Behind the Boater's Cover-Up

by Etta Faire

  With flaky, orangish-green “skin,” these men hadn’t aged well either. Their chipped off noses were almost nonexistent and the old-fashioned gasoline attendant hats they wore sported logos that were so faded, the KC almost looked like rusted, severed baby legs. Or maybe the logo was supposed to look that way. It might have been an anchor, who knew?

  I took a photo of the men before trudging past them, noticing a bright red “open” sign.

  Was that for real?

  Sure enough, I swung the door open to a small souvenir shop that smelled like boarded-up motor oil mixed with Ben Gay.

  A thick older man with a bushy white mustache and an argyle sweater moseyed in from the back when he heard me come in. “Mornin’,” he said. His smile wasn’t customer-friendly, like you’d expect from a place with smiling dummies out front.

  Behind the man was a large chalkboard with the prices and services for boat rentals and storage fees. The store was also full of summer stuff not even on clearance yet: Long, one-piece swimsuits, inflatable inner tubes, water guns, along with some fishing gear, tackle, and brightly colored bait. Rosalie wasn’t the only one in Landover with delusions of a more prosperous season.

  “Surprised to see you open,” I said. He didn’t smile, didn’t elaborate. He just nodded slowly.

  “Something I can do you for?” he asked.

  “Information,” I replied then chuckled. I knew that was not what any business on the lake wanted to hear, especially not in winter. “How old’s this boating company?”

  “We opened April 3, 1944,” a shaky voice from behind me said, making me jump. I turned to see an old man who looked remarkably similar to the two out front. Only, this one was talking.

  He had to be in his 90s, thin and without many teeth, rocking in a chair by the only window. “I had just returned from the war…”

  “Dad, go back to your Popular Mechanics.”

  The old man searched his lap, resting his hand on the magnifying glass sitting on top of his magazine. After licking a shaky finger, he opened the magazine up.

  “What kind of information you looking for?” the younger of the two older men asked.

  “I want to know about the boating accident from 1957.”

  “Nineteen-fifty-seven. I would’ve been five at the time, so I cannot help you.” He motioned toward the older man. “And don’t even think ‘bout askin’ my dad. He’s senile and won’t remember.”

  I ignored him, mostly directing my attention to the supposedly senile man in the rocking chair pretending to read Popular Mechanics with a magnifying glass. “He seems fine to me. Do you remember Bill Donovan, sir? Or the boat wreck from 1957?”

  “We don’t keep records that old. And we don’t share stuff with… out-of-towners,” the younger man hollered for no reason.

  “Out-of-towner? I live here.”

  “I don’t know ya.”

  “Okay,” I said, turning back to the man in the rocker. “Maybe you remember something.”

  He looked up at the ceiling like he was trying. “Bill Donovan had a lot of fine boats. I worked on all of ‘em.”

  “I thought I told you to leave him alone,” his son snapped at me.

  I went to the rack of overpriced, floral swimsuits with humungous cups stitched into the lining. “Oh you have swimsuits,” I said, like it wasn’t the middle of winter and these were cute.

  “Knock yourself out,” the man replied, watching my every move. I checked my cellphone. I was going to have to leave for work soon, and this was going nowhere.

  Jackson appeared by my side and I was never more thankful to see him.

  “Oh my,” he said, looking around the store. “I’d forgotten how quaint this place was. And by quaint, of course I mean if the movie Deliverance had a gift shop. I made the mistake of coming in here once when I was in my twenties. I’m not much of a boating person, but I came in with a friend.”

  “You have friends?” I said, forgetting I was being watched. I quickly put my cell phone up to my ear and acted like I was on the phone with someone while I browsed. “Could you work your magic?” I said, to my phone.

  Jackson didn’t answer me. He was too busy turning his lip up at the long swimsuit I was holding against my body. “I hear it’s all the rage to look 40 pounds heavier and about 20 years older,” he said, which made me think seriously about buying it, just to have a swimsuit I could wear in the shower that my ex apparently hated. I looked at the price tag. $169.

