Hector's Pelican

 

Chapter 1

 

                Northwalk stretches along the edge of town between the shoreline and a long row of summer rentals.  It is for the most part just a wooden walkway lined on one side with small tourist shops selling tee shirts, cheeseburgers and boating paraphernalia.  On the other side, from the pier supports to as far as you can see and then some is the Atlantic Ocean, complete with majestic sunsets, some very ugly fish and a smattering of shipwrecks. 

 

                Morning, noon and night pelicans and seagulls sit atop these pilings watching for fish and snacking on the trail of debris that follows almost every tourist.  The tourists are slobs, they are rude and obnoxious, and they spend their vacation money on beach trinkets and crap.  At least that’s the way I feel about it.  The shop owners all contribute to a fund which pays me $68.00 a week to keep the walkway hosed off and free of bird poop.  I am Hector Lemon and I work my magic in the wee hours of the morning, before the joggers and early risers show up and way before the shops set out their signs, tee shirt stands and postcard racks. 

 

                Lucy Harper owns The Nautical Smile, a gift shop specializing in local paintings and sculptures, and she is also Northwalk’s chairperson and my supervisor, so-to-speak.  Any shopkeeper wishing special attention from me or having an issue with their section of the walkway deals with Lucy and she contacts me.  This keeps all confusion and misunderstandings to a minimum.  It is a system that has for several years worked very well, that is until last Monday morning.  That’s when my body was discovered under the wooden walkway down by Beach Burgers.  I had been murdered during those wee hours when I should have been hosing things off and now, I can do nothing but watch things unfold, as discoveries and accusations are made, fingers are pointed, and officials cart my body off to do who knows what.  I can’t really describe exactly where it is I’m seeing all of this from, I mean as I no longer have a body.

 

 It’s just strange; I see and hear everything but can’t interact with anything.  At least I don’t think I can.  It’s all very new to me, this being dead.

 

                I don’t feel hungry or pain or even the ocean breeze.  I’m not warm or cold.  I just seem to be here and watching stuff taking place.  It’s sort of cool if you think about it.   Like I know there is an important clue still under the walkway and if they don’t discover it soon the tide will carry it off.  Oh yeah, I can’t smell the ocean either.  Trust me, most days down here not being able to smell what the tide brings in is a good thing. 

 

                I’m surprised at the number of shop owners who are happy to hear I’m dead.  I thought I was an alright kind of guy.  I did my job, maybe grumbled about the slobs a little too much but hey, how hard is it to hit the trash can from less than a foot away?  Give me a break. 

 

                What didn’t surprise me is how hard Lucy is taking it.  She and I were tight.  She understood me and I even saw her a few times sweeping up in front of her store so I wouldn’t have to deal with it.  I know she was fond of me just by the way she never ordered me around; I know how some supervisors are – the power goes straight to their head.  They turn into maniacs.  Lucy was cool that way.  She’d explain which area of Northwalk I should concentrate on and that would keep those particular shop owners from getting on her case.  We had a system and it worked.

 

                The only thing Lucy’s husband did right was to leave her a massive insurance check when he died.  That kind of surprised me.  Even though I never met him, the guy was pretty much a flake in my book. but he certainly left her with no worries.  She used to tell me about their house in Cape May.  It sounded like some mansion up on the cliffs with a view that wrapped all the way around the earth.  The house alone would have brought her enough to live on forever, but his insurance added greatly to that.  I’ll bet if Lucy wanted to, she could buy Northwalk with the chump change in her purse.

 

                It’s funny but I don’t feel bad seeing her crying over me.  I don’t seem to have any emotions at all come to think of it.  I’m not happy or sad.  I’m not sure what I am. This is all very odd.  I don’t even care who killed me or why.  It doesn’t appear to matter much.  These detectives though seem to be still worked up about it.  This is their fourth trip back here and this Frank whatshisname is headed back into Lucy’s store – again.   I say it like that because I think he likes her more than he’s trying to solve my case.   It’ll be fun to see how this turns out. 

