The Case of the Phantom Diver Ch 20

The twentysomething's key missed the lock on the first two attempts. With his hand shaking, he glanced over his shoulder again at the police scattered around the motel's parking lot and walkways. That he'd been stopped before entering the motel had nearly caused him to freak out. However, he'd been granted permission to head toward his room after explaining that he'd been gone all day and was located on the ground floor, away from the crime scene. Only Deke Deason's nod to the police, stating he was a paying guest, got him through. The young man thanked whatever god for the lucky break, as Mrs. Deason had spotted him talking to Oswald Cozart on several occasions. Finally, he managed to control his hand enough to slide the key into its proper slot.

Dashing inside the room, the young man didn't even turn on the light before rushing over to peer out the window from behind the curtain. Scanning the parking lot near the entrance, he thought he spotted one of the people who'd tailed him back to the motel. Running his hand through his sandy-brown hair, he muttered a panicked curse while wondering what to do aloud.

"Hello, Carter."

"Ahh!" Carter squealed, jumping into the air.

Frightened, his hand slammed through the curtain to hit the window. The move stopped him from falling to the floor, leading him to spin around in a desperate attempt to reach the door again. However, the closet door facing him suddenly burst open, revealing a hulking figure in the lightly shadowed room. The dark mass showed surprisingly swiftness as it blocked his exit.

"No, no, please don't kill me!"

The light switch flicking on momentarily blinded Carter before the blurry brute responded in a shocked voice.

"Whoa! Dude, we aren't going to kill you."

"No, but you won't be going anywhere anytime soon," a second voice declared, causing Carter to turn toward it as his vision cleared.

Sitting on a chair against the far wall with a folder in his hand was a familiar-looking scrawny teen with eyeglasses. With recognition, the sandy-brown-haired man risked a glance back at the brute and saw the other teen who'd complicated their plans greatly of late.

"You two!"

"You see, Jake. We have been noticed," the bespectacled teen announced with a smartass grin. "So tell me, Carter Hawley, is the scam over with Oswald Cozart's death?"

"You killed him?"

"Don't be stupid," Phineas Farris snapped impatiently. "Frankly, we seemed to have just missed the murder. I take it that the--"

"Murder?!" Hawley gasped.

"Yes, clearly you saw them wheel Cozart out of Room 217 in the body bag. Or did you presume that Cozart killed someone else?" Phinn inquired.

"No, no, no, I knew he was dead...but murdered?"

"Well, I'm not CSI, but I think getting roughed up before a bullet creates a hole in your chest is more likely a murder than an accidental shooting," the smart-alec teen responded, causing his partner to shake his head. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry for your loss. Now, I take it that The Factfinders found you at Tarr Manor?"

"Y-You're working together?"

"That's the second moronic assumption. Let's avoid a third, shall we?"

"I have to get out of here!" Hawley announced, rushing over to his dresser and yanking out clothes.

"Nah, you're not leaving until we get some answers," Jacob Magnum stated. He moved to gently stop the packing while he directed Hawley to sit on the bed's edge.

"Not to mention that police might be interested in why a guest wants to leave right this minute. Sure, I bet a few guests are creeped out and would like to check out. However, a few simple questions directed toward the owners might reveal that you registered on the same day as their new corpse. And knowing Anita Deason, I'm confident she's observed the two of you chatting," Phinn guessed correctly.

With defeat setting in, Hawley's shoulders sagged, making it appear like his whole body did on the bed. Staring at the carpeted floor for fifteen long seconds, he finally asked what they wanted to know.

"We've pieced together most of the con or scam, but I'd like to hear a proper explanation," Phinn prodded.

Sighing, Hawley looked up to face Phineas.

"It's not a scam or con--not in the usual sense. Oswald craves fame and fortune. Hey, don't give me that look. Those are his exact words. He told me that within five minutes of our first meeting."

"Who's he ripping off? The city, the Tarrs?" Jake questioned, causing Phinn to motion for him to be quiet.

"No, that's not what he planned," Hawley replied, briefly turning to the stocky detective. "Everything is a guerrilla-style reality show."

"Damn it," Phinn mumbled, learning his least favorite theory to be true.

"No, it's true," Hawley insisted, misunderstanding the curse. "Oswald could never get permission to show a true treasure hunt of this magnitude or pay enough actors. So, he figured he'd get the permissions afterward."

