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these coroner’s conclusions would test the most
fertile imagination. He looked at the small clock on Vincent’s desk. He had
been here about an hour. Then the door opened.
    “Well, have we finished?”
    “Yes Vincent and like you I
couldn’t find anything to connect the two.”
    He hadn’t shown Vincent the
file on Shirley or told him about the way she had been defiled; all he knew was
she had been strangled. He knew he must give him the file soon even though it
was so upsetting to let other people witness the horrors of her death.
    “I expect to have some information
on two of the suspects tomorrow. The Irish lad may take a bit more time. While
I was out I called into Tom and he has sent inquiries to five of the large port
cities, so we can expect to have news from some of them in a few days. There is
still a bit of colonial influence in Togo West Africa, Pakistan, Mauritius and
Egypt. These, off the top of my head, are some of the countries of her ports of
call.”
    Henry stood up to let Vincent
sit back on his chair. “I’ll be into the shipping office tomorrow and get as
much information on the whereabouts of the ship at present. While there, I’ll
ask what will be the procedure if I was to train as a crew member and ship out
to replace one of her present crew. It could take a complicated bit of maneuvering
to get a particular crew member home to make way for me.”
    Vincent lifted the window
open a little more and wiped some drops of perspiration off his forehead with a
large handkerchief. “There’s no air circulating around here.” He walked over
and put his hand on Henry’s shoulder. “I don’t know much about ships or
shipping, but I’m sure we have some personnel who will help us out when the
time comes, should it come to that. We still have a very active network of
British agents across the civilized world and the top brass here can call up
special favors if and when we might need them.”
     “Good. Knowing that kind of
backup was available would be a huge confidence booster for me.”
    “Yes Henry, as your
communications back to us here will be very limited and infrequent and if its
airmail post, very slow, so you’ll need direct access through our diplomatic
channels.”
    Henry shook his head and
looked down at the floor.
    “If I do have to sail on that
ship, knowing yourself and Tom are my backup will give me all the confidence
I’ll need.”
    “Yes Henry, a few days now
will tell a tale.”
    Henry glanced at his watch
and said with a little anxious surprise in his voice. “I’ll have time to go to
the shipping office. They don’t close for another hour and a half, I’ll see you
tomorrow Vincent.
     
     There was a man seated in
the office when Henry arrived. Vera wasn’t anywhere to be seen. This man with
dark brilliantine hair was in his early forties. A healthy suntan slotted him
into a role as surely one of the company's seaman. Henry immediately realized
he had blundered into something that could jeopardize his investigation.
    “Are you for the Kowloon,
she’s signing on tomorrow?”
    Henry felt a knot in his
stomach as apprehension began to build into panic, as the harmless questions
this man would surely ask could blow his planned cover as a seaman to pieces.
    “I’m applying for a job but I
don’t suppose I’ll get on the Kowloon. They’ve probably got her crew already.”
    “Yeah you’re right I’ve just
come in to know what dock she’s in and what time she’s signing on. Won’t be
sorry to ship out. I have had a good spell with the old lady. She’s getting a
bit fed up with me now and the cash is getting scarce too. I’ll have to put the
hard word on Miss Twist for a few quid advance. She’s a good old scout and
wouldn’t see a fellow stuck. Have you ever met her?"
    Before Henry could answer,
Vera appeared from Captain Leavy-Hobbs’ room. She gave Henry a surprised and
severe look.
    Despite her demeanor, he felt
relieved to see her. Now his friendly