                I wonder if I get any smarter now or if I stay the same.  It would be cool if I had some special powers I didn’t know about yet.  This is too much to think about.  I think I’ll just watch and see what happens next.

                Despite the efforts to keep my death quiet, word spread through Northwalk quickly.  Only the true tourists remained in the dark.   Lucy sent out an email to all business owners to remind their employees not to discuss the subject with anyone.  The bike rental, Sandy & Tired, had been closed for the past week, due to the flu, so Lucy kept the newspapers and fliers from piling up in front of their door, which only added to the pressure for her to hire my replacement.

                Local police had been working with the Coast Guard to determine water temps, tides and current directions, in order to rule out Hector being killed someplace else and simply washing up at this location.  But based on the condition of the body and water temps, it was determined Northwalk was the correct location.  Robbery was also ruled out, as Hector’s pockets still contained his wallet, keys and pocket change.

          

 

Chapter 2

 

                The tiny brass bell over the front door bounced about as Frank Lawton entered The Nautical Smile.  Lucy looked up from behind the counter.  She knew why he was there, and it wasn’t to purchase a lighthouse painting or ceramic fisherman.  Out of habit Frank pulled out his little notebook and pen but then just as quickly slipped them into the side pocket of his sport coat.  He wasn’t halfway across the floor when Lucy spoke.

 

                “Was there something else you needed detective?”

 

                Frank stopped short.  He wasn’t sure just how honest he should be right now.  He had never been much of a smooth talker when it came to women and just blurting out that he liked her and wanted to take her to dinner was pushing him way out of his comfort zone, not to mention all very awkward should she be put off by the thought of it.

 

                “Is this about Hector?”

 

                “No, Miss Harper, it isn’t.”  He waited for her to jump in and say, call me Lucy, but she didn’t.  “I was wondering if you might be…”

 

                Suddenly someone else was speaking.  He looked over to his left and there were two customers he hadn’t even noticed when he had walked in.  One was holding up a small painting of a sailboat and was asking if they could buy it without the frame.

 

                Lucy looked at Frank for a second and then over to the two ladies.  “No, I’m sorry.  The paintings are sold as you see them.  In fact, that particular artist puts great effort into making sure there is a seamless flow between their work and the presentation of it.”

 

                The customer wrinkled her nose and set it back down.  Suddenly Frank felt very awkward as he was still standing mid-shop and hadn’t advanced in either his request or movement.  Lucy looked back at Frank waiting for him to say something.

 

                “I should come back.  You’re busy.”

 

                “What do you want detective?”

 

                Now she sounded annoyed.  As detectives go Frank may not be sharp enough to notice other people in the store when he walks in, but he could see in her facial expression the moment she said it she knew it had come out rather harsh. He needed to go for it but not from across the room.  He walked up to the counter and in a much softer voice asked if she would be free for dinner. 

He felt immediately relieved when the words came out but now, she was just looking at him like she had to mentally translate Detective into English before she could respond.

 

                “That would be nice.” she said with a rather pleasant smile.

                The following Friday night Frank found himself sitting across from Lucy sipping his Crown Royal and trying to keep up with awkward small talk until the waiter returned with their dinners. Being overly nervous about the evening, Frank had consumed two drinks even before picking Lucy up for their date.  Now he couldn’t even remember the name of the fancy French restaurant they were sitting in. 

 

                Lavez-vous les mains, was all he could remember, and he couldn’t even recall where he had seen that.  He fussed with his napkin again while Lucy went on and on about the various shop owners along Northwalk.  She seemed to know them all very well and had strong opinions about each. 

 

                The topic of Hector came up halfway through dinner and Frank tried politely to let Lucy know he was off duty and didn’t really want to pay these kind of dinner prices while talking about a case, but the more Lucy talked about it the more emotional she became and wasn’t really listening to his objections about the topic.

 

                Suddenly Lucy touched on something that Frank wasn’t aware of, Hector’s great dislike for the tourists.  He reached across the table and took hold of Lucy’s hand.  She stopped talking and looked at him.

