“I think she’s upstairs,” a cleaner told him, in answer to his question, and leaned down to sniff the flowers.
“Thanks.”
She remained nearby so he would have to bug the main living room later. He walked up the shiny purple-stone steps he had ascended yesterday while polishing the banisters. The wood shone in the light, he noted with satisfaction. The sound of voices drifted down to him and he paused to listen but could hear no more than a murmur. He tiptoed up half a dozen stairs and the voices became more clear.
“We can’t keep doing this. When they find out the truth it will be even worse.” This was said in a female voice.
“We just need a bit more time.” Another woman.
“To do what? The situation isn’t going to get any better. She’s dead and the business is...”
“What are you doing?” The voice came from right behind Reese and he whirled round, nearly tripping. His heart fell at the sight of the blond man a few years younger than him and not a member of staff: it was Bop du Lissin.
“I have flowers for Beja to put in vases around the house. Someone said she was upstairs but I can’t see her.”
“You won’t see anything listening to other people’s conversations.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, sure he was about to be sacked and the murder investigation would be over. “I just didn’t want to interrupt them.”
“I know you all want to find out what’s going to happen to the company but if anyone else catches you eavesdropping, you’ll be fired. Just do your job.”
“Yes, Mr du Lissin.” He hurried up the stairs, grateful that Bop had misunderstood why he was listening and wasn’t going to send him away. Two people he recognised as Ember du Lissin and Norla – presumably the ones who had been talking – walked down towards him, not making any room for him so that he was forced to press sideways against the banisters to avoid walking into them. They looked ahead as if he was invisible and he knew that if one of them had seen him listening, he would have definitely lost his job. Bop was one of Reese’s main murder suspects but the little show of kindness just now made him seem far less likely to be capable of killing his own mother. Reese had seen too many supposedly decent people ignore the misery around them to underestimate someone who was generous to a person Bop believed to be a servant; someone who would never be able to repay him.
The couple kept moving downwards and, hearing them greet Bop, Reese jogged upstairs. There was no sign of Beja on the second floor so he planted a bug behind a holo-portrait and kept going until he found her talking to a cleaner on the third floor. When she caught sight of the flowers he held, she smiled and came forward to take them off him. “How lovely. Thank you, Reese. How is your work going today?”
Aside from the recent close call, it was fine. “It’s good, thanks.”
“I’d rather clean bathrooms than be outside in this weather,” the cleaner commented over Beja’s shoulder.
“I like the fresh air and Ariel is good-natured to work for.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Beja said and it occurred to him out of the blue that a member of staff might have had a reason to want Kass dead. If the du Lissin family lost money due to the selling of her company, a lot of jobs might be in jeopardy. “I’ll walk down with you.”
They headed back downstairs, no members of the family around anymore and Beja paused on the next landing to fill up a vase. Watching her, Reese asked, “How long have you worked here?”
“I started as a cleaner more than twenty-five years ago and worked my way up to being the head of staff.” She walked back towards him before pausing and looking up at a painting. “This portrait was painted a few years after I arrived.”
Out of politeness he came and took a look at it. “Is that the du Lissin family?”
“Yes, although there were only a handful of them in those days and old Shella du Lissin was still alive and in charge of everything. She was a formidable lady.”
He looked at the faces carelessly and caught sight of the list of their names written at the bottom of the painting. His breath caught and he stared first at the words and then intently at the faces. No wonder they had been so scared – it all made sense.
He could barely keep himself at Beja’s side and carry on working as if nothing had happened when he couldn’t wait to go and tell Nick the answer to the secret everyone had been keeping.
“Do I look as if I have time for that?” Reese recognised the voice this time from the stairs.
“We just need five minutes to discuss...”
Reese tried to glance round the corner but he couldn’t see the speakers in the nearby room.
“Make an appointment, Pos, and I’ll talk to you when things quieten down a little.” Pos, short for Poseidon. That was Arwyl’s husband.
Beja teleported ahead to the kitchen and Reese found himself alone downstairs. He entered the larger living room and glanced about. He knew someone could come along at any time so he quickly got a bug out of his coat pocket and knelt down to put it beneath a table.
“What are you doing?”
The voice shocked Reese so much that fell backwards, twisting his head round to see Pos and a colleague glare at him, their eyes falling on the bug he still held in his hand.
He had messed up his chance finding the murderer while he worked here and neither the people here nor the crew of The Prince would be happy about it but at least it hadn’t been for nothing.
Chapter Twenty
“HOW DARE you spy on us?” Norla demanded. Apart from Bop, she was the youngest child but she spoke with an authority that made Prince cringe. “Do you know who we are? I’ll have you arrested.”
“We are working for the government of your planet,” the captain answered, his scarlet frock-coat and breeches somehow less out-of-place amongst the lavish furnishings of the castle. “You are the ones who have acted illegally, murdering someone and paying slavers to kidnap one of my underlings.”
