“I told the police everything I could at the time,” Mel said. “What is it you want to know?”
“You were here that day when Johnny took his boat out,” I said. “Was anyone else here?”
He shook his head. “The commercial guys didn’t even bother coming out, not with that kind of weather coming round. And the fishermen that thought they’d give it a try anyway had all packed up and left before I did.”
“You weren’t ready to give up?” I asked.
He gave me a sheepish look. “To be honest, as soon as everyone left, I reeled in and pulled out a book. I’d rather read than fish anyway, but you can’t let this lot know things like that. When the storm clouds started rolling in, I packed up.”
“And you saw Johnny when you were in your vehicle,” I said. “Where were you parked?”
“I was parked at the back of the lot over there in the corner,” he said. “My doctor gets onto me about walking, and since I’m not one to go walk around for no reason, I started parking away from things. Probably doesn’t make a bit of difference but it gets the doctor off my back.”
“And where did Johnny park?”
“Right close to the dock. I thought at first that maybe he’d come to grab something off his boat. I mean, the weather wasn’t fit for shrimping and Johnny knew that better than anyone.”
“Was it raining by then?” I asked.
“Not yet but it was dark like evening and it was sure coming. The wind had already picked up. But when he got on the boat, he untied it from the dock. I started my vehicle and he looked my direction and lifted a hand. Then he went to the wheel to start her up and left. I watched him go up the bayou a ways and then it started to come down, so I got out of there myself before the road got muddy.”
“And you’re sure it was him?”
“’Course. I know everyone’s truck and their boat and Johnny’s a big guy. Biggest guy on the docks. Besides, he was wearing that slicker his sister bought him. Bright purple stripes. Took a lot of razzing from the guys but couldn’t no one talk him out of wearing it. Every time someone tried to make something of it, he just grinned and told them they were jealous. That boy and his sister were thick as thieves.”
“Could you see his face?”
“Don’t suppose I could exactly but who else would it be? It was his truck, his slicker, his boat, body size was right, and he waved.”
“Was he carrying anything? Pulling a cooler maybe?”
“Nothing that I could see.”
“Did you take part in the search?”
He frowned. “Yeah. That was a bad deal. I still don’t understand. I guess I thought maybe he needed to move the boat. Take it for a repair or gas it up, even though I’m sure those things could have waited. But I never thought he’d head into the lake. Nobody did.”
“But that’s where the boat was found?”
He nodded. “Got hung up on a sunken boat along the bank. Tide pushed it in and then it got wedged on top of the wreckage.”
“How far is the lake from here?”
“Not far. Just take this channel north about two miles, then you come around right another mile or so and you hit the lake.”
“What do you think happened?” I asked.
“They said he must have hit his head on something. They found a bloody glove in the bathroom in the sink and it was Johnny’s blood on it. They figure he cracked his head and went to check it then went back out on deck and fell over somehow. Could have been dizzy, balance off, if he’d cracked it good.”
“And is that a reasonable assumption?”
“Sure. Plenty of things on a boat that a head wouldn’t fare well against. And most people don’t think a lake can get rough, but I’ve seen waters out there look like the Gulf when a storm is pushing against the tide. Anything is possible, even for an experienced man like Johnny.”
I nodded. “Your friend didn’t seem satisfied with that conclusion.”
“None of us are, really. But truth be told, that’s probably more about how much we dislike Silas than anything else. He was never a good daddy to those kids. We all knew it but wasn’t nothing we could do about it. Johnny being so young, I figure he never thought about things like inheritance but I sure