The Case of the Phantom Diver Ch 25

"What's your favorite restaurant to take a date to? Hint: Mine is Mulcaster's," Johanna revealed, grinning.

"Oh. My. Gawd. I can't believe they're playing these questions," Katie Pettit laughed.

At nearly one o'clock the next afternoon, the anthropology professor stood in the Farris' living room as Phinn replayed the noon news she'd missed. On the screen was Channel 9 replaying Johanna's exclusive interview at the cemetery from very early this morning. Still decked out in the glowing diving suit, Jake stood in the pouring rain while the influencer appeared relatively dry. The reason? She'd made Phinn stand off the side and hold an umbrella over her head.

"We gave her the power. The only way the local news channels could use her exclusive interview is if they played all of it--the whole twelve-minute interview. After twenty-four hours, they can edit it down. Channel 5 refused, but 9 and 23 agreed to the requirement," Phinn revealed. "They only got to add their banners or whatever they call them on the screen."

"I can see that, and they're called chyrons," Katie replied, noting how "Local Sports Hero Captures Killer" was splashed at the bottom of the screen. "So, Jake gets all the credit?"

"He's the one who had to put on that awful diving suit," Phinn remarked, showing humility. "And deal with me keeping things from him as usual."

"And you hate media attention."

"Something like that," Phinn admitted, shrugging. "It works best for our partnership and investigations. Although Grandma is complaining that I'm more than a sidekick."

"I bet she is," Katie remarked. "Is she mad at Jake for getting the spotlight?"

"No way! Grammy loves Jake. She said he looks adorable in that getup, which reminds her of our Halloween costumes growing up. I told her to wait and see the one that will be on the front page of the Dispatch tomorrow. Kennedy convinced Jake to wear the helmet and skeleton mask for the shot."

"Oh, wow!" Kathryn exclaimed, also laughing at Johanna asking Jake about the bravest thing he had ever done.

"Um, wearing this," onscreen Jake responded, gesturing to the diving suit.

Next, the chestnut-haired girl asked her sports crush whether he wore boxers, briefs, or went commando under the glowing suit. Back in the living room, the petite professor roared in laughter at Jake's stricken expression.

"It gets better. She asks what his favorite position is after a couple of more questions," Phinn revealed

"Is all this really worth sticking it to the local channels?" Katie asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It made the Dispatch happy as they got my exclusive interview. Jake wasn't sure about his end nine hours ago, but he is now. Hollie Kittler was pissed that we wouldn't talk about the case. Then, she ended up impressed when Jake rattled off the insults she'd said about him a few days ago. The terms unprovoked attack and purloined doubloon were thrown around. She graciously apologized and agreed to Johanna's requests. She even exchanged numbers with Jake, so his fantasy is alive again," Phinn recounted.

"I'd say good for him, but I'm not sure," the honey brunette admitted. "I assume the number exchange was for stories, not a date."

"Of course, but Jake's already forgotten that part," Phinn relayed. "Channel 5 was another issue. As Stone Barrington got pretty hostile with us, their station manager called with an apology. They refused to give in to Johanna's demands, but we worked out a new arrangement. The LeClaire sisters' cousin, Layla, recently started as their new sports reporter. They agreed to have Layla profile Jake and North High's football team for the upcoming season. That will make things right with us."

"Aw, that's nice."

"Yeah, it's the only way to involve Luke and Andre. They're still grounded over the boat incident," Phinn reminded.

"And what about your grounding?" the feisty professor teased.

"Two weeks. I'm not sure if it's because I stayed out all night or because I shot somebody," Phinn admitted before noticing the time. "Uh-oh, we better leave."

"Is that guy going to be okay?" Katie asked, stopping in the kitchen to say goodbye to Pamela.

"Kuhn? Yeah, the bullet went in and out of his shoulder. It's a clean wound."

Phineas waited as his mother put down the phone to hug one of her favorite people. Pamela had been on the phone all morning. First, she'd called her mother with the news, then her sister. Working off a list, she called her relatives before moving over to her husband's side of the family, which she was currently in the middle of finishing. Phinn suspected his mother loved this part, as many of his dad's relatives often called him a troublemaker or juvenile delinquent. Despite scolding Phinn when he eventually got home after dawn, she also whispered how proud she was of him.

Finished with the goodbye, Katie promised to get the bad boy home as soon as possible. Shaking his head, Phinn knew he had better enjoy the rest of his freedom today. His mother only let him out of the house due to the circumstances and his chaperone.

