The Midnight Tunnel by Angie Frazier

Author:Angie Frazier [Frazier, Angie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-545-39301-0
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2012-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Detective Rule: Treat everyone as a suspect—friends, family, and crabby fishermen alike.

LOBSTER COVE’S DOCK RATTLED AS WILL AND I walked toward the old buoy shack. The Bay Jewel bobbed at the end of the dock, a gentle shrug of water slapping against its hull. I didn’t hear the smacking of traps, the zip of towlines, or Isaac’s whistling. I stopped at the shack’s door and knocked lightly as Will peered inside the window.

“Mick?” I called out. “Isaac?”

Will gave up after a moment’s silence and walked toward the Bay Jewel. He grabbed ahold of the side of the boat and hoisted himself over the railing.

“I don’t think you should do that,” I said, a twinge of worry in my throat. “Mick could be aboard.”

Will lifted the cover of a bait barrel and peered inside. “If he was aboard, he would have answered your call, right?”

“Not necessarily,” I answered. Will’s curious glance asked why. “Mick’s a bit … shy. He doesn’t like talking to girls or women or, really, anyone.”

I scanned all of Lobster Cove, from the start of the crescent-shaped beach to the rocky bluffs on the opposite side of the dock. Not a soul was strolling the bluffs or lounging on the beach in one of the rattan chairs. I was sure high tea and my uncle’s interrogation were taking up the guests’ time.

“Did Maddie know Isaac?” Will asked, ignoring my request to come off the Bay Jewel.

She and Isaac had spoken only that one time. Maddie had insulted the way Isaac had smelled, and he had then in turn threatened to toss her into one of the lobster traps. Of course, there was no way an idiotic threat like that could possibly be taken seriously. At least I wouldn’t take it seriously. But Will might. And so might Uncle Bruce, especially if there was no suspect by the end of the afternoon and Mr. Cook was demanding progress.

I chose to lie, but did it with as few words as necessary to ax some of the guilt. “Not really.”

“What do you know about Isaac?” Will asked.

“I know that if he catches you on the Bay Jewel without his permission, he won’t be very happy. Isaac doesn’t take kindly to outsiders.” I really wanted Will to come back onto the dock. Instead, he poked his head into the companionway leading to the galley.

“I meant, what do you know about him personally. Like, does he have family up here, or is he a loner? What kind of interaction does he have with the guests?”

I started getting uncomfortable with his nosing around on Mick’s boat and his questions about Isaac. “You haven’t even met him yet and you’re treating him like a suspect.”

It was exactly what I’d been trying so hard not to do since the afternoon before. I didn’t want Isaac, of all people, to be a suspect.

Will found another barrel, flipped up the lid, and said the very rule that I knew I should be following. The rule I had

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