“But wait—I’m confused,” Zoe said. “You found Dona Isabella’s pendant. That was the first find that you made.”
“Yes—I’m sure she purposely lost that pendant, and someone was supposed to have found it years and years before I did. When salvage divers came out to the wreck, they would believe that the pendant was wrenched from her neck in the struggle. Maybe they wouldn’t find it, but the seeds were planted for her story—the story she wanted people to believe—to come to light. Of course, this is my theory. I’m not sure that I can prove it in any way, and the body is gone now, but from what Dr. Aislinn said when we did have the body, it seems likely that it was Kitty Cutlass,” Vanessa said.
“Oh, Lord, and what a cool bit!” Barry said to her, grinning. “Dona Isabella can be seen as the evil that lurks in the Bermuda Triangle. I love it!”
“After all these years of man being man, war and devastation, I’m sure a lot of evil energy went down in the ocean,” Sean said dryly.
“Evil is in the mind, really, isn’t it?” Jay asked.
“And in idle hands, right?” Zoe asked, grimacing.
“Well, in the mind—and in the hands of those it inhabits, I guess,” Barry noted, grinning. He frowned and stared at Vanessa. “You’re not suggesting that the evil spirit of Dona Isabella came up from the sea to somehow decapitate and dismember Georgia and Travis.”
Vanessa shook her head. “Hey—I just put forth a new theory, that’s all. A theory. We’ve always worked on theories and suppositions.”
“Fascinating,” Bill Hinton said, nodding in thought.
“Creepy,” Barry said.
“Ah, but it’s all in the mind, really, isn’t it?” Jay asked. He looked at Vanessa, frowning. “In an odd way, maybe Dona Isabella was getting her evil revenge. You wrote our script, relying on supposed history and legend. Maybe Dona Isabella wanted it all remembered that way.”
“Why kill Georgia and Travis—if evil ghosts of the past had anything to do with it?” Vanessa asked.
“Hey, I don’t know,” Jay said, shrugging. He rolled his eyes. “Maybe evil spirits demand sacrifices!”
“Human hands committed murder,” Sean said. “Anyway, let’s get back to working on what we’ve begun to find. Light lunch again, and an afternoon dive. That was great footage, Vanessa, great. I loved it. Let’s see what else we can find.”
While lunch was being prepared, Sean went aboard the Conch Fritter, where Liam had been on the computer using his various contacts to try to track the movement of the original film crew in more detail over the last two years when the other two boats disappeared.
“Some of this we knew. Vanessa has been doing commercial shoots. Three of the others, Barry Melkie, Bill Hinton and Zoe Cally, were part of a crew that filmed in the Bahamas. Jay hasn’t done as well as the others. He’s had a few dry spells in there. So really, anyone could have easily been around when the other disappearances occurred.”
“Good to know. I guess it’s still not proof of anything. And I’m still trying to figure out why. Vanessa’s theory on Dona Isabella being in collusion with Mad Miller was fascinating, and rings true, and it had all kinds of motive—for Dona Isabella. I don’t see the motive in the killings now—if, indeed, some of these disappearances were caused by the same murderer or murderers who killed Georgia and Travis,” Sean said, perplexed. “There was no financial gain, not that I can see. The deaths of Georgia and Travis put Jay into financial difficulty. It’s true that the water can be rough around here and that ships have disappeared in the area forever, but other disappearances now might be related. David and I read about the Delphi. It seemed it disappeared into thin air, and the boat was captained by an experienced man. There should have been a distress call, something.”
“You can’t make a distress call if you’re taken by surprise,” Liam pointed out.
“We could still be way off course,” Sean said. “But you’re right. And Carlos thought someone was aboard the boat because he was knocked out—taken by surprise.”
“If we’re not being taken in by Carlos,” Liam said.
“I don’t think we are.” He hesitated. “I think that the man is telling the truth, and that someone with us is guilty. Carlos Roca is convinced someone on the island at the time was involved.”
“We’re taking a leap of faith to believe in Carlos Roca,” Liam noted.
Sean nodded. “Yes and no,” he said softly. “Vanessa has…something. Like Katie. The thing I always wanted to deny. Until Bartholomew. Now I know that things do exist that we can’t see. She has instincts and…something. I trust that something.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Liam said.