Case of the Ostentatious Otters Page 16

  “He drowned,” Mike spat.

  “He drowned, ‘cause he had been stung by one of the most venomous octopuses in the world,” I corrected. “The blue-ringed octopus, native to waters much warmer than this.” I then looked at Beth. “But, you already knew that, didn’t you?”

  “What’s he talking about?” Mike demanded, as he turned to Beth. “You said that guy drowned. He did drown, right?”

  Beth’s eyes teared up, “Yes, he drowned. It was an accident! He wasn’t supposed to die!”

  The gun Mike had been holding slowly lowered until it was pointing straight down, at the sandy ground.

  “Is what they’re saying true? Did you do something to that diver?”

  Sensing an opportunity which might buy us some time, or possibly an avenue to escape, I decided to try and get the two youngsters into a full-blown argument. Don’t ask me why. It must be my evil streak.

  “Your girlfriend stole one of 15 juvenile, blue-ringed octopuses,” I companionably told Mike. I glanced down at the dogs, but they were still supremely uninterested in the tense situation we had found ourselves in. “Somehow, and we don’t know how as of yet, she got the thing to sting Mr. Carlton. I don’t know how long it took to affect him, but it caused paralysis, which meant he literally stopped moving and, unfortunately, breathing. Because of her,” I said, pointing at Beth, “an experienced, well-respected diver lost his life.”

  By this time, Beth was full-on bawling, letting out great, heaving sobs. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she rocked back and forth. I kinda felt like an ass, but it was working. For all intents and purposes, Mike was now staring at his girlfriend as though she was a stranger to him. And, for all I knew, maybe that’s what Mike was now thinking.

  “You admit to being the person who stole that octopus baby?” Jillian softly asked.

  Beth’s tear-streaked face nodded.

  “How did you get it to sting Jack Carlton?” Jillian continued.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be him!” Beth insisted. “I never wanted to kill him!”

  “And yet, you did,” I added.

  “How did it happen?” Jillian asked.

  “I... I put the octopus in a dive mask,” Beth hesitantly began. “It was tiny. I watched it settle inside the nose piece and figured this would be perfect. I thought for certain it would look like an accident.”

  “Finding a poisonous octopus in a dive mask would certainly raise a question or two,” I argued.

  “You don’t dive, do you?” Beth accused.

  I frowned, “Hey, I may not look like it now, but I used to. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “If you suddenly felt like you couldn’t breathe,” Beth said, “then more than likely you’ll rip the mask off your face. And if that happens? What then?”

  “The octopus would be flushed out to sea,” I guessed, drawing a nod from the young girl.

  “If you didn’t want to kill Jack Carlton,” Julie slowly began, “then why put that thing in his mask?”

  “It wasn’t his mask!” Beth insisted. “Mr. Carlton must have been in a hurry. He grabbed the wrong mask by mistake. I would never hurt him. I care about him.”

  “You sure have a funny way of showing someone that you care.”

  “I said I didn’t mean to kill him!” Beth raged, all remorse gone.

  “If not him,” I said, frowning, “then who was your target?”

  “That... that b-bitch! Sherry!”

  “Sherry?” Jillian repeated, puzzled. “Wait. Wasn’t that the name of the girl who was found hiding in the bushes the day Jack died?”

  “This is all her fault!” Beth wailed. “If it wasn’t for her, then none of this would’ve happened.”

  “You were trying to kill another volunteer?” I incredulously repeated. “Why? What in the world for? You’re both volunteers, for crying out loud. You guys aren’t even getting paid!”

  “Jealousy,” Jillian guessed.

  Beth nodded, “He doesn’t need another female volunteer. He has me! I put in all the long hours. I do all the jobs no one else wants to do. Mr. Carlton doesn’t need anyone else but me.”

  “Didn’t I hear somewhere that he had six volunteers?” I said, as I turned to Jillian. “Wouldn’t that suggest he has enough work for everyone? Maybe he wants to have all those volunteers.”

  “But he didn’t need them!” Beth wailed, sounding very much like her age. “He had me! Since Mr. Carlton used so many volunteers in his many projects, I had to show him that I was the best.”

