Believe?

"! Pirates ydych yn gwybod ein bod yn Aberystwyth yn 2016 môr-ladron! - Yr wyf yn gofyn i chi!" Mared mumbled as she shook her head. Tom couldn't help the smile that crept over his lips.

"Wel, crynu fi prennau!"

"Tom!" She got into the passenger side of the car.

"Pirate or not we still have a murder victim." He got in the drivers side. "Rhodri is loving this."

"What is it with little boys and pirate ships?"

"Blame JM Barry. Captain Hook has a lot to answer for."

Mared rolled her eyes as he started the engine. The mortuary had never been a favourite place of hers. Iowerth and Rhodri were lovely men but the whole place gave her the creeps. She rested a hand on her still flat abdomen. The morning sickness seemed to turn into all day sickness. She closed her eyes as the nausea washed over her.

"I have no idea why or how pirates would come to Wales. Modern day smugglers maybe but actual pirates? They aren't like Captain Pugwash. Modern day pirates aren't some Disney characters. They murder and steel with impunity." Mared stated as they drove towards Devil's Bridge. "And where are we going?"

"Devil's Bridge." Tom answered.

"Why?"

"There have been pirates from Wales. Did you not do history on school? Bartholomew Roberts, Leekie Porridge, Robert Edwards. Pembrokeshire was full of it. Bet Aber was too." Tom seemed to be warming to his theme. Mared bit back a smile. She knew Lloyd would be researching the history and any connections to the pirates.

"This was when? 1647? I did A Level history." She smiled. "It's 2016 now. I don't think the Welsh piracy scene from then is going to help us now." She looked at him as he parked the car.

"It was Ceridigian. Fishguard way. Not so much up ere. But with the Irish Sea on our doorstep it was fare game for smugglers. You know that still happens now."

Mared turned to him.

"You are enjoying this."

"Pirates Mared!"

"We still need to find the man's identity and find his killers. Why would a drowning victim end up in a school? You are looking for more questions when it's answers we need." She opened the car door at the same time he did.

"Mared."

"And why Devil's Bridge? It had nothing to do with the sea or pirate ships." She followed him. Tom nodded.

"Yeah." He agreed. "But this place. It's special. If you were a pirate where else around here would you hide loot?"

"Jacobs Ladder is pretty good for hiding stuff but you'd need a death wish to go down there. The current is lethal. And no neither of us are going down there." She followed him to the Bridge.

"Don't tell me you are scared of the legend." Tom raised an eyebrow. "And no, you are not going down there."

"Tom."

"I was wondering if the water had the same properties as the stuff old Captain Calamity had drowned in. I'm going to far a sample."

"Be careful." Mared had to agree the chances of their victim being drowned in the river seemed far more plausible than being drowned at sea. She looked away as Tom climbed down the slippery wet embankment as the river raged below. Seconds later he was out of sight.

Cxxxxxxx

"All Welsh legends I could find relating to piracy in Wales are centralised around Ceridigion and that area." Lloyd paused as Sian looked up as Lloyd walked towards her. She couldn't help but smile.

"It's nothing to do with actual piracy. Did you look online?"

"Yeah."

"Well then." Sian turned the monitor so he could see. "A drama group from Swansea have been touring with a play all about swashbuckling pirates."

"Oh."

"And this looks like our dead man. Cmon, let's get down there." She grabbed her jacket before ushering him out of the office. She couldn't help but feel a little sorry that there wasn't a more fantastical story to their case. It seemed it was another murder with a mundane background as the others they investigated.

Xxxxxxxx