 

                “This whole time I have been concentrating on the shop owners as suspects.  I never knew Hector had openly verbalized his negative opinions to the tourists themselves.” Frank said with slight embarrassment.

 

                But Lucy was only half listening to Frank.  His hand on hers had brought her focus to a palpable reality that she was on a date.  She gradually felt very aware of herself and pondered how she had let herself get into this position.  She pulled her hand away and sat back in her chair just looking at Frank, at his clothes, his posture and wondered just who this guy was.  The look on her face must have spoken volumes to Frank as he too sat back and quickly apologized for touching her hand.

 

                The rest of the dinner was finished in awkward silence and clumsy attempts at small talk.  When they left the restaurant they walked down Hampton, west towards Northwalk.  They could see the lights in the distance that ran along the walkway, and they could hear the sea lions barking down at the pier just to the south but neither of them was saying anything. 

 

 

Suddenly Lucy let out a scream and at the same moment Frank ducked.  A very large pelican had silently glided just inches over their heads.  It had come from behind so neither saw it coming; and then very gracefully it landed a few feet in front of them, turned to face them and spread out its massive wings, as if it were some traffic cop, signaling them to stop.

 

 

                “What is it doing?” Lucy whispered.

 

                “I haven’t got a clue but let’s just stand here for a minute and don’t move.”

 

                “No problem.” Lucy said, slowly taking hold of Franks sport coat.

 

                It was like a stand-off; the pelican stood its ground and held its wings fully stretched and Frank and Lucy just stood looking at it.

 

                “Maybe it’s sick; you know… rabies or something.” Lucy said out of the side of her mouth.

 

“If there were more people out walking tonight it might not be so brave.  I have never seen a bird act like this. Let’s take a step back and then turn to our left and head down Parker Street.”

 

                Still holding tight to Frank’s sleeve, Lucy followed Franks lead and they slowly turned and took a step towards Parker.  The pelican didn’t object; in fact, it pulled its wings in and just watched them as they backed away.

 

                “That was weird.”  Lucy said, letting go of Frank’s coat.

 

                “This will put us at the wrong end of Northwalk but it’s a nice night for a walk don’t you think?”  Frank had liked Lucy holding tight to his sleeve but still felt awkward about touching her hand at the table and she didn’t seem to be very talkative either.

 

                “Frank, I want to thank you for the lovely evening, but the truth is I haven’t dated in several years.  I really don’t know why I agreed to… What I mean is, you seem like a very nice person and…” Lucy suddenly stopped and again grabbed at Frank’s sleeve.

 

                Frank looked up and saw that once again the pelican had placed itself in their path.  This time, however, it didn’t appear to be blocking their path but was holding something in its mouth.

 

                The pelican dropped the item and backed up a couple steps.

 

                “Can you see what that is?” Frank asked Lucy.

 

                “Looks too small to be a fish but I’m not walking up there to see.” She replied.

 

“Is that even the same bird?” Frank said, taking a slow step forward.

 

“It’s too dark out.  I didn’t even notice it until it was suddenly just there.  But I’ll wait here if you want to go up and check.”

 

“It looks like what it dropped is a wallet.”

 

As Frank stepped closer the giant bird moved back. 

 

                “Be careful Frank, if that bird is sick, you’re not going to want pelican drool on you.”

 

Frank pulled out his handkerchief and carefully reached down for the billfold but stopped short.

 

“It’s not a wallet.” Franks voice sounded a little strained to Lucy.

 

                Lucy took a step farther back and said, “What is it?” 

 

                “Stay back there; I’m going to call this in.”

 

                “Frank?”

 

“It’s part of a swim fin with part of a foot still in it.”

 

                Lucy’s first impulse was not to vomit but to immediately consider how news like this would impact her business.  None of the shopkeepers ever wanted bad news to get out to the public, and that very topic was always touched upon in their monthly meetings.  Even Hector’s death had been kept as quite as possible, and to this end all the shop owners could be seen out cleaning the walkway in front of their own shops until a replacement for Hector could be found. 

