Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

around, it’s pretty doubtful that we’ll find anything that we can use now. I’ll see you at the station.”
    Jack had already started his engine and Tom was just about to pull out when an old Ford station wagon turned into the drive, making it impossible for either to leave. Jack watched in his rearview mirror as an older woman got out of the Ford and walked straight past him. She stopped by the back of his truck and looked at the canoe.
    “Can I help you?” It was Tom. He had gotten out of his car.
    She turned and looked at him. “You the police?”
    “Yes, I am,” replied Tom. “And you are?”
    “Name’s Gladys. I live here in town and I watch birds here in the marsh. That canoe is his.”
    “Whose?”
    “Don’t know his name, but he’s a bit of an odd duck. Always in and around the marsh. Said he was checking out birds, but I have my doubts. I was looking at some egrets this morning when I saw the boys dig that canoe out. I was curious so I came over, and yep, it’s his.”
    Jack was out of the cab by now, and he joined them at the back of his truck. “Who’s he ?” he asked.
    “She was just telling me,” said Tom.
    “I told you, I don’t know his name.”
    “What did he look like?”
    “Tall, skinny, creepy eyes.”
    “Creepy eyes?”
    “Yeah, the kind that just seem to look through you. No soul.”
    Tom and Jack looked at each other. Again Jack let Tom do the talking. “What else can you tell us about him?”
    “Well, like I said he has creepy eyes. He’s been hanging around now for quite a while. I’ve been birding around town for most of my life. My dad taught me. I know what to look for and when to look. This just isn’t a good time of year if you want to see anything worthwhile, but he’s been here most every day, either on shore or out in that tub.” She nodded toward the canoe. “I saw him just the other day, over on the other side of the harbor. He was looking at something pretty hard, and when I tried to say hello, he acted all weird and stomped off. I looked in the same direction. I saw nothing but two people getting off that sailboat over by Ben’s.”
    Jack looked at Tom and Tom at Jack. Then, they both looked at Gladys.
    “What’d I say?” she asked.
    “Nothing. But we are looking for the owner of this canoe. Any ideas?”
    “Nope. But he’s been around most of the summer.”
    “Would you be willing to stop down at the station? I have a photo I’d like you to look at.”
    “I suppose.”
    “How about you follow us there?”
    “If it won’t take too much time.”
    “Five minutes. Tops.”
    “Okay.”

CHAPTER 82
    BY THE TIME KURT had rented a new car, it was late afternoon. “At least this one has a/c that works,” he thought. He looked up at the sky. The sun was blazing through a dirty haze and he could feel the thunderheads building. Even with the a/c on, drops of sweat ran down his arms, neck, and back. His hand throbbed and his eyes hurt. All he wanted to do was find a cool place and sleep, but he knew that was impossible until the job was done.
    Before heading back to New Hampshire, he looked for a pharmacy. He needed more aspirin, and he wanted to rewrap his hand.
    Inside the store, the pharmacist pointed at his swollen hand. “Have you had anyone look at that?”
    “It looks worse than it is,” he said as he placed the aspirin, gauze wrap, several bottles of water, and a roll of adhesive tape on the counter.
    The look on the pharmacist’s face said that she didn’t believe him, but she didn’t press the point. The store was in a run-down area, and it was obvious that the pharmacist knew that the less she said, the better. Kurt returned to his car with his purchases. He started the engine and rolled his window down, but he didn’t drive off. As he waited for the a/c to kick in, he opened the aspirin, took out more than he should have, and washed them down with a whole bottle of water. As cool air began to blow against his face the relief was immediate. He rolled the window back up. It was time to go.
    As he drove west, out of Framingham toward I-495, the thunderclouds arrived. The atmosphere was heavy and the sky turned a dirty greenish-yellow. Several large flashes lit the sky, followed by an explosion of thunder. An artillery shell landing next to his car couldn’t have been louder. A few large drops of rain splatted against the windshield, tentatively at first. Then, without any further build-up, the skies opened and in an instant