by Alex Tully
“Understood,” Detective Zeller nodded, “Just a couple more.” He flipped a page on his notepad, “The last text message on Mr. Crawford’s phone came through at 12:09 am from 440-555-1541. This number is listed under your account, Mr. Pierce, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Do you, or anyone in your family, have this phone in their possession?”
“No. Ethan gave it to a friend to use.”
The Detective’s head shot up, “Who did you give the phone to?” His stoic expression was gone. He was surprised.
“My friend Parker,” then Ethan added, “He doesn’t have one, and so I told him he could use it.”
The detective paused and looked from Ethan to his dad, and back again, “When was this?”
“A couple weeks ago, maybe?” Ethan honestly couldn’t remember the exact date.
The Detective sighed, “Are we talking about Parker Webb? The kid who found the body?”
“Yeah—yes.”
“He’s the one who has the phone?”
Now the detective was really going to lose his shit, “Actually, he lost it.”
“He lost it?” The detective tilted his head to the side.
Ethan could tell he was skeptical and nodded emphatically, “Yes.”
The detective picked up his phone and began typing into it, “Do you know when he lost it?”
“Not exactly, but I got a text from him around one o’clock yesterday.” Parker had sent him a text about fishing, “So, it had to be after then.”
“Okay…” The detective’s whole demeanor changed. The confident look had faded away.
“Mr. Pierce,” Zeller went back to dad, “Do you own any of the boats in the Crystal Waters marina?”
“Yes, the Sea-quester, that’s our larger boat, and a Sea-Ray Sundancer as well.”
“And where are they located?”
Dad hesitated, “The Sea-quester is docked on the far eastern side of Crystal Waters with the other yachts, and the Sea-Ray is docked on pier four in the main marina. Can I ask why you want to know?”
Now the detective was hesitating. He scribbled something in his notepad, and then finally said, “We’ve been looking through all of the security camera footage from last night. It’s extensive—they’ve got cameras just about everywhere.”
Of course, Crystal Waters had cameras all over. Crawford probably watched them nightly with a bowl of popcorn.
“Unfortunately, however, the cameras in the one place we really need them—the beach and the marina…those cameras were disabled remotely.”
Hmm…okay…Ethan just hoped the detective would keep talking, and he did, “See we’ve tracked Crawford’s movements for pretty much the entire night. He was asleep in the lounge area of the Galley Restaurant for most of the fireworks.”
Uh, asleep? More like passed out.
“He got up around eleven-thirty and went to the bar for a drink. He mingled with guests by the pool and refilled his drink—a couple of times.”
Detective Zeller looked down at his notes again, “Let’s see…at 12:12, so…just after he got the text message, he’s on camera going back to his home. And he was inside there for about ten minutes. When he came out, he was wearing different clothes and he was carrying a small bag.”
It sounded like Crawford was going to meet someone—but who?
“Next, he walked down to the gate that leads to the beach and marina. As soon as he stepped through that gate, he was lost out of camera range. That was at exactly 12:27 am.”
“Do they know who disabled the cameras?” Dad asked.
“Yep,” the detective smiled, “None other than Marty Crawford himself. Which makes us believe he really didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing.”
“So, do you believe that’s where he went into the water, at the marina?”
“Well he was never seen on camera again, so that’s our theory for now. Plus, it fits with where the body was found—that’s according to the experts who know the lake currents and that type of thing. But how he got in the water, well, we have to wait for the results of the autopsy.”
Dad nodded, “Do you know what that final text message said, or are you waiting for a subpoena?”
“No, Gayle Crawford is on the cellular account and she’s given us consent, but it still takes the phone carrier a little time to get back to us. We’re expecting something in the next day or so. We’d also like to look at the records for your phone, just for that line, of course.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Dad said, “If you can get me the paperwork while we’re here, I’ll sign it before we leave.”
