Louis let him pass, and Barry pulled out his phone to look up the address of the county morgue.If the boat couldn’t tell what happened to Charlie, maybe Charlie himself could.
Chapter 30
Barry had to call a cab to take him to the other side of the island where the morgue was.With an eighty-mile-long island and ninety-degree heat, not including the humidity, there was no way Barry could walk that.
On the cab ride over, he looked up the news feed on Charlie’s shipwreck.Not a lot of details had been released on it other than a ship with a man had been found washed up on shore.Police refused to release the name of the victim.There were no signs of foul play, and police ruled it as accidental drowning.
Barry scanned through the photos on the internet, hoping a clue could be found.He might have to go through the police records since the news didn’t have any useful pictures.The forensic team would have taken pictures of every square inch of the space.
Barry paid the driver and asked him to wait.He didn’t think he’d be in the building all that long.He felt the instant cooling from the air conditioning.
He was used to the dry heat in Vegas, but this was something else entirely.He didn’t know if he’d ever get used to feeling like he’d just stepped out of the shower; muggy heat all day long.He took a second to just stand there under the blowing fan and swipe the sweat from his brow before walking up to the front desk.
“Hi, I’m Sam Keeley with Inner Coastal Investigation.”He pulled his badge from his back pocket and quickly flashed it before putting it back in his pocket.“I’m looking for Charlie Boudreaux’s effects.”
The person working the desk looked up the name and gave Barry a strange look.“You’re a little late, aren’t you?”
“How do you mean?”
“He died almost two months ago, and you’re just asking for it now?”
Barry didn’t really appreciate the kid’s attitude.“Listen,” Barry looked down at his name tag, “Stanley, I’m months behind on paperwork.This recently came to my desk.I would really appreciate your cooperation.”Barry leaned over the desk and whispered softly, “Or should I have my boss call yours and tell him you’re not being cooperative?”He finished by raising his eyebrow in question.
Stanley made an audible gulp.“I’ll be right back.”He left his desk and headed into the back before coming back a few minutes later with a small banker’s box.
Barry gave the contents of the box a cursory glance.A ratted white tank top, orange shorts.No wallet or other personal effects.Not surprising given he was drifting at sea.A wallet could have been tossed overboard.
“Do you have his autopsy report?”
“Shouldn’t you already have all this?”The kid sighed in exasperation.Barry gave him a death glare that had the kid jumping back up to his feet and heading for the back again.He soon returned with another form.
Barry scanned through the document.It was ruled as accidental drowning.There was water in his lungs and a contusion on his head.No other signs of trauma.There had been no alcohol or drugs in his system.The coroner noted the contusion could have been from Charlie losing his balance and hitting his head on the wall during a wave.
Or a glass broken over his head.That could account for the broken glass Louis found.Most likely, someone knocked Charlie out and drowned him, then let the boat drift to shore with the evidence wiped away.
Barry’s eyes caught on one line on the report.There was a small slip of paper found clutched in Charlie’s hand.
Barry dug through the contents of the box until he found the slip.It was only an inch long and cut at a diagonal as if he had been gripping a larger piece of paper, and someone tore it from his hand, but he’d managed to keep this one piece.
Despite being clutched in Charlie’s hand, there were signs of water damage.If he’d had his full gear, he might be able to scan it and digitally recreate it, but sadly, that was back home.Barry squinted and could just make out a cursive scroll letter ‘M.’
“Thank you.”Barry put everything back in the box and left.
Barry carried them outside and headed for the cab.He had it take him back to other side of the island, where he hoped his boat captain was still there.
He thought about ditching the box, but there might be a clue that could have been overlooked.
The boat captain was right where he’d left him, still asleep.Barry was antsy as he sat on the boat for what felt like hours, until he made it back to the island.He needed to get on his laptop and go through the police report.
He hadn’t thought about bringing it, nor would it have worked on open water.A few hours weren’t going to change anything.Mac was still out on the water somewhere.There were a few hours of daylight left; he could get more research done.
Sadly, the report was as informative as the news article.The pictures had been more helpful though.There were perfect shots of the broken glass in the kitchen.Barry zoomed in to see how the glass was broken.The bottom was still perfectly intact while the rest was in hundreds of pieces, signaling it had smashed against something.
There hadn’t been anything in the autopsy report, so the glass could have been washed away either falling off into the sea while drifting or while Charlie had been drowned.
Giving up on the report, Barry turned his attention to the contents of the box.He took a picture of the scrap of paper and uploaded it onto his computer.The only thing visible was the letter ‘M.’Even using his computer skills, he couldn’t read through the water marks.
His first thought would be Miles, but why would Charlie have a piece of paper with Miles’s name on it?Barry went back to the email he’d found on Annabelle’s phone of the invoice.There was a letter ‘B’ overlapping the ‘M,’ so it couldn’t have been an invoice from the hotel.