Once inside the pale yellow Beetle, Katie asked a series of questions as she drove toward the oceanfront.

"I can't believe it was Davis. Not that he didn't come across as smarmy and full of himself, but a murderer!"

"It's as I thought. He only wanted to scare the information out of Cozart. But Oswald lunged at him, and Stensland panicked by pulling the trigger. So, it's not like he planned to kill him when he broke into the motel room," Phinn recounted.

"And you believe him?"

"After swearing at us, the fight left him. I think it was the police sirens that finally cracked him, but he sang like a canary. Jake and Floyd kept warning him to keep quiet and get a lawyer, but I think he told the cops everything," Phinn recounted.

"Wait, so you just let those Rattigans go?"

"We vouched for them with Gohl. He wasn't buying it, but the chief showed up and preferred to go with our story. The whole fake reality show and the cops never catching on is quite an embarrassment for the EPD. Besides, I sort of played Floyd and Garth. Once I knew it was them, I kept stringing them along to help us. It ended with them getting several guns drawn on them. And as I told Jake, they owe us a favor now," Phinn explained.

"I guess the little asshole does have a sweet side," Katie teased, elbowing his side. "Okay, so when did you suspect Davis? I figured something was up when you messaged me yesterday with your question."

"Honestly, he emerged as the prime suspect mostly due to elimination. The Rattigans couldn't have done those other things, as they primarily followed us around. And the guy who stole the diary clearly wanted to frame them. I had suspicions about Hawley until we questioned him and learned his role with Cozart and Mindy. Kuhn and his sidekick couldn't have been my attacker at Bentworth. How would they have gotten involved so quickly and ended up at the college?" Phinn listed his reasons.

"Hang on. Did they ever catch this Mindy Moon or whatever her name is?"

"No. She's in the wind for now," Phinn revealed before continuing. "Actually, your information or the info passed along from Prof. Maynard helped put me on Stensland. You mentioned when we went to the historical society, how the Blakelys shipped from the US to only European ports. That pinged something inside my head that lingered. My assailant at Bentworth was looking at the Blakely family papers when I interrupted him."

"And Davis showed up on the scene," Katie recalled.

"Indeed, he did. I suspect he threw the stolen box inside a storage room before sneaking upstairs to the library's circulation desk. Then, when I sent Jake the message, he pretended to help search for me to throw off any suspicion. The funny thing is that I was immediately suspicious and even asked about his specialty. But with my concussion, I didn't follow up when he vaguely said European history," Phinn admitted his mistake.

"Of course, if he'd told the full truth and said European royalty, you'd have pieced together his interest far quicker," Katie realized. "Damn, I should've mentioned that before you texted me yesterday."

"It's okay. I got there eventually. As I began to suspect, he saw Cozart's interview with Hollie Kittler and recognized the music box. Hawley admitted to being lazy and copying real items similar to the ones Cozart wanted to use. Crazily, he picked the exact music box that his boss didn't know he had. The Turma Music Box is really the Malfi Music Box from the tiny, defunct nation of Sorvaria," Phinn revealed, passing on the information Stensland admitted to.

"So, knowing the local history and shipping families, Davis immediately broke into the archives after Chuck Fuller left for the day," Katie guessed.

"You're partially right. Stensland stopped by first thing in the morning to steal the spare key. He knew where it was kept and wanted to make an early appearance, so Mr. Fuller might even forget he stopped in," Phinn said. "Stensland admitted to being stunned when Cozart claimed Thornbeard and the treasure hunt were fake."

"Speaking of the shipping families, what's happening to the Tarrs?" Katie inquired, turning the car toward the harbor.

"That's still up in the air. Chief Norberg had them hauled in for questioning. Regina will probably get charged for making a false report over the fake break-in, but that's mostly to charge her with something. She and her brother's real troubles will be with their family. Norberg tracked down their parents, and they're flying back from their extended vacation. He said they were furious. Oh, their uncle, who oversees their family archive, drove down today to check on the damage," Phinn relayed.

"So you earned some brownie points with the chief?" Katie asked, pulling into the parking lot.

'Not necessarily. He's letting our break-ins slide, so we'll probably end up where we started last week. Plus, he's helping with this other thing."

"Oh, you mean the reason why we're down here?" the sassy professor teased, getting out of the car.

Phinn exited the car and looked at the Kelpie County Historical Society. With a grimace, he put his head down and headed for the front door.

"I don't want to do this," the teen mumbled.

"Why not? You guys are now historic!" Katie teased, slapping his arm. "Besides, the whole administration is pumped to help honor Fraser's son."