  Ohmygod, these people were psychos.

  I laughed into my cellphone. “I just need you to work your magic, that’s all. You know,” I motioned around the store.

  “Cause a distraction,” he said. “That’s all I am to you now.”

  “Pretty much,” I replied.

  He rolled his eyes but went over to the back of the room, in the corner by the magazine racks. “This is actually a pleasure. When I came into this store more than 30 years ago, they wouldn’t serve me because I wasn’t dressed properly. Surprisingly discriminating for a place that sells plastic flip flops. My Italian sandals probably cost more than this entire shack …” He threw a magazine across the room. It smacked the back wall, knocking the decorative anchor down. “This same man called me a bum.”

  The guy looked up from the cash register. “What the… What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “I didn’t do anything,” I said. “But wow, that was freaky. Is this place haunted?”

  Another magazine flew across the room. This time, it went in the opposite direction and flew by the man’s reddening face.

  “Let it all out, rich boy,” I whispered into my phone. The whole magazine rack toppled over and the man in the argyle sweater stormed across the room to see what was going on. Quickly, I pulled one of the articles I’d printed at the library out of my purse, smoothed it out, and held it up for the old man in the rocking chair to see. I approached him while his son tried to control the cyclone of overpriced crap circling the store as my ex-husband went for the fishing stuff now.

  “I’d like to know as much about this night as you can remember,” I said.

  He put his magnifying glass over the article. “I know that boat,” he said, voice loud and perky. I shushed him. “Bill Donovan’s Vanderflint 300.” He pointed at the paper. “That was a beaut of a yacht. I serviced it myself.”

  “So he took it here for repairs?” I asked quickly, trying to get as much information as I could in as little time as possible.

  “All the time. Well, when it needed something.” He smiled at the fluorescent lights above our heads. “We were the only shop on the lake back then. Still the best. Serviced everything but the government vessels. They had their own people.”

  “What about right after the accident in 1957? Did he take it here around that time? July of 1957. And did you know the Linders? What about them?”

  “Out!” his son said, pointing at me, even though I clearly had nothing to do with the flip flop smacking his cheek right now. Still, I didn’t argue the point, just went for the door.

  “I’ll never know how you made this mess, but I ought to call the police.”

  “I’m sure you have cameras. If you call the police, I want to see the recordings. I didn’t have anything to do with this mess, and you know it.” I motioned around the store on my way out. “This place is obviously haunted, by a ghost… who probably likes expensive sandals and hates being called a bum.”

  I left. I hadn’t found out much, but it was at least a start. The weird fishermen statues watched my every move as I made my way out to my car.

  Once I got in, I looked up the Vanderflint 300 on my cell phone while my car warmed up.

  “That was fun,” Jackson said by my side. “We should do that more often.”

  I nodded even though I was more interested in the yachting article I’d just found.

  The Vanderbilt 300 was the epitome of sailing luxury when it arrived on the scene in 1955. Owners could accommodate up to six guests comfortably with tw
o cabins below and a lounge area that converted into a bed.

  “Two,” I said to the ghost who was still reminiscing about that time when he trashed a quaint souvenir shop on the lake, like it was already a part of his glory days. “There were only two cabins below. Just like I thought. Nettie and Gloria checked both of them before hiding in the master suite. So I can conclusively say Mr. Linder was not on board that yacht. I never saw him.”

  “At least not alive,” Jackson chimed in from the passenger’s seat.

  He had a point. And there had been a very large splash just before we interrupted the party.

  Chapter 11

  Strange

  Mildred smacked her gums a lot during our conversation the next morning when I finally got in touch with her from my landline at Gate House. I didn’t know what the sound was at first. I thought she might’ve been kissing the phone.

  I told her I’d uncovered stuff about the accident that made me know for sure it wasn’t an accident. She smacked her gums.

  I told her I knew she’d been chaperoning the dance with Mrs. Nebitt and I wanted information about it. More smacking. At least I knew the woman was alive and hadn’t keeled over from the conversation. She sure wasn’t saying too much. Parker had been right.