  “Wait,” I said, as I held up my hands in a ‘time-out’ gesture. “Are you suggesting that there was a competition among the volunteers to see who’d become the favorite? What in the world for?”

  “You don’t understand,” Beth accused. “It was a well-known fact that Mr. Carlton was sent all over the world. He always told us volunteers that we really should have passports, ‘cause he never knows when he might need help when he leaves the country. As for Sherry, well, he’s taken her a few times to South America. To Venezuela, of all places! That should have been me! I want to go to another country!”

  “Beth, how old are you?” Jillian suddenly asked.

  “I’m 16. Why?”

  “Do you think it’s socially acceptable for a grown man to take an underage girl with him?” Jillian pointedly asked. “To a foreign country, of all places?”

  “He could,” Beth sniffed, as her nose lifted. “If he wanted to, then he could have made it happen.”

  “Perhaps,” Jillian said, shrugging. “But, it’s highly unlikely. You’re still a child. You’d have to wait until you became a legal adult.”

  “Holy crap on a cracker,” I said, shaking my head. “She was hoping for something more, wasn’t she?”

  “Did you think Jack Carlton would develop feelings for you?” Julie asked, concerned. “Don’t you watch television? A grown man would never fraternize with a young child. And if they did, don’t you know how many times it ends badly for the child?”

  “Stop calling me a child!” Beth demanded. “I’m smarter than you, more motivated than you...”

  “...and will be doing more jail time than Julie ever will,” I interrupted. I glanced over at Mike. “What do you think, pal? Are you still willing to stand beside her?”

  “You never said anything about killing a guy,” Mike insisted. “You said you knew where we could find some sunken treasure. We were going to collect all these coins and sell them! You even told me you found some buyers online!”

  She thought she’d be able to keep the treasure? Drawing on some of my newly acquired info I had gleaned while researching shipwrecks, I smiled. “Did she also tell you that, according to the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987, any sunken ship found within the territorial boundaries of the United States belongs to the United States?”

  “Nice one, Zachary,” Jillian whispered.

  “You made that up,” Mike defiantly insisted.

  I shook my head, “I really didn’t. It has a silly name, but, unfortunately for you, that Act really exists. That’s why there are so few treasure hunts on American soil. Or in the American water. If you find something, then it automatically belongs to Uncle Sam.”

  “Oh, this keeps getting better and better!” Mike complained. “Is what he’s saying true? We wouldn’t be allowed to keep the treasure?”

  “The government wouldn’t have to know about it,” Beth snapped, growing angry and defensive for the first time. “Who was going to tell them? You? I certainly wasn’t.”

  Another random thought occurred. And no, this one wasn’t designed to piss either of the teenagers off. What can I say? I have a knack for poking the bear.

  “Tell me something,” I began. I pointed out at the otters, who were still in the area, but floating a respectable distance from shore. “What did you hope to gain from this? I mean, you guys mentioned you had some buyers lined up for the sunken treasure? You’re only a kid, who is still… wait. Let me guess. You’re in hig
h school?”

  Beth nodded.

  “Right. You’re still in school. Do you really want to tangle with people who willingly deal in black market treasure?”

  “It was a risk,” Beth admitted.

  “You found the San Augustin, didn’t you?” I said.

  A look of defiance appeared on the young girl’s face, “Maybe. What’s it to you? That treasure is mine!”

  “That’s a lofty goal for someone so young,” Harry observed. “What’s up with that? What do you plan on doin’ with all that money?”

  “Say nothing,” Mike advised.

  “We know you know the location of the wreck,” Jillian soothingly told the girl. “What harm could there be in telling us what you plan on doing with the recovered coins? Were you going to use the money to start your whale institute?”

  “I was going to prove to Jack Carlton that I could be taken as seriously as any adult,” Beth sobbed. “Yes, you’re right. I found the location of San Augustin. How? Not by making multiple dives day after day, month after month, wasting tons of money. I found it by studying; reading. I determined where the wreck went down, I calculated where the currents would have dropped the wreckage, and after all these years, where it would have ended up now. After I obtained my deep water certification, Mike and I went diving. Sure enough, we found it.”

