Wreckers Island (romantic suspense) (21 page)

The case now being outlined barely
registered with her, but she felt Dan stiffen slightly and glanced at him. He
looked uncomfortable and flustered. So did John. She caught the dead man’s name
– Zachariah Penhaligon of Porthlevnack. Why did it sound strangely familiar,
yet unfamiliar at the same time? What was wrong with the boys?

Finally it struck her – Zak! Could it
possibly be? Emma did not know his surname, unlike the boys who had found that
out as they kept regular tabs on the police investigation via the internet over
the summer. But how many Zachariahs in their mid 40s would live in a small
community like Porthlevnack?

Could it be the same Zak they had
encountered in the tunnel? The Zak who had trussed them up; the Zak who had
beaten up Dan and lied about killing him . . .
the Zak she had clobbered
with a spade?

‘Now my task is a fairly straightforward one,’ intoned the Coroner,
in the soft, compassionate voice he reserved for such occasions.

‘It is not my job to apportion blame. This
is not a criminal court. My job is simply to seek answers to the following
questions: who died, when and where the death occurred, and how the cause of
death arose.

‘With that in mind I intend to call a number
of key witnesses, and we’ll start if we may with Police Constable Raymond
Trevethick.’

The officer went to the witness stand and
took the oath on the Bible before giving his evidence. Clearing his throat, he
said, ‘I attended the scene on the evening of June 12th, at approximately 2130
hours and could clearly see the bloated body of a well-built man floating in
the entrance to a ravine in close proximity to Gunwalloe Cove. Based on what I
saw, I immediately radioed for an ambulance and the body was subsequently
retrieved from the water by paramedics.’

‘Did you notice anything unusual about the
body, anything that might have offered a clue as to what Mr Penhaligon had been
doing immediately prior to his death?’ asked the Coroner.

‘Yes sir, Mr Penhaligon was wearing a ship’s
safety harness, with a steel D ring for a safety rope to be attached. These are
often worn by sailors on deck as a precaution against slipping overboard so
they can be hauled up.

‘Beneath that, he was fully clothed. No rope
was attached at the time the body was discovered but the fact he was wearing
the harness would strongly suggest that Mr Penhaligon had been on board a ship
or large boat of some kind and for whatever reason, lost his footing and went
overboard,’ said Pc Trevethick.

Tiny beads of sweat broke out across the
foreheads of John and Dan. They both looked uneasy and nervous. The body must
have been found within three or four hours of them dumping it for the police to
get there by 9.30pm. They were lucky they hadn’t actually been seen doing the
deed. At least the evidence seemed to be going in their favour. They shot each
other reassuring glances.

‘May I ask you, Pc Trevethick, was any
attempt made to establish what vessel Mr Penhaligon might have been crewing?
Surely if a ship lost a man overboard it would be duly reported to the
coastguard and police? Was any such report made and any search carried out?’
asked the Coroner.

John and Dan held their breath and started
to look uncomfortable again.

‘Sir, no distress calls were received by HM
Coastguard or the police around that part of the coast during the period in
question. Exhaustive enquiries were made but turned up nothing. However, sir,
as you well know, there are still smuggling activities going on around the
Cornish coast to this day. I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead but our
previous dealings with Mr Penhaligon would suggest that he might have been
involved in crewing a ship which, shall we say, would not seek to make itself
known to the authorities or follow the usual accepted maritime procedures.’

‘I see,’ replied the Coroner, looking grave,
‘and that might explain why health and safety practices on board were less than
satisfactory.’

The next to take the stand was the paramedic
called to the scene. He confirmed that Zachariah Penhaligon was already dead
upon his arrival and that no medical assistance could be attempted. He noted
that the body appeared bloated and that rigor mortis was no longer present. He
estimated that death had occurred within the previous 12 hours.

‘Numerous marks on the body were consistent
with bruising and evidence of some form of severe trauma to the head,’ said the
paramedic. ‘From what I saw, I could not say with any certainty whether those injuries
were received before Mr Penhaligon entered the water or subsequently.’

