Chapter 02
Prior to my life with Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby, I had never experienced anything that someone would call harrowing. Now I had had two: the first was the kidnapping and now being chased through a crowd of homeless people by a screaming woman was the second. Luckily for us, she was not in good physical condition and we were able to put enough distance between us and her to get into the car and get it moving.
As soon as the yelling woman was receding into the distance through the rear window, I turned to Scooby. "What happened?"
"Rye ron't know."
"She was yelling and chasing you. What did you do?"
"Rothing. Rye just said 'rello'."
"You spoke to her? Why on earth would you do that?"
"Rye'm polite. She spoke to ree first."
"What did she say?"
"Rello roggy."
"You have got to be kidding me."
But we didn't die.
We had successfully started from a single picture on the internet and found a single specific homeless person in a homelessness epidemic—a needle in a haystack. It was really our first actual sleuthing. And we were successful. But found out nothing.
As our heartrates settled back into single digits and Daphne drove, Fred got us back on the case.
"I guess that leaves us with our only lead being Captain Cutler."
I had to replay that statement twice in my head before I believed that Fred had actually said it. "That's not a lead. It's the ravings of a man with multiple delusional disorders and a severe alcohol addiction. No one else has brought up the deceased Captain Cutler and nothing else points to him."
Fred went smug on me. "Well, what have you got?"
He had me there. "Apparently, a lot of time to waste chasing down an empty lead."
Saturdays tended to be quiet at my house with both of my parents at the shop and my sister out doing whatever extroverts did. So, we headed there, and Fred and Daphne sat on my bed while Shaggy and Scooby were downstairs pillaging the kitchen. I worked on the computer.
It didn't take long for me to see that Fred might have a point. I had no intention of ever telling him that but I couldn't actually withhold the information.
"Our Captain Cutler is not who I thought he was."
Fred hopped up immediately, leaving Daphne alone on my bed. "What have you got?"
"I was picturing him as an independent fisherman with a fishing boat or, at most, a trawler." I doubted Fred knew the difference since I hadn't until a few moments before, but he didn't ask, so I continued. "I found his obituary. Listen to this: Jeremy Cutler, born May 28th, 1972, died January 7th of last year in a boating accident near Crystal Cove when his yacht was rammed by a larger yacht just off Rocky Point near Crystal Cove. He was swept overboard, and no remains were recovered. Inclement weather (fog) was cited as the primary reason for the accident and no charges were filed. He is survived by his wife, Eloise Cutler. Mr. Cutler (also known as Captain Cutler due to his lifelong love of yachting) was the executive vice president for fleet maintenance and operations for PiscineCo Fisheries out of Riley."
Fred had this annoying tendency to lean way too close to my face. "That's interesting. So, he was an executive rather than a fisherman."
More information was popping up on my screen. "And he must have been well-to-do since his home address was in Danforth. It appears that his wife still lives there."
This got Daphne's attention. "Danforth? Road trip!"
We were getting ahead of ourselves. "Just because we made incorrect assumptions doesn't mean that he was in involved in the disappearance of the missing boat."
Fred was still right next to my face. I could feel his breath. Yuck. "Can you pull up the Coast Guard accident report?"
I should have thought of that. It took a few minutes, but it was publicly available. I read. "Date of Accident: January 7th. Time of Accident: 0430. Weather Conditions: Heavy fog. Sea Conditions: Choppy. Description of Boat 1: Silverton, 42 feet, manufacture year 2007. Description of Boat 2: Nordhavn, 96 feet, manufacture year 2016. Description of Accident: Boat 2 was rounding Rocky Point in heavy fog/low visibility conditions when it struck Boat 1 which appeared to be moored with the engine off. There were no passengers or crew found on Boat 1. The owner of Boat 2 claimed to be blowing the foghorn every two minutes as required. Description of Damage to Boat 1: Significant damage to port side above the water line about 20 feet aft from the bow. Description of Damage to Boat 2: Scraping and removal of paint from the prow. List of Casualties: Undetermined-One missing. The owner of Boat 1 identified as Jeremy Cutler. His wife was called, and she confirmed that he had taken the boat out that morning. The owner of Boat 2 claimed to have heard a voice stating I will return immediately after the collision. A manhunt was conducted until 1200 January 8th. No sign of Mr. Cutler. Disposition of Accident: Breathalyzer test was conducted on the owner of Boat 2 and was negative. Ruled accidental/No fault. Response to Accident: Boat 2 was judged seaworthy and continued. Boat 1 was towed to the District 10 Coast Guard Base in Riley."
That was a mouthful, and I paused to take a breath which gave Fred time to interject. "Ebenezer Sharp said that the owner of the yacht that sank Captain Cutler's boat was drunk, but he wasn't. And Captain Cutler's boat wasn't sunk. It still exists somewhere."
He was getting a head of steam, but we still had nothing. I tried to slow him down. "I just found a news article from a few days later which gives some of this same information—including the words I will return—but leaves out the fact that the other boat owner was sober or that Cutler's boat survived. This most likely answer is that Ebenezer Sharp read that article or one like it. Then we're back to the ramblings of a deranged mind."
Fred barked out a plan. "Something just tells me that there's more to this. I think we need to split up. Daphne and I will go to the Coast Guard Base and try to find out more about Captain Cutler's boat while Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby go to Danforth and talk with Mrs. Cutler."
"Why don't I get to go to Danforth?" was Daphne's question.
Fred had an answer. "The most interesting part of this is finding that boat. That's probably the key to this whole thing. That's where we want to be."
"How long before Shaggy will be sober enough to drive?" was my question.
No one answered it.