Page 30 of The Sunken Truth
“This is getting creepier by the second,” she remarked, then stepped back to look up at the shuttered windows on the first floor. “Is this why you were so desperate for me to come with you – were you scared to come alone?”
In response, Flynn gave her a nudge, then straightened his spine when the door opened.
“Can I help you?”
If the tall man with bushy grey hair really was in his nineties, Lily would start to think the water on the Scillies was drugged with some anti-aging potion.
“Hi,” Flynn said. “I’m PC Grainger. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. I’m assuming you’re Eustace Tremayne?”
“That’s me.” His eyes slid to Lily. “Are you one of those women police constables?”
“No,” she said, fighting a grin. “I own an ice cream shop.”
He tugged at the collar of his green corduroy shirt. “There used to be an ice cream shop on the promenade in Hugh Town. Lovely little place.”
“That’s my place now,” Lily said. “I reopened it.”
“Marvellous.” His bushy grey eyebrows shifted upwards. “A seaside town needs an ice cream shop. I don’t know how it survived so long without one.”
“Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?” Flynn said again.
“Not at all. Happy to answer anything I can. What would you like to know?”
“It’s regarding the shipwreck which has been discovered at Bishop Rock Lighthouse…”
“Ah, yes. Grandpa’s ship. Wonderful man. One minor slip in judgement, but he made up for it in the years afterwards.”
Flynn jutted his chin out. “Excuse me?”
“The smuggling business. He was as straight as an arrow until then, but you know how it is… a few financial problems and he tried to take what he thought was the easy way out. He learned his lesson.” Eustace nodded incessantly. “Passed all his lessons on to me, too.”
“So you actually knew him?” Lily asked. “He was your grandfather? I thought maybe he was a more distant relative…”
“No, no. He was my father’s father. He died when I was a teenager, but he raised me until then – him and my dear grandmother. They left me this place.” He cast his eyes upwards to indicate the house.
Flynn looked about as taken aback by the information as Lily. “That’s fascinating. But I specifically wanted to talk to you about a few concerns we have. We’ve been informed that you have offered cash to anyone who brings you gold from the shipwreck.”
“Oh, why didn’t you say so! Come on in.” He beckoned them with an enthusiastic hand gesture, then turned and hurried along the hall.
After exchanging a bemused look, Flynn held out his hand for Lily to go first.
“How gallant.” She shot him a teasing smile. “Letting me go first into the creepy old house with the odd-ball old man.”
Flynn chuckled lightly as he followed her along the gloomy hallway.
“In here!” Eustace called, beckoning them into an old-fashioned country kitchen. He stood holding an envelope. “What have you got for me? Show me what you found.”
Lily’s eyes bulged as he pulled a hefty wad of notes from the envelope. “I did promise ten thousand for the gold, but if you think I’m being cheap, I’ll throw in a little more.”
“We don’t have anything for you,” Flynn said. “I’m here to tell you that you can’t offer people money for the goods on the boat.”
“I think you’ll find that according to maritime law, the goods on the boat were the legal property of one Captain William Tremayne. As his closest descendant and heir to his estate, that property would now fall to me.” He raised a hand. “I know what you’re going to say… that he wasn’t the legal owner of illegally smuggled gold. You’d be right, of course. Which is why I intend to turn the gold in to the proper authorities.”
“I don’t understand,” Lily said. “You want it brought to you, so you can hand it in and claim the reward money?”
“No. I don’t give two hoots about the money, as I told the divers I spoke to. If reward money comes through they can have that too. What I want is to be listed as the finder. The Tremayne name should continue to be attached to anything that’s written about the Isles Fortune in the history books… and in the museums.”
“Right.” Flynn pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, do you actually believe there’s gold down there?”
