The Mystery on the Riverwalk Dock

By K.D. Gray

Who knew a big fat murder mystery would come bobbing in on my fishing hook?

But it did. Well, sorta.

And you’d think the long blond stands of hair might’ve given someone a clue.

But they didn’t. Not to everyone, that is.

Oh sure, people talked. Some folks even said they knew who was at the bottom of the river. Others even said they knew how she got there too.

But they didn’t. Not really. It was just talk, and I knew it too. Mom said not to listen to what she called idle gossip.

“What’s idle gossip?” I asked.

She never answered me. She never does.

It doesn’t matter though. And it didn’t stop the rumors from flying around town either. Old Lady Hatch said it was the River spirits. She said they were awake again and they’d keep on taking people under the water until they’d taken everybody they wanted.

But who’d believe a crazy old lady who lives with ninety-nine cats anyway?

All I know is things haven’t been the same since I reeled in that mess on the Riverwalk dock.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.D. Gray
• Release date: Oct 22, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452495989

K.D. Gray

Kim currently lives in Wilmington, NC where the saltwater is never far away.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Nick Callaway

Saturday, October 16th

Pull harder! Jeffrey yelled.

Don’t you think I’m pulling as hard as I can? I asked. I mean, the tip of my dad’s fishing pole was bent nearly in half.

He watched me struggle. Then, he waved his hand and dismissed the whole thing. It ain’t nothin’ but a snag, he said in that tone he gets sometimes.

It ain’t no snag! I tried to tell Mr. Know-it-all. It’s a fish. A great BIG fish. You’ll see!

I tugged even harder and hoped my line wouldn’t snap. Turns out, it didn’t, but it was still hung up real tight somewhere beneath the waters that ran along the Riverwalk dock.

See? he just HAD to say. I told ya. It’s a snag. It’s just some trash somebody threw off the drawbridge.

I whipped my head around. It ain’t no trash, I told him. It’s a fish. A GIANT fish!

Jeffrey rolled his eyes. You hope it is.

My line was tight and dancing a small circle in the water, so I pulled on it one more time. That’s when it happened. It came loose. All of a sudden too. The line swayed widely in the water, and there was something on it. I could tell. Jeffrey watched the whole thing.

I’m not really sure when Jeffery and I became best friends, but after that day on the Riverwalk dock, nothing came between us. We even mixed our blood on it.

See? I said, glancing over at Mr. Know-it-all. Told ya, didn’t I? I asked, pulling hard on my line.

He didn’t have anything to say, and that’s because he was still watching my line drag through the water. Suddenly, something popped to the surface. Whoa! he said, leaning over the water. What in the heck is that?

I reeled it in faster. It sorta looks like a squid to me, I told him. A great big HAIRY squid.

Jeffrey got that tone again. Um, he said, rubbing his chin. We don’t have any squid around here, so it can’t be.

The tone was getting on my nerves, but as the big hairy blob got closer to the dock, I noticed the long blonde strands splayed out across the water. It was hair. Human hair.

Jeffrey saw it too, and all at once, he dropped his pole and started screaming! Real loud! And like a girl! Oh, MY GOSH! he yelled. It’s HAIR! Human hair! It’s a GIRL! A DEAD GIRL!

Except, it wasn’t.

Jeffrey was still screaming when I flopped it onto the dock. Turns out, it was hair alright, but there wasn’t a body attached, just a hunk of the head.

That’s when I started screaming too.

That’s also when the neighbors heard us.

They started running towards the dock, but it was Old Man Henry who got there first. Nobody seems to know much about the old man, but Mom said he had something she called flashbacks. She said he got it from the war. She didn’t say which war it was, and she didn’t explain what flashbacks were. She just said that we should stay FAR away from him. All I can say is, considering the way he looks, it must’ve been some kinda war.

Now, would you look at that? the old man said, stumbling down the dock.

I didn’t know what to say.

