Short Story Mystery

Water Under the Bridge by Susan Page Davis

Part Three

.

Officer Johnson was late for lunch. “So, Billy, what have you been up to?” he asked his son.

“Me? Nothing.” Billy was playing a video game.

“I thought you boys went swimming this morning.”

“Uh, we did.”

“Really? See anything down at the lake?”

Billy swallowed hard. “Couple of ducks.”

His father eyed him narrowly. “We got an anonymous tip at the police station about nine o’clock.”

“Oh?” Billy tried his best to keep his voice level.

“Yeah, somebody called in and said he saw two guys dump some guns and stuff in the water under the bridge. He gave us the number off their boat.”

“Did you catch ’em?” Billy asked.

“Yes, we did. We figure they’ve been responsible for all the break-ins this summer. I was surprised you boys didn’t show up when we were down there recovering the loot.”

.

“No, we got tired of swimming and went over to Larry’s house,” Billy said. “Did they confess?”

His father nodded. “Too bad you missed it. They said they dumped the loot and scooted because someone yelled that they were under arrest. We had two divers in the water for an hour. Guess what else they found?”

Billy couldn’t say anything.

“There’s a hole in the bridge support,” Mr. Johnson said. “We called the Department of Transportation. They may have to do some repair on the bridge.”

“Really?” Billy’s voice cracked a little.

“Uh-huh. You know what was really funny?”

Billy shook his head.

“The guy who called in the tip sounded just like John Wayne.”

.

The End

.

Tune in next week for a brand new Short Story Mystery.