He sat back down. “Stonefish murdered my father.”
Nhiari’s heart jolted not just at the news, but at the deathly cold way he spoke. She was momentarily speechless before her manners kicked in. “I’m sorry.”
Lee glared at her. “Not as sorry as Stonefish will be.”
Chapter Five
Leefoughtbacktheanger and grief. He hadn’t spoken about his father’s murder to anyone except Lindsay before.
“How did they do it?” Nhiari’s question moved him out of his anger. She didn’t question his assertion but wanted details. She used her police voice and the no-nonsense tone helped to calm him further.
“Made it look like suicide—an overdose.”
The note had been an excellent forgery, but the one thing they had missed was the way his father had always placed a full stop at the end of his signature.
“Mother ignored my request for a second opinion or an autopsy. Said it was shameful that my father was such a coward and I should stop looking for excuses.” Stonefish had enough connections to ensure no one examined the body.
Nhiari raised her eyebrows, the only way she questioned him.
“He didn’t take his own life. We spoke every day. Dad was determined to get back to Lindsay. He had so much Stonefish evidence on his computer.”
Nhiari squeezed his hand in sympathy and her touch soothed him. He smiled and turned his hand upwards so he could hold hers, but she pulled away.
Disappointment filled him. “Lucas told me if I continued my questioning, I would be as disappointing as my father. Mother agreed.” He could read between the lines. It was a threat.
His own uncle had threatened his life.
So he’d bowed, apologised for his father’s weakness and left.
Any remaining love for his mother had died that day. She hadn’t seemed sad or scared, or worried, but perhaps she didn’t know what Stonefish did. The women of the family weren’t expected to work.
But Lee vowed he would avenge his father.
“Did your father share his evidence with you?”
“He refused to.” No matter how much he’d wanted to help. “Said it was safer that way. Perhaps he was right and I would be dead if he had.”
“Did you ever see it afterwards?”
He tossed the stone in the air and caught it. “No. I searched for his computer the night after he died. Went through his office while Mother was at her brother’s place. It was gone, and the safe was empty. I couldn’t find any traces of the captain’s journal either, but he had given me a copy of the English translation.” His muscles tightened and the stress from that day returned.
“So what happened next?” Nhiari’s methodical questions calmed him a little.
He exhaled. “Mother and Lucas said it was time for me to take over Dad’s position at the company. Lucas sat me down and explained the other side of the business. I was still hoping to avoid being involved, so I showed him the journal translation.”
Nhiari frowned. “Why?”
“Because Lucas wants anything rare. He’s already flown into space, he bought the most expensive place in Singapore, he has so many cars he has to garage some of them on a separate property.” He swatted a fly away. “Mother’s the same. It adds to their status, gives them power and prestige to have things others don’t. I knew Lucas would view the treasure as something he was owed.” He was a hard-line businessman and a spoilt brat. Perhaps that was why Stonefish was so successful—Lucas didn’t take no for an answer.
“Why?”
Lee almost smiled at Nhiari’s digging. Trying to get to the bottom of it, trying to understand his dysfunctional family. “His identity is wrapped up in his history. He’s proud about coming from pearl divers to being the most influential dynasty in Singapore. He thought his ancestors had been robbed of the rest of the treasure.”
“So you brought this trouble to my town?” Nhiari’s tone was mild, but her stare spoke of death.
He pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry. I thought Lucas would just send me to find the treasure, but after Bill and Beth refused to sell the Ridge to him, he expanded the business to the north. Saw it as a punishment for the town. He would take what no one would give him.”
“I’m surprise Lucas trusted you.”
