Page 2 of The Sunken Truth (Lily Larkin Mysteries #5)

Chapter Two

The message Flynn had received from the sergeant was rather cryptic – merely saying he needed to speak with him as soon as he arrived at work.

Considering the size of the police station, the message felt somewhat redundant.

They always spoke at the start of his shift, unless the sergeant wasn’t on duty.

It had Flynn intrigued enough that he arrived a quarter of an hour early. PC Hill was in the sergeant’s office and both of his colleagues greeted him with smiles that looked altogether unnatural.

“What’s going on?” Flynn asked.

The sergeant nodded to the seat beside PC Hill. “I was just telling Jeff that I received an interesting email yesterday evening.”

“Yeah?” Flynn dropped into the chair.

The sergeant shifted in his seat. “Probably not a big deal, but it seems we’ll be getting a visit from one of our superiors on the mainland.” He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze to the desk. “Superintendent Brand will arrive later today. ”

Flynn’s stomach lurched. “Why? He’s in the Met. Why would he come here?”

“His email said he wants to see how things are done over here.” The sergeant raised his hands in a puzzled gesture. “Sometimes the superintendents like to check out what’s going on elsewhere.”

“Really?” Flynn sighed. “So this is a regular occurrence, is it?”

PC Hill swallowed hard. “Maybe not very regular…” He looked helplessly at Sergeant Proctor.

“Like I say, it’s not a big deal…”

“Right.” Flynn scrubbed a hand over his face. “Do you think at some point we should acknowledge that his visit probably has something to do with me?”

“I was going to get to that,” the sergeant said, scratching at his jaw. “I just didn’t want to… I mean, I wasn’t sure…” For someone usually very articulate, it was almost painful to watch the sergeant flounder.

“It’s fine,” Flynn said. “You don’t need to walk on eggshells on my account. The man can’t stand me. There’s no reason for us to pretend otherwise.”

“He didn’t mention you in his email…”

“Even so, I would guess the reason for his visit is to find new ways to torture me.”

“Wait…” PC Hill’s brow wrinkled thoughtfully. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing…”

“How do you work that one out?” Flynn asked.

“He’s the reason you got transferred over here, right?”

Flynn nodded.

“Which means he might have the sway to get your posting here extended. All you have to do is act like you hate it and can’t wait to leave…”

A spark of hope sputtered in Flynn’s chest .

“I suspect that won’t work,” the sergeant said, a sheepish undertone to his words.

Flynn glared at him. “Why?”

“I emailed him a couple of weeks ago.” Guilt flashed in the sergeant’s eyes. “I thought it might be worth a shot to ask him about extending your stay here.”

“You told him I want to stay on?” Flynn asked, hope dying in his chest.

“Yes. And I also mentioned what an asset you are to the team.”

Flynn laughed. “Okay, maybe it’s not me he’s here to see then. I think he has a new enemy.”

“Why would he have an issue with my email?” the sergeant asked.

“Because you essentially told him he has poor judgement.”

“No, I didn’t,” the sergeant argued.

Flynn tilted his head. “I assume that when he was arranging my transfer here he told you I was a terrible officer and a complete waste of space. He probably apologised for sending me your way?”

“Maybe something along those lines,” he admitted.

“Now you’ve emailed him and said I’m a good officer and you enjoy having me around. He’ll hate you now, too. Trust me.”

“It was strange that he didn’t reply,” the sergeant mused.

“How does he have such a good reputation?” PC Hill asked. “He sounds awful.”

Flynn shrugged. “Generally, he’s firm but fair. And he’s dedicated to his job. People respect that.”

“So what’s his problem with you?” PC Hill asked. “What did you do to get on his bad side?”

Flynn had asked himself the same question, but had never come up with a good answer. “Personality clash,” he said nonchalantly. “You know how these things can be.”

“There’s a story about you sleeping with his daughter,” PC Hill said. “Is that true?”

“No.” Flynn smiled lightly. It had probably been easier when his colleagues hadn’t felt comfortable enough to dig into his private life, but he supposed it was a good thing that PC Hill finally felt he could quiz him.

“You slept with someone’s daughter, though?” he asked.

Flynn grinned. “Lots of people’s.”

“I feel as though we’re getting off track,” Sergeant Proctor said.

Ignoring him, PC Hill kept talking. “That’s the rumour…

that you slept with some high-ranking officer’s daughter and angered the wrong people.

The superintendent wanted you out of the force altogether, but your dad stepped in and pulled strings to get you transferred over here…

hoping things would calm down with you out of the way for a while. ”

“Where did you hear that?” Flynn asked.

“I still have friends in the Met.”

“You worked in London?” Flynn shook his head, feeling as though he should have made more effort to get to know Jeff.

“Yeah. So is it true?”

“Sort of.” He rubbed at his forehead, unprepared for the conversation and not sure how much he wanted to explain.

“Did you ask your dad?” Jeff said.

Flynn blinked a couple of times. “Ask him what?”

“About making your position here permanent. If it was him who facilitated you being transferred here, maybe he can help.”

