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"Is that all there is to your life now?" Morgan asked quietly, trying to suppress her empathy. "Just this boat and your booze?"
Harry's eyes flickered away from hers, settling on a frayed photo pinned to the wall – a younger version of himself, grinning brightly beside a group of fellow divers. "After Kelly died, everything went to hell. My career, my reputation... I lost it all. People blamed me for what happened to her, and I couldn't handle the guilt or the accusations. So yeah, this is it for me now."
Morgan observed the haunted expression on Harry's face, feeling her skepticism slowly giving way to sympathy. Her own years in prison had taught her the crushing weight of being labeled a criminal, even when innocent.
She took a deep breath, inhaling the stale air that reeked of alcohol and desperation. "Harry," she began, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with the man whose life had crumbled around him, "tell me about Kelly French. What really happened?"
Harry hesitated, his fingers nervously picking at the fabric of his worn-out shirt. "It all started with this older guy who joined our diving class," he admitted, his voice barely audible above the lapping waves. "He was in his late thirties, I guess. He had this... obsession with diving. You know, breathing underwater, safety procedures, all that stuff."
"Did he have a name?" Morgan asked, her mind racing as she tried to put the pieces together.
Morgan watched Harry's eyes well up with tears as he stared down at his trembling hands. "His name was Bill," he choked out, finally breaking the silence. "He messed with Kelly's equipment before our dive... that's why she drowned."
Morgan felt a pang of sympathy for Harry, but she needed to stay focused on gathering information. "So you're saying Bill sabotaged Kelly's gear? Why would he do that?"
"Who knows?" Harry replied bitterly. "Maybe it was some twisted game to him, or maybe he had it out for her... or me." He looked up at Morgan, desperation in his bloodshot eyes. "Everyone thought I killed her because I had a crush on Kelly. But I loved her, Agent Cross. I never could've hurt her."
She studied his face, searching for any sign of deception. While she couldn't be certain, everything about Harry's demeanor suggested he was telling the truth.
"Did you ever report this Bill character to the police?" she asked. It seemed odd that he hadn't tried to clear his name by bringing up the mysterious student.
"Of course I did!" Harry exclaimed, suddenly animated. "But he disappeared after the incident and had used a fake name when he signed up for the course. The cops didn't believe me – they thought I was trying to pass the blame onto someone else."
Morgan considered this new information, her mind racing as she pieced together the puzzle in front of her. If they could find Bill, it might lead them closer to catching the killer. But with nothing more than a first name and a vague description, locating him would be near impossible.
"Harry, I need you to think back," she urged, her voice gentle yet firm. "Is there anything else you can remember about Bill? Any small detail could be important. Any peculiar habits or traits?" Morgan pressed, unwilling to give up on the possibility that there might be some clue hidden within Harry's recollections.
Harry hesitated for a moment before replying. "There was one thing, actually. He never dived, not even once. He'd come to the classes, talk about it all the time, but he never got in the water. It was like he was terrified of it."
"Terrified?" Morgan echoed, her interest piqued. There was something about this detail that resonated with her instincts. "Thanks, Harry. I'll see what I can find. In the meantime, stay put and lay low."
As she left the marina behind, Morgan couldn't shake the thought of Bill's apparent fear of water. It was an odd quirk for someone who had enrolled in a scuba diving course, and it made her wonder if there was more to his story than met the eye.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Back at FBI headquarters, Morgan settled into her office chair and opened her laptop. She was determined to uncover any records from the scuba academy that could lead her to the mysterious Bill. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she began her search, fueled by a potent mix of determination and frustration.
"Come on," she muttered under her breath, willing the screen to reveal a long-lost piece of evidence that would bring them closer to identifying the killer. But her initial queries were met with dead ends, as the company had gone bankrupt years ago, leaving behind a trail of forgotten files and outdated contact information.
"Damn it," Morgan cursed softly, her eyes scanning the screen, hoping for a breakthrough. She knew the odds were slim – after all, this wasn't her first rodeo. But she couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that there was something crucial waiting to be discovered, lurking just beneath the surface. She couldn't afford to let another lead slip through her fingers. Not when lives were at stake.
As she delved deeper into the digital maze, Morgan's thoughts kept returning to Bill and his fear of water. It was an incongruity that gnawed at her, a puzzle she felt compelled to solve. And she would not rest until every piece had found its rightful place, and justice was served for those who had suffered at the hands of a ruthless killer.
Morgan's fingers hesitated above the keyboard as her focus was suddenly ripped away by the sound of hurried footsteps. Her eyes darted to the doorway just in time to see Derik rush past, his usually immaculate hair disheveled and his face pale. It seemed as though he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"Derik?" she called out, concern lacing her voice. But he either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her, disappearing around the corner with a sense of urgency that set off alarm bells in Morgan's mind.
Abandoning her search for the Bill, she pushed back from her desk and followed Derik at a distance, watching him make a beeline for Mueller's office. The door stood slightly ajar, and through the gap, Morgan caught a glimpse of the stern visage of their boss.
Something's wrong,she thought, her gut tightening with anxiety. She knew better than to barge into Mueller's office uninvited, but the nagging worry for her partner gnawed at her resolve. As angry as she was with Derik, she needed to know what was going on.
With a sigh of frustration, she turned back towards her own office, her heart heavy with concern. As she sat back down, her thoughts raced, trying to piece together what could have rattled Derik so deeply. Their partnership had been tested recently, but they'd managed to find common ground again. Or so she thought.
***
Back in her office, Morgan's fingers froze above the keyboard. Derik had been in Mueller's office for nearly an hour, and he still hadn't come out. And Morgan was still no closer to the truth.
Just then, she caught a glimpse of Derik hurrying past her doorway once more. His face was ashen, his eyes hollow.
