Lulu gently moved the tiller to the left and eased back on the throttle as she passed a line of moored narrowboats. She wanted to go as quickly as possible, but it was never a good idea to upset canal users. Although they were generally a friendly bunch, one thing that was guaranteed to upset them was a speeding boat’s wake tossing their craft up and down. Canal etiquette meant that the engine was supposed to be cut back to a tickover while passing moored vessels. She looked at her watch. Sunset was about an hour away and there was still no sign of the blue and white narrowboat that had the word ‘Blue’ in its name. That was the best that Jessie could do by way of a description of the boat being used by the man she thought had stolen her porcelain figurines. Blue Lagoon or Feeling Blue or something like that. She really hadn’t been paying attention, which is why she wasn’t sure what style the boat was. But she remembered the colours and the fact that there was an electric scooter tied to the roof. With any luck, that would be enough for Lulu to identify the boat.
Jessie had been more descriptive when it came to the man who had come onto The Kingfisher. He had black hair and a beard and he was short – just a few inches taller than Jessie, who was only five feet four. He had been wearing a denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up and had a tattoo of a dragon around a knife on his left forearm. His boots were made by Timberland and seemed to be new, and he was wearing green corduroy trousers. Lulu had been impressed by the amount of detail and Jessie had explained that she had been so nervous that she didn’t want to look him in the eye and so had concentrated on looking at his clothing instead. Lulu had taken Jessie’s phone number and promised to keep in touch.
‘So what exactly is our plan?’ asked Conrad. He was sitting behind her on the bench seat at the rear of The Lark.
‘I’ll play it by ear,’ said Lulu. They passed the line of moored boots and Lulu increased the throttle to the maximum.
‘But as you told Jessie, the police aren’t going to be interested, are they?’
‘I don’t see that they’d mount an investigation into two stolen figurines, no. It’s like shoplifting – you hardly ever see anyone charged with shoplifting these days.’
‘But he might be stealing from lots of people. He could be a career thief.’
‘He could be, yes.’
‘I thought you said that canal people were good people?’
‘They are, mostly. But there are bad apples everywhere.’
‘Which brings me back to my original question. You need a plan, Lulu.’
‘Well, I suppose I could talk to him.’
‘Use your powers of persuasion to get him to give them back?’
‘I suppose so, yes.’
‘I have to say, that’s not much of a plan.’
Lulu cut back on the throttle. ‘Is that him?’
Conrad jumped up onto the roof, his ears swivelling in all directions, his tail up like an antenna. ‘I don’t see anyone.’
‘Sorry, not him, the boat. The blue and white one.’ She shaded her eyes with her hand. ‘I can’t see the name. Can you?’
Conrad padded the full length of the boat and stopped at the bow. He stared at the narrowboat, which was a couple of hundred yards ahead of them, then he ran back to her. ‘It’s Blue Moon,’ he said. ‘That must be him.’
Lulu eased back on the throttle. The Blue Moon was moored by the towpath. There was another narrowboat ahead of it, also tied up to the bank. It didn’t appear to be a signed visitor mooring. Boats were allowed to be moored anywhere on the towpath side of a canal, for up to fourteen days. If there were no fixed moorings, all you had to do was hammer in a couple of spikes and tie up to them.
She eased The Lark over to the side and cut the throttle. She lifted the lid of the bench seat and took out two spikes and the mallet that she kept there, then grabbed the centre line and stepped onto the towpath. She quickly hammered one of the spikes into the ground then pulled on the line, leaning back to apply all her weight. The Lark came to a halt and she tied the line to the spike, then hurried along the towpath to the bow. She stepped onto the boat, grabbed the bowline and jumped back onto the towpath. She hammered in a second spike and tied the line to it in a matter of seconds, then straightened up to see Conrad standing on the roof, watching her.
‘I wish I could help,’ said Conrad.
‘It’s the advantage of having opposable thumbs,’ said Lulu.
She went back to the stern, grabbed a third spike and attached the stern line. It had taken her less than two minutes to tie up The Lark. She’d had plenty of practice on the trip up from London and could almost do it with her eyes closed.
She put the mallet back in its box and closed the lid. Conrad padded along the roof to join her. ‘Jessie said he had an electric scooter tied to his roof,’ he said. ‘I don’t see it.’
‘Maybe he’s gone somewhere,’ said Lulu. She took out her phone and tapped on the screen. ‘There’s a shop about a mile away. He’s probably gone there. Come on.’
‘Come where?’
‘Surveillance.’
Lulu stepped off The Lark and onto the towpath, then bent down so that Conrad could jump onto her shoulders.
