The Influencers

Part 1

Alvina and Bernadine had been standing on the bridge over the narrowest part of Smalls Lake when they heard the screams. The sound came from an area of water obscured by a sudden curve of the shoreline and thick evergreen tree cover. Bernadine had brought her binoculars for bird watching and held them up to her eyes, trying to see the source of the distress.

“Help me! Help me!” a man’s voice yelled.

Bernadine dropped the binoculars, letting the strap around her neck do the work of holding them. She and Alvina looked at each other, alarmed.

“We better get over there, see if there is anything we can do to help,” Alvina said.

Bernadine nodded in agreement and turned to exit the bridge onto the path leading around the lake.

By the time they walked into the area where the screams were heard, Alvina was slightly out of breath. Although she still tried to stay active, no one would have believed that she had been a bedside nurse for thirty-five years before retiring. Still Alvina had kept her nursing license current and hoped that her experience may be of use today.

Bernadine, a sprightly sixty, fared little better than Alvina. She was limping a bit, as she sometimes did after the hip replacement last year. Alvina had now been retired for three years but Bernadine still put in a couple of days a week at her brother’s insurance agency in town.

As they stepped into the clearing where the screams and calls for help had come from, Alvina surveyed a very grim scene.

Fully clothed park rangers were swimming and diving into the lake, surfacing for breath and then diving again.

Two other park employees, one Alvina recognized from the gift shop stood on the small dock calling for someone named Deb. They would cup their hands on either side of their mouth as they called “Deb! Deb! DEB! Can you hear us?!?”

It was a fall afternoon; the air had been crisp and much too cool for swimming in the lake. A couple of elderly men with tackle boxes and fishing poles stood on one side of the clearing, looking into the water, mumbling to each other. A group of kids huddled in a clutch near the trees. Somewhere, Alvina could hear the sirens of the sheriff and perhaps an ambulance coming closer.

One family sat close to each other at a nearby picnic table, half-eaten sandwiches and cans of cola sitting on the tabletop. Artifacts of what was supposed to be a happy family outing, Alvina thought grimly.

The little girl stood on the bench clinging to her father, who was clearly soaking wet. The mother stood in front of the table, holding a small baby on her hip, looking worriedly out at the pristine surface of the water.

Bernadine approached them slowly, her limp telling them she was a harmless old lady.

“Excuse me,” Bernadine said to the woman, “we heard a lot of noise, and my friend here is a nurse and we thought…or we hoped that maybe we could help.”

“We saw them, a young couple,” the woman’s voice cracked. The husband looked up at Alvina. “There were two people in that canoe right there,” he said motioning to the empty canoe laying on its side.

“Did you see what happened?” Alvina asked him.

He shook his head, “I wasn’t paying a lot of attention, first thing I remember is seeing them in the canoe, just holding hands, sitting close,” he said.

The mother, still holding the baby, interjected. “Yes, they seemed to be having such a romantic moment, then I heard her laughing. She stood up, she was wearing a white bathing suit with gold stars. The man, he was holding a phone, filming her, I think.”

The man continued, “Everything looked fine, normal. Honestly, I am not sure if she fell in or if she jumped in, but even when she went into the water, she was still laughing. And he was laughing, he had the phone up, still doing a video, just having fun.”

The woman sat on the bench, putting the baby on her lap before she looked up at Bernadine. “I mean one minute, just laughing and joking around like any other young couple then…. then…she just…suddenly…she went under and …and”.

“She never resurfaced,” The man said.

The woman began to cry. “At first, the guy thought she was just joking around, but I kept looking at the lake. I kept looking and she never came back up again.”

“I ran in without even thinking,” the man told Bernadine motioning toward his daughter, “little one here was trying to follow me before her mother grabbed her. Rangers shooed me out when they took over.”

“We heard someone yelling for help,” Bernadine told him.

“Yeah,” he answered, “that was the guy in the canoe with her. Started yelling for help when she didn’t surface, then dove in and nearly drowned himself. One of the rangers pulled him out.”

“Where is he now?” Alvina asked.

“Sitting there,” the man motioned to a bench near the lakeside where the young man was sitting, wrapped in a wool blanket. He seemed to be staring into space, rocking back and forth.

Alvina had moved to get a closer look at the young man. He looked quite familiar although she was sure she didn’t know him personally. Had she seen him on television? No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps he worked somewhere in town? No, she couldn’t put her finger on it. And anyway, it didn’t matter, Alvina thought. If he were in shock, it was best that he stays on the shore, lest he be lost as well.

Sherriff Ray Reynolds managed to move with both grace and speed as he convened his deputies to cordon off the area around the clearing, bringing in professional divers to continue the search.

After his deputies had taken statements from all of the witnesses, he was surprised to see Miss Alvina and Miss Bern making their way up a set of wooden steps.

As soon as he saw them, he knew he had to speak with them. They were getting older but they were two sharp old ladies. If any details were missed by anyone else, these two would have caught it.

