Police Chief Grady along with Deputies
Poole, Barker and Kline were at the station bright and early. Their paperwork had gotten seriously out of
hand. In the past couple days, fourteen deaths, each attributed to shark
attacks had occurred. They had been so deeply engrossed in their work; they
hadn’t heard the soft knock at the door.
“Excuse me, can any of you tell me
where I might find Chief Grady?” A short, stocky man in a woolen cap announced.
“I’m Grady. How can I help you?”
“I believe my assistant at the
Oceanographic Institute contacted you yesterday. Rumor has it you have a shark
problem and sharks are my specialty.” The man stepped forward and shook Grady’s
hand. “The name’s Hooper, Max Hooper. Hopefully we can work
together and get this resolved before anyone else is harmed.”
“Really?” Grady chuckled. “Your name is Hooper and you study sharks?”
“Yes…I know. Ha-ha. Just like the
movie, Jaws. Yeah, I never get tired
of hearing that.”
“Sorry, Hooper, I meant no
offense. At least your first name isn’t
Matt, right?”
Max Hooper’s
lips pressed together in a firm line as if he was biting his tongue to hold
back a scathing retort. Instead, he
nodded his head and attempted to change the subject.
“It would be helpful for me to see
the bodies first so I can get a better idea of what type of shark you’re
looking at. If you could you point me in
the right direction, I’ll get outta your hair.”
“I’ll do you one better,” Grady
responded. “I’ll take you there myself and fill you in on what’s been happening
on the way.”
“I’d be much obliged, Chief.”
On the ride
across town, the two men became better acquainted and bonded over their mutual
hatred of the New York Yankees. They
arrived at the Coroner’s Office just as he was pulling into the parking
lot. Grady made the introductions as
they reached the door.
“Bob, I’d like you to meet Max. He’s
an oceanographer, here to help us with our shark problems. He said he can get a better idea of what
we’re dealing with if he can see the bodies. You know, bite radius and stuff
like that.”
“Oh…I wish you’d have let me know in
advance. I don’t generally allow the public to tour my office, Tom.”
“Look, we’re both here on official
police business. This isn’t, ‘take your kid to work day’, for God’s sake. We’ve
got a problem and Hooper here can help so….why don’t you let us in and let’s
see those remains, okay?”
Reluctantly,
the coroner opened the office and let his visitors inside. He took his time puttering around and setting
up the coffee pot. While the coffee
brewed, Bob organized forms and booted up his computer.
“C’mon already, Bob, let us do what
we came to do and we’ll get out of your way,” Grady proposed.
Finally, he
was out of stall tactics and he begrudgingly took the men to the refrigeration
room and opened all the drawers of the shark victims.
“What the hell is this?” Hooper
demanded. “You’re kidding me, right? You
called this a shark attack. Let me tell you something, this wasn’t any
shark attack and it wasn’t boating accident either.”
“Really,” sneered the coroner. “What qualifies you to determine cause of
death? These remains have been scavenged by every imaginable creature in the
ocean and on the beach. But by all means, please, in your expert opinion what was
the cause of death? I’d be fascinated to hear your theory because I’ve never
seen anything like this and I’ve been doing this job for over thirty
years!”
Before the
heated argument could escalate to blows, Chief Grady decided to intervene as
the voice of reason. The last thing he needed was to arrest the two men who
would be able to help him the most.
“Hey! If we’re going to keep people
alive, we’ve got to work together. Besides, I’ve already got more than enough
paperwork without having to arrest you two knuckleheads for assault. Now, you
boys play nice while I take this phone call, ya hear?”
The two
combatants nodded in agreement. Before either of them had the chance to utter a
word, Grady was already in action.
“Hooper, come with me. I just got a report of another body on the
beach!”
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