  “How did you know I was a chaperone?” she finally asked, suspiciously.

  Mildred was one of the few people in life I could tell the truth to. A couple months ago, when I took a bunch of self-published books from her garage to paste in retractions about a suicide that was really a murder, Mildred told me she knew I was different, and that I was helping a ghost.

  “Parker told me,” I replied. “But I’m also helping one of the ghosts from the accident. Gloria Thomas. Gloria told me she saw you there in a cute pink dress.” That was only sort of a lie. I didn’t mention the part where I knew what she was wearing firsthand because I had channeled with the ghost to relive her memories. Some things crossed the line of what was considered acceptably crazy.

  “I wasn’t wearing pink. I hate pink,” she said.

  She had been. She just wasn’t remembering right.

  I continued. “If you can, I’d like a list of as many people as you can remember who were there that night. And if you still keep in contact with any of them, I’d love to get their story. I’m also trying to find out more about the Linders. Did you know them?”

  There was a long pause before she answered. “I only kind of knew the Linders. They were nice enough, I guess. They kind of thought they owned the town, though. Them and the Donovans. Rich, and spoiled, and strange. I knew Eric better than Freddie. But neither very well. The rich stayed with the rich, you know? Strange family.”

  “You keep saying strange. How strange?”

  Gum smacking followed.

  I took a deep breath. “It would really help if you could be more specific. Strange as in ‘eats a little paste’ or strange as in ‘hides in the bushes so they can ambush cats to shave for fur quilts.’”

  “Let’s just say it wasn’t the good kind of strange.”

  I did not know which of my examples was the good kind.

  She lowered her voice. “You know my dad was the caretaker at the country club, right? Well, one time, when I was around ten, I walked in on Eric and his brother outside one of the caretaker’s sheds.” She paused to smack her gums. “Eric was chasing his little brother around with a saw. Thing was, Eric didn’t seem angry. He was just laughing, saying the punishment needed to fit the crime and he was simply and matter-of-factly going to chop Freddie to pieces. I think Freddie tore up one of Eric’s baseball cards or something. They were always doing strange stuff like that.”

  “I was hoping for paste eating,” I said.

  “My dad made sure all the sheds were locked after that.” Mildred paused for a second. “You know what?” she finally said. “If I find my old diary from that year, I can get back to you about who was there that night. I guess I can give you a list of people to contact.”

  I salivated a little, knowing she had a diary from that year. Every part of me needed to see it, but I also knew if I asked for something so bold, she might shy away from even giving me the list of names.

  I tried to choose my words wisely. “Is there any way you could, maybe, take some photos of those diary entries for me?” I asked. “You could omit anything too personal or painful,” I added.

  A full 20 seconds of periodical smacking followed.

  “Mildred, you weren’t the one who killed those people. You know that, right?”

  “Of course I do, but it still tears me apart, even now.” She paused. “Debbie and I didn’t talk for years after that night.”

  “Years?” I repeated.

  I needed to see those diary pages.

  Chapter 12

  Warts and all

  Five parking spaces. That’s all there were in the Landover County Public Library’s lot. Still, I never had any problems finding one. Sitting in my car the next day, I watched Mrs. Nebitt watching me. I didn’t even motion for her to open the door. I knew she wasn’t about to let me in even one minute early. Our friendship only went so far, and that woman was a rule-follower. I used the time to text Justin. We hadn’t spoken in days. I honestly wasn’t sure what to say.

  Hey, just wanted to see how things were going. Give me a call when you can!

  I regretted it as soon as I hit send. It screamed needy and desperate, especially with that stupid exclamation point at the end. What was I thinking?

