The couple was almost on him. He ended the call and offered his hand. “Dallas Samson, FBI,” he said. “I really appreciate your willingness to help. Sit, please.” He’d found a spot near the pool that was shaded and had lawn chairs in a group.
“I really hope we can help,” the woman said. “I’m Lottie, by the way. Lottie Brennan,” she told him quickly. “We didn’t know the poor girl before that morning, but she was so sweet and filled with life. She was mad at her boyfriend for not coming, but she said she wasn’t missing out because of him. Another couple was supposed to have come with them, as well, but they copped out on her, too. She came anyway, because she really loved diving.”
Lottie’s husband, who introduced himself as Don, nodded vigorously. “She was a nice kid—a really nice kid. This is so horrible. I feel responsible.”
“Me, too, even though I know we’re really not,” Lottie said. She looked at Dallas. “We were all swimming together. She was right with us. Then, suddenly, she wasn’t. There were a lot of divers out—and you know how people kind of look alike in dive gear? Well, there were at least twenty people on our boat, and I don’t even know how many more from the other boats anchored pretty much where we were. I thought she was still with us, because there were several pretty girls with dark hair nearby. We’d checked in with each other every few minutes all along the way, but then, when it was time to go up, she just wasn’t there! We told the divemaster and the captain immediately. They called the police and the Coast Guard, then went down to look for her right away.”
“Do you remember anyone on your boat who was close to my size? And blue-eyed?”
They looked at each other thoughtfully and shook their heads.
“She didn’t just drown?” Don asked.
“We’re investigating,” Dallas said.
“Do you dive?” Lottie asked him.
He nodded.
“Then you know what it’s like. You see a ray and you’re fascinated, so you start following it. Then a shark swims by, and even though you know not to panic, you move away, anyway. Then you see the wreck itself and you can’t stop staring at it. I have to admit, I wasn’t watching the other divers. It was just too beautiful down there.” She paused and ducked her head. “Not so beautiful for Yerby, though,” she said. “But I can tell you this—no one anywhere near your height was on our boat.”
“Can you think of anything that might help? Anyone you might have seen who was my size? Anything that struck you as out of place or different?”
“Um, yeah. One thing,” Don said thoughtfully.
“What’s that?” Dallas asked.
“I did notice a really big guy diving near us when we first went in. He was wearing a wet suit—not just a heavy skin, a full wet suit. It covered him head to toe. He didn’t come from our boat, because he was already in the water when our group went in, but I remember seeing him kind of blend in with us. To tell you the truth, I really only noticed him because I was wishing I was in that kind of shape.”
“He was well muscled?” Dallas asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Don said admiringly.
“Anything else you remember about him?” Dallas asked.
Don just shook his head. “He knew what he was doing down there, but other than that...no, nothing. Sorry.”
“I wish we could help you somehow,” Lottie said. She looked at her husband miserably. “We felt guilty enough when we thought she drowned accidentally. But now that you’re saying she was killed...”
“We don’t know anything for sure. We’re just investigating right now,” Dallas reminded them. It was a lie, of course. But the authorities weren’t giving out any information at the moment. “No matter what happened, if she was determined to go off on her own, there wasn’t anything you could do.”
“We keep telling ourselves that,” Don said. “But she’s still dead, and we were the ones supposed to be keeping an eye on her.”
“Why were you asking about that man?” Lottie asked.
“Someone else mentioned him, and I haven’t found him yet. That’s all,” Dallas said.
“Is there anything else?” Don asked. “Because I think I need a drink. I’ve been having a lot of them since this happened.”
Dallas produced one of his cards. “No. Thank you for your time. But if you think of anything—anything at all—call me, please.”
“Of course,” Lottie assured him.
He nodded and headed to the parking lot.
He hadn’t gone more than a dozen steps before Lottie came rushing after him. “Agent Samson!”
He stopped, waiting for her. She rushed up to him a little breathlessly. “I did think of something.”
“What is it?”
“That man—the one my husband described?”
“Yes?”
“I remember seeing him, too. We’d been in the water about ten minutes. We were all pretty much in a group, following the divemaster, you know?”
Dallas nodded.
“When I turned back to look at a school of barracuda, I saw him. He was close to us—really close.”
“Anything else?”