Well Read, Then Dead(75)

            I sat the group at Dr. Seuss, placing menus and water in front of each of them. Ed began spouting the quotes on the table. “The more that you read, the more things you will know.” He followed that up with “I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”

            I stood a few feet away until they called me over.

            “So with all these great quotes stuck in between pictures of The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax and who all else”—he picked up his menu—“I suppose I’ll find Green Eggs and Ham on the list of choices?” And he gave a broad wink to his tablemates.

            When he opened the menu, I pointed to the eponymous item, subtitled “Mexican vegetable omelet with salsa verde and grilled thick-sliced ham.”

            Both men ordered Green Eggs and Ham, chuckling as they did so, while their wives settled on Agatha Christie Soft-Boiled Eggs with Miss Marple Scones. Two coffees, a decaf, one tea.

            Later, when I came around with the refill coffeepots, Connie asked for more tea. I brought a fresh cup and she nudged her husband in the side.

            “Go ahead, smart guy, ask her.”

            He fidgeted with his napkin, twisting and untwisting, before he said, “Just some gossip is all. We were invited to play at the golf club down toward Lovers Key. We were having drinks in the clubhouse and overheard a man, showy type wearing one of those fancy blue-faced TAG Heuer watches, complaining into his mobile phone. He was accusing the person on the other end of the call of not realizing all the chaos ‘since the old lady died.’ That’s a direct quote. Then he mentioned treasure scavengers or some such, looking for an island to use as a base, and well, the price was going to go up.

            “The other guy didn’t like it much; we could hear that right through the phone. When the call ended Mr. TAG Heuer sat slumped for a minute, then he straightened up, ordered a shot of Macallan’s 18, polished it off and headed to the showers.”

            Connie’s husband sat back in his chair, satisfied that he’d done his duty. I was still waiting for the question.

            “For goodness’ sake, Alfie, ask her.”

            “Oh. We were wondering if he was talking about the woman who was murdered, and what are treasure scavengers anyway?” Alfie pointed to Connie. “She said you’d know, being the woman was a book club member and all.”

            I knew I disappointed them with my lie that I had no idea who the man was or if the women he mentioned was Miss Delia. Still, they cheered a bit when I told them that treasure scavengers, locally called wreckers, search the bottom of the sea for sunken ships. They were surprised to learn that there are hundreds of treasure-laden Spanish galleons resting on the bottom of waters surrounding Florida.

            Ed asked how so many ships came to be sunk, and they were thrilled that, although some were dropped by hurricanes, others were sunk by pirates. I told the tale of the San José, destroyed by a hurricane on the far side of Tavernier Key in the early 1700s. The part where some of the treasure was recovered as recently as the 1960s had them mesmerized. They heaved a collective sigh when I summed up by saying the galleon shifted and was once again unreachable.

            They were so excited at the thought of gold and silver coins, jewelry and plates that I suggested they stop by Tony’s boatyard, rent a metal detector and walk it along the shore any morning after a stormy night. That would make them genuine treasure scavengers and they could keep whatever they found. Iris’s husband began checking the weather forecast on his iPhone, ready to plan an outing. They all began talking at once.

            Alfie’s story about Tighe Kostos in the golf club bar gave me a lot to think about, but the café was humming and I had no time to focus, so I continued to smile, serve and clean.

            At long last my only customers were two middle-aged ladies sitting at Barbara Cartland, who took turns looking at the bookshelves and commenting on titles one or the other of them might enjoy. They knew each other’s tastes quite well and would likely be browsing for a while. I poured myself a glass of sweet tea, grabbed a blueberry muffin and sat at Emily Dickinson for a short break before cleanup.