A Deadly Cliche (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

met Olivia’s eyes. “But I hope you are.” And with that, she turned to assist an eager customer.
    Clutching her painting, Olivia wandered toward the harbor and the launching area of the cardboard boats. Her mind was full of thoughts of Sawyer. What did she really know of his private life? Of his childhood? Had he lain in his bed reading Longfellow? Somehow, she could picture him doing just that, for the poem was a tribute to the courage and perseverance of a young man. Did Rawlings see himself as that boy, trudging onward and upward through the frigid night, his throbbing arms refusing to lay down the banner of Excelsior?
    Before her grandmother shipped her off to an exclusive all-girl boarding school, Olivia had had to memorize the poem for one of her many tutors. The words tiptoed back into her memory.
    The shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed,
A youth, who bore, ’mid snow and ice,
A banner with the strange device,
Excelsior!
His brow was sad; his eye beneath,
Flashed like a falchion from its sheath,
And like a silver clarion rung
The accents of that unknown tongue,
Excelsior!

    Haviland barked, drawing Olivia back to the present and the thick knot of people gathered to witness the start of the first race.
    “You’re right, Captain. That’s a poem for a cold winter’s day.” Seeing Laurel waving to her from the dock while keeping a tight hold on her double stroller, the lighthearted mood Olivia had felt when she first arrived downtown returned.
    Laurel gave Olivia a shy smile. “You seemed kind of lost in thought.”
    “I was mumbling poetry. Haviland is particularly fond of verse,” Olivia answered and rubbed the fur on the poodle’s neck. She then apologized to Laurel for being so abrupt the last time’s they’d spoken.
    “Sure. It’s already forgotten,” Laurel said as she handed each of the twins a soft pretzel. “Harris told me about the cliché clues. Do you have any idea what they mean?”
    Olivia shook her head and wondered whether Steve had told his wife about being questioned by the police. From the serene look of Laurel’s face, she doubted it. “So far, the only common denominator is that all the families have kids that play sports and attend area private schools.”
    “And the messages the thieves leave behind. What are they trying to tell the people they’ve stolen from?” Laurel asked and then sighed. “I miss the feeling that I had something to contribute to the Gazette , to this town.” She gave a self-effacing laugh. “My cooking attempts have certainly been a disaster! Steve has begged me to go back to culinary school more than once. If only he realized there isn’t one!”
    “Is he working today?” Olivia looked around for Laurel’s spouse.
    “No. He’s racing.” She pointed at a small motorboat anchored off to the right of the end of the dock. “That’s his team from the office. Their boat is that giant toothbrush.”
    Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, Olivia watched as Steve and two other men eased their cardboard boat into the water. Carefully, a man wearing a baseball hat climbed into the bow while Steve took up the captain’s position in the stern. “They’ve entered the Oars Only category, I see. Harris is in the Sail-Powered Race, but I have yet to spot his boat. I figured he’d have made a Star Trek ship or a floating robot.”
    Laurel also began scanning the harbor. “He’d better get here soon. The judges need to examine his boat before the race. Poor Millay’s been pacing the docks since I got here, sending Harris text after text. I’ve never seen her this anxious.”
    The two women secured a place to watch the first race. The twins, whose bellies were full of soft pretzels, apple juice, and cheese crackers, had fallen asleep in the stroller.
    Olivia dug a pair of binoculars out of her purse and watched the contestants line up the bows of their boats until they touched a rope slung between two buoys. She’d never seen such an assortment of cardboard vessels. There were pirate ships, canoes, catamarans, and submarines, but there were also floating hot dogs, crocodiles, smoking cigars, sea serpents, sharks, dolphins, and rubber ducks.
    A horn blasted and the contestants surged forward, their oars creating swirls and white froth in the water. Steve’s toothbrush boat took an early lead, but it became clear that the vessel was too long to make quick turns around the course’s buoys and