“That’s true. And Miss Catalano’s spirit of adventure took her where she shouldn’t have gone,” Dallas said, and introduced himself. “I’m just trying to make sure I have all my information straight, and I also want to ask you about a man you might have seen.”
Howard, a man of about fifty with salt-and-pepper hair beneath his captain’s hat, frowned at that. “The story...cut-and-dried. We had an odd number of divers. The Brennan couple were real nice. They’d been chatty with Miss Catalano while we headed out. I don’t let anyone go down without being partnered up in one way or another, just like I don’t let anyone down if they don’t have their certification on them. Anyway, as soon as the Brennans came up, they raised the alarm. I didn’t even have to do a count. First thing we did was search around the ship. When we found out she was in there... God, we were just sick.”
“It wouldn’t have changed anything if you’d found her.”
Howard looked more closely at Dallas. “Hell, you’re the guy who found her.”
Dallas nodded. “I’m trying to find out about a man, someone Lottie and Don Brennan saw. Lottie remembered him making a point of joining the group when he wasn’t actually part of it.”
“Lots of dive boats out there at that time. It was a—”
“Beautiful day, yeah, I know,” Dallas said. “But I need to know if you recognize this guy.”
He produced the drawing the police artist had made based on Lottie’s description.
Howard looked at him disbelievingly. He didn’t say it aloud, but clearly the man was thinking, Huh? From that?
“I didn’t see him. But let me ask Clancy, my divemaster.” He turned around and shouted, “Hey! Clancy!”
Clancy was about forty, fit and bronzed to the color of coffee from years in the sun. He recognized Dallas, too. “Hey. You’re the Fed who found Miss Catalano. Man, I’d give my eyeteeth to go back—hell, I’d give my life to go back. I’ve never lost a diver before. Ever.”
“Agent Samson wants to know if you saw this man,” Captain Howard told him, handing over the sketch.
Clancy stared at it and then at Dallas. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I saw him down there. I figured he was off one of the other boats. Some of the divemasters give instructions and hang out but don’t really lead the dive. The divers can go where they want on the reef. We’re a really tight operation, especially compared to some of those guys. But, yeah, I’m pretty sure I saw him hanging around our group. Right near the ship.”
“Thanks,” Dallas told the two men. “Do you remember which other dive boats were out at the same time you were?”
Clancy pointed down the docks. “All five. Captains, divemasters, crew—we’re all pretty friendly around here. We have to be. If one of us ends up overbooked, the others pick up whatever we can’t handle. Sunset Dream, Magic, Aqua, Matty May and Twilight—all of them were anchored near us.”
“Any other boats—boats you didn’t know?” Dallas asked them.
Both men looked thoughtful, but it was Captain Howard who answered. “Actually, yes, but not that close to us. Two private boats. I don’t know if the cops spoke to their captains or whoever else was aboard. One was just a fishing boat, but the other was a really nice vessel. It was a Sea-Doo, I think. Maybe a Donzi. I don’t remember, really. Not a dive boat either, really, more a pleasure craft. But, where to find them or who owns them, I don’t know. Oh! I think the fishing boat’s name ended in ‘sun.’”
Dallas nodded. He knew how hard they were trying to help. Unfortunately, the word sun was in the name of lots of boats down in the Keys.
He thanked them both. For the next hour, he went along the docks, speaking with captains, crews and divemasters. Everyone was devastated by what had happened and wanted to help, but no one actually knew anything.
At the end of the last dock he hit a crusty divemaster named Jimmy Jones who told him, “Man, am I sorry for those people. We lost a man once. I was working out of Key Largo then. We were at the Spiegel Grove dive site and some old fellow who shouldn’t have been diving—had a pacemaker he didn’t tell us anything about—wound up panicking and coming up with the bends. By the time we got him in and to a hyperbaric chamber, well, it was too late. I know what Cap Howard and Clancy are going through. You can do all the right things, but if someone goes off where they shouldn’t be...”
“I’m not here to blame Captain Howard or Clancy,” Dallas assured him. He produced the sketch and asked, “Did you see this guy out there yesterday?”
“Yeah, I remember that guy. He was down there. I just saw him kind of peripherally, you know?” Jones said. “I remember wondering why he was all covered up like that. In the heat we’ve been having? Crazy. But I had twenty divers down with me. I didn’t have time to waste thinking about him.”
“What about other boats in the area?” Dallas asked.
“Yeah, there were a few. But, you know, there are always a lot of boats out. Especially on a beautiful day.”