'Well, I don't know —'
'It's just . . . I know it sounds silly, and I only met him a few hours ago, but I like him so much and I think he likes me, and it was nothing with Mr Baker. He stole a kiss and I let him. It was nothing. And I'd hoped . . . I just thought. I wouldn't want him to think, the Inspector I mean . . . I know it's silly, but —' Her voice died away and she looked down at the deck, biting her lower lip. 'I suppose I'm just being silly.'
Rattigan shook his head. 'I'm really sorry, miss.'
Chapter 9
'I'm really sorry, sir.'
Felix read yet again the telegram, delivered with great dispatch by Stan Hobson. He wasn't particularly surprised at the message, just angry. 'You had to do it, Teddy. I should have remembered and I didn't. I've no excuse for that.'
'Well if it's any comfort, sir, I don't believe she was directly involved; she's just trying to protect him. And knowing what we know now, he may well have threatened her.'
Felix slammed his fist on the table. He could feel the sickness rising again, blotting out coherent thought. 'What do we know? They haven't damn well told us anything! If he's our killer she's in it up to her neck and there's no way round that. I'm going to see Simmons.'
'How will that help?' frowned Rattigan. 'You stuck to your guns on Baker and this just about clinches it. I'm sorry about Miss Harrison, but —'
'No! It's all wrong. It has to be wrong. Don't do anything.'
'What's up with him,' asked Nash as Felix hurried away. 'Is he hot for this dame or something?'
Rattigan turned on him furiously. 'Just you button your lip, John Nash! You don't know what the Chief's thinking. And what in hell is going on down there?'
Yardley came running in. 'Baker and Escobar — fisticuffs.'
They found Constable Buckler and Humphrey Harrison restraining with some difficulty the violently struggling Mexican.
'He has taken my contract!' screamed Escobar. 'Make him give it back! I will kill him!'
'Now then, sir,' said Buckler stolidly. 'There's no need for that. Just calm down.'
'I haven't got his damned contract,' growled Luther, ruefully rubbing his jaw. 'What the hell would I want with it?'
'He lies!' cried Escobar, appealing to his captors. 'I look and there is only blank paper! I want it back!'
'If you don't calm down, sir,' said Rattigan severely. 'I'm going to arrest you and lock you up. Is that what you want? What are you doing back here, Buckler?'
'I heard the fracas, Sarge, and thought I'd best investigate.'
Felix appeared behind them. 'And who is looking after Olofsson?'
'He's all right, sir, I locked him in.'
There was a cry of angry incredulity from on deck and Stan Hobson's crabbed and weathered face appeared at the open skylight. ''ere! Some bloke's pinchin' me launch!'
Felix cursed and ran, jinking around the root of the foremast and sprinting along the forrard corridor.
A tiny, determined figure stepped out and barred his way, clinging to opposing door-frames. 'I won't let you have him! He's mine!'
'Get out of my way, you silly girl!' Snatching her up bodily, he swung her round and propelled her into the nearest cabin. She tried to follow, screaming at him, but Yardley appeared and grabbed her from behind.
By the time he'd regained the deck, Sven had started the launch's engine and cast off. The gap between the two vessels was rapidly widening.
Rattigan came puffing up to him. 'Sir?'
'Don't do anything!' Shrugging off his jacket, Felix thrust it at him, slipped under the rail, weighed his chances and jumped. He landed neatly enough on the launch's tiny stern deck but overbalanced and tumbled onto a side-seat, badly winding himself. The bows of the launch began to lift as Sven advanced the throttle. She was a fast boat when required, and the Isabella fell rapidly astern.
Gasping for breath, Felix cursed all floating things and looked in vain for some sort of weapon. He was a big man but the Swede could probably give him a stone or two, and had nothing to lose. Where the hell did he think he was going anyway? They seemed to be aiming for the Hampshire mainland. Did he plan to hide among its numerous creeks and marshes? It seemed unlikely that he was familiar with them.
'Olofsson,' he shouted, 'Don't be a damn fool! You'll only make it worse for yourself.'
