Page 6 of The Sunken Truth (Lily Larkin Mysteries #5)

Chapter Six

Lily had been wrong to think that nothing could dampen her good mood. The pretentious superintendent had riled her right up. Or the way he’d spoken to Flynn had.

And the way Flynn seemed so distracted for the rest of the day. Actually, he’d been in a weird mood even before the superintendent had turned up. She had a suspicion it had been about him all along.

It played on her mind for their second dive, making it significantly less enjoyable. When she tried asking Flynn more about it on the ride home, he was dismissive.

But that was indicative, too. If the superintendent really was no one of interest, Flynn wouldn’t have been so keen to change the subject.

She wondered if it had something to do with the reason Flynn was on the Scillies. All she knew was that he’d got on the bad side of someone high up in the police force.

Maybe it had been Superintendent Brand.

When Kit dropped her and Flynn off at Porthcressa Beach, she still couldn’t get anything out of him and he bid her a curt goodbye at the top of the beach, claiming he needed to get back to the station.

It didn’t sit well with her that Flynn was out of sorts, and it niggled at her while she closed the shop with Jessica.

They were clearing away the outside tables and chairs when she spotted PC Hill chatting with an elderly couple outside of the cafe further along the promenade. Lily waved and was about to head back inside when he gestured for her to wait and broke away from his conversation.

“Have you heard from Flynn today?” he asked, drawing up in front of her.

“I spent all afternoon out at the dive site with him.”

“Did you dive?” he asked eagerly.

“Yeah.”

“Find any gold?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Can you actually see the shipwreck, though?”

“There’s something there,” Lily said. “The seabed is all stirred up, so it’s difficult to say for sure that it’s even a ship.”

“I reckon there’s about another twenty-four hours before the site gets closed to the public and the officials take over.”

“I can’t imagine there’s actually gold down there,” Lily said. “It seems far-fetched.”

“It’ll get the historians excited. And the treasure-hunters.”

Lily shook her head at what felt like a bizarre conversation.

“Anyway, how was Flynn today?”

She jutted her chin out. “How do you mean?”

“I thought he might have said something to you.” He scratched at his jaw and looked thoughtful.

“About the superintendent who’s visiting?” Lily asked, taking a stab.

“Yeah. The sergeant told me to keep an eye on Flynn but…” He shrugged. “We get on well these days, but I don’t think he’d confide in me. I thought maybe you could look out for him too. He might need someone to talk to.”

“Why?” Lily asked. “I know he was in a bad mood and the superintendent seemed to have something to do with it, but Flynn was tight-lipped about it.”

Again, PC Hill scratched his smooth jaw. “I don’t know the full story, but the superintendent is the reason Flynn was transferred over here. I think he wanted to get him kicked off the force, but didn’t have a legitimate reason.”

Lily groaned. “I thought that might be the case. Flynn never told me what exactly happened to get him transferred here. Just that he annoyed the wrong person.”

“Yeah. Superintendent Brand. Although, I think annoy doesn’t quite cover it. The man has got major beef with Flynn.”

“You don’t know why?”

“From what I heard, there was some party with a load of officers. Flynn made a scene of some sort and it got him firmly on the wrong side of the superintendent.”

Lily tipped her head and took a few steps away from the shop, so Jessica wouldn’t overhear.

She lowered her voice. “When I first got here, there were rumours that Flynn had slept with some high-ranking officer’s daughter. I asked him about it and he didn’t deny it – but he also wouldn’t talk about it. Maybe it was the superintendent’s daughter.”

“I thought the same, but it can’t be that.”

“Why not?”

“I did a bit of digging around. The superintendent doesn’t have a daughter of an appropriate age.”

“But he has a daughter? Because if she’s young, that would certainly explain?— ”

“I’ll stop you there,” PC Hill said, raising a hand. “She’s a kid. About ten.”

“Oh.” Lily swallowed. “Maybe it was his wife? Or maybe it’s nothing to do with who Flynn was sleeping with. Maybe that rumour was completely wrong.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.” He lifted an eyebrow. “I’m also wondering if Flynn didn’t do anything wrong at all, and it’s just a case of the superintendent taking a dislike to him.”

“Or maybe the superintendent has something to hide. Maybe Flynn knows stuff about him and he’s trying to keep him quiet.”

“You’d think he’d be nicer if Flynn has secrets about him.”

“True.” She grimaced. “I hate talking about him behind his back.”

“I’m not a fan of it either. Surprisingly, I’ve come to really like Flynn. That’s the only reason I’m saying anything. I’d like to help him, but it’s difficult to know how when he won’t talk about it.”

“Maybe he’ll open up,” Lily mused, more to herself than to PC Hill. “We just need to be there and support him until he feels he can.”

“Thanks.” He patted her arm. “That’s good advice. You take care.”

“You too,” she murmured as he walked away.

Her stomach tightened thinking that Flynn was going through a tough time and wouldn’t share it with anyone. It also bothered her that he didn’t feel he could talk to her.

That wasn’t a productive line of thought, though. What she’d said to PC Hill was true – she just needed to be there for him.

Even if he didn’t want to talk.