Free Jaws by Peter Benchley Page B
Authors: Peter Benchley
that the odds against another attack were astronomical."
"Who was your talkative selectman?" asked Brody.
"All of them and none of them," said Meadows. "It's basically what they all said, but none of them would be quoted."
"What about the beaches not being closed? Did you go into that?"
"You did."
"I did?"
Asked why he had not ordered the beaches closed until the marauding shark was apprehended, Chief Brody said, "The Atlantic Ocean is huge. Fish swim in it and move from place to place. They don't always stay in one area, especially an area like this where there is no food source. What were we going to do? Close the Amity beaches, and people would just drive up to East Hampton and go swimming there. And there's just as good a chance that they'd get killed in East Hampton as in Amity." After yesterday's attacks, however, Chief Brody did order the beaches closed until further notice.
"Jesus, Harry," said Brody, "you really put it to me. You've got me arguing a case
I don't believe, then being proved wrong and forced to do what I wanted to do all along. That's a pretty shitty trick."
"It wasn't a trick. I had to have someone give the official line, and with Vaughan
away, you were the logical one. You admit that you agreed to go along with the decision, so --reluctantly or not --you supported it. I didn't see any point in airing all the dirty
laundry of private disputes."
"I suppose. Anyway, it's done. Is there anything else I should read in this?"
"No. I just quote Matt Hooper, that fellow from Woods Hole. He says it would be file:///C|/My Documents/Mike's Shit/utilities/books/pdf format/Benchley, Peter - Jaws.txt (28 of 131) [1/18/2001 2:02:21 AM]
file:///C|/My Documents/Mike's Shit/utilities/books/pdf format/Benchley, Peter - Jaws.txt remarkable if we ever have another attack. But he's a little less sure than he was last time."
"Does he think one fish is doing all this?"
"He doesn't know, of course, but offhand, yes. He thinks it's a big white."
"I do, too. I mean, I don't know from whites or greens or blues, but I think it's one
shark."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure, exactly. Yesterday afternoon I called the Coast Guard out on Montauk. I asked them if they'd noticed a lot of sharks around here recently, and they said they hadn't seen a one. Not one so far this spring. It's still early, so that isn't too
strange. They said they'd send a boat down this way later on and give me a call if they saw anything. I finally called them back. They said they had cruised up and down this area for two hours and hadn't seen a thing. So there sure aren't many sharks around. They also said that when there are sharks around, they're mostly medium-sized blue sharks --about five to ten feet --and sand sharks that don't generally bother people. From what Leonard said he saw yesterday, this is no medium-sized blue."
"Hooper said there was one thing we could do," Meadows said. "Now that you've got the beaches closed down, we could chum. You know, spread fish guts and goodies like that around in the water. If there's a shark around, he said, that will bring him running."
"Oh, great. That's what we need, to attract sharks. And what if he shows up? What do we do then?"
"Catch him."
"With what? My trusty spinning rod?"
"No, a harpoon."
"A harpoon. Harry, I don't even have a police boat, let alone a boat with harpoons
on it."
"There are fishermen around. They have boats."
"Yeah, for a hundred and a half a day, or whatever it is."
"True. But still it seems to me..." A commotion out in the hall stopped Meadows in mid-sentence.
He and Brody heard Bixby say, "I told you, ma'am, he's in conference." Then a woman's voice said, "Bullshit! I don't care what he's doing. I'm going in there." The sound of running feet, first one pair, then two. The door to Brody's office flew open, and standing in the doorway, clutching a newspaper, tears streaming down her face, was Alexander Kintner's mother. Bixby came up behind her and said, "I'm sorry,
"Who was your talkative selectman?" asked Brody.
"All of them and none of them," said Meadows. "It's basically what they all said, but none of them would be quoted."
"What about the beaches not being closed? Did you go into that?"
"You did."
"I did?"
Asked why he had not ordered the beaches closed until the marauding shark was apprehended, Chief Brody said, "The Atlantic Ocean is huge. Fish swim in it and move from place to place. They don't always stay in one area, especially an area like this where there is no food source. What were we going to do? Close the Amity beaches, and people would just drive up to East Hampton and go swimming there. And there's just as good a chance that they'd get killed in East Hampton as in Amity." After yesterday's attacks, however, Chief Brody did order the beaches closed until further notice.
"Jesus, Harry," said Brody, "you really put it to me. You've got me arguing a case
I don't believe, then being proved wrong and forced to do what I wanted to do all along. That's a pretty shitty trick."
"It wasn't a trick. I had to have someone give the official line, and with Vaughan
away, you were the logical one. You admit that you agreed to go along with the decision, so --reluctantly or not --you supported it. I didn't see any point in airing all the dirty
laundry of private disputes."
"I suppose. Anyway, it's done. Is there anything else I should read in this?"
"No. I just quote Matt Hooper, that fellow from Woods Hole. He says it would be file:///C|/My Documents/Mike's Shit/utilities/books/pdf format/Benchley, Peter - Jaws.txt (28 of 131) [1/18/2001 2:02:21 AM]
file:///C|/My Documents/Mike's Shit/utilities/books/pdf format/Benchley, Peter - Jaws.txt remarkable if we ever have another attack. But he's a little less sure than he was last time."
"Does he think one fish is doing all this?"
"He doesn't know, of course, but offhand, yes. He thinks it's a big white."
"I do, too. I mean, I don't know from whites or greens or blues, but I think it's one
shark."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure, exactly. Yesterday afternoon I called the Coast Guard out on Montauk. I asked them if they'd noticed a lot of sharks around here recently, and they said they hadn't seen a one. Not one so far this spring. It's still early, so that isn't too
strange. They said they'd send a boat down this way later on and give me a call if they saw anything. I finally called them back. They said they had cruised up and down this area for two hours and hadn't seen a thing. So there sure aren't many sharks around. They also said that when there are sharks around, they're mostly medium-sized blue sharks --about five to ten feet --and sand sharks that don't generally bother people. From what Leonard said he saw yesterday, this is no medium-sized blue."
"Hooper said there was one thing we could do," Meadows said. "Now that you've got the beaches closed down, we could chum. You know, spread fish guts and goodies like that around in the water. If there's a shark around, he said, that will bring him running."
"Oh, great. That's what we need, to attract sharks. And what if he shows up? What do we do then?"
"Catch him."
"With what? My trusty spinning rod?"
"No, a harpoon."
"A harpoon. Harry, I don't even have a police boat, let alone a boat with harpoons
on it."
"There are fishermen around. They have boats."
"Yeah, for a hundred and a half a day, or whatever it is."
"True. But still it seems to me..." A commotion out in the hall stopped Meadows in mid-sentence.
He and Brody heard Bixby say, "I told you, ma'am, he's in conference." Then a woman's voice said, "Bullshit! I don't care what he's doing. I'm going in there." The sound of running feet, first one pair, then two. The door to Brody's office flew open, and standing in the doorway, clutching a newspaper, tears streaming down her face, was Alexander Kintner's mother. Bixby came up behind her and said, "I'm sorry,
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