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“I’m really sorry, Claire, but I want to let you and Aiden know that I’ll refund your trip, and you can schedule another dive.” Sully’s eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was hoarse.
“That’s okay, Sully. We know it’s a difficult time for you, so we’ll give you a call later on to reschedule our dive.” Aiden patted the older man on his back.
“After this, I don’t think I will ever dive again,” Annisa said with a toss of her head.
“I don’t think Trevor’s death had anything to do with the dive itself.” I narrowed my eyes in disbelief.
“Scuba diving has been tainted for me now because I will always associate it with Trevor.” She huffed as though she knew all along that scuba diving wasn’t a great idea.
Annisa was being overdramatic, but at the same time, she also went on a date with Trevor. There were so many questions that I wanted to ask her about our diving guide, but from the terse answers that Annisa had given, it was apparent that she didn’t want to talk about him.
Despite wearing her thick neoprene wetsuit, Annisa shivered. “I’m cold. I’m going to get some coffee at the food truck. Does anyone want any?” Annisa asked.
We shook our heads. As much as I craved coffee earlier, the thought of eating or drinking anything was unappealing.
She shrugged and added, “Fine, suit yourself.” She walked off, leaving us staring at her back.
When Annisa was out of hearing range, I turned to Sully and asked, “Did you know that Trevor took Annisa on a date?”
“No, I was surprised like everyone else. In fact, I didn’t know that Trevor certified Annisa for her open water certification. If students want private instruction, they work directly with the instructor.”
“So, you didn’t meet Annisa until this morning?” Aiden asked.
“No,” Sully replied, shaking his head. “The student can do their lessons from an online program and meet with the instructor at the dive site for the certification dives.”
“I didn’t realize that instructors could work independently from the dive shop,” I said.
“Oh yeah, it’s becoming more popular now with the gig economy and everything. During COVID, a lot of dive shops laid off diving instructors, and when they hired the instructors back, they did so at a part-time rate rather than full-time. In addition to Trevor, a few other dive masters certified to license scuba divers use the shop and the equipment to do their training.”
“What’s the benefit of doing this?” Aiden seemed interested in this information, but I secretly wondered if the other gear was in better condition than the wetsuits we rented. The only positive thing from this incident was that Aiden and I could take off the suits. I ignored the mildew odor while we were talking to the police, but the stench came back in full force, causing me to gag.
“Well, if someone has another full-time job, they can make extra money certifying students. Of course, it’s up to the students to do their homework and check the credentials of their instructors,” Sully answered. He lifted his hands up indicating that he had no control over these things.
“Did Trevor have any problems with customers from the shop or the freelance dive masters?” Aiden asked.
“Nah, not that I knew about,” Sully replied, looking up at the sky and scratching his temple.
I glanced at the bathroom. The medical examiner arrived, and Officer Shin and Officer Frankel escorted the ME to Trevor’s body.
“This is so weird. I don’t think Trevor died from natural causes because he looked fit to me.” I looked at Aiden, and he nodded in agreement.
“It certainly looks like there was more to his death,” Aiden added.
“Yeah, I can’t believe what happened. I mean, who would want to kill Trevor? He’s a really great guy.” Sully shook his head in disbelief.
“Does Trevor have any family that you need to contact? I’m sure the medical examiner will keep the body at the morgue until someone can decide what to do with it.” I shuddered. Just talking about handling Trevor’s body gave me a weird feeling.
“He has a brother that he listed as his emergency contact when he applied for this job, but I’ve never met him. He lives in Miami. Come to think of it, Trevor rarely talked about his brother or anyone else for that matter.” Sully scrunched up his face as he thought about the odd fact.
“Maybe Trevor and his brother weren’t close,” I said, but my suspicions were triggered. On the surface, Trevor was a handsome dive master who got along with everyone. Despite his looks and charming personality, Annisa didn’t want to continue dating him, and now, Sully mentioned that he wasn’t close to his family.
“Maybe,” Sully echoed. He was silent, and I wasn’t sure if he was still thinking about the fact that Trevor didn’t talk about his past much or if he was still shocked by what happened to his employee.
We continued to stand there, but it was getting awkward. Aiden patted the older man on the back again.
“Well, Sully, if there is anything we can do to help, please let us know,” he said, giving the older man a small smile.
“Thanks.” Sully shook Aiden’s hand and walked away with his head hung down.
