“We don’t know yet. We found him in the water in diving gear.”
Jo is hollow-eyed. “Diving? But he was kayaking.”
“He was in diving gear. Whether he kayaked or not beforehand, I’m not certain.”
“Where was he?” A jerky exhalation.
“A little way out from one of the coves,” Steed replies.
Jo’s blinking rapidly. “But how do you know it’s definitely him? You might be mistaken.”
“We’ll need someone to formally identify him, but we both recognized him. I’m sorry,” Elin adds.
Jo crumples from her core. She’s in a strange kind of crouch—hand clutching the doorframe for support. Elin glances around her, acutely aware of their position in the corridor. “Shall we go inside, get some privacy?”
Helping Jo upright, Elin leads her through the door on the left and into the living space. The room, like the corridor, is in a state: clothes strewn across the back of the chair, several half-empty coffee cups discarded on the side table. Through the glass doors on the opposite wall she can see swimwear drying on the chairs on the terrace.
Steed gestures to the double doors on the right, leading out into the corridor at the back of the room. “I’ll close those so we won’t get disturbed.”
“Who was he diving with?” Jo blurts out.
Elin sits down beside her on the sofa and takes out her notebook. “As far as we know, he was alone,” she replies as Steed settles opposite.
“But that doesn’t make sense.” Jo’s foot is violently jiggling against the floor. “Seth’s an experienced diver. He wouldn’t go on his own.”
“It appears he did. We need a specialist team to examine everything before we come to a conclusion, but it looks like he got into trouble underwater.” Elin stops, reluctant to dwell on theories when she doesn’t have all the facts. “Look, I know this is hard, but I’d like to ask you a few questions about when you saw Seth last, to help us piece together what happened.”
“Of course. It was when we went to bed. This morning, I woke up late, about eightish.” She sniffs, tears welling in her eyes. “Seth was already gone. He’d messaged me, saying he was kayaking. Like I said, it didn’t surprise me, he hasn’t exactly been enjoying the whole grieving family thing.”
“And just so I’m clear on your whereabouts, you haven’t left the villa today?”
“No. I’ve been in my room.”
“You don’t know if anyone else has?” Steed pulls a tissue from the box on the side, passes it to Jo.
“Thanks.” She gives him a half smile. “Not sure, you’ll have to ask them.”
Elin nods. “One last thing: Tom, one of the water sports instructors, told me that Seth’s father owns the retreat. Ronan Delaney.”
“That’s right.” Jo picks at a piece of peeling sunburn on her hand. “But he’s not really involved. A hotel company leases the retreat and runs it.”
“I suppose you know that Seth’s been here before?”
Bringing the tissue to her eyes, Jo wipes. “Yes. He likes getting away from London. A few years ago, he started his own digital agency. It’s pretty hard work so he comes here to decompress.”
“Do you know if he dives when he comes out here?”
A nod. “He loves diving. Anything adventurous.”
“And have you come with him before?” Steed asks. Despite the fact that he’s asking a question, his tone is caring, not intrusive. A fine art, and one that’s rare in an inexperienced officer.
“No, this was my first time. I wish I’d come before now. He’d asked me, but I was always busy.” Another sob sounds out.
Elin finishes writing her notes. Waiting until Jo composes herself, she asks, “Was it Seth’s suggestion to come?”
“Actually, no, like I said before, someone mentioned the retreat in passing, and I told Seth. The coincidence seemed funny, so we got to talking about the fact that I’d never been. I reached out to the retreat and they offered a gifted stay. Nothing to do with Seth. That’s how he likes it. Prefers flying under the radar.”
“Does anyone else in your group know about his connection to the island?”
Jo shakes her head. “We wanted to keep it that way. People don’t always have a very good impression of Seth, my family in particular. If they knew his father owned the island, they probably wouldn’t have come.”