Death at Devil's Bridge by Cynthia DeFelice Page A

Somebody, somewhere was waiting for word about this person, and Mom and I knew what it was like to get that kind of news. I thought about Cameron Maddox’s parents. Maybe they were rude, the way Pete and Barry had said they were, but if this turned out to be their son, I felt really, really sorry for them.
    â€œUncle Cully?” said Jeff. “Could you get my plane and stuff while you’re down there? After we found the—the body, we just ran.”
    â€œSure, Jeff,” said Cully. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it.”
    Cully and Chief Widdiss excused themselves for a minute and left the room. Mom looked at me with a little line of worry between her eyebrows. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay, Ben? Chief Widdiss would understand if you’re not up to answering his questions right now.”
    â€œNo, I’m okay, Mom. Honest,” I said.
    She leaned over to give me a hug, and when she pulled away, I saw tears in her eyes. I didn’t know if they were for me, or Pop, or the poor dead person, or his family, and figured they were probably for us all. I hoped she’d go before I started crying again, and she did, giving my hand a little squeeze on the way out and saying, “I’ll head home, then, and start dinner.”
    When she was gone, Jeff and I looked at each other. I wondered if I looked as spooked as he did. “Ben,” he whispered. “It’s him, right? The Maddox kid?”
    â€œIt has to be, don’t you think?”
    Jeff whispered again, urgently, “Will they be able to tell what happened to him?”
    I stared dumbly at him. Wasn’t it obvious? “He drowned.”
    Jeff swallowed, looked nervously back over his shoulder, and said, “What if he didn’t?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” I asked.
    â€œWhat if Donny—” Jeff stopped, his eyes wide and scared looking.
    Then I understood. Jeff was afraid that Donny had harmed more than Cameron Maddox’s car.
    â€œWill they be able to tell?” Jeff looked at me anxiously.
    â€œJeff!” I said. “Donny didn’t—he wouldn’t. You don’t really think he killed the kid, do you?” The idea was preposterous.
    â€œNo.” He hesitated. “I mean—No. But, Ben, he was mad at him and he did mess with the car, and if we tell, they’re going to suspect him of messing with Maddox, too.”

    â€œBut, wait. Maddox probably drowned, like I said. There’s no reason for anybody to suspect Donny of murder.”
    â€œAll I’m saying is, we’ve got to keep our mouths shut about the car. Act like we don’t know anything.”
    We were quiet for a minute. The muffled voices of Cully and the chief grew louder as they approached.
    â€œJust because Donny sank the car—” I began.
    â€œShhhhh!” Jeff just about jumped out of his seat. He looked at me, panic stricken. “ Don’t tell! ”
    Before I had a chance to answer, Chief Widdiss came back into the room. “Are you boys feeling better?”
    Jeff and I both lied, “Yes, sir.”
    â€œGood. I’m sorry you had to be the ones to find the body,” the chief went on. “It’s not a pleasant experience, I know.”
    That’s for sure , I thought.
    â€œI need to ask you just a few questions, and then you can go on home. You were walking from the Philbin Beach parking lot up toward Devil’s Bridge, is that right?”
    â€œYes,” I said.
    â€œAnd you came upon the body?”
    â€œWell, we saw the birds first.” I explained everything that had happened, ending with how we ran back to our bikes and came straight to the police station.
    â€œWas anyone else at the beach? Did other people come over to see what you had found?”
    â€œI didn’t see anybody else.” I looked at Jeff. “Did you?”
    â€œI think there were some people farther up the beach