"Ugh! At least, we should be banned for a while," Phinn pointed out, viewing that as the bright side.

Holding the door open for the town hero, Katie gestured for him to enter. His presence immediately produced two events. First, Olive Gladden scowled at her classmate for having the nerve to return. Second, her grandfather caused a ruckus.

"No, no, no! I will not have that burglar in here!"

"Dammit, Stan, I told you to watch your temper," Chief Norberg reminded. He immediately pulled the historical society director off to the side, where the two men engaged in a heated conversation.

"Good afternoon, Olive. Is everything prepared?" Katie asked.

"Somewhat," the surly high school student replied.

"Well, I want to thank you for moving so quickly to set up the first stage of the exhibit. I know my colleagues and the administration at Bentworth College will be pleased," Katie said, well aware that Stan Gladden had only complied with the request because of the calls from several Bentworth officials.

"It's not like Grandfather had a choice," Olive snarled, continuing to glare at her classmate.

"Better watch out. Your face might get stuck like that," Phinn warned. It's the smirk that sent Olive storming off and out of sight.

Finished arguing, Chief Norberg escorted Director Gladden over toward them.

"Okay, Farris, Gladden has agreed not to press charges over your and Magnum's break-in last night. He realized your actions led to the arrest of a murderer while helping put this embarrassing situation behind us. In return, the city will donate the non-valuable items found in the grave to the historical society as part of their new exhibit."

"The police department is handing over all the items?" Katie double-checked.

"Only after we're done using them in any court proceedings. But considering that only the music box is worth anything special and that Davis Stensland has made a full confession, the handover might not take too long. Mayor Broome loved the suggestion made by Bentworth College," Chief Norberg explained.

"I bet he did. The man knows how to make lemonade from lemons," Phinn quipped.

"And it helped you avoid charges. Keep that in mind, Phineas," Chief Norberg reminded before leaving.

"You're welcome!" Phinn called after the police chief. Noticing Katie and Gladden's expressions, he asked, "What? We did their job for them... as usual."

"I wouldn't get a smart mouth, Phineas. You destroyed a historical artifact and turned it into this... monstrosity!" the director screamed in outrage before copying his granddaughter and storming off.

Phinn raised his hands in confusion before pointing out that the new exhibit might attract more visitors. Katie rocked her head side to side, not quite so sure. However, the history department at her college loved the idea.

"So, are you happy?" Katie asked, gesturing to the temporary display for the phantom diver.

Roped off and seated on a repurposed platform, the 19th-century diving suit stood mostly alone for now. Soon, a display explaining its role in The Great Summer Treasure Hunt would be crafted, and a picture of Jake and Phinn would be featured. The glowing greenish paint seemed to especially infuriate the historical society director.

"Eh, it's okay," the teen said, shrugging. "What? If I'd known it would end up as the centerpiece of a new exhibit about the time a conman tricked almost everyone in Edgewater, I would've picked higher quality paint and made Jake spray it on better."

"Speaking of items, aren't you forgetting one?"

"What do you mean? Jake already donated the gold doubloon. It's sitting right there," Phinn noted, pointing at the item.

"I'm talking about a certain diamond necklace," Katie clarified, leaning in to whisper her point.

"Oh, that! Well, it wasn't found in the grave. Wait, a necklace was found, but it seems to be the fake Mindy had made and slipped inside," Phinn corrected before lowering his voice as well. "Jake and I agreed to restart the old Busybody, Inc. keepsake collection."

"Jake agreed to that? It doesn't sound like him," the wise professor pointed out.

"He'll eventually agree once it's too late to return it without a lot of prying questions," Phinn admitted.

Chuckling at the teen's bullshit, Katie looked over as the front door wiped open. Surprisingly, Jake entered the historical society. Out of breath, he hurried over to join Phinn and Kathryn.

"Did I miss it?"

"Yes, Chief Norberg left, and Stan stormed off," Katie responded.

"Hold on. What are you doing here? I thought you had a date lined up with Trina and Indigo," Phinn recalled easily as Jake bragged about the potential threesome less than two hours ago.

Picking up on the assumption, Katie raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Yeah, you see, I kinda..."

"You fucked up," Phinn finished.

"I royally fucked up," Jake revealed, checking over his shoulder for danger. "I had both of them naked and in Trina's parents' bed... and I called Trina by the wrong name."

"Oof!" Katie sounded. Shaking her head at the jock, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Please tell me you didn't call her..." Phinn began.

"Yeah, I called her Regina," Jake revealed.