Discovery by Robert Merton

Author:Robert Merton [Merton, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Fishing anyone?

9 o’clock found Arkin and Jones pulling out of the station with Jones at the wheel. It was a beautiful day, cool and crisp, with the sun shining in a cloudless sky. They had both showed up with coffees and doughnuts, so they were well supplied for their morning.

Jones had plotted Smithfield’s known fishing spots on a map based on information provided by Victoria. The first was in a park and camping area about an hour out of the city on the southeast side. When they arrived they checked in at the office and asked if anyone might remember Hank and Victoria Smithfield.

A bright eyed young woman, obviously a morning person, was behind the counter and cheerfully typed the names into her computer.

“We do have some records of them staying here, but I’m sorry Detective,” she said, “this is a pretty busy park, so we don’t get to know very many people well enough to provide any real information. I know a few because they come and stay for months at a time, but I don’t get to know people who are only here occasionally. Unless of course something unusual occurs, like a disturbance, or an emergency of some kind.”

Arkin said, “Hummm…,” then asked, “Well, can you give us a record of when they were here?”

“Yes sir, I can print this out for you. It will show all their visits we have on record.” The woman printed out the records and handed them to Arkin.

“Thank you very much,” said Arkin as he took the printout and handed her his card, “if by chance you remember anything please call me.”

“Yes sir, I’ll be happy to do that, and I’ll ask the other staff members who come in for the evening shift.”

“Thanks, we would like to look around a little bit if that’s okay.”

“That’ll be fine.”

They picked up a map on the way out and examined it before getting in the car. The map showed a main road which circled a large lake. There were three camping areas nestled along the shore. A road branched off the main road about a third of the way around the lake and lead to several more campsites on a smaller lake which seemed to be a little more remote. The map indicated that the facilities were a little more rustic. A second road branched off the main road a mile or so further on, but this one lead to campsites in an area of hills. This campsite seemed more suitable for people that wanted to be a little isolated or do some hiking.

Two of the lake front camping areas had beaches for people to swim. In between them was a pier with a building that provided boat rentals and contained a small snack bar. The third camping area was a little more secluded and appeared to be for people who only wanted to fish or hike. There was no beach, but it did have one of the two boat ramps that provided access to the lake for those that brought their own boats.

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