Plum Island

black shirt, and Judy was more of a pastel person as I recall. My guess was that they were dressed for camouflage, and the running shoes were for speed. Then again, maybe I was making up clues. You have to be careful not to do that.

But then there was the red soil in the treads of their running shoes. Where did it come from? Not from the laboratory, probably not from the walkway to the Plum Island ferry dock, not their boat, and not the dock or deck here. It appeared they were somewhere else today, and they were dressed differently for the day, and for sure the day had ended differently. There was something else going on here, and I had no idea what it was, but it was definitely something else.

Yet, it was still possible that they just stumbled onto a burglary. I mean, this might have nothing to do with their jobs. The thing was, Max was nervous about that and sensitive to it, and it had infected me, too, pardon the pun. And before midnight, this place would be visited by the FBI, Defense Intelligence people, and the CIA. Unless Max could catch a hophead burglar before then.

'Excuse me.'

I turned toward the voice. It was the lady in the tan suit. I said, 'You re excused.'

'Excuse me, are you supposed to be here?'

'I'm here with the band.'

'Are you a police officer?'

Obviously my T-shirt and shorts didn't project an authority image. I replied, 'I'm with Chief Maxwell.'

'I could see that. Have you logged in?'

'Why don't you go check?' I turned and walked down to the next level of the deck, avoiding the little colored flags. I headed toward the dock. She followed.

'I'm Detective Penrose from Suffolk County homicide, and I'm in charge of this investigation.'

'Congratulations.'

'And unless you have official business here-'

'You'll have to speak to the chief.' I got down to the dock and walked out to where the Gordons' boat was tied. It was very breezy out on the long dock and the sun had set. I didn't see any sailboats on the bay now, but a few powerboats went by with their running lights on. A three-quarter moon had risen in the southeast, and it sparkled across the water.

The tide was in and the thirty-foot boat was nearly at dock level. I jumped down onto the boat's deck.

'What are you doing? You can't do that.'

She was very, good-looking, of course; if she'd been ugly, I'd have been much nicer. She was dressed, as I indicated, rather severely, but the body beneath the tailored clothes was a symphony of curves, a melody of flesh looking to break free. In fact, she looked like she was smuggling balloons. The second thing I noticed was that she wasn't wearing a wedding ring. Filling out the rest of the form: age, early thirties; hair, medium length, coppery color; eyes, blue-green; skin, fair, not much sun for this time of year, light makeup; pouty lips; no visible marks or scars; no earrings; no nail polish; pissed-off expression on her face.

'Are you listening to me?'

She also had a nice voice despite the present tone. I suspected that because of the pretty face, great body, and soft voice, Detective Penrose had trouble being taken seriously, and thus she overcompensated with butchy attire. She probably owned a book titled Dress to Bust Balls.

'Are you listening to me?'

'I'm listening to you. Are you listening to me? I told you to talk to the chief.'

'I am in charge here. In matters of homicide, the county police-'

'Okay, we'll go see the chief together. Just a minute.'

I took a quick look around the boat, but it was dark now, and I couldn't see much. I tried to find a flashlight. I said to Detective Penrose, 'You should post an officer here all night.'

'Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Please come out of the boat.'

'Do you have a flashlight on you?'

'Out of the boat. Now.'

'Okay.' I stepped onto the gunwale, and to my surprise she extended her hand, which I took. Her skin was cool. She pulled me up onto the dock and at the same time, quick as a cat, her right hand went under my T-shirt and snatched the revolver from my waistband. Wow.

She stepped back, my piece in her hand. 'Stand where you are.'

'Yes, ma'am.'

'Who are you?'

'Detective John Corey, NYPD, homicide, ma'am.'

'What are you doing here?'

'Same as you.'

'No, I caught this case. Not you.'

'Yes, ma'am.'

'Do you have any official status here?'

'Yes, ma'am. I was hired as a consultant.'

'Consultant? On a murder case? I've never heard of such a thing.'

'Me neither.'

'Who hired you?'

'The town.'

'Idiotic.'

'Right.' She seemed undecided about what to do next, so to be helpful I suggested, 'Do you want to strip- search me?'

I thought I saw a smile pass over her lips in the moonlight. My heart was aching for her, or it might have been the hole in my lung acting up.

She asked me, 'What did you say your name was?'

'John Corey.'

She searched her memory. 'Oh…you're the guy-'

'That's me. Lucky me.'

She seemed to soften, then gave my.38 a twirl and handed it to me, butt first. She turned and walked away.

I followed her along the dock, up the three-leveled deck to the house where the outdoor lights lit up the area around the glass doors and moths circled around the globes.

Max was talking to one of the forensic people. Then he turned to me and Detective Penrose and asked us, 'You two met yet?'

Detective Penrose responded, 'Why is this man involved in this case?

Chief Maxwell replied, 'Because I want him to be involved.'

'That's not your decision, Chief.'

'And neither is it yours.'

They kept bouncing the ball back and forth and my neck was getting tired, so I said, 'She's right, Chief. I'm out of here. Get me a ride home.' I turned and walked toward the moongate, then with a little practiced dramatics, I turned back to Maxwell and Penrose and said, 'By the way, did anyone take the aluminum chest in the stern of the boat?'

Max asked, 'What aluminum chest?'

'The Gordons had a big aluminum chest that they used to stow odds and ends, and sometimes they used it for an ice chest to hold beer and bait.'

'Where is it?'

'That's what I'm asking you.'

'I'll look for it.'

'Good idea.' I turned and walked through the gate and went out to the front lawn away from the parked police cars. The neighbors had been joined by the morbidly curious as word of the double homicide spread through the small community.