“What kind of thing?”
Ray grimaced.“Eddie outbid Dale for a crabbing permit a couple seasons back.Dale took it personal.He’s been running his mouth about it ever since.Made some threats at the Rusty Anchor.The usual fisherman bullshit, probably.But Dale’s got a temper.”
“Oh yeah?”I frowned.“How much of a temper?”
“Enough that people noticed.He was down here this morning, standing in the parking lot.But then again, most of the town was here when they heard the news.”
“True.”I didn’t share that it would have been more suspicious if Dale Pruitt hadn’t made an appearance.
“I think Dale is still here if you want to talk to him.”
“I’ll find him in a minute.”I hesitated.“Did Eddie’s wife call you when he didn’t come home?”
“No.”He grimaced.“Like I said, I left here at 9:00 p.m.But she wouldn’t have called because Eddie was doing an overnight run.He’d have told Rosa that.She wouldn’t have expected to hear from him until morning.”
“Was it unusual for Eddie to do overnight runs?”
Ray pursed his lips.“He didn’t do them as much as he used to, but he had done a few the last few weeks.”
I glanced out toward the open waters.“Why would he stay out all night?”
Ray shrugged.“Some trips, especially checking pots in certain areas or fishing for certain species, are overnight runs.The guys leave in the evening, fish through the night, come back in the morning.”
“Got it.”If Ray didn’t think it was weird Eddie had planned on staying out all night, there was probably nothing there.“As the harbor master, do you keep a detailed schedule of when the boats go out?”
He lifted his brows.“God, no.That would probably drive me crazy.Commercial fishermen in Oregon aren’t required to file trip plans with the harbor master.”
“Okay, I wasn’t sure if maybe it was like at the airport where they file flight plans.”
“No, there’s nothing formal in place.I mean, as the harbor master, I generally know who’s going out and roughly when.Fishermen check in with me out of habit, mention where they’re headed.But it’s casual, not regulated.Nobody has to file paperwork.”
That was a shame.With the GPS wiped, if Ray had known exactly where Eddie was going, that might have proved useful.
I asked Ray a few more questions about the harbor, the boats, who else might have been around the previous night.He gave me what he had, which wasn’t much.I thanked him and let him go.
I found Dale in the parking lot, exactly where Ray said he’d be.Standing by a rust-colored pickup truck, arms crossed, jaw tight.He was a thick man, mid-forties, with the kind of permanent sunburn that fishermen always had.He watched me approach with an expression that was already defensive.Was he just paranoid, or did he have something to hide?
“Mr.Pruitt?I’m Chief Hale.I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“I figured you would,” he said.“Everybody’s been giving me dirty looks all morning like I did something to Eddie.”
“Why would they think that?”
His eyes went flat.“I have no idea.I assume what happened to Eddie was an accident.”
“We don’t know for sure what happened yet.Naturally, since I wasn’t there when Eddie died, I have to look at this from all angles and consider all possibilities.”I pushed my hands into my pockets, studying Dale’s surly face.“Where were you last night?”
He narrowed his eyes.“See, now when you ask me something like that, it makes me uncomfortable.”
“Why?”I frowned.
“Because it’s like you’re asking me for an alibi.”
I sighed.“I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that I’ve heard you had a problem with Eddie.I’ve also heard you have a reputation for having a bad temper.”
“Even if all of that is true, if this was just an accident, what the hell does any of that matter?”he grated out, eyes flashing angrily.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m talking to a lot of people and asking them the same questions, Mr.Pruitt.”Maybe a lot was a stretch, but there were definitely some people I needed to talk to besides Dale.
