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My first published novel is Bottom Bones

with Frank Hawthorn, Private Detective
Chapter 1


“ It was early Monday morning on a spring day in 1980. The warm whistling air coursing over the windshield blew his hair in all directions. He didn't care. He was enjoying the top down on his Mustang convertible headed toward New York City seeking a replacement for the boat destroyed during the untimely event on the ocean. The ads in the boating section of the newspaper led to the marina just across the pond from his property. The traffic was picking up as he came across the Hudson River Bridge from his home in New Jersey. The gravel scattered as he wheeled into the Perkins Marina parking lot. He was anticipating what the boat would look like and the thought was pushing him forward. He was sure everybody had their own idea, from the sellers view point to the newspaper reporter who took the ad, but he was going to give it a try anyway. He cut the engine, grabbed a comb from the glove compartment and raked it through his wind swept hair. When he stepped out of the car the owner of the marina, a tall, lean, bearded Captain Warner Perkins greeted him with his cap cocked at a jaunty angle.

“Frank Hawthorn, as I live and breathe; what brings you to the Hudson Bay?”

“I need a new boat! The boat explosion that happened out on the high seas...that was me! A Chinese freighter sent two deliveries of something to my next door neighbor, Mrs. Cusec, the woman that owns the dress shops downtown. I was at my dock straight across the bay from here fishing, and a pesky little fish nibbled my bait. Being dead set on catching the scoundrel doing the nibbling I didn’t pay too much attention when the boat went by the first time. When they went by the second time I looked closer at the boat and saw there were several grim faced scowling Chinese sailors on the back deck with rifles at the ready. Me being curious, I wanted to know why. It was already dark when they started back out, so I followed them out to sea in my own boat. I thought I’d be invisible, but somehow they saw me. That neat little twenty-foot cabin cruiser you serviced several time; well, it’ll never need servicing again. It’s at the bottom of the ocean. My Man-Friday alerted the Coast Guard to come pick me up, and that’s the only reason I’m here today. How about showing me the boat advertised in the New York Times for a possible replacement?”

“Sure, Frank, come on down to the docks. The name of the boat advertised is the Honey Do and is moored down on pier number three. I’ll walk you down there.”

Pier number three had become a colorful view of multi-colored boards that had seen many replacements over the twenty plus years Captain Perkins had owned the marina.

As they walked Warner said, “See that really nice boat casually rising and falling with the sway of the bay...that’s the Honey Do that’s for sale.”

Frank noted the boat had huge white rubber bumpers the size of telephone poles between the big boat and the dock to keep it from marring the elegant edges called fenders.

Warner unlatched the stainless steel chain guard hanging across the gangplank and said, “You first, Mr. Hawthorn,” as he swung his arm in a wide arch to indicate Frank should board.

Frank took a long look around at the finery thinking he had found a gold mine, “Wow, it sure is impressive Warner!”

“Yep, and she’ll fly over the water making rainbow’s on either side, and has the big engines to prove it. She’s thirty-five foot long, featuring two plush staterooms with queen sized beds. The lush carpets have deeper pile than any at my house. There’s enough closet space in the staterooms for a woman with twenty pairs of shoes. The bathroom is nice too, it has a full body shower, regular stool, and a full size sink, even storage cabinets for your linen and towels.”

Captain Perkins hooked the chain back across the gang plank entrance to the deck as Frank stepped aboard. They both stood there admiring the obviously well appointed boat. They were near the back where the engine compartment was located. After a moment Warner touched Frank’s arm to get his attention. “Here let me lift this panel and show you the powerful twin Chrysler engines I told you about that are conveniently tucked under this cover.”

He lifted the insulated precision built cover that held down the noise from the big engines and stepped back to allow Frank a look inside the tight cavity. “That’s some more power plant. Is gasoline the fuel used?”

“No, these are diesel engines. You’ll get much better distance on the water with diesel fuel.”

“Does diesel require any special kind of service or maintenance?”

“Naw, if you keep up either one correctly there’s not much difference. You might not like the smell if you get it on your hands.”

Warner dropped the section cover and twisted the latch to lock it down folding the latch into the contour of the boat floor. He turned to the back seating and lifted one of the padded covers and showed Frank the ice machine that would provide the means to fish all weekend and return with fresh fish. Frank saw the value of the ice; he always took some in a cooler for that purpose when he went fishing.

Warner turned from the ice machine and said, “We’ll come back to the helm after you’ve seen the other locations of the cruiser.”

