have a lot of weight to throw around. If you’re reaching on this one and you miss …”
I said stubbornly, “I still think I have something. Look, Maslin just told me that the blonde is from England and Ghatt is from Zwahili. Fuller was in England at the time of the robbery. He had Zwahili pounds to play with….”
The boss said, “Your job is investigating those fires. Have you tied them into this ‘hate Fuller campaign?”
I said, “No, I haven’t tied them together. But I’m working on it. And if I were you, I’d put an extra guard around Tom until this is over. If I’m right, nobody is playing for dimes, and if anyone gets the idea Tom might come out of his coma and talk …”
He didn’t argue about that. Whether I was right or wrong made no difference. If there was a chance Tom could be hurt further, he wanted to guard against it. I went to the door.
I said, “You’d better hire yourself a new girl. I don’t think Emily is coming back. And this time get a good-looking one.”
He sneered. I went through the door. Jodi was waiting for me, the report in her hand. She said, “There’s just nothing in this that would account for Ilona’s actions, Peter.”
I said, “I’m reading it in my office right now. Then if she wants to chase me for it, she can.”
We went into my cubbyhole. With Jodi breathing softly in my ear, I opened the report and started wading through Tom Harbin’s thoroughness.
He hadn’t missed a bet, and he used three sentences to describe what three words could have. But I had to admit he was becoming a fine investigator.
The first report dealt with the fire on Arne’s boat, the
Queen
. There was a description of the damage, a resume of eye-witness accounts of the fire itself, statements from Arne and each of the crew members and, in summation, Tom’s own tentative conclusions. They boiled down to “accidental.”
The second report was the same except that the concluding statement had a string of question marks after it.
The third report was incomplete. It began with a brief summary of the previous fires and then detailed his plan of operation. By this time he had obviously become suspicious. I read, “A thorough investigation of the area around Boundary Island is obviously called for. I plan to make an immediate trip there. I also plan to question each crew member of the
Flyer
and requesition the crew members of the other boats upon my return.”
Only he hadn’t yet returned.
I wondered what could have been the taped message Emily had accidentally destroyed. I also wondered if its destruction had been “accidental.” Somehow, after my trip to the Pad, I didn’t think so.
I closed the report, snapped off the light, and led Jodi out. She said, “You see, Peter, there’s just nothing there.”
I said, “There’s this much. By reading the report, Emily could know Tom was going to Boundary Island. She also knew when he intended to go. I think she passed on the information and someone went up and laid for Tom.”
Jodi nodded a little excitedly. “And you did see Ilona in that area.”
I said, “And I saw Mike Fenney and you and Reese, too. Of the bunch, I’ll take Reese Fuller.”
“Peter!”
I led her into the elevator. “Arne hired Fenney to snoop for him. And Fenney was around the island when Tom got hurt. The next thing, Fenney gets killed. I think he was killed because he saw what happened to Tom, and who did it. I think he saw Reese and later tried to blackmail him.”
When we were on the street, Jodi said, “Are you sure you aren’t letting your dislike of Reese affect your thinking?”
I wasn’t sure. I said, “The best way to answer that is to try to find out how close to right I am.”
We got in her car and started for Arne’s boat works. On the way, I gave her a resume of my talks with the boss and Maslin.
She said, “Did you tell anyone about the Zwahili money Arne has?”
“Not yet,” I said.
She gave me a quick, grateful
I said stubbornly, “I still think I have something. Look, Maslin just told me that the blonde is from England and Ghatt is from Zwahili. Fuller was in England at the time of the robbery. He had Zwahili pounds to play with….”
The boss said, “Your job is investigating those fires. Have you tied them into this ‘hate Fuller campaign?”
I said, “No, I haven’t tied them together. But I’m working on it. And if I were you, I’d put an extra guard around Tom until this is over. If I’m right, nobody is playing for dimes, and if anyone gets the idea Tom might come out of his coma and talk …”
He didn’t argue about that. Whether I was right or wrong made no difference. If there was a chance Tom could be hurt further, he wanted to guard against it. I went to the door.
I said, “You’d better hire yourself a new girl. I don’t think Emily is coming back. And this time get a good-looking one.”
He sneered. I went through the door. Jodi was waiting for me, the report in her hand. She said, “There’s just nothing in this that would account for Ilona’s actions, Peter.”
I said, “I’m reading it in my office right now. Then if she wants to chase me for it, she can.”
We went into my cubbyhole. With Jodi breathing softly in my ear, I opened the report and started wading through Tom Harbin’s thoroughness.
He hadn’t missed a bet, and he used three sentences to describe what three words could have. But I had to admit he was becoming a fine investigator.
The first report dealt with the fire on Arne’s boat, the
Queen
. There was a description of the damage, a resume of eye-witness accounts of the fire itself, statements from Arne and each of the crew members and, in summation, Tom’s own tentative conclusions. They boiled down to “accidental.”
The second report was the same except that the concluding statement had a string of question marks after it.
The third report was incomplete. It began with a brief summary of the previous fires and then detailed his plan of operation. By this time he had obviously become suspicious. I read, “A thorough investigation of the area around Boundary Island is obviously called for. I plan to make an immediate trip there. I also plan to question each crew member of the
Flyer
and requesition the crew members of the other boats upon my return.”
Only he hadn’t yet returned.
I wondered what could have been the taped message Emily had accidentally destroyed. I also wondered if its destruction had been “accidental.” Somehow, after my trip to the Pad, I didn’t think so.
I closed the report, snapped off the light, and led Jodi out. She said, “You see, Peter, there’s just nothing there.”
I said, “There’s this much. By reading the report, Emily could know Tom was going to Boundary Island. She also knew when he intended to go. I think she passed on the information and someone went up and laid for Tom.”
Jodi nodded a little excitedly. “And you did see Ilona in that area.”
I said, “And I saw Mike Fenney and you and Reese, too. Of the bunch, I’ll take Reese Fuller.”
“Peter!”
I led her into the elevator. “Arne hired Fenney to snoop for him. And Fenney was around the island when Tom got hurt. The next thing, Fenney gets killed. I think he was killed because he saw what happened to Tom, and who did it. I think he saw Reese and later tried to blackmail him.”
When we were on the street, Jodi said, “Are you sure you aren’t letting your dislike of Reese affect your thinking?”
I wasn’t sure. I said, “The best way to answer that is to try to find out how close to right I am.”
We got in her car and started for Arne’s boat works. On the way, I gave her a resume of my talks with the boss and Maslin.
She said, “Did you tell anyone about the Zwahili money Arne has?”
“Not yet,” I said.
She gave me a quick, grateful
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