The four of us crouched behind a group of boulders and watched the two people, one man, and one woman, unsuccessfully try to relieve the otters of their prized shellfish smashers. The young otter from before, evidently Sherlock’s new best friend, was there, holding a coin, and staring impassively at the couple on the beach. The duo continued to throw bits of seafood at the otters, but only succeeded in driving the otters further from the shore.
“Why isn’t this working?” the male demanded. “You said all we had to do was feed the otters. Well, this isn’t working, is it?”
I cocked my head. The voice sounded young. Just then, the female turned to reach for the second bucket, affording us a look at her face. She was tall, had her long straight brown hair gathered up in a ponytail, and was slim. Her face had high cheekbones, was riddled with acne, and I caught a glimpse of metal in her mouth. Did that mean…? Yes, she was wearing braces!
“This kid is young,” Harry whispered.
“Around 15 or 16,” Jillian quietly guessed. “It looks like they’re trying to do what we did: bribe the otters with food so that they’ll abandon their ‘rocks.’ The problem is, they’re only driving them away.”
“How do they even know to do that, man?” Harry whispered.
I looked at Harry and gave him a thumbs up.
“And that is the million dollar question.”
“I wonder why it isn’t working for them,” Julie wondered aloud.
“They’re too impatient,” I quietly observed. “They have to gain the otters’ trust. The raft needs to know they’re there to provide food.”
“They know something is up,” Julie guessed. “That’s why none of them have taken any of the food, nor have they dropped any rocks. I counted ten otters who were carrying coins when we arrived. That number is now up to eleven.”
“Twelve,” Jillian quietly corrected.
“What do you want us to do, man?” Harry wanted to know.
I saw that of the four of us, everyone was holding their cell phones, except for me. The intent was clear. One of us should be calling the police. Unfortunately, Murphy’s Law put in its usual appearance and bit us squarely on the ass. Harry’s phone chimed just then. Loudly.
“Did you hear that?” the male voice exclaimed. “Somebody is here!”
An angry male face appeared over the rocks and scowled at us. I placed his age around the same as that of the girl’s. These kids were no older than 16, tops.
“There’s a group of people over here,” the boy called. “And they’re spying on us!”
And just like that, the boy produced a snub-nosed revolver and pointed it at us.
“Get out here, all of you. Now!”
The girl was staring at us, as though we had pointed ears and were making the Vulcan peace signs with our hands.
“Wh-who are you? What are you doing here?”
I threw a dark look at Harry as we all reluctantly walked around the boulders to confront our adversaries. I pointed at Harry’s cell.
“Explain that. Did someone text you just now?”
Harry held up his phone and smiled sheepishly, “Rugby scores. It’s the playoffs, man! I get text alerts whenever certain countries play. Hey, man, don’t balk technology. Embrace it!”
”I’m gonna embrace it all right,” I vowed.
“Who are you?” the girl asked again.
“We should be asking you the same thing,” I stated. I looked at the boy and down at the gun he was holding. “Do you mind? Put that away before someone gets hurt.”
“Don’t think I know how to use this?” the kid challenged. “I’ve had plenty of practice with it. My father takes me shooting every other weekend.”
“When he has visitation rights?” Harry guessed.
The gun swung toward Harry.
“Shut up! You don’t know anything about me!”
“Other than hitting that nail on the head,” I mumbled.
Harry, overhearing, gave me a quick thumbs-up.
“Who are you people?” the boy demanded. “What are you doing here?”
“How did you find us?” the girl added.
“We’ll make a deal with you,” Jillian calmly began. “You tell us who you are, and we’ll tell you who we are. And, we’ll even throw in what we’re doing here, okay?”
I glanced down at the dogs, surprised they weren’t barking their fool heads off. Usually, in these situations, which I’m sorry to say, have been happening with an unpleasant increase in frequency, the dogs would be growling, barking, or snarling. But this time? Psshtt. This time, the dogs weren’t even growling. In fact, looking down at them, I noticed they had settled onto the ground and were watching us, as though we were having a pleasant conversation. Why weren’t the little snots barking?