The Coroner nodded. ‘I now call Dr Simon
Atkinson, Home Office forensic pathologist, who carried out the post mortem
examination on the body. Dr Atkinson could you please tell the hearing what you
found at post mortem and what, in your professional opinion, was the cause of
Mr Penhaligon’s death?’

‘Yes sir. I examined the body at the
mortuary in the Royal Cornwall Hospital here in St Perro,’ replied Dr Atkinson.
‘Some of the bruising and blemishes sustained were consistent with being in sea
water for a short period and the effect of the tide repeatedly pushing the
corpse against the rocks around the shore.

‘However the most significant finding was
that the top of the skull had effectively caved in, causing severe brain trauma.
This must have been achieved by collision at great force with a hard object.
The injury was sufficiently severe to have caused Mr Penhaligon’s death,
although I cannot rule out the possibility that drowning occurred first and
this injury happened subsequently, if for instance, the body was hurled against
the rocks in the bay.

‘This might occur during a severe storm and
there was such a storm in the area some 24 hours prior to the discovery of the
body but the state of the corpse would suggest that death occurred several
hours after that storm had passed over. Furthermore I have to say that the
injury sustained is more consistent with a single sharp blow than with the
repeated, but lesser impact one would expect from contact with rocks.’

‘Can you shed any light on how that injury might
have been inflicted?’ asked the Coroner.

‘It is impossible to be certain,’ continued
Dr Atkinson. ‘Skull fractures like this are usually caused by a blunt, heavy
object connecting hard with the head. Bearing in mind the location and the fact
that Mr Penhaligon was wearing a safety harness, one must speculate that the
injury was sustained on board ship.

‘If a ship was in difficulty for instance
and rolling badly, any loose, hard object on board colliding at speed with the
head might cause it. There is some chance, if he was on a sailing boat, that
the boom swung across and struck him a glancing blow, although the angle is not
quite what one would normally expect but within the realms of possibility.

‘My belief, sir, was that this gentleman was
dealt a single, nasty blow to the head while serving on a ship either killing
him outright or rendering him unconscious and that arising from this, he was
lost overboard. He was either dead at this point or in no fit state to have extricated
himself from the water and on that basis, would have drowned.

‘In terms of the fact that no rope was found
attached to the harness, my guess is that, having put the harness on
originally, Mr Penhaligon had simply not attached the rope or had taken it off
subsequently, or possibly it had sheared off.’

‘Thank you Dr Atkinson. I must ask you,’
said the Coroner, ‘while being mindful of the fact that this is not a criminal
court, whether you feel there is any reason to suspect foul play? Might this
blow have been deliberately administered to Mr Penhaligon?’

‘All I can say sir, is that in my
professional opinion, the blow to the head was what killed him, either directly
or indirectly through causing him to fall into the sea and drown. Now whether
that was by accident or design I cannot say for sure. Given the circumstances
in which he was found, I think foul play is unlikely although not impossible.
Carelessness and inadequate safety procedures on deck are the more probable
explanations,’ added Dr Atkinson.

John, Dan, Louise and Emma listened to the
pathologist with a look of glazed shock on their faces. Dan could feel Emma
trembling alongside him. He prayed that she would be able to hold it together
for the duration of the hearing and they could then get her away quickly.

‘I am indebted to you, Dr Atkinson,’ said
the Coroner. ‘Am I correct in thinking that the police are no longer pursuing
this as a criminal investigation?’ he asked, looking over to the officer
attending.

The constable stood and said, ‘no sir. My colleagues
in CID carried out a painstaking probe into the matter and the file remains
open but no evidence was gathered indicating foul play of any kind.’

‘Thank you, officer. Now, ladies and
gentleman I am about to start summing up the evidence we have heard so far,’
said the Coroner. ‘I note that several members of Zachariah’s family are
present today, would any of you like to address the inquest? You are more than
welcome to do so.’

A man, who looked to be in his late 60s, got
to his feet. ‘Mr Coroner I would like to address you if I may. I am Zachariah’s
father, Ezekiel Penhaligon.’

‘Please go ahead,’ said the Coroner, gently.

