I knew a done deal when I heard one. I hoped Kevin didn’t. He seemed oblivious to it and agreed right away. “It shouldn’t be that hard to get in to see her.” He took out his cell phone. “Let me see what I can do.”
It turned out that Kevin couldn’t do anything, but when I called Luke, he agreed to set it up for me. He apologized for leaving so quickly and said he hoped I didn’t take offense.
I assured him it was fine and that I hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the way he’d left. After I ended the call, I noticed Kevin and Gramps staring at me. “What? Were you listening in?”
“What do you think?” Gramps smirked. “Is there a little romance in the air between you and Luke?”
“I don’t think this is a good time to discuss that,” I told him and turned to Kevin. “I’m ready if you are.”
“I need a few minutes. In fact, maybe you can help me. I’m looking for the Duck Museum of History. Somebody told me they stored the old records from the
“Sure. I know right where that is. We can stop there on the way out of Duck. I’ve been meaning to see Max Caudle for a while.”
I started to give Gramps a key to the shop. He reminded me that he didn’t need one and pulled his copy out. “I thought it would be good to have for an emergency.”
“Like sneaking in there with your girlfriend?”
“I don’t ask you when you sneak out. I don’t think it’s polite for you to ask me when I sneak in.” He laughed and hugged me. “Besides, Mary Lou wanted to take a look around. She thought you might have something in that hodgepodge of stuff that you could donate for the raffle on Wednesday.”
My eyes narrowed. “You know the rules.”
“I know. I won’t let her take any of your special items.”
With that in place, I walked out with Kevin into the watery afternoon sunshine. Despite the overcast skies, it was sweltering. I could never understand how it could be so hot when there was a constant breeze blowing across the island. As soon as we stepped out of the air-conditioning, my clothes felt limp on me.
“You and your grandfather have a great relationship,” Kevin said as he opened the truck door. “It must be fantastic having someone like that in your life.”
“I wouldn’t know what to do without him,” I replied. “He’s always been there for me. Even when he was the sheriff, he always found time for me.”
Kevin started the truck and headed down Duck Road toward Southern Shores. “You know, Dae, I’m all for a good investigation, but you should be prepared in case that’s all this is. Your friend might be guilty, no matter how much you want her to be innocent.”
“I know,” I said as the first fat raindrop hit the windshield.
The Duck Museum of History was a plain little building that had been donated to the Duck Historical Society a few years back. It was actually an old store that had once sold gas, chips, Pepsis and sunglasses. Max Caudle was the museum director. He’d held that position since I was in school, probably because no one else wanted it.
Outside the blue, three-room building, a large statue of a duck stood beside a statue of a horse. The display also included two rusted cannons legend said had washed up on Duck’s shore back in the 1700s. Several cannonballs were stuck in concrete around them.
Inside, the old museum was cool and musty smelling. The light was too dim to really see everything the historical society had managed to piece together down through the years. I was proud of this little place anyway. It represented the heritage of everyone who had been born here. From pirates to wild horses, all of it was part of our past.
“Mayor O’Donnell!” Max greeted us at the door. “It’s so good to see you.”
Max was a short, stout man with curly brown hair and ruddy skin. He always looked as though he’d been out in the sun too long, despite the bookish quality the glasses perched on the end of his nose gave him. His face matched his always-present red suspenders. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him wear anything except sandals on his feet.
“Please, Max, call me Dae. Otherwise I have to start calling you Mr. Caudle again like when I was in school.” I smiled at him, then turned to Kevin. “This is Kevin Brickman. He’s new to Duck.”
“That’s right.” Max stepped up to shake Kevin’s hand. “The man who bought the old Blue Whale. Nice to meet you. If you find anything old you don’t want over there, be sure to send it my way.”
Kevin smiled. “I’m looking for Bunk Whitley right now. I was hoping you could help me.”
“Haven’t run across him yet, eh?” Max laughed at his own joke. “I have the old
Max took us in the back to what had probably been a storeroom at one time. There was a very small table with the microfiche machine on it. Yellowed copies of the
Kevin sat down at the machine, and I took the side chair. Max went to find cold tea and maybe a leftover cookie or two. His wife, Agnes, ran the Beach Bakery and was always generous with samples.
I sat there and watched as the old pages flipped by on the screen. They were hard to read in some places. I squinted to recognize an old photo of Gramps taken after he’d caught a thief who’d held up stores in several Outer Banks towns.
“Pay dirt,” Kevin said after about twenty minutes. “Look at this. I think we found old Bunk.”
It was Bunk Whitley. At least the caption under the picture said so. I wouldn’t have recognized him from some of the other pictures I’d seen of him. In this photo, he looked to be in his late twenties. Two beautiful young women in bathing suits were standing on either side of him. I squinted at the writing and read out loud, “Bunk Whitley, owner of the Blue Whale Inn, had a difficult choice to make for the crown of Miss Duck. Pictured with him are Miss Elizabeth Butler (left) and Miss Mildred Butler, both of Duck. Miss Elizabeth Butler won the crown of Miss Duck.”
Chapter 16
“So Bunk Whitley was the mysterious pageant judge that fateful day in Duck.” I told Kevin the old story that had cost such long-lasting pain between the two sisters.
“Well it sounds like Miss Mildred had something to complain about. Between that and Wild Johnny Simpson, it’s surprising the sisters spoke at all.” He read the rest of the
Kevin kept moving forward with an eye for articles about Bunk. The newspaper was liberally sprinkled with them. Bunk was a member of every group in town. He attended all of the charity and society events in Duck and was apparently known for being a hearty diner. He seemed to be at the openings of every restaurant in the area.
“I think I wouldn’t have had a chance if he’d been here to run for mayor.”
Kevin agreed. “He was definitely the Duck man about town. Maybe that’s why the Blue Whale is in such bad repair now. He never stayed home to keep up with maintenance.”
“How are things coming along?” Max came back into the little room and looked around. “You know, it’s a small place, and I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation about Bunk. He was a larger-than-life type of personality. He dominated the town for a few years. Never married. No one to inherit the old inn, which is why it sat around empty for so long. People said he never got over losing Miss Elizabeth to Wild Johnny Simpson.”
“Sounds like that could be a motive for murder.” Kevin smiled at me.
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” Max told us. “I’ve heard when Johnny came back to beg his bride’s forgiveness, it was like the Fourth of July around here. Fireworks! Bunk was courting Miss Elizabeth at the time, and suddenly, Johnny shows up. Bunk didn’t like it.”
“How long ago was that, Max?” I asked him.
“About the same time Bunk went missing. No one ever knew what happened to him. There was a massive manhunt. Dae, your grandfather would know more about it. I don’t know if anyone ever saw Johnny again after that
