The Bones Remember by Sara E. Johnson

Author:Sara E. Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2020-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

A half hour later Alexa was squished in the rear of a six-seater plane flying over Foveaux Strait. Wallace looked solemn in the copilot’s seat. He’d taken Alexa aside at the airstrip and told her the list of Stewart Island residents with guns had been faxed to the station and included Andy Gray. “Did you find a gun on The Apex?”

“I would have told you.”

“Lisa says Andy carried it for protection.”

People who owned guns had an increased chance of being killed by one—be it homicide, suicide, or accident. This was looking like the Big H, Alexa thought. She studied Lisa Squires and her mother, huddled by Wallace’s SUV as they awaited the pilot. “Can anyone verify where Lisa was Saturday evening?”

“Her mum, Judy, came round, that’s all,” said Wallace.

Maternal alibi was almost as weak as a spousal alibi, Alexa thought.

“Here’s the Death Investigation report on Andrew Gray. The DI said to give you a copy. You can read it on the plane. We put a rush on his bank and phone records.”

Wallace would fly with the mother and daughter to Invercargill, and then the pilot would take Alexa to Dunedin so she could use the university lab.

Now mother and daughter were in the middle row. Alexa didn’t want to stare, so she looked out the window. The sea was kicking up whitecaps, and the plane dipped and shuddered. Death winds. Wasn’t that what Mary had called them? She clutched the armrest.

Lisa spoke. “Sergeant Wallace, I know who wants Andy dead. Stormy…”

The whining engine made it hard for Alexa to hear.

“He… Stewart Island pāua divers,” Lisa said.

Alexa leaned closer, watching the back of Lisa’s head, her hair clumpy and unkempt.

“It’s true, Kipper,” Lisa’s mother said. “I told Nina at book club that PāuaMac needs to back off. They don’t own the ocean.”

Wallace had turned his solid body around. “Ta, Judy. I’ll let the DI know. We’ll haul Stormy in for questioning.”

That name again—Stormy. Alexa’s stomach lurched as she reviewed that pāua diving was a way to make a living on the island and that the cage diving industry was making it dangerous. The thought made her dig in the crime kit for the larger of the two shark teeth extracted from Gray’s body. She palmed it and stared at the beauty and savagery of its serrated edges and crown point sharp enough to pierce her skin.

“Andy. I want Andy,” Lisa mewled. “His mum and dad are flying from Perth. And I’ve never met them. What will happen to the boat? Our business?” Her mewls turned to wails.

The plane vibrated and shuddered. Alexa stuffed the tooth in her jacket pocket and squeezed the armrest.

In Invercargill the two women stumbled out, Wallace following. “A flight back to the island leaves at six. That enough time?” he asked at the threshold.

She gave him a thumbs-up and didn’t envy his tough job ahead: loved ones viewing remains. On the puddle-jump to Dunedin she read the Death Investigation report on Andrew Elkin Gray that Wallace had given her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.