Star Spangled Murder Read Online Free PDF

warming.”
    â€œMaybe that explains it,” said Chuck, hoisting a fish box onto the pier. He was already tanned from working outdoors and his hair was bleached by the sun. “I never saw such a small catch. This is pitiful.”
    â€œMaybe the bugs are going deeper, to cooler water?” speculated Toby, using lobsterman’s slang. “Or maybe it’s that virus.”
    â€œOr maybe somebody’s getting to the traps ahead of us,” said Chuck.
    â€œPoaching?” asked Lucy, unhappy at the idea. There hadn’t been any poaching for some time, but she remembered the violence that rocked the waterfront years earlier, when Toby was just a baby. Accusations and suspicions had flown, and the body of a suspected poacher had been found floating face down, tangled in gear that didn’t belong to him. He hadn’t drowned; he’d been killed by a shotgun blast. “I hope not.”
    â€œMe, too,” said Chuck, loading only two partlyfilled boxes onto a barrow. “But I never saw so many traps come up absolutely empty. Usually there’s females with eggs and undersized juveniles that you’ve got to throw back. Not this time.”
    â€œThey’re even taking the illegal lobsters?” Lucy was shocked.
    â€œIf they’re stealing in the first place, Mom, they’re not going to worry about breaking the rules,” said Toby, who was hosing off the deck.
    â€œI guess not,” admitted Lucy, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. “I need to ride home with you, and we have to get a battery for Elizabeth’s car. Give me the keys and I’ll open up your car, see if I can cool it off.”
    Toby tossed her the keys. “I’m almost through here.” He laughed. “Promise you won’t complain about the way I smell?”
    â€œWouldn’t dream of it,” said Lucy, reeling as she caught a heady whiff of lobster bait and honest sweat.
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    Bill was already home when they arrived, having quit early because of the heat. He was sitting on the back porch, freshly showered, drinking a beer.
    â€œToo hot to work,” he said, lifting the brown bottle that was beaded with moisture.
    â€œYou can say that again,” agreed Lucy, collapsing onto the wicker settee beside him. Toby’s rattle-trap Jeep wasn’t air conditioned, and she’d spent a hot half-hour at the service station buying the battery. And then there was the matter of the way Toby smelled.
    â€œI hope you’re headed directly for the shower,” said Lucy.
    â€œYou can’t say I didn’t warn you,” said Toby. “It’s too hot for a shower. I’m going for a swim at the pond.”
    â€œGood idea,” said Bill. “Why don’t we all go? In fact, why don’t we have supper down there? It would save heating up the kitchen.”
    â€œI don’t know,” said Lucy, “maybe we should go to the beach instead. Mrs. Pratt was at the selectmen’s meeting complaining about people misbehaving at the pond.”
    â€œMisbehaving?” Bill’s eyebrows went up. “How?”
    â€œRowdiness, I guess.” Lucy paused. “Skinny-dipping.”
    â€œAw, Mom, everybody skinny-dips down there once in a while,” protested Toby. “What’s the big deal?”
    â€œNot a big deal to me,” said Lucy, looking up as Elizabeth whipped into the driveway in the Subaru wagon, with Zoe and Elizabeth in the back seat. “Since you’re a filthy mess anyway, why don’t you help your sister install that new battery?”
    Once again Bill’s eyebrows rose, but he didn’t say anything.
    â€œI’m going to change into my swimsuit,” said Lucy. “Maybe you could start packing the cooler?”
    â€œCan’t I watch you change?” asked Bill, following her inside.
    Lucy rolled her eyes. The man was impossible, she thought, smiling to