‘Sir, my son, he were a bad man in some
ways,’ said Mr Penhaligon senior. ‘He were always getting into mischief ever
since he were a boy. But I tell you this, sir, he had a heart of gold
underneath and was much loved by my wife and myself. We are heartbroken at our
loss. If he met his death out at sea then he died where he most loved to be.
For the sea were his ’ome and he knew of its dangers.’

His voice faltered and Mr Penhaligon could
only croak, ‘thanking you for the opportunity, sir,’ before sitting back down.

Emma was shaking with distress and Dan and
John were getting alarmed. She looked at Mr Penhaligon with abject misery in
her eyes. The boys understood how she must feel but were terrified she might start
attracting attention to herself. Louise, meanwhile, still seemed in a world of
her own, seemingly more bothered about the airless surroundings and having her
right flank squashed by one of the burly Penhaligon clan.

‘Thank you very much, Mr Penhaligon, for
that touching tribute,’ said the Coroner. ‘It is always the most distressing
aspect of my job holding inquests into tragedies such as this to meet members
of the family who must come to terms with the untimely death of a loved-one. It
is regrettable that having heard the available evidence it is not always possible
to conclude with absolute certainty how and why death occurred.

‘In summing up, I am satisfied that the body
of the man found in sea water adjacent to Gunwalloe Cove was that of Mr
Zachariah Penhaligon on the evening of Tuesday, June 12th, a 45-year-old man
from the nearby village of Porthlevnack. I am satisfied also that death
occurred at some stage during the 24 hours prior to discovery.

‘There remains doubt, however, about the
actual circumstances of his death with the most likely explanation being that it
was directly caused or at least, triggered, by a severe trauma to the head. We
don’t know how or where this was sustained but it seems likely that Zachariah
Penhaligon was injured while crewing at sea since he was wearing a ship’s
safety harness and that he was subsequently lost overboard.

‘However, if this was so, it is noteworthy
that the skipper of the vessel in question has never been traced, nor did he
seek to report the loss of a crewman to the authorities. One can only speculate
as to the reasons for such reticence. Given what I know and the mystery
surrounding the exact circumstances of Zachariah Penhaligon’s death, I hereby
record an Open Verdict.

‘Mr and Mrs Penhaligon you will now be able
to obtain a death certificate for your son from the registrar. A small charge
of £3.50 is payable. Thank you everyone for your attendance,’ said the Coroner
rising to his feet.

‘Court rise,’ bawled the usher again.

This time, John and Dan weren’t going to
risk hanging about and getting trapped in their seats for a third inquest. As
the extended Penhaligon family staggered, snuffling, to their feet, they politely
offered several ‘excuse me’s’ as they bundled Emma out.

The Penhaligons noticed Emma’s distress and
a woman who looked likely to be Zak’s mum thrust out a fat arm to her as she
passed.

‘Thanks for coming, luv,’ she said, dabbing
her eyes with a soiled hanky. ‘Zak were always a one for the ladies, it be
right nice that one of ’is fancy pieces could make it. He’d be made up that you
came and ye havin’ yeself a good sob in his memory.’

Emma nodded at her through her tears as John
and Dan gently led her away. Louise followed behind looking bemused, having
failed to make the connection with Zak. Of course, it was sad that this sailor
had lost his life at sea but what had that to do with them?

‘Come on Emma, let’s get out of here. Hold
it together until we’re clear of this place and we’ll have a talk,’ whispered
Dan in her ear. He was relieved when they got her outside the court precincts
which bristled with police officers, lawyers and security staff, and where
every wall had ears.

‘Let’s go to the park,’ suggested Dan,
trying to sound matter of fact, ‘and digest everything we have learnt this
morning.’

‘What we have learnt,’ said Emma, in a
tremulous whisper as they walked through the court car park, ‘is that I killed Zak.
I murdered him, didn’t I?’

‘No, Emma,’ said Dan sternly, a hard edge to his voice. ‘You
must not say that. You wouldn’t be capable of such a thing, at least not on
purpose. Now come on please, this is not the place for us to hold this
conversation.’

