Benjamin shook his head. “Yeah, well… at the time of his death his company registered a value on the NASDAQ of 4 billion dollars — of it, he maintained 85 % of the shares.” The man waited long enough for his words to sink in. “You don’t make that sort of money without pissing someone off along the way.”
“He was rich?”
“Only on paper. In reality, he personally owed a lot of money. He would have had trouble offloading all his shares for anywhere near that price. And from what I’m told, he was getting desperate to secure funding to pay off some of his personal research loans.”
“So, you’re saying someone killed him?”
“Yes — but it wasn’t for his money.”
“What makes you say that? Everything’s about money at some time or another. Besides, he had life insurance, maybe whoever he left his payout to can help explain what he needed it for.”
Benjamin smiled. “No. I doubt that.”
“Why?”
“Because I was his Life Insurance broker. And he had clear instructions for any payout upon his death to go towards paying off any of his bills, and then be given to the state for further research into alternative energies. The man clearly was committed to his purpose.”
Sam shook his head. “I guess so. Do you have any other ideas why someone would want him dead?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Benjamin waited for Sam’s response. When he got none, he continued. “It was something he’d discovered — an energy source called Elixir Eight.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Of course you haven’t — it was never made known to the public. Days before Luke was killed, the board met to discuss an anonymous offer to squash the project in exchange for a massive cash offer.”
“Do we know who the private investor was?”
“No,” he squirmed in his chair.
“And do you have an idea who murdered him?”
“Not a clue. That’s where you come into it.”
Sam swallowed the last of his drink and put his cup down. “Me, what the heck can I do to help?”
“I was hoping you might be able to tell me. Luke sent a single text message to me just before he left Bermuda to sail a charity regatta.”
“What was the message?’
“It said, In the event of my death tonight contact Sam Reilly. Only he can prove it was murder.”
“Murder? How did he die?”
“He was competing in the Bermuda to Florida Keys race and it appears his yacht was struck by a massive wave, which broached his yacht, the Mirabelle. From what I hear, the wave was so powerful that the entire thing snapped in two and sank to the bottom. Leaving no survivors.”
Sam looked at the man perplexed. “A rogue wave? Many a competent sailor has died as the result of an unusually large wave. If it was anything big enough to damage the Mirabelle, the other racers in the event must have been affected?”
“None of the other crew noted any unusually rough seas.”
“Yet, Luke’s yacht was sunk?”
“That’s it. Seems crazy doesn’t it?”
“Sure does.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt you on vacation. I know you wanted to stay away from everyone for a few days. I wonder if you would be willing to cut your time short — see if you can help me out.”
Sam looked at Aliana for approval.
She smiled sympathetically at him. “He was your friend. Even an old one, and he asked for your help.”
“Yeah, but I have no idea why.”
“No, there must have been something.”
Benjamin said, “Tell me. What do you know about rogue waves?”
Chapter Four
Sam filled his cup from the soda fountain again. Walked back and took a seat.
“Rogue waves really aren’t as mysterious as the movies would have you believe. In fact, they’re no more random than normal waves. And as such, can be predicted through the wave prediction analysis of a given sea.”
Benjamin poured himself a cup of straight coffee. He stopped and looked at Sam as though he’d just informed him the world was no longer round. “Are you saying you can predict when a rogue wave is going to occur?”
“No, but I can tell you the state of the ocean in which a rogue wave is likely to occur. Waves themselves are quite unpredictable. Evolving sea states can be predicted with relative accuracy by using wind wave models.”
“So, in what sort of seas would you expect to find a rogue wave?”
“Well, for that you have to understand some basic principles of wave development.”
Aliana stood up. “I’ve heard this story before. I’m going to freshen up.”
Benjamin looked at him. “Go on. I need to understand this.”
“Okay. The size and behavior of waves are determined by a range of factors. These include, the direction of the swell compared with the speed of the tide, prevailing ocean currents, the depth of the water, the shape of the seafloor, the presence of reefs and sandbanks, even the temperature of the ocean.”
“Okay,” Benjamin said.
Sam sighed. Trying to judge how in depth he wanted to go. “There are five factors which influence the formation of wind waves. These are, wind speed relative to the wave crest, the uninterrupted distance of open water over which the wind blows without significant change in direction, this is called the fetch, the width of area affected by fetch, and the duration the wind has blown over a given time.”
“I get it. There’s a lot of factors to measure in order to predict the height, length and force of a wave.”
Sam nodded his head. “However, there is one factor that rules the size of the waves more than any other — the wind. Waves are caused by wind blowing over the surface of the ocean and transferring energy from the atmosphere to the water. The height of waves is determined by the speed of the wind, how long it blows, and crucially the fetch.
Benjamin emptied his cup of coffee. “Go on.”
Sam noted that Benjamin’s caffeine intake had done little to settle the tremor in his hands. He continued with the subject he’d always found so fascinating. “In oceanography, rogue waves are more precisely defined as waves whose height is more than twice the significant wave height, which is itself defined as the mean of the largest third of waves in a wave record. Therefore, rogue waves are not necessarily the biggest waves found on the water; they are, rather, unusually large waves for a given sea state. Rogue waves seem not to have a single distinct cause, but occur where physical factors such as high winds and strong currents cause waves to merge to create a single exceptionally large wave.”
“Why do the waves come together at all?”
“The underlying physics that make the phenomena of rogue waves possible is that different waves can travel at different speeds. This allows them to collide and compound with each other. This is known as constructive interference. Instead of a set of four or five waves, they all merge into one entirely more powerful one.”
Benjamin cracked his finger knuckles. It looked like a bad nervous habit. “Okay, so how big could these rogue waves get?”
“They can be pretty big. The Draupner wave in the North Sea off the coast of Norway was measured by scientific equipment as being 84 feet in 1995. The same year the Fastnet Lighthouse in Ireland was struck by a wave. Although no scientific equipment recorded the precise height of the wave, the lighthouse itself was 156 feet above sea level.”
Benjamin stared at him, mesmerized. “Are you saying anyone could have predicted a 156 feet high wave?”
“You have to understand. Rogue waves aren’t about height. They’re about being twice the height of the significant wave height — AKA twice the average highest waves in a set. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined that the most frequent wave heights will be about half that of the significant wave height. And that around 1 out of every 7 will be slightly larger. But 1 out of every 3000, or roughly 3 times every 24 hours a wave will be twice the significant wave height.”