Donovans 03 - Pearl Cove

said. “The amas of old wore nothing but a G-string. They wanted to slide like fish through the water while they dove for shell.”
    “Must have been chilly.”
    “In Japanese waters, it was damned cold,” Archer agreed. “But they worked hour after hour anyway. They kept up their energy by taking breaks to grill and eat whatever they found on the sea floor during their dives. And they gave a haunting, whistling cry when they surfaced after a long dive . . . .”
    Though he spoke to Hannah, his eyes were on Tom Nakamori, who was walking down the path to the pearling sheds. One more name to give Kyle to run through his computer. The Japanese man might be nearly sixty, with joints that screamed each one of his years as a diver, but he was plenty strong enough to slam an oyster shell between Len’s ribs. Especially if he whacked him over the head with a board first.
    “Any other players I should know about?” Archer asked, turning back to Hannah.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Flynn and Nakamori both have the strength and the access to murder Len. Who else benefitted?”
    She closed her eyes and fought a sharp battle with her stomach. “I don’t see how either Christian or Tom benefitted from Len’s death. If Pearl Cove goes under, they both lose their jobs.”
    “Jobs aren’t hard to find along this coast, especially for experienced pearl men.” And unless he was badly mistaken, the young Aussie had more than one job in any case. Archer turned away from the verandah and watched Hannah with eyes that showed only a ghost of green and no blue at all. “Who else?”
    “Ian Chang wants to buy Pearl Cove. Or seventy-five percent of it, anyway. He wasn’t here during the cyclone, so he can hardly be a suspect, but he does know about the special pearls. I don’t know how. Maybe Len told him.”
    “Secrets are hard to keep, especially one like that. Even Len couldn’t have done it year after year after year,” Archer added absently. He was running through his mental file marked “Chang.” Nothing that came back was good news. Maybe Ian belonged to a different branch of the Changs. Maybe . . . but somehow Archer didn’t think he would be lucky on this one. Not the good kind of lucky.
    “This past year was the worst,” Hannah said. “Len told me he was certain someone had stolen some of the experimental oysters just before we started harvesting.”
    Archer shrugged. “If Len hadn’t been so damned clever playing off one group against another, he would have been stolen blind years ago. Ian Chang, for instance. Would that be Sam Chang’s Number One Son? The Changs of Chang Enterprises International? The Changs who own a hefty slice of the Pacific Rim pearl trade and are looking to acquire more?”
    She looked at Archer warily, sensing the intensity beneath his neutral voice. “Ian’s father is called Sam and is a businessman. Otherwise, you seem to know more about the Changs than I do.”
    “What do you know about Ian Chang?” Archer asked.
    “He works for the family business, has interests from mainland China to New Zealand, and single-handedly helped Australia pry the pearling industry’s technology away from the Japanese monopoly. From what Christian has said, Ian—with Australia’s help—is now working on ending Japan’s pearl sales monopoly.”
    “Married?” he asked, surprising Hannah.
    “Yes. Five children. And if gossip can be believed, a mistress. Several, actually.”
    “Sounds like Sam’s Number One Son,” Archer said dryly. “How much did Chang offer for Pearl Cove?”
    “The Changs would assume all debts and rebuild the farm operation.”
    “Millions, I assume.”
    She closed her eyes for an instant. The thought of how much Len had allowed Pearl Cove to slide into debt did nothing to settle her nerves. “Yes. Millions.”
    “Did you turn Chang down?”
    “For Pearl Cove?”
    It didn’t take Archer a heartbeat to figure out what other offer Chang might have made. “Pearl Cove and anything else he might have put on the table.”
    “I turned down all of his offers.”
    “Why?”
    The calm question startled Hannah. “Because Pearl Cove isn’t mine to sell.”
    “And the rest?”
    “Ian is married. End of discussion.”
    “But not for him.”
    “His problem, not mine.”
    “I’m not married, Hannah.” Before she could manage a response, Archer asked another question. “Did you tell Chang you had a partner?”
    She nodded.
    “And?” Archer asked.
    “He