Deep Waters

Early the next morning...I stood at the reef and watched and waved as my wife, Sepia, Robert's wife Bonita and James Swanson's fiance, Virginia Wells all went out on the boat with Robert and James and they dove into the Marina for their second dive...

Turns out , Virginia was from Philadelphia originally!! She , Sepia and Bonita hit it off well and before the night was over they were drinking and laughing and talking like old girlfriends...Sepia and Bonita wound up calling her, Jenny!Which was cool...It led to Robert and I having a very good night afterwords if you know what I mean and I know that you do!! From the looks of Virginia..I'm certain that James has many good nights! I'm just saying.

We were all really having a good time , these last few days...James and Robert diving...Me and the wives eating and drinking good food and wine at the local Marina Bar and Casino....and a little lightweight shopping..I sure wished that Robert and James hadn't found those two corpses...

I left the Marina and went to the M.E.'s office...For a small town, they had a very modern and capable Medical Examiner's Office and crime lab.

"Well Kevin, from DNA and dental records, we got a match...You were right...These are the bodies of Thelma Burrows and Carl Stackhouse....We've notified the next of kin..." said the Medical Examiner...A tall,
sandy haired fellow named Dr. John Norton.

"I suppose the press will be all over this soon?" I asked.

"They were already speculating Kevin." he said.

"Well, don't give them any details about the deaths....Not yet...I suspect the killer or killers is still hanging around this quaint little town." I said.

"Any ideas on who?" he asked..

"No..not really....but I'm still digging around ." I said.

II-

Starbucks wasn't my favorite coffee, but that was where Rita Whitfield said she wanted to meet me when I called her...So since every town has at least one establishment..I quickly found the one in this town and waited for her there. She was my kind of woman...On time!

To my surprise...Rita Whitfield was a Black woman....And my second surprise was that,  Carl Stackhouse  was also Black!! She came with photos of Him.  He looked like a happy go lucky young man...He was smiling in every photo...especially the ones with a young and attractive young white woman in them...

"I hate to take up your time Ms. Whitfield....I'm so glad you agreed to meet me here today." I said.

"I'm glad you finally found my cousin's body...For two years Neither I, nor anybody in our family knew what had become of him...I figured he was dead....I didn't have the heart to tell my aunt...His mother." she said.

"Wait! Carl is your cousin?" I asked.

"Yeah...He was in the Black Scuba Divers association...He used to come up here to dive with his buddies all the time. He was from California....I was a grad student at the local university and I had a place here...In 2009, he came out here for a dive and didn't want to go back to Cali...So I told him he could crash with me." she said.

"That's a first...Usually it's the other way around...People want to leave here and move to Cali..." I laughed.

"I know right?" she said... She had an easy laugh.

"He was fine until he started seeing Thelma Burrows..." she said.

''Is that the white woman in the photos?" I asked.

"Yeah...She's married to Wayne Burrows...He's like the wealthiest man in this area...He's the real power in this town...Thelma saw my cousin at one of his dives and she was hooked...I don't know how long they had been sneaking around...but I walked in on them here and that's how I found out... I told him...We argued...I told him that he couldn't be fooling around with a white woman...and especially not that white woman! Not in this town....Wayne Burrows has spies all around...But he wouldn't listen...He tried to break it off with her ,but she kept calling, kept coming around...   It wasn't like Wayne Burrows was a saint..He was doing his thing too...With the porn star..Beverly Blossoms...Everybody knew that she had his nose wide open...It was just a mess Mr. Kevin....."

"Wow...that is something...This is right  out of Peyton Place." I laughed.

"Worse..." she said... On the fourth of July weekend of 2010...Carl told me that he was going to go up there and break it off with Thelma...He said he didn't like sneaking around with another man's wife...I joked that he had just had his fill of her...He laughed and said-"You're right."  He kissed me on the cheek and went out that morning and that was the last time I saw him...Two days passed by and I went to the Sheriff ...He did a half assed investigation....A month went by and he had nothing...It was like he hadn't even started an investigation...  Then Burrow's wife was reported missing too...I went back to the Sheriff...He said that he would "let me know " if he had anything." she said with disgust.

"But he he never got back to me." She said.

