrants would also make a good suspect list.
Hammocks
“You’ll never believe who is on this list,” Heather said.
“I’ll never believe it?” asked Amy. “Your dog Dave?”
“No,” Heather said, laughing. “It is close to home in a way though. Or close to business.”
“It’s close to Donut Delights? So, it’s one of our neighbors on the street. Don’t tell me it’s Mr. Rankle,” Amy said, referring to their crotchety old owner of Sun and Fun Novelties who had tried to get their shop closed in the past.
“No,” Heather said, suppressing the mental image of the grumpy man digging with a small plastic shovel. “But it is a neighbor. It’s Brogan.”
“The hammock guy?”
“That’s right,” said Heather. “It seems like he is also a sand castle builder.”
“Well,” Amy said. “We’ll know where to find him. Let’s talk to him first. And hopefully, we can eliminate him quickly, so we don’t have to worry about working near a killer.”
Heather nodded. They returned to Donut Delights and picked up a box of Mint Fudge Donuts before continuing on to the Hammock Hut.
When they entered the shop, they were greeted by a hearty “hello.” However, no one walked up to meet them. They both looked around and finally saw the shaggy-headed Brogan, lounging in one of his hammocks.
“Oh, hi neighbors,” he said. “Are you bringing free samples around again? Do you want a comfy hammock? Or is it for, like, a more sinister reason?”
“A little of all three,” Amy said, finding a hammock to lounge in too. “This is really comfortable.”
“Thanks,” Brogan said. “Of course, I make sure that I test all of my hammocks out before anyone buys them. It’s like quality control. But I want to make sure that they’re all comfortable and relaxing. So, it’s like comfortable-and-relaxing-control.”
Heather remained standing but moved closer to Brogan to offer him a donut.
“Normally, I try not to eat on the hammocks because I once got a lot of artificial cheese dust stuck on one and it became impossible to sell it, but I think I’ll make an exception for this donut.”
“You could stand up,” Amy suggested.
Brogan shrugged. He remained in the comfortable hammock and enjoyed the snack.
“Brogan, is it true that you’re involved in the S.A.N.D. castle competition?” Heather asked.
“That’s right,” he said in between bites of the donut. “I’ve done it a few times for fun, but I think I might have gotten in over my head this year.”
“L
iterally?” Amy asked with a smile.
“Huh?”
“Because you entered the competition where the castle needs to be bigger than you? And it needs to higher than your head?”
Brogan didn’t seem to understand what she meant by her “literally” comment, but he did say, “That is the competition I entered in. I’ve only made little ones before, but I thought I’d try and go all out. I decided to make a castle big enough to hold a hammock because I thought it would be good advertising for the shop.”
“That is a good idea,” said Heather.
“Everyone who walks by it as part of the castle competition route would see that it has a Hammock Hut hammock inside. I bet that would get some people to come inside and buy one,” Brogan said. “Business has been a little slow lately.”
“And if you won the competition, you’d have ten thousand dollars that would help,” Heather said casually.
“Oh, I’m not going to win,” Brogan said without seeming to care. “There are some really talented builders competing. And Mac Dugan is going to make something. I’m not doing it to win. I just want to show off my hammock inside the castle, and maybe meet whoever the celebrity judge is.”
Amy put a hand over her mouth to make sure she wouldn’t accidentally spill the beans.
“I wonder who it could be,” Brogan said. “Hey, you two wouldn’t want to investigate that, would you? Then I could do some research on the celebrity before they arrive. I won’t embarrass myself like I did with those writers that came for the event a Bernadette’s Beachy Books. I hadn’t read any of their stuff, and I looked silly.”
Amy kept the hand over her mouth, so she wouldn’t comment on how silly Brogan looked trying to lick the chocolate off of his hands as the hammock rocked unsteadily.
“I’m afraid we’re already investigating something else,” Heather said, remaining serious.
“What’s that?” asked Brogan.
“We’re trying to determine who killed Mac Dugan.”
Brogan fell out of his hammock. “Somebody killed Mac Dugan? He’s a legend around here. Who would do that?”
“That’s what we want to find out,” said Heather. “Do you have any ideas?”
“I don’t really know him. I just knew his reputation and his castles,” said Brogan, getting to his feet. “He didn’t seem to have many friends, but he also seemed like a good guy. And his castles were super cool.”
“Do you know if he got along with everyone in the competition?” Heather asked.
“Yeah. I think so. I mean, I bet some people wanted to win, and Mac kept beating them. But I don’t think this would have turned deadly. Unless it had something to do with all that prize money. Hey! Did you ask me about that because you think I’m a suspect?”
“He’s really catching on,” Amy said.
“We’re trying to talk to everyone involved in his category of the competition,” Heather explained.
Brogan frowned. He paced around as he thought. “Well, I guess if you’re talking to everyone anyway, I can tell you that Larry has been acting weird. He was accusing Mac of spying on him, I think.”
“That’s Larry Spooner?” Heather asked, consulting her list of entrants.
“That’s right,” Brogan said. “I remember it because I thought - why would Mac need to spy on anyone? He was the best.”
“Was anyone else acting strangely?” asked Heather.
“Ariel,” Brogan answered. “But she always acts strange.”
“Thank you for this information,” Heather said. “I do have something else that I need to ask you. Where were you the night before last?”
