Bagley, Desmond - Bahama Crisis Page 5

  "I'm sorry; in my work we are forced to intrude at inopportune moments with questions which may be construed as tactless tactless but necessary. I did not wish to offend, sir."

  "I'm sorry," I said.

  "I'm under a bit of strain. No apology is necessary."

  There were more questions, the answers to most of which appeared to satisfy him, and presently Hepburn came back and Perigord picked up his cap and swagger stick.

  "That will be all for now, sir. There'll be an enquiry; I'll let you know where and when it will be held. May I offer my profound sorrow and my .. . condolences. I did like Mrs. Mangan."

  "Condolences!" I said in a choked voice.

  "It has been two and a half days," said Perigord gravely.

  I took a grip on myself.

  "Commissioner, what do you think happened?"

  "I doubt if we'll ever know. Perhaps a gas leak in the bilges leading to an explosion that's rather common. Or the boat could have been run down by a supertanker."

  "In daylight!"

  "We don't know that it was daylight," he pointed out, and shrugged.

  "And those ships are so big they could run down a moderately small craft and no one would feel a thing. A ship carrying 300,000 tons of oil has a lot of momentum. We'll do our best to find out what happened, but I offer no certainties." With that he and Hepburn left.

  He had not been gone two minutes when Luke Bailey came in wearing a worried frown.

  "I'd like to tell you something." Hejerked his head at the door.

  "That policeman ..."

  "Who Perigord?" * "No, the other one the Inspector. He's on the Narcotics Squad. I thought you'd like to know."

  That evening I had to cope with the Pascoes who, oddly enough, were more philosophical about it than I was. I was in a cold, helpless, miserable rage; wanting to strike out at something but finding nothing to hit no target. The Pascoes were more equable. Nearing the end of their own days I suppose that death was a not unexpected figure lurking over the horizon, something with which they had come to terms on a personal level. Besides, Mike was a doctor and death had been a factor in his professional life. They did their best to comfort me.

  I had a long talk with Mike after Ellen had gone to bed.

  "I know how you feel," he said.

  "I lost a boy killed in Vietnam. Did Julie ever tell you about that?" I nodded.

  "It hit me hard. Alien was a good boy." He wagged his head sagely.

  "But it wears off, Tom; you can't grieve for ever."

  "I suppose so," I said moodily. Deep in my heart I knew he was wrong;

  I would grieve for Julie and Sue for the rest of my life.

  "What are you going to do now?" he asked.

  "I don't know."

  "For God's sake, wake up! You can't just let everything slide. You're running a corporation and you have folk depending on you. You're still a young man, too. How old? Forty what?"

  "Forty-two."

  "You can get married again," he said.

  "Let's not talk about that now," I said sharply.

  "Julie's not been gone three days. And maybe .. ."

  "Maybe she'll come back? Don't set your heart on that, Tom, or you'll drive yourself nuts." I said nothing to that and there was a long silence. After a while Mike stirred.

  "What are you going to do about Karen?"

  "I haven't thought about it yet."

  "Then you'd better put your mind to it. Debbie Cunningham's a good girl frori^what I've seen of her, but she won't be around for ever.

  You'll have to make some arrangements. Bringing up a daughter aged nine and running a corporation could be a mite tough tough on Karen, I mean. "

  "I'll get a woman in to look after her, I suppose."

  "Humph!" Evidently he did not think much of that idea. I did not think much of it myself. He said, "Ellen and I have been talking.

  We'd like to take Karen until you've got things settled in your mind. "

  "That's generous of you."

  "No; just plain horse sense. Karen should be with her own kin." He smiled slowly.

  "But I thought I'd gotten past the age of child-raising."

  "I agree," I said.

  "I had a call from my sister, Peggy, this morning.

  She wants to take Karen to Abaco, at least until I get settled and can make other arrangements. She has two kids other own, and that might be better for Karen. "

  Mike looked a shade relieved.

  "It would be better," he said positively.

