Fast Slide (7 page)

I heard footsteps.

My first thought was:
Brad
.

But Brad couldn't have made it down the mountain this fast. Or could he? I wasn't sure how long I'd been hanging on to the side of the pool.

With an effort, I leaned my chin on my arm and looked up.

Detective Mulligan leered—not unlike the plastic Boa—down at me. “So, I get to make my arrest, after all.”

I couldn't say anything. Couldn't speak.

The detective knelt. “Looks like you wrecked your arm pretty bad, son.”

I glanced behind me. Blood was clouding the pool. I nodded. Then I shook my head. “I don't know anything anymore, sir. Do what you have to do.”

“Oh, I will.” Mulligan dragged me out of the pool. Removing a pair of handcuffs from a jacket pocket, he dangled them in front of me. In the slanting sun, they sparkled like Brad's cuff links.

“Detective! No!”

Janice was running toward us.

“Don't arrest Clay. He didn't kill Aggie—he didn't steal Dad's money. I'm sure of it!”

Mulligan rolled his eyes. “Young love. Give me a break.”

Janice bounded up the stairs to the platform. She sat down and put her arms around me. “I'm so sorry, Clay. What happened? Did he do this to you?” She shot a foul look at Mulligan.

It should have been funny. Yeah, I'd laugh about this one day. When I was eighty.

But I could live to be a hundred, and Janice would never put her arms around me again.

Footsteps pounded down the stairs, interrupted by a crash and an
oof !
Brad tripped and fell as he hurried down. Typical Bradley klutziness. That should have been funny too.

Limping toward us, Brad shouted, “I'm so relieved you caught him, Detective. He tried to kill me up there. We struggled, and—”

“What are you saying, Brad?” Janice stared at him in disbelief.

Brad gulped and blurted, “Get away from Clay, Jan. He's a murderer.”

“You don't need to say another word,” Detective Mulligan assured Brad. He stepped forward with the handcuffs.

And, with a deft
click
, snapped them around Brad's wrists.

Brad turned a satisfying shade of purple. “Not
me
, Detective. Clay took the money. Clay drowned Aggie. They were a couple. Everyone knew. And Judd saw Clay—”

“Weren't you listening, Costello?” barked Mulligan. “I don't need you to say anything. Because you've already told me all I need to know.”

“Whaa—?” Brad gaped from the detective to me.

“Yeah, that's right, brainiac,” Mulligan said. “I heard every word you said through the tube. You planned the robbery with Judd and Aggie. Only Aggie had second thoughts, and now she's dead.

“One of my officers is arresting Judd at his home right now. We're gonna book him as your accomplice.”

Brad looked like he'd finally met the factoid he couldn't compute.

Mulligan smiled coolly at him. “Boa's famous for its echo effect, right?” He nodded toward me. “It was young Clay's idea. He phoned me, right after he phoned Judd. Said he was going to get a confession out of you at the top of the tube. The deal was, I'd wait at the bottom of the tube by the open door and listen.”

Janice turned on me, green eyes fiery with accusation. “You set Brad up.
You
set up my brother
.”

Brad was so stunned, he started rolling the cuff links around in one of his cuffed hands. He'd been holding them all the time.

I said wearily, “You were right, Brad. I did gamble. But you were the one who lost.”

Chapter Thirteen

It was a week later. Safari Splash was still closed. No one was allowed in until the police finished their investigation. With no one around, animals—real animals—had ventured out of the forest. Raccoons ambled around the concession, looking for French fries. Squirrels raced up and down on top of the tubes.

Detective Mulligan and I stood at top of the Boa. It was my last visit to the water park. Mr. Costello didn't want an employee who'd betrayed his son.

“It all comes down to dirty laundry,” I said.

Mulligan nodded. He unpeeled a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth. “Yup, the Costellos' dirty laundry is out in the open now. Bradley has serious emotional problems. It's better his family knows about them. Now Brad can get help. Let's hope he won't target any more victims like Aggie Wentworth.”

A vision of Aggie's pleading face hovered in front of me.

I nodded. “That's all true, Detective. But I didn't mean
that
kind of dirty laundry.”

I led him behind the bamboo screen to the hamper where attendants tossed used towels. Lifting the lid, I explained, “Before Brad sneaked up on me, I was holding the lynx mask—the one Judd had worn. Aware Judd would be back any minute, I stashed it. For a long time I couldn't remember where. Then I realized I'd hidden it where no one ever looks.”

I pushed several towels aside, and there it was. The lynx mask.

“Perfect,” said Mulligan. “So much for Judd's denials about being Brad's accomplice. Forensics will show he wore it.” The detective pulled out a pair of plastic gloves and a plastic bag. With the gloves on, he took hold of the mask by the edge and dropped it into the bag.

“Yeah, sure,” I said. “Everything's just perfect.”

I was remembering how Janice had turned sharply away from me to climb into the police car with Brad. I had phoned her a few times, but she kept hanging up.

Mulligan clattered the lollipop around in his mouth. “Still thinking about the Costello girl?”

“She'll never forgive me.”

The detective zip-sealed the plastic bag. “I dunno, kid. Never's a long time. I could see she liked you.”

I looked at Mulligan. There was something in those narrowed eyes I hadn't seen before. A glint of kindness.

“I thought you said cops weren't human,” I said.

“Did I?” He crunched down on his lollipop, releasing waves of grape scent. “Well, you better keep my secret then.”

About the Author

Melanie Jackson
is the author of the popular
Dinah Galloway Mystery series
, as well as
The Big Dip
in the Orca Currents series. Melanie lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

For more titles in the Orca Currents series, please
click here
.