After they’d gone about thirty feet, Marissa stopped Rafe with her hand. She signaled that they were now where she last saw Wendy. They began to scour the sandy floor, but they discovered nothing, not evena piece of diving gear.
Finally, Rafe motioned for them to return to the boat.
Climbing onto the dive platform, Marissa felt crushed. Wendy was truly gone. No, a trace was left of her. It seemed too incredible to be true. For the moment Marissa couldn’t even cry anymore.
“Really sorry, luv,” Rafe said. He slipped out of his gear.
“Wynn and I feel terribly about all this, we do. Never happened on the Oz before, I can assure you of that. Terrible accident, it was.” Then he went forward and had Wynn pull up the shark cage while he used the radio.
Rafe told the shore patrol that the patrol boat had yet to appear. He gave them their position again and told them that although a diver was still missing, they were coming in to get medical attention for the injured first mate.
Once the diesels were started, Rafe had Wynn hoist up the anchor. Then they started back for Hamilton Island.
“You say you actually saw the shark seize the poor woman around the chest?” Mr. Griffiths, the Royal Australian police inspector, asked.
Marissa and Rafe were standing in front of the chest-high desk at the police station on Hamilton Island. They had gone there directly after dropping Wynn off at the medical facility.
“Yes,” Marissa answered. She could still see the gruesome tragedy, making her feel weak.
“And you saw blood?” the inspector asked.
“Yes, yes!” Marissa cried. Tears began to run down her cheeks. She felt Rafe’s arm on her shoulder.
“And you went back into the water and searched the area?”
Mr. Griffiths asked.
“We did, indeed,” Rafe answered.
“Mind you, it was over an hour later. Both myself and Miss Blumenthal here went back and searched. We found nothing. Not a trace. But my first mate tells me it was the largest shark he’s ever seen, probably twenty-five, thirty feet.”
“And this is the woman’s passport?” Mr. Griffiths asked.
Marissa nodded. She had gotten the passport from Wendy’s bag.
“Nasty business,” Mr. Griffiths said. Then, looking at Marissa over the top of his reading glasses, he added: “Would you be willing to notify the next of kin? It might be best coming from a friend.”
Marissa nodded, wiping away the tears.
“We’ll schedule a coroner’s inquest,” Mr. Griffiths said.
“Anything either one of you would like to add?”
“Yes,” Marissa said. She took a deep breath.
“The sharks were attracted by chum that was thrown into the water deliberately.”
Mr. Griffiths removed his glasses.
“What are you implying, young lady?”
“I’m not sure Wendy’s death was an accident,” Marissa said.
“That is a serious allegation,” Mr. Griffiths said.
“There was an Asian man on the boat,” Marissa said.
“He didn’t appear until we were out at the reef and already in the water. I happened to come back to the boat by myself while we were diving. I saw him and another man throwing chum into the water.”
Mr. Griffiths looked at Rafe. Rafe raised his eyebrows.
“We did have a Chinese customer on board,” he admitted.
“Said his name was Harry Wong. He’d chartered to fish on the outer reef.
He was met by a friend in a big powerboat. They had a lot of bait.
The last I talked with them they were going out in the powerboat after marlin. Apparently they changed their minds about fishing, and being uninformed, they just dumped their bait.”
“I see,” Mr. Griffiths said.
“I’m not convinced they were uninformed,” Marissa said.
“Well, that’s why we have coroner’s inquests,” Mr. Griffiths said.
“It’s a chance to question all the details.”
Feeling her cheeks flush, Marissa tried to control herself long enough to express her suspicions. She told Mr. Griffiths that she thought the Asian man might have been the same one who had been staring at her and Wendy the night before in the dining room of the Hamilton Island Resort.
“I see,” Mr. Griffiths said. He toyed with his pen, “Well then, I can understand how upset you must be. If it is any solace, I can personally assure you that we will be making extensive inquiries into this tragedy.”