  "Children brought up by old folk sometimes turn out funny. You're starting to think, Tom."

  We talked about it some more and then I changed the subject.

  "There's something I can't understand. I don't see why Perigord should be conducting this investigation personally. He's a Deputy-Commissioner, the top cop on the island. I shouldn't have thought this would warrant it."

  "You're running yourself down," said Mike.

  "You're a prominent citizen on Grand Bahama. And you say he knew Julie?"

  "So he says. He says he met her at the school, at PTA meetings. I didn't go to many of those."

  "Maybe he feels he has a personal obligation."

  "Perhaps. But then there's Hepburn. Luke Bailey tells me Hepburn is a narcotics officer, and he did give Pete's rooms a good shakedown.

  There's something behind all this, Mike. "

  "Imagination!" he scoffed.

  "Probably Hepburn was the only officer handy in the precinct house at the time." He got up and stretched.

  "I'm going to bed; I'm not as young as I was." He looked down at me.

  "Tom, I've been a doctor all my life until I retired three years ago.

  I've seen a lot of people die and a lot of grief in families. Tell me; have you shed one single tear since Julie went? "

  "No," I said flatly.

  He walked to the corner cupboard, poured four fingers of brandy into a glass, and brought it back to me.

  "Drink that, relax, and let yourself go. There's no fault in a man crying, and bottling it up can harm you." He turned and walked out of the room.

  Mike was a kindly man and a good man. He had once said that being a doctor made a man a fair jackleg psychologist and he was right about this. I sat for a long time holding the glass and just looking into its brown depths. Then I swallowed the lot in two long gulps. The brandy burned going down and I gasped. Fifteen minutes later I was sprawled on the settee and crying my heart out. I cried myself to sleep and awoke in the early hours of the morning when I went to bed after turning out the lights.

  It was ac ceptance that Julie and Sue were dead; and Pete and an unknown man. The acceptance brought a curious kind of peace; I still felt numbed in my mind, but I felt better and was a functioning man.

  Mike had known what he was doing.

  Four days later I took Karen to Abaco, and Debbie came with us. It was then, in the presence of Peggy and Bob, that I told Karen that her mother and sister were dead and that she would be staying with her aunt and uncle for a while. She looked at me, wide-eyed, and said, "They won't be coming home? Ever?"

  "I'm afraid not. You remember when Timmy died?" Timmy was a pet kitten who had been run over by a car, and Karen nodded.

  "Well, it's something like that."

  Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked them away.

  5i "Timmy didn't come back," she agreed.

  "Does that mean I won't see Mommy and Susie not ever?" Suddenly she bust loose. She burst into tears and tore herself away.

  "I don't believe you," she cried, and began to wail, "I want my Mommy. I want my Mommy."

  Peggy caught her up in her arms and comforted her, then said over her shoulder to me, "I think a mild sedative and bed is the best thing now." She took Karen away.

  Bob said awkwardly, "It's hard to know what to say."

  "I know but the world goes round as usual. It'll take me a bit of time to get used to this, but I'll pull through. Where's Debbie?"

&nb
sp; "On the patio."

  I looked at my watch.

  "We'll have to get back; the plane is needed.

  I'll come across as often as I can at least once a week. "

  Debbie and I did not talk much at first on the flight back to Grand Bahama; both of us were immersed in our private thoughts. It was a long time before I said, "I suppose you'll be going back to Houston."

  "Yes," she said colourlessly. Presently she said, "And I thought I had troubles."

  "What happened?"

  She laughed shortly.

  "Would you want to know?"

  "Why not? We can cry on each other's shoulder."

  "A man happened or I thought he was a man. I thought he loved me, but he really loved my money. I happened to pick up a telephone at the wrong time and I heard a really interesting conversation about the big deals he was going to make and the life he was going to lead as soon as he'd married me. The trouble was that he was talking to another woman, and she was included in his plans."

  "That's bad," I said.

  "I was a damned fool," she said.

