Death on a Vineyard Beach by Philip R. Craig Page B

like this one, mounted on a tripod. They act like they’re looking at the birds in the pond and along its shore. They jot notes on clipboards and look at the books they get out of their packs.”
    â€œBirders,” said Angela.
    â€œYou know, Grandma,” said Vinnie, “I’ve been thinking of getting myself one of them bird books. There are a lot of birds around here, and I don’t know one from another.”
    â€œYou should do that, Vincent,” said Angela. “It would give you a great deal of pleasure.”
    â€œI don’t know that they’re birders,” said Decker. “They look up this way now and then, instead of at the birds on the pond. What are they doing now, Vinnie?”
    Vinnie lifted his binoculars again and looked down the slope. “The woman just wrote something on the paper on her clipboard, and now she’s looking through her field glasses at something I can’t see.
    â€œAnd now she’s sort of turning, and now she’s turned her glasses right up here toward the house. Jees, it looks like she’s studying me just like I’m studying her. Weird.”
    â€œExcuse me for a minute,” said Decker, turning away and lifting his telescope. “You better get a shot of her face,” he said to Vinnie. “You get a good look at the guy yet?”
    â€œNot yet. That hat flops down and he’s wearing shades. Hey! Look. He just took his hat off, and he’s wiping his brow. I’ll get him now.” He put down the binoculars and went to the camera.
    â€œWell, well,” said Decker, looking through his telescope while Vinnie snapped shots with the camera.
    â€œI don’t know how much detail we’ll get at this distance,” said Vinnie.
    â€œNo matter,” said Decker, “I know who the guy is.”
    â€œWho?” asked Marcus.
    â€œJoe Begay,” said Decker. “That Navajo guy that’s been nosing around. I should have known it would be him.”
    â€œThose damned Indians!” Marcus paled under his tan, and drew a small box from his pocket. He took out a pill and put it under his tongue. Angie gave him a worried look.
    I was pretty shocked myself. “Can I take a look?” I asked, and without waiting for a reply I picked up Vinnie’s binoculars and looked down the long slope. It was Joe Begay, sure enough, but now a middle-aged Joe Begay instead of the young man I had known. The woman beside him was younger, and as bronzed as he was. While I watched, the couple packed away their gear and moved toward the beach parking lot.
    Some small movement about halfway down the hillside caught my eye. I looked that way and saw birds fly out ofa bush and soar away. I looked some more, but saw nothing else. When I looked at the pond again, Joe Begay and the woman had walked out of sight.
    I lowered the glasses. My past had become my present. More than twenty years had passed since Joe Begay and I had been blown up together in Vietnam. Now, after I’d almost forgotten him, he was back in my life. First at my wedding, and now here. I looked at Luciano Marcus and saw hatred in his face.

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    I turned and found Zee giving me an odd stare. I put the binoculars down, and walked back to her.
    Luciano Marcus seemed to be recovering his emotional balance. He gestured at the camera. “Vincent, take this stuff away, but don’t go too far. You’ll be taking our guests home later in the evening.”
    â€œYes, boss.” Vinnie scowled, picked up the camera, telescope, and binoculars, and went away.
    â€œThomas, you stay and eat with us.” Marcus turned to Zee and me. “Thomas is part of the family. Another son to me.”
    Angela’s mouth tightened as he spoke.
    â€œIt would be my pleasure,” said Decker in his oddly formal fashion.
    â€œOur own children come for visits, but they don’t live here,” said Angela, moving away. “I