Beja teleported to Reese’s side before he could intervene. He wasn’t sure whether to say what he had discovered now, to help the team, or to keep their knowledge hidden from the family for the moment. “You deceived me thoroughly.” Beja interrupted his thoughts, her voice more upset than angry, which made him feel guilty. He liked both her and Ariel but this was the nature of detective work. There were larger issues at stake than hurt feelings.
“I’m sorry. I have a job to do, trying to solve the murder.” He was wearing his own appearance again, not the computer-created human his clothes had invented to stop the slavers catching him again. He had had to become himself when the captain hadn’t recognised him and had been about to leave him to whatever fate the du Lissins could come up with for him. He felt oddly vulnerable wearing his own face in front of these people.
Norla and Prince were still ranting at each other in the background – puffed up with anger, their voices loud – and he caught the tale end of her accusing him of shabby, unprofessional behaviour, Pos and his colleague standing in the doorway behind them, looking ready to wade in with their own accusations at any point.
“You are not going to do anyone in Seaspray any good.” Beja gave a rattling sigh that made her whiskers twitch.
About to take the captain’s side in the larger argument, he instead focused on her, distracted. “I know why the family felt the need to lie to people but there’s a killer probably right here in this house,” he said. “That matters more than money.”
“Not if we all get fired.”
“Would you feel like that if someone else died?”
“It would depend who they killed.”
He smothered a snort of laughter at this flippant response. Beja probably knew all the family secrets better than anyone and he hoped that she would remain safe. He had got to know many members of the staff and would take it personally if anything bad did happen to any of them. “Be careful until we catch the person responsible.”
“No one has any reason to hurt me.”
“... Have your detective licence revoked,” Norla was threatening and Reese could see that the captain was out of his depth against her, like a mouse getting into a boxing ring against a cat. He crossed the room to Prince’s side as she said, “You and your crew will be in jail for the rest of your lives. By Poseidon, I promise...”
“You’ll do nothing except cooperate fully and openly with our investigation from now on,” Reese told her and she threw him a look of amused disbelief.
“Why would I possibly do that?”
“Because that way we might not have you thrown into jail for lying to Ocean’s government about the identity of the victim. If anyone else dies you’ll be held partially responsible for misleading everyone.”
Norla’s eyes widened at the mention of the victim and the anger faded from her expression and her stance.
“What are you talking about?” muttered the captain in his ear.
“They told everyone Kass du Lissin was the person who had been murdered,” he said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “but that was a lie. The person who died was the head of their business empire, Ember du Lissin.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“I DON’T understand,” the captain said for the second time. “You aren’t explaining clearly at all.”
Nick was still trying to make sense of it himself after he and Poppy were called by Prince and ordered to return to the ship for an urgent conference. Having been out in the snow, studying the two du Lissin businesses, he was glad to return to the warmth of the ship. He and Poppy sat in the canteen around two tables that had been pushed together to provide space for the captain, Reese and Sycophant Two to sit opposite.
Nick gathered that Reese had been caught planting bugs at the castle but he was still trying to make sense of the rest of it. “It wasn’t Kass du Lissin’s murder we were investigating?” he checked.
“No.” Reese leaned towards him, his eyes bright with excitement. “It was Ember du Lissin’s body that the family discovered at her own workplace. They covered it up and called slavers to arrest you, not to help the killer but because of money. Their company – which was responsible for so much of Ocean’s wealth and hired a large percentage of Ocean’s people – could have potentially been ruined if their competitors and the government found out too soon.”
“So the person I spoke to, who I was told was Ember du Lissin, was Kass du Lissin?” This was a guess but Reese nodded at once.
“That’s right. It explains why she couldn’t let the visiting competitors see her and why she never seemed to be the one making decisions when I saw her at the castle. I can understand why they did it but they’ve had us chasing our tails this entire time.” Reese reached out to touch Nick’s hand. “Think about it. We thought Swall, Ember’s husband, must have been having an affair with Kass to have been so grief-stricken over her death but he was actually mourning for his own wife. Kass’s children seemed heartless, barely affected by it, but it wasn’t their mother who had died.”
“So this is what everyone has been hiding,” he said, taking in the full deception. Reese was right – this had kept them confused all along. It messed up all the murder motives they’d worked out. “The staff at the castle knew the truth and no doubt told their relatives in the town. Everyone helped them cover up the real case because it could badly damage the company to have no proper leadership, which could mess things up for Ocean’s entire economy.”
“Remind me again,” the captain said to Reese, “who is Ember du Lissin?”
Nick saw that Reese was getting frustrated by the captain’s inattention and couldn’t help but hope that it would spell an end of their romance. “She began the seaweed business and had control over it,” he explained.
“So all our work so far has been pretty much useless because we were solving the wrong crime,” Poppy concluded.