  "You see, I'd been warned. Billy was against it all along because he didn't trust the guy and he made that very clear. But would I listen? Not me. I was grown up a woman of the world and I knew it all."

  "How old are you, Debbie?"

  "The ripe old age of twenty-five."

  "I had my fingers burned, too, when I was your age," I said.

  "That was before I met Julie You'll get over it."

  "You think so? But, God, it's taught me something and I don't think I like what it's taught me. Here I am a poor little rich girl and from now to eternity I'll be looking at every guy I meet and wondering if he wants me or all that lovely dough. That's no way to have to go through life."

  "Other rich people cope," I said.

  "Yes?" she said challengingly.

  "Examined the divorce statistics lately?"

  Her voice was bitter and I could see that she had been badly hurt.

  And coming to Grand Bahama and seeing how happily Julie and I were married could not have helped much. Presently she said quietly, "But you don't want to be burdened with my problems even though you do seem to have got over the worst of your blues. Was it the talk you had with Mike Pascoe the other day?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "He dutch-uncled me, and it helped. It could help you."

  "All right, Tom," she said.

  "What would you do if you were me? I know you can't possibly put yourself in my position, but I've told you enough to know about me. I'd like your advice. You know, Billy thinks a lot of you and I respect Billy's judgement now."

  I scratched the angle of my jaw and thought about it.

  "Well, I wouldn't get rid of your money, if that's what you're thinking about.

  It's too useful; you can do a lot of good if you have enough dollars. "

  "Buying my way out?"

  "Not exactly. Are you thinking of being a missionary in Calcutta or something like that?"

  Her laugh was rueful.

  "You know more about me than I thought."

  "Forget it," I said.

  "It doesn't work. Besides, charity begins at home. Now, you're a Texan. I'll bet there are poor black kids in Texas who have never even seen the sea."

  "That's a thought. What are you getting at?"

  "I'm working it out," I said slowly.

  "Starting from the fact that we're in the Bahamas with plenty of black faces around. Your black Texan kids wouldn't stand out if you brought them here, and we've no colour bar to speak of. Teach them to swim, scuba-dive, sail a boat things they've only been able to dream about back home. If you brought them out of season I could give you cheap rates in the hotels. They could go to Abaco and Eleuthera; real desert island stuff."

  "My God!" she said.

  "What a marvelous idea. And there are poor white kids, too."

  "All right, mix 'em up." I saw she was caught up in enthusiasm, and warned, "But you'll have to do more than pay for it, Deb, if it's going to work I mean for you personally. You'll have to participate and bring the kids yourself, with perhaps a couple of assistants.

  It's something to think about. "

  "It surely is."

  My eye was caught by Bill Pinder, the pilot, who was waving at me. I leaned forward and took the piece of paper he held. It was a message that had been radioed through Freeport air control and told me that Perigord wanted to see me urgently in his office.

  I took Debbie along to the police station which was on the corner of Pioneer's Way and East Mall. I suppose I could have driven her to the Royal Palm and then gone back, but there was something about Perigord's message which made me want to see him fast, so I asked Debbie if she minded stopping off. It was a hot day and I did not want to leave her sitting in the car so I took her inside with me.

  I happened to catch Perigord walking through the entrance hall so I introduced them, and added, "Miss Cunningham and her brother were present when Lucayan Girl left for Miami."

  Perigord looked at her thoughtfully.

  "You'd better come into my office both of you," he said abruptly, and led the way. In his office he turned to Debbie and asked without preamble, "Are you a good friend of Mr. Mangan?"

  She was startled and shot me a swift look.

  "I would say so."

  I said, "I haven't known Miss Cunningham long but I would certainly consider her my friend. Her cousin and I have been friends for many years."

  For a moment Perigord looked undecided, then he waved at a chair.

  "Please sit down." He sat opposite us and said, "I am not certain that Miss Cunningham should be here at this point, but you might need some support from a friend.

  "You've found them," I said with certainty.

  He took a deep breath.