"Th-That's crazy," Jake commented.

"It's not entirely far-fetched," Phinn admitted.

"Yeah, a lot of reality shows are made on spec. Oswald hoped to either sell this show once it was finished or use the footage to land a production deal for a new show," Hawley revealed.

"This is way too elaborate for a chance at a TV show," Jake argued.

"Which is what he wanted. He had a deal last year for an online-based show in Eastern Europe before it was shut down due to several contestants getting severely injured," Hawley recounted. "The injuries didn't seem to bother Oz, only drove him to make another attempt."

"How did they get hurt?" Jake asked.

"I don't know. I only met him after he returned to Jersey. I'm a graduate student in history. Cozart learned about me somehow. It turned out that we shared a mutual interest in old pirate legends. He offered me a chance to make some money and have fun."

"And you took him up on the offer," Phinn stated.

"Hey, school is fucking expensive, kid. I needed a job anyway while I finish my dissertation," Hawley argued.

"You created Thornbeard?" Phinn inquired.

"You know he's fake? Damn, you guys are good. No, Oswald created him. He concocted the whole big picture. I just filled in the blanks and did most of the grunt work," Hawley admitted.

"How come he chose Edgewater?" Jake queried.

"I guess it fit most of his criteria. Oz had a whole list of needs or wants. Mid or southern coastline, local legends, media availability, police and government reputation, you name it," Hawley rattled off with a shrug. "Basically, he wanted a big enough city to attract attention and spread out the hunt, but he also wanted a smaller location so the competition could play out under the radar. That's why he picked a town that didn't have its own TV stations. I don't know the final reason why he chose your town, but he decided it was perfect and sent me down about a month later."

"So you planted the ship's manifest at that time in the library?" Phinn suggested.

"No, not then. I did research a few months ago, but only planted it last week," Hawley admitted. "We couldn't take the risk that any of the fake documents or maps might be found before we started the game."

"When did you plant the map? It wasn't in the historical society the night before," Phinn stated.

"How would you know--Oh! Wow, I didn't think you kids had it in you. No, Oz heard that the director often organized his files. Rather than take the risk, we brought it with the same morning as its discovery," Hawley divulged.

"Yes, I suspected that Mindy Moon brought and found it," Phinn stated, pleased his guess had been confirmed.

"You know about Mirela, too?"

"Who's Mirela?" Jake challenged.

"The woman we know as Mindy Moon," Phinn supplied for Hawley. "What's her full name?"

"I don't know. I swear! I'm not bullshitting," Carter insisted, panicking after catching Phinn make an innocent gesture toward Jake. "I never even met her until the night before we placed the skeleton on the beach. I mean, I knew she or somebody like her existed, but she never appeared until we needed a lookout."

"How had you known that Mindy or Mirela existed?" Phinn questioned, seeking clarification.

"Cozart talked about his partner a few times. Supposedly, they met when he filmed his show in Eastern Europe. She's Bulgarian or Romanian and started as his local contact/fixer before ending up with a significant role behind the scenes."

"Wait, did you mean partner as in business partner, or are they together together?" Jake queried.

Phinn rolled his eyes at his best friend's concerns.

"Maybe, but I don't think so. Mirela seems more about the money than the fame," Hawley noted.

"Did you or Cozart jump Phinn at Bentworth?" Jake challenged, shifting to a different topic.

"Neither of us did! We were too busy setting up the next stages while Oz talked to the media to drive over there. We initially had plans to leave a breadcrumb in the college archive, but dismissed the idea. They didn't have anything that worked for the plan, and their archivist hovered too much to take the risk," the assistant explained. "Oswald said that Mirela found a better solution for that piece of the puzzle."

"By bringing in the Tarrs, right?" Phinn speculated.

"How did--" Jake began to ask before realizing his questions should be directed at the other guy for now.

"It's the only answer. Bentworth's archives would be best used to plant evidence relating to the Blakely or Mormont families. The other two were unnecessary once the Tarrs became available," Phinn explained.

"Damn, Oz was right to be concerned about you two," Hawley said, whistling. "Mirela is excellent at working people. I picked that up after only knowing her for a few days. Oswald called it her most vital skill."

"Who fell for the reality show idea more: Jace or Regina?" Phinn asked.

