by John Molloy
"Yes, I spent quite a lot of winter breaks in the south of Ireland in a quaint place called Lismore; we were guests of the Duke of Devonshire in his wonderful castle. Those memories are some of my happiest. On one particular stay I met a young dashing American senator who was also a guest at the castle. He was Irish by ancestry, Jack Kennedy was his name. He was friends with Fred Astaire, you know the film actor, who is someway related to the Duke.”
Henry finished his scotch and placed his glass on the table. He could feel the spirit rejuvenating his senses, flowing like a comfort of well-being over him.
"I've never been to Ireland but as you said, it sounds a wonderful place and regardless of our historical differences such as our ruling, or more accurately, misruling their country for hundreds of years, I believe they hold no animosity towards us."
"That's true; they are a friendly and very welcoming people. I have many friends who still keep in touch with me and I'm always promising to go visit. So now that we have broached the subject, I plan to make a trip back there this summer. I should offer you another drink, but you are glowing, and any more might spoil what I have in store for you."
"I have had my quota thank you Vera, and another one might just do that."
She stood and took Henry's hand. "It's time to retire, the golden dawn, harbinger of parting lovers will be upon us only too soon."
The bedclothes were thrown back and the lemon colored linen sheets bathed in the soft light from an antique shaded standard lamp gave the bed the look of an ethereal place of rest of the Greek Gods. She slowly removed her bathrobe to reveal a lustrous rose pink negligée. Through the fine silk tread her pale skin took on the warm glow of molded desire, accentuating her full pert breasts. The clinging fabric revealed the outline of smooth of soft hair in delightful pose between her elegant thighs. She let the garment fall to the carpeted floor and stretched out her hands to Henry who stood naked before her. She gazed down at his fully aroused manhood. "I will be your Medea as from now."
Henry didn't question who Medea was, but she must have been wonderful, he thought.
She lay on the bed and as Henry went to mount her she restrained him with her outstretched hands. "Kneel down," she commanded him, and as he knelt before her she parted her thighs and guided his head down. "Now you can taste the delights of my peach soufflé!” She threw herself fully back on the soft bed and arching her back, moaned and cried out as the deftness of his actions filled her with exquisite pleasure. Within minutes, he had brought her to resounding climax. As she lay panting, the attentions of his tongue were directed to her silky smooth stomach, licking her navel and moving up to her hard nipples. Gently lifting his head, she found his mouth and savored the sweet musk taste of her own sex. She reached down and gripped him and marveled at the hardness as she guided him to her wetness. He worked her like a stallion, driving deep and withdrawing to the extremities of the lips, before plunging back again. The whisky gave him stamina as she drew him into her. She was moaning and then screaming, pulling his mane of wavy blonde hair and throwing her head from side to side. She held him tight as she felt his member swelling then release a torrent deep inside her.
They lay together and kissed and caressed each other tenderly. Neither wanted the magical night to end. But soon, as a peaceful haze of satiated bliss descended upon them, they succumbed to the inevitable calling of the spirits of slumber.
The next morning a note on the kitchen table read:
“Thank you Henry, wonderful so wonderful,
Love
Vera”
He was on cloud nine as he drank fresh java coffee and devoured golden toasted bread spread with deliciously perfumed cover honey.
Taking a final sip from the coffee cup, he thought to himself, I must remember to ask Vera who Medea is.
Chapter Twelve
When he arrived at Scotland Yard, he found Vincent and Tom in the office engaged in a serious discussion. Vincent was leafing through a sheaf of papers on his desk. "Ah, here it is. I have the name of a detective who is our expert in all things nautical. His name is James Eagleton and he is normally based in Glasgow but our boys have enticed him to come here for a few weeks to help us. He is expected to arrive tomorrow so we should be able to get things moving quickly. We've discussed this case with our senior men. One man in particular, who would we consider our best, suggests you will have to adopt a completely new identity. It would be too dangerous to attempt this kind of operation under your own name. How do you feel about that?"
"Yes Vincent, it seems the best way to go as there is a slight possibility someone might recognize my name and put the whole operation in jeopardy."
Tom read from another report on his desk. It was a report from Morombe, a port in Madagascar. It stated that a girl of fifteen went missing last year and the last time she was seen was in company with a man believed to be from the Rangoon which was berthed in the port at the time. She has not been seen since. “I think we can safely assume she was another of this fellow’s victims."
"Was there any description of this man she was last seen with?" asked Henry.
"The French Malagasy detective who sent the report stated that it was evening time and the light wasn't good in the area. Also he said that Europeans look alike to the native people and they find it hard to distinguish one white person from another."
Vincent chimed in. "No such luck as a definitive lead as such, it'll be all uphill for you Henry. We will have to discuss communications with you as our next priority. The man coming from Scotland tomorrow will only have charge of readying you for your job as a qualified seaman."
Henry decided to tell them about his discussion with Vera.
