Blood on the Shrine by Chris O'Donoghue

Author:Chris O'Donoghue [O'Donoghue, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910693780
Published: 2018-06-04T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The previous year

Courvoisier launched the Josephine bottle in 1951, to honour Napoleon’s first wife. The shape of the bottle, with a thin neck and wide base, may mimic Josephine’s love of corsets.

Sometime after his discovery of the gun shipment Wolfgang was lying on his bunk, reading. There was a step on the deck, the boat swayed slightly, then a rap on the roof. The little German started. He never had visitors. He peered out of the window in the side of the coachhouse and could see a pair of legs encased in grubby trousers. Dickens. What on earth did he want? He never came to the boat. The only time Wolfgang normally saw him was when he visited his office to pay his mooring dues. He slipped off the bunk, stepped on to the companionway and pushed open the doors. Dickens’s sideways face appeared in the doorway.

‘Can I come aboard, shipmate?’ he asked, jovially.

‘I suppose so.’ Wolfgang stepped back while the Irishman descended into the cabin.

‘Well, this is very nice,’ he said, looking round. ‘You’ve made yourself very cosy I see. Mind if I sit down?’ Wolfgang shrugged. Dickens sat on the bunk, smiling and stroking his beard.

Wolfgang resented the intrusion but was determined to be polite. ‘Would you like coffee – or something stronger?’

‘Ooh, thanks a million. A drop of grog would go down a treat.’

Wolfgang made his way into the galley and came back with a bottle of Courvoisier and two glasses. Dickens smacked his lips. This was a rare treat. When the drink had been poured and he had taken a good mouthful he stared pointedly at Wolfgang. ‘I’m wondering if you can do me a bit of a favour.’

‘Oh, yes?’

‘Dickens scanned the cabin. ‘You’ve got a very nice craft here. I bet it’s a good sea boat.’

‘Yes, it is actually.’

‘Perfect for making a long passage.’

‘Yes it is.’

‘So I’m wondering if you’d be prepared to do a little delivery for me.’

Wolfgang felt a cold chill run through his body. ‘I am not sure.’

‘You haven’t got anything to keep you here, have you?’

‘I have actually,’ Wolfgang said, remembering the appointment in Harley Street. ‘I’m waiting for an important letter.’

‘Oh yes? And when you are expecting this letter?’

‘Anytime soon, I expect.’

‘Well the trip I have planned for you shouldn’t take too long – a week at the most, I would think. Surely you can spare that for an old mate?’ He held out his glass for a refill.

‘Hmm. I really am not sure. Why exactly are you asking me? Are there no other old mates you could ask?’

‘To be sure, but I think this is something you’d be glad to do for me.’ His raisin-brown eyes twinkled.

Wolfgang was baffled. ‘And why would I be glad to do it for you?’

‘Ah, well, perhaps it’s because you’d like me to keep a little secret.’ He winked.

Despite the warmth of the brandy, Wolfgang felt unnaturally cold and the cabin had lost its cosiness. ‘I do not understand.’

‘Let me put it this way.

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