  I quickly scrolled over to Facebook before I obsessed any more about the intricacies of punctuation, and looked to see if I could find June Marie Thomas. There were three of them. I clicked on the first one. A young blonde in a bikini taking tequila shots in the Bahamas. I moved on to the second. June Thomas Gilman. The woman didn’t have a photo, but she lived in Glendale, CA. I decided to take a chance and sent her a private message:

  Not sure you’re the June Thomas I’m looking for. If you used to have a sister named Gloria, please get back to me. Thanks!

  Once again, I agonized over the exclamation point a full minute after sending the message. At least I hadn’t mentioned what I wanted to talk about. I’ve found that revealing my crazy had to be done delicately in life, a lot like how they say frogs should be boiled. Apparently, frogs don’t realize they’re dying if you start out with cold water and slowly boil it. Not that I boil a lot of frogs. But the point is, that’s the way revealing my crazy had to be done. Just a smidgen at a time, so people wouldn’t realize I was boiling them.

  At exactly 9:30, Mrs. Nebitt waddled over to the front of the library in her coat and boots, and unlocked the glass door. And I could only picture the young woman from the channeling, with her horn-rimmed glasses and hair in short puffy curls. I smiled at her when I came inside, staring at her, still picturing it.

  “Is there something wrong today?” she asked, pursing her lips.

  The library’s heat rattled on above us. Strange to think that just a few days ago in my channeling, it had been summer and this library had been in its planning phases. “I was just wondering if the library had any puppets I could use for the story time I’m doing next week.”

  “Puppets?” she asked in such a startled tone I wondered if I’d accidentally asked for severed heads.

  “Parker Blueberg says there should be puppets at story time.”

  “Then Parker Blueberg should bring puppets to his story time. We do not have the funds for puppets. We are a library. We have money for books, and microfilm, and that’s about all.”

  I could tell by her gigantic, yellowing computer monitor that she was probably telling the truth about that one. “I’ll see what I can scrounge up on my own. I think old socks still work as puppets, right?”

  She didn’t answer. “I posted story time on the online calendar for Monday. Should I mention the old socks you’ll be dazzling us with?”

  I ignored her sarcasm, and decided to get started on my research. Like usual, she followed me to the
periodicals section because she didn’t trust anyone but trained professionals with degrees in library science to do research correctly. I turned to her. “I heard you and Mildred didn’t talk for years after the night of the boating accident.”

  Her jaw moved back and forth under her saggy skin, and her brow furrowed. “Why on earth did you just ask me that? That came out of nowhere.”

  Perhaps I was boiling my frog too quickly here.

  “It just came up when I talked to Mildred.” I laughed like something was funny. “I mean, I know I shouldn’t pry…”

  “Then it begs the question, why are you prying?”

  “Come on, Mrs. Nebitt. You know I’m writing a book and I’m doing a chapter on the boating accident. You have a little part in that history. And I think it’s important to know what happened, warts and all.”

  “Enjoy your warts,” she said, stopping at the huge, metal microfilm drawers. She tapped the cabinet and turned around. And I could hardly believe it. She walked right back to her computer and clacked away at her keyboard, like she was suddenly way too busy to care about the welfare of this library.

  “I sure hope I don’t mess things up over here,” I yelled. She didn’t even shush me. Must’ve had her hearing aid turned down again.

  I rummaged loudly through the drawer like I was tearing it apart, eventually pulling out a few boxes. I looked over at the woman behind the desk. She wasn’t even watching me. Good. That meant I didn’t need to follow her “one box at a time” rule.

  I pulled out boxes from 1955, 1956, and the last part of 1957. Carrying three at a time so she might not notice, I brought them to my desk and hid them under the big purse I’d begun carrying to hold all my research. I had ten microfilm boxes, a record at this library. I was sure.

  I scanned through one from 1956 first, looking for anything that seemed strange or relevant. I spotted the couple I was searching for first in an article in the society section. Dwight Linder was a tall, thin man with greasy dark hair and glasses. His wife had the kind of perfectly plucked eyebrows and straight-out-of-vogue makeup that made me want to dig the woman up and ask her how she pulled the look off. She looked professionally cute in every photo. I looked down at my sweatshirt. I needed to step it up.