Page 66 of Dead in the Water

“Maybe he’ll decide to extend his stay here,” Seren said eagerly. “I’d actually be amazed if he doesn’t. He probably just needs a bit of time to make that decision. I guess it’s a big deal for him career-wise.”

“Can we change the subject, please?” It really was making her feel queasy. “How come you’re not at work?”

“Because once or twice a week I get a day off,” she said mockingly. “Today is one of them.”

“Got anything nice planned?”

“We’re having dinner with Mirren later. That’s about it.” She dropped her sandals at the top of the beach and pushed her feet back into them. “How was your sailing trip yesterday, by the way?”

“Fine.”

“You didn’t find out anything interesting about the friends of the dead guy?”

“I found out some interesting stuff, but I’m not sure any of it is relevant to Joseph’s death.” She took a seat outside the shop and brushed the sand from her feet. “There is something that I can’t work out… can you think of a reason it would be financially beneficial for the rest of them to sell Joseph’s share in the boat?”

“I don’t think so. Unless they were selling part of their share in it, too.”

Lily shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the case. And from what I can gather, the guy who wants to buy the boat was trying to buy it for less than it’s worth. Could that benefit the others?”

“I can’t see how.”

“It’s probably nothing,” Lily said, putting her socks on. “And they’re leaving tomorrow, so I guess I won’t find out anything else.” She pushed her feet into her shoes. “There’s also a possibility I was only looking into it as a distraction from all this stuff with Flynn.” An image of Joseph came into her head. “No, it wasn’t only that,” she said, correcting herself. “He was a nice guy, and I just wanted to be sure there was nothing more to his death.”

“And?” Seren said, taking a seat too. “You’re sure it was an accident?”

“I guess we can’t ever be sure,” she replied, while probing her insides for her gut reaction. “I wish I’d spoken to Joseph’s son. That was mostly why I went for dinner with them last night. I thought I might get to meet him.”

“Has he left again already?”

“No, but I also don’t want to thrust myself on him.”

“That’s not like you,” Seren said.

Lily rolled her eyes, but her voice was serious when she spoke. “I was actually desperate to speak to him, but if it turns out that Joseph’s death was just an accident, then suggesting otherwise with no evidence would be incredibly insensitive.”

“I was only teasing.” Seren gave Lily’s arm a squeeze. “Of course you don’t want to cause him any unnecessary upset.”

“I wish there was a way I could speak to him though.” She genuinely couldn’t think of a way to approach him which wouldn’t seem intrusive. A shadow fell over them, breaking her from her thoughts. She looked up at Sean. “You’re exceptionally good at sneaking up on people.”

“I can’t help it.” His smile was part smirk. “Next to two beauties like you, I’m practically invisible, I’m sure.”

“You need to update your chat up lines,” Seren said. “I swear you’ve been using the same ones since we were fourteen.”

“Do you know each other?” Lily asked.

Seren nodded. “We went to school together.”

“I’ve got something for you,” he told Lily, then drew his hand from behind his back to produce a bottle of wine.

“Thanks,” she said, a quizzical lilt to her voice.

“At three hundred quid for the bottle you may want to save it for a special occasion.”

“No!” Lily’s eyes widened. “Did you steal this?”

“You drank it last night, remember?”

“Except I didn’t.” She stared at him. “Why did you put such expensive wine on the bill?”

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