“Now what do you ladies think you are doing going up those steps? Miss Bernadine, did you not just have hip surgery?” Sherriff Ray asked.

Startled, both of the ladies turned to find Sherriff Ray standing behind them. “Raymond,” said Alvina, “you have certainly got your hands full here!”

“I know,” he said as he nodded, “and that is exactly why I wanted to hear from the two of you.”

Bernadine looked surprised. “I can’t imagine why you would want to talk with us, we didn’t even see the accident.”

Sherriff Ray pulled a small notebook out of his shirt pocket. “I have some notes here I would like for you both to go over, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“What kind of notes?” inquired Alvina.

“Just some things that don’t seem to be adding up,” Sherriff Ray answered.

Bernadine shrugged, “There can’t be any harm in reading through a few notes.”

“Thank you, ladies,” replied Sherriff Ray. “And just hold on, why are you heading up those stairs?”

Bernadine sighed. “We have to go up to the parking lot where Alvina’s car is.”

Sherriff Ray held up a hand, “Let me give you a ride up there,” he insisted.

Alvina looked out at the lake, “Tell me Sherriff, have they found any trace of the girl?”

Sherriff Ray looked serious. “Nothing,” he said.

Oh my, how cold the water is this time of year, Alvina thought.

As they rode up to the parking lot in the police cruiser, Bernadine flipped through the notes that the Sherriff had provided.

“What is an influencer?” she asked.

Sherriff Ray laughed. “It’s someone who posts on the internet and get a lot of people watching their videos. The victim and her husband were Debbie and Dean Tiddle. They had an internet channel called Tiddle Dean and Tiddle Deb.”

“What did they post on the channel?” Alvina asked.

“Mainly them doing things as a couple. Rock climbing, exploring old houses, hiking, there were some old videos of them remodeling a room in their house, just different things.” Sherriff Ray answered.

“And today they were filming a canoe ride,” Bernadine said sadly.

The three were quiet, thinking about the tragedy, still fresh in the air, until Alvina saw her car.

“Oh no!” she gasped.

After Sherriff Ray had stopped his cruiser, they were able to get out and survey the damage.

The rear driver’s side fender of Alvina’s white car had been swiped by another vehicle, leaving a sizable dent and traces of red paint.

Alvina wasn’t terribly worried about the damage.

Bernadine was the one who voiced the real concern. “Who would do such a thing?” She asked disgustedly.

“I’m going to have the park send me surveillance of this area, we will find out who did this,” Sherriff Ray assured them.

Alvina suddenly felt guilty, thinking of the real tragedy that had occurred. “I think the best thing now would be for you to focus on the search of the poor girl.”

“You are right Alvina,” Bernadine continued, “we better head home.”

Part 2

Over the next two days, Alvina and Bernadine looked over the notes the Sherriff had given them:

· Dean and Debbie were a young couple twenty-five and twenty-six years old

· Canoeing on lake

· Debbie stood up and joked that she was jumping in

· Jumped in, laughed, swam for a moment then went under and didn’t resurface

· Victim was wearing a white bathing suit with gold stars

· They had moved to town three years ago to work for a tech start-up

· Bought a historical Victorian home in one of the more expensive areas of town

· After the tech start-up closed up last year, they started their internet channel

Alvina picked up on one thing: the couple were probably hurting for money. The tech start-up had closed. They were sitting under a big mortgage and there weren’t many high-paying opportunities in the area. As for their channel, most of their videos had only a few hundred views.

Alvina’s suspicions were confirmed when Bernadine called from the insurance agency.

“Dean Tiddle just had to be removed by the police from the office!” Bernadine said breathlessly into the phone.

“What was he doing there?” Alvina asked.

“He had a life insurance policy on his wife, he came in demanding payment!” Bernadine sounded exasperated.

"Oh no Bernadine, what did you tell him?” Alvina wondered.

“I told him the truth,” Bernadine insisted, “that he cannot make a claim until the investigation into his wife’s death is closed.”

“Last I heard, there is still no body,” said Alvina.

“That reminds me, the Sherriff called.” Bernadine told her.

“Let me guess,” Alvina said.

“You don’t have to; he has some interesting news about the car that hit yours at the park. He wants to see if we can meet with him later today.” Bernadine said.

Part 3

That afternoon, Bernadine and Alvina sat in chairs on either side of Sherriff Ray, watching as he clicked through surveillance videos on his computer screen.

“You can see here, the red car flies out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell, I traced the tags to a rental," Sherriff Ray said as he clicked on another video.

“So here you see the exact same car pulling into this rental place,” Sherriff Ray motioned to the dented car in the video.

“Very good! You found the culprit! Who was it?” Bernadine asked.

“Keep watching.” Sherriff Ray told them.

As they fixed their eyes upon the video, they could hardly believe what they were seeing.

Exiting the car was one Debbie Tiddle, returning the rental car. She wore some type of towel or wrap around her waist, but the top of the white bathing suit with gold stars was clearly visible. She practically looked straight at the camera. And the time stamp on the video confirmed that she was returning this rental car, a full two hours after she had allegedly drowned in Smalls Lake.

