He noticed the coastguard cutter coming toward him, but that was normal and he thought nothing of it. That is, until it stopped directly behind his yacht. He tried to wave them off, but they wouldn't move and the noise of the engine was too loud for them to hear his shouts.
Too late, he figured out what was happening, and when he turned to look back down the walkway, two uniformed police officers had their guns drawn and pointed right at him.
"Mathew Connelly," one of the officers yelled, "You are under arrest for the murder of Amanda Black."
"Who?"
"Drop the bag, put your hands up and turn around."
"You got it all wrong," Mathew tried.
"Drop the bag, put your hands up and turn around," the officer demanded again. "Do it now or I'll shoot!"
For a moment, it looked like Mathew would choose death by police; but at length, he chose life and did as he was told.
The officers quickly moved in, forced him to the ground, searched his pockets and then cuffed him. "I haven't killed anyone," Mathew claimed.
The officer sneered. "You'll have your day in court."
"You can't prove a thing."
Both officers ignored him, pulled him to his feet, walked him to a police cruiser, and put him in the backseat.
Watching from several yards down the pier, Carl smiled. "Gotcha!"
*
At last, Georgia's cellphone rang and it was Austin.
"Hello."
"I thought you might like to know Laura checked into a rehab last week."
"I know, she called and left a message."
"Good. Georgia, I think you should have a professional picture taken for the press. Maybe they'll stop trying to get one if we provide it. If you agree, I'll send a photographer over."
"I agree. I feel very isolated and I would like to go out more."
"Great, I'll arrange it…unless you want to do that yourself."
Georgia rolled her eyes. "Very well, I'll do it myself." She abruptly hung up. "You are such a stubborn man," she muttered as she headed to her laptop to look for Denver photographers.
*
The photographer she hired did a good job, Georgia thought. She chose to sit behind her grandfather's desk and asked for several prints, which were delivered the next day. She sent one to each of the newspapers with a brief statement. By Sunday, her picture was on the front page, on television, and on several of the national talk shows. If the world didn't know who she was before, they did now.
*
Over his morning coffee, Austin studied her picture and her statement:
"I am Nicholas Gladstone's granddaughter and will soon be taking over his affairs. I wish to assure all who are employed in his companies, that I have no intention of selling off or letting any of the companies fail.