  “But so did the damn otters,” Mike groused. “Why couldn’t they leave well enough alone?”

  Ignoring him, Beth continued, “With the coordinates in my hand, I went to see Mr. Carlton. Since I had located the wreck earlier in the year when Mr. Carlton had been in New Zealand, I had to wait for him to return to the aquarium. When I saw he was finally back, I approached him and said I had something he really needed to see. And it was urgent. Sherry sensed something was up. She was jealous of me. She always has been. She knew I had something that Mr. Carlton was going to want to see. So, she kept close to him in an attempt to take credit for whatever it was I was planning on sharing.”

  These volunteers were sounding more and more like a bunch of school children. Then again, Beth here was still in school. Who knew how many kids volunteered at the aquarium?

  “What happened?” I softly asked, already knowing the outcome.

  “Once I knew Mr. Carlton was convinced I was serious, and he agreed to go diving with me, we made plans to meet out at the beach. Finally, I was going to get my due. I was finally going to show Mr. Carlton proof I had discovered the long, sought-after San Augustin. With any amount of luck, Mr. Carlton would want to film the discovery for National Geographic. It would bring more fame to Mr. Carlton, and he would reward me by taking me under his wing, perhaps introducing me to some of his associates at National Geographic.”

  “Like a proud papa,” I said, throwing enough of a sneer to earn myself a scowl from the boyfriend.

  “But, as luck would have it, on the day of the scheduled dive, I overheard Sherry ask Mr. Carlton if she could accompany us. I almost cried when I heard him agree to her request. This was my time! This was my discovery! Why did that bitch have to butt her nose in where it didn’t belong? Well, I had to put a stop to her.”

  “So, you made plans to take Sherry out of the equation,” Jillian deduced.

  Beth nodded, “Exactly. I stole one of those blue-ringed octopus babies, stashed it in Sherry’s mask, and waited to go diving. The only problem was, Mr. Carlton was stuck on a video call with one of his friends in another country. He was late to our meeting, so he...” At this point, Beth trailed off and started sobbing. Collecting herself, she cleared her throat and started again. “He was late. Because he was late, he was rushed. He grabbed his and Sherry’s mask and hurried to the beach, only, in his haste, he took Sherry’s mask, by mistake.”

  “Did Sherry grab his first?” I asked, curious.

  Beth shrugged, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past her. I didn’t know anything had gone wrong until... until I saw Sherry suiting up on the beach and then, suddenly, running away. That’s when I turned and saw Mr. Carlton, floating face down in the water. I knew immediately what had happened. Somehow, and I didn’t know how, he had donned the mask intended for Sherry.”

  “Sherry freaks,” I guessed, as I continued the train of thought, “and hides in the bushes, not sure what to do.”

  “Oh, I hate her! She ruined everything!”

  “If you would have had your way,” I told the petulant girl, “then another girl would be dead, instead of Jack Carlton. Don’t you get it? You took another person’s life! That’s something you’re going to have to live with for the rest of your life.”

  Beth sobbed as she fell silent.

  Jillian suddenly cleared her throat, “I have a question. Where is Sherry now? And why didn’t she go to the police? She clearly knew Jack Carlton died under mysterious circumstances.”

  “Who the hell is Sherry?” Mike wanted to know, as he turned to confront his young girlfriend once more. “You mean, she’s someone you actually wanted to kill? What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “You’re not one to talk,” I pointed out. “You were pointing that gun at the four of us earlier, and you claimed you’d have the fortitude to pull the trigger.”

  “You know I do,” Mike growled. “Whose gun do you think this is?”

  “Your daddy’s?” Harry nonchalantly quipped.

  “It’s mine!” Mike insisted. “I know how to handle a gun. I can and will use it if I have to.”

  “Did you take care of Sherry, too?” I asked, growing angry.

  “I never killed anyone!” Mike insisted.

  “But she did,” I said, pointing at Beth. “Maybe she killed Sherry, too.”