"I'm not surprised...Seems like Sheriff Dex is pre-occupied." I said.

''With what? He doesn't do a damn thing but drive around in his Bently or his BMW and try to pick up girls all day." she said.

"What? He has a Bently??? and a BMW?  On HIS salary?"I asked.

"Yeah...Explain that to me...I went to the State....but they stalled too.. and I tried to go to the Feds, but they said that this was a local matter and that Carl was a grown man and that maybe he just went back to California. I wrote letters to whoever would listen...but nobody did anything until you and your friends found those bodies...They were murdered weren't they?" she asked.

"Yeah...a .22 slug to both of their heads....and whoever killed them, wrapped them up and dropped them in the marina and tried to hide them in one of the tunnells under the water...The bodies had been weighted down." I said.

"Wow.....Well..What's going to happen now?" she asked.

"The Mayor asked me and my friend Robert to handle he investigation...He's paying us...I'm a private investigator and my friend, Robert...He's an attorney." I said.

"You've got to be careful...Once this hits the papers...Wayne Burrows will do everything he can do to stop you..  " she said.

"You think he's behind this?" I asked.

"Of course...that was his wife who was fooling around with a black man....the ultimate insult to a man like him....." she said.

"You think he has influence over Sherrif Dex?" I said.

"You asked yourself how he could afford those two nice cars with a County Sherrif's salary didn't you?  He purchased the Bently in October of 2010 and by Christmas he had the BMW.." she said with a wink...

"What's the deal with the Mayor?" I asked.

"He hates Wayne Burrows..Hates him with a passion...Wayne Burrows was rumored to have been sleeping with his wife at one time..." she said.

Hmmmm, it seems like old girl gets around...I mused to myself.

"Wayne controls everything around here...Half of the City Council is on the take to him....He gets a cut of all of the businesses around here too...He'll do any and everything to stop you from doing your job.." she said.

"Don't worry..I have dealt with nastier guys than him...I can take care of myself.." I said.

"I'm not hanging around this town much longer...I've already made plans to move...." she said.

"Good move...You got a cell phone? " I asked.

"Yeah." she said.

"Give me a number . Someway to get in contact with you." I said.

"Sure.....Thank you Mr. Kevin...Thank you so much...My family is coming tomorrow to claim Carl's body..We are taking him back to Cali for Funeral and burial." she said.

"Good...Stay out there a few days until I clean this mess up." I said.

"Okay."

III-

A few hours later....I got a call from Robert Foxworth....

''Kev..Where you at man?" he said.

"I'm in the rental car...I'm headed over to the bar." I said.

''Good , we got something to show you." he said.

"Oh no...I don't know if I like the sound of that." I said in all seriousness...

"Just get here man." He said.

I drove to the Casino Bar where Sepia, Bonita, Virginia and James met me at the door..... Robert handed me a wet and rusty .22 caliber pistol....

I looked at them both....

"What is this?" I asked.

"We found it in our dive today....You said that both skulls had what looked like a size .22 hole in them...This could be the murder weapon." said Robert Foxworth....

"It could be...but it's been in the water for two years...I don't know if it could pass a balistics test or not..We'll see." I said.

"It's been a pretty long day...let's go inside and get some drinks and some food..I'm starving." I said.

"Way ahead of you Lover." said Sepia, as she, Bonita, James and Virginia entered the Bar...I pulled Robert to the side...

"Robert...I may have to call in my guys on this." I said.  "This is deeper than you know." I continued..

"Nah Kev..Nah...We aint in Philly goin up against some gangster...Clerow, Kool Kat, Owen and Lockpick Johnson will stand out in this town like a sore thumb..." he said.

"I need them...I have to wiretap a couple of people.." I said...

"Peeping Tom is white and Pakastani Sam can at least play the part..." I said.


''Awww man, you gone get them all arrested." he said.

"What else can I do?" I said.

"What about that white dude...Lee Spann...the other private investigator you know?  He's white!" said Robert.

"Good Idea...I'll call him...He's an expert at this type of thing." I said.

"Okay...but I don't like this." said Robert...

"It'll be okay...Now come on...Let's get some drinks." I said.

(To Be Continued....)