It's amazing what you can do with a wetsuit, a cheap Halloween costume and a little ingenuity! Dressed to scare, I began to harvest the jewels from the abalone shells. After obtaining a sizeable amount, I went to a local jeweler and had it appraised. The value of the pieces: over half a million dollars! And I had barely begun collecting all the loot!
I managed to scare all the local fishermen and nosy tourists away. But as the day of the diving contest grew nearer, I began to worry that the divers would find out about my treasure and try to take it. I hatched a plan…
A Hispanic man in a white suit took a microphone and began speaking in rapid-fire Spanish, followed by an equally rapid-fire English translation. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to today's diving competition!" Cheers, whoops and hollers followed this announcement. "The divers will now draw for position!"
Holding up a hand for silence, the announcer turned to the assembled divers. He held out a clear glass fishbowl, filled to the brim with numbered buttons, to the first diver.
Tiger raced forward toward the announcer. "Wait! Am I too late?" he panted in mock worry.
"Tiger Morris!" the announcer exclaimed in shock.
"My plane was late getting to Acapulco. I was afraid I would miss the contest," Tiger lied, pretending to be out of breath.
"We just started, Señor," the announcer assured him. Holding up the fishbowl, he gestured to its contents. "You may draw the first number."
"I only hope it's a high one," Tiger said, reaching his hand into the fishbowl. He opened his hand slightly; letting the button he had palmed slip down into his grasp. "I could use a little time to catch my breath."
"NUMBER ONE!" the announcer roared.
Tiger grimaced in false irritation. "Just my luck." He pulled off his shirt and pinned the button to his swimsuit. Toeing the edge of the cliff, he gracefully leaped off, entering the water with barely a splash. The audience cheered wildly.
As the second contestant walked forward to the cliff, Tiger emerged from the water, panic etched on his face. "HELP!" he shouted in fear. "Someone HELP! There's something down here! Something terrible! STAY AW¬" his shouts were cut off as he dove back under the water. Quickly, Tiger sank to the bottom of the cove and scrambled into his costume. He then resurfaced, roaring and snarling as the Sea Beast! The spectators and divers panicked and raced away, leaving the cove deserted. Tiger snickered to himself as he watched everyone run away like scared rabbits.
In the face of this victory, everything started to unravel. A group of American sleuths weren't frightened off by my brilliant costume and started to investigate, so I tried to…dissuade them as much as possible.
A lanky teenager and a Great Dane ambled through the sea cave. Tiger gasped in horror as he realized how close they were getting to his operation. He scrambled into his costume, snuck up behind them and roared frightfully.
"Like, ZOINKS!" the teen shrieked as he and his pet raced away. Tiger laughed at their cowardice and gave chase. Suddenly, the duo slammed into three other running shapes. The costumed diver continued to roar and hiss as the group dashed away in fear. With a private smile and triumphant laugh, Tiger left the group to run away like all the others and returned to his task.
Imagine my surprise when I found that teen and his giant dog lounging in my private cave, opening up MY shells and taking MY treasure. I quickly scared them off, watching them clamber up the cliff face with the rest of their cowardly friends. But I was worried – they had some of my treasure! I followed them to the main strip, hoping to get rid of them once and for all...
"Let's get to the harbor patrol office!" the bespectacled girl exclaimed.
'Harbor Patrol?! NO!' Tiger thought in a panic. He raced towards them with a roar, causing them to run away in fear. They hijacked a parasailing boat and tried to drive away. Tiger grabbed onto the parasail, intent on getting rid of the kids and their meddling ways. But the blond young man managed to get the parasail caught on a yacht mast, causing the attached rope to wrap itself tightly around the costumed diver.
I realized I was caught; there was no wiggling my way out of this one. Those meddlesome sleuths carefully disassembled my ingenious plan before unmasking me and turning me over to the Acapulco Harbor Patrol to await trial.
Fortunately for me, the Harbor Patrol Chief cut a deal with the Mexican police to help me avoid hard time. Instead of an extended stay at the infamous Acapulco prison, I remained in the custody of the Harbor Patrol. Daily, I harvested the treasures from my former haunting grounds and turned them over to the Mexican National History Museum.
It took three years before I finally collected all the treasures and was released. With the help of Chief Valdez, I applied to become a diver searching for sunken artifacts. My first assignment was in Greece and...well, that's another story...