The girl finally nodded, “Fine. My name is Beth. Beth Williams. This is Michael... er, Mike.”
“Does Mike have a last name?” Jillian politely inquired.
“Don’t tell them my last name,” Mike growled.
“A deal is a deal,” Jillian reminded Beth.
“Mike Thompson. He’s my boyfriend.”
“How old are you, Beth?” Jillian asked.
Beth frowned and waggled a finger, “No, that’s not the arrangement. You need to tell me who you are and how you found us.”
Jillian nodded, “You’re right. You’ve upheld your end of the deal, so I’ll honor mine. My name is Jillian Cooper. That’s my boyfriend over there, holding the dogs. His name is Zachary Anderson. Over there, with the beard, is Harrison Watt and standing next to him is his wife, Julie. They’re friends of ours. As for what we’re doing here, well, we’re on vacation.”
A loud bark made everyone jump.
Jillian smiled and looked down at Sherlock.
“I’m sorry, boy. I didn’t mean to forget you. Beth? Down there, with the orange, black, and white coat is Sherlock. Watson is the other corgi.”
Beth smiled fleetingly, “Sherlock and Watson. That’s cute.”
“What’s the matter with you?” Mike snapped. “They’re stalling for time! I should just take care of them right now!”
Okay, that ought to earn the kid some barks and growls from the dogs. But, did they? Nope. In fact, it looked as though Sherlock wanted to go over to the two kids and give them a proper introduction.
“What’s wrong with you?” I quietly hissed at the dogs. “Why aren’t you barking?”
“Smart dogs,” Mike coolly returned. “They know if they act up, they’ll get shot.”
I frowned. If you so much as threaten my dogs, you miserable little puke, then I’ll...
Jillian thumped me in the gut. She must have seen the look on my face and correctly guessed what I had been thinking. I scowled at Mike, but not before looking at Jillian and giving her a reassuring smile. I won’t do anything yet, my dear. And I stress the word ‘yet.’
A thought occurred. I pointed at the nearly empty buckets of seafood.
“How did you learn about what we did here yesterday?” I wanted to know. “I didn’t think that was common knowledge.”
It was the girl’s turn to look surprised.
“Wait, that was you? You’re the ones who were able to get the coins from the otters?”
“Beautiful,” Mike said, as he brandished his gun. “If you did it before, then you can do it again. Make the otters give us their rocks.”
“How do you even know about them?” Julie wanted to know. “Do you have some type of connection to the aquarium?”
“I work there,” Beth returned. “Well, I mean, I volunteer there.”
“You’re the minor,” I guessed, as a few pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. “We just heard about you earlier today. You obviously must have been at the aquarium and overheard us, although we certainly didn’t see you.”
“There were plenty of places to hide in there,” Harry reminded me. “And, an aquarium that size always has running water, loud pumps, and so forth. You wouldn’t have been able to see her or hear her, bro.”
“How did you know where to find us?” Mike asked, growing angry again. “No one knew we were here.”
I calmly pointed down at the dogs, “They did. We’re here because of them. Whether they heard you, or they smelled you, it’s irrelevant. They knew you were here.” Right about then, I stared down at the nearly empty bucket that was closest to me, then out at the water, where the otters were floating, and then back at the girl. “You’re one of Jack Carlton’s volunteers. So, does that mean you’re the one who killed him?”
“He drowned,” Mike spat.
“He drowned, ‘cause he had been stung by one of the most venomous octopuses in the world,” I corrected. “The blue-ringed octopus, native to waters much warmer than this.” I then looked at Beth. “But, you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“What’s he talking about?” Mike demanded, as he turned to Beth. “You said that guy drowned. He did drown, right?”
Beth’s eyes teared up, “Yes, he drowned. It was an accident! He wasn’t supposed to die!”
The gun Mike had been holding slowly lowered until it was pointing straight down, at the sandy ground.
“Is what they’re saying true? Did you do something to that diver?”
Sensing an opportunity which might buy us some time, or possibly an avenue to escape, I decided to try and get the two youngsters into a full-blown argument. Don’t ask me why. It must be my evil streak.
