Page 11 of The Sunken Truth (Lily Larkin Mysteries #5)
Chapter Eleven
By the time they reached the boat, all the other divers had surfaced too. The two guys from Ryan’s team had come up close to the boat and had just boarded it.
“Are you guys okay?” the shorter of them called. “How come you came up so quickly?”
Lily exchanged a look with Seren, who bobbed beside the boat with Kit.
“We got a bit worried,” Seren said. “Suddenly visibility was zero, and you two were nowhere to be seen.”
“Someone tampered with my equipment,” Ryan said, throwing his flippers on board before hauling himself onto the boat.
“Someone did what?” the shorter guy on his crew asked.
“You heard me,” Ryan growled, setting his tank down before walking to the side of the boat. He stared out at the other boat where two divers were climbing aboard. “And I’ve a good idea who it was.”
Flynn took Lily’s oxygen tank. “What happened?”
“We were down near the ship,” she told him. “It was clear and you could see the wreck easily. Suddenly a load of sand got stirred up and Ryan’s breathing equipment stopped working. The air hose had been cut.”
“Why would someone do that?” Kit demanded, halfway up the ladder while he waited for Seren to board ahead of him.
“Because I found something,” Ryan said. “A metal container of some sort. I had it in my hands, but then I suddenly couldn’t see anything and my regulator stopped working.”
“What happened to the container?” Seren asked.
“I don’t know. It was in my hand and then it was gone. I was busy trying to get my octo, but that wasn’t working either, so I headed for Lily and we surfaced.”
“Octo?” Flynn asked, close to Lily’s ear.
“It’s a backup breathing device.”
“Thank god you’re all right,” Seren said, eyes round.
“That’s crazy,” the ginger-haired guy said, coming to stand beside Lily.
“Hi,” she said, extending her hand.
He introduced himself as Benji, and the taller guy, Kurt, came and said hello in a distinct Australian accent.
Initially, she’d thought them both very young, but up close she’d guess they were older than her – probably early thirties.
“I cannot believe he’d stoop this low,” Ryan muttered, eyes fixed on the other boat which was heading their way.
“Everything all right?” a middle-aged guy with thinning hair called out. “It got chaotic down there with all that sand stirring up.”
Ryan raised his regulator with the cut hose plain to see. “I know we’ve had our differences, but I can’t believe you’d sabotage my equipment.”
“What are you talking about?” the guy said as the woman at the helm cut the engine and left the boat to bob alongside theirs. “What the heck happened to your hose?”
“Someone cut it,” Ryan shouted. “And my octo, too.”
“Come on!” The guy pulled his chin in. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I found something down there. Someone cut my air supply and took it from me.”
The guy on the other boat looked perplexed. “For one thing, I wouldn’t do that. For another, I was nowhere near you.”
“He wasn’t,” the woman agreed, stepping beside the man. “He was with me.”
“Then did you, by any chance, see who cut my hose?”
She shook her head. “I turned around and the wreck had disappeared into a cloud of sand.”
“Let’s just take a breath,” Flynn said, stepping beside Ryan. “Sorry,” he added. “Bad choice of words. But is it possible your hose got snagged on something down there?”
“It’s cut almost clean through,” Ryan said, shoving it in front of Flynn’s face. “A knife did that.” He turned back to the guy on the other boat. “This is low even for you, Harry.”
“I wouldn’t do something like that,” Harry replied. “I’d like to find treasure the same as everyone, but I wouldn’t sabotage anyone over it.” He rolled his eyes. “Even you.”
“Anything found down there could be worth a fair bit,” Ryan said, tension tightening his jaw.
“Nothing’s worth killing someone over,” Harry responded. “Especially not when there’s no guarantee of a reward. We don’t even know if salvage rights will apply yet.”
“Maybe not, but don’t try to tell me Eustace Tremayne didn’t make you the same offer he made me.”
Harry laughed loudly. “You know as well as I do that Eustace Tremayne is as mad as a hatter. I told him where to go as soon as he made me an offer.”
“Who’s Eustace Tremayne?” Flynn asked. “And what’s he got to do with this?”
“He’s a crazy old guy who lives over on Bryher,” Seren said, eyebrows pulling together. “He’s about ninety years old and practically a recluse. Why would he have anything to do with the wreck?”
Ryan sighed. “Because he reckons he’s a descendant of the ship’s captain. He offered me cash if I bring him gold, or anything else I find. Offered my staff the same.”
“Ten grand for gold,” Kurt said from beside Lily.
Flynn blinked rapidly, clearly bewildered by the entire situation.
“I’m telling you,” Harry said. “I didn’t even think about taking him up on it. Any finds should be properly documented as far as I’m concerned.”
“Well somebody here doesn’t share your morals,” Ryan said. “And it sure as heck wasn’t anyone on my boat.”
Harry threw up his hands. “You can come aboard and search the boat if you don’t believe me.”
