'How the hell would I know? Setting fire to my hou...' Hutchmeyer stopped himself.
'That's mighty interesting,' said Greensleeves. 'So you're telling us Mrs Hutchmeyer is an arsonist.'
'No I'm not,' shouted Hutchmeyer, 'all I know is ' He was interrupted by a lieutenant who came in with a suitcase and several articles of clothing, all sodden.
'Coastguards found these out in the wreckage,' he said and held a coat up for inspection. Hutchmeyer stared at it in horror.
'That's Baby's,' he said. 'Mink. Cost a fortune.'
'And this?' asked the lieutenant indicating the suitcase.
Hutchmeyer shrugged. The lieutenant opened the case and removed a passport.
Greensleeves took it from him. 'British,' he said. 'British passport in the name of Piper, Peter Piper. The name mean anything to you?'
Hutchmeyer nodded. 'He's an author.'
'Friend of yours?'
'One of my authors. I wouldn't call him a friend.'
'Friend of Mrs Hutchmeyer maybe?' Hutchmeyer ground his teeth.
'Didn't hear that, Mr Hutchmeyer. Did you say something?'
'No,' said Hutchmeyer.
Chief Greensleeves scratched his head thoughtfully. 'Seems like we've got ourselves another little problem here,' he said finally. 'Your cruiser blows out of the water like she's been dynamited and when we go look see what do we find? A mink coat that's Mrs Hutchmeyer's and a bag that belongs to a Mr Piper who just happens to be her friend. You think there's any connection?'
'What do you mean 'any connection'?' said Hutchmeyer.
'Like they was on that cruiser when she blew?'
'How the hell would I know where they were? All I know is that whoever was on that cruiser tried to kill me.'
'Interesting you saying that,' said Chief Greensleeves, 'very interesting.'
'I don't see anything interesting about it.'
'Couldn't be the other way round, could it?'
'Could what be the other way round?' said Hutchmeyer.
'That you killed them?'
'I did what?' shouted Hutchmeyer and let go his blanket. 'Are you accusing me of '
'Just asking questions, Mr Hutchmeyer. There's no need for you getting excited.
But Hutchmeyer was out of his chair. 'My house burns down, my cruiser blows up, my yacht's sunk under me, I'm in the water drowning some hours and you sit there and suggest I killed my...why you fat bastard I'll have my lawyers sue you for everything you've got. I'll '
'Sit down and shut up,' bawled Greensleeves. 'Now you just listen to me. Fat bastard I may be but no New York mobster's going to tell me. We know all about you, Mr Hutchmeyer. We don't just sit on our asses and watch you move in and buy up good real estate with money that could be laundered for the Mafia and we don't know about it. This isn't Hicksville and it isn't New York. This is Maine and you don't carry any weight round here. And we don't like your sort moving in and buying us up. We may be a poor state but we ain't dumb. Now, are you going to tell us what really happened with your wife and her fancy friend or are we going to have to drag the bay and sift the ashes of your house till we find them?'
Hutchmeyer slumped nakedly back into his chair, appalled at the glimpse he had just been given of his social standing in Frenchman's Bay. Like Piper, he knew now that he should never have come to Maine. He was more than ever convinced of his mistake when the lieutenant came in with Baby's, travel bags and pocket book.
