He spun the wheel, and the Lucky Boy began to come around in a wide, sweeping turn. I could see the islands of the Dry Tortugas ahead of us, but we weren't going to get there.
We were headed back to Key West, where the police would be waiting for Tom Bradenton.
Chapter 25
Tom took his chances, all right, but by the time his trial date came around a few months later, those chances weren't very good. The police found blood on his boat, and the DNA matched that of Walter Harvick. That evidence, along with my testimony, was enough for Tom's lawyer to be able to convince him to accept a second-degree murder plea. Once that deal was done, there was no reason for Tom not to spill the whole story, which he did to his old friend Charles Zimmer, who was pretty upset about the whole thing.
Zimmer sat in a booth in Captain Tony's with Luke, Melissa, and me, the evening after the trial concluded, and told us, "You were right about what Tom was trying to cover up, Delilah. Claude Bradenton murdered his partner in the rum-running business and buried the body on Bedford Key."
"So Bradenton could have all the profits from their smuggling?" Luke asked. Melissa sat beside him, looking around, less interested in hearing the details than in absorbing the ambience of the place. This was her first trip to Key West, after all. She and Luke would be staying here for a second honeymoon while I went back to Atlanta, now that the trial was over.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Zimmer said in answer to Luke's question. "But that wasn't it, exactly. You see . . ." He took a sip of his beer, then said, "They found a treasure."
We all stared at him. I finally said, "A treasure."
"A chest full of Spanish gold," Zimmer said with a broad smile. When he did that he was still sort of ugly, but it was a pleasant ugly.
"Then Phil Thompson was right," Luke said. "The treasure of San Cristobal really did exist. He was even on the trail of it."
"And that's what Claude used to turn a rundown old family estate into an expensive resort," I said.
Zimmer nodded. "Yep."
"This happened when they were on that fishing trip with Hemingway and had to take shelter from a storm at Bedford Key?"
"That's right."
Luke said, "Did Hemingway know about the murder?"
"Tom doesn't think so," Zimmer said. "Bedford Key was about half a mile wide, and Bradenton and his partner, a man named Lawrence Keating, were off exploring and found the treasure on the other side of the island from the cove where Captain Morris put in to ride out that squall. There had been enough erosion over the centuries to uncover a corner of the chest. They dug it out the rest of the way, opened it up, and saw the gold. That's when Bradenton choked Keating to death and buried his body right next to the chest, making sure both of them were covered up good."
"Didn't Hemingway and the rest of the party wonder where Keating disappeared to?" I asked.
"Bradenton yelled for help and said that Keating had been wading in the water when a shark struck him. The storm was over by then, but Morris stayed at anchor so they could fish in the cove. The rest of them came running over when Bradenton started yelling, but Keating was gone and they couldn't prove that a shark hadn't gotten him. Bradenton was sort of like the Clint Drake of his day. He had enough of a shady reputation that nobody wanted to challenge him too much."
"Hemingway never went back there, though," I said. "He must have suspected that something happened, and it made him feel uncomfortable enough that he stayed away."
Zimmer nodded and said, "That would be my guess."
"Bradenton went back later in his own boat and got the gold," I said. "I wonder if the boat was already called the Lucky Boy or if he renamed it after that."
"I couldn't tell you."
"Does Bedford Key still exist?" Luke asked. "Or has it washed away?"
"Oh, it's there, although it's considerably smaller now. We've searched for Lawrence Keating's bones." Zimmer shook his head. "Haven't found them so far. Erosion may have gotten them, too."
"Then Walter probably couldn't have found them, either," I said. "He wouldn't have been able to prove anything. If Tom hadn't lost his head and tried to scare him off . . ."
Zimmer's features hardened. "No point in saying what if. That's one thing being a cop teaches you pretty quick. Things are what they are, and you deal with 'em. Anything else is a waste of time and effort."
"The sun riseth in the morning, and it goeth down in the evening," I murmured.
"Exactly."
"What'll happen to the resort now?" Luke asked. I hadn't wanted to go back there, so we were staying at the Hyatt.
"Tom has some cousins who own shares in it. They've taken over and brought in a management firm to run the place. When Tom gets out of prison in eight or ten years, maybe he'll come back here." Zimmer's shoulders lifted in one of his tiny shrugs. "Who knows?"
"All right, that's enough talk about murder," Melissa said. "Luke and I are officially here on vacation now. Right?"
"Right," Luke agreed.
"Luke can show you around Old Town," I told my pretty blond daughter. "There are plenty of things to see and do."
"Key West is a party year-round," Zimmer intoned in his deep, solemn voice.
I had to laugh. "It's probably a good thing you're a cop instead of working for the tourist bureau."
"You're probably right," he said.
I slid out of the booth. "I'll see you in the morning before I head for Miami," I told Luke and Melissa.