He rubbed his unshaven chin. This ain’t the first time I’ve come upon body parts floating around in the water, ya know. He leaned over to get a better look, so I stepped out of his way. THAT turned out to be a BIG mistake. He moved into position and stepped over MY catch. It made me mad, so I picked up my fishing pole. Scuse me, Mister, I said, pointing at the hairy blob. YOU didn’t come upon THESE body parts. I DID!

The old man looked confused, so I set him straight. Yep, that’s right, I said, watching him carefully. I found THESE body parts, and I’m the one who hauled ‘em in. You see, this here is MY fishing pole, and I’m the ONE who caught it!

I was pointing at MY hook still stuck in the tangled mess when Jeffrey finally stopped screaming. Yeah, he said, acting like he was mad about it too. WE’RE the ones who found her!

Old Man Henry chuckled to himself. Why, of course, you did, he said, looking at Jeffrey. Still, I can remember a time when we marched through muddy swamps, and there were dead bodies were ALL around us.

Jeffrey and I just stared.

Old Man Henry went on anyway. Of course, none of those bodies had BLONDE hair, ya know, just BLACK hair. Yep, lots and lots of black hair, he said nodding. Then, he turned away and began looking out over the river.

I tried to get his attention. Well, Mister, this ain’t a whole body anyway, I told him, poking at it. It’s just hair. Well, mostly, that is. The rest of her is still somewhere in the river, and just so you know, WE’RE the ones who found THIS part!

I was trying to make sure he wouldn’t forget it either, but he was ignoring me. The whole river’s probably full of ‘em, he added, rubbing his scruffy chin again. Bodies, I mean. Yeah, I’ve seen it before. Too many times. There are probably even mines down there. Bombs, ya know.

No, I didn’t know, but I didn’t want to ask about it either.

Shouldn’t somebody call the police? Jeffrey asked, nervously glancing between the glob and Old Man Henry.

Turns out, somebody already had. Sirens erupted and sounded like they were heading our way. That made Old Man Henry fidget, and Jeffrey noticed.

Then, I started fidgeting too. Well, that’s just great, I said, shaking my head. You know that my mom’ll hear that, right? And you know what that means, right?

Jeffrey did. Heck, everybody did. Everyone knew that a siren would set off Mom’s special tracking device, and within seconds, she would come flying out the front door, sail down the porch steps, swoop out onto the street, and she’d find me. It didn’t matter where I was. It wouldn’t take her long either. And I knew what she’d do next; she’d march up, snatch me by the arm, and start yelling. She’d say that I had caused it, no matter what it was.

It’d happened before. Many times.

Jeffrey was standing tall. Well, somebody had to call them, he mumbled, watching for the police.

I remembered his screams. The way you were hollering, we’re lucky that someone didn’t call the National Guard!

Jeffrey poked his chin out. I’m not the ONLY one who was hollering, ya know!

I poked my chin out too. Well, I wasn’t hollering as loud as you were, and I SURE didn’t sound like no GIRL!

That did it. Jeffrey got quiet. But only for a few minutes. Well, somebody was gonna call ‘em anyway, he insisted. After all, somebody HAD to report it. I just saved us some time, that‘s all. He looked pretty pleased with himself, and I hate it when he does that. He knows it too. I’ve told him so about a bazillion times, but it’s never stopped him. It didn’t this time either.

The sirens got closer, and that’s when I held my fishing pole up, just to make sure EVERYONE knew whose line was still attached to the hair.

What’s going on over there? a man shouted from the corner.

Old Man Henry stood up straight. It’s human remains, he hollered back. Police are on their way!

Then, it happened. The man rushed over, followed by several neighbors, their kids, and even a dog. Before long, there were two police cars, a fire truck, and about half the town crowded around the Riverwalk dock. People were pushing, shoving, and trying to get a better look at the chunk of head and the long blonde hair spread out over the planks.

