by Maci Grant
“So yet again I have to compete against the worthless Kirk. I’m not even sure why they keep letting him into the contest. He does the same type of sculpture every time. It’s so boring. He’s always complaining about everything—from the content of the sand to the clouds in the sky. Then I have to sit back and watch him win first place over my much more inventive sand art.”
“Looks like Yale really had it in for him,” she muttered out loud.
She clicked through a few other video blogs. Each one was similar to the last, directly targeting Kirk. Blu thought it was strange that Yale only went after Kirk, not any other competitors. After the callous way he spoke about Kirk’s death it was clear that no love was lost between the two. Was it possible that Yale was the one who buried him in the sand?
She glanced at her watch. It was just after noon. The Beach Bum would probably be open. One thing she knew for sure was that AJ played a big part in organizing the sand sculpture contest. He likely knew a bit about Yale, and even Kirk. She decided it was time to find out just how much he did know.
There were only a few cars in the parking lot at the Beach Bum. Not too many locals started drinking so early. As Blu walked toward the door she noticed AJ’s jeep parked at the side of the bar. The sight of it inspired a slight smile despite the troubling situation.
She opened the door and was greeted by the scent of cheese fries and fresh coffee. It was an odd combination.
Behind the bar AJ was drying and stacking glasses. He turned around when Blu let in a flood of light by opening the door.
“Back so soon?” He smiled at her.
“I guess I couldn’t stay away.” She studied him as she settled on a bar stool not far from him. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was that he had been arguing about with his uncle.
“A beer?” He started to turn around to retrieve it.
“No thanks. It’s a bit early for me.”
“That it is, but after a day like today, who couldn’t use a drink?”
“Speaking of which, what exactly happened out there on the beach? Do you know anything about it?’
“Probably as much as you know. Kirk was found dead—buried in sand.”
“Any idea why?”
“Well, he wasn’t exactly everyone’s favorite person.”
“That’s all you’ve got?” Blu sniffed the air. “How about some of those cheese fries?”
“Alright.” AJ walked away from the bar and through the double doors into the kitchen.
As Blu glanced around at the other patrons she noticed the woman with the floppy hat, only she wasn’t wearing her sunglasses any more.
Chapter 12
Blu stood up and walked toward the small wooden table where the woman sat. The closer she got, the more clearly she could see why she wasn’t wearing her sunglasses. Tears streaked the woman’s cheeks. She gripped a large glass of beer. There were two empty glasses beside it. That was heavy drinking.
“Hello there, are you okay?” Blu sat down without being invited.
The woman looked across the table at her. She was young, younger even than Blu. For a moment Blu considered that she might be one of the summer nannies.
“I’m fine.” She sniffed and then took a swallow of her beer.
“You don’t look fine.” Blu reached into her purse and pulled out a fresh tissue. “Is this about what happened today?”
“I’d rather not talk about it.”
Blu narrowed her eyes. She had seen this woman staring at Kirk many times. “Sometimes talking about it can help you to feel a bit better.”
“I don’t think it will in this case.”
“Look, I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t notice you on the beach. It seemed to me that you were quite interested in Kirk.”
The woman fiddled with the tissue, but didn’t say a word.
Blu decided to continue with her questions. “Are you a fan of his?”
“What does it matter?”
“I’m Blu.” Blu extended her hand. “And you are?”
“I don’t want to tell you my name. I don’t even know you. I came in here for a drink.”
“I didn’t mean to intrude.” Blu could tell that she was getting nowhere with the woman. She stood up from the table and smiled at her. “You just seemed upset.”
“Why wouldn’t I be? After what happened today?”
“You’re right. Especially if you knew Kirk. I’m sure it’s heartbreaking.”
“I’d never met him.” She wiped at her eyes again. “Now I’ll never get the chance to. Please, just let me have some peace.”
“Blu?” AJ stepped up behind her. “I think she asked to be left alone.”
“AJ, I was just trying to be friendly.”
He quirked a brow at her and grasped her elbow with his palm. “Why don’t you come talk to me for a minute?”
Blu allowed him to escort her back to the bar. Once she was settled in front of her cheese fries she looked up at him. “Is there something wrong with talking?”
“Not unless the person has asked multiple times to be left alone. If that’s the case, then you need to back off, or I end up getting complaints.”
“I noticed her on the beach watching Kirk every single day. Do you know who she is?”
“I believe her name is Naomi, but anything more than that, I don’t know. She must be a big fan—she asked me quite a few questions about Kirk.”
“Did you notice any of the other contestants in the bar? Were they acting strange? I know that you had a hand in setting this whole thing up, so I’m curious about what you might have seen.”
“No, Detective.” He grinned.
“I’m serious.” Blu bit down on a soggy cheese fry.
“No, I didn’t notice anything odd about any of the contestants.” AJ leaned against the bar. “Well, that one guy—Yale, I think is his name. He was in here a lot.”
