{Seven Mile Island – June 1985}
After purposely slowing his boat as he neared the well-lit bridge, Frank Sharp pushed the startled girl into the water and then sped off into the darkness. He traveled south for a short distance before turning west into a small camouflaged estuary that was known by only a few local fishermen. As he guided his vessel deep into the vast salt marsh, the fog intensified over the mazelike waterway, and Sharp’s boat became invisible.
Sharp was determined to quickly return to the safety of his concealed boat slip behind his home. Even so, while he navigated through the narrow channel and high surrounding grasses, Sharp became agitated when his boat suddenly grounded on the shallow, muddy bottom.
Wasting no time to make his craft more buoyant, Sharp climbed out of his boat and stepped into the water. He then waded toward the stern and began pushing the boat forward. Much to his relief, after a minute or two, the boat pulled away from the mud’s viselike grip and began to float freely again. After pushing the craft into deeper water, Sharp reboarded and continued his journey.
By the time he reached the slightly larger waterway of the Leonard Thorofare, Sharp felt more confident that he’d escaped without detection. His worries faded further when he made one last turn and approached his secluded property. At that moment, Sharp realized that the onset of heavy fog had been a stroke of good fortune. The fog had blocked the moonlight during his getaway, making it virtually impossible for anyone to see his vessel.
Frank steered his vessel into his boat slip, which was partially hidden by a large tree and dense foliage. He disembarked and then silently walked up a slight slope toward his small house and barn. Once there, he was relieved that all was quiet on the causeway and that there were no passing cars.
While thankful to be back in his home, Sharp was upset that his covert surveillance activities went so terribly wrong that evening. He never anticipated that a teenage girl would interrupt his mission, and he was perturbed that he did not find the so-called cave that the two boys had openly discussed.
In a fit of frustration, he muttered, “They’re just boys playing stupid pirate games. There’s no way they could have found it. It’s just not possible.”
As the hours passed by, Frank Sharp tried to ease his concerns about taking the girl from her home by rationalizing that his actions had actually been very clever. He reasoned with false confidence, “Pushing that girl overboard was brilliant. I correctly calculated that the chasing boat would stop to save her. It certainly did, and I was able to escape without detection. Yes, indeed!”
While getting ready for bed, he noticed a small scratch on his wrist. Thinking to himself, “Hmm, wonder how that happened,” Frank went into his bathroom, washed the small wound, and then placed an adhesive bandage on it before heading for bed.
Given the evening’s frustrating events, Sharp quickly fell into a deep sleep. Even so, a few hours later, Frank’s body suddenly stirred, and he awoke in a confused state. As he sat up in his bed with his eyes wide open and a trancelike expression on his face, Frank hypnotically spoke the words “40 years … So close … Fatherland … My Führer.”
Sitting alone in the dark, he slowly became conscious of his surroundings and then realized that he had just experienced a horrible nightmare. The subject matter was familiar, but on that particular evening, the haunted visions of his secret past were daunting and filled with dark and grave hallucinations.
Frank had experienced a ghostly visit from the Führer, who was enraged and furious at Frank Sharp for betraying the Fatherland. “You are a weak man, Franz Schmidt! You’ve settled for the easy life on Seven Mile Island instead of serving Germany.”
The terrifying apparition criticized Frank for his failure to recover the U-boat and for never reaching Argentina with the valuable cargo. With the Führer’s eyes burning deep into Frank’s soul, the eerie ghost made an incensed final pledge before disappearing into the foggy night. “Franz Schmidt, from now on, you will live a life of misery. You have failed your country, and you have cheated me from realizing ultimate victory and a new world order.”