The Inspector Walter Darriteau Murder Mysteries - Books 1-4 David Carter (autobiographies to read txt) 📖

way. They had to find Jess soon or they would never see her again. But where do you begin looking on a ship that weighs in at almost 170,000 tonnes? Walter’s phone rang.

He shrugged his shoulders.

Mrs West.

He turned it off.

Didn’t have time for that.

‘Take me to the crew’s quarters!’ Jun ordered, as a messenger appeared and told the captain he was needed on the bridge. He nodded at his number two and the younger guy led them away, as they all began ascending topside.

Jun said, ‘I think it possible they only just moved her, maybe they were tipped off, moved her in a bit of a panic, we have to start somewhere.’

Walter and Karen and Sergeant Gill agreed, as they climbed further and back toward the crew’s accommodation.

15.35. ‘EXCUSE ME!’ an English male voice came echoing up behind them.

They all stopped and turned and looked. It was the pilot and he looked agitated, and a little out of breath.

‘You really are going to have to leave the ship in the next few minutes. If you don’t you’ll be stranded. I can’t delay any longer.’

That made perfect sense, yet it didn’t.

‘How do you get off the ship?’ asked Walter.

‘Pilot launch, but it can be very tricky getting down those ladders, especially in a swell, and the wind’s picking up.’

‘We’ll take that!’ said Walter.

‘It’s not much more than a metal rope ladder running straight down the side of the ship, and it’s a long way down, and it’s moving all the time, and if you don’t like heights, and if you’re not fit, you might not make it.’

Sergeant Gill pulled a face. Said, ‘I’m not great on heights and I’ve got a sore shoulder, I think I’d better go,’ and he glanced an apology at the others.

Walter said, ‘That’s understandable,’ and his height and frame might not make it easier either. ‘You get away.’

Gill wished them well and made his way topside.

15.40. ‘I’M STAYING,’ said Karen.

Any physical test was something she always enjoyed. She was light, strong, fit, agile, young, and always up for a challenge, and she’d done a little rock climbing in North Wales too, and reckoned that would stand her in good stead, and she was right. What was the point of being a fit young officer if you ran away at the first sign of difficulty?

Walter wasn’t light, strong, fit, agile, or young, and he’d never rock climbed in his life and never would, but wild Chinese fire-breathing dragons would not have dragged him off that ship at that moment.

Jun said, ‘I’m staying,’ and she smirked at them because she had an out. ‘If the worst comes to the worst I’ll stay on the ship and sail all the way back to Hong Kong.’

‘Let’s get moving,’ said Walter, and he nodded the number two on toward the accommodation block.

They found themselves in a better part of the ship, wider and less steep staircases, wider corridors, even hints of daylight through opened doors and large windows and portholes beyond. Came to a door on the right. The captain had gone, number two opened up. Crew accommodation, modern like everything else, yet Spartan. It was a long and narrow cabin, no one in there; no one sleeping off watch, perhaps everyone was on duty while the vessel was making ready to sail, or whenever the captain was agitated, like now.

15.45. FAUX LEATHER black benches on either side, dormant flatscreen TV fixed on the wall, then wall cupboards and a small kitchen area for snacks and top-ups, not the main eatery for sure, very clean and tidy, no open packets of biscuits left lying around, no unwashed cups and plates in the gleaming stainless steel sink, no spilt instant coffee or soy sauce. Perhaps a spell in the ten by ten awaited any untidy crew, and they all knew it.

There were wall cupboards and wardrobes on either side. Not locked. Walter pulled one open. Pretty full, clothes and uniforms and shoes and underwear, neatly folded and stacked, and everything else working men might need, and it did seem like it was all men. They had seen no evidence of women anywhere, and yet there was room in those cupboards to hide a human being, so they checked them all, and found nothing but ultra neat and tidy gear, as if all off-watch time was spent housekeeping.

Then a sleeping area, red metal framed double bunks either side, three sets, back to back, twelve berths in total, all beds neatly made up, Beijing fashion, one small pillow, bright red counterpane, no one in any of the beds, no one sleeping, no one on sick leave, or if they were, they weren’t doing it there.

Karen bent down and squinted under the bunks. She could see all the way down to the end, nothing there, no dust, no shoes, no nothing, no one willing and thinking of breaking any of the many rules and regs. Plenty of red notices on the walls in tiny Chinese characters; no doubt plenty of do’s and don’ts with penalty measures attached. New ship. New rules. New regs. New order.

Jun did the same on the other side. Same result. Saw all the way down to the end. Nothing to see.

And yet the end bunk didn’t look quite so tidy. As if instead of one pillow, there were three or four haphazardly dumped beneath the counterpane. Walter and Karen spotted that at about the same time. Seemed odd when everything else was so neat and correct. Walter limped to the very end of the mess, grabbed the hem of the tucked in red cover, pulled it back, revealed a face, a famous face, a supermodel’s face, with a bad haircut.

Jessica wasn’t restrained in the bunk, just sleeping, but she looked okay and her breathing was good. Walter knelt down on the floor, felt her brow. Warm, but not dangerously so. He turned back to Jun. ‘Go and tell the captain what we have found! Tell