“Your girlfriend stole one of 15 juvenile, blue-ringed octopuses,” I companionably told Mike. I glanced down at the dogs, but they were still supremely uninterested in the tense situation we had found ourselves in. “Somehow, and we don’t know how as of yet, she got the thing to sting Mr. Carlton. I don’t know how long it took to affect him, but it caused paralysis, which meant he literally stopped moving and, unfortunately, breathing. Because of her,” I said, pointing at Beth, “an experienced, well-respected diver lost his life.”
By this time, Beth was full-on bawling, letting out great, heaving sobs. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she rocked back and forth. I kinda felt like an ass, but it was working. For all intents and purposes, Mike was now staring at his girlfriend as though she was a stranger to him. And, for all I knew, maybe that’s what Mike was now thinking.
“You admit to being the person who stole that octopus baby?” Jillian softly asked.
Beth’s tear-streaked face nodded.
“How did you get it to sting Jack Carlton?” Jillian continued.
“It wasn’t supposed to be him!” Beth insisted. “I never wanted to kill him!”
“And yet, you did,” I added.
“How did it happen?” Jillian asked.
“I... I put the octopus in a dive mask,” Beth hesitantly began. “It was tiny. I watched it settle inside the nose piece and figured this would be perfect. I thought for certain it would look like an accident.”
“Finding a poisonous octopus in a dive mask would certainly raise a question or two,” I argued.
“You don’t dive, do you?” Beth accused.
I frowned, “Hey, I may not look like it now, but I used to. What does that have to do with anything?”
“If you suddenly felt like you couldn’t breathe,” Beth said, “then more than likely you’ll rip the mask off your face. And if that happens? What then?”
“The octopus would be flushed out to sea,” I guessed, drawing a nod from the young girl.
“If you didn’t want to kill Jack Carlton,” Julie slowly began, “then why put that thing in his mask?”
“It wasn’t his mask!” Beth insisted. “Mr. Carlton must have been in a hurry. He grabbed the wrong mask by mistake. I would never hurt him. I care about him.”
“You sure have a funny way of showing someone that you care.”
“I said I didn’t mean to kill him!” Beth raged, all remorse gone.
“If not him,” I said, frowning, “then who was your target?”
“That... that b-bitch! Sherry!”
“Sherry?” Jillian repeated, puzzled. “Wait. Wasn’t that the name of the girl who was found hiding in the bushes the day Jack died?”
“This is all her fault!” Beth wailed. “If it wasn’t for her, then none of this would’ve happened.”
“You were trying to kill another volunteer?” I incredulously repeated. “Why? What in the world for? You’re both volunteers, for crying out loud. You guys aren’t even getting paid!”
“Jealousy,” Jillian guessed.
Beth nodded, “He doesn’t need another female volunteer. He has me! I put in all the long hours. I do all the jobs no one else wants to do. Mr. Carlton doesn’t need anyone else but me.”
“Didn’t I hear somewhere that he had six volunteers?” I said, as I turned to Jillian. “Wouldn’t that suggest he has enough work for everyone? Maybe he wants to have all those volunteers.”
“But he didn’t need them!” Beth wailed, sounding very much like her age. “He had me! Since Mr. Carlton used so many volunteers in his many projects, I had to show him that I was the best.”
“Wait,” I said, as I held up my hands in a ‘time-out’ gesture. “Are you suggesting that there was a competition among the volunteers to see who’d become the favorite? What in the world for?”
“You don’t understand,” Beth accused. “It was a well-known fact that Mr. Carlton was sent all over the world. He always told us volunteers that we really should have passports, ‘cause he never knows when he might need help when he leaves the country. As for Sherry, well, he’s taken her a few times to South America. To Venezuela, of all places! That should have been me! I want to go to another country!”
“Beth, how old are you?” Jillian suddenly asked.
“I’m 16. Why?”
“Do you think it’s socially acceptable for a grown man to take an underage girl with him?” Jillian pointedly asked. “To a foreign country, of all places?”
