by John Molloy
"Next we have Sean Sweeney, the radio operator. He was born in Galway, in the West of Ireland. He is aged twenty-four and has been sailing with Carlisle Brent Shipping for the last two years, during which time he has only taken leave when the ship was in dry dock for overhaul and repairs. His mother died when he was five years of age and he was put into an orphanage called Letterfrack in the West of Ireland. This place is run by Catholic clergy and we have very confidential information that's not normally available in Ireland because of the stranglehold the Catholic Church has on the powers that be. Physical abuse is common but sexual abuse is also believed to be rife. I will leave Tom to explain later what this type of treatment can do to young men.” Vincent shifted himself in his chair as if this account of the young man’s upbringing was causing him discomfort. He gave a little cough and continued.
“He studied for his radio operator's exam in Dublin and took up employment with Marconi. This is a peculiarity with shipping companies, they don’t directly employ their radiomen they lease the equipment and operators from Marconi. Well, his present address is Drumcondra Dublin where he lives with an aunt, a sister of his mother. She took him from this orphanage when he was twelve years of age. Apparently, she would visit him in the orphanage a few times a year, and having only one child, a son a little older than Sean, she thought they would be company for one another. There was a statement we got from an undercover man that she made to a Garda Superintendent but was never acted on. She was very upset with the treatment she saw meted out to one young boy on one of her visits.” He stopped and looked at Henry whose face was mask like. Then he continued by reading out a summary of the aunt’s statement.
“She arrived at the school at mid-morning as most boys were in class. This was not normally a visiting time and her unannounced walk along a corridor brought her to a door where she heard a boy screaming. Like any concerned mother she pushed open the door and to her utter horror she saw the young boy spread face down over a low desk with his pants pulled down to his ankles. A Christian brother stood behind him with his back to her, fumbling at his buttons. She could not believe what she‘d seen. The man then grabbed the young boy and stood him upright, pulling up his pants and then ordered the boy to go back to his class.
The aunt stopped the young boy and took out her handkerchief to wipe tears from the sobbing child. A brother appeared at the door and tried to make out the boy had been misbehaving.
She was infuriated by his feeble utterances and asked where Sean Sweeney was. He pointed to a classroom door further down the corridor.
She entered the classroom and Sean raced over to her. She marched him out of the building and down the rough country road to wait for the bus to Dublin.”
Vincent turned the page over and looked for reaction from Henry, who was silent with a look of incredulity written all over his face. Then he continued.
"Next we have Hadar Tukola. He grew up in East London, but was born in Singapore to a Singaporean mother and father from the Celebes Islands - a place called Paloo. The father didn't come to Britain. His mother arrived with her son some six years back, and has worked in a factory. She has a live-in boyfriend from Pakistan. It is rumored that the young Hadar and this man don’t get on too well, so this might account for his infrequent home visits. We have enquired to the police in Singapore to see if there are records for any of his family. However, there's not much point in contacting the powers in underdeveloped, Celebes; they wouldn't have records, they are still very tribal."
Fearing a bad reaction from Henry, Vincent had deliberately saved Tom’s report to last.
"Now Tom, you have the chair. You’ll need to be seated when you hear what Tom has discovered."
Taking his seat, Tom opened up his folder, shifted around a little on his chair and began to read: "I have a report from the chief of police in Karachi, Pakistan. A young girl’s body was found behind some warehouses on the docks, estimated to have been dead some three days. If this timing is correct our ship Rangoon was in port at that dock when she was killed. "
Henry was writing on a note pad; he stopped and looked up at Tom. "How did she die?"
"Her death would bear some of the similarities of Shirley's murder. She was strangled, sexually assaulted, severe bruising on her body, particularly her face. But strangely, she had some of her cloths stuffed into her mouth. She also had three fishing hooks stuck in around her nose and ears.”
Henry sat up and laid his note pad and pen on the desk - he looked visibly shaken. "I'm sorry gentlemen but I never disclosed the full extent of the post mortem report on Shirley's body. I have a copy here for each of you. You will see that her clothes were stuffed into her mouth and also that fish hooks were attached to her nose and ears."
"So" Vincent said, "this is a replica of Shirley's crime."
Tom turned over a page. "We have more of the same. A port on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, Rosetta, had a similar case. A young girl murdered and her body found near the dock area half buried in loose sand. It was estimated she was dead two days when a search discovered her body. She was only thirteen years old. The Rangoon sailed four hours after the discovery, and the police would have liked to question some of her crew as she was the only ship docked in that area. The same brutal rape and murder, also the same fish hooks and clothes stuffed into her mouth."
"My God," exclaimed Henry, "the fish hooks again."