              

                “I must say Frank; you sure know how to show a girl a good time.”

 

But Frank was already on his cell phone describing their location and having some difficulty getting across to them that a pelican had simply dropped the foot right in front of them.

 

Chapter 3

                

                Lucy had not heard back from Frank since that night. She had been checking the daily papers every morning for articles about the foot but so far, she hadn’t seen anything.

There were several applications on her desk that had been turned in for Hector’s job.  They had all been generated through word-of-mouth as Lucy had not advertised the position but rather each shop owner had put the word out into the beach community that a night man was needed.   She hadn’t been in a mood to start the interviews but knew the other shop owners wouldn’t keep cleaning up their own places for too much longer.  In fact, Gary Driskel from Beach Burgers had already grumbled to her about picking up the pace a little on getting Hector replaced.

 

                That night, after Lucy closed up her shop she took the stack of applications home with her.  After her dinner she fixed a Manhattan and sat at her dining room table and started reading through the pile of applications.  She couldn’t seem to focus, instead her mind was just wandering as her eyes were skimming the pages, glancing at the various misspellings, the words that had been scribbled over with other words squeezed in above or next to them.  She found herself smiling at them, seeing them for the first time as a sort of artwork.  She even held one up to the light trying to imagine how it would look with a frame around it.  But then something odd caught her attention.  Written just below the signature at the bottom it said, I am the pelican.

 

                Lucy couldn’t stop staring at it.  What was that supposed to mean?  Did this person know about what had happened that night with her and Frank and the foot or was this some cruel joke?  But how, no one knew about the pelican except her and the police.  She wanted to call Frank, but she seemed frozen, holding the application and staring at those words.  I am the pelican.  It was creepy and she finally set it down and took a healthy sip of her drink.

 

                The name on the application was Scratchy Fernandez and the phone number was local.  She wanted to call it but the urge to tell Frank was stronger, even though she really didn’t want to start that whole thing up again she dialed Frank’s cell phone.

 

               

                Frank sounded surprised to hear Lucy on the phone and quickly apologized for not having called her sooner with updates on the case, citing as an excuse that there really hadn’t been any.  Lucy suggested he stop by the shop tomorrow and she would show him something.  “It isn’t anything I want to tell you over the phone Frank.  I just want you to look at it and then tell me what you think.”

 

                When Lucy arrived to open her shop the following morning Frank was already there standing out by one of the pilings just looking out at the ocean.  When he heard her keys at the lock he turned and walked over.

 

                “Good-morning Lucy.”

 

                Lucy turned and saw Frank walking up. “There was no need to be here first thing but I’m glad you’re here before I open for business.  Come in.”

 

                “I have been going through applications for Hector’s job and I think you need to see one of them.”

 

 Frank looked surprised.  “Do you mean people really have to fill out an application to get a job hosing off a walk and picking up trash?”

 

                Lucy looked at him.  “These are not college entrance exams Frank, but we do have to know who we hire and a little something about them.  And to even call them applications is a stretch.  It’s not unusual for them to be filled out with stubby golf pencils, turned in crumpled or folded several times, torn in half and all too often stained with mustard and relish.  These are beach applicants we’re talking about.  Sometimes homeless, most times in serious need of a bath.  The hardest part of the job for them will be to fill out this form and come up with a phone number where they can be reached.

 

                Anyway, take a look at this one and tell me what you think.”

 

                Frank took the application and immediately said, “There is something familiar about the date on this.”

 

                Lucy took it back and looked at the date.  Her expression was that of confusion but suddenly appeared startled and handed it quickly back to Frank.  “I just got this application two days ago but the date on here is the date Hector was killed.” her voice sounding a little shaky.

 

                Frank continued scanning the page and then saw the name at the bottom; “Scratchy Fernandez?  Is that what you wanted me to see?

 

                Lucy didn’t respond but waited for him to keep reading.

 

“What the...”  The expression on Frank’s face had said it all. 

