A Spirited Gift

“Now tell me again how you knew the body was here,” Chief Michaels said, licking his small pencil in preparation of note taking. “What I’ve heard so far doesn’t make much sense.”

“You know Dae finds things,” Gramps added, putting his arm around me. “There’s no rhyme or reason for it. But we all know it happens. She saw the keys on the tire and recognized them as belonging to Mr. Wright.”

Chief Michaels nodded. “So you and Brickman were out for a stroll and saw the keys in the debris. Based on that, you used this broom handle to fish the gun out of the water. Does that about cover it?”

“The gun was stuck on the handle of the stroller,” I explained again. “I was standing here, thinking about Matthew, when I saw it.”

“Bag that stroller too, Scott,” Chief Michaels called out to Officer Randall, who was in the water. He was wearing protective gear, but the look on his face showed his distaste for the job.

The chief wouldn’t let the fire department volunteers do anything but stand around after they got there with the gear. He said they weren’t trained to do forensic evidence retrieval.

Sheriff Riley joined us, crouching down near the edge of the water for a minute before he turned back. “Don’t look like any suicide I’ve ever seen. I’m sure he was remorseful for killing Mayor Foxx, though.”

“I don’t think it was a suicide,” Chief Michaels said. “We got a call when we were back at the Blue Whale from a friend of Wright’s that his car was up at Nag’s Head. It was his car, all right. But he was right here in Duck. Maybe he was trying to get to the inn for the investigation.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” the sheriff asked, sounding none too pleased. “I should be kept in the loop on this, Ronnie.”

“We can process a car, Tuck,” the chief said. “I’ll let you know if we find anything we can use.”

It struck me as odd that Matthew’s car keys were here in the water with him while his car was in Nag’s Head. I decided not to mention it—at least not right then. I was sure they weren’t done with us yet.

“What are they doing here?” The sheriff confirmed my suspicions. He glared at me and nodded to Kevin and Gramps.

“They found the body.” Chief Michaels filled him in on our story. “Want to question them?”

“Not right now,” the sheriff said. “Maybe later. But get’em off my crime scene, huh? No civilians.”

“Your crime scene?” Chief Michaels snorted. “I called you in to help with the questioning at the Blue Whale. Maybe you’ve forgotten that you’re not out in the county, Tuck. This is Duck jurisdiction.”

“That makes this my case now too, Ronnie.” Sheriff Riley glared at us again. “All right. Get them out of our crime scene.”

I was happy to get out of there. They didn’t have to tell me twice. I took Kevin’s hand and we walked away from the water. Gramps didn’t follow—maybe it was okay for him to stay, since he used to be Riley’s boss.

Gramps hadn’t even tried to talk to me about Danny. Apparently, he hadn’t recognized him. I thought that was a good thing. It eased the knot in the pit of my stomach that came up when I thought about explaining everything to him. I didn’t like keeping secrets from Gramps—but lately, there seemed to be a lot of them.

“Mayor?” Chief Michaels hailed me before Kevin and I got to the pickup in the parking lot. “If I could have a word or two in private.”

Kevin nodded and got in the pickup while the chief kind of nudged me into one of the park shelters. “You know, you’ve always been like a daughter to me. I always wanted a little girl, but Marjory and I were blessed with boys. I’m telling you this because I think you’re in way over your head with Danny Evans.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I replied. “He was at that wreck Kevin and I helped out on. I felt sorry for him.”

“Tim told me he was staying at your shop. He’s bad news, Dae. You need to put some distance between you and him. I don’t like the thought of you getting mixed up with Danny.”

I put on my big mayor’s smile. “I appreciate the thought, Chief, but—”

“I know who he is. Even more important, I know who he is to you. I don’t think Horace recognized him back there. But you know, don’t you?”

I shrugged, but my heart was pounding. I wanted to tell him to mind his own business, but it was better for me to deal with this than to have him go to Gramps. “I know he works at the Sailor’s Dream and that his place was flooded. He had nowhere to go.”

“So you took him in.” The chief’s brown eyes narrowed. “Why not take him home? Why take him to Missing Pieces and the Blue Whale?”

“It seemed easier at Missing Pieces because I met him there.” What kind of game was this? He obviously knew the truth—but he was still trying to decide if I knew that Danny was my father. “Kevin offered to let him stay at the Blue Whale. I thought he’d be more comfortable there.” I wasn’t giving away anything either.

“You mean after you and Brickman went and got him out of the county lockup? Come on, Dae! How naïve do you think I am?”