Captain Dead Man (Sweetfern Harbor Mystery Book 3)

by Wendy Meadows

  “As much as I hate to send you on your way, I really must. We have a full day tomorrow,” she said reluctantly.

  “I know. I know,” he said. “It’s just hard to let you go so easily.” He told her goodnight and reached for the doorknob. Then he turned back impulsively and kissed her once more. After he left, Brenda felt his touch long into the night.

  The next morning, Brenda told her chef Morgan to extend breakfast an extra half hour. “I’m sure everyone came in late last night and may sleep in a little longer this morning.”

  Morgan readily agreed. Phyllis took a bite of buttered toast. “It was a wonderful night. I’m so proud of William. He knows how to draw a crowd to our little village.”

  “I agree, he’s done a lot for Sweetfern Harbor.”

  Phyllis left the table a few minutes later and stated she would start cleaning the sitting room first. “I doubt any of the rooms will be ready for cleaning until around noon or early afternoon.”

  Brenda agreed with her as she finished her coffee. But she hurried to her apartment when she realized Mac would be there to pick her up in fifteen minutes. No one on the second floor stirred as she quickly walked back to her apartment door and went in to reapply her make-up. Just as she was finishing up, she heard soft voices in the foyer. She recognized his voice and she couldn’t help but feel that special feeling inside – but she had to force herself not to glance longingly at the drawer where the ring lay hidden in its box. Mac Rivers stood waiting for her.

  Phyllis told Brenda she would watch the front desk since Allie had babysat late the night before and would be in at ten. Brenda thanked her for pitching in to help and then she and Mac left.

  “I can’t wait to tour a racing boat,” said Brenda with excitement.

  Mac opened his car door for her and they headed for the docks. As he drove down Main Street, they noticed two of the captains entering the coffee shop and he slowed the car down. “We’d better stop and let them know we’re on our way now. I wonder if they expected to be there when we look at the boats.”

  He parked and they walked across the street to the shop. Scully and Pratt were chatting with David Williams, the boat race official. David said hello to Brenda and Mac, as did the captains.

  “We’re on our way to tour your boats. Do you prefer we wait for you to go with us?” Brenda asked.

  “The boats are unlocked. We don’t mind if you take a self-tour. Let the man at the harbor know it’s all right with us.” Captain Pratt then mentioned that Captain Eddy was probably down there. “Tell him hello for me. It will probably be hard for him to lose but that’s the way it goes.” He laughed as if he had told the joke of a lifetime.

  Mac took Brenda’s arm and told everyone they would see them at the race. When they got to the harbor, they were astounded at the sight of the three boats a few yards from one another.

  “Once again Wally has outdone himself,” said Mac, taking in the sight of the trim sailboats shining in the sun and bobbing gently on the water. They were elegant crafts that looked as if they were racing even when they were at anchor, with deeply polished sides and decks, shiny brass fittings, and crisp sails and ropes stretching up to their tall masts. “I heard it took him two years to build these three new boats. From the outside, it doesn’t look as if he shortchanged the captains on anything.”

  “You are so right. They are spectacular.” Brenda shielded her eyes with her right hand and scanned the harbor. She stopped at the Eddy. “I guess Captain Eddy is in his boat.”

  “He may be, or he could be enjoying the town and his fans here to watch him win. I know the competitors always like to mingle with the crowds around Sweetfern Harbor before the race starts.” He took her hand. “Let’s start with the Eddy. We might get a personal tour from Captain Eddy if he’s here.”

  They walked the short pier to the docked Eddy. At close range, it was even more dazzling than it was from a distance. They knocked on the door of the cabin. Brenda waited with excitement and looked around the harbor again. But then, strangely, they realized no one was answering their knock. When Mac knocked harder the second time, the door pushed open under his hand. He looked at Brenda and then called out to Captain Eddy. There was no response. They looked at each other questioningly.

  “I suppose we can go on in. He did tell us last night to take a look at his boat, too,” Brenda said. “It’s like you said. He’s probably mingling with the tourists in town.”

  They entered and the richly detailed mahogany interior impressed Brenda. “This wood is beautiful.” They looked around at the neat cabinetry and upholstered seats with nautical motifs embroidered along the edges. “Do you think there’s a sleeping cabin on board?” She looked around, curious about everything she saw.

  “Oh yes, definitely. I think these captains often take long voyages together. They will be on the water for days or weeks at a time.”

  “Do they go in one boat together?”

  “As I understand it, they each run their own boat but follow the same route. I’ve often wondered how they know how to navigate like that together.”

  Mac led the way and they found the cabin where the captain slept. Brenda excitedly peered around from behind the detective, eager to see the cozy sleeping cabin. But she saw two feet at the end of the bed and she stepped back, embarrassed.

  “Let’s not wake him. We can go to the other two boats and come back when he wakes up.”

  But Mac didn’t budge. Captain Eddy’s clothing appeared wet from the waist up. One of his hands laid over the other one, unnaturally still. Too still to be sleeping. Mac walked closer and Brenda followed him. He felt the captain’s pulse and then turned to Brenda and shook his head.

