The Narrows - Michael Connelly [8]
“What did you do?”
“I was a lifeguard once. Venice Beach. I still know my CPR. I called Otto up on top and I went to work on Terry while Otto got control of the boat and got on the radio to call the Coast Guard. I was never able to bring Terry around but I kept putting air into him until that helicopter showed up. Took them long enough, too.”
I wrote a note in my notebook. Not because it was important but because I wanted Lockridge to know I took him seriously and that whatever he thought was important was also important to me.
“How long did they take?”
“Twenty, twenty-five minutes. I’m not sure how long but it seemed like an eternity when you’re trying to keep somebody breathing.”
“Yeah. Everybody I talked to said you did your best. So you’re saying he never said a word. He just collapsed at the wheel.”
“Exactly.”
“Then what was the last thing he said to you?”
Lockridge started chewing the nail on one of his thumbs as he tried to recall this.
“That’s a good question. I guess it was when he came back to the railing that looks down into the cockpit and he yelled down that we’d be home by sunset.”
“And how long was this before he collapsed?”
“Maybe a half hour, maybe a little longer.”
“He seemed fine then?”
“Yeah, he seemed like the regular Terror, you know? Nobody could’ve guessed what was going to happen.”
“By now you men had been on the boat for four straight days, right?”
“That’s right. Pretty close quarters because the party got the stateroom. Me and Terry bunked it in the forward cabin.”
“During that time did you see Terry take his meds every day? You know, all the pills he had to take.”
Lockridge nodded emphatically.
“Oh, yeah, he was popping his pills right and left. Every morning and every night. We’d been out on a lot of charters together. It was his ritual—he set his watch by it. He never missed. And he didn’t on this trip either.”
I made a few more notes just to keep silent so that Lockridge might keep talking. But he didn’t.
“Did he say anything about them tasting different, or him feeling different after taking them?”
“Is that what this is about? You people are trying to say Terry took the wrong pills and then not have to pay the insurance? If I had known that, I would’ve never agreed to talk to you.”
He started to get up from his bench. I reached over and gripped his arm.
“Sit down, Buddy. That’s not what this is about. I don’t work for the insurance company.”
He dropped heavily back onto the bench and looked at his arm where I had gripped it.
“Then what is it about?”
“You already know what it’s about. I’m just making sure Terry’s death was what it was supposed to be.”
“Supposed to be?”
I realized that I had used an unfortunate choice of words.
“What I’m trying to say is that I want to make sure he didn’t have any help.”
Lockridge studied me for a long moment and slowly nodded.
“You mean like the pills were tainted or messed with?”
“Maybe.”
Lockridge set his jaw tightly with resolve. It looked genuine to me.
“You need any help?”
“I might need some, yeah. I’m going over to Catalina tomorrow morning. I’m going to look at the boat. Can you meet me there?”
“Absolutely.”
He seemed excited and I knew I would eventually drop a rock on that but for now I wanted his full cooperation.
“Good. Now let me ask a few more questions. Tell me about the charter party. Did you know this guy Otto beforehand?”
“Oh, yeah, we take Otto out a couple times a year. He lives over there on the island, that’s the only reason why we got the multiday charter. See, that was the problem with the business but Terror never cared. He just was happy to sit there in that little harbor and wait on half days.”
“Slow down a second, Buddy. What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Terry keeping the boat over there on that island. What we got over there were people who are visiting Catalina and want to go fishing for a few hours. We didn’t get the big charters. The three-, four-, five-day jobs where you make the good money. Otto was the exception because he lives over there and he