He led Frank thru the back deck past the helm into the galley and with a sweep of his arm asked, “What do you think of this galley Frank?”

Frank noted it was almost as large as the cooking area in his big house, and said, “I think My Man Friday could cook any kind of fish we could catch in a kitchen like this. Looks like all the necessities of home are included. Is the fridge gas or electric?”

“It’s either one. It’s best to switch to gas when you stop on the water for any long periods of time. It helps to make your battery last longer.”

Frank pulled the door of the compact refrigerator open and saw the shelving and compartments just like the fridge he had at home. Just a little bit smaller he thought. He didn’t see a freezer section inside, so he closed the door, then, opened the smaller door just below the fridge. There were two trays of ice and a bag where trays had already been emptied up. He closed the door back and continued to investigate the other openings in the galley.

Warner strode ahead to the cabins, again waving his arms to signify their finery. “As you can see the staterooms are plush. Pop down on the bed...feel that comfort? The entire bedding- mattress and all are new. Actually no one has ever slept on the beds since we replaced them last month.”

“Was there anything wrong with the bedding?”

“No, it was the owner’s perception. He thought they needed replacing because he had them a long time. I sold them to another boat owner who had no bedding at all and he was very pleased to get it.”

“I can understand that.”

“Come on; let’s go up on the top deck. As you can see there are auxiliary controls for when you want to see far ahead, and it’s covered from the front to keep you dry. On a clear day you can see a mile ahead of the boat from this position.”

Frank stared in awe. His twenty-footer had been nice, but this boat wasn’t just nice it was sinfully nice. Just what, could a single man do with a rig like this, he questioned.

Warner led them down the steps to the lower deck and Frank crawled up into the captain’s chair mounted in front of the helm. The chair felt gorgeous, like something built for quiet comfort or reading in a study. The wheel was inlaid with ivory and spokes made of polished cherry wood for guiding the big boat. It made you feel like you held power in the palm of your hand. The throttles were massive compared to the ones on the twenty-footer. He looked down at the teak wood floors that ran from the back deck to the end of the galley at the stateroom doors and realized they had been cared for religiously. There wouldn’t be any water penetrating that floor. He saw also, there were drains that ran toward the outer edges of the boat to release any water that involuntarily got in anyway.

Being unable to control the grin coming from inside Frank asked, “What you asking for this hunk of junk Warner?”

“The owner is asking a clean fifty thousand dollars.”

“Why, Warner, this boat is worth a hundred thousand if it’s worth a nickel.” Frank related with surprise. “What's wrong with it, why the low price?”

“To my knowledge there’s not any thing wrong with the boat, It’s been moored in my marina for the last ten years, and we’ve done nothing but maintenance, such as tong oiling the teak, cleaning the bottom, and then repainting it. Fiberglass doesn’t wear out like wood, but it does need attention some times to remove the barnacles. Here again, we did replace the fridge and the air conditioning once just because the owner thought they needed replacing. The engine has very few hours on it because the folks stayed in port most of the time. I only remember a very few fishing trips where they stayed out overnight, of course I wasn’t watching all the time.”

“Well I sure do like the looks of this piece of worn out junk; do you have any offers on it yet?”

“Yes, a young attorney and his bride came and looked it over last week, but I’m not sure they have the bread to afford this baby.”

“Well anyway, I’d like to state that I want the first opportunity to purchase since they haven’t said so. However, I’ve got to sleep on it over night. If I purchase this baby it will be the biggest check I’ve ever written. If the attorney comes back call me before selling. I might beat his price. I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you yea or nay. Thanks for your time Warner.”

Frank and Warner rambled back up the pier looking the other boats over as Warner commented about this and that he and his crew had done to them. When they got back to Frank’s car, Frank shook hands with Warner and said goodbye.

Warner said over his shoulder as he headed for some other job at the marina, “I’ll see you tomorrow Frank, hopefully with your check book in your hand.”

Considering the fact that he was going to have to leave his car in the parking deck all day he decided to put the top back up. He did so before leaving the marina. He had opened the Hawthorn Detective Agency in the Morley Building when the calls for the services of a detective over shadowed his ability to be in three places at once. The Morley Building where Frank’s offices were located was in the area where street parking was at a premium. One of the reasons Frank had chosen the Morley Building was because it had a seven story parking deck attached to the seven story building. It was possible to drive to any floor and walk directly into the offices located on that floor with out having to get out in the rain walking from the street. Frank whizzed around the spiral drive leading to his normal spot on the fifth floor, parked, locked his doors and walked the few feet to the fifth floor entrance. He was greeted when he was inside the vestibule.

