Not nearly the conversation starter he would have had with a headline like: “Sausalito Columnist Warren Bradley Found Murdered.”
Rob knew, however, he had to focus on getting out the rest of The Standard’s other weekly editions. At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder when the county’s daily newspaper, The Independent, would send a reporter to cover Bradley’s murder.
There was, however, a silver lining. The dailies, the local TV anchors, and radio newscasters no doubt would be all over the Bradley story for the next twenty-four hours. Afterward, there would be another dramatic story to cover: A body found floating in the bay; a politician found with someone else’s spouse, money, or both; perhaps a bank heist, or a traffic pile up on the Richardson Bridge.
By next week’s local edition of The Standard, he’d be the only reporter covering the Bradley murder investigation—
And that story would continue to hold his local readers’ attention, at least until it was brought to a resolution.
Depending on how the investigation unfolded, Bradley’s slaying could be The Standard’s top story for weeks to come, and local readers would be waiting anxiously for their community weekly to arrive with the only detailed and ongoing coverage of this story.
When Rob dragged his tired body and frazzled mind up the long narrow steps to his offices on the Victorian’s second floor, Holly was already there waiting breathlessly for him.
“Good God you’re here early.”
“I called Karin. She told me you were already on your way down here. I tried your cell when I heard about Warren, but you didn’t pick up. Karin told me you were there—and that you saw the body! How cool is that? Pretty gruesome, huh?”
“Who told you Bradley was killed?”
“One of my neighbors. I ran into her as I was going across the street to pick up some bread and eggs to make for my breakfast. She’d heard it from two cops on Bridgeway. She passes them every morning on their way down to Café Divino for their morning lattes and bagels.” Holly’s brown eyes were twinkling, and her short black curly hair bounced up and down as she talked. She was as excited as a kid on the first day of summer vacation.
Rob knew she’d never been a fan of Warren’s. Every time she mentioned his name, it came with a descriptive, most often, “that mean, sneaky little man.” Nor had she ever been a fan of his column. But to Holly and Rob—and most likely nearly all longtime residents—the mystery surrounding Warren’s death would quickly turn the gossiping gourmet into the community’s top celebrity.
One of The Standard’s two phone lines began to ring. Seconds later, the other started. Rob’s cell phone started to vibrate, and then Holly’s cell phone went off as well.
“It's going to be a long day,” Holly said as she rushed to answer one of the calls.
In the first couple of hours, their phones never ceased. The one voice Rob was happy to hear was that of Eddie Austin.
“So you’ve been assigned to the case?”
Eddie snorted. “Duh, yeah.”
“Can you stop up at the office?”
“Yep. In fact, I’m two minutes away. I’ve got a few questions for you. Right now, you’re my number one suspect.”
Rob’s throat went dry. “Me?”
“Sure, buddy! You had motive and opportunity. Bradley wrote a lousy column, and you wanted to get rid of him. It happens all the time in your business. You dirty rat!”
“Very funny,” Rob mumbled. “I'm a lot of things, but a killer is not one of them.”
“Relax! It’s just a working theory. It’s not like we’re ready to issue a warrant for your arrest,” Eddie laughed before clicking off.
Although Rob and Eddie grew up just blocks apart and saw each other regularly throughout their time at Bayside Elementary School, it wasn’t until they both won spots on Tam High’s junior varsity basketball team that they became inseparable.
Their parents always laughed about the fact that they had mirror image families. Rob had a sister, Lisa, who was two years his junior. Eddie had an older sister— Andrea, who was two years his senior.
They were born one week apart, with Eddie being the older with a late July birthday. Although they went their separate ways at San Francisco State—Rob into journalism and Eddie into criminal justice—the two stayed very close. In fact, Eddie served as Rob’s best man when he married Karin, and Rob was Eddie’s best man when he married Sharon.
Eddie’s parents, like Rob’s, chose a different place than Sausalito to retire. Rob’s parents headed south to San Diego, whereas Eddie’s parents headed north, retiring in Spokane, Washington, where Eddie’s mom had grown up.
Usually, at the end of a long workweek, they’d meet for beers at the town’s neighborhood dive bar, Smitty’s. There, Eddie and Rob, often with Holly joining them, would joke about some of the “small-minded nitwits” who too often dominated their hometown’s daily chatter.
Local politics alone provided them, and the town as a whole, with their theater of the absurd. For decades, the town’s city council had been a source of jokes and wonderment throughout the county. Fights broke out regularly among councilmembers, often during public meetings. Actual physical injuries were rare, but feuds were frequent and could last a decade or longer. After one of these fights, Rob, in a Standard editorial, labeled Sausalito “Baghdad by the Bay,” which became an oft-repeated joke that generated laughs for months afterward.
Most assumed that at least three or four of the city’s five councilmembers were taking money or other favors in exchange for their votes. One development project, for a small bed and breakfast establishment, for example, would sail through the planning process and win council approval, to be followed six months later with an all but identical project being killed in committee.
It became common knowledge that a project, which could be anything from opening a