  “I’ll call for an ambulance,” Mac said, “but I don’t think he will need CPR.”

  Shock waves shot through Brenda. She stared at the still form on the bed. His physique looked massive compared to her observations of him in the coffee shop, but in death, he was utterly motionless. She stepped away and waited numbly for Mac to make his call. After that was done, they walked up onto the deck. Both knew to observe, not touch. Brenda pointed to a large open-topped barrel filled with water. There were faint red streaks on the side of the wooden vessel.

  “Could that be blood?” said Brenda. “Do you think this was foul play?”

  “I have my suspicions. It looked like he had been positioned and his upper clothing was damp. The rest of him was dry.”

  Brenda formed her next words carefully.

  “I think he must have been killed right here on the deck,” Brenda said. “The blood is probably the result of scraping his hands to fight off whoever was dunking his head in this water.” She bent down and examined the red marks closely and saw what might be scratches incised into the wet wood. She felt certain the marks were streaks of blood.

  “Your premise is believable, especially knowing his clothing is wet only on the top half. If he had drowned in the harbor, or somewhere else of natural causes, he would be wet head to toe. I think whoever killed him dragged him up to his bed.”

  They stepped back when they heard the sirens. Two officers appeared on the deck behind two EMTs who were quickly directed to the bed in the cabin. Mac immediately went into professional mode and ordered the cops to start taping off the boat and then begin taking samples from what he determined was the initial scene of the act. He made a grim phone call to the county offices and soon the coroner arrived and he quickly pronounced Captain Eddy deceased.

  “It looks like a drowning,” the coroner said as he filled out his paperwork, “but it’s curious that only his upper clothing is wet. That obviously means he didn’t fall overboard.”

  Brenda watched as the coroner consulted with Mac and the police officers began to comb over the crime scene meticulously. Her mind flooded with possibilities of who could have done such a thing. Mac seemed to read her thoughts as he paused and came to her side.

  “It’s a mystery as to who could have done this...and what was the mot
ive? He seemed like a likeable guy and compared to the other two, he didn’t even speak up much.” He shook his head.

  Brenda had no answer and she continued to observe the surroundings, trying to keep out of the way. She knew Mac needed her to make a witness statement, but she nervously glanced at her watch. The races were scheduled to begin at noon, which meant in a short time, the crowds would be in place to watch an event that probably wouldn’t happen. It would be a madhouse. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realized her beloved town of Sweetfern Harbor had been touched again by a deadly crime.

  “Maybe we should contact Captains Scully and Pratt,” she said.

  “I think we’ll wait for a few more minutes. I don’t want them to burst in here until we finish preliminary work. Once Captain Eddy’s body is off the boat, I’ll do that personally. Do you want to go along with me?”

  “Yes, I do. They will be very upset. They were like brothers from what everyone has said.” She recalled how much they enjoyed bantering with one another last night. A huge hole would be left between them when they heard the news.

  Sometime later, it was finally determined the body could be removed, and the coroner and his technicians slowly wheeled the body to their van, wrapped carefully in a white sheet. As usual, word had already spread through Sweetfern Harbor about the death of Captain Eddy. Just as the coroner’s gurney reached the van parked at the docks, the two captains rushed to the harbor and Mac and Brenda had to intercept them before they reached the boat of their fallen brother. Pratt and Scully stood stock-still in shock at the news, as the body was wheeled past them. Pratt spoke first.

  “I can’t believe Eddy is dead. Our brother, our fellow captain. What happened?”

  “Everything is preliminary at this point,” Mac said. “As soon as we know anything we’ll put out the word. I’m very sorry for your loss. I know how much he meant to both of you.”

  The captains thanked him for his kind words, their eyes distant. Then Captain Scully seemed to rouse himself and said something surprising to both Brenda and the detective.

  “David Williams says the race will proceed,” he said. “There’s a visiting detective – a friend of yours, apparently? – who says he knows how to race a sailboat. He grew up around here, and he says he will take Eddy’s place in the race.”

  Mac stared at Captain Scully in disbelief. “This is a crime scene. No one is racing this boat any time soon. They will have to at least delay the race until later this afternoon. We need time to go over this boat and can’t risk losing fingerprints and other evidence that is here. During a race, a lot of the forensic evidence will be contaminated or lost completely.”

  “Detective Bryce Jones assures us forensics can finish in a short time frame,” said a voice behind them. Mac and Brenda turned to see David Williams approaching them from the parking lot at the docks. He had a grim but determined look on his face. “The race must go on. The town can’t afford to lose money on this. If the top seeded competitors – that’s the Eddy, the Scully, and the Pratt – if they don’t race, the town is liable for refunds for everyone who purchased a ticket. I’m sorry. This is a true tragedy but we can’t make it worse by plunging the town into bankruptcy. We’d never be able to afford to continue the race in the future. As sad as it is, today the race must go on.” David Williams stood behind the two captains and clapped their shoulders briefly as if in solidarity. Brenda was taken aback and she scrutinized the two captains’ faces, curious to see their reaction. But both men must’ve still been in shock. They betrayed no signs of grief. Only the blank looks of men staring out at the coroner’s van as it drove away.