“Hi Frank. How did the boat review work out?”

“Great! It’s a lot of money, but it’s a lot of boat.”

“Here’s your messages. One in particular was Lieutenant Spiegel who wants you to call him as soon as you come in.”

“What was it about, and when did he call?”

“I don’t know he just called about five minutes ago.”

“Amy, I thought with the criminology degree you have you should be able to tell me what’s on anyone’s mind that calls.”

“Yeah, and you ought to be able to find out soon enough with your military police training, along with your graduation from the New York City Police Academy.”

“Touché, Miss Office Manager. I guess I know when to shut up. We got any coffee?”

“Sure boss, I just made it ten minutes ago.”

Frank went into his private office and sat down in his leather designer chair Amy had purchased for him when she took his old chair. She had been instrumental in the purchase of the neat cherry wood desk as well. It was smaller than most office executives required at sixty inches, but Frank liked it because of all the cubby holes, and the pull-out shelves on either side for him to lay a murder book or the city directory on when he just needed extra space. Also when his agency office manager, Amy Sue Thompson came into his office to take notes she had a secretariat to pull out for a writing surface on her side of the desk.

Frank dialed the number for The Central Division Police Station and the dispatch inquired where he could direct the call.

“Lieutenant Troy Spiegel please.”

“Who’s calling sir?”

“Detective Frank Hawthorn, I’m returning the Lieutenant's call.”

“Just one moment sir.”

Frank waited while the phone extension was contacted and the Lieutenant notified.

He spoke with an authoritative voice when he answered, “Hello, why are you calling this number detective?”

“Because you said for me to call, what do you want?”

“Oh, hi Frank, got a minute? I’ve got someone here in my office that I’d like for you to meet.”

“Male or female?”

“I’ll wait until you get here to reveal that information detective.”

“Alright give me ten minutes.”

“Right. Bye now.”

Ever since Frank had lost his lady friend Troy had been trying to introduce him to other woman. He had grown weary of meeting new people that Troy wanted to push on him. Troy didn’t have a steady girlfriend either. After his wife and he got the divorce Troy had just about laid off women. Ever once in a while he would try dating a new person, but nothing ever seemed to work out for him. Frank separated the other messages and saw they could wait. He walked back through Amy’s office and told her he was going across the street.

Normally he would have driven his Mustang, but the day was beautiful and crisp and he needed the exercise anyway. He stole across the busy street being careful not to get run over by a speeding car. He gave a cheery wave to the dispatch and pointed toward Troy’s office when he arrived inside. After walking down the hallway to Spiegel’s office he looked through the doorway and saw the hem of a dress the female sitting at Troy’s desk was wearing whose back was to the doorway. Her hair was silky, and fell across her shoulders in a beautiful spray. Thrilled at what he saw Frank rapped on the doorframe to alert the two that he was there. “Hello, you called for me to come over, Lieutenant?”

“Yeah Frank, I want you to meet this lady...Frank Hawthorn, this is Judy Mulling. Frank is a private detective. He’s the one I told you about. He has college criminology training, military police training and graduated with me at the New York City Police Academy. We both were assigned patrol beats when we went to work for the city. He liked the investigation business so well he opened his own private agency.”

Extending her smooth right arm and hand with the fingertips down she said, “Mr. Hawthorn, I’m pleased to meet you. Lieutenant Spiegel has told me a lot about you.”

Frank thought he saw an approval in the smile she gave.

“I’ve told Lt Spiegel about my fears’ but he says that the police can’t do anything about the situation until something illegal takes place. Personally I don’t want to wait until it happens. I would prefer nipping it in the bud.”

“Nip it in the bud, we shall! Now tell me the real story and just what I can do to make the problem go away.” Frank said as he pulled a chair from the conference corner and slid it up close to the beautiful woman.

“Frank, Judy thinks her boyfriend is a crook. More importantly she thinks he is after her money or is capable of doing her harm. As you very well know the police department can’t do anything about what somebody thinks, but we can do something after it’s done. I agree with her about stopping it now. That’s why I called you.”

“Okay, I see your point... Judy, what makes you think the guy is a crook?” “Well, for one thing, he’s too nice to me.”

