Page 76 of Dead in the Water

“Thanks,” Kerry said sarcastically. “Glad to know you think so highly of me.”

“I’m going to check the weather reports one more time before we leave,” Russell said, before the door to the cabin clicked.

Through the crack, Lily watched Vic take a seat on the bed.

“What are you grinning about?” Kerry snapped. “Sometimes I’d swear you enjoy swindling him.”

Vic barked out a laugh. “I’m swindlinghim?He’s the one sleeping with my wife.”

Shock almost had Lily blowing her cover. She pressed her hand over her mouth to ensure no sound escaped. Vic already knew that Kerry was cheating on him. And apparently he wasn’t overly concerned by it.

“He’s actually a sweet man,” Kerry said defensively. “Don’t you feel bad at all?”

“Do I feel bad about fleecing the guy who’s sleeping with my wife? No, I can’t say I lose a lot of sleep over that.”

Through the silence, Lily could almost feel the tension in the room.

“Listen,” Vic said calmly. “Just get a couple more pieces of jewellery from him, then let him down gently. Tell him you feel too guilty or something. You’ll need to be careful because we don’t want to lose him as captain. Not now we’ll finally be able to do all the travelling we planned.”

“What if I don’t want to break things off?” Kerry said quietly.

Lily turned her ear to the door at the unbearable silence.

“You’re serious?” Vic asked, then paused before speaking again in an oddly calm tone. “So that’s why you were so keen for him to get the bigger cabin.”

“Well, we haven’t been intimate for years. It’s…” She stumbled over her words before giving up on the sentence.

“For god’s sake,” Vic spat. “Do what you want as long as you’re discreet. And make sure he never finds out I know.”

“I’d hardly let that slip. I wouldn’t look very good in that conversation either, would I?”

“Come on.” Vic stood and strode towards the door. “We need to go up on deck. Russell’s keen to get going.”

“Hang on,” Kerry said when he was beside her. “There’s something I need to ask you…”

“Get on with it then,” he said impatiently.

Kerry cast her eyes to the floor. “Why do you have sleeping pills with you?”

“What?”

“The sleeping pills in your bedside table.”

“Oh, those. I told you I must have picked up the wrong ones.”

“But why do you have sleeping pills at all?”

“They’re old ones. From my knee surgery. Do you remember I didn’t end up needing them?”

“Yes, but…” Her voice was suddenly brittle, all trace of confidence gone. “You also told the police you’d taken a sleeping pill the night Joseph died…”

“Yes, that was just because I knew you’d been telling Russell I take them when you sneak off with him. I thought it best to cover our tracks in case he mentioned it.”

“Right. But you didn’t take any?”

“No. I didn’t even know I had them with me.” He took a step towards the door, but Kerry stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Why are there three missing from the pack?”

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