"I have three more all the same. A young girl was found in Port Louis on the island of Mauritius, her body was found floating in a shallow part of the harbor. The Rangoon was in port at the same time and the exact replica of mutilation as the other bodies including the fish hooks. Another body was found in the port of Lomo, in Togo, West Africa. A young girl just fifteen years of age. The same tell-tale fish hooks and cloths stuffed into her mouth. Her body was found hidden under bales of cotton. The pathologist estimated she had been dead for approximately seven days, and that is how long she was reported missing. The police think she was working as a prostitute in and around the dock area. The Rangoon was in port until two days after the supposed murder date. The next victim was in the port of Pak Phanang, Thailand. She was sixteen and believed to be working as a street prostitute. Her body was found in a drain on a road about half mile away from the dock area, with the same mutilations as the others. The Rangoon sailed the day after the body was found. The local chief of police said he suspected it could have been a crewman from that ship. He didn't elaborate why, but he must have had some reason. If the ship had still been in port he would have questioned the crew, but by the time the autopsy was complete, the ship had sailed. That then gentlemen is the grim and gruesome report, and may I add, very disturbing."
Henry sat staring at the sheet of paper on the desk in front of him. Then he lifted his head - his eyes were blank. His face had turned to an ashen pallor and bore the torment of having looked across the Styx and seen Hades.
Vincent shoved his chair back and the noise on the bare timber floor brought a sense of reality to Henry, who shifted round on his chair, his pen fell out of his trembling hand onto the floor. He bent over to pick it up, then getting to his feet, he stood facing the two detectives. Tom noticed his hands were trembling. "Henry we can postpone the rest of this until tomorrow. I think we should retire to the pub for a drink.”
“Yes I agree wholeheartedly with you," said Vincent, rising from his chair.
Henry screwed the top onto his pen and placed it into his top pocket. "Yes, I think a stiff drink wouldn't go amiss. These revelations have been quite startling."
He put a hand onto Vincent's shoulder. "I'll catch this bastard, but how many more young girls will he have killed before I do?”
"Tom put a friendly arm around Henry's shoulder.
"We'll get things moving right away, but are you sure you want to sail on this ship?"
"Oh yes, I want to join this ship as soon as possible."
Chapter Eleven
Next day he rang Vera and she told him to come t
o her house that evening at eight. The stroll through Hyde Park was comforting. Another hot day was coming to its conclusion; the shimmering crimson orb of the sun was casting scarlet and pink rays through the tree tops
Arriving at the house, Vera let him in and showed him to the drawing room. The room was captivating in its Victorian splendor, furniture of tropical hardwood adorned with delicate woven cushions. Oil paintings in hand carved frames harked back to a world long gone; only clinging to existence where opulence still presided.
“I must finish dressing, make yourself at home,” she said as she disappeared down the long hallway.
Henry picked up a copy of Roland Cashel, leafing through it he stopped at a picture of the reclining "Maritana" captioned, "Linton's Last Visit". He remembered something about an opera called Maritana but his classical ignorance was evident.
Like some ethereal nymphet, Vera appeared at the door. She was wearing a crochet blouse of delicate silk tread patterned in a myriad shade of blues. Her evident nakedness beneath was tantalizingly erotic. A sarong of similar transparency and shade hung loosely but seductively around her petite but curvaceous waist. She sat on the large leather couch; her silky hair fell loosely around her long slender neck as her outstretched hand beckoned like a Cleopatra summoning a slave. "Come here Henry."
He moved closer to her, his senses tumbling in turmoil.
"I know we have some serious business to discuss, so please forgive me if you think I am treating it in a frivolous manner. That is something I would never do. But for now you must exorcise this sexual demon that is consuming me with desire. She slipped off her blouse and opened the flimsy sarong. Now lying naked on the blue silky garment she was like a Naiad reclining in a pool, her porcelain limbs inviting. She pouted enticingly and then run her soft tongue ever so slowly over her crimson lips. "Come to me Henry." Her nipples were firm like acorns as she seductively parted her legs, revealing the soft silky hairs of her rose petal lips. By now Henry had discarded his last garment and moved beside her warm pulsating body.
“Henry,” she purred, “have you ever engage in sex with a prostitute?”
He was a little taken aback by Vera’s forthright question.
"Er…yes… once when I was at training college for the police, a friend and myself went with two girls who I wouldn't call prostitutes as they weren't asking for money but….."
"They were whores?” she interrupted him.
"Yes… maybe you could say that. We were both…er….virgins."
"Henry, I'm that whore now. So come and fuck me. I want your big hard cock in me now."
She pulled him down; her open legs accepted his thrust of hard manhood as she gave out a loud cry of pleasure. Throwing back her head she gasped as he thrust deeper. Wrapping her legs tightly around him she shifted her buttocks out over the edge of the sofa. She felt his driving manhood deep inside her as her fingernails dug into his back.
“Harder,” she cried, “Henry, fuck me harder!”
Henry continued, pushing deeper and faster. Vera’s breathing grew heavier and louder. The next thrust released a cry and scream as she shuddered under him, her body felt like a river as it gathered tiny rivulets that flowed into an overwhelming torrent to the confluence of her passionate release. Henry's deep thrust locked him inside her warm honeypot as a juddering explosion of pure ecstasy consumed him - he felt all his worldly pain immediately leave his body.
