Read Online Death in the Middle Watch by Leo Bruce - Free Book Online

Carolus.
    â€œA whisky, please. Without ice and just a splash of soda.”
    The “splash” was too much for her, it seemed, and after giving these precise instructions she started to weep again, rather noisily.
    â€œUpset about Mrs Darwin?” Carolus asked.
    Miss Berry looked at him with astonishment.
    â€œMrs Darwin?” she spluttered. “What’s she done? It’s not
her
.”
    â€œThere is a story going round the ship,” said Carolus with literal truth but far from candid intent, “that she was murdered.”
    Miss Berry digested that. But it did nothing to calm her tears.
    â€œI don’t care if she was. She said last night I looked off-colour and offered me some liver salts. I could have murdered her myself.”
    â€œBut you didn’t? Then why are you crying?”
    â€œIt’s not Mrs Darwin. It’s Gavin Ritchie.”
    Carolus recognized the name of the good-looking but rather sullen young man he had seen coming aboard.
    â€œWhat’s he done?”
    â€œHe was all right yesterday. We were together nearly all the evening. He promised to take me ashore today to see …” Miss Berry broke down again. “To see the fish market.” she said finally.
    Well, that’s a new one, thought Carolus, but did not say it.
    â€œWhat do you care about a lot of old fish?” He knew it was no good as soon as he said it. Miss Berry cried again.
    â€œNot the fish.” she explained. “It’s the women. They carry the baskets on their heads. Gavin wanted to see that. He’s in artist, you know. Now he’s gone ashore with the Assistant Purser who looks like a girl.”
    â€œSurely you don’t care about that?”
    â€œI do. I care terribly. I thought at last, when I met Gavin, that this was going to be a wonderful cruise.”
    â€œPerhaps it is. I want to ask you something. Miss Berry …”
    â€œSusan.”
    â€œI wanted to ask you, Susan, whether you heard anything unusual in the night. Your cabin’s opposite to Mrs Darwin’s.”
    â€œI don’t know what you mean by unusual,” said Susan, who had grown suddenly sour. “I suppose it’s not unusual on this ship to hear knocking on the cabin door of a woman passenger when she’s supposed to be alone.”
    â€œYours?” asked Carolus, unable to suppress a suggestion of incredulity.
    â€œNo. Not mine. I wouldn’t have it. On Mrs Darwin’s door.”
    â€œYou heard that? At what time?”
    â€œSome time after one, it must have been, because I didn’t go to bed till nearly one and was reading for a long time.”
    â€œIf I may ask you, Susan, where were you between say midnight and one o’clock?”
    â€œOf course you may. I don’t care any more. I was with Gavin.”
    â€œDid you see a launch come alongside?”
    â€œSome kind of a boat yes. I didn’t really notice much about it. I wasn’t particularly interested, to tell the truth. Anyway. It was just before I went to bed because Gavin said we had to be up early in the morning to see the …”
    â€œYes. I know. The fish market. So you didn’t wait to see whether anyone came aboard from the launch?”
    â€œNo. I went to my cabin.”
    â€œAnd some time afterwards you heard someone knocking at Mrs Darwin’s door?”
    â€œYes. But before that I heard a noise in the passage. The young Dunlearys were laughing and running about.”
    â€œYou didn’t look out to see who it was who knocked?”
    Susan Berry hesitated, then said, “Well, I did just want to see that it wasn’t anyone I knew. So I peeped out. But whoever it was had gone into Mrs Darwin’s cabin and shut the door. So I went to bed. I didn’t think anything more about it.”
    â€œAnd you didn’t hear any more?”
    â€œNo. The first thing I heard was in the morning when I went into breakfast. Someone