‘Dan’s right, Emma,’ said John. ‘Let’s walk
to the park and find a bench to sit on and we’ll talk things through calmly.’

The four of them trudged without further
conversation to the park in St Perro. It was a warm October day and the great
horse chestnut trees looked splendid in the sunshine, their leaves starting to
turn slowly from green to yellow, orange and brown.

‘Let’s grab that bench,’ said John,
pointing.

Emma had managed to compose herself now,
although her face looked pale and her eyes puffy and bloodshot. ‘Actually, can
we sit in a circle on the grass if it’s dry,’ said Emma. ‘That way we can look
at each other properly as we talk.’

‘Yes fine,’ said John, and he shot an
uncomfortable glance at Dan which Emma noticed.

‘Ok,’ said Emma, as they spread their coats
out under a horse chestnut. ‘Let’s talk about exactly what happened to Zak.
Looking directly at the boys, she said, ‘I killed him – didn’t I? It was the
whack on the head that I gave him. According to the pathologist, he died from a
single sharp blow.’

John and Dan said nothing.

‘Now Emma, be reasonable,’ said Louise. ‘The
pathologist said that
in
his opinion,
that’s what caused his
death. He made clear that the fatal blow was sustained at sea – either killing
him outright or causing him to fall overboard unconscious and subsequently
drown. Clearly, that wasn’t your doing since in order to have got on a boat,
Zak must have picked himself up from the tunnel floor – no doubt with a sore
head thanks to you – then made off down the tunnel to the shore. He was fit enough
to board a dodgy boat engaging in God knows what, drug smuggling probably, and
had some sort of accident which cost him his life.’

Well done, thought John to himself, it
sounds fairly plausible. Emma might buy that.

She didn’t.

‘I don’t believe it,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t
add up. Like I said, the forensic pathologist identified a
single
blow
to his head, delivered with sufficient force that his skull caved in, causing
severe brain injury. Regardless of where Zak actually passed away, that must
have been the blow that I inflicted, or there would have been two separate
injuries.

‘I had no idea at the time that I’d caused
such damage, but if I did, Zak would have been in no position to walk off
rubbing his head and boarding a boat, would he? From what we now know, it
sounds highly implausible that he could even have got up from the bottom of the
shaft after he fell. So how come his body was found in the water, the other
side of the bay?’

‘Precisely for the reasons I’ve outlined,’
said Louise, impatiently. ‘We’re going round in circles. The glancing blow you
inflicted did him no real harm. The fatal thump came later, out at sea. It has
nothing to do with you, so stop torturing yourself.’

Emma fell silent. Could a serious injury in
exactly the same spot on Zak’s forehead have masked a lesser one sustained beforehand?
It would be a remarkable coincidence. She turned towards the boys who seemed to
be strangely ill at ease.

‘Why aren’t those pair saying anything?’ she
asked. ‘Why aren’t they jumping into this conversation right now and agreeing
with you, Louise?’

John and Dan remained silent, not knowing
what to say for the best or which tree to gaze at next.

‘I want to know what you’re hiding,’ said
Emma. ‘You both behaved oddly in that inquest. Why, when the name Zachariah
Penhaligon was read out, did you both stiffen and look alarmed? It was as if
you had come across his full name before. Why did you fidget so uncomfortably
during much of the hearing and why did you keep glancing at each other?’

‘Come on, Emma, are you seriously suggesting
that John and Dan killed Zak?’ asked Louise, horrified.

‘Of course not,’ said Emma. ‘I have got a dreadful
feeling that I did. What’s more, John and Dan would have known it, because they
would both have seen Zak lying there in the tunnel. And . . .’, Emma paused,
barely able to get the words out, her voice quavering, ‘they must have decided
to secretly dispose of the body. Yes, it makes sense now! He didn’t die at sea
– he was
dumped
at sea.’

‘How come the police found a ship’s safety
harness around Zak’s chest?’ objected Louise. ‘I don’t recall seeing him wear
that when we crossed his path. Answer that!’

