Anything Goes

questions.”
    “And getting answers?“ Lily asked.
    “A few,“ Jack said reluctantly. “But nobody seems to know the whole story and the accident wasn’t investigated much. Too many authorities involved and trying to pass the work to someone else.“
    “Authorities?“
    “The island itself is privately owned by the Bannerman family. Nobody was quite sure at first which side of the river has jurisdiction, though it’s much closer to the east side. The Coast Guard didn’t want to be stuck with investigating because they’re not primarily an investigative body and didn’t have staff to spare. And the Corps of Engineers, which maintains the safety of the river, were only concerned with the Coast Guard raising the wreckage so it wouldn’t break apart and endanger shipping. Your uncle lived in Voorburg and if he’d died here, the local police or county sheriff would have been responsible, but since he died elsewhere, neither of them felt they had the authority to closely question the witnesses.“
    “So the whole incident fell between the cracks?“ Robert said.
    “Officially,“ Jack said.
    “What does that mean?“ Lily asked.
    “Just that the local police—well, they’re local, you see. They had their suspicions, but they have to live here.“
    “I don’t get what you mean, old boy,“ Robert said.
    Jack thought for a moment, wanting to be careful in framing his reply. “There were important people on that boat. My editor, as an example. If he’d felt the police were being too nosy and implicating him, he could have run an editorial that made them look bad and maybe get them fired. I know him pretty well and feel sure that wouldn’t have happened, but everybody who has the good fortune to have a paying job these days doesn’t want to risk losing it.”
    He ran his hands nervously through his mop of hair. “And there’s Mr. Prinney, too. He’s on the town council. The council is their boss.“
    “Mr. Prinney wouldn’t get an honest cop fired for doing his job!“ Lily said.
    “You feel that way, and you’re probably right. But people are scared to death of being out of work. And this police chief is a rotter, anyway, who’s hanging onto the job by the skin of his teeth.“
    “How do you know all this?“ Robert asked.
    “My second cousin Ralph is a part-time deputy. Fills in when somebody’s sick,“ Jack said, thinking as the words spilled out that he shouldn’t have revealed his source. But oddly enough, he was—against his better judgment—coming to almost like and trust Lily and Robert Brewster.
    “Who were the police suspicious of?“ Robert asked.
    “Billy Smith was at the top of the list, of course. He’s been the bane of the authorities since he was eight years old. The police would love to get him for almost anything, just to put him away.“
    “Surely he doesn’t carry any political weight, does he?“ Lily asked. “Didn’t they question him?“
    “Oh, they did,“ Jack said. “Until they were blue in the face. And couldn’t get anything out of him. Apparently he went on the dinghy and although he was the last to get on, he’d been the one who put it into the water and helped others onto it. Everybody else stated that they’d believed he was there the whole time. Not with great conviction, but no one could openly dispute it.“
    “So he couldn’t have gone below and bopped Uncle Horatio over the head?“ Lily asked.
    “Oh, he could have, if he’d been real nippy about it. But no one noticed if he’d disappeared.“
    “You said he was top on the list as far as the police were concerned,“ Robert said. “Who was next on the list?“
    “Claude Cooke.“
    “Oh, how saddening,“ Robert said sarcastically. “How he get off the hook?“
    “Two ways. First, he did so much yelping about breaking his finger that everybody else assumed he’d been trying to get on the dinghy first. And secondly, because he was assumed to be your uncle’s heir—a rich, powerful outsider who’d probably take an important role in town business when he inherited. Of course, they know now that he didn’t inherit. You two did.“
    “Sounds to me like a good motive to bump off Uncle,“ Robert said. “Not that I find it easy to believe he’d have the nerve.“
    “I think Claude has a lot more nerve than you realize,“ Lily opined. “He’s always scared me and I don’t scare all that easily.“
    “But Jack said the others thought he was trying to be the first on the