Page 35 of The Sunken Truth (Lily Larkin Mysteries #5)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lingering outside Jago’s house, Flynn mentally prepared himself for what would no doubt be a difficult conversation.

“They’re out on the patio,” Sylvie told him when she answered the door. “Go through.”

“They?” he asked.

“Trystan’s here.”

He nodded and made his way along the hallway and into the kitchen. He stepped outside to find the two brothers relaxing in the sunshine.

“Grab yourself a beer,” Jago called happily at the sight of him.

“I’m okay for the minute.” His insides twisted at the thought that he was about to ruin their peaceful evening.

Jago tilted his head when Flynn failed to sit. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry.” He pulled out the nearest chair. “I was thinking I’d speak to you alone, but maybe it’s better that I’ve got the two of you.”

“Now you can get double the opinions on your love life,” Jago said, stretching his legs out as he sank further down the chair. “We’ll both say the same, though. You should stop messing about and go for it with Lily.”

Trystan nodded his agreement.

“It’s not Lily I wanted to speak to you about.” He paused, pondering whether it would have been better to have come in uniform and dealt with it in a more official manner. He told himself it didn’t matter what he was wearing, he could still treat the situation as he would if he were on duty.

“I’ll get to the point,” he said. “Apologies if this sounds very blunt, but there’s not an easy way to say it. While I was investigating another matter this week, I came across footage of your dad.”

Jago sat up straighter in his chair and both men stared at him.

“What kind of footage?” Trystan asked.

“Someone was on a boat and a video was taken – they didn’t realise they were recording and only later noticed that your dad’s boat is in the video – quite a distance away. From what we can tell, the video captures your dad’s final moments.”

“What does it show?” Jago asked, swallowing hard.

“It’s difficult to see clearly, but it appears to show him fall in the water. Unfortunately, it doesn’t shed any more light on what happened.”

“Someone had the video this whole time,” Trystan remarked. “Why didn’t they say anything?”

“He felt guilty that he’d been in the area at the time of his death and hadn’t been able to do anything to help.”

“He could hardly have done something if he didn’t see it happen,” Trystan said.

Flynn nodded. “He feels that things might have gone differently if he’d been more aware of his surroundings. ”

Trystan gave a frustrated shake of the head while Jago stayed quiet.

“How did you find the video?” Jago asked quietly.

“Someone else had got hold of it and was using it to blackmail the person who took it. He threatened to post it on social media. The person who’d taken the video was desperate for that not to happen.

He was concerned about how that would affect your family.

He did something stupid to get the video back. ”

“It’s someone we know then?” Trystan asked.

Flynn nodded.

“Are you allowed to tell us who it is?” Jago asked.

“Yes, but I’d question why you want to know. He already feels terrible, and with regard to your dad, I don’t think he really did anything wrong – though maybe he should have made the video known at the time he found it.”

Trystan shook his head again. “I’m sick of this.”

Flynn raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Dad died and that was hard enough to deal with, but the ripple effects of it just seem never-ending. So many people ended up eating themselves up because they feel they should have done something differently.”

He held out a hand and began counting with his fingers.

“Noah felt guilty because Dad had asked him to go out on the boat that day and he turned him down. Same for Kit. I was around at the time and was convinced that if I’d done something differently I could have prevented it.

” He pointed beside him. “Jago felt terrible because he hadn’t been home to visit for ages before dad died.

Lowen was a mess for ages after because he wasn’t here at the time.

” He paused and inhaled deeply. “I wouldn’t have anything negative to say to the person who took the video.

I’d only like to tell them to let it go.

Dad wouldn’t want people feeling bad on his account. ”

Jago nodded his agreement.

“It’s Benji Telford,” Flynn said.

Trystan smiled sadly. “He definitely would’ve helped dad if he’d realised he was in trouble. I don’t doubt that for a second.”

“You should probably know he’s likely looking at jail time for what he did to try to keep the video from being posted online.”

“What the heck did he do?” Jago asked.

Trystan sat forward in his seat and groaned. “Was it him who cut the air hose during the dive the other day? Kit was telling us about that.”

“Yes. He exchanged the artefact from the boat for the return of the video. The person blackmailing him claimed a reward for the artefact.”

“That Australian guy who works for Ryan Simmons?” Trystan asked.

Flynn nodded.

“I reckon it should be the guy who did the blackmailing that should go to prison,” Jago remarked.

“That’s also a possibility. Hopefully, given the circumstances and the fact that it seems clear Benji wasn’t intending any harm to come to Ryan, he may get a suspended sentence, or community service.”

“Fingers crossed,” Trystan muttered.

“Have you seen the video?” Jago asked.

“Yes. Though there isn’t much to see. It’s taken from a distance and it’s wobbly. It was actually a small child who took the video, probably by accident.” He paused. “I have it with me if you want to see it.”

Immediately, Jago shook his head. “I don’t want to see it.” He looked questioningly at his brother.

“Me neither,” Trystan said. “I have plenty of good memories of dad. I don’t need negative ones. Especially if it doesn’t tell us anything new.”

“What about the rest of the family?” Flynn ventured.

“We’ll talk to them,” Trystan said confidently. “They should know.”

“If anyone wants to see the video, send them to the station.”

“Thanks,” Jago said, with a tired smile.

“Sorry to ruin the mood.”

He shook his head. “Do you want a beer now?”

“No, thanks. I think I’ll leave you alone. You probably want to chat it all through.”

Jago stood when Flynn did and patted his back as he embraced him. “Thanks for coming over. Better to hear it from you.”

“Of course,” Flynn said, then shook Trystan’s hand before wandering back to the road.