Evil on the Beach

IT IS NOVEMBER 12, 1928!

Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the "war to end all wars." The European economy today, though, is in another war - one of survival. It is in shambles, and many factions struggle for power with promises of better times to come.

​Last night, however, at a secluded spot in Florida known as Sandy Ring Island, a celebration had occurred. For comrades in arms, wounded in the service of their nations during that Great War, toasted their reunion.

All three had been sent to the same French military hospital to recuperate. There, they had become staunch friends. When the peace treaty was signed, they vowed to be together again a decade after the end of the conflict. At a rustic lodge on the Gulf of Mexico call Sea Breeze they had kept their word.

But, this morning, a pall was thrown over last night's festivities, for a body was discovered face down on the beach behind Sea Breeze. It was the Russian writer, Gregor Manov, another guest at the inn. His skull had been crushed with a large piece of driftwood. Judging from the footprints left in the sand, the deed had been perpetrated from behind while Manov was returning to the Lodge from a late-night walk.

Manov had supported the Bolsheviks during their revolution against the Czarist regime. His works had gained world notoriety as he championed the cause of the common man both in his nation and around the world. He was in the United States by permission of the Soviet authorities to conduct a speaking tour about the advantages of communism.

His reasons for stopping at Sea Breeze were unclear. His schedule had been light, but he broke from it three days ago, finding his way to the secluded spot. His presence only added to the human menagerie that had recently seemed to descend upon the spot. Only through careful questioning and precise logic would motive and murderer emerge.