Cod Only Knows (Shores Mystery) by MacLeod Hilary

Author:MacLeod, Hilary [MacLeod, Hilary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Acorn Press
Published: 2017-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Seamus was shaking. With anxiety and fear. When his boss got back, it wouldn’t be long before she knew what he’d been up to – the trip in the fisheries boat, the helicopter jaunt, the purchase of the massive tank, and the use of personnel for his own purposes. The entire work of the department had come to a halt as he pursued his mad scheme. The bills were an unpleasant pile on his desk. Whenever he picked one up, there was another one underneath. He had to get Ferguson paying the bills, so he could pull out of his government job and realize his life’s dream.

Bringing the cod fishery back to Newfoundland. Restoring the way of life of his father and grandfather, and generations of O’Malleys before them.

When he thought about it, he began to sweat – from both fear and pleasure. The cold sweat of fear that he wouldn’t be able to pull it off. The warmth of the pleasure he felt rushing through his blood when he imagined himself, returning home, the conquering hero with a new kind of cod for a new life in Newfoundland.

He needed Ferguson, and what he thought was Ferguson’s money, for that dream to come true.

It annoyed Seamus that Ferguson wanted to keep the cod in the pond when they got it. He would play along if he had to, to get money off him, but their phone conversation was not going well. Ferguson wanted a fish alive and in his pond. That would be difficult to deliver, as Seamus had already found out. So would getting a fish that size to Newfoundland. Could he strip it of its milt and ova, and then kill it?

“You don’t need a live fish to establish a world record,” he argued. “You just have to photograph and weigh the damn thing, and you’re in. I might have to kill the cod after I harvest its ova and milt.”

“Kill the fish.” Ferguson frowned. It was true. The fish didn’t need to be alive to achieve a world record. But he wanted that fish alive. Period. He didn’t care what Seamus wanted. He’d just use him until the fish was reeled in.

“We can breed it in the pond. Find a mating pair.” A desperate suggestion, and he knew it.

“You couldn’t breed them for long in that pond.”

“Why not?”

“Look at the size of it. Look at the size of the fish. Imagine if even a dozen codlings came to life. They’d be so overcrowded in the pond they’ll kill each other, eat each other, die of disease, if they would even live and breed in warm water so close to the surface in the first place.” Another if.

“I’ll just keep one there.” Ferguson had been doodling a drawing of a cod on a notepad. “I’ll photograph it and weigh it, and leave it there.”

“First we have to get it.”

“How hard can that be? You’ve done it once… Now you know where they are, it’s not as if a fish that size can hide.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.