Page 23 of The Girls in the Lake
They got out of the car and walked down to where the boat was moored, passing a man, wrapped in layers of dirty clothes, his long straggly ginger beard peppered with grey and a dirty white baseball cap pulled over his unkempt hair. He sat on his own staring at the boats. Sam nudged Josh.
‘I can’t believe he’s still here.’
‘Who?’
‘Pete. He’s been hanging around here since I joined the force, probably longer.’
‘Why? Does he have a boat?’
‘Does it look like he owns a boat, Josh? I mean, look at the state of him. But he may have seen something or know something.’
She headed in his direction. ‘Hello, Pete, how are you? It’s been a while.’
He stared at her and nodded.
‘I didn’t realise you were still around.’
‘Hmph.’
‘Do you know anything about the girl who was found in the water yesterday? Were you here? Did you see what happened?’
‘No,’ he barked. ‘Wasn’t here. I don’t sleep here, you know. I do have a home to go to when I get tired or too cold. I don’t like it much but it’s safe and warm. Well it is when I remember to top up the smart meter. I just like to watch the boats. I like the water, it’s nice. Especially this time of year when…’ He paused. ‘Well, you know what I mean.’
Sam shrugged. ‘Not really, Pete.’
‘When it’s not full of tourists, coachloads of them messing the place up.’
‘If we didn’t have those tourists this place would be a ghost town. It’s okay, I just wondered if you’d been around. You usually see everything. Sorry to have bothered you. See you later.’
She turned back to Josh, who whispered, ‘Lovely guy.’
She laughed. ‘Worth asking, you never know.’
They walked towardsThe Tequila Sunrise, which didn’t look as if it had moved since the day before. Josh spotted someone going below deck and whispered, ‘Bingo.’
‘Might not be him, don’t get your hopes up.’
‘If it isn’t, at least whoever it is can ring James Marshall and tell him to get his backside here and pronto.’
The jetty bounced and thumped under their brisk footsteps. When they reached the boat, Josh shouted, ‘Hey mate, anyone home?’
Sam looked at him, shaking her head and stifling a laugh.
‘What?’
‘Hey mate? What about, ahoy there sailor?’
‘Bugger off.’
There was no answer. Josh was about to call out again when Sam walked to the ladder and began to climb up it. ‘It’s too bloody cold to hang around on a jetty that keeps moving every time you lean too far forwards.’
Rolling his eyes at Sam’s impatience, Josh followed her up the ladder. He hadn’t even reached the top when a voice came from below the deck of the boat.
‘This is a private boat. If you want to hire one there’s an office a bit further down.’
‘We don’t want to hire a boat, we’re from the police.’
The man’s head popped up through a hatch.
