There was a sound behind him and he whirled round, his heart beating quickly and his fists raised to fight.
A young waiter stood there, wide-eyed, holding a tray.
“Please,” he whispered, lowering his arms. “I need to get out.”
The man stared at him blankly.
“Please,” he repeated frantically, hearing more footsteps approaching.
The waiter pointed to a button on the door and mimed pushing it. Nick turned and put his finger on the button, feeling something move inside the door. He tried the handle again and the door opened. “Thanks,” he called over his shoulder to the waiter and ran out into a yard. He kept going and jumped over the low wall around it, which took him into another street.
He jogged to the end of it and saw an animal nearby that had got trapped in a pile of fishermen’s netting. He glanced behind him, knowing he might not be out of danger yet, but the animal made a pained sound and he couldn’t leave it. He walked over and gently untangled the creature, which resembled an otter but with sturdier legs. He looked around again but, for once, his luck seemed to be holding. The animal leaned against him and made a chattering noise and he petted its damp, oily fur before watching with a smile as it plodded off in the direction of the ocean.
He scanned the area for pursuers and realised that, although there were no slavers about, he had no idea where he was. He headed in a new direction and hoped he could find the hotel where he was staying without getting into any more trouble.
Chapter Eleven
“I DON’T know who this is,” Nick said as he and Reese labelled the holo-photos they had taken today that were projected into the room in front of them. Nick had expected Reese to be angry with him for going out today and nearly getting himself captured again – his sister certainly would have been – but Reese had just said he would have done the same thing and had then asked what Nick had discovered.
“That’s Arwyl, Kass’s daughter,” Reese said, looking at the small three dimensional image of a woman with delicate features and brown hair down to her waist. He then pointed to the man Nick had thought might be the son. “That’s her husband, Pos, short for Poseidon.”
“What about the woman with him?”
“I thought she was a solicitor but she left the house with Pos so she must be a work colleague of his. He has a separate marketing business of his own.”
“Okay then. These are the first of our suspects for the murder of Kass du Lissin. There’s her sister, Ember, who runs the seaweed business.” He hadn’t known that seaweed, of all things, could be so lucrative but the hotel manager had been telling him earlier that it was made into food, cosmetics, lotions and a dozen other products. It was apparently responsible for nearly a quarter of the planet’s profits. Everyone on Ocean loved seaweed. “Kass wanted to sell her export business and leave the planet, taking her kids with her, which would have had a negative impact on the main company. Because of the money levels involved, Kass’s death is considered to be of international importance, which is why the planet’s government hired the Prince Detective Agency.”
“How did the children feel about leaving?”
“I don’t know.” Reese began to casually change out of his muddy work outfit and Nick tried not to show too much interest.
“I didn’t see Kass’s son, Bop, but I saw Ember’s youngest daughter, Norla, talking to solicitors before leaving for work at the seaweed place.” He gestured to the holo-photo showing a curly-haired young woman with a round face then, having removed his jumper, Reese undid the fasteners of his shirt, revealing a smooth brown torso, flat stomach and leanly muscled arms. He was a little shorter than Nick but his shoulders were broader and he was far better-looking. When he began unzipping his trousers Nick hastily turned to the side and looked fixedly at the holo-photo before he could be caught staring. “And that’s Swall, Ember’s husband. He’s the only one who actually looked unhappy about Kass’s death. He wandered round the gardens for a while and his eyes were red, as if he’d been crying.”
“Do you think he could have been having an affair with Kass?”
“Maybe.”
Nick risked a glance over his shoulder and saw, to his mixed relief and disappointment, that Reese was now fastening up a new outfit: soft, navy material clinging to his strong body. “So Ember might have two reasons for wanting her sister dead, if selling the export business would cost the family money and if her husband was cosy with Kass. Kass’s children may or may not have wanted to leave their home – we need to find out more about them.”
“Ember’s daughters both work for the seaweed business, so they would have had money-related motives for wanting her dead too.”
“So might any of the seaweed company’s employees.” Nick remembered the slaver who had followed him from the castle. “But they wouldn’t have had the money to bribe the slavers to arrest me or known where I was.”
“Which makes it even more likely that the killer is a member of the du Lissin family.” He fell silent, frowning.
“What are you thinking?” Nick prompted him.
“Nothing important. It would have been better if I could’ve got a job indoors. I’m missing most of what’s going on being outside all day.”
“You’re doing good. You’ll probably hear more from the staff at the house than the family would give away anyhow.”
Reese shot him a smile. “Did you hear anything useful in the town?”
“Not really. I think most local people either work for the du Lissins or have family members who do, so they don’t want to say nothing against them or show too much interest in the murder case.”
“And the staff at the castle have definitely been warned not to speak about Kass’s murder or they’ll be fired, which shows how desperate the family are to hide the crime or protect the murderer. It was the planet’s government who hired you, though, so they already know about the murder and so do the staff and townspeople, so who are they hiding it from?”