Sven jerked in surprise and glanced behind him. Clearly he'd thought himself alone. Rather than throttle back he began to go faster, the launch seeming to become almost airborne as it bounced over the waves. Suddenly it began to tilt, the water rising in a glass-like curtain as the desperate fugitive executed a sharp turn to port. 'Jump!' he shouted. 'Jump out!'
With a thrill of horror, Felix realised why — they were heading straight for the side of a passing coaster. Unable to stay on his feet, he began desperately to haul himself forrard by the seat edge, the flying spray soaking him. With the wall of black steel scarcely a hundred yards away, it seemed impossible to get to Olofsson in time and he was just about to kick off his shoes when it occurred to him to cut the engine. Throwing himself aft again, he jerked up its cover – mercifully unlocked – and ripped out the plug leads. Coughing blue smoke, the launch immediately settled into the water, drifted silently towards the ship and, with a jarring thud, bounced off it. A torrent of oaths poured down on them as the monstrous hull slid by, leaving them bucking wildly in its wake.
The big Swede slumped, defeated, at the wheel. It was clear he wasn't going to put up a fight.
'Why did you do it, Sven?' asked Felix gently.
'Pérez sack me! Sack Effie! I say, "You put Effie off ship, I put you off ship."'
'Did you stab him?'
'Nej! I save!'
'I see. Now listen. After you threw him in, did you see him climb the aft boarding ladder?'
Sven nodded vigorously. 'Ja! he climb good. Not hurt!'
'Right to the top? This is important. Did he climb right to the top?'
'I don't know. I go back to Effie. But then I save!'
Felix sighed miserably. I'm too damned soft for this business, he thought. He clapped a hand on the man's huge shoulder. 'Come on old chap, back we go. Do you love Miss Smith?'
'Ja! We marry.'
'Well you can't do that if you're dead, you great lummox!' He crouched beside the engine and attempted to re-attach the leads. 'Have you any idea which of these goes where?'
Rattigan and Yardley were waiting for him at the boarding ladder.
'Anything happened?'
'No, sir. Nash is keeping an eye on them.'
'All right, let's get this over with. Yardley, take Olofsson to the fo'c'sle. Find Bucllfy and tell him if he escapes again I'll have his guts for garters. Then you'd best join us aft. Some of them might try to make trouble. And see to it, both of you, that she's not hurt. That's an order. Come on, Teddy.'
Stan Hobson had immediately jumped into the launch. ''ere, wait a minute. She's sprung a couple of hood ends. That's gonna cost you!'
'Will she float?'
'Probably, if I takes it steady.'
'All right, you'd best get back while you can.' He knelt and handed down his card. 'Perhaps when you arrive you'll kindly send out the police launch for me. Tell them it's urgent. Let me have your repair bill and add a nought for your trouble. You didn't hear me say that.'
Captain Simmons came hurrying towards them. He was brandishing, without a care for its precious dabs, a red-stained chisel. 'I found it where you said, Inspector, in the lazarette! I missed it the first time and then I spotted it, shoved down the middle of some one-inch hemp. How did you know?'
Rattigan gazed at it incredulously. 'But this means . . . Damn it, what does it mean? There's no-one left!'
'No, there's one left.'
But they'd scarcely reached the aft companionway when there came a single gunshot, shocking in its loudness.
'Shit!' said Rattigan.
In her death throes, Julia Pérez had travelled some way across the carpet, leaving behind a trai
l of blood. Clinging to her shattered body was Maurice, his shoulders jerking with silent tears.
'Should I —' began Nash.
'No, leave him for the moment. All the usual please. The gun's over there. Where's Miss Harrison?'
'Here, Inspector.'
'Do what you can for him. Could the rest of you clear the corridor, please?'
'Is she dead?'
'Yes. Are you all right?'
'Yes.'
'If I could just give you this,' said Humphrey, passing him an envelope. 'She left it with Effie for you I can't make much of her but it seems it was a few minutes ago.'
Sitting in the chartroom, Captain Simmons was noticeably shaking, his normally red-brown face ashen. 'Such a dear, sweet woman. Always polite. If that monster was still alive I'd kill him myself!'
'When do you reckon she did it?' asked Felix.
'Must have been this morning, after we moved the body. How could I have known? I couldn't, could I?'
