The Dunes of Saulkrasti: From the Pages of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (Santa Ezeriņa, Investigative Journalist) by William Burton McCormick

Author:William Burton McCormick [McCormick, William Burton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-14T07:00:00+00:00

Shovel strapped across his back, Teodors dragged the unconscious Alise across the sands, keeping far from the beaches and footpaths. He knew the dunes well, living here thirty years. It might never grow truly dark at solstice, but this lonely route should keep them unseen. Teodors long ago mapped the least trafficked way to reach his gold.

In a trough between two great dunes, he at last began to dig. The girl did not stir and he briefly wondered if she might have died. No matter. One way or another she’d soon be below ground.

Teodors made good time in his digging. Soon, he came upon the hard surface of the old truck’s top. He cleared an area of sand, found the wooden hatch he’d constructed in the cargo-body’s roof, slid it open.

Below was the near-empty cargo zone of the truck. Sand covered the flooring, the skeleton of a nosy Swede he’d killed in 2003 sticking out, his long black metal detector at his side. No gold, of course. Teodors had spent much of it on investments after Latvia’s independence in 1991 and the rest paying his debts during the real-estate crisis seventeen years later. He wished to reimburse his comrades, but when repayment became impossible, Teodors chose to eliminate his men before they asked for their gold. Only, Artūrs, an unambitious man satisfied to run a bar, remained passive enough to stay his execution.

That had changed tonight.

Teodors tossed Alise’s body through the hatch. She landed in the soft sand near the Swede, arm across his skeletal shoulder. They appeared contented, like a slumbering couple on the beach.

Rest in peace, Alise. Or Santa. Artūrs’s corpse will be joining you soon.

He closed the hatch and began the arduous task of reburying the truck’s roof. When it was finally hidden beneath the Saulkrasti sands, Teodors retreated to his hotel, plotting his gambit to entrap Artūrs.

A shadow waited for him inside and the flash of gunfire lit up hotel windows.

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