Overboard by Keira Beck

Author:Keira Beck [Beck, Keira]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: EROS
Published: 2018-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Declan sat at his kitchen table, munching on chips and scrolling through the pictures from Justin’s phone. Twenty-four hours wasn’t a lot of time, but decomp didn’t take long.

The body was bloated, almost beyond recognition. The complexion had turned a pale, sickly green, and the skin on the swollen hands and feet was wrinkled and pruny. There were signs of a struggle, bruising on his face. Might have been from the fight he and Adam had, might have been a fight with someone else that happened at the time of death.

The close-up of Scott’s face was the one he studied. No foam around the mouth to indicate drowning. Of course, that could have washed away in the recovery process. But there was faint bruising near the throat, and it was likely more bruising would develop there as time passed. The scratches on his neck were the biggest indicator. He had clawed at someone’s hands—hands around his neck, which in turn had scraped his skin. Declan was no expert, but everything he noticed indicated foul play. Scott definitely didn’t fall in accidentally or jump—he was strangled.

That only made things worse for Adam.

Declan needed to talk to the wedding guests. He needed to find someone else with motive. And he really wanted to know what the cops knew. Did anyone overhear what Adam said to Scott? Did anyone see Scott after the fight in the stateroom? What were the specific findings from the autopsy? It had been several hours, so the medical examiner should have an early report done.

Time for some reinforcements. He called Danny.

“Caruso.”

“Dan. Who do you know that can pull digital records from the police department?”

“You mean commit a cybercrime?”

“I prefer to think of it as assisting in an investigation.”

“As luck would have it, so do I. What’s going on there?”

Declan filled him in on the particulars of the case, leaving out the damage to his car, the GPS tracker, and the attempt on his life. He wrapped up the summary with a request. “I’d really like to know what evidence the cops have—especially if they have a witness who overheard Adam threaten Scott that afternoon. And I’d like to see the autopsy report. If Scott was strangled, and I’m pretty sure he was, they might have recovered DNA. Doubtful, given he was in the water, but it’s worth a shot.”

“I’ll check and see if Nico has the time.”

“Nico?”

“Dominico Micelli. We go way back. He can get into anything, but he’s got a lot on his plate.”

“Okay, well, if he’s not free, do you have a backup?”

“I have a couple of ideas.”

“Sounds like Nightforce needs to hire a hacker.”

“I didn’t think we’d be getting into so many investigations, but it seems to be going that way. Probably isn’t a bad idea.”

“Well, until then, see if one of your contacts can find anything out for me.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

As soon as he ended the call, someone knocked. He knew who it was without looking. The only person it could be. Declan walked to the front of the cabin and opened the door.

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