Emma couldn’t. That didn’t make much sense. It
strongly reinforced the theory that Zak had been on board ship when he was
injured. Could that be true? If only.

John and Dan looked at each other, trying to
read each other’s minds as to what they should do next. Their silence spoke
volumes. They simply had to say something. But what? The moment had come either
to step in with monstrous lies to throw Emma off the scent or come clean. John
was still trying to decide which way to leap when Dan spoke up, unable to
deceive his girlfriend any longer.

‘The safety harness around Zak’s chest came
from the stores in the outbuilding,’ Dan said, quietly. ‘It probably belongs to
your parents, Louise. Emma’s right, John and I discovered that Zak was dead and
we put the harness on him because it allowed us to winch his heavy body up the
shaft. We would never have been able to shift him otherwise.

‘It wasn’t done on purpose to make it look
like he’d fallen overboard, that never occurred to us. Admittedly it
subsequently proved useful that the police made that assumption. We carried
him, wrapped in tarpaulin, to Louise’s boat. We took the body out to the
entrance to the caverns near the bay and rolled him into the sea. We brought
the tarpaulin back and washed it in a rock pool. An obscure one, I should point
out, not one that we would ever have been likely to bathe in.’

Emma sobbed uncontrollably as Dan confessed.
‘Oh God, oh my God, it’s true. I killed Zak. I killed him, I murdered him, I
took away a father and mother’s beloved son. That woman, his mother I presume,
who grabbed my arm at the end of the inquest and thanked me for coming and for
the grief I showed, was unwittingly talking to her son’s murderer.’

‘Emma, listen to me,’ said Dan, looking at
her earnestly. ‘You did not murder him, you must not use that word. Murder is
to take someone’s life deliberately. You killed Zak accidentally in the most
trying of circumstances.’

‘I still killed him though, I killed another
human being,’ wailed Emma.

‘Yes, but you were suffering enormous
distress,’ said John, aware that it was time he said something. ‘You sincerely
believed that the boyfriend you loved dearly had been stabbed to death by Zak –
as we all did – and as he heaved himself out of the shaft with that cutlass
held aloft you honestly thought that we would be his next victims.

‘You acted in legitimate self defence of your
life and ours, with no intention of doing anything other than repelling him. No
jury would find you guilty of murder for that and probably not even
manslaughter.’

‘If I had such a wonderfully strong case,
why did you agree to move the body?’ said Emma, struggling hard to bring her
emotions under control and to discuss things calmly. ‘I suppose you did it
because you didn’t want such an inconvenient matter as a dead body hanging
around a few yards away from the place where we had found the treasure. You
didn’t want us to be called to give evidence to two inquests, one after the
other, the first into the treasure we had found and the second into the man we,
or rather I, killed as we sought to guard it from him. We were like a pack of
wolves.’

Dan took her hand in his but she pushed it
away angrily.

‘Emma, you can believe what you like, but
the reason we decided to move the body was above all to protect you,’ he said,
softly. ‘To spare a sensitive, vulnerable, wonderful individual like you – who
wouldn’t harm a hair on anyone’s heads – the ordeal of knowing what had
actually happened and the possibility that you would unjustly get into serious
trouble over it.’

‘I harmed far more than the hair on someone’s
head, didn’t I?’ retorted Emma, furiously. ‘I literally stove someone’s head in
with a spade.’

‘Look, Zak was a miserable, gloating, greedy
creep who not only wanted our treasure but also tried to force Louise into
having sex with him and Jake,’ pointed out John. ‘He then made us fear for our
lives. As Dan has already said, you did what you did instinctively, to protect
us all.’

‘Emma, we weren’t willing to let you face
the invidious prospect of a police investigation, possible charges, and a Crown
Court trial,’ said Dan, looking her directly in the eyes. ‘Of course you would most
probably have been acquitted eventually, but I did not want to see you put at
risk of going through that with all the damage it could do to your university
course and your future – as well as the psychological harm it would cause.

‘Zak brought his death on himself and while
nobody would have wished it on him, that’s the truth. I acted as I did in
helping John because I love you with all my heart and I did not want you to
suffer. John felt the same way.’