 

                “That’s what I wanted you to see.” Lucy sat down at her desk and the two of them stared at each other in disbelief.

 

Chapter 4

 

                I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, and only just recently did I catch on that maybe it was the spirit world manipulating the pelican.  Maybe, when I really concentrate, I mean really focus, the pelican will do what I want it to.  I had no idea why, but now I could see, if this were really true, there was a way for me, dead Hector, to communicate.  It just might be possible that I could get a message to Lucy, or that detective.  All I had to do was figure out what I wanted to say and how to get the bird to somehow say it.   I suddenly wished I was smarter, and knew what I wanted to say?

                Wednesday morning Gary Driskel, from Beach Burgers walked into Lucy’s store and asked her when she planned on hiring a replacement for Hector.   Lucy wasn’t surprised that he was the squeaky wheel.  He usually grumbled about everything.

                “I’m almost finished going through the applications.  I should have someone by Monday.”

                Driskel didn’t respond, but just turned and headed back to Beach Burgers.

                Lucy really hadn’t a clue on who to hire.  She didn’t want to go through this whole process twice, or three times.  She wanted to get it right the first time.  That afternoon Scratchy Fernandez came into her shop and asked if she had made any decisions yet. 

                “You’re the only one to come back and check on the job, so that’s a strong mark in your favor, but I have a question about your application.  Luck walked over to her desk and pulled out the stack of applications.  After she pulled his from the pile, she said, “Please explain this.” and she pointed to the line that said, I am the pelican.

                Scratchy laughed and twitched a little.  “Dats what day call me, cuz I eat a lot of fish.  I don’t eat no burgers en’ stuff.  I get fish cheap.  Mostly scraps. What people leave on their trays, you know.”

                Lucy suddenly felt sorry for him.  “How about if I hire you on a trial basis.  We’ll see if you can get here on time, show up every day and do a good job.  What do you say?”

                “So I got da job?”

                “You can start on Monday.  Be here at 6:30 Sunday night and we’ll go over your duties,” 

                “Thanks.  Um, what do I call you?”

 

“Lucy.  Just call me Lucy.”

After Scratchy left, Lucy thought about calling Frank and asking him if he thought her decision to hire Scratchy was a good one, or if he had found out anything about him, but then she thought better of it and didn’t make the call.   By Sunday night she had convinced herself that Scratchy would be a good fit.  He’d be working after hours, away from the tourists and shopkeepers, with nothing to do but sweep up, empty the trash cans, and hose off the walkway.

Scratchy was there promptly at 6:30.   Lucy was surprised to see his hair combed and his shirt clean.  As she showed him his duties and explained where he could find supplies, he paid close attention, and only asked a few questions.

“I’ll introduce you to the other shop owners, but keep in mind, you report only to me.  They shouldn’t be asking you to do anything.  If they do, let me know.”

“Lucy, when is payday?”

“You get paid every two weeks, on Thursdays.  Do you need some money until then?”

“Um, no.  Dats OK.”

“Be here tomorrow night.  Your shift starts at 9pm and goes to 3am.  If you’re not done by 3, you’ll be expected to stay until you are finished, but I don’t pay overtime.  Do you understand?”

“Yep.  Nine at night to 3 in the morning.”

“Scratchy, do you have a cell phone?”

“No.”

“Well, you’ll need to call me if anything happens.  I mean, if you or someone gets hurt, you can use the pay phone next to Beach Burgers.  Do you have change for the phone?”

“I got $3.00; I think.  Let me check.”

“Here, I’m going to give you $10.00 for now.  It will be an advance on your check.”

“OK, Lucy.  Thanks.”

 

 

                It wasn’t until the fourth week that Scratchy had been working the night shift, that Frank walked into Lucy’s store.  The moment she spotted him, she thought he’d have news about who killed Hector, but that wasn’t the case.

                “Hello Lucy, how are you?”

                “Hi Frank.  What have you found out?”

                “It’s about Darrell, not Hector.”

