Death on the Stella Mae by Jan Durham

Author:Jan Durham [Durham, Jan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Published: 2023-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

Liz made everyone sausage and beans for lunch when they got back to Gull Cottage. She pretended not to see Potsy slipping Nelson one of his sausages under the table.

‘Do you know when they’re going to release the Stella Mae?’ she asked him.

‘Soon, Skipper reckons. Leastways, he hopes so. He needs the money, you know.’

‘Does he?’

Potsy nodded. ‘He had the boat refurnished in the summer.’

Liz assumed he meant refurbished.

‘It cost him a lot of money. He had to borrow it.’ Potsy had no idea he was being indiscreet.

‘Who did he borrow it from? The bank?’ Liz felt a little guilty to be taking advantage.

‘No. Phil Nethergate.’

‘I thought he was in prison.’

‘Oh, he is. But Mrs Nethergate runs things now. She wants her money back, Skipper says.’

Liz didn’t envy being in Masterson’s shoes, owing the Nethergates money. If Phil’s wife was anything like her husband, she wouldn’t pull punches when it came to getting her money back.

‘Doc owed Mrs Nethergate money, too.’ Potsy chewed happily on his sausage and took a huge swig of tea.

Liz’s ears pricked up. ‘Did he?’ If Daniel was involved with the Nethergates, that made it even more likely that he was up to no good with his fake identity.

‘A LOT of money, Billy says.’

Liz stared at him. How had Daniel managed to run up a big debt? Did he have a gambling problem? A drug addiction? Could the Nethergates have killed Daniel to make an example of him? Liz knew that Phil was capable of blackmail, intimidation, and actual bodily harm when it suited him… but murder? They had to have somehow gained access to the Stella Mae, which meant they had to have an accomplice on the boat. Someone they had leverage over. Someone like Skipper Masterson?

‘Billy says the sooner we get back on the boat and start earning the skipper money again, the better.’ Potsy’s brow crinkled with concern. ‘Or we could lose our jobs.’

‘I’m sure it won’t come to that.’ She wanted to reassure him, but he stared glumly into his mug. She thought a change of subject might help.

‘You drink at the White Horse, Potsy, don’t you?’

‘I do. Me and the lads.’

‘Christian Petit too?’

Potsy frowned. ‘No, I like Chris, but he doesn’t drink with us. Not anymore. Not since…’ He tailed off, unsure whether he should continue.

‘Not since he had that fight with Daniel?’

‘Yes.’ Potsy looked relieved that Liz already knew about it. ‘Not since then. He gave Daniel a proper black eye.’

‘Do you know why?’

Potsy gave her a puzzled look.

‘Do you know what the fight was about?’

‘Doc said something not very nice about Chris’s wife. Mrs Petit. The lads reckon Doc deserved it. He wasn’t very nice about women sometimes. I wish Chris would come to the White Horse with us again.’

Liz wondered whether Potsy knew that Christian had been fired from the crew, and decided not to mention it. It might upset him.

‘Do we have any ice cream?’ asked Lukasz, who had hoovered up his beans and was now licking his plate.

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