“Thank you, that would be very helpful,” the detective picked up his notepad and tapped it on the table, “So, it looks like whoever found your phone, sent Crawford a message to meet him somewhere by the water. And, what happened after that? Well, that’s the million-dollar question.”
CHAPTER 35
ZOE
Zoe spread a blanket out on the dock. They were all going to meet back at the Sea-quester but Shirley didn’t want Parker out of her sight, so they settled on the dock. The sun was getting low over the water, and it was the first time the four of them had been together since Parker found Mr. Crawford’s body that morning. They were all anxious to put their heads together and talk about what happened.
Ethan had just gotten back from the police station and he had learned a lot. It was definitely sounding less and less like an accident. Mr. Crawford went to meet someone by the water—and never came back. Did he fall in at the marina? Did he get picked up by a boat? And, who was he meeting? Who sent the text message—who found Parker’s phone?
A lot of questions, and of course none of them knew the answers. But each of them had a theory.
Parker was convinced Frankie was involved. His theory was that Frankie found the phone, sent Crawford a message, and then went over to the marina to beat his ass.
“Then why would he be yelling about Crawford earlier today, asking all kinds of questions?” Meredith asked.
“Well if he was all quiet and not saying anything,” Zoe said, “that would be way more suspicious…”
“Yeah you’re right, but is Frankie smart enough to realize that?”
And Ethan quickly brought up a good point, “You know, I’m sure Crawford’s cell number is private. And it obviously wasn’t in Parker’s phone so...”
“Exactly,” Meredith quickly interjected, “Whoever found the phone had to know Crawford’s number. And I highly doubt Frankie had it.”
“I have his number,” Zoe said, matter-of-factly.
“You do?” Meredith laughed, “Is there something you’re not telling us, Zoe?”
“No, but I know he gives his number out to some of the girls who work at Crystal Waters, so that’s something.”
“Noted,” Meredith went on, “But I think we’re all overlooking the obvious. On all of those crime shows, what do they say?”
She didn’t wait for a response, “Look who has the most to gain,” she smiled, “it’s got to be Gayle Crawford. She wanted him out of the picture, baaad.”
And then Parker had his chance to shoot down her idea, “So how did she get my phone, huh? You think Mrs. Crawford was hanging out here, on the dock yesterday?”
“Well…” Meredith stuck out her tongue, “That’s what we’re trying to figure out, twerp.”
Ethan jumped in, “Maybe it was just some messed up accident. I mean, murder—that’s some crazy shit. Detective Zeller said that Crawford kept drinking, even after I saw him—so he had to be loaded. Maybe he fell in the water somehow…and he actually drowned.”
“C’mon Ethan,” Meredith retorted, “You’re the one who said he was like an Olympic swimmer.”
“But he was wasted,” Ethan shrugged, “And the rumor is that Crawford liked his pills too, and that can be a bad combination. I’m just putting it out there.”
“I guess we won’t really know until the autopsy is done,” Zoe
said.
“Yep,” Meredith held up her phone, “But I’ve been googling the hell out of this stuff, and it won’t be that easy. Apparently, figuring out if someone died from drowning is really hard. Like, there’s all this stuff that goes into it.”
“I thought they just checked to see if water’s in the lungs,” Parker said.
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Meredith was scrolling through her phone, “Listen to this,” she began reading, “At autopsy, the lungs of a drowning victim resemble those seen in deaths associated with severe pulmonary edema, which also presents in heart failure and drug overdoses.” She looked up, “So Crawford could’ve had a heart attack or OD’d on something and then fallen in the water.”
“Or he could’ve been pushed in,” Parker said quietly.
“The toxicology report is a big part of it too,” Meredith went on, “That shows every little thing that was in his body, how much alcohol or drugs—everything.”
“But we won’t see any of it, anyway,” Ethan added, “because they don’t make those things public if there’s an ongoing investigation.”
Parker looked frustrated, “This sucks.”
