All Quiet on Arrival by Graham Ison Read Free Book Online Page A

do now, guv?’ asked Dave.
    I glanced at my watch: it was nearly eight o’clock. ‘Go home, Dave. I don’t want to get into trouble with your Madeleine. Tomorrow we’ll call on the shipping office.’
    I’m never very happy wandering around the City of London. For one thing they have their own police force; in my view, an unnecessary extravagance in this day and age. However, we finally located the offices of the company that owned the liner in which the Bartons had sailed for their January cruise.
    After a number of false starts, we were eventually shown into the office of a young lady who, we were assured, could assist us. I explained who we were, what we were looking for, and why.
    â€˜I’ll just check for you,’ said the young woman, whose name, she told us, was Kimberley Taylor. ‘Call me Kim,’ she added. ‘Everyone does.’ She turned to her computer, her fingers skimming over the keyboard at lightning speed. ‘Here we are: Thomas Hendry. Dismissed by Captain Peter Richards on February the seventh this year for gross misconduct, having previously received two written warnings.’ She stood up and turned to a filing cabinet. Pulling out a file, she opened it on her desk, and glanced through its contents. ‘You’re in luck; we still have a photograph of him. It should have been destroyed, but I’m not awfully good at weeding the files,’ she added, with a shy smile. ‘Would you like a copy?’
    â€˜Please,’ said Dave. ‘While we’re here, do you, by chance, have an employee named Carl Morgan?’
    â€˜Just a tick,’ said Kim, and addressed herself to her computer once again. ‘Yes, we do. He was a steward on Captain Richards’s ship. The same one that Hendry served on, of course.’
    â€˜At the same time?’ queried Dave.
    â€˜Yes, and he’s still there. Actually, he’s on leave while the ship’s undergoing a partial refit. Should be ready for sea again in a fortnight’s time. Would you like a photograph of him too?’
    â€˜Yes, please, Kim,’ said Dave, who’d obviously taken a shine to the girl, and it appeared that she had taken a liking to him. But then he is a six-foot hunk of rippling muscle.
    Kim disappeared from the office and, by some arcane process that I couldn’t even begin to understand, returned minutes later with copies of the photographs of Thomas Hendry and Carl Morgan.
    â€˜Anything else I can help you with?’ asked the helpful Kim.
    â€˜Their home addresses would be useful, Kim,’ said Dave.
    Armed with photographs and addresses, we returned to Curtis Green.
    â€˜Why did you ask about Carl Morgan, Dave?’ I asked.
    â€˜That was the name of the guy who PC Watson spoke to when he was called to the disturbance, guv,’ said Dave, as though it was obvious. At the time, I didn’t realize why Dave had asked that question, but as I’ve often said, he thinks of things I don’t think of.
    â€˜Ah, so it was. Where do these guys live?’
    â€˜Southampton.’
    â€˜Sod it!’ I said.
    â€˜Yes, sir,’ said Dave.
    â€˜Give Chelsea nick a ring, Dave, and ask Watson to call in here to have a look at that photograph of Morgan that we got. If it’s the same guy, we might be getting somewhere.’
    At half past three, Dave bounced into my office. ‘Guess what, guv?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜I showed PC Watson the photograph of Carl Morgan, and he said it wasn’t the guy who answered the door of twenty-seven Tavona Street.’
    â€˜Why am I not surprised?’ I said. I tossed Dave a cigarette, and lit one myself, contrary to all the Commissioner’s little regulations, and some ridiculous Act of Parliament.
    â€˜But then I showed him the photograph of Thomas Hendry, and he positively identified the guy as the one who’d answered the door.’
    â€˜But Watson said that he gave