“That might not be a bad idea,” Ryan said.
“When you don’t find anything, we can search your boat too,” Harry said. “At this point I wouldn’t put it past you to have cut your own hose and make a fuss so you can smuggle this artefact out for yourself.”
“Ah, for god’s sake,” Ryan muttered.
Flynn tilted his head. “If everyone is okay with it, I’ll happily do a search.”
Ryan looked thoughtful. “Don’t bother. You won’t find anything. Harry’s clever enough to cover his tracks. That box will be stashed down there somewhere for him to retrieve later. ”
“Or maybe you just dropped it,” Harry snapped.
“Maybe I did!” Ryan shouted. “It’s a little difficult to concentrate when you suddenly can’t breathe.”
“Should we go back down and look for it?” Kurt said, taking a step towards Ryan.
Ryan’s gaze went to the buoy marking the wreck.
“I’m not sure there’s much point, given that it’s difficult to see anything down there now.
” He checked his watch, then sucked in a lungful of air.
“We also need to get back. The equipment will all need a thorough going over before we take customers out.”
“We can come back and look for it later,” Benji said.
Not seeming to register the comment, Ryan turned to Flynn. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. “I don’t know what happened down there,” he muttered.
“Whoever cut your hose must have been carrying a knife,” Flynn pointed out.
Lily could see where his thoughts were, and it was a logical train of thought for a non-diver. “It wouldn’t prove anything,” she said. “It’s normal for divers to carry knives. For safety. In case you get snagged or something.”
“I always carry one,” Harry said, tapping the sheath on his upper arm, before pointing at Ryan. “So does he.”
“Lily’s right,” Ryan agreed. “That’s not proof.”
Harry looked at Flynn. “Are we free to leave? I’ve got paying customers I need to get back for.”
Flynn looked questioningly at Ryan.
“There’s no proof of anything,” Ryan said, then shot Harry an icy look. “Not yet anyway. But it’s going to look very shady if you or Nat show up with a small metal box in the next few days.”
“I’m telling you,” Harry said. “I did nothing. I’m offended you think I’d do something like that.”
“Funny what people will do for a cash injection,” Ryan said, before turning away from Harry.
“I’d like your names,” Flynn said, pulling out his notepad. “Then you’re free to go.”
While he scribbled away, Lily followed Seren and Kit’s lead in peeling off their wetsuits and getting dry.
She was pulling her shorts on when the Australian guy caught her eye. Sitting on the bench with his wetsuit peeled down to his waist, he rummaged in the backpack on the seat beside him. He stared at something in his hand, turning over the small object.
Immediately, Lily’s investigative instincts kicked in and she tried to home in on the small object. The boat lurched on a wave and he lost his grip on it.
In a flash, Lily moved to pluck it from the deck.
“You dropped something,” she said to Kurt, the statement redundant since the panic in his eyes made it clear he knew he’d dropped something.
Having wondered if it was something from the shipwreck, the USB stick in her hand was a colossal disappointment. There was no way it was a relic from over a hundred years ago.
She’d just handed it back when Benji appeared at Kurt’s side.
“That’s mine, isn’t it?” he asked Kurt, an undercurrent of tension in his tone.
“Oh.” Kurt stared at it for a moment before handing it over. “Yeah.”
“What is it?” Lily asked, intrigued by the exchange.
Benji pressed his lips together. “Just some photos of the wreck from yesterday.”
“They didn’t come out well,” Kurt said. “But Benji reckons he might be able to polish them up. Hopefully the ones we took today will come out better.”
“If you have any good ones, I’d love to see them,” Lily said.
“Sure,” Benji said. “If there’s anything, I’ll pay you a visit at your shop. Any excuse for some of your ice cream.”
“Lily!” Kit called. “Let’s get going. I have a train trip in an hour.”
“I’m coming,” she said gathering up her stuff and joining them in the small boat to take a seat beside Flynn.
They waved at Ryan, who was gearing up to leave, too.
“That was eventful,” Lily remarked as the little boat bumped over the waves.
“Very dodgy,” Flynn said. “None of you saw anything?”
Lily looked to Seren and Kit.
“One minute everything was clear and the next I could hardly see anything,” Seren said.
Flynn frowned. “Did you see who was closest to Ryan before things got murky?”
“I think Harry and Nat weren’t too far from us,” Kit said. “I’m not sure about Benji and Kurt. I really couldn’t say for sure.” He cast a questioning look at Seren.
“I’m not sure,” she said apologetically.
“I need to talk to the sergeant about it,” Flynn said. “See if I should investigate further.”
“Anyone thinking what I’m thinking?” Seren asked, her eyes widening dramatically. “Maybe it was the spirit of the ship. It doesn’t want anyone taking its stuff.”
While Lily couldn’t help but giggle, Kit rolled his eyes and exchanged an exasperated look with Flynn.