“He could,” Beth sniffed, as her nose lifted. “If he wanted to, then he could have made it happen.”
“Perhaps,” Jillian said, shrugging. “But, it’s highly unlikely. You’re still a child. You’d have to wait until you became a legal adult.”
“Holy crap on a cracker,” I said, shaking my head. “She was hoping for something more, wasn’t she?”
“Did you think Jack Carlton would develop feelings for you?” Julie asked, concerned. “Don’t you watch television? A grown man would never fraternize with a young child. And if they did, don’t you know how many times it ends badly for the child?”
“Stop calling me a child!” Beth demanded. “I’m smarter than you, more motivated than you...”
“...and will be doing more jail time than Julie ever will,” I interrupted. I glanced over at Mike. “What do you think, pal? Are you still willing to stand beside her?”
“You never said anything about killing a guy,” Mike insisted. “You said you knew where we could find some sunken treasure. We were going to collect all these coins and sell them! You even told me you found some buyers online!”
She thought she’d be able to keep the treasure? Drawing on some of my newly acquired info I had gleaned while researching shipwrecks, I smiled. “Did she also tell you that, according to the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987, any sunken ship found within the territorial boundaries of the United States belongs to the United States?”
“Nice one, Zachary,” Jillian whispered.
“You made that up,” Mike defiantly insisted.
I shook my head, “I really didn’t. It has a silly name, but, unfortunately for you, that Act really exists. That’s why there are so few treasure hunts on American soil. Or in the American water. If you find something, then it automatically belongs to Uncle Sam.”
“Oh, this keeps getting better and better!” Mike complained. “Is what he’s saying true? We wouldn’t be allowed to keep the treasure?”
“The government wouldn’t have to know about it,” Beth snapped, growing angry and defensive for the first time. “Who was going to tell them? You? I certainly wasn’t.”
Another random thought occurred. And no, this one wasn’t designed to piss either of the teenagers off. What can I say? I have a knack for poking the bear.
“Tell me something,” I began. I pointed out at the otters, who were still in the area, but floating a respectable distance from shore. “What did you hope to gain from this? I mean, you guys mentioned you had some buyers lined up for the sunken treasure? You’re only a kid, who is still… wait. Let me guess. You’re in high school?”
Beth nodded.
“Right. You’re still in school. Do you really want to tangle with people who willingly deal in black market treasure?”
“It was a risk,” Beth admitted.
“You found the San Augustin, didn’t you?” I said.
A look of defiance appeared on the young girl’s face, “Maybe. What’s it to you? That treasure is mine!”
“That’s a lofty goal for someone so young,” Harry observed. “What’s up with that? What do you plan on doin’ with all that money?”
“Say nothing,” Mike advised.
“We know you know the location of the wreck,” Jillian soothingly told the girl. “What harm could there be in telling us what you plan on doing with the recovered coins? Were you going to use the money to start your whale institute?”
“I was going to prove to Jack Carlton that I could be taken as seriously as any adult,” Beth sobbed. “Yes, you’re right. I found the location of San Augustin. How? Not by making multiple dives day after day, month after month, wasting tons of money. I found it by studying; reading. I determined where the wreck went down, I calculated where the currents would have dropped the wreckage, and after all these years, where it would have ended up now. After I obtained my deep water certification, Mike and I went diving. Sure enough, we found it.”
“But so did the damn otters,” Mike groused. “Why couldn’t they leave well enough alone?”
Ignoring him, Beth continued, “With the coordinates in my hand, I went to see Mr. Carlton. Since I had located the wreck earlier in the year when Mr. Carlton had been in New Zealand, I had to wait for him to return to the aquarium. When I saw he was finally back, I approached him and said I had something he really needed to see. And it was urgent. Sherry sensed something was up. She was jealous of me. She always has been. She knew I had something that Mr. Carlton was going to want to see. So, she kept close to him in an attempt to take credit for whatever it was I was planning on sharing.”
These volunteers were sounding more and more like a bunch of school children. Then again, Beth here was still in school. Who knew how many kids volunteered at the aquarium?