  "A fisherman found the body of a small, female child on a beach on Cat Island."

  "Cat Island!" I said incredulously.

  "But that's impossible! Lucqyan Girl was going south-west to Miami Cat Island is 200 miles south-east. It can't be Sue!"

  "I'm sorry, Mr. Mangan, but there is no doubt."

  "I don't believe it. I want to see her."

  "I would advise against it." Perigord shook his head.

  "You wouldn't recognize her."

  "Why not?"

  Perigord was unhappy.

  "I don't have to explain to a fellow Bahamian what happens to a body in our seas in a very short time."

  "If I wouldn't recognize her how in hell can^ou be so sure?" I was becoming angry at the impossibility of all this.

  "How could Sue have got to Cat Island?"

  Perigord took a card from his desk drawer and laid it flat.

  "This is your daughter's dental record; we obtained it from the school. Dr. Miller, your daughter's dentist, has done a comparison and it fits in every respect. We took no chances;

  we had another evaluation from a dentist who does not know your daughter. He confirmed Dr. Miller's identification. "

  I suddenly felt sick and a little dizzy. It must have shown in my colour because Debbie put her hand on my arm.

  "Are you all right, Tom?"

  "Yes," I said thickly. I raised my head and looked at Perigord.

  And Julie And the others? "

  "Nothing, I'm afraid." He cleared his throat.

  "There'll be an inquest, of course."

  "How do you explain Cat Island? You know it's bloody impossible.

  Anything abandoned in the Florida Straits would be swept north-east in the GulfSi^earn. "

  "I can't explain it; at least, not to your satisfaction." He held up his hand as I opened my mouth.

  "It might help if you could identify the crewman."

  I said dully, "I didn't see him."

  Perigord said, "We have asked questions at the marinas with no luck at all. The trouble is that the marinas have, literally, a floating population." He repeated that, appreciating the double edge.

  "Yes, a float
ing population here today and gone tomorrow. Nobody has been reported missing because everybody is missing, sooner or later. It makes police work difficult. We have also checked from the other end by asking Mr. Albury's friends if he had been seen talking to a stranger. Again, no luck."

  Debbie said, "He might not have been a stranger."

  "Oh, yes, I think he was," said Perigord confidently.

  "I think he was a beach burn, one of the young Americans who hitchhike around the islands on the cheap and are willing to crew for anyone if it gives them a leg further. I think this one was going home."

  "Then he might be on an American missing persons list," she remarked.

  "Why should he be?" asked Perigord.

  "He's only been gone a week, and he's probably a footloose young man, a social drop-out. In any ca se, in which American city do we ask? And with no name and no face how do we operate?"

  My brain started to work creakily. Perigord had said something which aroused my are.

  "You said you couldn't explain how Sue came to be on Cat Island to my satisfaction. Does that mean that you are satisfied?"

  I was becoming enraged at Perigord because I knew he was holding something back.

  That got to him.

  "By God, Mr. Mangan, 1 am not satisfied. It gives me no satisfaction to sit here and pass on bad news, sir."

  "Then what's all the bloody mystery? Is it because I am a suspect? If I am then say so. Am I to be accused of blowing up my own boat?"

  My voice had risen to a shout and I found myself shaking. Again Debbie held my arm, and said, "Take it easy, Tom."

  "Take it easy? There's been something damn funny going on right from the start." I stabbed a finger at Perigord.

  "No one can tell me that a Deputy-Commissioner of Police does his own legwork when a boat goes missing. Especially when he brings a narcotics officer with him.

  Perigord, I'm well- known in Government circles, and if you don't come across I'll be over in Nassau talking to Deane, your boss, and a few other people and you won't know what hit you. "

  Perigord made a curious gesture as though to brush away an irritating fly.

  "I assure you that the police are treating this with the utmost seriousness. Further, the Government is serious. And alarmed, I might add. The Attorney General, acting under direct instruction from the Prime Minister, is putting very heavy pressure on me as much as I can stand and I don't need any more from you."