“Thanks. I’m looking for my mother’s boat, which I assumed was not in the water,” said Devin. “The boat is named Sadie?”

“Is that a question or a fact?” said the man.

“The boat name is a fact. I’m asking if it’s here,” said Devin, starting to get a little annoyed.

“Can I see some identification?”

“Sure,” he said, glad he hadn’t left his wallet back in the car.

The man, who he assumed to be more than a dockhand at the marina, scrutinized his driver’s license, glancing back and forth between the card and his face several times, like an East German border guard. He handed it back with a nod.

“Sorry about all that,” he said. “Your mother gave me some specific instructions, and a fair sum to back them up. Her boat is the one without the mast. It’s been at the marina awhile.”

“When did she buy it?”

“Last year, toward the end of the summer,” he said. “She’s only been up on it twice.”

“Do you remember the last time she came by?”

“Yep. Saw her about three weeks ago. She spent about ten minutes on the boat. Paid for the next three years of storage,” he said. “I kinda got the feeling she didn’t buy it for sailing.”

“I just learned about the boat yesterday,” said Devin. “She passed away a couple weeks ago.”

“Oh. Damn. I’m very sorry to hear that. She seemed like a nice lady.”

“Thank you,” said Devin. “How do I get up on the boat? They seem so high when they’re on those stands.”

“I’ll get you a ladder and meet you over there.”

Paying for three additional years of storage didn’t make a ton of sense, but her visiting the boat a few weeks ago appeared to be tied to whatever had happened ten days ago. The man returned a few minutes later with a tall wooden ladder that looked as though it had been constructed during the Revolutionary War. Devin glanced at it skeptically.

“I know. It looks like a relic, but I guarantee this’ll be around longer than one of those aluminum contraptions,” he said, placing it against the hull. “Just so you know, the boat needs a lot of work to make her seaworthy. Given what your mom paid me in advance for storage, I could get her in the water in time for you to enjoy the tail end of the season. If you’re interested.”

“I don’t know the first thing about boats,” said Devin.

“Plenty of folks around here that do,” he said. “I have the slip space for her—included in the price.”

“How much did my mom pay for storage?”