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“Or they didn’t know where the body was.”

Ben didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

The Coast Guard had opened a chamber that had remained sealed for three years. If someone had been searching Blackwater recently, that discovery might have shown them exactly where to look.

“Do they know the man was murdered?” I asked.

“The medical examiner found a bullet near his spine.”

My stomach tightened.

“Was he shot inside the chamber?”

“They haven’t determined that.”

“What else was with him?”

“Calle.”

“There’s something else.”

Ward moved away as Scott, Mark, John, and Piers emerged from different parts of the house. Their casual clothing couldn’t disguise what they were.

Trained men preparing for trouble.

Ben lowered his voice.

“The body was wearing a ring.”

“What kind of ring?”

“A silver signet.”

The air left my lungs.

No.

“The face bears a compass surrounded by five small stars,” he continued.

I reached for the camera against my chest.

Grandpa’s compass.

Five stars for his five granddaughters.

He wore that ring every day of his life.

But it wasn’t on his hand when Nathan brought him home.

Mom believed he had lost it aboard the trawler. We searched the boatyard, Grandpa’s office, and every box inside his workshop.

We never found it.

Because it had been buried with another man inside Blackwater.

“Are you certain it’s his?”