The Atlas Murders (54 page)

 “We’ll have to; they could
sail anytime in the early morning, so we should get on in the next few hours”.

 At one o’clock Henry walked along
the pier and scanned the Windsong for lights. The only lights on were deck
lights - all cabin lights were out. He feared for the young girl, hoping Tukola
hadn’t harmed her. Then he thought, he’d be too clever for that; he wouldn’t do
anything while they were in port. He walked back to Kerstin she was standing on
deck waiting for him.

“Well,” she said, “what do
you think are they turned in for the night?”

 “Yes, not a sound, only the
humming of the generator. I say we should wait another hour and move on.”

 “Good, that settles it, two
o’clock and we go.”

 He looked down at her feet.
“Just checking we both have our light canvas shoes on.”

 The pier was deserted and
dimly lit, so they were confident walking to the rail of the launch. They stood
listening like burglars, and when Henry nodded they silently went onto the
after deck over the rail. They stood in the shadow and took in their
surroundings which would serve them whenever they decided to make their
assault. Henry looked up at the controls, where he thought Chen would be, and
then at the cabin door where Tukola would probably come from. Both were in
close proximity, so things could be coordinated in a quick strike. Kerstin had
the door to the engine space open; the sound of the generator was quite loud, so
they both got in as quickly as possible and closed the door behind themselves.

Turning on the flashlight
they looked around for someplace to sit. The oppressive heat of the day still
prevailed in the tightly enclosed space and the smell of diesel didn’t make
life any more bearable.

They remained silent and only
spoke if they needed to. The perspiration was trickling in little rivulets down
their overheated bodies. How long they remained in this suspended animated
state, it was hard to put time to it.

“Henry,” she poked him in the
rib cage.

“Yes.”

 “Do you hear that?”

Listening intently, they
could hear voices, then footsteps coming from the pier and they thought, going
into the cabin space. They recognized Tukola’s commanding voice and Henry
thought there were at least two more different voices. It sounded like they
were carrying something into the cabin space and had made four trips in total. Moments
later the engines where started and the small space became very noisy.

Henry took the flashlight and
looked at his watch; twenty minutes before five. It would be dark for another
two hours. They moved as far away from the noisy engine as they could. They had
to speak loud to hear each over the noise. “What should we do now?”

 “I’ll peep out and try to
see who’s at the controls.”

He crept up the engine space ladder
and opened the door an inch and could see the outline of Chen up at the
controls. He assumed Tukola was below in the main cabin. He came back down and reported
his findings.

“When the time’s right, first
we’ll overpower Chen.”

 “Ok Henry, we should have no
trouble there; we’ll be on him and have him in handcuffs before he realizes it.”

 The next time Henry checked,
he was greeted by welcome daylight. The launch must be doing all of twenty five
knots, he thought.

He went back to tell Kerstin.

“I’m sure Tukola will emerge
soon to relieve Chen at the controls.”

 “Kerstin licked her dry lips
opened a bottle of water and took a long gulp. “At twenty five knots we’ll be a
hundred miles out in an hour’s time,” looking at her watch, “that will be eight
thirty.”

“We’ll be nearing that island,
what’s its name again, I’ve forgotten,” said Henry, desperately scanning his
memory banks.

“It’s Blanquilla; we passed
close to it on our way there. I think if he is going to harm that young girl
he’ll do it before we get too close to the island because there will be a fair
amount of yachts in that area.”

“I believe you’ll be right.”

 The next time Henry went up
for a look, Tukola was in the cabin with Chen. He moved the controls and the
engines stopped. It took a few minutes before the launch was floating free and
took on a slight rolling motion in the gentle swell. Tukola took up the binoculars
and scanned the horizon. Satisfied, he handed the glasses to Chen. “Make sure
you call me if anything comes close.”

“Yes sir, I will keep a good
watch out.”

 “Here you are.” Tukola
handed Chen a small object; Henry couldn’t make out what it was. He left the
controls and went below.

 Henry was worried and
anxious. “What do you think we should do?”

She put a finger to his lips.
“Be silent and listen.”

 Every sound above the barely
audible creak of the launch was magnified in the stillness and reverberated off
the water. Like statues sitting at the partly open door, armed with knife, crowbar
and handcuffs, they waited with nervous trepidation.

 A muffled scream and a loud
thumping noise brought them immediately onto the deck. At the controls Chen was
bending down snorting a line of white power as Henry put an arm around his neck
and held him in a lock. Then he placed the knife at Chen’s throat and told him
if he made a sound he’d cut his head off. Kerstin pulled his hands together
behind his back and after threading the cuffs through a spoke of the steering
wheel, had him firmly secured. Henry pulled out a length of rag and gagged him
tightly, he warned him that if he made a sound he’d come back up and throw him
to the sharks, and to empathize this he struck him a blow on the side of his
head with his fist.

Kerstin was already down on
deck - her urgency was palpable. Henry caught up, moved her aside and walked in
ahead. The sight before them almost paralyzed them with revulsion. The young
girl was bound and naked, spread eagled on the deck of the main cabin. The
naked Tukola was taking something out of a small safe. He turned around and the
sight of Henry and the almost immediate recognition startled him.

Henry’s voice was hoarse but
strong.

 “It’s all up at last you
evil bastard.”

Tukola put the object he had
taken from the safe on a table and Henry recognized it as the snake venom.

 “You have no jurisdiction
here Carter, or whatever’s your real name. You’re just a washed up detective.”

 Henry produced the knife and
held it threateningly. In turn, Tukola grabbed a knife from the table and stood
watching Henry like a hawk. “You remember the young girl on the Manchester Ship
Canal and all the other young girls since? None could compare with the English
little tart, your niece Shirley, wasn’t that her name? Yes, she was the
sweetest of them all. A virgin too; not easy to get these days. Have to make do
with this trash,” he snarled, kicking the poor defenseless girl. “Not much
better than a pig.”