Carter Hawley explained that Mirela first made contact with Jace Tarr several months ago. He couldn't say for sure if the petite partner sweet-talked or seduced Jace. He imagined she was good at both. However, Jace's initial interest died out, and he refused to carry on with the plan out of concerns about tarnishing his family name.

"Ah, so Mindy turned her attention to Regina," Phinn stated.

"Yeah, that's the first time I heard more about Oz's partner. He mentioned she ran into Regina while on her campus. Obviously, Mirela created the run-in," Hawley said needlessly. "While the brother resisted dragging his family name into the show, the sister jumped at the chance to make her own name. Not only did she want a percentage, but Regina also wanted a starring role."

Phinn held his palm out as if saying to Jake, "There you have it."

"The biggest issue with Regina is that she kept demanding a bigger role and going off script," Hawley continued.

"Yes, the two of us and Jake's friend all saw through her acting from the start," Phinn disclosed.

"Imagine having to watch her constantly," the sand-brown-haired young man replied with a shudder. "Don't get me wrong. Watching her definitely had some perks. She's the textbook definition of an exhibitionist."

'Or attention whore."

"Phinn!" Jake admonished before gulping as Hawley's comments sank in. "Wait, so you watched me last night?"

"I wasn't watching you. I was far more interested in watching her in action," Hawley replied. "Her tits can be mesmerizing."

"They can," Jake nodded wholeheartedly.

"But her increasingly skimpy outfits and flashing people became a problem. Oswald wanted sexy, not nudity. Instead of listening, Regina suggested selling the show to a streaming service rather than an over-the-air network. Mirela's supposed to meet her with an order to knock it off," Hawley revealed.

"What precisely did the Tarrs bring to the table?" the bespectacled sleuth asked, ignoring his partner. "Besides sex appeal."

"Permissions. First, to use their ancestor's name. Oswald conjured up most of the treasure hunt's details. However, he wanted something or someone to ground the legend in local reality. Hmm, maybe that was the final point that led him to choose Edgewater after Mirela brought in the Tarrs," Hawley mused.

"Another permission was using their mansion?" Phinn checked.

"Yeah. Finding Clara Livingston's diary is supposed to be the final big clue. Actually, she's not real. That was something Jace Tarr insisted on. I don't know why," Hawley revealed. "The idea of the competition was that viewers would see the race heat up as each treasure hunter reached the Tarr Manor stage. It's kinda like the start of the level before you reach the Final Boss."

"Final Boss?!" Jake exclaimed before holding other further questions after Phinn raised a finger.

"Were those the only permissions the Tarrs granted?"

"Shit, no wonder you screwed things up. No, there was one final thing. But I don't know what it is. I swear! It's tied into the big treasure reveal," Hawley hinted at.

"So, there is real treasure?" Jake questioned.

"There are real items to be found; I wouldn't call them treasure."

"Forgeries?" Phinn checked.

"No. Let's call them real pieces that just aren't valuable like Oswald's book claims," Hawley said before attempting to clarify. "Apparently, the idea for this pirate hunt started when Cozart came across several items at an estate sale while filming his last reality show. He liked their look and shipped them back home. Once he got thick with Mirela, he mentioned using them for his next project. She liked the idea, so he picked up a few more items in local shops and markets. When the injuries occurred, they fled back to the States, and he settled on using them."

"But they're intended to be found at the end of the hunt," Phinn said.

"Yes. Basically, my main job at the start was to create the fake histories for each item," Hawley divulged.

"What? Adelina isn't real? No!" Jake bellowed.

"Excuse you?" the startled assistant responded.

"He's referring to the Robles Ruby and the Spanish governor's wife. Jake found her drawing to be enticing," Phinn explained.

"Oh...No, she's real," Hawley revealed, causing both teens to perk up. "The thing is that I sort of fibbed a bit to Oswald. I guess it doesn't matter anymore. I had my own schoolwork to do while creating the fake treasure profiles. To save time, I grabbed a bunch of books about jewels and other old valuables. Since I had pictures of the items Oz wanted to use, I matched them with similar items to create the histories. Some are based on real items, while others took on similar legends. The Robles Ruby and its owners existed before it vanished. The Turma Music Box isn't real, but copied from the myth of another cursed music box that looked about the same."

Jake placed his hand over his heart in relief. Phinn frowned, already dreading Jake's future request to find the real Robles Ruby. He knew it would eventually come.