"I was discussing joining the ship with Captain Leavy-Hobbs’ secretary, a Miss Vera Twist. She is an acquaintance of Lord Percy Welland and as you know, his son Oswyn is one of our four, so naturally being chairman, he will have to be informed of the operation. What do you think his reaction to this whole thing will be? Protection of his son will probably take first precedence with him. I'd like to hear both of your opinions on this?"
Vincent sat back and closed his eyes. When he spoke his voice was low but intense. "If I could put myself in this man's shoes, just what would I do? It would be human nature to protect your own child, but when you take into account the brutal crimes, even being your own flesh and blood you would have to think carefully about helping to keep him a free man. You would have to bear the guilt of any further crimes he would surely commit, and you would have to recognize this man is a very sick person. At the end of the day, you would be ostracized and found guilty of compliance to any crime he committed after you became aware of his dreadful murderous history. So any right thinking person would have to be aware that any interference in a case like this would be a crime in itself. My conclusion would be that this Lord Welland chap would not do anything openly to jeopardize our investigation, but might, if he thought his son was going to be brought back here for trial, get him spirited away to some colonial outpost. I would like to hear your opinion Tom."
"I think you've covered most of what I would have thought. This man is not going to come and protect his son outright, but if he thought he was a prime suspect he just might interfere, and these people have huge influence in high places." He turned to Henry, "what about yourself?"
"You have both covered most of the possibilities, but I would be very aggrieved if I had evidence to show Oswyn was our man and he was suddenly spirited off the ship and out of our jurisdiction. Miss Twist warned me about communicating through the diplomatic channel as Lord Welland would have friends and influence in that area and any relevant information could be passed on to him."
"Well Henry that might just be to our advantage. I won’t speculate yet but just leave that bit to me. Now Tom, tell me what time is our man Eagleton going to meet Henry tomorrow?"
"I've arranged for him to meet us here at ten o’clock, and when you've spoken to him you will be able to give the shipping company’s
Miss Twist, a time when you'll be ready to take up you're seagoing duties."
"Great work lads. I must commend you both on what you've achieved in such a short space of time. Believe it or not, but I'm actually looking forward to this seagoing business".
Tom stood up. "I'm sort of envying you. It’s turning into an adventure that only for your personal involvement could be something extraordinary."
“Goodness Tom, you may be right. I'll never get a chance to do something as offbeat as this again."
"Aye," said Vincent, "if only I was thirty years younger, I'd have volunteered. I think I might have made a good merchant seaman. Now, enough banter, I’ll see you two in the morning.”
Henry phoned Vera but she had a prior engagement, she was going to the opera to see The Mikado, and then on to a reception afterwards which would keep her late. She agreed to meet him for lunch next day. I would have more information from James Eagleton then, he thought. Also, by then he might be able to give her an approximate time when he'd be available to join the Rangoon. She would have to look ahead a bit and see what ports the ship would be calling to, and he would have to be in that area, ready to join.
He had mixed thoughts about how they were going to get the steward on the ship to forcedly leave to make way for him. The lads at the Yard would have to deal with that, they were in contact with undercover agents all round the world. He put these thoughts from his head and went to a nearby pub for a few pints, and then it was back to the guest house for an early night.
Chapter Thirteen
Back at Scotland Yard, Henry could hear Celtic tones of a somewhat high pitched voice as he stood outside the door. It was that of James Eagleton who was relating a story to Tom and Vincent.
After a few seconds he knocked.
"Come in." James Eagleton stood up and Tom introduced him.
“I'm sure Henry we're going to be seeing a lot of each other for the next few weeks."
"Yes James, and I want to thank you for coming here to help me with. I'm sure you've been briefed about the case."
"Tom and Vincent have briefed me about the latest progress. But it's going to be tricky. I was relating to the two lads here about an investigation into a murder ashore in Malta. Valetta to be precise. The case involved The Royal Navy. I was assigned to the investigation, also the Navy had their own men investigating and I was being baulked at every turn. It was the most difficult job I have ever undertaken. However, you'll not have to deal with the same red tape as I did, because you'll be undercover. I'll get you all the training you'll need to carry off the job on board ship. You are going to sail as assistant steward. I'll explain why you are taking this position. It's the only job on board ship you can learn quickly and you can sail without any board of trade qualifications, an able seaman has to have passed board of trade exams, and most other crew members would be in the same category. You will need to work with a new identity, so a false passport and a seaman's discharge book will be provided. This new identity will only be known to the three of us in this room and the few people in foreign secret service who will assist you and relay back information to your superiors here. Have you thought of a name you would like?”
"Well, I've had a few days to think about a new name and I decided to keep my first names because it will make life easier. It would be likely that at some point I would fail to respond to a name that I’ve only had a short time. So I'll stick to Henry John as first names and take Tyler as my surname. It was my grandmother's maiden name.”