CHAPTER 2

Saturday, Midday, October 16th

Yeah, everyone wanted to see the long blonde hair still attached to the small hunk of skull drying on the Riverwalk dock. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

Then, somebody started hollering, Don’t touch it!

And we didn’t, but the whole thing sorta made Jeffrey and me feel like we were the biggest news story to have ever hit our town. We even tried to stay close to the hair while everyone swarmed around us, but it didn’t work out. We got pushed and shoved until we ended up standing out by the road.

That’s when Detective Wayne Simmons pulled up. He was driving his long sleek detective car, and he parked right in the middle of the road! When he got out, he left the light bar flashing too! I’ve always liked that. It lets everyone know that there’s a real crime scene.

He peeled his police sunglasses off, and marched right past us. Jeffery got sorta mad about being ignored, but Detective Wayne Simmons didn’t notice. He was rushing through the crowd on the Riverwalk dock, and most of the people were trying to let him through. Except for Old Man Henry, that is. He didn’t budge an inch and was still jabbering like he’d been the one who’d found it.

It made my blood boil. That’s because people were watching him point this way and that and listening to every word he said! You see, the old man said, jabbing his finger towards the bridge. The rest of her is right over there.

Detective Simmons nodded and then placed a hand on his gun. When he turned around to see what Old Man Henry was pointing at, the handcuffs on his belt dangled around. I was hoping he’d use them to haul Old Man Henry away, but Detective Wayne Simmons didn’t. Still, his tight jaw meant that this investigation was being taken seriously.

He pulled a small notepad from his pocket and began to write down every stupid word that crazy Old Man Henry was saying. I’d heard enough by then, and so had Jeffrey. We decided to go look inside Detective Simmons’ car before Old Man Henry could say anything else.

There was a woman talking on the police radio when we got there. Got an ID yet? she blurted out.

THAT was the question that EVERYONE had. It was also the question that EVERYONE wanted Detective to answer. But he wasn’t giving out any answers, and he made sure everyone knew it too. I’ll be asking the questions around here, is what he had to say about it.

The newspaper people finally showed up. Then, that crazy old lady, Mrs. Hatch, showed up. Now, she’s a piece of work, that one. Folks say she’s crazy as a loon, and that she lives alone in a spooky old house with half a dozen or more wild cats. As far as I know, no one’s ever seen the cats, but from the looks of that wiry mess she calls hair, I knew where a few of them slept.

Jeffrey and I tried to peek inside the old lady’s windows last summer, but we got caught before we got to see anything good. The old lady demanded that we apologize and said that we had scared something she called the blue blazes out of her. I didn’t know what she was talking about, but Mom made it perfectly clear that sufficient disciplinarian actions would follow. And they did. Jeffrey and I got two whole weeks of restriction in the middle of the summer! It’s a sentence we’ve come to call hard time.

But, today, in the middle of a police investigation, there she was, all dressed up in her purple crocheted sweater and her forty-seven wrist bangles, chatting it up with Old Man Henry. THAT was a troubling sight, to be sure. Mostly because it was hard to know which one of them was the craziest! One thing’s for sure though, between his old war stories and her voodoo warnings, facts were gonna get changed.

And they did too.

Old Man Henry started it. I’ve seen bodies rotting in the waters off Cambodia, he said. In another week or so, the crabs’ll take care of what’s left of her, and there won’t be nothin’ left to talk about.

Mrs. Hatch followed. It’s a sign, she warned. An evil sign. An omen, even. The river spirits are awake now! They’ve come after another maiden, and, mark my words, they won’t stop haulin’ folks under the waters until they’ve taken all they’ve wanted.

What’s she talking about? Jeffrey whispered.

Like I knew? Besides, I was trying to listen to the woman on the police radio.

Suddenly, Mom broke through the nervous crowd.

’Scuse me, she said, butting in front of two old ladies. Are you finished with Nick yet? He needs to go home now.

