Lethal Legend by Kathy Lynn Emerson Page B

directions. Somener’s blanket, wrapped around him like a cape, flapped as he went.
    “Why is Mr. Somener being so stubborn about this?” Diana murmured, addressing no one in particular. He had been more forthcoming than Miss Dunbar, but only in spurts. That hair-trigger temper of his alarmed her and he seemed unduly concerned about keeping people away from his island.
    They’d all gravitated to one spot, as if to draw comfort from each other in the aftermath of tragedy, and had ended up standing in a cluster halfway between the body and the two quarreling men. In spite of their proximity, Diana was surprised when Prudence Monroe answered her question.
    “He values his privacy,” the housekeeper said.
    Or he had something to hide, Diana thought.
    “A true friend would understand Graham’s reluctance to have strangers come here,” said Serena Dunbar.
    “I am sure Ben understands perfectly,” Diana shot back, “but there are principles at stake. Ben believes in abiding by the law. He’s sworn to uphold it in Bangor.” He took his duties as one of that city’s coroners very seriously.
    “Not gonna let it go,” George Amity opined, nodding his shaggy head in Ben’s direction. Ben had turned around to pursue Graham Somener. He caught up with him just out of earshot. “Yep. Seen his sort afore. Most times it’s a good thing.”
    Moments later, when the two men rejoined the rest of the group, it was clear that Ben had taken charge. “MacDougall will row the tender to the landing,” he announced. “It will be easier to carry the body and diving gear up those stairs than to take them by way of the path,” he explained to the others. “I’ll go with MacDougall. The rest of you—”
    “Leave the other boat, if you please,” Miss Dunbar interrupted. Her face was still pale but Diana could now detect not the slightest sign of grief or distress. The lady archaeologist was all business. “We need to clear out the sleeping tent and secure the equipment in the other.” She directed a pointed look at the blanket Graham Somener still had wrapped around his shoulders to ward off a chill. “You look ridiculous, Graham. Frank’s clothing should fit both you and Dr. Northcote. Go borrow his spare trousers and shirts. He certainly has no need of them!”
    The others waited in awkward silence until the two men returned in dry clothing. Graham Somener glowered while Ben finished sorting everyone out, but he did not object to the arrangements. Landrigan would stay with Miss Dunbar for protection. Somener, Mrs. Monroe, and Diana would return to the house the way Diana had come.
    “I’ll meet you at the steamboat landing,” Ben called to Graham Somener from the tender as Paul Carstairs gave the boat a shove to send it back into the water. “We’ll wait for the Miss Min together.”
    As Diana watched MacDougall row away, she belatedly remembered the other boat, the dory that might or might not have been spying on them. She scanned the water but there was no sign of it now.
    Pointedly ignoring everyone else, Graham Somener strode off in the direction of the path to the promontory. Diana let Mrs. Monroe set their pace, one much slower than Somener’s, but her mind raced ahead.
    Murder. Terrible as it was to contemplate, still more appalling was the possibility that Graham Somener had committed the crime. Diana sent Mrs. Monroe a sidelong glance as they picked their careful way over the uneven shore. The woman looked harmless enough, but old family retainers tended to be loyal to the death.
    “I did not understand about the Miss Min ,” Diana ventured, thinking this topic might provide a way to ease into questions about Graham Somener’s motive. “Is there some particular reason for Mr. Somener to object to his captain fetching the sheriff?”
    “Steamboat leaves here, she’s supposed to go back to Bucksport. The water route to Ellsworth—that’s the county seat, where the sheriff is—that’s in the opposite