"Very well," Phinn said, satisfied with the explanation about the items. Seeking to distract Jake from the long-dead beauty, he moved on. "You mentioned that we concerned Cozart. How so?"

"The two of you drove him nuts," Hawley revealed. "I, um, placed a few of those spy cameras at the library and historical society. Oswald was stunned to see how fast you two moved. He had a well-thought-out timeline for each stage of the hunt. At first, he enjoyed seeing one of the guys who discovered the skeleton take on the mystery. Jake and that Zay girl seemed like potential characters for the show to follow. Finding interesting people to fill slots in the show's cast appealed greatly to Oz. He thought he had found his jock and influencer when Jake appeared at the morgue, and both showed up the next day at the historical society. Then Jake also appeared with you at the library when I had time to view the footage. "

"You were watching us all this time?" Jake asked, looking stunned.

"No," Hawley replied. "We watched everyone to see who might last. Most people do a little digging and give up. So, we tried to keep an eye out for repeaters, as Oz called them," the reality show assistant explained. "So we noticed you two at the historical society and the director's reaction. By the time we saw the library footage, you'd been attacked at the college, and the media had reports about your history. Cozart started to grow concerned at the speed at which you two moved."

"So that's why he dispatched Mindy to bump into Jake at Smashburgers?" Phinn queried.

"No, that was all Mirela's idea. She only told him after she ran into you," Hawley relayed. "Oz wasn't happy until she told him what she overheard. That you planned to visit the Tarrs in the next days disturbed him. The Tarrs weren't supposed to be on anyone's radar that early, nor was anyone expected to visit their mansion until the middle of the week. That you guys were going there only three days after the skeleton appeared freaked him out. I know Oz and Mirela fought about altering the plan."

"So, the doubloon drop happened early?"

"Fuck, man!" Hawley responded to Phinn's guess by throwing up his hands. "Yeah, it did. Even then, Magnum and his buddy were on the scene. We couldn't catch a break."

"Sorry to ruin your plans," Phinn responded, smirking.

"Oh, but we adjusted. When that other group of teen detectives appeared, Oz started to envision a new show. He thought pitting the two groups against each other might be entertaining, even if he still hoped a regular person would step up and break out as the show's star," Hawley recounted before frowning. "Not that it matters any longer."

"Why would someone kill Cozart? I imagine it's possible the murderer was after the pirate treasure, but that seems extreme. Did he owe anyone money? Have another partner or ex-partner from a past con?" Phinn rattled off.

"I don't know! He never seemed worried about money. Not that he threw it around, but we always seemed okay as long as we didn't get crazy. As for another partner? Not on this project. Mirela was the only one," Hawley insisted. "Maybe those two guys who broke into Tarr Manor the other night attacked him tonight."

"No, we know them. They're locals who have been following us all day," Jake said.

"Seriously?" Hawley immediately glanced at the front window.

"They scrammed when the police roared in here," Phinn relayed. "Can you think of any other people you met through Cozart?"

"Not really. A few people came and went, but nobody seemed violent. But..." Hawley hesitated before continuing. "Oswald said someone was following him. I thought he was just getting paranoid after the treasure hunt started. He'd had people accosting him for information since the first news interview."

"When did he first mention this?" the brainy detective asked.

"Satur--No, he mentioned it Sunday morning. He thought somebody had followed him after meeting with a local newspaper reporter on Saturday evening. Why?" Hawley questioned.

"Nothing," Phinn responded, hiding his interest. "How does the treasure hunt end?"

"I can't say for sure. The diary's clue is supposed to point to the next step before the treasure's location. Only Oz and Mirela know where it is," Hawley admitted, sounding annoyed that he didn't know.

"You have to know," Jake challenged.

"I don't!" Hawley insisted. "All I know is that Oz said it's a location where we can't place cameras until the last moment. I'd learn when the first hunters were close."

"Indoors, outdoors?" Phinn questioned.

"Oh, it's supposed to be outdoors," Hawley replied, realizing he did know one detail.

Silence filled the room momentarily while Phinn mulled over what they'd learned. Catching Carter repeatedly glance at the window, Jake walked over to peer past the curtain. Seeing his chance, Hawley started to slide off the bed slowly.

"Don't think about it," Phinn warned, causing Jake to move back in front of the door.

"C'mon! Aren't we done yet? I have to get out of here," Hawley nearly begged.