“I dunno. Maybe the competition. Maybe the people they’re exporting goods to.”
“Right,” Reese said at once. “One of the staff said that it was all about money. Perhaps they want to get the business settled under a new owner before they tell people off-world about Kass’s death.”
“Yeah, that would make sense.”
“It’s a real thesaurus.”
They hadn’t bothered keeping their translators switched on and Nick stared at the other man. “It’s what?”
“Oh, it just means... well, it literally means that a lot of words are going to have to be used before this is resolved.”
Nick smiled, liking the phrase. It didn’t sound like normal British slang, more like the kind of thing a college student would say. He knew he needed to focus on solving the murder, but right now Reese seemed like a more interesting mystery. “Are you interested in investigative work?”
“Yes. I was hoping to ask your captain if there might be a permanent job on the ship as part of your team.”
Nick brightened at the thought of having Reese about all the time and then grimaced. “It would be great company for me but I can’t imagine you’d want to stay with us for long, not if you have any other option.”
“Surely you could do something else if you dislike being there so much?”
Nick could have bitten his tongue. He should know better after so long than to reveal anything like that. “I mean, uh my sister, Poppy. She’s the second in command, unofficially, and she likes being there.”
“So you stay to protect her?”
“She’s family. You do whatever you have to for family, right?”
Reese looked at his feet, uncharacteristically subdued at the subject. “Of course.”
Nick frowned at him, fearing the worst. “Don’t you have any family alive?”
Reese glanced over at him a glowing smile that made Nick think he must have imagined the sadness. “Yes, of course. My parents are fit and well on earth and I want them to be proud
of me.”
“I’m sure they are.” Was there something a bit fake about that smile? Nick told himself he was wrong. He and Reese were strangers so there could be no possible reason for Reese to lie to him. Besides, families were complicated. He knew that well enough. “You’ll have another tiring day of gardening tomorrow, so I guess we should get some sleep.”
Reese met his eyes and Nick felt an almost tangible tug of attraction. It was too soon to begin anything, he told himself. They barely knew each other and Nick wasn’t someone who was any good at casual relationships. But he was still disappointed when Reese simply agreed and turned to create the second bed.
Chapter Twelve
REESE LOOKED up from weeding the front garden of the castle to see a handsome blond man talking with another man. He whispered to his translator to take a photo of them before saying aloud to Ariel, who was pruning a nearby tree, “Who are those men?”
“Are you always so curious about everything?” she complained, walking closer. “The fair-haired man is Bop, Kass du Lissin’s youngest.”
So that was the son. Bop was laughing at something the other man was saying and hardly looked like the grieving child. “Who’s he talking to?”
“Mung Sen Zhan,” she said quietly.
Catching the hint of a secret in her voice, he remembered that the Mung family also had a big business in the town. “The family’s competitor?”
“The son. Bop will get into trouble if they’re seen together.”
He looked with more interest at the two young men, one so blond and pale and the other with black hair, tanned skin and monolid eyes. They looked attractive together and were clearly comfortable in each other’s company. He surreptitiously took photos of them to add to the collection of suspects. “Are they friends?”
“Of a kind.”
Rivals or lovers, Reese guessed.
Ariel sucked in a breath and hastily turned away to continue pruning, nudging his arm as she did so. Reese caught sight of Ember du Lissin coming out of the house and lowered his head, diligently began digging out the root of a weed, and only pausing to glance up at the sound of raised voices.
“... Never let that happen!” the woman was shouting. “Get out of here.”
Mung Sen Zhan began to walk down the driveway and Bop said something to his aunt and turned to follow the man. The woman caught his arm and he shook her off, saying something else Reese couldn’t hear and he left with Mung Sen Zhan. Ember glared at them before glancing in the direction of Reese and Ariel.
Reese hastily bent his head, put his trowel into the frozen earth and eased out the weed. By the time he looked up again, she had gone.
He needed to speak to more of the staff to learn anything else. He glanced down at his wrist and tried out a winsome smile on Beja. “Is it lunchtime yet?”
“I suppose so but don’t stay later than the start of the hour of the crab.”
“All right,” he agreed, although he had no idea what that meant in terms of the length of the break he was allowed. He got to his feet, heading round the back of the house. There were nine back doors but he knew the kitchen one was the second from the left so he headed down a side path towards it. As he stepped inside, the heat from the kitchen was almost overwhelming and he hastily told his coat to reduce its temperature by five degrees. The room was bustling with activity as before so he grabbed a tray of food and went next door to the dining room.
There were seven people around the large table today, sitting in three separate groups. Was there some kind of work hierarchy that prevented some people talking to others or did they just not like each other?
None of the people he’d met yesterday were here so he took a seat halfway between two sets of people and introduced himself. One of the groups said hello and then went back to talking amongst themselves. The other two showed more interest in him.
“How are you getting on?” one woman asked. She had given her name as Sarah and had a friendly smile.
