Page 74 of The Sunken Truth

“He’s doing a few jobs on the boat, but he should be here soon. Did you figure out why Kurt was in such a rush to leave the island?”

“It seems his mum is ill and he wants to fly home to be with her.”

“She’s been ill for a while,” Ryan said. “Why go now?”

“He handed an artefact over to Eustace Tremayne and was using the reward money for a flight to Australia.”

Tipping his head back, Ryan pushed a hand through his hair. “So it was him who cut my air hose? He tried to kill me for the sake of some quick cash?”

Flynn shook his head. “He claims he found the artefact himself and was nowhere near you at the time.”

“What did he find?” Ryan demanded.

“A cigar box.”

A frown wrinkled his brow. “It could definitely have been a cigar box that I found. And if he didn’t cut my hose, why did he keep quiet about his find?”

“Apparently he was nervous of sabotage after someone cut your hose.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Ryan grumbled. “He was with Benji. There’s no way Benji would have kept quiet about finding something. And I can’t see how he wouldn’t have noticed his dive partner making a find like that.”

“That’s why I’d like to speak to Benji.”

Ryan tipped his head to the side door. “Come in. I’ll message Benji and tell him to get back here.”

Torn, Flynn cast a glance outside, wondering if it’d be quicker to catch Benji at the boat, before deciding that he didn’t want to risk missing him if he was already on his way.

He checked his watch and felt a pang of despair that time wasn’t on his side.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lily spottedBenji as she rounded the corner onto the Strand. She quickened her steps to catch him, then broke into a run when he walked into the dive shop. Pushing at the door, she rushed inside in time to see him disappear into the back room and didn’t hesitate to follow him. In the hallway at the back, a door was closing, signalling where he’d gone.

Without thought, she rushed into the room and almost barrelled straight into the back of Benji.

“Sorry,” she said, taking in her surroundings. Presumably it was Ryan’s office. Flynn sat behind the desk with a coffee in his hand while Ryan lounged on a small couch at the side of the room.

“I was just passing,” she said in response to the puzzled looks from Ryan and Benji. She pursed her lips for a moment, then scratched at her temple and adopted what she hoped was an innocent tone. “I didn’t leave my sunglasses here, did I?”

Ryan snorted. “Still looking for them?”

“Yeah. I thought maybe I’d left them here.”

“And they’re not the ones on your head?”

She grimaced. “Differentpair.”

“I still haven’t seen any sunglasses,” Ryan said, his small shake of the head making it clear he didn’t believe her excuse. Standing, he walked to the door while his gaze bored into Benji. “Once PC Grainger has finished questioning you, I have a few questions of my own.”

Benji nodded and shifted his weight.

“Take a seat,” Flynn said to Benji, while Lily discreetly slipped behind the desk and pulled up a chair beside Flynn. “Kurt has been telling me about the artefact he found at the shipwreck. Apparently you were aware of it?”

Benji dropped his backpack on the floor as he sat. “I should have mentioned it before.”

“Can you tell me about it now?” Flynn asked.

He nodded, then swallowed hard. “He found it on the seabed, but right after he found it, the water got all murky around the shipwreck. We saw Ryan was surfacing, so we headed back to the boat.”