They lay locked together, neither wanting to be released from their wonderful world of mutual pleasure. Vera lifted his face from her neck and sought his mouth with hers, she kissed him long and passionately, her tongue probing and sucking with breathless ease. She felt his manhood stirring inside her and slapped his buttocks. Now, could you please release me? Scene two, act one will not be for another hour or so."
He raised himself from the font of his pleasure.
"There, as you wish madam."
She picked up her flimsy garments and retired to the bathroom.
“Come on Henry, this way to the bath and behave yourself while I perform my Geisha duties.”
On leaving the bathroom, Vera had assumed a serious disposition as she sat opposite Henry at the small table in the lounge.
Henry opened a folder and scanned the first page.
“I have the reports from four of the ports, and if you like I'll read the results of the enquiry."
"Henry it’s not necessary for you to read the whole report, just tell me in summary."
"These reports confirm the murder of four young girls from port cities across the world. And crucially, at the time of the murders the Rangoon was in those ports. What’s more, they all have copycat traits. It’s almost certain they've all been committed by the same person and that is the same person who killed Shirley. He is certainly a crewman on the Rangoon - one of the four we have named."
Vera looked shocked and took several deep breathes before she was able to speak.
"Now Henry, to get you onto that ship is not going to be easy. Captain Leavy-Hobbs will have to know and he is duty bound to report this to our good Lord Percy Welland. He in turn is not going to let his son be investigated if he thinks he could be guilty of anything, so he will probably have him transferred to another ship."
"I shouldn't think so because he would be putting him in a more suspicious light by doing that. Anyway, Lord Percy and Captain Leavy-Hobbs will be sworn to secrecy by Scotland Yard. Anything they might do to jeopardize this investigation will be taken seriously and prosecutions will certainly follow. Neither of these men can afford a scandal like that."
"Yes, I see your logic, and I hope it works. But if your investigation is coming to a conclusion and it’s known to them not to be favorable, your life will certainly be in danger."
"What you mean in plain language is, if it turns out that young Oswyn is shaping up to be the chief suspect and they find this out, my investigation could, so to speak, be terminated?
"You see Henry, it’s not unknown for crewmen to disappear overboard, or just become missing in some remote port where there's no law or order, and you will find this ship visiting places like that."
"My position on the ship will have to be kept strictly secret, even from the master of the ship. Furthermore, the radio operator is one of our four, so any communication through that channel is out of the question. I will have to build a system of communication through some other source."
"Now, I want to warn you that if you start using the diplomatic route the results you are reporting will certainly filter down to Lord Percy. You are going to have to find a safer way than that, or as I said, your life if it comes to it, will not be worth two pennies."
"Can you suggest any other way? Writing is too slow and telephone communications are all but obsolete in most of these countries we'll be calling at."
"Henry, I will try and work out something, and maybe your own colleagues will come up with some safe way. We have about three weeks to get you ready. I'll find out what ports of call the Rangoon has in the next two weeks and decide where to get you on board. You know the man you are replacing is going to have to be restrained ashore some way and that is not going to be easy to work out. Also, we will have to devise a story explaining how you just happened to be a handy replacement in the port waiting to join the crew."
"Yes Vera, there's a lot to be worked out and little or no room for error."
"I'll start tomorrow and try and find a suitable port for you to join. We will get you a discharge book, and if you don’t have one, a passport. Then we will have to work on getting you familiarized with your job."
"Actually, I haven't got a passport, but I presume a discharge book is the seaman's passport?"
"Yes, you're right, the seaman's book can sometimes act as a passport, but maybe you should get a normal passport as well. We will have to forge a lot of ships discharges in your seaman's book to make it look like you've been at sea for at least ten years."
"I'll have to talk to my police colleagues about all
this documentation, and you may be able to advise them if necessary."
"I will offer all the help I can. I will be very concerned about your safety, as my feelings for you are tipping over into more than just sexual attraction."
"It’s the same for me also; it's not hard to become infatuated by someone as lovely as you. It’s going to be difficult for me to stay concentrated on the task ahead - I don’t want to fall in love now with so much uncertainty surrounding my life."
"I have to agree with you Henry, but it's always at the most inopportune times that love enters a person’s life. So we will just have to suffer the pangs of pain that come from the stretching of heart strings. Maybe when you come back after accomplishing your mission we might resume our relationship fully - if we both feel the same as we do now."
"Of course we will, Vera."
She got up and took out the bottle of Dimple Haig from the drinks cabinet, clinked some ice cubes into the exquisite Waterford Crystal tumblers and poured two generous measures. Handing a glass to Henry, they touched glasses. "Here’s to us and especially you."
“That's a fine scotch."
"It was my late father's favorite. It always reminds me of him sitting before the blazing log fire. I'd ask him to let me look through the glass at the flames. To me they seemed to dance inside the amber liquid like magic."
The old grandfather clock in the hall struck midnight.
"There now Henry, we are burning the midnight oil." She topped up the two glasses and threw in a few more ice cubes. "I believe a bird can't fly on one wing. That’s an old saying I picked up while staying in Ireland. An old fellow who frequented the pub where we went after our day hunting would always use that old saying to justify a second drink!"
"Did you spend much time in Ireland?"