I told him.
"I was here.”
"Can anyone verify that?”
"I was by myself."
"Why was your phone turned off?”
His face tightened again. "You’re looking at my phone records?”
"No, but you just confirmed it." I didn’t want to go into detail about the fact that we had illegally accessed his records.
"I didn't confirm shit.”
"You mind if we take a look around your boat?”
"I mind. I'd like you to leave now.”
"We need to do a routine compliance inspection. Make sure you’ve got all your paperwork in order, life vests, flares, that kind of thing."
Ethan gritted his teeth. "You guys are assholes.”
We stared each other down for a moment, then he stepped aside and motioned us in. "Do what you gotta do, but I don't give you permission to search my boat."
If in the course of our inspection we saw anything actionable, we could pursue it. But we didn't have free rein to rummage through drawers and compartments. I didn’t know what I was looking for. Something, anything to connect him to the crime.
I didn’t find anything.
All his paperwork was in order, and he had the required items.
"Thanks for your cooperation," I said on the way out.
He mumbled something I didn't quite hear.
We stepped onto the aft deck, then crossed the passerelle to the dock.
"That kid’s nervous about something," Jack said as we walked back to the car. “Where the hell is he getting the kind of money that he can blow it on an online E girl?"
"Probably trading crypto.”
"The kid’s laundering money.”
“Has to be,” I said. “He's not a bad-looking guy. I'm sure he does well with the ladies. He doesn’t need to spend millions of dollars on fan sites.”
“Somebody puts money into a crypto account without KYC, moves it around, washes it through a privacy coin, sends it to him, then he sends it to Eden on the site,” Jack said. “She gets a legitimate paycheck, skims off the top, then kicks the rest back to an offshore company for consulting or marketing expenses.”
"If I didn't know better, I’d think you knew what you were talking about."
He sneered at me. "Have Isabella dig into his finances and Eden’s.”
I sent Isabella a quick text message.
Brenda called a moment later. “I've got an update on Andrew Holt. Looks like the shark didn't kill him."
"What do you mean?”
17