They all sat in silence for a minute, their collective brains whirring inside their heads. A seagull suddenly flew overhead and landed at the end of the dock. The bird just stood there looking at them, and then at the water, and then back at them again.
“Hey, Meredith!” Parker suddenly perked up again, and the bird took off toward the horizon. “They have copies of that stuff at the police station, don’t they? Maybe you could just—.”
“What?” she quickly cut him off, “Oh sure, I’ll just steal an autopsy from the police station—easy peasy. Do you know what would happen if I got caught?”
“No.”
“Well they’d probably send me straight to juvie and I’d be grounded for like the rest of my life. Besides, do you think I even have a clue where they keep that stuff?”
Zoe had to admit, she was dying to figure out what happened. If only they could see that autopsy…
And Ethan must’ve been thinking the same thing because he said exactly what Zoe was too afraid to say, “Well…you wouldn’t actually have to steal it, you could just snap a picture of it.”
“Ethan!” Meredith yelled, “Are you fricking serious?”
“It’s just an idea, Meredith,” Zoe quickly interjected, “I mean, all we’re saying is, maybe next time you work—.”
“Zoe!” Meredith’s looked genuinely hurt, “What the hell, Miss Goody Two-Shoes? You think this is a good idea?”
“Maybe you could just do some snooping around first—just try to find out where it is.”
Meredith paused as if she was thinking about it, “If I got caught, I mean…all the risk is on me. It’s so easy for you guys to just sit here and say this stuff, but I’m the one who’s ass is on the line.”
“Okay, well, what about your dad?” Ethan asked.
“What about my dad?” Meredith snapped.
“Well, he’s a cop, right? He probably knows what really happened. Is he cool?”
“Uh, Zoe,” Meredith looked at her with a smirk, “Ethan wants to know if my dad is cool.”
“Um…how would I describe him?” Zoe paused, “Well, he’s a little serious.”
“A little?! Understatement of the millennium!” Meredith shrieked, “Trust me Ethan, he’s not cool. And there’s no way in hell he’s showing me that autopsy, or anything else that’s official police business.”
They all sat in silence again—they’d run out of options. Now it would be a waiting game.
Zoe looked out to the west where the sun was hovering just above the horizon. The pink and orange skyline was a striking contrast to the dark blue water. Boats sped by in the distance, leaving tails of white in their wake.
She had a feeling she’d never live in a place so close to the water again. At the end of summer, they would all be forced out. She and Debbie would probably have to move to the crappy apartment complex over in Danbury, with no water in sight. And they’d be lucky if they could afford that.
“Hey, Zoe,” Parker interrupted her depressing thoughts, “Do you remember that time when we thought I caught a monster fish and we tried forever to reel it in—and then it ended up just being that huge branch?”
“Yep, I remember,” Zoe laughed. And she did. She had a lot of good memories of fishing with Parker, just another thing she would miss a ton.
“And the funniest thing was, there were two awesome lures already stuck into the branch, so I got two new lures to add to my collection.”
“So, it was a good catch, after all,” Ethan said.
“Yes!” Parker’s eyes sparkled, “That’s what my Mom said too!”
Mom? Oh no.
It broke Zoe’s heart when Parker talked about his mom. Meredith shot a look over to Zoe.
Just then a loud yell came from the edge of the trailer park, “Parker!” Shirley stood waving her arms, “Time to come home!”
He reluctantly stood up, “Guess I gotta go.”
Ethan gave him a fist bump, “See ya later bro.”
Zoe could see Meredith biting her lip, waiting for Parker to get out of ear-reach.
“Bye Parker, see you tomorrow,” Zoe said.
As soon as Parker got back to his trailer, Meredith started, “I thought you were going to talk to him about the mom thing.”
“I was going to…” Zoe had tried to find a good time, but it wasn’t an easy thing to do, “But it’s not that simple, okay?”
“What mom thing?” Ethan asked.
