Trial and Error

Thirty-five

“Training them,” Bobby said.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked.

“Mr. Grisby must have wanted Spunky and Misty to know that if they ever left the channel, he’d come get them. He’d lead them back to the park.”

“Is that even possible-training the dolphins to wait for him?”

“When you tell me to wait somewhere, what do I do?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Spunky and Misty aren’t like that. They try to please. And they want to be fed.”

Steve was driving along Miracle Mile in Coral Gables and speaking into his cell phone. Bobby was at the house, watching an instructional baseball video with the sound turned down. He should have been taking a shower and getting ready for dinner. A Saturday night tradition. Steve always took Bobby and Victoria to whatever restaurant they chose to celebrate the weekend. Tonight, it was Restaurant St. Michel in the Gables.

“Grisby knew Sanders was coming for the dolphins,” Steve said. “That’s why he fired the security guard. That’s why he had the shotgun. He prepared everything, including a safe place for the dolphins to hide until the shooting stopped.”

“Makes sense, Uncle Steve. He’d lost his two best dolphins before and sure didn’t want it to happen again.”

Steve hit the brakes and pulled over to the curb. “Say that again.”

“Say what? Mr. Grisby lost two dolphins before, and-”

“That’s it, Bobby. It happened before! Grisby’s place in California was hit and his two star dolphins released. Grisby got the insurance money and used that to open Cetacean Park here. That’s the missing piece of the second puzzle, which helps solve the first puzzle.”

“What piece is that?”

“Most people can’t tell one dolphin from another, can they?”

“Most people don’t know what to look for.”

“But Sanders knew.”

“Me, too. Misty has a pink belly and a nick in her fluke-”

“Go on the Internet, kiddo. Find Undersea World in California. Dig up newspaper stories about the raid, old websites, anything that’ll have pictures of Grisby’s dolphins. If the two headliners aren’t doubles for Spunky and Misty, I’ll eat a can of tuna without opening the can.”

“You’re saying Mr. Grisby stole his own dolphins?”

“I’m betting the ALM never hit Undersea World. Sanders figured that out but paid Grisby’s insurance claim anyway.”

“Why would he do that?”

“So he could blackmail Grisby. For a while, Sanders probably took cash. Then he demanded Spunky and Misty. He’d make it look like another ALM raid. Grisby can’t refuse. But he plans his own double-cross, to keep the dolphins and get out from under the blackmail. He knows when the raid is coming. All he has to do is kill Sanders and claim self-defense.”

“Wow. That’s totally devious. Can you prove it, Uncle Steve?”

“Not a word. Not yet, anyway. You have any ideas?”

“Only one,” Bobby said. “If Mr. Grisby trained Spunky and Misty to come back to the park, that’s where they’ve got to be now.”

SOLOMON’S LAWS

11. If you can’t keep a promise to a loved one, you probably aren’t going to keep the loved one, either.