Empty Hands at Closing
The Brine, Caldmere
When Dean Kowalski opened The Brine on Friday morning, the iron lockbox bolted beneath the bar — the one that held two weeks of cash receipts and the poker game's house float — was gone. Not pried open. Gone.
Everyone has something to hide.
29. Five-foot-four, 130 pounds, the most effective bouncer The Brine has ever had. Former amateur boxer. Loud, funny, physical. Reads a room's energy before it turns.
A French-Canadian transplant who came to Caldmere for the seafood. An extraordinary chef, a terrible businessman. His food is transcendent. His management style is volcanic.
The most talented performer in Caldmere and she knows it. Charismatic, competitive, insecure beneath the bravado. Funny in a way that occasionally draws blood.
Can you name the culprit?
Read the case file, interrogate the suspects, and make your accusation — five guesses to crack it. The deduction board and the solution are for detectives only.
Caldmere, Maine.
A small town on the Maine coast where everyone knows everyone, and nothing is quite what it seems. Explore the locations and characters behind every case.