Rip Tide - Robert F Clifton (red white and royal blue hardcover txt) 📗

green, orange or red. It may even give off an offensive odor. In this case the color is blue-green.

Not all blue- green algae grows on the surface of the water. Some adhere to aquatic plants and some grow on the bottom. At the same time

algae blooms can appear year-round, but they are more abundant in summer or fall.”

“Interesting Doctor. Can you tell me exactly where these samples you examined came from?”, asked Wallace.

“Precisely? No. But if I had to pick a location it would be Great Bay”.

“And you base your choice on what?”

“Based on the fact that algae and in particular, blue-green algae needs photosynthesis in order to grow. The great majority of Great Bay is only five feet deep with the exception of course of the deep channel created for the Inland Waterway.

“So the blue-green algae collected in large amounts in Great Bay adhered to the dress as the body floated in the water?”

“Possibly, but if I was to guess I would have to say by the amount of organisms found in the dress material the specimens were collected from the muddy bottom of the Bay”.

“Sorry to be a bother, but why the bottom of the bay?”

“Once again it because of the depth of the water. Let's assume your victim weighed between one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty pounds. At the same time keep in mind that the victim now is dead weight. Dropped or tossed over the side of a dock or boat the body would naturally sink. At a depth of only five feet the body strikes the muddy bottom which is covered with blue-green algea which then adheres to the dress fabric”.

“I see. At the same time it makes sense. Great Bay is north of here.

If the killer planned to drop the body in the waters of Great Bay then it is possible that the intention was for the body to eventually wash out to sea on the out going rip tide. The killer had to select Great Bay due to the fact that he or she could be seen in any of the surrounding communities. You can't walk to Great Bay. You can only get there by boat”.

“Exactly, and as a marine biologist let me say that your theory of using the out going tide as a delivery system to get rid of the body makes sense. At times the current is running at forty eight feet a minute. I personally have conducted experiments while studying the geographical influences of tidal range. However, I won't bore you with those details. I hope that what I have found is beneficial in your investigation”.

“Doctor, your contribution is extremely helpful. I hope that if and when the time comes when we make an arrest that you will be available in court”.

“No problem Captain. You see I'm a bit of a ham. Sitting in the witness chair and ex halting the merits of marine biology is some thing I look forward to”.

“Thanks again. Lieutenant, I could kiss you”.

“Try that and I'll file a sexual harassment suit against you”, said Campo with a laugh.

“Alright, how about a letter of commendation?”

“That, I'll take. Thanks Cap”.

When Doctor Anderson and Lieutenant Campo left his office Wallace called the police department paint shop. He ordered that a empty, fifty gallon drum be painted a bright, yellow and delivered to the city docks the next day. Next he called the commander of the police boat informing him of his need to travel north, to Great Bay.

At three sixteen in the afternoon of the next day Robert Wallace stood holding on to the steel, now painted bright yellow drum. As he did he watched the surface of the water waiting for the now high tide to change.

“How long before the tide starts going out Cap?”, asked Stiles.

“Soon now. We're about a mile north of the Sabastian Island Bridge and there is an hours difference between ocean tide and bay tides.

“I hope that McKenna is on the jetty”,said Stiles.

“He had better be. He has to let me know what happens”, Wallace answered.

Ten minutes later the Captain noticed a change in the tide. The stern of the boat that had been facing north on the incoming and then ebb tide slowly began to turn. When the Pacemaker police boat turned completely and strained at the anchor, Wallace dropped the yellow drum over the side. He then shouted to the police officer on the bow who then pulled in the anchor and the helmsman began following the drum as it floated south towards the ocean.

Wallace then climbed up the ladder to the flying bridge and watched as the bright yellow drum raced towards the Sabastian Island Bridge. As he expected when they neared the narrow channel the divided Sabastian Island and Nautilus Beach the current increased creating a rip tide. He held his breath as the drum struck the ice breaker in front of the bridge then bounced off and continued its way south towards the beaches and the bathers.

The drum entered the section of the waterway known as the Inlet. It sped pass Captain Stan's waterfront restaurant. When it did it then approached the first of the rock jetty's built years ago to protect the neighborhood from beach erosion. Picking up a pair of binoculars Wallace looked towards the New Hampshire Avenue jetty expecting to see Tom McKenna standing there. He was.

As the fifty gallon drum neared the jetty Wallace held his breath as he watched the steel container veer suddenly to the east, caught in a small whirlpool. He breathed easier when he saw the drum spin out then caught up in the current swing around the jetty. The ever present wave action of the open ocean then slowly, but deliberately pushed the yellow cylinder up and on to the beach.

Using the portable radio Wallace spoke to Mckenna. “Tom, mark where that drum landed. I'll be there in awhile. Don't let it move or have anyone touch it”.

“Yes sir”, came the reply.

“Good job Cap”, said Stiles.

“Not really, just a theory. The drum is a lot lighter then Pauline Harris.