Zimmer got up, too, and asked, "Can I walk you back to your hotel?"
"Sure," I told him. I hugged both the kids, and then Zimmer and I walked out of Captain Tony's.
The streets of Old Town were packed as usual, so I was glad to have a burly police detective strolling by my side. I thought I caught a glimpse of Rollie Cranston on the corner of Duval and Greene, but heck, there are so many Papa look-alikes in Key West, who could be sure?
"Are you going to bring more tourist groups down here in the future?" Zimmer asked me as we walked along.
"I might. I set up literary tours, after all, and Hemingway's one of the big names. Plus, everybody wants to come to a tropical paradise."
"Maybe I'll see you again if you do," he said.
"Maybe."
"But no murders next time, right?"
"No murders," I agreed without hesitation.
But somehow, even though I might hope, I had my doubts.
Author's Note
Key West really is a tropical paradise, even though the original Spanish settlers called it Cayo Hueso, meaning "Island of Bones". If you're planning a visit, a good place to start is www.keywestwelcomecenter.com. You can also visit the Key West Chamber of Commerce website at www.keywestchamber.org.
The best way to begin seeing the sights before you set out to explore on your own is to take both of the tours mentioned in this book, the Conch Tour Train and the Old Town Trolley Tour. More information about both of them, as well as other attractions in Key West, can be found at www.historictours.com.
For literary buffs, the Hemingway House is the centerpiece of Key West, of course. It's at 907 Whitehead Street, at the corner of Whitehead and Olivia. The website www.hemingwayhome.com offers a great deal of information about the house and its background and furnishings, as well as numerous photos. If you want to know more about Ernest Hemingway himself and the time he spent in Key West, I recommend the book HEMINGWAY: THE 1930 by Michael Reynolds, and MICHAEL PALIN'S HEMINGWAY ADVENTURE is also an excellent resource.
The nightspots mentioned in this book are real, of course, and I've tried to describe them as accurately as possible. You can visit www.sloppyjoes.com to learn more about the famous Sloppy Joe's.
There are so many things to do in Key West that it seems almost like you could stay there forever and never run out of them. Explore the constantly changing environs of Old Town with its nightclubs, restaurants, souvenir shops, and food vendors. Charter a boat for deep-sea fishing, sail on a catamaran, swim, or just lie on the
beach. The pace can seem a little frantic on Duval Street at night, but overall Key West is a laid-back place where people are free to take life easy and enjoy themselves. Be aware that it's going to be hot and humid there. Key West has never known freezing weather, and there are enough cooling breezes off the water to keep temperatures from rising to an extreme, but it's still going to be hot and sticky there year-round. Fortunately those ocean breezes make the climate more than just bearable; it's beautiful.
You can fly into Key West from Miami, or you can make the picturesque drive down Highway One, from Miami to Key Largo to Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys to Big Pine Key and all the other keys surrounded by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Key West is really like no other place in the world.
And that's just what you want for a good vacation, isn't it?
About the Author
Livia J. Washburn has been a professional writer for more than thirty years. She received the Private Eye Writers of America award and the American Mystery award for her first mystery novel, WILD NIGHT, written under the name L.J. Washburn. Her mystery novel A PEACH OF A MURDER, published by Signet, appeared on the Entertainment Weekly bestseller list. She lives with her husband, author James Reasoner, in a small Texas town. You can go to her website at http://www.liviawashburn.com and , you can also check out her blog at http://liviajwashburn.blogspot.com.
Other Livia J. Washburn Novels
Literary Tour Mysteries
Frankly My Dear, I’m Dead
Huckleberry Finished
Killer On a Hot Tin Roof
For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls (Feb. 2012)
Laura Bailey PI Mystery Novellas
Twice as Deadly
Fresh Baked Mysteries
A Peach of a Murder
Murder by the Slice
The Christmas Cookie Killer
Killer Crab Cakes
The Pumpkin Muffin Murder
The Gingerbread Bump-Off
Urban Fantasy Novel
Witch Got Your Tongue
A Peck of Pickled Warlocks (July 2012)
1920’s Lucas Hallam Hollywood Mysteries by L.J. Washburn
Hallam (2 short stories – 17,000 words)
Wild Night
Dead Stick
Dog Heavies
Romance Novels written as by Livia Reasoner
Spirit Catcher (A Ghost Romance)
Alura’s Wish (A Medieval Genie Romance)
Yesterday’s Flame (A Time Travel Romance)
Mending Fences (A Historical Romance)
The Vampire Affair (A Nocturne Romance)
Western Series With James Reasoner
1 WIND RIVER
2 THUNDER WAGON
3 WOLF SHADOW
4 MEDICINE CREEK
5 DARK TRAIL
6 JUDGMENT DAY
For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls Page 17