'Maybe we
'But why cops in the first place?'
'Aura of respectability. Cops are above suspicion. When a uniformed policeman shoves his uniformed cap above your gunwale in the dark watches of the night, you don't whack him over the head with a marline-spike. You invite him aboard. All others you might whack, especially if we had the bad consciences we might have been supposed to have.'
'Maybe. It's arguable. And the second point?'
'They took a big chance, a desperate chance, almost, with Durran. He was thrown to the wolves to see what the reaction would be, whether either of us recognised him.'
'Why Durran?'
'I didn't tell you. I shone a torch in his face. The face didn't register, just a white blur with screwed-up eyes half-hidden behind an upflung hand. I was really looking lower down, picking the right spot to kick him. But they weren't to know that. They wanted to find out if we would recognise him. We didn't. If we had done we'd either have started throwing the crockery at him or yelped for the cops to arrest them - if we're against them then we're with the cops. But we didn't. Not a nicker of recognition. Nobody's as good as that. I defy any man in the world to meet up again in 'the same night with a man who has murdered two other people and nearly murdered himself without at least twitching an eyebrow. So the immediate heat is off, the urgent necessity to do us in has become less urgent. It's a safe bet that if we didn't recognise Durran, then we recognised nobody on the
'We're in the clear?'
'I wish to God we were. They're on to us.'
'But you said------'
'I don't know how I know,' I said irritably. 'I know. They went through the after end of the
'The batteries?'
'No. He was satisfied with my explanation. I could tell. I don't know why, I only know I'm sure.'
'So they'll be back.'
'They'll be back.'
'I get the guns out now?'
'There's no hurry. Our friends will be sure we can't communicate with anyone. The mainland boat calls here only twice a week. It came to-day and won't be back for four days. The lines to the mainland are down and if I thought for a moment they would stay down I should be back in kindergarten. Our transmitter is out. Assuming there are no carrier pigeons in Torbay, what's the only remaining means of communication with the mainland?'
'There's the
'And how many transmitters in Torbay harbour will still be in operating condition to-morrow?'
'One.'
'One. Our friends will attend to the rest. They'll have to
'The insurance companies can stand it.' He glanced at his watch. 'This would be a nice time to wake up Uncle Arthur.'
'I can't put it off any longer.' I wasn't looking forward to talking to Uncle Arthur.
Hunslett reached for a heavy coat, pulled h on, made for the door and stopped, 'I thought I'd take a walk on the upper deck. While you're talking. Just in case. A second thought - I'd better have that gun now. Thomas said they'd already checked three boats in the harbour. MacDonald didn'tcontradict him, so it was probably true. Maybe there
'Maybe. But those yachts are smaller than the
'You'd bet your pension on that? Maybe MacDonald didn't always go aboard.'
'I'll never live to collect my pension. But maybe you'd better have that gun.'
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