The Breaker

The Breaker by Minette Walters Page A

Book: The Breaker by Minette Walters Read Free Book Online
Authors: Minette Walters
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It's hardly the QE2 , is it?"
    Carpenter leafed idly through the logbook. "Do you ever carry passengers?"
    "That's none of your business."
    "Maybe not, but we've been led to believe you're a bit of a lad." He lifted an amused eyebrow. "Legend has it that you regularly entertain ladies on board. I'm wondering if you ever take them sailing with you"-he jerked his head toward the cabin-"or does all the action take place in there when you're moored up to your buoy?"
    Harding took time to consider his answer. "I take some of them out," he admitted at last.
    "How often?"
    Another long pause. "Once a month, maybe."
    Carpenter slapped the exercise book onto the table and drummed his fingers on it. "Then why is there no mention of them in here? Surely you have a responsibility to record the names of everyone on board in case of an accident? Or perhaps you don't care that someone might drown because the coastguards assume you're the only person they're looking for?"
    "That's ridiculous," said Harding dismissively. "The boat would have to turn turtle for a scenario like that, and the log'd be lost anyway."
    "Have any of your passengers ever gone overboard?"
    Harding shook his head but didn't say anything. His eyes flickered with open suspicion from one man to the other, tasting their mood in the way a snake flicks his tongue to taste scent on the air. There was something very studied about every movement he made, and Galbraith regarded him objectively, mindful that he was an actor. He had the impression that Harding was enjoying himself, but he couldn't think why this should be unless Harding had no idea the investigation involved rape and murder and was merely using the experience of an interrogation to practice "method-acting" techniques.
    "Do you know a woman by the name of Kate Sumner?" asked Carpenter next.
    Harding pushed the bottle aside and leaned forward aggressively. "What if I do?"
    "That's not an answer to my question. Let me repeat it. Do you know a woman by the name of Kate Sumner?"
    "Yes."
    "Do you know her well?"
    "Well enough."
    "How well is well enough?"
    "None of your bloody business."
    "Wrong answer, Steve. It's very much our business. It was her body you saw being winched into the helicopter."
    His reaction surprised them.
    "I had a feeling it might be," he said.
 

*9*

    Ahead across the water, the lights of Swanage gleamed like brilliant jewels in the night. Behind, the dying sun dipped beneath the horizon. Danny Spender was yawning profusely, worn out by his long day and three hours' exposure to fresh sea air. He leaned against Ingram's comforting bulk while his older brother stood proudly at the wheel, steering Miss Creant home. "He was a dirty person," he confided suddenly.
    "Who was?"
    "That man yesterday."
    Ingram glanced down at him. "What did he do?" he asked, careful to keep the curiosity out of his voice.
    "He was rubbing his willy with his telephone," said Danny, "all the time the lady was being rescued."
    Ingram looked at Paul to see if he was listening but the other boy was too enthralled by the wheel to pay them any attention. "Did Miss Jenner see him do it?"
    Danny's eyelids drooped. "No. He stopped when she came around the corner. Paul reckons he was polishing it-you know, like bowlers do with cricket balls to make them turn in the air-but he wasn't, he was being dirty."
    "Why does Paul like him so much?"
    The child gave another huge yawn. "Because he wasn't cross with him for spying on a nudie. Dad would be. He was furious when Paul got hold of some porno mags. I said they were boring, but Paul said they were natural."
 
    Detective Superintendent Carpenter's telephone rang. "Excuse me," he said, retrieving it from his jacket pocket and flipping open the mouthpiece. "Yes, Campbell," he said. "Right ... go on..." He stared at a point above Steven Harding's head as he spoke, his inevitable frown lengthened and deepened by the shadows thrown by the gaslight as he listened to his DS's report on his

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