“Fine. The work isn’t difficult.” His translator interpreted his words for her.
“Have you lived on Ocean for long?”
“Just a few weeks,” he said, which was the truth.
“You must be desperate to come here,” one of the men from the third group further up the table said in a nasty way. Reese leaned back in his chair to see the man, who had a greying beard and was dressed as if he might be one of the cleaners.
“Dai-dai shells!” Sarah said, which was apparently either a rebuke or an insult, before turning her back on him and telling Reese, “You can make good money here. The du Lissins are brilliant business people.”
“They were,” the man called out. “Who knows what will be left...”
“Fish excrement!” a couple of people exclaimed simultaneously.
“Keep talking like that and you’ll be reported to Beja.” That was the housekeeper who had interviewed Reese yesterday.
“By you?” the man asked, standing up, his stance slightly threatening.
“By all of us,” Sarah told him sharply and, despite the fact she was half his age and had a good-natured demeanour, the man sat down at once and fell silent. Sarah shook her head at Reese. “Ignore him. We all do.”
“Er, is there some kind of rule about who can talk to whom amongst the staff?” he checked.
“No, of course not, but some of us have been here longer than others and get along well with the family.”
She could get people fired if she wanted to, Reese guessed. This was definitely not a happy environment. “I don’t want to ask anything out of place but who is the father of Kass du Lissin’s children?”
Sarah faltered. “She was married for ages but she got divorced four months ago. He was really horrible to her.”
Reese wondered what had caused her to hesitate over her words. Perhaps the husband had been unpleasant to Sarah too. Kass was meant to be selling her own business and maybe the divorce had something to do with why she wanted to leave. “It sounds as if they’re all very dedicated to making the company successful.”
He hadn’t intended the words as more than a casual compliment but several people glanced at each other and Sarah dropped her gaze. “Er, yes, that’s right.”
He was left wondering what he had said to cause the reaction.
Chapter Thirteen
“SARAH, WHO I found out later is a valet for Mer, Ember du Lissin’s daughter, acted cagily over the subject of money and the man she argued with had suggested that the businesses wouldn’t be as profitable now. Perhaps it’s something to do with the Will and all the solicitors who are practically living at the castle.” Reese helped himself to another spoonful of the vegetables on the table in front of him and Nick.
“You could be right. Kass has her own company but, as Ember’s sister, perhaps she owned a large share of the main company too.”
“She could have left the shares in her Will to someone outside the family or to one of her children, who might want to sell them.”
“That would make sense of their behaviour.” Nick was impressed at how well Reese was reasoning things out. He had either learnt a lot while he was in the British police or he naturally had a good puzzle-solving brain. “What made you leave the police?”
Reese glanced at him and gestured to his mouth. He finished chewing and swallowed before eventually saying, “I just had the desire to live and work somewhere else. Earth isn’t what it was in the past.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Nick agreed with feeling. Three hundred years ago the citizens of the various countries either joined together to destroy the governments that refused to act on climate change or convinced them to set rules in place before it was too late. The changes were only just in time, though, and earth’s weather had been permanently affected, with a harsher climate worldwide that had made it more difficult to grow crops and survive. Politics had changed too, with the US being less one country than dozens of tiny mini-countries, all with their own laws or lack of laws. A lot of
other countries had also changed from earlier times, many being said to be wild places where people murdered or stole from each other without reprisal. “Were you were raised in Britain?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never been there but I gather there’s more of a wealth divide than ever before.”
The edges of Reese’s mouth turned down. “You could say that.”
He didn’t mention anything more and, after these curt responses, Nick didn’t pry. He knew enough, from the captain’s overbearing attitude, that a small number of rich people basically ruled the country and controlled the lives of everyone else. Millions of the poorest people across the planet were constantly on the verge of starvation, which was why they came out into space and settled on other planets in the hopes that their lives would be better. He hoped Reese had never suffered to that extent.
“I talked with the hotel owner today,” he told Reese, “and he said that the du Lissins were some of the founders of the planet one hundred and forty years ago. There are five families that own everything, the du Lissins being one of them and they’re kinda respected, but they’ve had some public face-offs and drunken fights, particularly the kids. The Mung family live in this town too and they also go right back to when the first colonists settled here and they’re not thought to be nearly as rich as the du Lissins but they tend to be more polite. The people who work for them are expected to work long hours but are treated more kindly and are rewarded well for showing loyalty.”
Reese told him about Bop du Lissin, who Nick had briefly met on the day of his arrival on Ocean, and Mung Sen Zhan. “If they are lovers, how much would it affect the family? I mean, if they moved in together and both worked for one of the companies, could they ruin the other one?”
“Maybe. I dunno.”
“If they could, then both their families might be willing to take extreme measures to keep them apart and that might give them a motive for them to commit murder.”
“It’s possible...” Nick broke off as the room shook and, simultaneously, there was a loud continuous noise outside.
No One Likes Humans Page 5