 As Henry move in, Tukola threw
his knife low and it caught Henry deep in the thigh muscle. Henry gasped and bent
over. Kerstin saw Tukola open a drawer and she leapt across at him. As he
reached for a small hand gun, she struck him as hard as she could across his left
wrist with the bar. He roared in agony and the gun went spinning out of his
hand. He turned and with his right arm, struck Kerstin hard across the face
knocking her sprawling onto a couch. Henry withdrew the knife and blood gushed
out of the wound. Tukola saw the wound and even with such excruciating pain in
his broken wrist, he managed a glaring look of triumph.

Henry stood and now
brandished both knives - one in each hand. He threw Tukola’s knife, but swerving
quickly, Tukola dodged the spinning blade and leered mockingly in his
direction. Henry moved to prop himself up against the bulkhead and Tukola lunged
at him. But in his rush to get at Henry, he tripped over the young girl on the
floor and fell forward with arms outstretched. As his damaged arm hit the vial
on the table, it shattered and the venom coated glass pierced his skin. Dragging
himself up, his face turn to horror as he noticed the small shards of glass
sticking out of his bloodied wrist.

Still groggy from the earlier
blow, Kerstin managed to stand up, and brandishing the bar, she hit him across
the shoulder.

He turned and spat in her
face. “You white pig,” he growled.

As he staggered to the door
leading onto the deck,
he shouted: “Chen, get the engines started.”

 “No good shouting at him,
he’s indisposed.” Kerstin thought, as she quickly tied a piece of cloth around
the wound on Henry’s thigh. Then, equally as quick, she untied the girl and
handed her back her clothes.

They crept cautiously out of
the cabin. Tukola was on the deck. As he stood holding his wrist he began to
wail.

 “Get me to a doctor.” he
moaned as the first spasm from the venom hit him. Moments later his body
stiffened and his head began to shake from side to side, the veins standing on
his neck like the roots of a tree. He staggered and fell knocking over a bucket
of chum (rotting fish and fish blood) which was ready to attract sharks when
the girl’s body was to be thrown over the side. The red slimy liquid spread
around the deck, spilling out the scuppers and trailing a thin pink film of
blood in the water. He tried to remain upright as the next spasm hit him; he shook
and every muscle in his body tightened and he convulsed, he bit his protruding
tongue and blood and froth ran down his chin. His good hand grabbed the rail
and he pulled himself up leaning over staring into the calm quiet water. Then
he roared and squealed like a trapped animal. Tightening his grip on the rail,
the convulsions were pulling him over, his broken hand hanging like a dogs paw.
His body was draped over the top rail and when a massive convulsion hit him he
was thrown into the sea. Kerstin and Henry looked over the side to see his body
as it twitched on the surface. The first sharks appeared, their dark fins like
two small sail boats, one following the other. They circled menacingly as the
scent of the bloody chum was turning them into a frenzy. The next pass hit the
body and threw it out of the water, then another appeared and they attacked,
tearing limbs, throwing the body up then dragging it down. Several more sharks
closed in and the frenzy took on a terrible spectacle as the torn flesh was pulled
and scattered in a crimson pool of blood and entrails. Kerstin put her hand to
her mouth and gagged, Henry took her arm as he limped inside. Kerstin was
trembling with shock. he put his arm around her and tried to comfort her.

The young girl appeared pale
and timid her big brown eyes wet and sorrowful like a young deer.

 “Oh my God!” Kerstin ran to
the child. “What am I doing, come here to me you poor thing” She wrapped her
arms around the little waif and hugged her. “Come on and I’ll get you fully dressed.”

 Henry poked around until he
found the first aid kit and took out what he’d need to stitch his wound. He
took a wad of the cotton wool and swabbed the blood from the table where Tukola
had cut his wrist. He sealed it in a plastic bag then put it into a paper envelope
and placed it in the fridge. This he intended to send this to Scotland Yard as
DNA evidence for Shirley’s murder.

Kerstin came back with the
young girl. “Her name is Ayola and this is Henry.”

 “Henry,” she said in a soft
whisper.

Kerstin stitched up the wound
on Henry’s leg before wrapping it in a protective bandage.

“Thank you Kerstin, now we
must investigate what kind of cargo came on board. Follow me.”

He opened the door to the
second cabin and there were four large packages wrapped in heavy plastic
waterproof material. They were fitted into nets with two eyes of the net meeting
together.

Kerstin immediately knew when
she saw them. “They’re ready made for shackling down to the anchor blocks at
Milligan Cay. It’s probably cocaine. What shall we do, take them to the authorities
in Kingstown?”

 Henry looked a little
askance at the packages. “I think we should carry out the normal procedure and
drop them at the Milligan Cay. That way we could get the bastard holed up on
the islet who killed Juan’s wife. I’m going up now to interrogate the Chinese man.”

Kerstin went to the chart.
“We should be getting underway. I must put a position on the chart and set a
course.”

Within minutes the launches
engines were started.

 Henry brought down Chen and
tied his feet together in one of the cabins. “Now if you tell me the whole
truth I will go easy on you, but if you get stubborn, you’ll end up the same as
Tukola - shark food.”

 He raised his head and
stared through dark deceiving eyes, “I know nothing.”

“How many young girls did
Tukola kill on this launch, and how long have you been working for him?”

 “I know nothing.”

 “You’ll tell the police back
in Kingstown. Now, what do you do with the packages of cocaine you have in the
cabin next door?”

 “I know nothing.”

 Henry left and locked the
cabin door, went up to Kerstin at the controls and told her about Chen’s non
co-operation.