Reese nodded. “Essentially, yes.” He turned to Prince. “You should inform the planet’s government of this as soon as possible and get them to insist that the du Lissins answer our questions honestly from now on. Since we know the truth, they should realise that it’s in their interests to cooperate and get the murder solved as quickly as possible.”
“And get paid.” The captain nodded slowly. “You had better help me explain this to the government and we’ll arrange to hold a meeting with the du Lissin family, so they can answer all our questions, first thing tomorrow morning.”
“That’s an excellent idea, sir.” Reese smiled at Prince, who beamed back at him, and Nick’s heart fell.
“You’re doing a tip-top job on the case.” Prince patted Reese’s hand. “I’m sure everyone can agree that you’re an asset to the team.”
Poppy responded with one of her neutral expressions. “It’s a pleasure to work with him. He’s nearly as helpful to our work as you are, sir.”
Ouch! Nick saw Reese wince at that insult masquerading as a complement, while the captain remained sublimely oblivious.
With Reese no longer able to spy for them at the house, he would need to work instead alongside Nick and Poppy. Nick hoped he wouldn’t be caught up in the friction between his sister and the man he was foolishly attracted to.
Even without the murderer who was on the loose, their lives looked set to become more difficult.
Prince frowned. “So why would anyone want Ember du Lissin dead?”
For perhaps the first time in his life, the captain had asked the right question and Nick realised that he had no idea how to answer.
Chapter Twenty-Two
THE NEXT morning Nick was back in Seaspray, Poppy, Reese, Sycophant Two and the captain at his side, along with the captain’s two bodyguards, as they walked in a procession to the du Lissin castle. They had told everything to the planet’s government and had been promised that there would be no more hindrances to their investigation, so the captain had finally consented to leave the protection of the ship.
They reached the castle, the captain having complained during the entire walk about the distance and the fact he was getting his fine boots muddy. “Damnation!” Prince exclaimed as Poppy used the door knocker. “It’s snowing again and it’s so cold. Aren’t you three cold?”
“Very much, sir,” Sycophant Two said obediently.
“Try being stranded overnight in the snow while hiding from slavers,” Nick said meaningfully.
“Why, by gad, would I wish to try that?” The captain was either assuming obliviousness to avoid any guilt for not bothering to mention the time difference that had stranded Nick here or he had genuinely forgotten about it because it hadn’t affected him and, therefore, didn’t matter to him.
A member of the du Lissin family’s staff admitted them, showing them through to a conference room, which Prince examined with open envy. A roaring fire along with thick curtains and carpet made it feel hot in here. Nick unbuttoned his coat and glanced at Reese as he took it off, envying him his temperature-controlled coat. He had a flashback to their night together sheltering from the storm and the way Reese’s body had curled around his protectively, beneath the warmth of the coat.
He heard quiet voices and forced himself to pay attention. There was a group of people already in the room, mostly family but also several solicitors, one of whom was muttering something to his colleague, a hand held over his mouth so he wouldn’t be overheard. What lies were they concocting this time?
A woman stepped forward to greet them, who they had originally been told was Ember du Lissin. She nodded to them all, elegant in soft-looking layers of cream wool, her brown hair falling like silk over her shoulders. She looked far younger than her years and was beautiful and, after all that had happened since his arrival, Nick wouldn’t trust her further than he could throw her. “Seahorse, I am Kass du Lissin. Please take my sincerest apologies for the fake behaviour performed on you.”
Sycophant Two had a hand-computer open and muttered to the captain: “Seahorse means greetings.”
“Why?” Prince muttered back to Sycophant Two.
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Seahorse!” the captain said loudly to the assembled people. “I am willing to undertake the work previously agreed upon to personally solve this murder, but I need an assurance that there will be no more violence aimed at me or my underlings from the slavers of your planet.”
Kass conferred with several people in whispers, although whether it was over the legal issues of this or simply that their translators were just as useless as those of The Prince crew he didn’t know. If it was the translators and they didn’t have a clue what the captain was saying – which often happened to people who didn’t even need translators – then this talk would take forever.
Eventually she turned back to the captain and said, “We do not know what made the word unknown try to nest slash imprison your people but you have our promise that we will not allow any harm to come to any of you from now on.”
Prince looked askance at Sycophant Two who nodded repeatedly.
“Very well,” the captain said.
“Then could you tell us the correct facts about the murder?” Poppy asked.
“Yes, that’s what we require.” Prince was clearly determined to act as if he was in charge – probably to impress Reese – even though he had never taken any part in investigations.
“Please gather seats,” a young man said.
“I’m almost certain he means sit down,” Sycophant Two muttered.
They sat, Kass’s people on one side of the long table and The Prince crew on the other, which made Nick feel very much outnumbered. Kass’s daughter, Arwyl, was beside her with solicitors on their other sides. Ember’s children, Mer and Norla, were also there but Nick realised that both Bop du Lissin and Ember’s husband, Swall, were absent.
No One Likes Humans Page 8
