Dot sipped her coffee, trying to wash away the bad taste in her mouth, and gasped as the milk scalded her tongue.“Damn.”
“Do you want me to look at your notes?”Ryan asked.
He’d be impartial, but he also wouldn’t understand all the relationships around town.Still, the temptation was strong.“You don’t want to work on your holiday.”
“I mentioned I might help you.Hannah understands.Besides, you could recommend some spots we can visit.Felix wants to camp on the beach or in the bush.I used to take him all the time when we lived in Karratha.”
“There are some great spots near the beach on the other side of the ranges,” Dot said.“And some friends have a campground on their sheep station.They’ll take you horse riding.”
“Sounds great.How about you leave me with your notes now, and we can catch up for dinner?”
Dot hesitated as she considered the way Stonefish got to innocents.For all she knew, Ryan could be compromised.“Head out to Turquoise Bay today,” she said.“There’s some great snorkelling.”They arrived at the police station.“I’ll meet you at seven at the brewery.”
“The notes?”Ryan asked.
“It’s fine.Thanks for the offer, but I’ll manage.”
He frowned, but nodded.“OK.See you at seven.”He crossed to a white four-wheel drive and drove away.
Dot sighed and entered the police station to find Martin and Pierre preparing to leave.“What’s happened?”
“Got a call about a crash near the boat ramp.”
She handed them their coffees.“Keep me informed.”
Colin glanced up from his computer when Dot handed him his coffee.“All my reports are up to date.”
“Good work.”He was an enthusiastic rookie, always looking for something more to do.Dot suspected Retribution Bay hadn’t lived up to his expectations about police work until the Stonefish crimes started happening.
“Do you need a hand with the kidnapping report?”Wide-eyed and eager, but Dot’s trust was at an all-time low.
“I’ve got it.Can you do an audit of the supplies?We’ve been through a lot of evidence kits over the past week and I don’t want us running out when we need them.”
His face fell.“Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do?”
“I’m sure.”Her phone rang, and she stiffened when she saw Sam’s name on the display.“What now?”she barked.
He didn’t laugh like he normally did.“Someone’s disturbed the shipwreck.A cannon is missing and Oliver’s furious.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”This wasn’t how she wanted to spend her day.
“Do you need help?”Colin asked.
She didn’t want to leave Colin to deal with things by himself, but only one person needed to go.“No.Stay here in case anything else comes up.I’m going out to the shipwreck.Someone has pillaged from it.Can you put together the snorkelling gear for me?”
Dot dashed across to her house to change into her bathers, and by the time she returned, Colin had everything ready.“Thanks.”
On the drive to the marina, she called the lab.“Any results on the evidence I sent?”
“They’re next in line.I’ll send the results as soon as I’ve got them.”
It was a long shot, but if the fingerprints from the drug barrels were on file, it would be a huge help to the case.She loaded the gear into the police boat and headed south into the gulf.The sun had a bite to it today, warning that summer would soon be in full swing and they’d be dealing with forty-degree days and very short tempers around town.She slathered on suncream rather than getting into her stinger suit immediately.There was a chance she wouldn’t have to get in the water.
TheOceanidanchored not far from the island and the blue and white dive flag was out, indicating people were underwater.Dot pulled up alongside and Sherlock tied her craft to theirs.She grabbed her backpack and climbed aboard, Sherlock giving her a hand.He seemed to have no problems with his prosthetic leg any longer.Tess and Sam stood around a table.
Dot frowned.“I forgot you were going to be here.”
Tess smiled.“I’m calculating the wreck plume based on the weights of the goods we know were on board.”She tucked her black hair behind her ear.
