He drove back to camp while Nhiari pored through the documentation. After a few kilometres, his curiosity got the better of him. “Who’s Rodney?”
Her eyes were death lasers. “Only the bastard who made the police academy a complete nightmare for me.”
His protective instinct kicked in. “The one who’d constantly undermined you?” She had told him a little about the man but hadn’t mentioned a name.
“Yeah. He’d blame me for mistakes he made and would do things to make tasks harder for Dot and me.”
“Because you were female?”
She snorted. “Partially. Mostly because I refused to go out with him.” She shook her head, obviously reliving the moment. “He approached me on the first day and said he’d never seen such an attractive black woman.”
Lee gritted his teeth as she continued.
“Told me he could help me get through the course and that I could study at his place. There was a lot he could teach me.” She glanced at him. “He said it at the initial get-to-know-you session and half the cohort heard him.”
He clenched the steering wheel. “What did you do?”
“I told him I’d met plenty of misogynistic arseholes like him, and I’d choose a lifetime alone over a night with him.” She grinned. “Those around us laughed, and he stormed off. I guess I hurt his little ego because he did everything he could to get me thrown out of the academy.” Nhiari read another page. “Dot’s not sure if he’s working for Stonefish.”
Lee hoped so. He’d love to see the bastard in gaol. “I don’t know the name. I’ll try to find out.”
Nhiari flicked through more notes. “Here. Dot mentions visiting the archaeologists last night. The Stokes told her about their ancestor, who was on the Retribution when the ship sank in the gulf. The ancestor discovered the treasure from the Dutch captain’s journal but hid her portion of it for later.”
“Which the Stokes found.” Lee waited.
Nhiari glanced at him but didn’t comment.
He hadn’t yet shown her the long-range drone he had which he used to keep track of what was happening in the area. He’d seen the Stokes dig up the treasure after a recent storm and then heard them discussing it through the bugs he’d left in their lounge room and kitchen.
Nhiari continued to go through the documents Dot had put together. She made a few noises as she read, and he was curious to see how much of a case Dot had built.
He’d just backed the four-wheel drive into the cave when his satellite phone rang. He stiffened. “This will be Lucas. You need to be quiet.”
She nodded and he answered the phone.
“They’ve found the journal,” Lucas said. His refined tone spoke of years of privilege and reminded Lee of his mother.
He cringed, not needing to ask who ‘they’ were. The Stokes were all Lucas ever spoke about. “We suspected as much,” Lee replied.
“Well now we have confirmation. Andrew said the policewoman and that girl who witnessed the murder dropped them at the researchers’ house last night.”
“Them?” Lee asked. He wasn’t certain Lucas knew Andrew was feeding him information.
“The Stokes’s ancestor wrote a journal too. She was on the Retribution.”
“Can you get me a copy?”
“Just sent it. Andrew scanned it this morning while the others went to watch the sunrise.”
“I’ll go through it now,” Lee replied.
“What are you doing with the other cop?”
Lee glanced at Nhiari. What could he say? He lowered his voice as if trying to stop her from overhearing. “I’m using her for information.”
Nhiari flinched.
“What do you mean?” Lucas demanded.
