Page 41 of Dead in the Water

“I feel as though I’m missing something.” Flynn ran his hands through his hair. “Maybe Lily’s right that there’s more to this case than an accident.”

“I’m not really seeing anything to suggest that.”

“It is strange that no one heard anything. The way they were all talking about having slept so well seems a little off.”

“They’d all been drinking, so that’s a factor.”

“I suppose. But what about the dispute over selling the boat?”

The sergeant shrugged. “I’d agree that would be concerning if they’d tried to hide it, but they were upfront about it.”

Flynn released a frustrated breath. “What if they were upfront about it because they knew it would be suspicious if it came out later? They seem like intelligent people. Maybe they thought being honest would put us off investigating further. Make it look as though they have nothing to hide…”

“Honestly, I’m not sure what we can do except wait for the post-mortem. You’ve already combed through the statements.”

“When will the post-mortem be?”

“I imagine the beginning of next week at this rate.”

“Why so long?”

“I spoke to the guy’s son. He’s arriving tomorrow afternoon. He wants to spend Friday going through his dad’s things on the boat. Then he’ll fly back with the body on Saturday morning. Realistically, nothing will get done over the weekend.”

Flynn turned his phone over, willing Lily to call him back. His gut was telling him something wasn’t right, but he wanted to hear it from Lily. Trustingherinstincts was far easier than trusting his own.

“That’s too long,” he said eventually. “You need to override the son’s wishes and put a rush on it.”

The sergeant perched against the corner of the other desk. “Do I?”

“Something isn’t adding up,” Flynn said. “I can’t put my finger on it, but I think it’s worth pushing for the post-mortem as soon as possible.”

“I’ve just spent the afternoon arranging to transport the body on Saturday.”

Flynn massaged his temples. “Okay.”

“I guess I could try to reorganise it for tomorrow, but it would involve several phone calls and probably a lot of grovelling and calling in favours. I’d also have to convince the coroner to put a rush on it… and who knows if there’s even a forensic pathologist available before next week…”

Flynn raised a hopeful eyebrow.

“I’ll see what I can manage,” the sergeant said, shaking his head as he walked back to his office.

“Thank you!” Flynn called after him, a surge of triumph lifting his spirits.

The impulse to tell Lily had him reaching for his phone, before remembering she wasn’t speaking to him.

Chapter Nineteen

Knowingthat Joseph’s friends had frequented the hotel bar every evening during their stay at the Star Castle, meant Lily didn’t have to do a lot of detective work to track them down.

She spotted Kerry, Vic and Russell as soon as she entered the underground bar.

Keeping her gaze fixed on Sean, she walked up to him and exchanged greetings before ordering a glass of white wine. He poured her a drink, and was immediately drawn away to serve other customers.

After a long swig of wine, she turned and feigned surprise as she caught Kerry’s eye.

“Hello!” she said with a manic little wave.

Kerry responded with a bemused smile.

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