Page 28 of The Sunken Truth (Lily Larkin Mysteries #5)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lily slept fitfully – her mind determined to chew over the dive with Ryan, as though she might have overlooked something vital.

After a phone call with Flynn the previous evening, she’d spent some time on the internet, hoping to find someone trying to sell the artefact from the wreck, but came up blank.

Flynn’s message late in the evening told her he’d had no luck either.

Finding the artefact would be the key to figuring out who cut Ryan’s hose, she was sure of it.

Restless, she left the flat early and headed for the harbour, pulling out her phone and calling Seren as she went.

“Can you tell me everything you remember from the dive?” she said, dodging around a puddle.

“I just woke up,” Seren complained through a yawn.

“Is Kit with you?”

“Yes.”

“Put me on speaker. We can go over it together. I feel as though we’re missing something. I have to figure out who has the treasure.”

With a sigh, Seren put her on speaker and she greeted Kit, who sounded way more energetic. He happily went through everything again.

“Flynn seems fairly sure it wasn’t Harry or Nat,” Lily said, reaching the harbour which was buzzing with people. Some waited to board the Scillonian to go back to Penzance while several dive teams geared up to go out to the shipwreck.

“That leaves Kurt and Benji,” Lily added, shouldering her way through the line of people waiting to board the ferry. “Are you sure you didn’t see them near to Ryan?”

“You were there too,” Seren pointed out. “What did you see?”

“Everyone was spread out around the wreck. But I was looking the other way. When I turned around, it was difficult to see anything.”

“Same,” Seren said.

“No way Benji had anything to do with it,” Kit said. “And if he says Kurt was with him the whole time, I’d believe him.”

“Can you think of a reason Ryan would have cut the hose himself?”

“No,” Seren said, yawning again.

“I need to figure it out. Flynn is really stressed.” Lily looked at one of the dive boats that was leaving the harbour, then her shoulder was knocked by a tall man striding along.

“Sorry,” he said, turning back. “Oh. We’ve met before.”

“I’ll call you back,” Lily said into the phone before addressing the curator from the British Museum. “Morris, isn’t it?”

“Yes! You’ve got a better memory than me.”

“Lily,” she reminded him. “How’s everything going?”

“The storm threw all our plans off yesterday, but I’m hoping it might be a good thing. Hopefully, things have shifted down there and we’ll have better access to the wreck. ”

“Fingers crossed.”

“Maybe today will be the day we strike gold!” he said cheerfully.

“Haven’t you recovered anything? ” she asked, then heard how judgemental she sounded.

He didn’t seem to notice. “Not yet. But our equipment picked up a variety of different metals down there, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.”

“Did it pick up gold? Can it do that?”

“Yes. It showed a small amount. It’s not always reliable, though. At least we know it’s the Isles Fortune now.”

“Really? How so?”

His eyes lit up. “Eustace Tremayne called me this morning, informing me of an item retrieved from the seabed. A cigar box with his grandfather’s initials.”

“Where did he get it from?” Lily asked.

“He won’t say how he came to have it in his possession, but we know he was offering rewards.

Someone obviously took him up on it. I’ll be going over to his place later to have a look at it myself.

First, I’m going out to the wreck site to see how the land lies after the storm…

or the seabed, I should say!” He chuckled and moved away from her.

Lily fumbled with her phone, scrambling to Flynn’s number.

Sitting at the front desk, Flynn scrolled over the social media page for the Isles of Scilly Police. He’d replied to all the new posts and was just staring at the screen now.

He’d been all set to go down to the harbour – with the ferry arriving and the divers heading out to the wreck, it would no doubt be busy down there – but PC Hill had beaten him to it.

Maybe he’d join him, anyway. It’d get him out of the station and shift his mind from the superintendent who would no doubt arrive at any moment and not so subtly point out what a waste of space Flynn was. He couldn’t even defend himself, since he seemed to have hit a dead end in the case.

He’d just powered down the computer when the door swung open. The arrival of the superintendent made every muscle in Flynn’s body tense.

“Any luck finding the cursed treasure?” he said, not bothering with a greeting.

Flynn shook his head. “Not yet.”

At the door to the back rooms, Superintendent Brand paused and set his steely gaze on Flynn. “I think I’ve seen all I need to see here. I’ll be heading back to London tomorrow.”

Flynn merely nodded while his emotions warred. On the one hand, it would be a relief to be rid of him, but it would be better if Flynn had proved himself as a competent police constable while the superintendent was around.

The phone on his desk rang, spurring the superintendent to continue through to the back. Flynn forced some energy into his voice as he answered.

“It’s Helen Carlisle,” the woman said. “We met when you were looking for my tenant…”

“Kurt?”

“Yeah.” She paused. “I don’t know if you need to know, but it’s a bit strange, so I thought I’d give you a quick call.”

“What’s strange?” Flynn asked, sitting straight in his chair.

“Kurt came over this morning and told me he’s leaving.

Apparently something came up, and he needs to get back to Australia urgently.

He’s packed his stuff up and says he’s getting on the ferry this morning.

He paid his rent for the next month, so it’s not a big deal for me, but I just thought it seemed odd for him to leave out of the blue like that. ”

“It is odd,” Flynn said. “He’s getting the ferry today?”

“That’s what he said.”

Flynn checked his watch. There were a couple of hours before the ferry left for Penzance. “Thank you for letting me know. That’s helpful.”

He’d only just ended the call when the phone rang again. Ryan sounded decidedly agitated as he informed Flynn that Kurt had quit his job without notice. He assured him he was looking into it, and promised to keep him abreast of any developments.

As he said goodbye to Ryan, his mobile rang. He smiled at Lily’s name flashing on the screen and answered immediately.

“I might have a lead,” Flynn said, feeling a pulse of excitement. “Kurt’s landlady just called to tell me he’s packed up and is leaving the islands. He quit his job too. Ryan’s not happy.”

Lily sucked in a breath that whistled through her teeth. “That’s interesting, because Morris just told me that someone handed an artefact from the wreck to Eustace Tremayne. It’s a cigar box.”

Flynn stood and moved to the back rooms. “That sounds as though it could be what Ryan found.”

“Do you think Kurt claimed some reward money and is making a quick getaway?”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Has Eustace said who gave him the box?”

“No. Apparently he wouldn’t say.”

“Then we need to get over there and make him tell us.”

“I’ll ask Pippa if I can borrow the boat again.”

“I’ll meet you at the beach. ”

He avoided meeting the superintendent’s eye when he walked into the sergeant’s office to tell him of his plan to visit Eustace Tremayne.

Leaving the station, he felt a stirring of hope that maybe he could figure everything out before the superintendent left.