Meredith ignored him, “It’s just weird, and the kid’s getting older. I think someone really needs to talk to him.”
Ethan looked at Zoe again, “What?”
She sighed, “That story he was just talking about—the branch, that was last summer—his mom died years ago.” She went on, “Do you remember when I told you Parker’s mom OD’d?”
He nodded, “Yeah…”
“Well, that’s when Parker was six. And before that, she was pretty much a train-wreck. I don’t remember her that much, but my mom told me some pretty messed up stuff.”
“Like?”
Zoe paused because she was already feeling emotionally wiped out, and talking about Parker’s mom was just going to make it worse. “Like, how she used to leave Parker in the back of her car while she stopped at the bar and got wasted.”
Ethan’s face fell, but she kept going, “And how one time when Parker was four, he managed to unstrap himself from the carseat, and started wandering down the road at one in the morning. Thank god a Good Samaritan picked him up and took him to the police station.”
“Shit, seriously?”
“Seriously. That’s when family services said they were going to take him away unless she signed over custody to Shirley.”
“Wait—I’m confused,” Ethan said, “Parker made it sound like his mom was great. He told me his mom taught him how to fish, and she played Xbox with him all the time.”
“Exactly!” Meredith put her hands up in the air, “It’s so messed up. I mean, his mom wasn’t even alive when he started playing Xbox!”
“Wow…” Ethan was at a loss for words and she didn’t blame him. It was a sad situation and Zoe didn’t have a clue how to fix it.
But Meredith was never at a loss for words, “I think it’s going to cause problems later on in his life—like he has this fantasy world with his mom, and one day it’s going to spin-off into some alternate personality or something. Just watch, he’s gonna go all Norman Bates on us.”
“Okay Meredith, I think you’re being a little overdramatic.”
“I don’t know Zoe…”
“Has he always talked about her,” Ethan paused, “like that?”
“The first time I noticed he had done it, was maybe a couple years ago,” Zoe said, “We used to walk to the bus together before school. He came out of his trailer, all smiles, talking about his new St
ar Wars backpack and how awesome it was.”
She remembered Parker’s beaming face. He didn’t get much as a kid, so the backpack was a big deal.
“And then as we’re walking,” she had to stop for a second because she felt an overwhelming rush of sadness, that quickly manifested into a lump in the back of her throat. “I’ll never forget, he said, ‘My mom bought it for me so I have to be really careful with it. She said it was expensive.’”
Zoe took a deep breath, “I corrected him as nicely as I could and said, ‘You mean Shirley bought you that backpack, remember?’ And he just said calmly, ‘No, mom actually bought it for me. It was a long time ago.’ And what the hell was I supposed to say to that?”
“Man,” Ethan shook his head, “have you told Shirley about it?”
“Oh,” Meredith interjected, “He does it in front of Shirley too. She doesn’t say anything, she just kind of pretends like she didn’t hear it.”
“Well I’m sure it’s hard for her to hear,” Zoe glared at her best friend. “She lost her daughter, and then to have her grandson talking like she’s still alive. That’s pretty brutal.”
“Maybe the kid will grow out of it,” Ethan offered, as he picked at a small, gray stone that was wedged in between two pieces of splintered wood. “As he gets older, he’ll understand more.”
Zoe knew Ethan was just trying to stay positive, but she didn’t feel as optimistic, “Yeah, maybe.”
Just then Ethan pulled out the stone, looked at it, and then threw it. It sailed through the air, out past the dock, where it landed with a tiny splash and then disappeared.
CHAPTER 36
PARKER
Before Parker even reached the trailer, he saw the strange white car parked in front. He opened the trailer door to find Grams sitting across from Detective Zeller at the kitchen table. They were drinking coffee.
“Parker, take a seat,” Grams stood up and took her coffee mug with her, “Detective Zeller would like to ask you some more questions. But he’s going to be real quick.” She was super pissed.