                “Who is Darrell?”

                “That’s Scratchy’s real name.  It is Darrell Baker, not Fernandez. he’s an undercover cop from Narcotics.”

                “Are you kidding me?”

                “I really had no idea narcotics was doing anything down here.  I’ve never met the guy.”

                “That doesn’t say much for my vetting process.  I never even asked if Scratchy was his real name.  I mean, it’s a beach community.  You see everything here.  So was Hector into drugs?”

                “From the looks of it, Hector was asked to do something he didn’t want to do, and so they got rid of him.  None of this, by the way, should leave this room.  They’re taking a very close look at Mr. Gary Driskel, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

                “I won’t say a word, but what do I do with Darrell?  Do I let him know that I know who he is?”

                “I’d say, keep it business as usual.  Say nothing.  Eventually, when this is all over, the department will reimburse you for Darrell’s wages.”

                “Really?”

                “I better get going.  Don’t forget, mums the word.”

                “I’ll see you, Frank.

                Wait a minute.  Why did you tell me that?  Isn’t saying anything to anybody against the rules of being undercover?”

 

 

Frank looked around the store to make sure no one else was there.  He walked closer to Lucy and then hesitated slightly.    “Yes, Lucy it is.  Here’s the thing.  I’ve been thinking about you, about us actually.  I’d like to spend more time with you.  You know, maybe become a couple.  That is, if you don’t mind dating a cop.”

Lucy wasn’t ready for all that and wasn’t sure just how she felt.  She just stood there looking at him.

Frank could see he had caught her off guard.  “I’m sorry, Lucy.  I know that was a lot to throw at you.  I’ll leave you alone and let you think about it.”

“You don’t know anything about me Frank.  Who I am, what I like, my history, nothing.”

The bell hanging over the door tinkled as a customer walked in.  Frank gave Lucy a quick nod, turned and left the store.  Lucy was still a little shocked at what had just transpired, but looked over at the customer and asked if she could help her find anything.

The lady wandering over by the ceramic lighthouses shook her head no. 

“Well holler if you need any help.” 

The next thing Lucy knew was that the lady was now standing right in front of her, at the register.

“I’m Mary Lemon.  Hector was my son.”

Lucy was quite surprised, and it must have shown on her face.

“Hector said you were always good to him.  He liked working here.  When the police told me he was dead, I couldn’t believe it.  It’s taken me this long to come over here.  I need to ask you if you know what happened.”

Lucy could see the sadness in the woman’s face and felt sad for her.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Lemon, Hector was a nice person, and a good worker.  I really don’t know anything more.  That man that was just here is a detective working on the case.”

“I don’t have a lot of savings, but what I do have I’ve given to a private investigator.  I just want to know who would hurt my Hector.  He never did anything to anyone.”

 

 

Chapter 5

 

All but one of Gary Driskel’s employees were high school kids.  Beach Burgers catered to the younger crowd.  Only twenty percent of the business came from tourists.   Gary always had WKBW radio playing over outside speakers.  Occasionally disc jockeys from 103.5 would set up there and draw even more of a crowd.   Neighboring shop owners didn’t complain about the music because their foot traffic, and consequently sales improved with the size of the crowd.   The only non-teenager employee was Wes Normann, a retired navy man, who had lost his wife and house in an ugly divorce.  Gary paid him a little over minimum wage, with no benefits, and for the most part, seemed to trust him.

The police had questioned him twice, right after Hector’s body was discovered.   Unfortunately, none of the shops had surveillance cameras pointing out along the walkway.   No one had heard or seen anything suspicious that night, and Mr. Normann’s alibi checked out.   He had been at The Bank Shot pool hall until they closed at 2am.   His apartment manager vouched for his arrival time home, due to Wes having lost his keys and waking the manager up to let him in.

With a big three-day weekend coming up, WKBW made arrangements to run a contest at Beach Burgers, with prizes and a surprise guest.  The station ran promotional spots almost on the hour for the week prior, and shop owners were told to expect record crowds.   Lucy asked Scratchy to arrive at work early each day of the contest, just to watch for shoplifters.  She agreed to pay him overtime for his efforts.