“I don’t think that would work out.” He opened his mouth to continue but felt suddenly lost for words.

“I don’t think it would either,” the sergeant said .

“Did you already ask him?” Jeff asked the sergeant. “You used to know him, right?”

“I worked with him years ago.” He waved a hand in front of his face.

“I don’t see how he could really help, though.

It would put him in a difficult position.

It’s one thing to get Flynn a temporary position here, but pulling strings to create a permanent position is bound to get people whispering about nepotism. ”

Flynn felt a twinge of amusement at the idea of his dad doing anything that was likely to invite claims of nepotism. He appreciated the sergeant’s spin on things, though.

“So you’re really leaving next month?” PC Hill asked.

“It seems like it.” Flynn felt a pang of despair at the thought. The next four weeks would go by in a blink, and then he’d be back in London. Best not to think about that. “How long will the superintendent be around for?” he asked, focussing on the more pressing issue.

“I imagine he’ll only stay a day or two,” the sergeant said. “And no matter what he’s here for, it’s business as usual for us. Let’s show him how policing is done on an island.”

“Maybe that’s not the greatest idea,” Flynn said. “Considering we mostly do nothing.”

The sergeant flashed a look of mock annoyance. “As it happens, we may have a busy few days. What with this shipwreck being discovered.”

“That’s true, is it?” Flynn had heard about it on the local radio while he’d been getting ready for work, but it had sounded a little fantastical.

“No one knows for certain what they found,” PC Hill said. “The guy from the dive school who found it – Ryan – he’s convinced it’s the Isles Fortune, but that’s yet to be verified.”

“Does this sort of thing happen a lot?” Flynn asked. “Shipwrecks rising out of the seabed.”

The sergeant shook his head. “There are plenty of shipwrecks around the islands, but we don’t generally get new ones showing up.

Even if it doesn’t turn out to be anything of historical interest, it’s going to draw a crowd for a while.

I want one of you out there today to monitor things.

The thought of hidden treasure is likely to send some people doolally. ”

“There’s not really going to be gold down there, is there?” Flynn asked.

“I can’t imagine it,” the sergeant said. “But who knows? Would one of you like to volunteer for keeping an eye on the dive site this afternoon?”

“Volunteer to sit on a boat in full sunshine and full uniform?” PC Hill scoffed. “Shotgun not me.”

Flynn shrugged. “I’ll do it.”

“Thanks. I’ll be out for the next couple of hours,” the sergeant said with his eyes on PC Hill. “That leaves you on the front desk.”

PC Hill took the hint when Sergeant Proctor tipped his head towards the door.

Fairly sure the sergeant wasn’t finished with him, Flynn stayed put.

“What do you want me to do about the superintendent’s visit?” he asked once they were alone. “Do you want me to schedule you a couple of days off while he’s here?”

Flynn inhaled through his nose, fighting the urge to take him up on the offer. “I did nothing wrong,” he said after a pause. “I refuse to hide from him.”

The sergeant nodded sagely.

“You didn’t tell PC Hill the whole story,” Flynn stated .

“I’m fairly sure I don’t know the whole story,” the sergeant said curtly. “So it’d be difficult for me to tell Jeff.”

“You haven’t even told him the part you do know…” Flynn trailed off and dropped his head to his hands as he realised why the sergeant had held his tongue. “You were told to keep it to yourself, weren’t you?”

“The conversations I had about you moving over here were all pretty odd,” the sergeant said, eyebrows raised. “I still find the whole thing strange. It would certainly be helpful if you could explain your side of things.”

Flynn’s laughter had a manic edge. “I won’t sit here and explain myself when I did nothing wrong.

The superintendent has had it in for me since I joined the force.

Mostly, I tried to stay out of his way, but then…

” He paused, not wanting to get into details.

“Obviously things kicked off. Before I came here, he explicitly told me it’s his personal mission to ruin my career. ”

“Why not make an official complaint against him?”

“It won’t make any difference. And it doesn’t matter, anyway. I think he’ll be content if I never get promoted and I never get any kind of recognition for my work. Which isn’t so bad. I’m happy being a PC. So long as I don’t give him a reason to get me kicked off the job, I’ll be fine.”

The sergeant closed his eyes briefly. “I think I’m going to struggle to be civil to Superintendent Brand.”

“When’s he arriving?” Flynn asked.

The sergeant checked his watch. “Soon. I need to meet him at the airport.”

“Where’s he staying?”

“He’s booked in at the Star Castle. I’m sure he’ll only be here for a day or two.”

“Fingers crossed.” Flynn headed for the door. “I’ll be on a boat somewhere if you need me. ”

The sergeant chuckled. “Not hiding, though?”

Flynn couldn’t help but smile. “Of course not. Any bright ideas about how I might get hold of a boat?”

“Surely you’ve been here long enough to figure that one out for yourself.”

Flynn rolled his eyes as he exited the sergeant’s office.

Apparently, he was off to the harbour to find someone to help him out with water transport.