couldn’t believe she’d say something like that.
“What? I was only hoping she wasn’t left out there, unable to get any help. I’d rather be dead than out there in the dunes barely alive with the gulls and the turtles eating me. You ever see what they can do to a body?”
“Well, we don’t know for sure yet what happened,” Tim said. “I hope we can get a confession from this boy and put it all behind us. The chief and I don’t like loose ends.”
He smiled at me and winked. I’d lost my appetite after Shayla’s remark. The conversation turned to the upcoming dance in the park and other less gruesome things. Everyone was done eating a few minutes later. Shayla and I stepped outside while Tim and Kevin paid for dinner.
“I hope Tim’s right about this kid being the killer,” Shayla said after taking a deep breath of night air, which was sweetly perfumed by the roses blooming near the restaurant entrance.
“So do I. It’s bad enough it happened. I don’t think any of us wants to think someone who lives here did it.”
“I guess it was a close call for you today,” she suggested. “I mean, that boy could’ve killed you too.”
“If he had, I promise I would’ve come back and told you.” I knew Shayla’s one earthly goal (besides money, great boyfriends and everyone’s respect) was to find proof that there was an afterlife. We’d talked about it many times. Shayla and I believed the souls of the dearly departed were never far away. Proving it was another thing.
“You’re a good friend, Dae O’Donnell. If I go first, I swear I’ll come back and visit you too.”
I smiled and encouraged her. We didn’t write anything in blood, so I was probably safe. I believed in the afterlife too, in ghosts. But I didn’t need to prove anything. There was only one person I wanted desperately to see again.
Duck Road was crowded as we walked down to the Blue Whale Inn, on the Atlantic side of town. It took a good fifteen minutes to get there from downtown Duck, a long walk compared to the five minutes between my house and Missing Pieces.
We passed the walk-through where Kevin and I had found Miss Elizabeth. I couldn’t keep from shivering as we neared the spot. The wind off the ocean stirred the sea oats, some of them still smashed flat from the investigation. They’d have to be replanted. I made a mental note to put the public works guys on it.
“The real estate agent said the inn is close to two hundred years old,” Kevin told Shayla as we approached the front of the impressive structure. A large fountain with a mermaid in it splashed in the middle of the circle drive. There was still a place to tie your horse right off the big, wide veranda.
“He’s probably right,” Tim agreed. “This place has been here forever. My grandpa told me it had a speakeasy in the basement during Prohibition. People came out here from all over, even with the long ferry ride from the mainland.”
“Every place out here had a speakeasy,” I added. “We were famous for bootleg rum. Some of it was smuggled in, but some of it just washed up. People out here have always taken advantage of what the sea brought them.”
“It’s a great old place,” Kevin said proudly as he opened the front door. “I found ledger books and old trunks full of stuff in the attic. I don’t think anyone moved anything out of here when the last owner left.”
“Probably because he died and there wasn’t an heir.” Tim followed Kevin into the inn. “It was years before it could go on the market. Then it sat empty for at least twenty years. Must’ve been a mess to clean up.”
“Not so bad.” Kevin flipped on the lights.
Shayla and I toured the old-fashioned lobby. There was a high desk on one side and a large, circular seat in the middle. A few chairs were scattered on the expensive-looking rugs.
“Good furniture,” Shayla observed. “It looks like it’s straight out of the fifties.”
“I suppose he could leave it
“What? I was only hoping she wasn’t left out there, unable to get any help. I’d rather be dead than out there in the dunes barely alive with the gulls and the turtles eating me. You ever see what they can do to a body?”
“Well, we don’t know for sure yet what happened,” Tim said. “I hope we can get a confession from this boy and put it all behind us. The chief and I don’t like loose ends.”
He smiled at me and winked. I’d lost my appetite after Shayla’s remark. The conversation turned to the upcoming dance in the park and other less gruesome things. Everyone was done eating a few minutes later. Shayla and I stepped outside while Tim and Kevin paid for dinner.
“I hope Tim’s right about this kid being the killer,” Shayla said after taking a deep breath of night air, which was sweetly perfumed by the roses blooming near the restaurant entrance.
“So do I. It’s bad enough it happened. I don’t think any of us wants to think someone who lives here did it.”
“I guess it was a close call for you today,” she suggested. “I mean, that boy could’ve killed you too.”
“If he had, I promise I would’ve come back and told you.” I knew Shayla’s one earthly goal (besides money, great boyfriends and everyone’s respect) was to find proof that there was an afterlife. We’d talked about it many times. Shayla and I believed the souls of the dearly departed were never far away. Proving it was another thing.
“You’re a good friend, Dae O’Donnell. If I go first, I swear I’ll come back and visit you too.”
I smiled and encouraged her. We didn’t write anything in blood, so I was probably safe. I believed in the afterlife too, in ghosts. But I didn’t need to prove anything. There was only one person I wanted desperately to see again.
Duck Road was crowded as we walked down to the Blue Whale Inn, on the Atlantic side of town. It took a good fifteen minutes to get there from downtown Duck, a long walk compared to the five minutes between my house and Missing Pieces.
We passed the walk-through where Kevin and I had found Miss Elizabeth. I couldn’t keep from shivering as we neared the spot. The wind off the ocean stirred the sea oats, some of them still smashed flat from the investigation. They’d have to be replanted. I made a mental note to put the public works guys on it.
“The real estate agent said the inn is close to two hundred years old,” Kevin told Shayla as we approached the front of the impressive structure. A large fountain with a mermaid in it splashed in the middle of the circle drive. There was still a place to tie your horse right off the big, wide veranda.
“He’s probably right,” Tim agreed. “This place has been here forever. My grandpa told me it had a speakeasy in the basement during Prohibition. People came out here from all over, even with the long ferry ride from the mainland.”
“Every place out here had a speakeasy,” I added. “We were famous for bootleg rum. Some of it was smuggled in, but some of it just washed up. People out here have always taken advantage of what the sea brought them.”
“It’s a great old place,” Kevin said proudly as he opened the front door. “I found ledger books and old trunks full of stuff in the attic. I don’t think anyone moved anything out of here when the last owner left.”
“Probably because he died and there wasn’t an heir.” Tim followed Kevin into the inn. “It was years before it could go on the market. Then it sat empty for at least twenty years. Must’ve been a mess to clean up.”
“Not so bad.” Kevin flipped on the lights.
Shayla and I toured the old-fashioned lobby. There was a high desk on one side and a large, circular seat in the middle. A few chairs were scattered on the expensive-looking rugs.
“Good furniture,” Shayla observed. “It looks like it’s straight out of the fifties.”
“I suppose he could leave it
Similar Books
