Read Online Death on a Vineyard Beach by Philip R. Craig - Free Book Online

just happen to have some pictures of the younger grandchildren, in the living room. Excuse me while I get them.”
    â€œWe just happen to have about several albums of pictures of the younger grandchildren,” said Luciano. “Our youngest and his family were here last week. When the kids come, Angie and me get to spoil the little ones while their parents escape to the beaches by themselves. Of course, when the babies act up, we shove them right back at theirparents and escape ourselves. It’s the great advantage of being grandparents.”
    â€œOh, we do not,” said Angela, reappearing. “Don’t listen to him. He’s a total softy when it comes to the babies. He lets them get away with anything. Now let me show you these pictures. I just got them back from the developers. Did you ever see anything cuter?”
    We looked at the pictures and agreed that we’d never seen anything cuter, then we all went and sat beside the pool. In the gathering night we sat and sipped a second round of drinks provided by Priscilla.
    â€œTell me about Joe Begay,” said Zee in an innocent voice.
    Decker glanced at Marcus, who took a sip of his gin and tonic before replying.
    â€œMrs. Jackson, have you heard the saying that if you save someone’s life you must care for him afterward?”
    â€œI think that’s some sort of oriental wisdom,” smiled Zee.
    He smiled back at her. When Zee smiles at men, they almost always smile back. “Well, if it’s true, then you and your husband are now responsible for my life.”
    Zee laughed. “We’re pretty busy just taking care of ourselves.”
    â€œOf course you are. Still, my life is yours in the sense that I now exist because of you. That being the case, I should have no secrets from you.” A smaller, slightly ironic smile played across his face. “I’m not going to say that I will confide everything to you, but certainly I can tell you about Joe Begay. In fact, I want to do that.”
    I glanced at Angela Marcus, and saw again the worried look that I’d seen earlier.
    Marcus took another sip of his drink, seemingly to gather his thoughts. Then he spoke. “They say that Joe Begay is a Navajo Indian from out West some place. Anyway, now he’s married to a Wampanoag woman who lives here in Gay Head. His wife is the daughter of a woman named Linda Vanderbeck. Linda Vanderbeck is one of those Indians who thinks that my cranberry bog belongs to theWampanoags and not to me. Something about some illegal land sale a long time ago. Or maybe it was a treaty of some kind. My lawyers can tell you more about it than I can.
    â€œAnyway, this Linda Vanderbeck goes around making trouble for me any way she can, trying to get that cranberry bog, which, I can tell you right now, she’s never going to get. And now that this Joe Begay is in town, she’s got him helping her out.” He looked at Decker, then back at Zee and me. “We see him down there at the pond, don’t we, Thomas? And all around the edges of my property here. And they say that he’s down at the Historical Society in Edgartown, looking at records, or up here looking at records, or maybe even in Boston or Washington looking at records. All he does is snoop!”
    â€œHe hasn’t broken any laws, yet,” said Decker. “But a couple of times he’s tried to get up here to the house. Both times, we stopped him at the gate.”
    â€œYou mean, he tried to sneak up here?” asked Zee.
    â€œYes!” exclaimed Marcus.
    â€œNow, Luciano,” said Angela in a soothing voice. “You know that’s not quite true. He phoned first both times.”
    â€œAnd I told him no both times, but then he came to the gate anyway, and climbed over and came on up the driveway, just like we’d invited him!”
    Angela nodded. “But when Thomas met him and told him to leave, he did.”
    â€œOnly after an