~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Three~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trent and Carlos waited for the intruder to come outside,
but when he didn’t appear after a few minutes, they began
whispering.
"I wonder if that was Rygali," Trent thought aloud.
"Whoever it was sure had a bit of anger in them," Carlos
understated. "I wonder if if was directed at the whole Red-
thing, or if the replica just happened to be a convenient
projectile."
"I don’t know," Trent answered. "But he went directly
over to the ship, so he must have known right where it was."
"Or what he was looking for," Carlos added.
Trent peered in the broken window. There were no further
movements in the room.
"He’s gone," Trent said.
"He had a good idea," Carlos agreed. "We should get out
of here. I’ll check tomorrow if Mr. Rygali calls the police
about a break-in. Otherwise, I’d have to believe that he was
the one who threw the ship out the window."
"Okay," Trent agreed. "And I’m going to drive back out
to the marina tomorrow. Maybe Mr. Halloran will reappear."
* * *
"I don’t know how I let you talk me into this," Jen said
as Trent parked his ‘Vette next to the bait shop for the second
time in two days.
"Because I promised you no talk of curses," Trent reminded
her. "We’re just here to look for Mr. Halloran."
"I’ll take the lower end of the marina," Trent told Jen.
That end had the ledge he still planned to explore, despite
Mr. Ramsay’s warning.
"That leaves me with the north end," Jen claimed. She
started for the upper end of the marina.
Trent looked at the bait shop again before working his
way towards the ledge. He looked under a couple of docks, and
then stepped onto the ledge.
"Trent!"
Hearing Jen calling to him, Trent stepped off the ledge
and raced over to where Jen was sitting on one of the newer
docks, looking a little pale.
"What’s wrong?" Trent asked.
"How old did you say Mr. Halloran was?" she asked, not
meeting his eyes.
"Close to eighty," Trent answered. "With lots of white
hair. Are you all right?"
Jen nodded. "Then, I guess he’s not our man." She
pointed under the dock.
Trent kneeled down and looked under the edge of the dock.
Tangled among the sea weed was a body. A dark-haired body.
* * *
Carlos arrived at Hutton’s Bay shortly after the local
police did. Trent and Jen were standing next to the ‘Vette.
He hurried over to them.
"Is it Halloran?" Carlos asked.
Trent shook his head. "It’s someone with dark hair.
They’re pulling him out of the water now."
"They figure that he’d been down there for a couple of
days now," Jen added. "So he was already dead when you guys
first spoke with Halloran here."
Carlos digested that news for a moment. "Oh, yeah, buddy,
Samuel Rygali never called in to report a break in. He must
have been the one who threw the boat."
Before Jen could ask about throwing a boat, one of the
local officers approached.
"We’d like to see if you can identify the body," he told
them. Trent, Carlos, and Jen followed him down to the body.
The man had once had short black hair. His skin was a
bone-chilling blue. Trent had never seen him before in his
life!
Jen shook her head. "No, I’m sorry."
Carlos was silent for a moment, comparing the face before
him with his memory of a photograph he’d seen recently, a mug
shot.
"His name," Carlos began, "is Samuel Rygali."
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