‘Well, we shot one but the other got away. I am afraid the one we shot is dead so he cannot provide us with any information. The stockier thug ran for his life and was too far away for us to go after him. He went back to the village, though, so I don’t think he will have left the area just yet. Do you want us to go after him?’
Phillip contemplated that. ‘Do we know if Smidgley’s thugs are still in the area?’
Oliver nodded.
‘Then we cannot waste the time on the father’s thugs. If the last one stays in the area and reappears, we will arrest him. He is more likely to return to the father and tell him that the job is too dangerous, especially if he has just been hired as a show of force. It depends how much the father has paid the thugs to do the job. If they have been paid well the last one will stay and try to finish what he started. It depends if he thinks it is worth risking his life for.’
‘I agree. If he reappears, we must arrest him. If he shoots at us, he is to be cut down just like Smidgley’s thugs would be,’ Oliver informed everyone.
‘Smidgley is dead,’ Phillip announced. ‘I saw his body myself. He was hung by someone who was in the woods close to the house Carlotta was hiding in. I can only assume that Haugham did it.’
Oliver shook his head. ‘Haugham was killed last night at the harbour. He was shot in the head by someone.’
‘It can’t have been him then,’ Phillip mused.
‘That means we have another killer in the area. But why would he want Smidgley dead?’ Oliver mused.
The men from the Star Elite all looked at each other.
‘The Starling’s skipper,’ Oliver whispered. ‘It has to be him. At some point during the gun battle he sailed out of the harbour. By the time any of us were able to go after him he was too far out at sea to be caught.’
‘I didn’t see him,’ Phillip replied.
‘It has to be him. There can’t be anybody else involved in this,’ Jasper reasoned.
‘But why would he want Smidgley dead?’ Aaron asked.
‘Because Smidgley and Haugham knew too much about him. I doubt he would have been told how much trouble Smidgley and Haugham would bring to his door. If he has any other crimes he needs to hide he would be prepared to do whatever he has to do to escape justice, even if that meant murdering someone,’ Oliver reasoned.
‘There is more,’ Phillip interrupted. ‘Smidgley was in the woods next to the house where I found Carlotta. He accosted Carlotta and asked her for help. He seemed desperate and tried to drag her toward the village of Windwidger.’
‘Why in the Hell would he do that?’ Aaron asked.
‘Maybe he wanted her to fetch something for him? Maybe he wanted her to help him get to the village? He was injured. He had a deep cut along the length of his face. Whatever he wanted we will never know now,’ Phillip replied. ‘Carlotta didn’t wait around to find out.’
‘Maybe he wanted her to take a message to the skipper
of The Starling,’ Oliver suggested.
Phillip lifted his brows at his colleague. ‘That would mean that The Starling has been taken to Windwidger. Smidgley must have gotten in touch with the man somehow. Maybe he sent a local to take a message or managed to signal him from the cliff top or something. He would be visible from the edge of the trees because they are on the cliffs overlooking the village.’
‘It’s possible. However, the killer found Smidgley and murdered the man. That means we have a new problem on our hands.’
‘Carlotta found Smidgley. Then we both saw the killer,’ Phillip interrupted before describing the man they had seen lurking in the shadows in the woods near to Smidgley’s body. ‘The killer has seen Carlotta and will want her silenced as well.’
‘That makes you both his targets,’ Aaron warned.
‘Did Carlotta not see any distinguishing features of the killer when she saw him?’ Oliver asked.
‘She says not.’
‘But you don’t believe her.’
Phillip sighed. ‘No, I believe she saw no more than I did.’
‘The killer saw her and thinks she saw him. That’s what is important here,’ Justin said.
‘What is her problem with her father?’ Oliver murmured quietly.