“What happened?” I softly asked, already knowing the outcome.
“Once I knew Mr. Carlton was convinced I was serious, and he agreed to go diving with me, we made plans to meet out at the beach. Finally, I was going to get my due. I was finally going to show Mr. Carlton proof I had discovered the long, sought-after San Augustin. With any amount of luck, Mr. Carlton would want to film the discovery for National Geographic. It would bring more fame to Mr. Carlton, and he would reward me by taking me under his wing, perhaps introducing me to some of his associates at National Geographic.”
“Like a proud papa,” I said, throwing enough of a sneer to earn myself a scowl from the boyfriend.
“But, as luck would have it, on the day of the scheduled dive, I overheard Sherry ask Mr. Carlton if she could accompany us. I almost cried when I heard him agree to her request. This was my time! This was my discovery! Why did that bitch have to butt her nose in where it didn’t belong? Well, I had to put a stop to her.”
“So, you made plans to take Sherry out of the equation,” Jillian deduced.
Beth nodded, “Exactly. I stole one of those blue-ringed octopus babies, stashed it in Sherry’s mask, and waited to go diving. The only problem was, Mr. Carlton was stuck on a video call with one of his friends in another country. He was late to our meeting, so he...” At this point, Beth trailed off and started sobbing. Collecting herself, she cleared her throat and started again. “He was late. Because he was late, he was rushed. He grabbed his and Sherry’s mask and hurried to the beach, only, in his haste, he took Sherry’s mask, by mistake.”
“Did Sherry grab his first?” I asked, curious.
Beth shrugged, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past her. I didn’t know anything had gone wrong until... until I saw Sherry suiting up on the beach and then, suddenly, running away. That’s when I turned and saw Mr. Carlton, floating face down in the water. I knew immediately what had happened. Somehow, and I didn’t know how, he had donned the mask intended for Sherry.”
“Sherry freaks,” I guessed, as I continued the train of thought, “and hides in the bushes, not sure what to do.”
“Oh, I hate her! She ruined everything!”
“If you would have had your way,” I told the petulant girl, “then another girl would be dead, instead of Jack Carlton. Don’t you get it? You took another person’s life! That’s something you’re going to have to live with for the rest of your life.”
Beth sobbed as she fell silent.
Jillian suddenly cleared her throat, “I have a question. Where is Sherry now? And why didn’t she go to the police? She clearly knew Jack Carlton died under mysterious circumstances.”
“Who the hell is Sherry?” Mike wanted to know, as he turned to confront his young girlfriend once more. “You mean, she’s someone you actually wanted to kill? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You’re not one to talk,” I pointed out. “You were pointing that gun at the four of us earlier, and you claimed you’d have the fortitude to pull the trigger.”
“You know I do,” Mike growled. “Whose gun do you think this is?”
“Your daddy’s?” Harry nonchalantly quipped.
“It’s mine!” Mike insisted. “I know how to handle a gun. I can and will use it if I have to.”
“Did you take care of Sherry, too?” I asked, growing angry.
“I never killed anyone!” Mike insisted.
“But she did,” I said, pointing at Beth. “Maybe she killed Sherry, too.”
“I wanted to,” Beth admitted, as she clenched her hands, “but I couldn’t find her. She wasn’t at her house and she wasn’t answering her phone.”
“And why would she?” Harry demanded. “You are trying to kill her, man! I’d be lying low, too, if I knew a nutjob like you was looking for me.”
“The bitch even had the nerve to blackmail me,” Beth continued.
There was no mistaking the venom in the young girl’s voice. Here was a girl who truly hated another girl, and for what reason? Social status. Beth wanted to lord it over Sherry, that she was Jack Carlton’s number one helper, only, if Jack was like any other sensible person, he’d never allow himself to be alone with a minor.
“You were being blackmailed?” Mike repeated, frowning. Then, his eyes opened in shock. “That’s why you wanted to borrow $500 from me? Was it to pay this Sherry person?”
“I was going to pay you back,” Beth snapped. “What choice did I have? She threatened to tell the police if I didn’t do as she said. As soon as we had those coins, we could pay her off and we’d be done with her.”