Bright and early, Saturday morning, Lucy had been watching the number of people grow that were going up and down the boardwalk.  That was what had caught her attention, but what she noticed was a pelican, sitting on top of the piling right in front of her shop.  It wasn’t paying any attention to the people walking by, but just kept staring at her store.   It almost looked like a statue.  As she was looking at it, it slowly turned its head and was now looking at just one person.  Then Lucy saw who it was.  It was Mary Lemon, Hector’s mother.  She seemed to be just standing there, like she was waiting to meet someone.

Mary kept looking at her watch, and then at the crowd of people walking past her.  She seemed nervous or anxious.   Lucy wanted to ask her if she would rather wait inside the store, but then another lady stopped and said something to Mary.  Lucy wondered if that was the private detective Mary had hired.  She was curious to hear what was being said but couldn’t really walk out there and stand next to them listening.

 Then she saw the lady hand an envelope to Mary.  Mary slid it into her purse and the two ladies shook hands.  Mary stood and watched as the lady walked away, then she turned and headed into the Nautical Smile.  Lucy quickly tried to look busy. 

The little bell over the front door tinkled as Mary entered the store.  Lucy was very excited to hear what she had to say, but just calmly greeted Mary and asked how she was doing.  As Mary walked over to the register, Lucy glanced out at the piling and saw that the pelican was no longer there.

“I’m doing okay, Lucy.  Thanks for asking.  I was wondering about the name of the police detective that was in here the last time I was in.  I remember you said he was working on Hector’s case.”

“Frank.  His name is Frank.  I have his number if you want it.”

“Can he be trusted?”

“What’s going on Mary?”

“I need to know.  Do you trust him?”

“I really don’t have any reason not to trust him.”

“Remember I told you I hired a private investigator?”

“Yes.”

“According to her, the police are about to arrest two people.  One is a apartment manager, and the other is some man working at Beach Burgers.  Supposedly they are part of a drug smuggling operation.  That police detective, Frank, has all the proof.”

“Come to think of it, Scratchy didn’t show up early today, like he was scheduled.”

“Who’s Scratchy?”

“Never mind, Mary.  I was just thinking out loud.  Hey, that’s great news.  They caught the guys.”

 

Both Mary and Lucy looked up as Frank entered the store.  Mary saw that as her opportunity to leave and headed out onto the crowded boardwalk.

“Hello, Frank.”

“Lucy, wasn’t that Hector’s Mother?”

“I don’t know.  Was it?”

“Anyway, they have made some arrests in the Hector case.  The man working at Beach Burgers, Wes Normann, and the apartment manager where Wes Lives.”

“Was it drugs, like you thought?

“Not at all.  It turns out Wes killed his wife and tried to make it look like a snorkeling accident.  Most of the body was eaten by sharks, but there was enough left to make a positive ID.  Remember that foot dropped by the pelican?  We got DNA from that, along with a couple equipment rental numbers.  I mean, the guy wasn’t smart enough to buy snorkeling gear.  He rents it. Give me a break.”

“Was the apartment manager in on it?”

“He’s the one who caught Wes moving the body and then thought he’d blackmail him. But that wasn’t the clincher.  Scratchy discovered that Wes had stopped the automatic alimony payments.  Which told us he already knew she wouldn’t be notifying anyone that her checks had stopped.”

“So what happened to Hector?”

“We’re not positive yet, but we think Hector witnessed Wes dumping the body in the water.  I’m fairly certain Wes killed him.”

“Well, I’m glad Wes won’t be around here anymore.”

“So Frank, what’s the deal with the pelican?”

“That one still remains a mystery.  I haven’t got a clue why or how any of that happened.”

Two couples and three children came into the store, and all seemed to be all talking at once.  Frank excused himself and headed for the door, but Lucy called out to him.

“Dinner, Frank?”

 

Yes, here's where I say...
To be continued.