  Mac clamped his lips tight and then said “David, I understand what you’re saying, but you have to understand that Detective Jones does not have any jurisdiction in this investigation. He has no idea how long we’ll need and he has no right giving you a timeline. This is a crime scene and can’t be rushed through. I’m prepared to go before a judge if you want to take issue with the police department’s authority on this matter, but for now, I am in charge and you will have to delay things until we are finished.”

  David’s eyes held onto Mac’s. Brenda noticed the race official was first to look away. “Fine, I’ll go get a judge. Perhaps you don’t understand how important this race is. Bryce Jones is a fine detective and perhaps you should learn a thing or two about crime scene processing from someone like him,” David finished, letting his insult land with devastating force. Mac’s stare penetrated the man in front of him. David pressed on. “If Jones knows how to race then he will be the one racing this boat.” He turned on his heel and left.

  Mac didn’t say anything. Brenda felt his anger seething through his skin. She found it hard to believe the audacity of Detective Bryce Jones. He should know his place in this serious situation. She wondered just how good a detective he was in Brooklyn if he came back to Sweetfern Harbor, his own hometown, just to get involved in a mess like this.

  “What can I do to speed things along in case they recklessly go ahead with this race?” Brenda asked Mac.

  “I wish I could say that no judge will allow this. I wish I knew which one David will go to. He has an edge with the court system. Some in there go way back with him.” Mac led the way back to the sailboat as he told her several things that must be done first. She worked alongside the cops who specialized in forensics as they worked on the most urgent tasks. Frustratingly, no fingerprints had showed up in their initial sweep of the crime scene. There were more advanced techniques they could try, but that would take time. Meanwhile, Mac went to speak to the two captains who now stood behind the yellow tape at the entrance to the boat.

  “This race must go forward, Detective,” said Scully. “Eddy wouldn’t want it any other way.”

  “We have a crime scene here. He did not die a natural death. At best, the race will be delayed. I’m not even promising we’ll be finished by noon.” Mac found it hard to believe the two were focused more on the race than on the death of their friend and competitor, but before he could pose a question to them about their attitude, another pair of police cars pulled up nearby. He left the captains for the moment and went around to one side of the car to instruct the new arrivals as to where they were needed.

  “David is going on TV just now,” said one of the younger cops who just arrived. “He’s asking for anyone who knows how to race a boat like this to step forward. That’s in case someone is better than Bryce Jones. But I think we all know Jones was good at it when he lived here a while back. He knows what he’s doing out on the water.” Just as he said this, Mac stepped around the boat to where they were chatting.

  Mac glared at the man, who looked away and shuffled his feet. Mac gave him orders to get busy on forensics in the cargo hold with one of the older cops. Brenda was sure the young cop was directed to someone more experienced and mature. At any rate, she knew his words didn’t set well with the detective.

  4

  The Race Must Go On

  Mac quietly fumed as he returned to the sailboat to continue with the investigation that was now under the pressure of a ludicrous deadline. He knew Bryce was an expert, but he had no right to step in like this – and he certainly wasn’t acting like much of a friend. The young detective was brash and assuming, something that did not tone down Detective Mac Rivers’ mood.

  Mac and his crew continued to gather forensic evidence on Captain Eddy’s boat. Even in a trying situation, the detective was proud of his team of officers because they took their jobs seriously, and several were experts in forensics. However, it was a race against time. If they just had more time, he could get a more detailed fingerprint scan completed.

  “We’ll stay here until we’re forced off by a higher authority,” said Mac when several officers asked him about the timeline. His words were barely spoken when Detective Bryce Jones appeared at the cabin door. He started to lift the tape. “Stop right there, Bryce. This is not your jurisdiction and you have not been invited
to help with the investigation.”

  Bryce’s face held a calm smile that disturbed Brenda. He waved a paper in Mac’s view. “I’m not here about the investigation. It seems the judge agreed with David Williams that the race should go forward. I’m here to look over the controls of this magnificent boat. Would you ever have thought in our youth that I’d one day get to man such a vessel? And to think I’ll be racing it in one of the most prestigious races of all.” It appeared Bryce was focused on one issue only.

  Mac snatched the paper from his hand and flipped it open. He stuffed it in his shirt pocket without a word. “We’ll be off the boat in time for the race to go as planned. You can learn the boat’s controls when we’re finished moving the equipment.”

  Bryce grinned and winked at Brenda before he left.

  “I can’t believe a judge would allow this before the crime scene is done,” said Brenda. “No court of law will accept any evidence we collect after the race because the crime scene will be contaminated.” And privately, she thought, no decent person should be so excited about racing another when it came at the cost of another man’s death. Was Bryce being naïve, or was there something more going on here?

  “I agree with you,” Mac was saying as he began packing up, “but it’s out of my hands now. I just hope we will be able to solve this crime based on the evidence we’ve already gathered.” Mac ordered the officers to gather what they had and make sure it was all labeled correctly. Then he told the man with the camera to get photos of every nook and cranny. “That includes the deck especially and the cabin where the body was found. According to the judge’s order, we have to be off the boat shortly.”