The Clue in the Lobster Trap - A Boothbay Sleuth Mystery

Abby Walsh braced herself as her father swung the lobster trap over the side of the boat. Salt spray stung her cheeks, and the morning fog curled low over the harbor like it was trying to keep its own secrets.

“Careful with this one,” Dad grunted. “Feels heavier than it should.”

The trap thumped onto the deck. Two fat lobsters waved their claws in protest, but Abby’s eyes weren’t on them. Tangled in the green ropes and seaweed was something round and gleaming under a crust of barnacles.

She reached for it. “What is that?”

“Some old junk,” Dad said, prying it loose. It was a bracelet…gold, dented, but with a faint design still visible beneath the grime. “Probably fell off a tourist years ago. Not worth much.”

He tossed it onto the bench, but Abby picked it up again. Even through the salt and grit, she could see tiny engraved letters: A.L.

The foghorn moaned from somewhere out at sea. Abby’s stomach fluttered, though she couldn’t have said why.

She slipped the bracelet into her pocket.

By the time they docked, the sun was burning off the fog. Down on the wharf, her friends were already waiting: Jude, with his ever-present backpack bulging with gadgets; Sadie, clutching a sketchpad; and Finn, leaning against a piling with Gus the dog at his feet.

“You’re late,” Jude said.

“I found something,” Abby replied, glancing around. A pair of tourists wandered by with ice cream cones, and an older fisherman sat mending nets at the end of the dock. Still, Abby lowered her voice. “In one of Dad’s traps.”

She pulled the bracelet from her pocket. The gold caught the light, and Sadie gasped.

“That looks just like—”

Gus’s ears perked. A man stood at the far end of the wharf, hands in his pockets, watching them. When Abby met his eyes, he turned and walked away.

“Just like what?” Abby asked, but Sadie wasn’t looking at her anymore.

“Just like the bracelet in my grandmother’s story,” she whispered. “The one from the Harbor Heist.”

The fog had lifted, but Abby couldn’t shake the feeling the day had just gotten darker.