“Was he in here the night before the body was found?”
“Yeah, he was. In fact I had to escort him to his hotel. He had far more than a few too many.”
“But you didn’t see Kirk?”
AJ narrowed his eyes. “Actually, I did see Kirk. But not here. I saw him when I dropped Yale off at the hotel. Kirk was outside in front of the hotel. Yale started slurring words at him.”
“What did Kirk do?”
“He just shook his head.”
“Did he go inside?”
“No.” AJ rubbed his chin. “It was like he was waiting for someone.”
“I wonder who. He didn’t seem like the friendly type.”
“Maybe not, but a lot of people have a hard time being friendly.” AJ smirked.
Blu glanced away. “I guess your uncle is running the backgrounds of all the competitors?”
“Of course. I don’t think he suspects any of them, though.”
“Why not?”
“Mainly because he feels it’s a local job. See, only the locals would know that the beach would be unguarded at night, and none of the surveillance cameras from the bar point in exactly that direction.”
“So?”
“So it would have taken quite some time to bury the body in the sand. In fact, they’re not even sure yet how long it was there. But no matter when it was put in the sand, it would have taken a lot of digging. I don’t think someone from out of town would risk getting caught.”
“Do they have a cause of death yet?”
“There’s no visible trauma.” He paused a moment and met her eyes. “You enjoy really strange conversations.”
Blu smiled and shrugged. “So no visible trauma? What does that mean?”
“Basically it means that he wasn’t shot or stabbed. Nothing on the surface of the body explains how he died. So we’ll have to wait for the internal exam and the results of the toxin screen.”
“And do you think that the lab here can handle that?”
“What are you implying?” AJ raised his eyebrow.
“I’m just saying—may
be this type of crime would be handled better by more experienced—”
“You think we’re just a bunch of uneducated beach bums, hm?”
Blu met his eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then how did you mean it?”
“I just meant that this is a very delicate situation and perhaps the police in the city would be able to handle it better.”
“Well, darling, big city cops have no interest in small beach town murders, so I think it’s safe to say that my uncle can handle it.” AJ shook his head and turned away from her to stack some more glasses.
Chapter 13
“AJ, I didn’t mean to upset you.” Blu was quick to apologize the moment he turned away from her.
“Yeah, well, you did.”
“I’m just worried that with this being a tourist town the first instinct is going to be to sweep it under the rug.”
“Again, that’s insulting. Have you ever looked up the word insult?” He turned back to look at her with a hint of frustration in the knit of his brow. “How can you judge someone so easily?”
“I don’t mean to judge. I think maybe I should go.”
“Yes, I think you should. I think you should go talk to my uncle about your suspicions and concerns. Then maybe you’ll see he’s not as incapable as you make him out to be.”
“Fine.” Blu stood up from the barstool. “But AJ, I really didn’t mean that he was.”
“Maybe you didn’t mean it, but you sure think it. I can tell. Anyone who is from the big city comes in here acting like they own the beach and the rest of the world. For some reason I thought you were different.”
“Maybe that’s because I’m from a country town. I grew up far from the beach and far from the city, so I don’t judge people based on where they live.”
“Then what do you judge on?” AJ paused and looked at her.
“Mostly how people treat one another. I heard that you and your uncle were arguing on the beach earlier, and it’s not the first time he’s been short with you—I’ve seen that with my own eyes. I would assume that if someone can’t even treat their own family with respect, then they probably have very little respect for people murdered in their town.”
AJ smiled a little. “So you don’t like him, because he doesn’t respect me?”
Blu found herself caught in the question. If she denied it, she’d look like a liar, but if she admitted to it, she would reveal that she cared more for him than she should—considering that they barely knew one another.
“Maybe.”
“Ha. That is not an answer.” He flipped his towel up over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes as he peered at her. “One of these days you’ll figure out that you can be honest with me, Blu. But until then you shouldn’t judge my uncle too harshly. Maybe he has good reason not to respect me.” He raised an eyebrow and turned away again.
For a moment all of Blu’s focus shifted from the murder to AJ. What reason could his uncle have for not respecting him? AJ seemed like a pretty good guy. Maybe things had been different at another time.
Instead of waiting for AJ to turn back around, Blu left some cash on the bar and walked out. Since it was still early afternoon she headed for the police station. If AJ was right, and the police force was capable, maybe they’d have more details to tell her. Either way she thought they should be looking into the woman who appeared to be obsessed with Kirk.
When Blu arrived at the police station she found that it was empty. Not just empty of police officers, but empty of everyone. She stood in the lobby and looked around. At any moment she expected someone to step out of the bathroom or in from a side door.
The shrill ring of a lone phone filled the air. Blu shivered at the shock of it.