“The night before last?” He asked thinking about it. “Oh. I got a new hammock in and was testing it on the beach. I fell asleep under the stars.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“I don’t know.”
Heather thanked him for telling them his alibi, even if there was no one there to corroborate it.
“I have one more question,” Amy said. “What does your castle look like?”
“Do you want to see it?” Brogan asked.
The investigators agreed. He told them that his house and build site were within walking distance of his shop. He put a “Be Back in Five Minutes” sign on his door and led the others to his house.
Behind his house was a small shed and the beginnings of sandcastle walls.
“I know it’s not much now,” he said. “But it will be decent when it is done, and look at this.”
He went to his shed and opened the door. “I should probably keep this locked,” he muttered.
Then, he pulled out a small colorful hammock with a sturdy base. He moved it into the center of his castle construction.
“Not bad, huh?” he asked.
“Huh,” Amy said.
“It’s going to be great,” Heather said. “Well, we’ll let you get back to work.”
“Because it looks like you need it,” Amy muttered.
Heather elbowed her friend and said, “We have some more contestants to talk to.”
Larry
Heather and Amy arrived at Larry Spooner’s house and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a man with square spectacles.
“I’m not showing you my castle,” he said.
“Well, I’m not becoming your princess,” Amy rebutted.
“Are you Larry Spooner?” Heather asked.
“That’s right. And I don’t care what excuse you give me. I’ll know it’s a lie. I’m not going to show you the castle. I know who is really behind this.”
“Who’s that?”
“Mac Dugan.”
“It’s funny that you should say that,” Amy said.
“Why?”
“I’m Heather Shepherd, and this is Amy Givens. We’re private investigators, working with the Key West Police.”
“If it entered my property, I consider it mine,” Larry Spooner said, crossly. “And he should have better sense than to get the cops involved when he was in the wrong, to begin with.”
“Mr. Spooner,” Heather said. “We’re investigating Mac Dugan’s murder.”
Larry scoffed as if he didn’t believe them.
“I have some ID badges,” Heather said, displaying the IDs that Chief Chet had made for them after their help on several cases. “Or you could call the police station yourself and ask about us.”
“I’m going to do that,” he said.
He walked inside the house and returned with a portable phone. Heather and Amy waited patiently as he called the police and described the investigators on his porch. Amy didn’t like his description of her and was pouting.
“What did I even say this time to be considered a loud mouth?” she asked.
Heather patted her arm soothingly.
Larry returned to the door without some of his fighting spirit from before.
“You really are helping the police,” he said. “So, that means that Mac really is dead?”
“That’s right,” said Heather. “And we’re trying to figure out who killed him.”
“It might have been someone who was angry about his cheating, but it wasn’t me.”
“How was he cheating?” asked Amy. “Did he stomp over someone sandcastle?”
“He didn’t sabotage anyone,” Larry admitted. “But he did spy on people. He wanted to one-up his competition, and he made sure that he knew what everyone else was doing so he would be able to.”
“Are you sure?” Heather asked. “Because he seemed worried about others spying on him.”
“Must be his guilty conscience at work,” said Larry. “I know that he put up a large tent because he didn’t want anyone spying on him. He mentioned locking up his blueprints too. But he was spying on others. I caught him doing it.”
“You did?” Heather asked, surprised.
“That’s right,” Larry said. “Last year, I found him looking over my fence to spy on my entry. I told him that if I ever caught him doing that again that I would make an
official complaint.”
“But this was a year ago?” asked Heather.
“That would be a long time to hold a grudge,” said Amy.
“That was when I caught him red-handed,” Larry admitted. “But he was up to it again this year too.”
“Peeking over fences?” asked Amy.
“He was more high-tech this year,” said Larry. “He used a drone to fly overhead and take pictures of all the castles being built.”
“Is that when you meant about his property entering your yard?” asked Heather.
Larry nodded and looked down at the floor. “I didn’t know he was dead when I said that. But I was pretty angry about him spying. He really didn’t need to do it. He made nice sculptures, and he’s the only name that people know related to the contest.”
“Do you think the prize money could have contributed to his spying?” Heather asked.
“Possibly,” Larry admitted. “I certainly wanted to win this year more than before.”
“Did you want to win badly enough that you’d kill for it?” asked Amy.
“Of course not,” Larry said. “I’ve never killed anyone. And I wanted to win the competition honestly. I wasn’t cheating. I guess I have to admit that I did see some pictures that Mac took. But it was because I wanted to see what he saw of my castle. I didn’t mean to look at the others’ designs.”
“Do you still have those pictures?” Heather asked.
Larry looked away. “I haven’t been studying them or anything. But I haven’t thrown them away yet.”
“We’ll need to take them with us,” Heather said.
He shuffled back into the house again and returned with a pile of pictures.
“I only printed them out so I could see them and see what he discovered about my castle,” he said. “I was going to get rid of them. I’ve just been busy.”
“Which castle is yours?” asked Amy.
Larry frowned but showed her the picture of his castle in progress. It was much closer to being finished than Brogan’s sandcastle. Instead of being a rectangle, this castle was in the shape of a star. It was also being decorated with starfish adornments.
“I think since there was a celebrity judge, he or she might like the stars,” Larry explained.
Mint Fudge & Murder Page 3