But, it does support my concept that the killer tried to dispose of her body by having it float out to sea on the outgoing tide. Thanks to Doctor Anderson we know approximately where the body was placed in the water. So Sergeant, what we have now is where and why. What we need to know next is, why and who”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Five

Suspects

 

Captain Robert Wallace looked again at the notes in his small, brown covered tablet. Looking at Tom McKenna he said, “ When we measured the distance of the drum from the jetty my reading was fifty seven feet, eight inches. What did you get?”

McKenna glanced at his notes and said, “ Fifty eight feet, even”.

“From where to where?”

“From the jetty to the end of the drum”.

“That's the difference. I measured from the jetty to the side of the drum. Alright, close enough. The main thing in the experiment was to see if the rip tide would carry an object such as a dead body out to sea, or deposit it on the beach. Of course there was and is a difference in weight. We now know that as a result of the extension put on to the end of the jetty two years ago influences a rip tide as it passes by.”

“Why is this so important Cap?”, asked McKenna.

“Right now it's telling us that who ever placed the body of Pauline Harris in the waters of Great Bay, knows the area, is familiar with the tides that effect the waters around Nautilus Beach and either owns or has access to a boat”.

“Anyone can rent a row boat and motor for twenty dollars”.

“True, but not at night. The Medical Examiner estimates the time of death at between nine and ten P.M. on June the nineteenth. So, it wasn't a rental boat that was used.”

“I see. Are you ready to hear about the funeral?”,asked McKenna.

“Yes, how was it?”

“Sad, Mrs. Harris is taking her daughters death very hard”.

"That's to be expected”.

“None of the housewives on the list showed”.

“What about the Butlers?”

“Nope. The only one familiar to us was Angela Rodman. She was there.”

“That's understandable. They knew each other. Anything else?”

“Nope”.

“O.K. type up your report”.

At two twenty eight that afternoon Wallace accepted a call from Carol Myers. “How's it going?”, he asked.

“I finally found Patricia Baker. What she told me is very interesting”.

“Such as?”

“Such as Derrick Butler is also known as Daniel Barns, and Dominic

DeSilvio. Pat Baker knew him in Philadelphia as Desilvio. She met him again in Nautilus Beach when she filled out an application to model for the Butler's. She modeled at two conventions and didn't like kicking back to Erica Butler. The straw that broke the camel's back so to speak was when Butler, Barns, Desilvio, tried to get her to turn tricks with convention customers. She up and quit and headed for Vegas”.

“So Derrick Butler is a pimp”, said Wallace.

“Looks that way”.

“Good job. Anything else?”

“Yes sir. If you don't mind I think I'll spend a couple of more days here.”.

“No problem. Let me know when you're coming back and your flight number. Have a nice time. Bye”.

Wallace called for Sergeant Stiles. When Frank Stiles entered the office the Captain said, “Frank run the names Donald Barns and Dominic Desilvio through N.C.I.C. Myers had sent in Derrick Butler and nothing came back. Also check with the Philadelphia P.D. same thing, same names. And oh, Myers is staying awhile longer in Vegas”.

“Did she find anything?”

“Yep. Seems Mr. Butler isn't his real name and managing models isn't his only profession. Seems that at one time or another he was or is, a pimp. He tried to get Patricia Baker to turn tricks with conventioneers after the fashion shows”.

“Hey, that opens a new ballgame”.

“Yeah, if he propositioned one model, did he proposition others?”

“Could be. I think we'd better talk to Angela Rodman again Cap”.

“I think you're right. When was the last time you and Emma went out to dinner?”

“It's been a while”.

Wallace stood up, then reached back and removed his wallet from his back pocket. Opening it he took out a fifty, twenty and five dollar bill then handed it to Stiles. “Here, take your wife to the Timbuktu tonight. Have dinner and question our Miss Rodman about what she knows about

Butler or Desilvio, or whatever the hell his name is and whether or not she was proposition to become a prostitute”.

“Hey Cap. I can't take your money”.

“Right now you have to. It's a pain in the ass to have to sit and try to figure out what the police department owes Sergeant Stiles for meals incurred during an investigation. And, at the same time what Sergeant Stiles owes the department for funds spent on Emma Stiles during the same investigation. Take the money, get me the answers, have a nice dinner with your wife and I'll figure out who owes what and who later”.

“Thanks Cap”.

“No problem. Now, send those names to N.C.I.C.”

********************

Later that evening Sergeant Frank Stiles, always the gentleman stood as Angela Rodman approached his table. Then, at the table he introduced the singer to his wife, Emma.

“I want to thank you for taking time to answer a few questions Miss Rodman and just so my wife doesn’t become a witness in a homicide investigation please excuse her while she goes and powders her nose so to speak”.

“Before I go dear, let me say just how much I enjoyed your singing. You have a beautiful voice”, said Emma Stiles.

“Thank you”, said Angela.

Then, alone at the table Stiles said, “I only have a few questions to ask you”.

“I thought I answered all the questions the police wanted the other day. I don't appreciate having my boss coming to me before or after a show to tell me the police want to see me”.

“Believe me Miss Rodman we wouldn't be talking to you unless we had to. Right now we believe you can answer one or two questions”.

“About