Page 56 of Dead in the Water

“He kept flirting with me and being all creepy, but I think it was only when Kerry was around. He was trying to make her jealous or something.” It was a relief that he didn’t actually think he had a chance with Lily. “Poor Vic, though. Right under his nose. How doesn’t he notice?”

Flynn looked thoughtful. “He takes sleeping pills.”

“How do you know?”

“He mentioned it when we questioned him about the night Joseph died. It was another reason we didn’t think too much about no one hearing anything – he’d taken a sleeping tablet, and Joyce wears earplugs.”

Once again, Lily was annoyed with herself for not discussing things with Flynn earlier. She’d missed information because of it.

“Why does he take sleeping pills?” she asked.

“He just said he hasn’t been sleeping well. Convenient for his wife, I suppose. Presumably once he’s out for the count, she can slip away without fear of him waking and noticing her gone.”

“What does this mean regarding Joseph?” Lily said in a rush. “Does them having an affair change the circumstances of his death? Maybe Joseph found out about the two of them and they killed him to keep him quiet.” She stopped walking, remembering that Flynn had never thought there was anything suspicious about Joseph’s death.

“Anything is possible,” he said quietly. “But lots of people have affairs. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

Lily fell into step with him again. “I’m shocked. I’ve been following them for two days trying to find stuff out, but I really didn’t see that coming.”

“Have you found anything else out?” he asked, a heaviness to his words that made her feel bad for keeping him out of the loop.

“Not much. It seems Russell was in love with Joseph’s late wife.”

“If Joseph’s wife had still been alive, that would have been a motive for Russell to get Joseph out of the picture.”

Lily bunched her shoulders against the sudden chill in the air. “I thought you didn’t believe anyone killed Joseph.”

“I never said that.” He leaned so his shoulder bumped against hers as they walked. “There’s no evidence it was anything other than an accident. Until there’s some solid reason to think there’s more to it, there’s not much I can do. I’m hoping the results of the post-mortem might shed some light on things.”

“Why was there a sudden rush on the post-mortem?”

He hesitated for a moment. “Because I suggested it should be done quickly.”

“So you weren’t just ignoring my suspicions?” She didn’t dare look at him, because it suddenly felt ridiculous that he or the sergeant would dismiss her concerns.

“The sergeant told you we’d continue to look into it, and we have.” They fell silent for a moment before Flynn spoke again. “What else have you found?”

Lily pondered her time with Joseph’s friends. “Joyce seems to have a problem with Kerry. I think she feels steamrollered by her a lot of the time. Possibly by all of them. She’s upset about not having a larger cabin on the boat.”

The relief at finally being able to talk everything through was immediate.

“Also, Keith mentioned something about it being a financial benefit to them if Russell buys out Joseph’s share of the boat. Why would that be?”

Flynn’s eyebrows twitched together. “I don’t know. That sounds a little odd. But I don’t know much about expensive motor yachts. Maybe there’s a legitimate reason. I can ask the sergeant.”

“Thanks.” Slipping back into her friendship with Flynn had been instant, but she felt the sting of rejection once again as she remembered he only wanted to be friends with her.

“I know you’re annoyed with me,” he said, as though reading her mind. “But do you have to avoid me? I don’t like it.”

“I’ve been busy, that’s all,” she lied. “Why were you hanging around outside the shop in the dark?”

“Waiting for you. Obviously.”

“Did it occur to you I might have already been in bed? How long were you planning on waiting?”

He didn’t reply, and it only took Lily a moment to figure out why.

“You knew where I was! That’s why Seren wanted to know where I was… she was asking for you.”

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