“That doesn’t seem like a problem to me, it sounds like a very proper thing to do to a nice person like you.” Judy smiled again at Frank and his eyes lit up.

“Yes but, you don’t understand...he’s not nice-nice, it seems like he’s placating me.”

“To what end?”

“The first thing that happened scared me out of my wits. We were supposed to go to a special party at some friend’s retirement, or anniversary, or maybe a birthday, I don’t really know because we never went. He came over, dressed ready to go and, well, I wasn’t. I had a friend come over that stayed longer than her welcome, causing me to be late dressing. So I told him he could watch television in the living room until I got my primping done. He grumbled under his breath, but said it was alright. When I took too long to finish he knocked on the door, I told him, ‘just a minute’ and he didn’t like that for sure. Why he kicked the door in I just don’t know. He was red faced and had his fist balled up when he slammed the door against the back wall with his foot and stomped into my bedroom yelling that he was not going to be put off any longer.”

“It sounds to me like he is very unpredictable?”

“What he did next was really uncalled for. I already had my gown on and I asked him to zip it up. He did exactly the opposite. He zipped it down and out of the dress. I held my arms up to my breast in order to hold my gown up and screamed as loud as I could. He stormed out almost knocking the front door off the hinges. I had to call a carpenter to fix both doors.”

“He didn’t harm you, did he? If he did, and you file a complaint against him I can arrest him and put him in jail.” Troy volunteered.

“No, just my doors, and my gown. I had a tailor put the zipper back. Thank goodness he didn’t tear the fabric.”

“What happened then? Is that the last time you saw him?”

“It was a week before he called. He sounded so pitiful asking if he could possibly come back. He said he had an apology for me.”

“I could sure understand him asking, but you didn’t let him come back did you?”

“Frank, I did. Well, he sounded so pitiful, and I was late, but I never expected him to be that angry. He was all sugar and roses this time. Yes, roses, he brought me a dozen boxed red roses. They were so nice. I forgave him.”

“Was that the end of the problem?”

“No, I don’t think so. He did things I didn’t understand.”

“Judy, I don’t understand, if this thing went any further you might be in real danger if he goes off half cocked again. Tell us what happened, what made you upset?”

“You know---saying things he doesn’t mean...like...well, let me tell you about what happened the other night. I had to go shopping and he agreed happily to go with me. The things I wanted to buy weren’t exactly a boy-girl shopping trip, but I let him go anyway. When I started shopping in the lingerie department I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was frowning profusely, then when I paid for my choices, again, out of the corner of my eye, I saw he had a scowl on his face.”

“Maybe he just didn’t understand the value of what you were buying?”

“No...that’s not what I heard when we got back to my apartment. He was grumbling under his breath while I was in the bedroom putting away my things.”

“Did he force his way into the bedroom with you that time?”

“No, no, he was in the living room. I heard him through the doorway. He grumbled that he could not understand why any woman paid so much for so little.” A slight smile sneaked across her face.

“If he’s complaining now, already, before he has any idea about my purchases, what will he say if we are married?”

“You’ve got a point there Judy. The man sound’s like a cocked cannon to me. My suggestion would be to change boyfriends and in a hurry.”

After letting the recommendation sink in Judy smiled again and stated, “That’s an excellent idea. Why didn’t I think of that? Lieutenant Spiegel, I do believe Mr. Hawthorn has come up with the right idea.”

Frank saw Troy Spiegel grinning when he winked at him.

“There’s your answer Judy. You’ll just have to find a new boyfriend. Case closed. Frank I sure do thank you for coming up with the answer to our dilemma. I’ve got to go to forensics to check on some finger prints. I’ll see you both later.”

Frank could see right through the antics his friend Troy Spiegel had just pulled. He was supposed to be the new boyfriend that he recommended Judy take. He would have to protect her from this hot headed bully, because that was just the way he lived. He realized he was going to be left with the good looking girl as Troy left the room. Come to think of it he reasoned, that wasn’t a bad idea after all.

On the way back across the street to his office Frank planned what he was going to do with the female that had just excited his interest. She was certainly a beauty. Just the right age for him, about three years his junior and she did need him to take care of her. Guide her...maybe! Troy Spiegel sure was one to force his hand. Well, after all was done, he might have to thank his friend for the introduction. Frank wondered if she had a hand in the introduction. He wasn’t sure, but what ever happened, it sure could be entertaining! “Oh my gosh!” Frank thought. “I forgot to get her number?”

Page Updated: 11-22-11