She noticed a picture of Kirk pinned up on a corkboard along with some other papers. After another quick look around she thought that it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look. Maybe she could get an idea of where they were at in the case.
She navigated her way through the desks to the corkboard. Once there she looked up at the photograph of Kirk. Luckily it was not a crime scene photograph but a picture of him beside one of his massive sculptures. She felt a twinge of disappointment that she’d never have the chance to see one of his creations in person.
When she tore her eyes away from the picture she noticed that there were several names affixed to the board. She could only assume that these were names of the current suspects. Yale was one of them, as was Bianca, and a few other contestants. There were also a few names that she didn’t recognize.
Blu thought that they might be names of locals, or maybe some other people in Kirk’s life that held a grudge against him. With his brusque nature it wasn’t hard to believe that he likely had quite a few enemies.
Beneath each of the names was a list of information. Some were notes, some were photographs, or printed-off papers. From what she read there was very little to narrow down a specific suspect. She wondered if Yale might be top on their list, but there was nothing on the board that indicated that.
She reached up to look under one of the pieces of paper when a voice boomed right behind her.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Blu turned around quickly to find Chief Pitman’s harsh glare fixed on her. She folded her hands behind her back as if she’d been caught by the principal.
“I was just looking.”
“Looking at confidential information that is part of an active investigation?”
“Well, no one was here—”
“So you thought it would be perfectly fine to break the law?”
Blu squirmed under his dark stare. She wondered how Rachel would feel if she ended up locked up on her day off. She likely wouldn’t have a job for long.
“I was just curious.”
“Strange, the things that interest you.”
“It doesn’t seem like anyone is investigating the crime.”
“That’s a bit judgmental.” He gestured to a chair at a desk. “Take a seat.”
“It’s okay, I’ll just be on my way.”
She started to move past him, but Chief Pitman moved between her and her way out.
“Sit down. It wasn’t a suggestion.”
Blu raised an eyebrow. “Are you charging me with something?”
“Should I? I could. Again, you were breaking the law when I walked in here.”
“Is there really a law against looking at a corkboard?”
“Do you want to find out?” Chief Pitman rested his hand on the portion of his belt that his handcuffs dangled from.
Blu wasn’t sure if it was intended to be a threat or just a habitual movement. Either way, she sat down in the chair.
“Good. Now why don’t you tell me exactly why you’re here?”
Chapter 14
Blu eyed Chief Pitman carefully. “I told you. I’m curious about the case.” She braced herself for potentially being thrown out of the police station.
The police chief tilted his head to the side and seemed to be regarding her with a mixture of contempt and irritation.
“This isn’t a sideshow, you know—not something to gossip with the other nannies about.”
“That’s not why I’m here. I thought maybe I could help.”
“You? How could you possibly help?”
“I’m probably one of your best witnesses. I was at the beach every morning while the experts were preparing their areas.”
“I’m sure anything you know, we already know.”
“Do you know that there was an obsessed fan watching him every single day?”
“What?”
Blu smiled. “Her name is Naomi—that’s all I know. But she was there every time I was there, before I got there, and after I left. She only ever watched Kirk.”
“Well, that is interesting, but it doesn’t make her a killer.”
“How about Yale? Have you seen the videos that he posts online? They’re full of hatred and threats against Kirk.”
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br /> “The investigation is still ongoing.”
“So that would be a no, then?”
“Show me.” He pointed to the computer.
Blu eyed him for a moment. There was something about him that made all of his intimidation tactics seem not so intense, and yet she was fully aware that he could easily toss her into a holding cell.
She leaned over and searched for Yale’s videos. When they came up, Chief Pitman sat down heavily in the chair in front of the computer.
“Yes, there’s some hatred there. Hm. Let’s see if he’s in the system.”
He did his own search for Yale, but this time it was in the national criminal database.
“Aha, here he is.” He pulled up a record. As he did a few other officers walked in.
“Chief, we need to talk to you.” One of the officers gestured to him.
“Excuse me a moment.” Chief Pitman stood up and walked over to the officers.
As soon as he was away from the computer Blu leaned forward to take a look at what he’d found. She could see that Yale’s personal history was pulled up. In bold red writing she noticed the word assault.
She peeked over at Chief Pitman, who was still in the middle of a conversation with the officers. She reached out and grabbed the mouse. Then she clicked on the red word. It opened another window. In the window it detailed a previous arrest.
The perpetrator was accused of throwing a shoe at another individual. Perpetrator claimed that the actor’s attempt at portraying one of his favorite characters was unsatisfactory and he only had a shoe available to throw. No bodily damage was caused but the victim pressed charges.
“A shoe?” Blu tried not to laugh.
“Snooping again?”
Blu jumped at the sound of Chief Pitman’s voice. In her lifetime one of her strengths had always been observation. Chief Pitman seemed to have an almost supernatural ability to sneak up on her.