Criminal Case: Pacific Bay

Chapter 9: Death by Moonshine-Part 2

While Frank and Marie were recapping what they know so far about the case, Marie witnessed Vanessa Kimmel in a boat and she realized that Vanessa was trying to escape the bayou by boat. Frank also thought that Vanessa must have killed Sammy Duncan and that's why she's running away. Once they boat was close enough, Frank, along with Marie, pulled out their guns and pointed them and Vanessa and Frank said sternly, "Hey you! Crazy lady! You're a suspect in a murder investigation! You're not going anywhere! So get off that boat immediately!"

Vanessa did as she was told and raised her hands up and said, "I'm sorry! I never meant to escape! But this is Sammy's boat and I cast it off by accident!"

Frank and Marie put away their guns and Marie said, "I hope for your sake Vanessa that you're telling the truth! We will like to have a talk with you!"

Marie then stepped towards the boat, looked it over and said "Plus, if this boat belonged to the victim, then we must search it and make sure Vanessa didn't get rid of any vital evidence!"

Before Marie could look through the boat, she decided to talk to Vanessa first and ask her why she was attempting to escape. She then looked at the scared woman and asked her, "Wh6 did you take the victim's boat Vanessa?"

Vanessa then started to shake nervously and said, "I swear Miss Marie, I didn't mean to steal Sammy's boat! I was just collecting my personal belongings! I spent the night here with Sammy once and he poured me a glass of moonshine and the two of us sat on the deck drinking it. It was so romantic!"

Not wanting to hear her sob story, Frank said in an annoyed tone, "Look missy, we ain't got time for your nostalgia! Now cut to the chase or I'll have you handcuffed to a crocodile until you..."

Marie glared at Frank and said to him in an stern tone, "Hold your tongue Frank! That's no way to talk to a witness and you should know that!"

Frank nodded, took some deep breaths and Marie looked to Vanessa and asked her calmly, "Vanessa, what were you really doing on the boat of a murder victim?"

"You know how much I want to escape the bayou Miss Marie! Sammy promised to get me out of here, so I gave him all my savings. But I soon found out that Sammy lied to me and he used my money to start one of his businesses! Now thanks to him, I'm trapped here more than ever! Please believe me Miss Marie! I only want what's mine so I can leave this dreadful place! You don't even want to know the things I had to do to earn that money," Vanessa explained and she hugged Marie tightly and started to cry into her shoulder while Marie comforted her.

After Vanessa finally calmed down and parted from the two officers, Frank and Marie stepped onto Sammy's boat and started to look around it. Marie then spotted a blue fishing tackle box and she picked it up. When Frank saw her picking it up, he put on a smug grin and said, "Are you sure it's the right moment to go fishing Marie? Cause trust me, you won't find much other than fishing equipment in that box!"

Marie rolled her eyes at his comment, but she knew that he was kidding. It was then that Frank pulled Marie away from a metal trap laying on the floor and she exclaimed, "Careful darlin'! That thing there with the rusty metal teeth, I won't touch with a barge pole! What on earth is that thing?!"

Marie looked at Frank and said to him, "I remember reading about one of these traps off the Internet Frank. It's an alligator trap. How it works is that when an alligator gets near, it snaps closed on it's snout. And judging from it, the serial number needs to be reconstructed."

Frank laughed sheepishly and said, "I'll like it better that if hacks off your fingers than mine!"

Marie ignored Frank's comment again and she got started by scanned the trap's number into her laptop and she got to work trying to find the right one. A few seconds later, Marie restored the serial number and she sent the trap over to Hannah hoping that she'll find out who owns it and Frank hopes that Marie will keep it out of his face. After Marie was finished with the alligator trap, she got to work digging through the fishing box until she pulled out a Bible for children. Frank looked at the book skeptically and he said, "Marie, I must say that this boat is like a floating junkyard cause every single object you find is weirder than the last one before."