Theo smiled at him. What a difference in personalities between the father and son. Below deck, the ship was five star. Plush carpets, high-end electronics surrounded him. Theo had never seen luxury like this before, especially in a boat.

Brian led him to an office at the front of the boat and crawled under a large mahogany desk. He yelled to Theo, “Look, can you pull this cord over the top of the desk?” Theo reached behind and when he saw the cord end, grabbed it.

“Thanks so much. I have to get this system installed by the end of the day and I’m running behind.”

“This is not your boat?”

“Oh lord no, don’t I wish. I’ve been working here for the last week installing the security system and various other computer related things.” He screwed the wire into the back of a monitor sitting on the desk. “So, what can I help you with, Inspector?”

Theo motioned him to the brown leather sofa and they sat down. “It’s about your sister, Sharon.”

“Oh?”

“I’m afraid she was found murdered in her flat yesterday.”

He sat there silently. “Who did it?”

“I’m afraid we don’t know yet. I was actually hoping you could help us out in our enquiries. Do you know anyone who would want to kill her? Your parents informed us she had a drinking problem.”

Brian let out a weak laugh and shook his head. “That’s a bloody joke. Drinking problem? No, she didn’t have a drinking problem. She rarely drank. My parents—and I use that term loosely—wouldn’t know.” He sniffed and rubbed his eyes. “My sister was the most innocent person that lived and didn’t deserve the parents she was given. Who would want her dead? I don’t think any person that truly knew her could hate her.”

“When your sister moved out of her parent’s home, did she come stay with you?”

“Yes. I was already on my own by then, I left at fifteen. My parents are strict Christians and everything was a rule. Rules abounded in our house, love didn’t. I stayed with friends. Actually, it was more like hiding with friends whose parents didn’t know I lived there, which wasn’t really that difficult. Most parents don’t pay any attention to their children whatsoever. My parents, you couldn’t put anything past them. They were on us about everything. My sister and I lost contact after I left. I was actually surprised when she showed up at my door one day. By then I had a flat of my own and I was working with computers to pay my way through uni.”

“Do you know any of her friends?”

“I didn’t really. My friends were her friends. You see, it was a bit awkward for us in school. Even in uniform, you know how most teenagers are, you can tell the cool ones from the uncool. My parents made sure we stayed uncool. Beyond uncool. Friends were really restricted. My parents thought all kids were from the devil. Well, you can see how that would be. She was really shy. Slowly she began to change. By the time she moved out, she had her confidence back.”

“Her neighbors mentioned they’ve seen her with a man, an older man. Do you know if she has been seeing anyone?”

“Well, she’s dated men in the past so she may be in a relationship. We learned as children to be tight-lipped about our feelings and our personal lives, so she never went on about the men she saw at all.” He sat back. “I wish I could tell you more because she was the closest thing I had to family in the world and I lost contact. I should have spoken with her more often.”

“Do you know what she did for work?”

“Yes, that I know. She worked in insurance for a company called Legal Direct Financial Planning, or LDFP, she called it for short. Try there, they’ll know more. Can I show you something?”

He reached in the back pocket of his trousers and pulled out his wallet. From inside he produced a photo. “This is Sharon and I when we were younger. I believe I was eight and she was three—we had five years between us. Look at the smile on her face.”

“It looked like she loved you a lot. She’s clinging to your left arm.”

“At that age, we worshipped the ground our parents walked on. Now, when raising my little boy I always ask ‘what would my parents do,’ and do the opposite.” Brian stared at the photo. Theo could tell he was trying to hold himself together.

“I know this may seem like a difficult thing to do, but would you be willing to come in and formally identify the body?”

He looked up at Theo. “Yes, I would. This job can wait.” He stood up, ready to go. “What happened to her? How was she murdered?”

“Someone stabbed her.”

“Did she suffer?”

“I don’t think so, death would have been quick.”

Brian stroked the hair of his sister in the photo.

Theo brought Brian back to the medical examiner’s office after assuring the body was available for viewing. Brian kept hesitating, not wanting to see the body. Finally, he took a deep breath and turned to Theo. “She looks like she’s just sleeping right?”

“Many think that. You’ll be okay. A lot of people say it gives them closure.”

When the sheet was finally lifted off her face, he stared at her. Not moving, not blinking. Sharon looked very pale and although she lay there with her eyes closed, Theo didn’t think she looked like she was sleeping. She looked dead. All the bodies he had ever seen looked dead.

“She’s not there anymore,” Brian finally uttered.

Theo turned to him. “What? It’s not your sister?”

“No, it’s the body of my sister, but she’s not there anymore. I suppose she’s gone to heaven.” He chuckled. “My parents might disagree. They probably feel she deserves to go to hell, but she looks so peaceful. Like all the anger has gone, all the stress, the worry. That’s heaven, I guess. No, I’m glad I’ve come.” He turned away from her. “I hope you catch the man that did this.”

“Why do you say a man did this?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Was it a woman?”

“We don’t know.”

“Well, I hope you catch whomever did this.”

Brian followed Theo from the room and Theo asked one of the officers to take him home. As Brian was walking out the door, he turned and said, “She really did look lovely; she looked at peace. I think that helps a lot, when you see them like that, you know.”

“I will work as hard as I can to find your sister’s killer.”

“I know.” He walked away silently.

Theo watched him go.

Chapter Forty-Three

Sophia arrived at Crystal’s flat. The tiny flat had only one room, a kitchen, and a bath. Sophia pressed the bell. She heard nothing but knew the button didn’t release a sound but a blinding light. From inside, she heard a chair scrape across the floor and feet shuffle toward the door.

“You’re early,” she signed as she looked at her watch. She tapped the face of it. “Is this really the hour?”

“You do remember asking me to come?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

As Crystal replied, her cat ran between her feet and out of the flat. Sophia made a feeble attempt at catching it, but the gray and white creature scurried down the hall and up the stairs at the end. Just what she needed, to chase something for the next hour.

Crystal tapped her shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’s gone to an old lady’s flat upstairs. She has three other cats and lots of catnip toys. The cat will return in about an hour. Hell, if it pees up there, less for me to clean down here. Come in but watch the wires.”

Crystal took the bottle of gin her friend was holding and motioned her inside with it. When Sophia entered the flat, it smelled horrendous: cat litter and moldy bread. The living area held Crystal’s bed, but Sophia couldn’t see it under cables and wires and opened books on programming. Across the length of the room, two cables at knee height connected computers sitting on either side. The cheap framed prints from the local IKEA were actually guides for wires leading to shelves that sat near the ceiling.