Page 56 of Deep Waters

He took her into the hotel bar and ordered two coffees. There were no other customers at that time of day, but they took the table the greatest distance from the counter to ensure they had privacy. Marie removed her puffer jacket to reveal a warm sweater underneath.

“Not broadcasting today?” he asked.

“Only if the story breaks. I’ve got a suit and blouse on standby in the car if I need it.” She used her fingers to comb out the short tangles in her hair.

“Are the police that close to a breakthrough? To making an arrest?”

“You’re kidding, aren’t you? These plods… The killer will have to walk through the door of the station and put himself in cuffs before they get close to catching them.”

“Harsh, but I dare say you’re right.” The experience he’d had at Nyemouth station yesterday had instilled little faith. The local police were woefully out of their depths.

“There’s a major incident team moving in tomorrow.” Marie looked pleased with herself, proving already that she knew more than he did. “They’ll take over from the Nyemouth flatfoots, so maybe there will be some developments soon…or maybe not.”

“So, what else do you know?”

Marie shook her head. “You first. You’re the one who has been involved since the first day. I want to know your story.”

“I’m not going to disrespect the victims for the benefit of your feature. I’ll tell you about my own experiences on the boat—what I saw, how I felt—but that’s as far as it goes.”

Marie tightened her mouth.

“That’s as good as it gets. If you want to know about Niko and Tom, it’s for their families to tell you. And if they don’t want to, that’s just tough.”

Her stare was hard and challenging. Christian did not back down and faced her out.

“Oh, all right,” she said at last. “Tell me your side.”

He told about his reasons for coming to Nyemouth, how he had chartered the boat as part of his research trip and the sudden change in the weather while they were at sea. He told her about spotting something in the water on the way back and raising the alarm—about the sickness, anxiety and fear he had experienced since, only pausing when their coffee was delivered.

“And yesterday?” she asked. “Tom Renner?”

“I wasn’t there,” he answered truthfully. “I was here. Upstairs, taking a shower when I heard the sirens. I only found out what had happened to him when I went along the harbour to investigate.”

“The police questioned you?”

“Yes. I saw Tom for a few seconds first thing in the morning, while he was setting up the boat for their next trip. That’s all.”

Marie looked unimpressed. “I still get the feeling you’re holding out on me.”

“I am, but I’ve given you the reasons why. I won’t go into the grisly details of what I saw. Now, it’s your turn.”

She frowned, as though giving serious thought to the idea of telling him to fuck off, then her expression softened. “Okay. Seeing as you’re not actually reporting on this story… The police haven’t confirmed this officially, but I know that laptops and mobile phones are missing from both Niko and Ike Meekers.”

“Robbery?” he suggested.

“For Ike, maybe. And if it was just the phone, that would be true for Niko, too. But someone broke into his house and took the laptop—nothing else, just that. And it most likely happened immediately after he was attacked.”

“So, there’s something on the laptop they don’t want anyone else knowing about. Any ideas.”

Marie raised the coffee cup to her mouth with both hands and sipped. “They are looking at all options—fraud, blackmail, porn. Have you heard of websites like OnlyFans?”

Christian hid his excitement.So, my theory wasn’t that far out. “Sure.”

“Well, I understand that’s one of the lines of enquiry. Niko was a content creator on numerous sites of that type, only the cops don’t know what yet. They know he had accounts but not the name he posted under, and the sites haven’t been forthcoming with the information—data protection and all that. The cops need a court order, but that could take days.”

“Haven’t any of his friends been able to tell them his username?”

“No. He’d confided in a few of them about his accounts. Apparently, he was earning a nice amount of extra cash per month, but he didn’t tell anyone his ID. It makes sense. Who wants their friends checking out their online sex work, eh?”

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