'No you couldn't. No-one's blaming you.'
'Unbelievable' growled Rattigan. 'I've never heard of such a thing.'
'And pointless. We'd have got her in the end.'
'Would we though?'
'Well, I like to think so.'
'There's a boat coming off the Musket, sir,' reported Nash.
'Thought there might be.'
They stepped outside to watch its arrival, an outboard motor buzzing industriously at its stern. Nash caught the line thrown up to him and expertly belayed it. The junior Bakers appeared and wordlessly climbed down the boarding ladder. Ruby had apparently opted to stay behind.
'Should we call your uncle?' asked Felix.
Rattigan looked surprised. 'You're not charging him?'
'Orders, remember? And what with?'
'Pinching a contract?'
'How would you prove it, Sergeant?' said Luther, who had come up behind them.
'We've been told to let you go, sir,' said Felix, 'but we don't have to like it.'
Luther smiled amiably. 'I love my country, Inspector, as I'm sure you love yours. Good day to you, sir.' And raising his Stetson he followed the others.
Chapter 10
'Hubert Ramón Bainbridge,' said Dr Edwards. A creditable seven pounds five ounces, though I doubt she'll be wanting another for a while.'
'Poor little thing, calling him Hubert!' said Mrs Edwards. 'More pie, Miles?'
'Felix gazed at it longingly. 'If it's not being too greedy, Marjory.'
'No, you tuck in. I like to see a man eat well.'
'Got your appetite back, eh?' chuckled the doctor. 'I must say, it's a relief to discover you're not naturally green.'
'Somehow I don't think seafaring is my forte,' admitted Felix. 'I was tempted to kneel and kiss the ground on landing, like the Pope. It's still going up and down a bit now.'
'Charles was just the same when he took up sailing, weren't you dear?'
'Oh, still am — at the start of the season, you know. It's very common. A day or two later you're eating fat pork.' He deftly uncorked another bottle. 'Well now, young man, time to sing for your supper. It was a crime passionnel, presumably?'
Felix smiled sadly. 'Yes. I feel desperately sorry for her, and for young Maurice. Life with Pérez must have been pretty grim, but when he drove away her son, or so she thought, and then peremptorily sacked her maid, she finally snapped.
'As to what happened, it amounts to this. Angry from the meeting, Pérez had come to take it out on his stepson. Maurice, however, had suffered one too many beatings; he'd packed a suitcase and was in the caterers' boat, attempting to clear out for good. Not finding him below, Pérez went in search of him on deck. Seeing a light, he descended into the sail-locker, where he found Olofsson and Miss Smith in carnal embrace. The Senora was in Maurice's cabin, reading the note he'd left for her, when through the open skylight she heard Oloffson telling Pérez he was going for a swim. "You put Effie off ship, I put you off ship!" By the time she poked her head out of the forrard companionway, he'd made good his threat and was watching his ex-employer drift aft. Frightened of what Olofsson might do to her if she went on deck, she rushed back through the saloon, snatched up Pérez's knife from his jacket in the lobby, and was waiting for him as he climbed the aft boarding ladder. Maybe the knife was for defence against Olofsson, but then her fury at her husband took over. She struck him with it and down he went.'
'What sort of knife was it?'
'We don't know. Possibly a rigging knife.'
'Hmm. The marlinspike, I suppose. And then she called for help?'
'Yes. Put like that, it sounds perfectly straightforward but we were foxed by some irrelevant bloodstains, a number of plausible suspects and, of course, the chisel.'
'Which is the most extraordinary part of it.'
'It certainly is. If she'd left well alone, she might, perhaps, have got away with it, but she was too clever by half. She remembered the confounded thing and saw its potential. It would obliterate any evidence of the knife, and since she'd had no access to it, rule her out as the murderer. She popped the chisel into her bag, asked to spend some time alone with the body and drove it into the wound. All she needed to do to complete the job was chuck it overboard, but shortly afterwards, we arrived, and she never got the chance. Perhaps she hoped we'd retreat in confusion for the night and she could either dump the chisel and bluff it out or make her escape. If she could have somehow got to Spain, she might have been safe, as we have no treaty with them. Eventually her nerve failed her, and rather than hang, she ended it.'