I knew it. I just knew it. It always happened this way. But, this time, she had to have the police’s permission to haul me home.

She tried again. Mister? she said even louder. Are you finished with Nick? He REALLY needs to go home now.

Detective Simmons was ignoring her. On purpose too. That’s because he was listening to the woman on the police radio, and suddenly, the woman’s voice got really loud. We’ve dispatched a dive team to your location.

That got Jeffrey’s attention.

Detective Simmons spoke into the radio. What’s that ETA? he asked.

I grabbed ahold of Mom’s arm. Oh, lemme stay! I whined. I’ve GOTTA see the dive team. I’ve never seen anything like THIS before! Sure, I was begging, but what the heck? It worked sometimes.

But it didn’t this time. Nope! Mom said, shaking her head. You’re going home now. You’ll just get in the way.

Get in the way? I asked. How am I gonna get in the way? Look at all these people down here. How come THEY’RE not in the way? How come it’s always just ME?

She didn’t even try to answer me. I guess it’s because she had long ago assumed it was her job to make sure that I wasn’t in the way of any and all official business. Sometimes, I think ALL mothers do that. I also think that they do it to mess up their kid’s lives. That’s also why I decided to try again. Pleeeeze! I whined. Pretty, please. Can’t I just stay until the dive team gets here? Pretty, pretty, pleeeze!

That didn’t work either. The pretty, pretty, please didn’t even help. Mom was still shaking her head like she didn’t wanna hear another word. Nope, she said firmly. You’ve seen enough anyway. You need to get out of the way, and let these people do their jobs.

How did she do it? How could a mother just go on home and dust the coffee table while dive boats were being sent out to search for a body? A real body. The body of a blonde girl. The body of a blonde girl I found! It was worse than restriction. Much, much worse.

I don’t think Mom cared. She just hauled me home and tried to make me go inside when we got there.

But I stopped on the front porch. Can’t I just stay out here? I begged, glancing back at the crowd still gathered around the Riverwalk dock.

Nope, she said again for the third time. You need to come inside and mind your own business.

Mind my own business? I nearly yelled. But Mom, this IS my business. I’m the one who found her, and that means that I should know EVERYTHING!

She held the screen door open. Nick, this is not YOUR business anymore, she told me, raising an eyebrow to prove her point. It’s official POLICE business now. But, she added, pausing to look at me. I guess you can stay out here on the porch. On the porch, I said. But let me warn you, young man, if you so much as THINK about taking one step off this porch, you will NOT hear the end of it. Not anytime soon, that is. Do you hear me?

Yeah, I heard her. And I knew better than to push her, but Mom hadn’t said that I couldn’t stand on top of the front porch bannister to get a better view. So, that’s what I did. I even planned on spending every minute of the entire afternoon there, teetering on the handrail, and making sure that I didn’t miss a thing that was happening on the Riverwalk dock.

It wasn’t long before I had company. Jeffrey’s mom had a good grip on his arm and was hauling him home. I tried to help him out. Hey, Jeffrey! I called out. Can you come over?

Turns out, it didn’t work. His mom kept her tight grip on his arm and kept right on marching him home.

So, I tried again. Oh, c’mon, I yelled even louder. I promise we won’t get into any trouble. We’ll just stay up here on the porch and enjoy the nice fresh afternoon air. What do you say?

Suddenly, she stopped. All at once too. Yep, without even looking at me, Jeffrey’s mom snapped her head around and started marching him up our driveway.

Then, she pulled him up our porch steps.

Then, she banged on the front door.

I tried to be helpful. She’s at home, I said, nodding. You can go right on in, if you want to.

Jeffrey looked uncomfortable, especially with his arm tilted up in an awkward angle like that, but his mom didn’t seem to notice. Then, as if by magic, my mother’s voice came floating through the screen door. But it didn’t sound like my mom’s voice. It sounded nice.