“Pay up in order to keep quiet,” I reflected. “It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, and sadly, it usually doesn’t end well. For either party.”
Beth hurried over to Mike and tried to take the gun from him.
“Knock it off, Elizabeth! I’m not giving you the gun. I told you, you have no experience with it. I do. I’ll be keeping it, thank you very much.”
Beth pointed a shaking finger at the four of us. Er, the six of us.
“Then make them show you what they did with the otters,” Beth all but shouted. “We need those coins! If they’re seen with those coins, then people will know the San Augustin is close!”
“A bunch of people already know about them,” I pointed out. Beth’s angry red face swiveled until she was staring straight at me. “You work at the aquarium. You haven’t overheard any of the conversations?”
“You’re lying,” Beth insisted.
I shook my head, “In this case, I am not. The director, Jon Hawk, knows. So does a number of the staff. Do you really think you’ll be able to keep this under wraps? I personally think it’s only a matter of time before the aquarium launches a full scale dive, centered in this area. How long before they find the ship? Not long, if you ask me.”
“Well, maybe they will and maybe they won’t,” Beth sneered. “At least, when they find the ship, there won’t be any more treasure on it. It’ll be long gone.”
Remembering a bit more from my recent research into shipwrecks, I laughed derisively and crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you telling me that you think the two of you would be able to move 60 tons of treasure that easily? Methinks not, Grasshopper.”
“60 t-tons?” Mike stammered, as he looked at Beth and waited for her to contradict that statement. When she didn’t, his eyes opened wide. “How are we supposed to move that kind of cargo? My uncle’s boat is nowhere near large enough to handle something that weighs so much.”
“Then we’ll bring it up in small loads,” Beth said, growing angry once more, “and make multiple trips. Stop arguing with me about this, Michael! You said you’d help me, no questions asked, right? Well, I need your help!”
“That’d be aiding and abetting,” I translated, as I looked at Mike. For the record, the kid’s gun was still pointed down.
“I… I don’t know, Elizabeth.”
“Don’t you wuss out on me!” Beth cried.
The teen girl lunged forward, intent on relieving Mike of his gun, only he was ready for just such an attack. He stepped to the side, spun to his left, and stuck out a leg. Beth went down onto the sand, hard.
“How d-dare you!” Beth sputtered, as her face surfaced and rivulets of sand cascaded off her head. “You don’t want to help me? Fine! I’ll do this all by myself!”
I made a sweeping gesture with one of my hands, “And what about us? What’s your plan? The four of us now know what you’ve been up to. You’ve indicated you don’t want Mike around anymore. How do you plan on getting out of this?”
As if the universe had been waiting for me to ask that very question, police officers suddenly appeared out of nowhere and swarmed the two teenagers. Within moments, it was over. Mike was relieved of his gun and then both the teenagers were ordered – at gunpoint – to lie down on the sandy beach. Beth gasped with surprise and immediately raised her hands in surrender. Her face fell as she wordlessly complied with the orders given by the police. After a few moments, Mike did the same. Then, much to my amusement, both teens began laying on the water works, with Mike being far and away the most charismatic actor.
“This is all her doing!” Mike was insisting. “All she said I had to do was help her bring coins up from some sunken ship. She was going to do the rest. I swear!”
“In his defense,” I began, “Mike didn’t know anything about the death of Jack Carlton. That was all her doing.”
The two teens were quickly cuffed, pulled to their feet, and led away. As for us, we were guided away from the water and led back to our hotel, where a couple of familiar faces were waiting for us. I nodded at Officer Adolphson, and her grouchy partner, Officer Lewis. Also present was Jon Hawk and a few other aquarium officials I didn’t recognize.
“Mr. Anderson, Ms. Cooper,” Jon began, as he caught sight of us coming through the hotel’s lobby, “tell me you’re okay.”
“We’re fine,” I assured the aquarium director. “We have a couple of questions for you, though.”