“She faked her own drowning,” Bernadine said.

“That’s what it looks like,” Sherriff Ray confirmed.

“Well, that’s one question answered, but there are so many more,” Alvina continued.

“Does her husband know she faked the drowning?” Bernadine asked.

“Could he be in on it?” Sherriff Ray looked at Alvina

“Why did they do it?” Alvina said.

“There’s only one way to find out,” said Sherriff Ray “and I would like you ladies to help.”

“We will help in any way we can, Sherriff.” Alvina told him.

“Great! How do you feel about going undercover?” Sherriff Ray asked them.

Part 4

Bernadine got them into the house. She called Dean Tiddle and set up an appointment to meet him at home, some details they need for the insurance file she told him.

She took Alvina along as an associate. Dean Tiddle answered the door in the middle of the afternoon looking like he hadn’t slept in years. He was unshaven, his clothes disheveled. As they entered the stately old Victorian, Alvina’s nose told her that there were probably old dirty dishes sitting in the sink.

Once they were in the living room, Bernadine produced a twenty-page questionnaire when Alvina said her well-rehearsed line: “Excuse me, may I use your bathroom?”

Dean Tiddle looked a bit surprised. “Uh, yeah, uh, sure,” he answered. He pointed toward an open doorway. “It’s through there, past the den and just before you get to the kitchen.” He told Alvina.

Once in the bathroom, Alvina thought something looked quite odd. There was an old clawfoot tub that had a shower curtain, a new shower curtain. Alvina could tell because the shower curtain still had folds where it had been in a package. “Funny,” she said to herself, “who puts up a new shower curtain when their wife has just drowned?”

Upon investigating more closely, she saw that there was something under the tub. She reached to pull it out. A white bathing suit with gold stars. It was bone dry. If Debbie Tiddle had drowned in this suit, what was it doing here? Then again, if she had faked her drowning, the suit still shouldn’t have been here. Debbie Tiddle would have hidden it or discarded it. Unless, of course, Debbie was no longer here.

Alvina’s phone dinged to tell her a text message had come in.

Looking at her phone screen she saw at once that it was from Sherriff Ray. In all caps he had written, “WE FOUND DEBBIE TIDDLE’S BODY! GET OUT OF THERE!”

Alvina had other plans.

Part 5

Entering the living room, Alvina had only one thing to say. “I know what happened Mr. Tiddle.”

Dean Tiddle looked angry, then sad. He started crying and talking. The flood gates had opened.

“It was Debbie’s idea,” Dean Tiddle said quietly before he went on. “We were months behind on the mortgage. I told her we should just sell the house, but she loved it. So…we decide to become influencers…. but…it wasn’t…” he sobbed.

“But it wasn’t working,” Alvina continued the story she already knew, “the videos you posted weren’t getting enough views to build an income stream,”

Dean Tiddle nodded. “Right, so she decides we’re going to do this whole fake drowning bit, and it would be recorded and then we could post it.”

Bernadine prodded him, “Let me guess, things didn’t go according to plan.”

“We had set up a rental car for her to leave, but then she smashed into another car. That night, the night of the staged drowning, we argued. I wanted to confess the truth. It was all too much. The car wreck, the police. But she refused, so I figured the only way to fix it was if…if…” he seemed to lose his words.

“If she was really dead, so you killed her.” Alvina declared.

“She wanted a long bath after being in the lake. After she got in the tub, I drowned her. My plan was to put the bathing suit on her and dump her in the lake. But I couldn’t find it!” Dean Tiddle put his hands over his face, trying to shield himself from the horror of the situation.

It didn’t matter, Alvina knew the rest. He had wrapped his wife’s body in the old shower curtain, necessitating the need for the new one, and dumped it near the lake.

And he showed up at the insurance agency. For since he knew his wife was truly dead, he thought he could now collect on the policy, use the money to escape perhaps.

Just then, Sherriff Ray kicked the door in and deputies poured into the living room.

As Dean Tiddle was handcuffed, Sherriff Ray looked at Alvina.

“I thought my text told you to get out of here.” He said.

“What text?” Bernadine asked.

“And I planned to, but only after I got the truth.” Alvina stated.

“How did you know?” asked Sherriff Ray.

“I didn’t know for sure, but the new shower curtain and dry bathing suit the woman wore in…oh, never mind.” Alvina’s words seemed to trail off.

“Shower curtain?” Sherriff Ray asked.

“You found the bathing suit?” Dean Tiddle gasped from the chair where he was handcuffed.

“What text?” Bernadine insisted.

“I imagine you will find everything as you investigate Sherriff. As for me, I think it might be time for this old lady’s afternoon nap. Bernadine, could you please drive me home?” Alvina said walking toward the front door.

“What text?” Bernadine asked.

Alvina said nothing, just stepped outside, into the sunny, autumn day