Well, hello there, Trish, she said, adding a special little smile when she opened the door. It’s been some kinda morning, huh? The whole town’s a mess. Things like this always seem to bring the weirdos out of hiding, don’t they?

Mom was acting like things like THIS happened every day, which, of course, they didn’t. I had to set her straight. Yeah? I asked, leaning towards the door, When has anything like THIS happened before?

Mom ignored me and gave Jeffrey’s mom another quick little smile. I didn’t think the boys needed to be down there in the middle of that mess, she explained. The Lord knows that I’ve had ENOUGH problems with Nick’s father already, and I don’t need any more. And besides, I just know that he’d somehow twist things around and around so that it’d end up ALL my fault.

Jeffrey’s mom looked like she understood. I’ve been through that myself, she admitted, shaking her head. Still, I don’t want Jeffrey driving me crazy all afternoon!

Mom nodded and laughed a little, and then Jeffrey’s mom looked up at me. Say, do you think it’d be alright if I left him here with Nick? she asked. It would only be for a few hours.

Mom glanced up at me quickly. Well, Nick’s not leaving the porch, she said like she was sure of that fact. But, it’s fine with me if Jeffrey wants to stay, just as long as you don’t mind if I snatch them both baldheaded if they so much as think about getting off the porch.

I can’t believe my mother said that.

By all means, Jeffrey’s mom said, laughing about it. And maybe I could bring a casserole over later, and we could figure out how to make them wigs when they’re both as bald as cucumbers.

I can’t believe Jeffrey’s mom said that either.

Even worse, I can’t believe they were laughing about it.

Somehow, during all their laughter and further discussions about the consequences of a possible porch escape, Jeffrey got his arm free. So, what’s happening? he asked, finally walking over to the railing.

Get up here, I told him. You’ll see. The boats just got here. See that guy over there? I think he’s in charge.

I was pointing at a man in a black scuba outfit when Jeffrey looked around. Wasn’t there a fire truck down there a little while ago?

Yeah, I nodded, trying to see what scuba divers were doing. But they left already.

How come? he asked, climbing up onto the railing.

I rolled my eyes. Because there wasn’t any fire to put out! I told him.

Jeffrey teetered on top of the railing. Then, silently, we watched as the boats were launched, one by one, and begin their search for the blonde-headed girl floating beneath the water.

CHAPTER 3

Late Afternoon, Saturday, October 16th

Mom brought peanut butter sandwiches and root beer out around mid-afternoon, and that meant that Jeffrey and I had to surrender our posts long enough to eat. At least, that’s what Mom said it meant. If that wasn’t bad enough, she wouldn’t let us eat until we went inside and washed our hands.

What’s up with that, I wondered. Besides, who cared about a few little germs, especially when something this cool was happening right down the street on the Riverwalk dock? But Mom didn’t wanna hear it. And there wasn’t any use in talking to her about it either. So, Jeffrey and I trudged on inside, washed our hands, and then ran back out as quick as we could. It was a good thing too because the dive teams were already bobbing around in the water, and a larger boat was already anchored nearby. Detective Simmons was dividing his time between yakking on his police radio and pacing back and forth along the dock.

Sometime late in the afternoon, an official looking white box van that had SBI Mobile Crime Lab Unit painted on the side pulled up and parked right beside Detective Simmons’ car. Then, two uniformed men got out and marched quickly onto the Riverwalk dock. I decided right then that no matter what I grew up to be, there’d be a uniform involved.

Jeffrey and I climbed back up onto the railings and leaned out to get a better view when the uniformed SBI investigators crouched down on the dock. Then, one of them opened a black bag and pulled something out that looked like it was a surgical instrument.

No way! Jeffrey gasped.

You think they found something else? I asked, standing up on my tiptoes.

Jeffrey squinted his eyes. I don’t see anything else, he said, shading his eyes. I think they’re gonna do a DNA test right there!

I looked a little harder. "I’ll