Page 12 of The Sunken Truth

“Did you dive?” he asked eagerly.

“Yeah.”

“Find any gold?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Can you actually see the shipwreck, though?”

“There’s something there,” Lily said. “The seabed is all stirred up, so it’s difficult to say for sure that it’s even a ship.”

“I reckon there’s about another twenty-four hours before the site gets closed to the public and the officials take over.”

“I can’t imagine there’s actually gold down there,” Lily said. “It seems far-fetched.”

“It’ll get the historians excited. And the treasure-hunters.”

Lily shook her head at what felt like a bizarre conversation.

“Anyway, how was Flynn today?”

She jutted her chin out. “How do you mean?”

“I thought he might have said something to you.” He scratched at his jaw and looked thoughtful.

“About the superintendent who’s visiting?” Lily asked, taking a stab.

“Yeah. The sergeant told me to keep an eye on Flynnbut…” He shrugged. “We get on well these days, but I don’t think he’d confide in me. I thought maybe you could look out for him too. He might need someone to talk to.”

“Why?” Lily asked. “I know he was in a bad mood and the superintendent seemed to have something to do with it, but Flynn was tight-lipped about it.”

Again, PC Hill scratched his smooth jaw. “I don’t know the full story, but the superintendent is the reason Flynn was transferred over here. I think he wanted to get him kicked off the force, but didn’t have a legitimate reason.”

Lily groaned. “I thought that might be the case. Flynn never told me what exactly happened to get him transferred here. Just that he annoyed the wrong person.”

“Yeah. Superintendent Brand. Although, I think annoy doesn’t quite cover it. The man has got major beef with Flynn.”

“You don’t know why?”

“From what I heard, there was some party with a load of officers. Flynn made a scene of some sort and it got him firmly on the wrong side of the superintendent.”

Lily tipped her head and took a few steps away from the shop, so Jessica wouldn’t overhear.

She lowered her voice. “When I first got here, there were rumours that Flynn had slept with some high-ranking officer’s daughter. I asked him about it and he didn’t deny it – but he also wouldn’t talk about it. Maybe it was the superintendent’s daughter.”

“I thought the same, but it can’t be that.”

“Why not?”

“I did a bit of digging around. The superintendent doesn’t have a daughter of an appropriate age.”

“But he has a daughter? Because if she’s young, that would certainly explain?—”

“I’ll stop you there,” PC Hill said, raising a hand. “She’s a kid. About ten.”

“Oh.” Lily swallowed. “Maybe it was his wife? Or maybe it’s nothing to do with who Flynn was sleeping with. Maybe that rumour was completely wrong.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.” He lifted an eyebrow. “I’m also wondering if Flynn didn’t do anything wrong at all, and it’s just a case of the superintendent taking a dislike to him.”