James Eagleton pushed over a sheet of paper to Henry, unscrewed the top of his fountain pen and handed it to him. "Here, write your new name and I’ll officially christen you Henry John Tyler. We also need a new address for you. We’ve thrown this around before you came in and Vincent has agreed to let you use his address, it would make things less complicated and any mail should not go astray. We will also have to decide when you first went to sea. This will all be recorded in your seaman's discharge book, as well as the years you spent at sea, the rank you sailed at and of course, the name of the ships. Let’s see. I think you can have your first trip to sea when you were fifteen that is the normal age for lads shipping out. This will mean you have worked at sea now for about ten years. I will have to enter in ships for all those years, and companies that would be outside the normal British shipping fleets. The reason for this is the crewmen you'll meet on the Rangoon could have sailed on ships belonging to any British company. Their normal conversation would be about the companies you and they have worked for and the ships sailed on. You could be asked some awkward questions about who was captain, chief steward or any other prominent crew member; inquiries that would be innocent enough, but you not knowing would lead to you blowing your cover."
Vincent interjected. “If it suits you, you can also use your new address to stay with myself and the missus. We’d be only too delighted to have you."
"I would be delighted to stay at your house. I just hope I won't be an inconvenience."
"We'll manage just fine; you can arrive anytime this evening. Here’s the address," he said, handing Henry a piece of paper.
"Now,” said Tom, “I'll look after the passport and seaman's discharge book. I will need a photograph of you when you were fifteen for the book. Do you think you can manage that?
"I'm sure I'll come up with a suitable one. How about the one for the passport?"
"A current photo will do for that, you could renew your passport at any time. That will remain in your personal possession, it's only the seaman's discharge book you will have to give to the ship's captain, so there should be no notice taken of your passport."
James Eagleton gathered up some papers, and turning to Henry he said. “Will you go see your friend Miss Twist and ask if she has a list of ports of call for the Rangoon for the next two months? We will have to decide where to make the shift and get you on board, preferably a port with an international airport nearby. I think that about covers the situation for the moment, unless anyone has anymore to add."
They all shook their heads.
"Ok Henry, you visit the shipping company offices and glean what you can from them. I'll be looking forward to seeing you at home later this evening."
Meanwhile, at the shipping company, Captain Leavy-Hobbs called Vera into his office and asked her to bring him up to date with what had been happening with her dealing with Henry.
"Scotland Yard has received reports back from some of the ports the Rangoon visited on her last voyage. Five of which have reported that a young girl had been murdered while the ship was in port. These crimes tie in with the murder of Henry's niece; what you would call in police jargon, copycat murders."
Captain Leavy-Hobbs was visibly shocked, his eyes portraying a sense of panic. "We will have to break this disturbing news to our chairman. We have a board meeting tomorrow. I will have to take Lord Percy aside and relay this serious development to him."
“Would you like me to be present with you when you do?”
“Maybe not Vera, you know your relationship with him would only add to his undoubted concern. I know you wouldn't wish this kind of trouble on anyone."
"Of course not, our past is history and not to be resurrected," she lied.
If only he could comprehend, she thought, how much I loathe Percy and his French whore of a wife. And now she has bred him a vile murderer. But as my father often told me in times of stress and trouble: the tide can only go out so far until it has to come in again. Now my tide is coming in.
"Has this man Henry made any time schedule for when he wants to join the Rangoon?"
"No; we have no fixed date. I will have to give him a list of her ports of call as far as we know them and he and his senior officers will decide where best to make the shift."
"Did he say the master of the Rangoon was not to be confided in about this secret investigation?"
"Yes; there is to be no knowledge of this outside of you, me and Lord Percy. Henry has stressed that any breach of this secrecy
could jeopardize his life, and the person guilty of betraying his presence on the ship would undoubtedly be charged under criminal law."
"I will stress this to his Lordship, but under the circumstances he might contact the investigating detectives himself."
Vera smiled, “on the other hand with a cloud of suspicion hanging over young, Oswyn he may want to let sleeping dogs lie."
"I'm afraid I cannot comment on that situation. I think it may be like the bad fitting suit; its best let sitting in the closet."
Vera stood up. "I think we've covered nearly all for the moment," she said as she turned to leave, "so for now Q.E.D."
She looked at the ship's brass clock, my goodness, she thought, it’s one o’clock, Henry will be waiting for me. She freshened up her lip color and gave her cheeks a little brush of powder before hurrying out into the street. She felt like a teenager on her second date as she walked briskly to the little restaurant called Marmalade. Her heart gave a little flutter when she saw Henry standing outside.
Once seated at a cozy corner table, Vera glanced at the menu. "I can recommend the Dover sole with the salad trimming."
"Dover sole for two please," the young waitress attending their table smiled. "Yes sir, certainly."
Very soon the waitress returned with the food. They ate with relish, bound by a mental telepathy of eye contact. Henry finished first. "That was absolutely delicious." He reached for the menu and Vera put her hand on it.
"I'll order dessert. I know just what you'll enjoy."
"I really haven't a sweet tooth but I'll trust your choice."
The young waitress came to them, and after clearing the plates she took Vera's order. She returned with a fruit cocktail and cream for Vera and Henry’s dessert which Vera had ordered by simply pointing at it on the menu.
His first spoonful he declared excellent.
"I knew you'd enjoy it."