Read The Chocolate Pirate Plot for Free Online Page B

an actress in the Warner Pier Summer Showboat Players. Joe and I had gone to see their production of Arsenic and Old Lace . She’d played the romantic lead. According to the posters around town, she was about to open as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance , wearing a cute Victorian bonnet and side curls.
    Maggie, of course, was part of the Summer Showboat Players, too, and was in The Pirates of Penzance .
    As soon as Jill got to the top of the bank, she and Maggie grabbed each other in a big hug. Jill even cried a few tears on Maggie’s shoulder.
    â€œOh, Maggie!” Jill said. “Where is Max?”
    â€œHe’s gone to Chicago for the day.”
    â€œChicago!” Jill stepped back, her face a picture of incredulity. “He can’t have left town!”
    â€œWhy not?”
    Jill stamped her foot as hard as a flip-flop can be stamped in sand. “The rat! I’ll kill him for this!”
    Maggie looked confused. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, I heard a shout behind us.
    â€œThey’ve found something!”
    I lifted the yellow tape and let Maggie through before I bothered to turn around. We’d already had several such announcements. So far the beach patrol had found a log, a sand-filled foam cooler, and a pair of tennis shoes with the laces tied together.
    But when I turned around this time, the situation looked different. The searchers in the water were gathered in a tight knot, a knot that was hiding whatever they had found. It was something large.
    I had an urge to protect the younger woman, and I guess Maggie did, too, because we both stepped closer to Jill. Maggie put her arm around Jill’s waist. We all stared at the scene.
    A leg flashed into and out of view. It was horizontal, so I knew it didn’t belong to one of the searchers. I gasped, and I think Jill and Maggie did, too. The line of searchers had apparently found Jeremy.
    It took the rescue crew only a few minutes to lift the body onto the beach. Hogan stood by with a yellow plastic sheet, which I knew was standard equipment he kept in his car. The searchers closed in, forming a wall that blocked the onlookers’ view of the drowned man. Hogan knelt, staying on his knees for at least two full minutes. I wondered why. Then I saw the sheet flap around, and one of the county deputies catch the end. He and Hogan had apparently covered the man.
    Hogan stood up and walked up to Maggie, Jill, and me. Silence had fallen over the assembled rescue workers. Hogan stopped about six feet away from us.
    â€œJill,” he said. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask you to identify him.”
    â€œThis can’t be happening,” Jill said. Tears were trickling down her cheeks.
    â€œHogan, I know him, too,” Maggie said. “Can I do it?”
    â€œNo!” Jill spoke sharply. “I’m not just an ingénue. I’ve got to act like a grown woman.”
    She took a deep breath and stepped forward.
    â€œGood girl,” Hogan said. He took her arm. They walked toward the water, with Maggie and me following.
    The clump of rescuers parted as we approached, and I saw a strange thing. Something was holding the sheet up on the right side of the drowning victim. It looked as if his arm was bent at the elbow and was holding the sheet up like a tent pole. Even as upset as I was, it struck me as odd.
    We reached the victim, and Hogan knelt at his head. Maggie again slid her arm around Jill’s waist, and I stood close beside her.
    Hogan pulled the sheet back. We saw the side of the man’s head and a bush of black hair.
    â€œNo!” Jill gasped and staggered, nearly falling to her knees. “Jeremy is blond!”
    She whirled around and hugged Maggie excitedly. “Jeremy is blond! This isn’t him! They’ve found someone else!”
    Chocolate Chat
    Chocolate Gives Clue to Ancient Life
    Chocolate proves the existence of a vital and important pre-Columbian