The C.I.D Room by Roderic Jeffries

Author:Roderic Jeffries [Jeffries, Roderic]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2016-05-23T04:00:00+00:00

11

By Wednesday, 1,500 tons of cargo had been loaded in the Sandstream and everywhere was thick with dirt and litter that would not disappear until the ship was at sea and the bos’un and crew had hosed her down.

Kerr walked for’d to the bows and stared down at the scummy water, filled with old dunnage, oil slicks, paper, a dead cat, and several rotting oranges. A ship in port was a pathetic sight, he decided. But even more pathetic was a detective constable on a ship in port when the case was dead.

A shore carpenter, in grease-stained boiler-suit, came for’d and began to check the windlass. He switched on the starboard winch drum, which revolved with a grating noise.

Kerr walked aft, past the windlass, and across to the rails between numbers 1 and 2. He watched the crane at number 2 hoist a load of sacks of chemicals and lower them into the hold. Some of the stevedores were said to be making forty quid a week. On forty quid a week, one could take Judy out two nights a week and still survive.

He saw Captain Leery and another man walk towards the gangway. Leery had a good job which carried a good pay. His bad luck was that his wife had got messed up in a car accident.

The two men climbed the gangway. Kerr watched them go aft, past the accommodation, then he thought about Evans, the shore-staff chief officer, who made the women queue up… The tropical night was hot, the tropical sky twinkled to a multitude of brilliant stars. Serena looked at him, her face twisted with passion, and begged him again and again to take her to his cabin. He hadn’t been going to bother, but he looked at his wristwatch. There were still twenty minutes to go before he was due to meet Fenella. In any case, Fenella could wait. He put his arm round Serena’s shoulders and she shivered violently and uncontrollably as his fingers touched her flesh. Her demands became still more urgent…

‘What’s got you dreaming?’ demanded someone.

Startled, he swung round to face Braddon.

‘I shouted and shouted, but not a word got through. All right, this job’s finished. There’s another handbag snatching over at Highmoore. Go to one-one-five, Alders Avenue, and see the woman of the house. She may be hysterical.’

‘Shall I slap her face or just pour cold water down her back?’

‘You’re heading for trouble. Watch it.’

‘Yes, Sarge.’ Kerr thought that the C.I.D. had lost their senses of humour.

*

That afternoon, the D.I. called for someone to return to the Sandstream to make one final check on the port locker in number 5 lower ’tween. When told only Kerr was on hand, he swore and then said to send Kerr.

Kerr boarded the Sandstream and examined the port locker yet again. If the door were locked and sealed, the Bank of England hardly offered greater security. He left the hold, dodged a couple of bales being swung across the deck by a crane, and for no definite reason made his way up to the monkey island.

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