and getting all het up. Did he smash her?”
Becca said, “Maybe she was off to meet her boyfriend and coming
into Jacob Marley’s yard was a shortcut.”
“Ain’t no shortcut to anywhere,” said Sheriff Gaffney. “The back
of the Marley property trails off into thick woods and finally stops
at the ocean.”
“Maybe,” Sherlock said, “the jeans and top were her cute traveling
clothes. Maybe she did intend to elope, maybe she decided at
the last minute that she didn’t want to and this boy got mad and
killed her.”
Sheriff Gaffney said slowly, “Who are you?” “Oh, sorry, Sheriff,” Adam said. “Sherlock and Savich here are
friends of mine. They just stopped in for a while to visit the town.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am. Now, that’s not a bad idea. I guess
I’d have to say that for a woman you deduced that real logically,
probably better than most other women.”
Savich, who heard that, wondered if Sherlock was going to take a flying leap at the sheriff’s throat.
“Yeah,” Sherlock said thoughtfully, “I’m a lot better than poor
Becca here, who can barely find her way to the Food Fort without
some guy explaining the poisonous plant streets to her.”
“That was sarcasm,” Sheriff Gaffney said after a moment. “I
know that was sarcasm. I’ve never believed women should have
smart mouths.”
Before Sherlock could leap on the sheriff, Adam said, “Are there
DNA tests being done?”
The sheriff shook his head. “Still trying to track down her
father. No luck yet. Mrs. Ella remembers an aunt, lives in Bangor
now. Maybe she read about the skeleton and was the one who
made the anonymous call. I’ve got to track her down.” Sheriff
Gaffney sighed and patted the gun at his wide leather belt that was
really cutting into his gut today. “But we can’t count on the skeleton
being Melissa, even though I’ve made up my mind that it is, so
we’re looking into other things as well.” Sheriff Gaffney leaned his
considerable weight back on his heels. “Now, folks, the reason I’m
here is to ask about these guys I’ve seen on and off around Riptide.
No, don’t lie to me. I know they’re with you, Mr. Savich. Would
you like to tell me what’s going on?”
At that moment, the phone rang.
Tinny, sharp, and too loud, and Becca dropped her coffee cup.
“Becca didn’t get much sleep last night,” Adam said easily, and
picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hello, fuckhead. You found my present?”
“Why, yes, I did. Where are you now?”
“I want to speak to Rebecca.”
“Sorry, she’s not here. It’s just me. What do you want?”
The phone went dead.
“It was a salesman,” Adam said, all smooth and easy. “The jerk
wanted to sell Becca some Venetian blinds.” He shrugged. “What
was it you wanted to know, Sheriff?”
The sheriff had not taken his eyes off Savich. “Those guys
around town. Who are they, Mr. Savich?”
“You found me out, Sheriff,” Savich said. “Actually, my wife and I
are here because we’re representing a big resort developer who is seriously
interested in this section of the Maine coast. It’s true that
Adam is a friend of ours and he, well, he gives us some cover. Now,
the guys you’re seeing around are supposed to be very discreet,
which means that you’ve got a very sharp eye, Sheriff. They’re doing
all sorts of things, like talking to folk, surveying, checking out soil and
other flora and fauna, seeing who owns what and how profitable the
businesses are now. This is a lovely section of coastline and Riptide is
a real neat little town. A resort not too far away–can you imagine
what would happen to your local economy? In any case, we won’t be
here for much longer, but I would ask you a favor. Could you please
keep this under your hat?” Savich said immediately to Sherlock, “I
told you the sheriff was too sharp not to catch on to us, honey. I told
you he was real smart and he knew everything that went on in his
town.”
“Yes, Dillon,” Sherlock said,”you told me that. I’m sorry I didn’t