THE SANDS OF ST. PETERSBURG: A Mystery Writer's Competition

Half-TitleFull-TitleCopyrightDedicationContentsNotesNotesForwardPrefaceIntroduction1 - Sunday: Registration / Opening Banquet2 - Monday, Suspects / Video / TimelineNotesNotesNotes3 - Tuesday, Police & Security InterviewsNotesNotesNotesNotes4 - Chapter Iii: Wednesday, Suspect InterviewsNotesNotesNotes5 - Thursday, Noah Chung Pokes AroundNotesNotesNotesNotes6 - Friday, Plan For Stockholders MeetingNotesNotes7 - Friday Pm, Stockholder’S Meeting / Murder SolvedNotesNotesSaturday Awards / Guest SpeakerOne Must Lure The TigerThe EndingFollow UpBonus Extra: Another Case SolvedAuthor's EpilogueAuthor Epilogue's EpilogueAcknowledgements Guide Cover Table Of Contents Title Page 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE SANDS OF ST. PETERSBURG
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE SANDS OF ST. PETERSBURG
 A Mystery Writer's Competition
 RANDALL JOHNSON
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Randall Johnson Publisher
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Copyright
 Other novels by Randall Johnson:
 
 AFTER THIS Life, Death, and the Judgment
 IN A TWINKLING, The Last Man Taken:
 
 
 
 Copyright © 2022 by Randall Johnson
 
 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever
 without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 Any resemblance of characters in this novel to persons real or fictional is purely
 coincidental.
 
 First Printing, 2022
 
 ISBN
 9798985913057 (PB)
 9798985913064 (HC)
 9798985913071 (E)
 
 BISAC 
 FIC022030 Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Traditional
 FIC022000 Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General
 HUM018000 Humor / Form / Puns & Wordplay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dedication
 This book dedicated to
 Our four gentlemen:
 Tom Jim Bryan Kole
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dedication
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Forward
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Preface
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Introduction
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1
 
 
 
 Sunday: Registration / Opening Banquet
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2
 
 
 
 Monday, Suspects / Video / Timeline
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3
 
 
 
 Tuesday, Police & Security Interviews
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4
 
 
 
 Chapter III: Wednesday, Suspect Interviews
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5
 
 
 
 Thursday, Noah Chung Pokes Around
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6
 
 
 
 Friday, Plan For Stockholders Meeting
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7
 
 
 
 Friday PM, Stockholder’s Meeting / Murder Solved
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Saturday Awards / Guest Speaker
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 One Must Lure The Tiger
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Ending
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Follow Up
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bonus Extra: Another Case Solved
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Author's Epilogue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Author Epilogue's Epilogue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Acknowledgements
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Forward
 About this book.
 
 Mysteries are quite often mysterious. This one is no exception.
 
 There are two plots within this book: First, there is the Mystery Writers’ Plot. The story of the competition that takes place in St. Petersburg, Florida. The second is the collaborative Mystery Plot as written by the authors during the competition.
 
 The Mystery Writers’ Plot consists of the events, instructions, and deadlines relating to the creation of the mystery and other activities of the authors.
 
 The Mystery Plot is the combined efforts of the writers as they create a story one chapter at a time. Within the author’s every day, defined as a chapter, there are days of the collective mystery that the writers are writing about. To further complicate things, three writers (out of twelve possible) get credit for “excellent” writing of the day (chapter) but only the first-place writer’s work gets connected with the next chapter while the second and third-place works are to be read and enjoyed but disregarded. Each day’s “winner’s” entry becomes part of the collaboration and precedes the next day’s “winning” entry, and so on until the ending of the collective mystery 
 
 
 Preface
 It was on a Sunday, the sunshine wafted invitingly through the pink and yellow Mai Tai. The obligatory umbrella and swizzle stick accompanying the fruity beverage perfected the sandy beach scene. The weather was a balmy eighty-two degrees, with light, onshore breezes, delicately swaying the fronds of the palm trees. The gulf, in the near distance, was a deep azure, complimenting the cloudless sky of the lazy morning hours. Waves softly folded on the shore in perfect rhythmic cadence, gently washing the sand, and exposing tender morsels quickly snatched by the gulls and sandpipers. Down the beach, sandcastles erected and perfected by chatty children rise in construction and are soon in the destruction by those same inviting waves. Loving couples, hand in hand, aimlessly wander, to and fro, wading in the water, grateful for their companionship.
 
 The white cabana with blue stripes provides the perfect balance of privacy, protection, and beach access. While invitingly comfortable, the tan canvas and maple framed lounge chairs pulled its occupant toward restful sleep, the summer novel falling gently to the sand. The serenity was undisturbed, a deep sigh of relief and then a surrender, succumbing to the inevitable