  “I wanted to,” Beth admitted, as she clenched her hands, “but I couldn’t find her. She wasn’t at her house and she wasn’t answering her phone.”

  “And why would she?” Harry demanded. “You are trying to kill her, man! I’d be lying low, too, if I knew a nutjob like you was looking for me.”

  “The bitch even had the nerve to blackmail me,” Beth continued.

  There was no mistaking the venom in the young girl’s voice. Here was a girl who truly hated another girl, and for what reason? Social status. Beth wanted to lord it over Sherry, that she was Jack Carlton’s number one helper, only, if Jack was like any other sensible person, he’d never allow himself to be alone with a minor.

  “You were being blackmailed?” Mike repeated, frowning. Then, his eyes opened in shock. “That’s why you wanted to borrow $500 from me? Was it to pay this Sherry person?”

  “I was going to pay you back,” Beth snapped. “What choice did I have? She threatened to tell the police if I didn’t do as she said. As soon as we had those coins, we could pay her off and we’d be done with her.”

  “Pay up in order to keep quiet,” I reflected. “It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, and sadly, it usually doesn’t end well. For either party.”

  Beth hurried over to Mike and tried to take the gun from him.

  “Knock it off, Elizabeth! I’m not giving you the gun. I told you, you have no experience with it. I do. I’ll be keeping it, thank you very much.”

  Beth pointed a shaking finger at the four of us. Er, the six of us.

  “Then make them show you what they did with the otters,” Beth all but shouted. “We need those coins! If they’re seen with those coins, then people will know the San Augustin is close!”

  “A bunch of people already know about them,” I pointed out. Beth’s angry red face swiveled until she was staring straight at me. “You work at the aquarium. You haven’t overheard any of the conversations?”

  “You’re lying,” Beth insisted.

  I shook my head, “In this case, I am not. The director, Jon Hawk, knows. So does a number of the staff. Do you really think you’ll be able to keep this under wraps? I personally think it’s only a matter of time before the aquarium launches a full scale dive, centered in this area. How long before they find the ship? Not long, if you ask me.�
�

  “Well, maybe they will and maybe they won’t,” Beth sneered. “At least, when they find the ship, there won’t be any more treasure on it. It’ll be long gone.”

  Remembering a bit more from my recent research into shipwrecks, I laughed derisively and crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you telling me that you think the two of you would be able to move 60 tons of treasure that easily? Methinks not, Grasshopper.”

  “60 t-tons?” Mike stammered, as he looked at Beth and waited for her to contradict that statement. When she didn’t, his eyes opened wide. “How are we supposed to move that kind of cargo? My uncle’s boat is nowhere near large enough to handle something that weighs so much.”

  “Then we’ll bring it up in small loads,” Beth said, growing angry once more, “and make multiple trips. Stop arguing with me about this, Michael! You said you’d help me, no questions asked, right? Well, I need your help!”

  “That’d be aiding and abetting,” I translated, as I looked at Mike. For the record, the kid’s gun was still pointed down.

  “I… I don’t know, Elizabeth.”

  “Don’t you wuss out on me!” Beth cried.

  The teen girl lunged forward, intent on relieving Mike of his gun, only he was ready for just such an attack. He stepped to the side, spun to his left, and stuck out a leg. Beth went down onto the sand, hard.

  “How d-dare you!” Beth sputtered, as her face surfaced and rivulets of sand cascaded off her head. “You don’t want to help me? Fine! I’ll do this all by myself!”

  I made a sweeping gesture with one of my hands, “And what about us? What’s your plan? The four of us now know what you’ve been up to. You’ve indicated you don’t want Mike around anymore. How do you plan on getting out of this?”

  As if the universe had been waiting for me to ask that very question, police officers suddenly appeared out of nowhere and swarmed the two teenagers. Within moments, it was over. Mike was relieved of his gun and then both the teenagers were ordered – at gunpoint – to lie down on the sandy beach. Beth gasped with surprise and immediately raised her hands in surrender. Her face fell as she wordlessly complied with the orders given by the police. After a few moments, Mike did the same. Then, much to my amusement, both teens began laying on the water works, with Mike being far and away the most charismatic actor.