Chapter 10

Momentarily stunned, Rory stared down at the hand, remembering another time when she’d seen a finger sticking out of the ground. The frantic barking of the dog brought her back to reality. Its owner grabbed its leash and dragged the dog away.

Rory dropped to her knees and touched the exposed hand, wincing when she realized this wasn’t a mannequin but a real person buried in the sand. Without thinking, she began digging, working her way up from the hand toward where she thought the head must be. At first, people looked at her as if she’d gone crazy, but then word spread there was a body. Several people knelt down on the other side of the sandman and began digging.

Before long, a face came into view and the diggers stopped.

“Mindy!” A stunned look on her face, Tammy pushed her way through the crowd and knelt down beside her wife. She touched the exposed arm and neck, shaking so hard she couldn’t seem to locate a pulse.

“Let me,” a deep voice said in a gentle tone.

Martin knelt down beside Tammy and checked for a pulse. The crowd anxiously awaited his verdict. When he shook his head, a wail split the air. Tammy spread her arms wide and fell down on top of the sandman. “No, no, no!”

Martin gently raised her up and whispered something to her. She nodded and pointed toward her daughter who’d just made her way to the front of the crowd and was staring open-mouthed at Mindy’s exposed face. He accompanied Tammy to her daughter’s side and quietly spoke with them. A nod from the daughter and the two headed toward the parking lot.

“Where’s Tammy going?” Rory asked when he returned to her side.

“I sent her home. She doesn’t need to be here.”

“Don’t you have to question her?”

“I’ll do that later. She’s in no shape to talk at the moment. And right now I’m needed here.” He drew out his cell phone and stepped to one side to make a call. Then, with the help of the off-duty officers who’d participated in the contest, he moved the crowd away from the body, separating them into groups. The officers began questioning the participants as well as collecting names and contact information.

Before long, the police had established a perimeter around the sandman, keeping everyone out of the area near the body.

While the police worked, Veronica darted from place to place, taking photos and talking to whoever would answer her questions.

Martin directed Rory, her parents, the judges and anyone else involved with planning the event to an area near the pier, far enough away from the excitement they would be out of the way, but close enough they could still see what was going on.

Liz, Rory and her parents clustered together, sitting on the sand, leaning against one of the posts that supported the pier, quietly waiting to be questioned. Concerned looks on their faces, the mayor and city councilman stood off to one side, talking in hushed tones. After Martin talked with the city officials, he dismissed them and drew Liz aside. Less than five minutes later, he finished questioning her and came over to stand beside Rory and her parents.

The detective ran his hand through his hair. “Tell me about this contest.” He pointed to Arika and Swan. “Did you two organize it?”

“Like the mayor said in her speech, we’re heading the committee this year. There are others who helped as well,” Arika said.

“Names?”

Rory’s parents took turns rattling off the names of volunteers.

He studied a list on his notepad. “Several of these people were here at the event, but not all of them. Is that right?”

Arika nodded. “A few people got the flu and couldn’t make it.”

He verified the names of those who couldn’t attend before moving on. “What about this sandman? Who built it?”

Before anyone could answer, he held up his hand to stop them from talking and moved to one side. “Come on out, Ms. Justice.”

Veronica emerged from behind a nearby post, a combative look on her face. “Just doing my job, Detective.”

“Why don’t you do it somewhere else?” He didn’t continue his questioning until she was heading toward the street. As soon as she was out of earshot, he said, “Sorry about that. Now, the sandman. Who built it?”

“That was me and my dad,” Rory said. “We did it yesterday afternoon.”

Swan nodded. “Before we left, we covered it with a tarp and put up a temporary fence around it to protect it from the elements.”

Martin looked up from his notes. “Why not wait to build it this morning? You wouldn’t have to worry about anyone or anything disturbing it then.”

“It took quite a while to put together,” Rory said. “We would have had to be up well before it was light to complete it in time if we’d waited until morning. It’s easier to do it the day before.” Anticipating the detective’s next question, she added, “Anyone could have seen us working on it.”

“What about Mindy? When was the last time you saw her?”

They all considered the question. Rory was the first to answer. “Yesterday afternoon. Tammy came over to my house looking for Mindy. We talked a bit, then Mindy knocked on the door and the two of them went home together.”

“What did you and Tammy talk about?”

“Nothing earth shattering. We’re relatively new acquaintances so we’re still getting to know each other. Oh, Tammy did tell me how my Dad was a hero in high school.” Rory cast a proud glance at her father.

Martin raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“It was nothing.” Swan waved his hand in the air.

“You saved Mindy from drowning,” Rory said. “That’s not nothing.”

Martin looked at Swan. “Sir?”

“I was a lifeguard back then. Mindy had some trouble while she was swimming in the ocean. I made sure she was okay, that’s all.”

Arika shook her head at her husband. “You’re too modest. You saved her life.”

Martin looked at Rory’s parents. “You two didn’t answer my question. When was the last time you saw Mindy?”

“At the paddle out ceremony yesterday morning,” Swan said and Arika nodded her agreement.

“Anything else you can tell me?”

When they all shook their heads, he dismissed them, indicating they were free to leave. Rory’s parents started toward the nearby parking lot. When Rory didn’t immediately follow, Arika stopped and looked back, a question in her eyes.

“I just want to talk to Martin a sec,” Rory said.

Arika nodded and continued on her way.

When Rory was sure her parents couldn’t hear what she was saying, she turned and stood beside Martin who was now speaking with a uniformed officer.

“What is it?” he asked when he was done with his conversation.

“I didn’t want to say this in front of my parents. Mindy and Tammy had a bit of an argument. I thought you should know about it.” She explained the situation to him, how Mindy was mad at Tammy for telling Simon about the argument between Swan and Ricky after she’d asked her to keep it to herself. “They made up, though,” Rory hastened to say, now wondering if she should have told him about it after all.

Martin seemed to sense her unease. “Don’t worry, you did the right thing. I need to know the whole picture, even things that don’t seem significant. Is there anything else?”

“I almost forgot. Tammy mentioned seeing Mindy’s car parked on the street near here. It’s a dark colored SUV, but that’s all I remember about it.”

“Thanks, we’ll look for it. I’ve got to go.” He nodded toward a spot behind her. “Liz is waiting for you.”

Rory said goodbye and turned to join her friend.

“That was awful,” Liz said. “Who would want to kill Mindy? She was so sweet.”

“I know.” Rory looked around. “Where’d the mayor go?”

“Back to city hall to deal with the fallout from...this. She said something about a pow-wow with Chief Marshall.” Liz stared at the police activity. “Why would anyone put her body in Olaf? Do you think they’re trying to frame your father?”

“Why would you say that?”

“Mindy knew about the argument he had with Ricky. And you and your dad did put together the sample sandman. I can’t think of any other reason to put her body here when it would be so easy to dump it in the ocean.”

“Mindy had already talked to the police. My dad would have no reason to kill her so framing him doesn’t make sense.”

“True. Just seems an odd place to put a body. Did you notice anything unusual about Olaf when you got here this morning?”

“The blanket under his head didn’t seem right, not like I remember leaving it. I had to straighten it and his carrot nose as well. I figured the tarp we laid over it moved everything around. Everything else seemed the same to me.”

Rory cast a final glance at the area around the sandman and the other sculptures the contestants had created. “Let’s go. I’m a little sick of sand right now.”