“There you are! I called you a ton of times. The barge was late so I came to the store first to wait. It got in over an hour ago. Merle said the rockers were there at the barge landing. Didn’t want to leave the store but I will head down now that you’re back … What’s wrong? What happened?” Tripp said all at once, his excitement quickly turning to curiosity and then to concern. “Why are you just sitting there? Come on, get out and come here. What happened?” His long legs brought him to the cart instantly. “Come on, girls, I’ve got you.”
“My God, Tripp. It was awful,” Barb said. As we started to explain everything, he walked with us to the front porch, up the stairs, and then got us settled in the club chairs in the middle of the large room. Tripp’s presence was so soothing, his voice so reassuring, we felt immediately comforted by him. The store was almost empty except for one customer near the nonfiction shelves. Once we saw him, we immediately stopped talking. Tripp and Barb exchanged a look that I could not decipher. I looked at them questioningly but neither offered any comment. Tripp got busy making tea and I stood up to greet the customer.
“Hello, welcome to Books & Brew. Can I help you find anything?” I was hoping the smile I plastered on my face looked remotely authentic as I took a few steps closer to the tall shelves.
“Wonderful addition, lovely store indeed.” This stranger with a polished British accent smiled at me and extended his hand. “I’m Paul Easton. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I took a long look at him and saw he was well dressed, his tailored clothes were well made and were not the usual casual, laid-back island attire most people sported. There was a formality to him, a rigidness in his perfectly polite demeanor.
“Paul, hello,” I said. “I am Carr, glad you stopped in. We’ve only been open for a few weeks. We are still getting in inventory, adding our own touches, and actually working on planning some social events here at the store. Are you here for a visit?”
“Carr, hmm, interesting name. What is the derivation?”
“Carissa. So, Paul, are you staying locally—or are you just here for the day?” My head was full of the l scene we just left at the pool, all the unanswered questions, and my nerves were frayed. I was not in the mood for verbal Ping Pong.
“A woman of grace, as I recall its meaning. Beautiful name, certainly.” Again, he didn’t answer. “It appears I have arrived at an inopportune time. I will leave you to it.” He looked briefly at the three of us and settled his gaze on me. “Perhaps tomorrow will suit you better, as I do have some inquiries regarding your nonfiction section. I shall return then.” He dismissed us and saw himself out the door.
“He looks so familiar,'' Barb blurted out before the door was even shut. The bell above it was still slightly ringing. “Isn’t that the guy who rents the old Baxter house, near the school?”
“That’s it!” Tripp said, slapping his hand on the counter. “I’ve been trying to place him myself since he walked in. I think I remember seeing him at the coffee shop in the mornings last year. He insisted they buy a ceramic teapot to serve his tea. I remember how Brian rolled his eyes behind the counter.”
“Yes! That’s who it is! He was a long-term renter who always wanted a place close to the ferry, away from the resort. Didn’t he stay for a few weeks or a month or so? I remember seeing him and talking to him a few times.”
“Very opinionated,” Tripp said.
“That’s him,” she said.
They certainly weren’t selling me on him. He sounded like exactly the kind of person I would usually go out of my way to avoid.
“Coastal Carl would know,” Tripp said. “Baxter uses him for his rentals. He rents out his house by the school and he also has a villa on Beach Road. I think Carl handles both properties.”
“Coastal Carl—his ears must be ringing,” I smiled. “This is the second time today we are talking about him!’
I asked Tripp to lock the front door and turn our sign to ‘Closed’. The idea of serving customers and making small talk was just too much. “And Tripp, please go get those rockers. I know Merle will want them off the barge loading area. Do you mind?”
“Are you sure you two will be alright?” He looked from Barb to me and then back again. “I will probably be about an hour, round trip, by the time I load up and all.”
Barb answered immediately, “We will be okay, go ahead. The sooner you get back, the sooner we can be done and out of here.”
“You go too, Barb. Tripp, when you get back, can you drop me by my house?”
“You got it, boss,” he said over his shoulder as he headed toward his truck. “Be back as soon as I can.”
Barb was hesitant. “You sure you are okay if I leave you here? I have a couple of checkouts and I, honestly, I don’t know …” Her voice trailed off. We all were feeling the stress of the day.
I said nothing—I knew her well enough by now to just wait her out.
Before she followed Tripp out the door, Barb took a big breath. “I just can’t believe this happened today. I mean, I know people die—people do die on this island. I know. It’s just that they usually are older or sick and they die in their houses or the clinic—and, well, I guess there was that one person who had a heart attack on the beach. But I have lived here for about twenty-five years—and no one dies in a deserted pool in the middle of the woods. It feels like something really bad happened to whoever that was. I feel sick.” She looked sick, too, her face was white, her lips were tight and the crease between her brows was very pronounced.
“Look Barb, let’s wait to see what we learn from the deputy. It could be a very, very unfortunate accident. We don’t know. Maybe it just feels creepy because of the way Governor’s Point looks, the pool, and all the overgrown stuff. You go ahead, I will call you later. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I am okay, I guess,” she said softly as she unlocked the door and headed to her cart. I watched her drive away, made myself a fresh cup of tea, and sat in one of the club chairs. I kicked off my shoes and curled my legs up on the cushion. As I closed my eyes, I replayed the scene over and over. I thought about Barb, too. I know she is a strong, resilient woman, but as much as I love Mongin Island, she loves it that much more. She has lived many seasons of her life here. We were going to have to get each other through this—although I knew Barb would bristle if I was obvious in trying to help her. She would be the first to help someone else, but that someone else needed to be anyone else but herself.
