The Atlas Murders (26 page)

 Gary Conrad’s was next. Henry
could see that he was decidedly nervous when he heard his name called. He was interviewed
for about fifteen minutes - a little longer than most.

It was Henry’s turn next.

“You’re Henry Tyler?”

 “Yes sir.”

“Sit down please.”

“Did you go with any of the
girls while the ship was anchored at Colombo, now before you answer this,
remember anything you say will be treated in strictest confidence. Do you
understand?”

 “Yes sir. I did go with one
of the girls while we were in Colombo.”

 “Did you take this girl down
into number four hold?”

 “No, I took her into our
cabin, my roommate was out, so I took advantage and stayed in the cabin.”

 “Right, who do you share
with and will he corroborate this story?”

 “Gary Conrad is my roommate,
and I’m sure he will.”

 “Where were you from
midnight to seven hundred hours the night Pippa went missing?”

 I was in the recreation room
until about ten thirty and then I went to my cabin and stayed there until six
thirty call for duty.”

 “Could your roommate
corroborate this story and was he there all the time with you?”

 “Yes, he was in his bunk
when I went to sleep and he was there in the morning when I awoke.”

 “Right then, that will do. Tell
me, did you ever go into Pippa’s cabin to change linen or towels or such?”

 “No, orders were none of the
stewards were to go to her room. She would look after her own cleaning, linen,
towels etc.”

“Right, is there anything you
would like to tell me in confidence about any of your shipmates you might think
might help us in this investigation?”

 “No sir, I wish I had some
information that might help you, but I’m afraid I don’t.”

 “Please sign here, thank you
Tyler.”

 Danny drove down on to the
quay to have a look first hand at what the situation was. Oh dear, he thought, it’s
like a ship in quarantine. I won’t have a chance of getting on board and it
looks like there’s going to be no shore leave. The authorities are not going to
let this maniac adrift in their town, and who could blame them. He got out of
his car and walked over to the harbor office. “Excuse me.” he addressed the
clerk who was lying back in a chair dozing. “When are you going to discharge
the cargo from the Rangoon? I’m from Richardson’s in Ballarrat and we’re waiting
for a consignment of jute.”

 “Who did you say you are
again?”

 “Richardson’s.”

 “Never heard of them,
Ballarrat you say?”

 “Yes, Ballarrat.”

“New to me, but anyway, if
all this police activity is completed overnight it could be sometime late
tomorrow morning.”

 “Right thanks mate.”

 As he was getting back into
his car, a squad of custom men pulled up got out of two cars. Before he could
drive away one of them hailed him. “Where are you coming from sir?”

 “I just heard about this
ship and I drove in to have a look. She’s the talk of the town.”

 “Is she now, well I wouldn’t
know. Get out please I want to search your car.”

Danny got out and the custom officer
went through his car. He searched under the seats, the trunk and glove
compartment. He even looked under the bonnet. Wow, Danny thought, what’s he
looking for? If only I could tell him who I was and ask him to give Tukola’s
cabin a right going over, he might achieve something.

“Go ahead sir, and come onto
these docks only if you have business.”

 The old clerk was coming
out. Blimey, Danny thought, I better be off before he says I’m from the
mythical Richardson’s! The custom officers boarded and if ever a ship got a
thorough searching, this was it. They went through her with a fine tooth comb.
Henry was glad he had hidden that key; they could have been instructed by the
senior detective to search for the single missing key. If Tukola had anything
incriminating in his cabin he surely would have taken it and found a hiding
place for it.

 Because there was no shore
leave, confinement in their cabins was like doing solitary in prison. The only
entertainment was the radio stations that threw out an assortment of music -
mostly pop, but very welcome. Henry was stretched out on the couch reading his
precious atlas and making mental notes about some key events of the voyage when
Gary Conrad came in with two mugs of tea.

“Here you are old mate.”

 Henry sat up and took the
mug.

“Thanks Gary, what’s the
atmosphere like around the recreation room?”

 “There’s no atmosphere
because there’s no one there. All hands are either out on deck or in their
cabins.”

 Gary’s radio was blaring out
pop music. “There goes that song again” said Henry, sipping his tea. “Itsi
bitsi teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini, it’s engrained on my brain.”

 “I wouldn’t mind being on a
beach looking at them tiny bikinis; do you think they’ll lift this shore
restriction?”

 “I really don’t know. It’ll
depend solely on how the investigation goes. They’re not going to let a serious
killer go ashore, there’d be an outcry from the civic authorities if they put
the lives of young girls needlessly at risk. If you were in their place how
would you react with a wife or sister, they’d certainly stay indoors until this
ship sailed. But they can’t expect a whole city to do that because of our
madman killer.”

“Jesus Henry, I never looked
at it that way, of course they’re right, and I can’t see them catching him. What
have they to go on, sod all?”

 “Well you never know, the
fingerprinting could turn up something, and like what you saw down in the hold;
the crewman going with the girl. Other crewmen might have seen the same.”

 “I wonder would it make any
difference, because I wasn’t a hundred percent sure.”

 “Did you tell them anyway
what you saw?”

 “No, to tell the truth I was
afraid in case they might say to him that I told them. I couldn’t be sure Henry,
and I have to spend the next six months on board with this bastard.”

 “You see Gary, that’s why
they’re not going to catch him, because lads are afraid of him, if he’s the
same one you’re talking about.”

 “The fellow I’m talking
about is a dangerous bastard.”

 “Have you seen him fight or
use a knife before?”

