thirty years younger, I'd have volunteered. I
think I might have made a good merchant seaman. Now, enough banter, I’ll see
you two in the morning.”
Henry phoned Vera but she
had a prior engagement, she was going to the opera to see The Mikado, and then
on to a reception afterwards which would keep her late. She agreed to meet him
for lunch next day. I would have more information from James Eagleton then, he
thought. Also, by then he might be able to give her an approximate time when
he'd be available to join the Rangoon. She would have to look ahead a bit and
see what ports the ship would be calling to, and he would have to be in that
area, ready to join.
He had mixed thoughts about
how they were going to get the steward on the ship to forcedly leave to make
way for him. The lads at the Yard would have to deal with that, they were in
contact with undercover agents all round the world. He put these thoughts from
his head and went to a nearby pub for a few pints, and then it was back to the
guest house for an early night.
Chapter Thirteen
Back at Scotland Yard, Henry
could hear Celtic tones of a somewhat high pitched voice as he stood outside
the door. It was that of James Eagleton who was relating a story to Tom and
Vincent.
After a few seconds he
knocked.
"Come in." James
Eagleton stood up and Tom introduced him.
“I'm sure Henry we're going
to be seeing a lot of each other for the next few weeks."
"Yes James, and I want
to thank you for coming here to help me with. I'm sure you've been briefed
about the case."
"Tom and Vincent have
briefed me about the latest progress. But it's going to be tricky. I was
relating to the two lads here about an investigation into a murder ashore in
Malta. Valetta to be precise. The case involved The Royal Navy. I was assigned
to the investigation, also the Navy had their own men investigating and I was
being baulked at every turn. It was the most difficult job I have ever
undertaken. However, you'll not have to deal with the same red tape as I did,
because you'll be undercover. I'll get you all the training you'll need to
carry off the job on board ship. You are going to sail as assistant steward.
I'll explain why you are taking this position. It's the only job on board ship
you can learn quickly and you can sail without any board of trade qualifications,
an able seaman has to have passed board of trade exams, and most other crew
members would be in the same category. You will need to work with a new
identity, so a false passport and a seaman's discharge book will be provided. This
new identity will only be known to the three of us in this room and the few
people in foreign secret service who will assist you and relay back information
to your superiors here. Have you thought of a name you would like?”
"Well, I've had a few
days to think about a new name and I decided to keep my first names because it
will make life easier. It would be likely that at some point I would fail to respond
to a name that I’ve only had a short time. So I'll stick to Henry John as first
names and take Tyler as my surname. It was my grandmother's maiden name.”
James Eagleton pushed over a
sheet of paper to Henry, unscrewed the top of his fountain pen and handed it to
him. "Here, write your new name and I’ll officially christen you Henry
John Tyler. We also need a new address for you. We’ve thrown this around before
you came in and Vincent has agreed to let you use his address, it would make
things less complicated and any mail should not go astray. We will also have to
decide when you first went to sea. This will all be recorded in your seaman's
discharge book, as well as the years you spent at sea, the rank you sailed at
and of course, the name of the ships. Let’s see. I think you can have your
first trip to sea when you were fifteen that is the normal age for lads
shipping out. This will mean you have worked at sea now for about ten years. I
will have to enter in ships for
think I might have made a good merchant seaman. Now, enough banter, I’ll see
you two in the morning.”
Henry phoned Vera but she
had a prior engagement, she was going to the opera to see The Mikado, and then
on to a reception afterwards which would keep her late. She agreed to meet him
for lunch next day. I would have more information from James Eagleton then, he
thought. Also, by then he might be able to give her an approximate time when
he'd be available to join the Rangoon. She would have to look ahead a bit and
see what ports the ship would be calling to, and he would have to be in that
area, ready to join.
He had mixed thoughts about
how they were going to get the steward on the ship to forcedly leave to make
way for him. The lads at the Yard would have to deal with that, they were in
contact with undercover agents all round the world. He put these thoughts from
his head and went to a nearby pub for a few pints, and then it was back to the
guest house for an early night.
Chapter Thirteen
Back at Scotland Yard, Henry
could hear Celtic tones of a somewhat high pitched voice as he stood outside
the door. It was that of James Eagleton who was relating a story to Tom and
Vincent.
After a few seconds he
knocked.
"Come in." James
Eagleton stood up and Tom introduced him.
“I'm sure Henry we're going
to be seeing a lot of each other for the next few weeks."
"Yes James, and I want
to thank you for coming here to help me with. I'm sure you've been briefed
about the case."
"Tom and Vincent have
briefed me about the latest progress. But it's going to be tricky. I was
relating to the two lads here about an investigation into a murder ashore in
Malta. Valetta to be precise. The case involved The Royal Navy. I was assigned
to the investigation, also the Navy had their own men investigating and I was
being baulked at every turn. It was the most difficult job I have ever
undertaken. However, you'll not have to deal with the same red tape as I did,
because you'll be undercover. I'll get you all the training you'll need to
carry off the job on board ship. You are going to sail as assistant steward.
I'll explain why you are taking this position. It's the only job on board ship
you can learn quickly and you can sail without any board of trade qualifications,
an able seaman has to have passed board of trade exams, and most other crew
members would be in the same category. You will need to work with a new
identity, so a false passport and a seaman's discharge book will be provided. This
new identity will only be known to the three of us in this room and the few
people in foreign secret service who will assist you and relay back information
to your superiors here. Have you thought of a name you would like?”
"Well, I've had a few
days to think about a new name and I decided to keep my first names because it
will make life easier. It would be likely that at some point I would fail to respond
to a name that I’ve only had a short time. So I'll stick to Henry John as first
names and take Tyler as my surname. It was my grandmother's maiden name.”
James Eagleton pushed over a
sheet of paper to Henry, unscrewed the top of his fountain pen and handed it to
him. "Here, write your new name and I’ll officially christen you Henry
John Tyler. We also need a new address for you. We’ve thrown this around before
you came in and Vincent has agreed to let you use his address, it would make
things less complicated and any mail should not go astray. We will also have to
decide when you first went to sea. This will all be recorded in your seaman's
discharge book, as well as the years you spent at sea, the rank you sailed at
and of course, the name of the ships. Let’s see. I think you can have your
first trip to sea when you were fifteen that is the normal age for lads
shipping out. This will mean you have worked at sea now for about ten years. I
will have to enter in ships for
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