'Tragic,' sighed the doctor. 'And not greatly to my credit, I fear.'
'I don't think you should reproach yourself on that score,' said Felix. 'You led us to the chisel, after all.'
Well there's that, but I would never have guessed the truth. It's hard to imagine anyone doing such a thing, let alone a woman.'
'Why not a woman?' said Marjory.
They both turned to look at her. 'Would you do that, Margie?'
'Yes, dear, if the circumstances were the same. He was dead, after all, and she hated him. She might have been afraid that someone else would get the blame — her son, for example. Or she might have had a conscience about accusing Olofsson. By using the chisel, she knew they'd be safe. Then, yes, she perhaps hoped to escape.'
'You might be right about that, Marjorie' said Felix tactfully. 'I'd like to think so.'
Charles shook his head in wonderment. 'We never really know what the fairer sex are thinking do we, Miles? But how would she have got ashore? She couldn't have launched their tender on her own; not without someone noticing anyway.'
Felix thought of Simmons, the tears streaming down the old mariner's face. Had he unwittingly condemned the woman he loved? Or was "dear Humphrey" more of a Lothario than he looked? 'I don't know,' he said. 'Stan Hobson brings the newspaper out; she might have hoped to go back with him.'
'And what about the American — Baker? Wasn't there something about a contract?'
Felix shook his head grimly. 'I'm afraid my lips are sealed on that. But don't risk your money on any Mexican rebellions.'
Chapter 11
Picking up his suitcase, Felix made his way along the quayside. It was typical of his luck, he thought, that after a day or two of turbulence the calm weather should return. The only sound of the sea was now from the wheeling gulls, and the ferry sat as unmoving as a block of flats as the last crates of island produce and a solitary car were craned aboard. He was alone. The rest of the team had taken an earlier sailing but he'd promised to collect an ancient collegiate photograph from Charles Edwards, a parting gift for his father, and he'd taken the opportunity to do a little shopping.
That, he thought, was not a gull, though in its forlorn urgency it somewhat resembled one, and turning he saw a familiar figure plunge into the booking hall, quickly to appear at his side. She was flushed and breathless, as if she had run a considerable distance.
'Inspector, you're leaving!' she said accusingly. 'I couldn't b
elieve it when they said you'd gone. I wanted to say goodbye!'
'Miss Harrison, I'm sorry but they're about to raise the gangplank.'
'That's all right, I've bought a return.'
They paused on the vibrating lower deck as a crewman closed the heavy steel door behind them.
'Miss Harrison —' began Felix.
'Don't say anything yet. Come on, I'll buy you a coffee and a sticky bun.'
'You will not; I will buy you one.'
Settling themselves at a table by the salt-stained window, they watched the island fall slowly astern.
'This is nice isn't it?' said Connie. 'I shouldn't think you'll be seasick today; it's like a millpond. Not as warm as it was though. Gosh, all those gulls! I suppose people throw them scraps. Are you going back to finish your holiday, or have you got another case to go to?'
'Miss Harrison —'
'Do you have to call me that, Inspector? Can't you call me Connie? Or even Constance, if you want to annoy me.'
'Connie, please! I don't want to annoy you. Call me Miles. I left without saying goodbye because after what happened I didn't think you'd ever want to see me again.'
'But why? Of course I did. It was awful about poor Julia, but it wasn't your fault; you were just doing your job.'
'Not very well, I'm afraid. I suppose I might as well tell you that I came within a whisker of arresting you, for complicity to commit murder.'
She stared at him, momentarily confused. 'Oh gosh! Because you thought Luther did it, and I was there?'
'Yes. It could have turned out very badly.'
'But I told the truth about it!' She blushed and looked down. 'Exactly as it happened.'
'Yes, and it's just as well you did. I flattered myself you wouldn't lie about that, and that led me, very belatedly, to the truth. I'd rejected everyone except Baker, so it had to be him. Can you see now why I couldn't face you? It was a damnable mess.'
Death on a Dark Sea (The Inspector Felix Mysteries Book 2) Page 16