We were led to a sitting area near the hotel’s front desk, where we all took a seat. Sherlock and Watson curled up by my feet and watched the proceedings with disinterest. Every couple of minutes or so, both dogs looked longingly back the way we had come. I think both of them would much rather be outside, playing in the water with their otter friends.
“How did you know we were in trouble?” I asked, as Jon took a seat next to mine.
“It’s easy. We were already watching that beach. As soon as we saw what was happening, we phoned for the police.”
“Why were you watching that beach?” Jillian wanted to know.
Jon laughed and shook his head, “Kids. When will they ever learn that sound carries? Ms. Williams was in such a rush to fill several buckets with otter food that she didn’t stop to consider how much noise she was making. Several of our staff reported what they saw to me, and noticing the striking similarities to the experiment I personally instructed you to try with the otters earlier, knew immediately what she was going to try and do. We watched, we waited, we filmed,” Jon said, throwing emphasis on the word, “and when we had what we needed, we notified.”
“I don’t think we were in any danger,” Julie said. “I work at the police department in Pomme Valley. I’m no police officer, but we still have a lot of training. The boy, Mike, was showing no signs of aggression, or hostility.”
“Let’s agree to disagree, Jules,” Harry sputtered. “He had a gun. He pointed it at us.”
“For only a brief time,” I recalled. “Then, for the most part, Mike had it pointed at the ground. And, he refused to let Beth have it, citing lack of experience. That must be why the dogs never barked. They somehow knew we weren’t in any danger from those two kids.”
Jillian nodded, “That’s true. I had forgotten about that. Go easy on him, will you?”
“I’ll pass that information on,” Jon promised. “Now, about San Augustin, did you hear Ms. Williams say she located the wreck?”
The four of us nodded.
“Did she, perhaps, say where it was? Did she give exact coordinates?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “But, we do know it’s not far from where those otters are. They keep pulling coins off the wreck. Apparently, they really enjoy using those sparkling rocks.”
“Come Monday,” Jon began, “I’ll be dispatching several teams of divers to McAbee Beach. If that girl can find a sunken Spanish ship, then so can we. We’ll find it, document it, and preserve whatever treasure is left.”
“Good for you,” I said. “Hey, let me ask you something. Whatever happened to Sherry? She was the one hiding in the bushes when we found Jack’s body.”
“She hasn’t reported for her duties at the aquarium in the last few days,” Jon solemnly reported. “We contacted her employer and discovered she hasn’t shown for work there, either. To say we’re concerned is an understatement.”
“Do you think Beth found her?” Jillian asked.
Jon shrugged, “Officer Adolphson said she personally drove by Sherry’s apartment, but her roommate also stated she had been missing.”
“I sure do hope she turns up safe and sound,” Jillian wistfully said. “I’d hate to think that something happened to her.”
I nodded, “You and me both.”
“That goes for us, too,” Jon said.
The aquarium director then reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out four envelopes. He handed one to each of us. Opening my envelope, I could see an ID card and a printed letter, with Monterey Bay Aquarium’s logo on it. Skimming through the letter, I started smiling. Jon was giving the four of us lifetime memberships to the aquarium. There’d be no more charging us admission whenever we came for a visit.
“Wow,” I said, as I placed the ID card and letter back into its envelope. “I appreciate that. I really do. You didn’t have to, but I believe I can speak for the four of us when I say, I’m glad you did.”
“It’s not often we can reward members of the public for helping our facility,” Jon explained. “Consider this our way of saying thanks. Plus, Sherlock and Watson did find the missing dive log. And… you and Ms. Cooper are helping us with our security issues.”
Jillian and I both nodded.
We all stood and shook Jon’s hand. After the aquarium’s team left, we filled out statements for the police, answered enough questions to be able to write a novel (trust me on this one), and ended up sitting back down in the same seats we had been sitting before. After all, it had been a harrowing day.
Detecting movement in my peripheral vision, I could see the manager of the hotel waving at me. He was behind the counter and gesturing at a package that had recently been delivered. My eyebrows shot up, my pulse quickened, and suddenly, I found myself out of breath. It was here? Was it Saturday already?
It was time to reveal my surprise.