“What’s he been doing while he’s been here?”Sherlock asked.
“He does what I tell him, but he’s not enthusiastic about it.”The sounds of retching came from the bathroom.“And he’s seasick all the time.”
Sam tapped his finger on the table.“Has Lucas contacted you?”
“Every day.”Oliver rolled his shoulders.“He’s been pretty intense.I thought it was because he has history in this area.”
“What history?”Sherlock’s gaze was razor sharp.
“An ancestor was a pearl diver, and he was on theRetributionwhen it sank.”
“I knew it,” Sam said.“He’s got to have the original journal.”
“But why would he leave it this long to find the wreck?”Sherlock argued.
“Maybe he already searched it, but couldn’t find the treasure.Or perhaps he only just found the journal, like the Stokes did.”
All at once everything clicked into place.The treasure that had been found, Lilian’s suspicion the pearl divers had stolen the Dutch captain’s original journal—Lucas’s ancestor.The rest of the treasure was still out there.
“Lucas would have a copy of Lilian’s journal by now,” Oliver said.“Andrew would have sent it to him.He’ll be trying to decipher the clues.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sherlock said.
Why not?Oliver’s mouth dropped open.“You’ve already found it.Those rumours of treasure are true.”
Neither man said anything, but their silence confirmed it.
“Where is it?It belongs in a museum.It needs to be catalogued.”
“If Lucas has as much influence as he seems to, how quickly do you think the treasure will be stolen from the museum?”Sam asked.
“The museum has excellent security,” Oliver said.
“If he’s behind Stonefish, he’ll have contacts, and he has a sense of ownership,” Sherlock pointed out.“His ancestor was almost killed in the mutiny.Surely he feels he deserves a piece of what caused it.”
“He’s got more money than he can ever spend,” Oliver said.It was difficult to wrap his head around the idea the man could be involved in these shady dealings.
Sam nodded.“But people do stupid things all the time.”
“If Andrew is telling his father everything, then it gives us an opportunity,” Sherlock said.“We could feed him information that will help us catch them.”
Which would mean Dot was out of danger.“I’m in.What do I need to do?”
Chapter 17
Dot yawned, trying not to dislocate her jaw at the same time.Her eyes might as well be filled with sand and every step required focus.She sipped her coffee as she pushed through the back door to the police station.She shouldn’t have spent several hours last night searching for the damned boat, but she hadn’t been able to resist.She’d sped back to the marina, got Pierre out of bed to help her unload the barrels, and then driven the police car to all the nearby boat ramps, hoping to find it.
No such luck.By the time she returned home, she desperately needed to sleep.
This morning she’d work on the photographs and if she had no luck, she’d send them to a colleague she trusted.
She yawned again and then waved at Pierre and Martin, who were already at their desks.All that was left of her team.“Thanks for your help yesterday.”
“You don’t know when to leave things alone.”
She tensed and turned towards the spare office she’d allocated to Rodney.“Morning, Rodney.I didn’t expect you back so soon.”And would have made sleep a priority if she’d known she had to deal with him.
“Those barrels should have been left in place so I could investigate them properly.”