Emma looked at him stony-faced then turned
her attention to John. ‘Is that right, John, were your motives purely about
looking after my best interests?’ she asked him.

‘Yes to a large extent because we are very fond
of you Emma. I’ll admit I was also worried that our title to the value of the
treasure would have been compromised if criminal proceedings had arisen,’
replied John.

Emma nodded. They were both, belatedly, being
frank with her, it would appear. Dan had clearly acted out of love and devotion
and John also, but to a lesser extent and with an eye firmly on the treasure,
although that was understandable. Either way, it didn’t change anything.

‘I still killed Zak, and now by being party
to a cover-up, I am committing a further serious and imprisonable offence –
attempting to pervert the course of justice,’ she said. ‘I am also denying his
family the right to know the truth about their son’s death and withholding crucial
information which was not available to either the police or the Coroner.’

‘It’s the right decision though Emma, given
the circumstances,’ said Louise.

‘I haven’t made a decision!’ shouted Emma at
her, coldly and furiously. ‘And you are not going to tell me how to think or
what to do, Louise. I cannot leave things as they are, it is immoral and I am
an honest and decent person – well, I thought I was. I must tell the police
what has really happened and put myself at their mercy. It is my Christian
duty.’

‘Listen Emma,’ persisted Louise, not knowing
when to shut up, ‘all this is very noble but in a sense you ought to be
thanking John and Dan, not making them out to be some sort of villains. They
risked their own skin to save yours and if you go and fall on your sword on
this matter to salve your own conscience, you take other innocents down with
you. For their sake, please don’t carry this on any further – they don’t
deserve it after all they’ve done to try and help you.’

Emma’s eyes blazed.

‘What did you say?’ she snarled at Louise, her
voice icy and harsh. ‘Did you use the word “innocent” just then? Did you
seriously say that I will “take other innocents” down with me? They aren’t even
remotely innocent, nor am I and I’ll tell you this Louise, nor are you. You yourself
are now complicit in the crime of perverting the course of justice by actively
seeking to dissuade me from doing the honourable thing.’

‘Yes Louise, keep out of it,’ snapped Dan at
her, his soft grey eyes hardening. ‘I will not have you emotionally blackmailing
Emma. Can’t you see how distressed she is?’

‘In fairness to Louise,’ said John, ‘she is
simply trying to protect us now, as we tried to protect Emma. The ones in line
to face criminal trial and forfeit their right to the treasure are the three of
us,’ he said, pointing to himself, Dan and Emma. ‘Louise has done nothing
wrong. She might even stand to be declared sole beneficiary and inherit every
penny. So don’t accuse her of acting out of self interest.’

Emboldened by John’s support, Louise wrapped
an arm around his neck and had another try. ‘Come on Emma, let sleeping dogs
lie, for everyone’s sake. Don’t do this to John and Dan and above all, don’t do
it to yourself.’

‘Try and see that we acted in your best
interests, Emma, and the best interests of securing the wealth that is our due,’
chimed in John, ‘wealth that will give us financial security and allow us to
finish our degree courses without having to worry about how we’ll pay for it. You
were struggling the most, you deserve this money more than anyone.’

‘I deserve a gaol cell,’ said Emma, sobbing
again. ‘Whatever I did to Zak, however terrible, I can at least say that it was
never my intention to fatally injure him, but if I say nothing now, I am
wilfully taking a decision to cover up what I did which will make it look
tantamount to murder.

‘I have to tell police the truth, I simply
have to. If it ever came out that Zak died at the hands of a gang who had just
discovered over £1½ million of treasure and who then disposed of his body, it would
look pretty grim for the four of us, including you, Louise.’

‘The truth won’t come out,’ said John,
calmly. ‘The police have closed the file on Zak – they clearly think he’s
lowlife anyway. The officers round here, they’re pretty decent, rural folk from
good backgrounds, they’re not going to bust a gut trying to work out exactly
how scum like Zak met a bad end. And those sort often do meet a bad end.’

Louise opened her mouth to speak but was cut
short by Dan.