U Is for Undertow Read Free

trying to identify the boy.”
    “I don’t remember anyone else.”
    “It should be easy enough to come up with a list. You must have had class photos. You could go back to the school library and check the ’67 yearbook.”
    “I don’t want to go back to Climp. I hate the idea.”
    “It’s just a suggestion. So far, we’re brainstorming,” I said. “Tell me about the two guys. How old would you say?”
    “I’m not sure. Older than my brothers, who were ten and twelve at the time, but not as old as my dad.”
    “Did they see you?”
    “Not then. I decided to spy on them, but where they ended up was too far away and I couldn’t see what they were doing. I sneaked up on them, crawling through the bushes and crouching behind a big oak. It was hot and they were sweating so they’d taken off their shirts. I guess I wasn’t as quiet as I thought because one of them spotted me and they both jumped. They stopped what they were doing and asked what I wanted.”
    “You actually talked to them?”
    “Oh, sure. Absolutely. We had this whole conversation. I thought they were pirates and I was all excited about meeting them.”
    “Pirates?”
    “My mother was reading me Peter Pan at bedtime, and I loved the illustrations. The pirates wore bandanas tied around their heads, which is what the two guys had done.”
    “Beards? Earrings? Eye patches?”
    That netted me a smile, but not much of one. He shook his head. “It was the bandanas that reminded me of pirates. I told them I knew that because of Peter Pan .”
    “What’d you talk about?”
    “First, I asked ’em if they were pirates for real and they told me they were. The one guy talked more than the other and when I asked what they were doing, he said they were digging for buried treasure . . .”
    As Sutton spoke, I could see him regressing to the little boy he’d been, earnest and easily impressed. He leaned forward in his chair. “I asked if the treasure was gold doubloons, but they said they didn’t know because they hadn’t found it yet. I asked to see the treasure map and they said they couldn’t show me because they were sworn to secrecy. I’d seen the bundle on the ground, over by this tree, and when I asked about it, the first guy said it was a bedroll in case they got tired. I offered to help dig, but he told me the job was only for grown-ups and little kids weren’t allowed. And then the other one spoke up and asked where I lived. I told them I lived in a white house, but not on this street, that I was visiting. The first guy asked what my name was. I told him and the other one spoke up again and said he thought he heard someone calling me so I better go, which is what I did. The whole exchange couldn’t have taken more than three minutes.”
    “I don’t suppose either of them mentioned their names?”
    “No. I probably should have asked, but it didn’t occur to me.”
    “Your recall impresses me. Much of my life at that age is a total blank.”
    “I hadn’t thought about the incident for years, but once the memory was triggered, I was right there again. Just like, boom .”
    I reran the story in my mind, trying to digest the whole of it. “Tell me again why you think there’s a connection to Mary Claire. That still seems like a stretch.”
    “I don’t know what else to say. Intuition, I guess.”
    “What about the kidnapping. How did that go down? I remember the broad strokes, but not the particulars.”
    “The whole thing was horrible. Those poor people. The ransom note said not to contact the police or the FBI, but Mr. Fitzhugh did it anyway. He thought it was the only way to save her, but he was wrong.”
    “The first contact was the note?”
    Sutton nodded. “Later they phoned and said he had one day to get the money together or else. Mr. Fitzhugh had already called the police and they were the ones who contacted the FBI. The special agent in charge convinced him they’d have a better chance of nabbing the guys if he and