 “I don’t want to say
anything but I saw him use a knife on a girl outside a pub in a port in West
Africa called Conakry, it was in a slum area, dark with no lighting. He cut her
arm and then he grabbed her, but when he saw me he let her go. He said she stole
money from him. She was only a young poor black kid. I never told anyone about
it and there was nothing from the girl, so I don’t think she went to the
police. It wouldn’t make much difference in a place like that, he could have
killed her and walked away and no one would have seen anything.”

 “Do you want to tell me his
name, even just for protection for yourself?”

 “How would it be protection
for me if I told you, it could only make it worse if other people know about
it, and he’d blame me?”

 “Well, if ever you think you
are in danger you can tell me and I’ll be as much help as I can.”

 “Thanks Henry, it’s good to
know anyway.”

 Next morning the hatches
were opened at seven hundred hours and discharging began. The police presence
remained and the no shore leave was still in place. Henry went out on deck at every
chance he got and looked around to see Danny; he was so anxious to hear first-hand
how the investigation was progressing. Danny, he knew had contacts and they
would keep him up to date with the whole operation. The dockers were
discharging the jute as if their lives depended on how fast they could get it
out. Henry stood at the gunwale looking out over the quay wall where he thought
he might see Danny coming along the dockside. The men unloading the ship were
avoiding the crew men like they were lepers; they only spoke to the deck hands
when they needed something done, like lowering derricks, or tightening or
loosening guy ropes. When they came on board, they wanted to know which hatch
had the girl been killed in. The gang assigned to number four refused work that
hold. They stood around and the foreman told them to go ashore at nine hundred
hours. A priest came on board at eleven hundred hours and went down the hatch
and blessed where the girl had been killed. He also said some prayers, and then
the dockers consented to discharge the cargo. Henry overheard one man remark to
his work mate: “They should take her out into deep water and put a torpedo into
her, sink the lot.”

 Henry wasn’t sure if he
meant crew and all but he supposed he did.

“Hey mate, had a bad voyage?”
There was Danny standing behind him. “Go to the stern and wait for me.”

 Henry walked aft and
pretended he was inspecting the mooring ropes, and then he stood looking out
over the stern. He lit a Lucky Strike. I’m smoking way too much of late, he
thought.

 “Right Henry, we better make
this as fast as possible, I’m not supposed to be on board so I’m masquerading
as a docker.”

 Henry blew a puff of smoke.
“What progress are they making with the investigation?”

 “As you realize it’s early
days yet, but from what I can gather, the missing key is playing a big role
with them; they think whoever has that key is more than likely their man. From
the captain’s statement she locked her door and she was warned not to open it
for anyone unless she was certain of their intentions. The senior officers are
of the same mind that she didn’t open the door. So how did the killer gain
access?”

 “Danny, do you know who has
that master key?”

“No mate.”

 “I have it. I took it in
Bombay to search Oswyn’s cabin and I intended to search Tukola’s cabin. The
former was searched but couldn’t get Tukola and his roommate away together so
we never got to search his cabin.”

 “Holy Christ, Henry! You
have been incriminated in the murder of the girl in Bombay and there’s a warrant
circulating for your arrest. Now you tell me you’re their chief suspect for
this girl’s murder and disappearance. For fuck sake tell me what you’re saying
is not true.”

 “It’s so true to be unreal. My
man in Bombay who shall remain nameless, suggested he make a dummy key to
replace the one I stole, so that’s how that came about. Now you must remember
there are two more master keys which could have been taken and replaced.”

 “Who had the other two keys?”

“The captain had one and the
chief steward the other.”

 “Who could have access to
the captain’s cabin to steal his key, not many I presume. So who could have
access to the steward’s room to borrow his key?”

“I suppose in theory, any of
the catering staff could have taken it, including my roommate, Gary Conrad, who
by the way is contemplating jumping ship here.”

 “He can forget that. From
what I know there will be no shore leave, the hope of a breakthrough could come
from the fingerprints, but that’s going to take a long time, you’ll be in your
next port before that’s done. Henry, the sooner this ship sails for your sake
the better. Have you got that key hidden away safely?”

 “Yes I have, and I hope to
get inside that Tukola’s cabin before our next port. I’m going to have to think
up something drastic to achieve it. I got to examine the body of the girl from Colombo
and it had all the hallmarks of our man; he badly beat her, strangled her so he
actually broke her neck and then did all the other usual stuff. Another strange
thing you might be able to enquire about, when I was in the hospital during the
early hours examining the body, I heard a strange sound outside the door. The
person was whining softly and then scraped something on the door. When I examined
it next day it looked like a face, two eyes a nose and mouth with lines running
across them like stitches. If you walk down the deck there on your way ashore,
I’ll walk ahead and stop outside to show you which one it is. By the way, did
you ever uncover why the cloths are stuffed into the orifices and why the fish
hooks?”

 “No Henry, to be honest I
didn’t try to find out, but I will now. I’ll go now and I hope to make contact
before you sail. Do look after yourself.”

“I will.”

He followed Henry and stood
to examine the hospital door.

 Loading continued and the
cargo came out faster than it went in. The ship was then shifted round to
another dock where the huge silos were situated for the loading of grain. They
would be here for about three days and then bound for Japan with eleven
thousand tons of wheat.

The day before sailing, Gary Conrad
was very agitated and spent a lot of time around the after deck. He confided in
Henry that he was contemplating jumping ship. He said that with her cargo nearly
loaded she was low in the water and he could jump onto the quay wall somewhere
from the after deck.