Page 50 of The Sunken Truth

“Was I?” The exaggerated rise and fall of his chest told her he was at least working hard to go so fast. Also, the way he glanced at his surroundings indicated his mind had been somewhere else entirely.

Lily had run like that a lot after her uncle had died – barely even noticing she was running until her body put up resistance and forced her to stop.

“Sorry,” Flynn said.

She walked beside him on the path, taking in the glorious white beach to their right and the vibrant turquoise water.

“What were you thinking about?” she asked. “Is it the diving incident still?”

“I felt completely incompetent yesterday when the superintendent asked what I’d found and what I’d done all day.”

“Why? You did your job.”

“But I didn’t find anything. And he thought it was ridiculous that I couldn’t track Kurt down.”

“You tracked him down,” Lily insisted. “It’s not your fault that he was ill in bed and not answering his phone or the door.”

“The superintendent seemed to think it was entirely my fault.”

“So it’s the issue with the superintendent that’s really bothering you?”

Flynn puffed his cheeks out. “It’s not fair,” he said, a bite to his words. “How the heck am I supposed to impress him in a place where there isn’t any proper policing to do? I spent a while loitering outside the pub last night, hoping someone might get drunk and create a scene. A bar fight is what I need.”

“You’ll figure out who cut Ryan’s hose, and that will impress him.”

Shaking his head, he walked faster. “Detective work isn’t even something I usually do. I’m not good at it and it’s not what excites me. I like being called to actual emergencies which require immediate action. But you’re right that I needto figure it out if I stand any chance of getting him on my side. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to get to the bottom of it.”

“It was weird that Kurt suddenly came down with a headache yesterday,” Lily mused, choosing to ignore Flynn’s bad mood and try to help him with the case instead.

“Do you think it was a lie?”

“Yes. I suspect he’s hiding something.”

“How do I find out what?”

“Track him down and question him. I find most of my investigative work is just asking questions until you ask the right person the right question.”

Flynn’s phone buzzed and he eased it from the pouch on his bicep. He sighed before he answered it, muttering about not being on duty.

“Hi, Sarge,” he said into the phone.

Lily leaned close to hear Sergeant Proctor’s words.

“I thought you’d want to know that Eustace Tremayne is at the harbour, attempting to bribe officials to bring him any gold they find.”

Flynn groaned in response.

“I was about to go down there, but given that you already dealt with him yesterday, I thought you might want to be the one to speak to him.”

“Yes,” Flynn said. “Thanks. I’ll get down there ASAP.”

“Good.” The sergeant hesitated. “Flynn…”

“Yeah, I know,” Flynn snapped. “I’ll make sure he gets the message this time.”

His eyes blazed with anger as he ended the call. “Lovely. Now the superintendent will think I’m not even capable of delivering a message to an old man. I have to hurry.” He was already running again when he shouted over his shoulder that he’d speak to her later.

Lily felt a pang of sympathy. The superintendent had really got into his head.