Those thoughts must have taken me miles away because I was jolted back to the store by the insistent knock on the door. I sat another minute, hoping whoever was demanding entry would see the Closed sign and be on their way. No such luck, and now the knocking sounded closer to pounding.
“Hello, Carr! Are you here?” I heard Deputy Julie’s voice as she simultaneously rang my phone.
I walked to the door and opened it for her.
“Hey, sorry, can I come in?” she asked as she put her phone into her pocket. Three quick strides of her long legs and she was in the middle of the room.
“Certainly, has something else happened? What’s going on?” I felt my nerves tingle. Her presence alone put me on full alert.
“I am sorry to tell you that the gentleman in the pool has been tentatively identified. The coroner will be doing an autopsy later today and we should have more direction first thing in the morning. It is my understanding this person lived alone, here on the island, but we are trying to find out a little more that may help positively identify him. Would you be willing to help?”
“Of course, but I am not sure what else I can tell you.”
“We found a wallet in his pocket. We think this is Carl Tibbons. Do you know him?”
“Carl Tibbons?” I looked at her in disbelief. “No, please, that can’t be true.”
“It appears to be true,” Julie said, then explained that a positive identification was tricker than it might seem in this case. “So, Carr, you do know this man?” Julie was gently trying to get me to focus, but that now familiar feeling of grief was creeping its ugly, hateful fingers back around my heart.
I don’t know how long I sat there, trying to make sense of what Julie was saying and of the idea that this wonderful, generous man, clearly loved by so many here, was dead. Finally, I said, “If it is Carl, then yes. I met him when I was setting up the shop. He had been so welcoming and kind, everyone loved him. All I hear is how many people live here on this island because of him. He loved this island, these people.”
Julie spoke slowly and carefully, “So, that is who was selling the Governor’s Point real estate? That’s whose name was on that sign? Okay, this is good information.”
“I am stunned, honestly,” I admitted. “Completely stunned. I don’t know what else to say.”
“You know, I am not here all day, every day,” she said. “Depending on what happens with the coroner's report, I likely will be here more often but still—since you’re here full-time and the locals will soon find out you were the person who found Mr. Tibbons, you may hear things that I won’t. Would you mind keeping your eyes and ears open? Would you mind if we stay in contact? I’ve lived in this county long enough to know how the local code works.”
“Of course, I will do what I can. If someone did this to him, if this is not some weird accident, if Carl was intentionally injured, you can be sure I will help you find the—the low-life who did this. I can assure you, I won’t be the only one who will want to help find the person who hurt Carl.”
Julie looked at me directly and replied, “I have a feeling you are used to being in charge, making decisions, and getting people to do things. I think people will tell you what they know or, at least, their theories. They will want to bounce their ideas off you because you were there. It would be really helpful to hear this stuff. People sometimes know more than they think.”
I nodded.
“I appreciate it, and I am sorry for the loss of your neighbor,” she said gently as she walked to the door. “I will call you tomorrow. Thanks again.” With that, she was gone and the room was once again quiet, but not empty. It was filled with her lingering presence and the weight of what she implied. Although she didn’t say it directly, it felt like Barb could be right: This didn’t feel like an accident.
In short order, Tripp returned to the store, the rockers were unloaded and placed on the porch. It was hardly the celebration we thought it would be. We agreed we were done for the day so we shut everything down and locked up. I called for Buddy and jumped into Tripp’s cart. A few minutes later, Tripp dropped us back at my house. Closing my door, I inhaled deeply and was glad for the quiet of my own home. I took a long shower, made lunch, and poured myself some spearmint iced tea. I brought my plate of berries, yogurt, and granola and my glass to the coffee table in the family room and flopped down on my overstuffed sofa. I was physically and emotionally drained.
I texted Barb: “Hey, I know you are busy. You okay?”
“All good, I guess. Any news?” she texted back after a few minutes.
“Julie found Carl Tibbons’ wallet on the body. We will know more, prob tomorrow.”
My phone rang immediately, “The guy in the pool is Coastal Carl? Are you kidding me? Is she sure?” Barb asked all at once. She had gone right from the store to her own work with her rental properties and I could hear in her voice that she was reaching the end of her rope.
“Julie is reasonably sure it’s Carl, but only because his wallet with his ID was in the pocket of the victim, and of course, the physical description seems like a match.” I paused and considered whether to tell Barb the rest right now. I decided she should know. “Julie did explain that it’s difficult to identify a body in a case like this because of whatever chemicals were in the pool. We will know more tomorrow, until then it is just her theory. I can’t believe it, Barb. He was just at the store a few days ago. He was going to travel, he had plans. How does this happen?”
Barb was silent for a while. “Something is definitely not right,” she said at last. “I mean, I didn’t know Carl’s daily schedule but I know he never traveled for weeks at a time. I thought it was weird when he asked you to take Buddy. Something is wrong. We need to get to Julie and make a plan. She asked you to help and get involved?”
“She did, why?”
“I could tell by the way she was watching you, talking to you at Governor’s Point. Are you sure this is good for you? Are you sure you want to be involved in this? You know how it is on the island, everyone is going to be coming to you with opinions and theories. You know this, right? You’re going to be talking about death and loss, are you sure all this is good for you? You were just getting your feet under you. I’m not sure, Carr, I am not sure this is the right thing for you. At least not right now, anyway.”
Is it possible to experience peace and anger at the same time? I don’t know how else to describe what I was feeling. Barb’s care and concern filled me up, but I was angry that someone would hurt one of our own. “I have to, Barb, I have to do it. If I can help, I am going to. It is what Carl would have done. It is what we all do around here. And—I’m fairly certain it is what Rob would have wanted me to do.”
“Then count me in too. Let’s call Julie and see what’s next.”