Two Jakes by Lawrence de Maria Read Free Book Online Page A

direction.
    “When
they told me Josh apparently drowned while fishing, I couldn’t believe it. I
can see by the look on your face that you are wondering about his name. Yes, I
named him after Chamberlain. Anyway, it’s always a shock when your child dies.
But it seemed inexplicable. Josh was at home around the ocean. They said he got
knocked over by a wave and panicked in the dark. A rip current surprised him.
Or he got stung by a jellyfish. Maybe it was the tooth fairy. All sorts of
theories. All nonsense. Nobody drowns in two feet of water in Miami! My boy was
an excellent swimmer. For God’s sake, all he had to be was an excellent wader.”
    “Mr.
Shields,” Scarne said gently. “Anyone can be unlucky.” Or stoned.
    “I
know what you are thinking. But Josh rarely drank and there was no alcohol or
drugs in his system. They said he might have had a heart attack or seizure,
since there wasn’t much water in his lungs. And there were jellyfish stings on
his body, even on his face. I understand how they would assume it was an
accident.” Shields hesitated. “They even suggested suicide.”
    “Can
you dismiss that possibility?”
    Shields
took in a lot of air.
    “You
have children, Jake?”
    Scarne
shook his head.
    “Well,
you’d be surprised how often parents think about their kids killing themselves.
Rich or poor doesn’t matter. When Josh was growing up, and torn about his
sexuality, my wife and I worried constantly that he might do something to
himself. But it doesn't make sense, not now.”
    “Josh
was gay?”
    “Yes.
And happy in his own skin.”
    Scarne
reserved judgment on that. Parents see what they want to see.
    “Was
he in the family business?”
    “For
a while, on the magazine. But he grated on my brother.” Shields took a sip of
his brandy. “Please don't misunderstand me. Randolph didn't give a hoot about
Josh's lifestyle. People in glass houses and all that. But Josh never met a CEO
he didn't think should be indicted. He loved skewering them.”
    “Including
some of your advertisers?”
    Shields
smiled ruefully.
    “The
biggest. To be fair to Randolph, Josh could be a rant. He knew he was becoming
an embarrassment to me. So he moved to Miami and joined the South Florida
Times , what they call an alternative weekly.”
    “Were
you estranged?”
    “No,
nothing like that. I was quite proud of his independence. Children have to find
their own way. It’s the way of things. He was doing good work down there. After
oranges, corruption is Florida's biggest crop. With his business savvy, he got
stories other reporters found too complicated. We used to discuss his scoops
all the time. We were planning a fishing trip this spring.”
    Shields
leaned forward.
    “If
Josh wanted to kill himself, why take his fishing gear to the beach?”
    “To
make it look like an accident, to spare you and your wife.”
    “His
wallet, his keys and cell phone weren't among his things on the beach. And they
weren’t in his apartment or car.”
    “Perhaps
they fell out of his pockets...when he...in the ocean.”
    “Rubbish!”
Shields waved his hand dismissively. “That’s what the police said. I told them
that no surfcaster forgets to empty pockets. Everything goes in a watertight
plastic bag. Taught him that myself.”
    “Someone
could have stolen them after the fact.”
    “Cops
said that too. Seemed logical at the time. But a thief probably would have used
Josh’s credit cards right away, before they were canceled. There were no
charges, ever. And I’ve left them active.”
    “What
did the police say about that?”
    Shields
gave Scarne a disgusted look.
    “Catch
22. Josh’s cards were either in the ocean or were stolen after he died. The
fact that they weren’t used means they were probably in the ocean.”
    They
were interrupted by the Cardinal and the Police Commissioner, who stopped by
their table as they were leaving.
    “How
are doing, Sheldon,” the Cardinal said. “I was saddened to hear of