Read Sand City Murders for Free Online Page A

daughter. It whirled away with white noise. Eleanor’s massive desk took up most of the floor space right in front of the bay windows that overlooked the main road. Surrounding that were six separate cubicles, four with computers. Talk about disparate furnishings, from ancient mahogany to the modern gray fabric and metal trimmed booths. I slid into mine and started to search through my drawers.
    “What are you looking for, Patrick?” Eleanor asked, sensing my frantic unease.
    “Tide charts... We live in Sand City. Where the heck are my tide charts?”
    Eleanor reached into her desk and tossed over a well-worn pamphlet. “Here, the NOAA schedule. What’s it for? Planning an ocean voyage?”
    “No.”
    “Well, what then?”
    “I don’t know yet, but I will eventually... something about footprints maybe. I know I’m going to need this. Thanks.”
    Eleanor smiled back.
    “I see you didn’t mention anything to Miriam yet,” I said quietly.
    “I thought that was best for now.” She paused to lower her voice. “What does Richard say?”
    “Richard? Oh, you mean Detective Durbin… Another murder,” I whispered. “Maybe a serial killer.”
    “I think we need at least three bodies to qualify for that.” Eleanor seemed unfazed.
    “Well, it’s exactly the same MO as last time… pretty gruesome. Unnerving.”
    “Your first DB?”
    I looked at Eleanor, not sure exactly what she meant. “Well yeah, first time I ever had to shoot a corpse.”
    “Sorry… just part of the job, Patrick,” she said and lit a cigarette. “Do you think we have an exclusive?”
    “Hard to say.”
    “Why?”
    “It’s only Monday… Durbin won’t talk to Jack Leaning, but—”
    “It would be enormously satisfying to scoop the Fairhaven Times on this.”
    “Well, the website update will be an exclusive.”
    “Somehow that’s less satisfying.” Eleanor gave me her look and changed the subject. “What about the Summer Preview issue? We should have a meeting on that.” She was definitely unfazed.
    “So soon?”
    “It’s only two months away now. Mel and Jo are already out selling it.”
    “Okay, well… photo montage, erosion update, lighthouse feature. I’m on top of it.”
    “What about the Night Life Guide?”
    “On it. And, remember that’s mine. Don’t you dare give it to anyone else.”
    “I won’t.”
    “Not that I can start on it yet… They’re all boarded up this time of year.”
    “And the Treasure Hunt?”
    “Oh yeah. You really want to put that online this year?”
    “Yes, I do. I think it’s essential.” She peered at me, and not through the glasses at the end of her nose.
    “Alright… well, I’ve got to talk to Jason. When’s he in?”
    Eleanor shrugged and gave me her look again, a cross between frustration and dubiousness. “God only knows.”
    Jason Knobblers was our tech guy. He lived in the basement. He kept our systems up and running, bought the right software, and helped to update the website every day. And he always seemed so sullen. On the masthead, his title was Digital Director. Getting him motivated to help me with this year’s Treasure Hunt was not going to be easy.
    The Treasure Hunt was for the first week of summer. I had been doing it for three years now. It was kind of like a scavenger hunt for tourists, their kids especially, and the locals who always got in on the action too. It went like this: We got a ten thousand dollar grant from the Chamber of Commerce. It was prize money, prize money with a catch. One year it was a simple lottery with a twist: you could only buy tickets from local businesses. Next year, I came up with the long lost inheritance scheme. The year after that, a raffle. And there was the fishing competition... that didn’t work out so well. The grand prize to be awarded Labor Day Weekend. You had all summer to compete and win.
    My idea, my bane, and I had to come up with a new variation every summer. This year I stumbled on the idea of burying a