Death Washes Ashore by Patricia Skalka

Author:Patricia Skalka [Skalka, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780299328283
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

17

A FORGOTTEN TRAGEDY

Cubiak believed the story Nick had told him about his father, for the simple reason that it could be checked out and they both knew it. Henley’s money hadn’t come from his ace performance as a real estate broker, as he had told Travis, but from scamming the desperate. The King Arthur of Door Camelot defiled the memory of his legendary namesake.

The sheriff mulled over the latest development as he headed to his weekly lunch with Bathard. Since the start of the season, the two men had been sampling the county’s new brew pubs and recently settled on the Old Black Dog as a favorite. The food was good, but more importantly it reminded them of the now vanquished Pechta’s Tap in Fish Creek where they had initiated the lunch tradition more than a dozen years ago. On some days, they circled around life’s larger issues and the vagaries of fate. On others, they either sat in amiable silence or talked about an ongoing case.

Bathard was waiting at an outside table when the sheriff arrived.

“I assumed that with the good weather, we would want to dine al fresco,” he said when Cubiak joined him. “You don’t mind the heat?”

“Not at all,” the sheriff said, rolling up his sleeves. At his age, he preferred being warm to being cold. In the summer, he turned up the temperature in his air-conditioned office and often drove the jeep with the AC off and the windows open to the warm air.

As they studied the list of daily specials, Cubiak surreptitiously assessed his friend’s appearance and manner. Bathard was seventy-six, and the last time they had met, he looked drawn and pale. The sheriff worried that the retired physician was ill.

“You are not going to start in again about me selling my house and moving to something smaller, are you? Or getting someone to look in on me?” Bathard said.

Cubiak feigned ignorance.

“I see you scrutinizing me, looking for signs of decline. I know you worry about me, and I appreciate the concern, but trust me, I am fine. When the day comes that I am not, you will know because I will tell you.”

“I could call you a stubborn old goat,” the sheriff said.

Bathard chuckled. “Maybe I am simply someone who knows his own mind.” He lowered his menu. “Now, shall we order?”

While they waited for their food, Cubiak summarized the Henley case and ran through the list of people he had met with up to that point.

When he mentioned George Tinsel, his friend stopped him. “I have not heard that name in decades,” Bathard said.

“Do you know him?”

“I did. Years back, George and I were on the advisory board for the county park district. We saw each other at monthly meetings and even served on a few committees together. I always found him to be a thoughtful and thorough man. When George started something, he saw it through, and I admired that about him. There was a time when Cornelia and I were casual friends with him and his wife.

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