‘What if he comes back?’ asked Conrad.
‘We’re just out for a walk.’ Lulu looked up and down the towpath. There was nobody else around. She started walking towards the Blue Moon. As she got closer she saw that the double doors on the rear deck had been secured with a padlocked chain.
‘It looks as if he’s security conscious,’ said Conrad. ‘Which is ironic.’
They reached the boat. Lulu peered in the first of three portholes. There was a galley with a sink full of dirty plates. The second and third portholes looked onto the saloon. There was a scruffy sofa against the wall and a couple of empty pizza boxes on the floor.
They heard the rattle of a bicycle and turned around to see a young boy pedalling down the towpath. Lulu stepped closer to the boat to get out of his way. He had wireless earbuds in his ears and a glazed look in his eyes as he whizzed by, missing them by inches.
‘Idiot,’ said Conrad as the boy cycled away. ‘Some people are so inconsiderate.’
‘He’s a kid,’ said Lulu.
‘And I’m a cat,’ said Conrad. ‘You can’t use your species as an excuse for stupidity.’
Lulu turned back to look at the Blue Moon. Midway along was a sliding window that looked onto the end of the saloon and the start of the corridor that led to the bathroom and the berth. The left-hand side of the window was fixed but the right-hand pane was open a few inches. Lulu peered in but couldn’t see much. ‘I could get in and take a look around,’ said Conrad.
‘No, it’s too dangerous.’
‘He’s clearly not here. And there’s no one else on the boat. I could have a look around and see if the figurines are there. Then at least we’d know.’
‘We don’t have a search warrant.’
‘I’m a cat, remember. Cats are always getting into places we’re not supposed to go. It’s what we do.’
‘You’re the one who said your species wasn’t an excuse—’ began Lulu, but before she could say anything else, Conrad had jumped off her shoulders and slid through the gap in the window. She heard a dull thud as he landed on the floor. ‘Conrad, are you okay?’ she whispered.
‘I’m fine. Just keep watch.’
Lulu stepped away from the narrowboat and looked around. A middle-aged couple in matching Barbour waxed-cotton jackets were walking towards her, an Afghan hound between them.
‘Conrad!’ she whispered. ‘There’s somebody coming!’
There was no reply. The couple with the dog were about a hundred yards away, deep in conversation. Lulu realized she couldn’t just stand by the Blue Moon; they’d be sure to wonder what she was doing. She started walking towards them. They still hadn’t noticed her but the dog had and it began to wag its tail. It was a beautiful animal with a thick, silky coat and long ears and dark almond-shaped eyes.
Lulu walked slowly and reached The Lark at the same time as the couple. The dog strained at its lead and tried to get to Lulu. She smiled at the couple. ‘What a lovely dog,’ she said.
‘Thank you,’ said the man. ‘He certainly likes you.’
‘He probably smells my cat,’ said Lulu. ‘Is it okay to pat him?’
‘Of course,’ said the man. He was in his sixties, grey-haired with a neatly trimmed moustache. ‘He loves to be stroked.’
‘Don’t we all,’ said the woman. She was a few years younger than the man, with greying hair. Lulu thought that even without make-up she looked stunning, with high cheekbones and sparkling blue eyes.
The man laughed and hugged her. Lulu smiled, but the display of affection made her realize how much she still missed her husband. The man looked a little like Simon, but Simon had been taller and better looking. She felt tears well up in her eyes and turned her attention to the dog. ‘Oh, you are lovely,’ said Lulu, stroking the back of its head.
‘Are you local?’ asked the woman. ‘We haven’t seen you before, have we?’
‘I’m just passing through,’ said Lulu. She nodded at The Lark. ‘This is mine.’
‘Oh, how lovely,’ said the woman. ‘Do you live on it?’
‘I do,’ said Lulu. ‘Usually down in London, in Little Venice. I’m on a bit of a tour.’
‘Oh, we love Little Venice,’ said the man. ‘We always go for a walk there when we’re visiting Lord’s.’
‘My husband’s cricket mad,’ the woman said to Lulu.
‘My one vice.’
‘Well, I wish that was true,’ said the woman. She looked around. ‘Is your cat around?’
‘Oh, yes, somewhere,’ said Lulu. ‘Anyway, lovely to chat with you, but I left the kettle on.’ It was the best lie she could think of. She just wanted them to leave so that she could go back and check on Conrad. As she climbed onto the rear deck, they heard the whirr of an electric motor. An electric scooter was zooming along the towpath and Lulu’s heart began to race when she realized it was the man from the Blue Moon. He was bent over the handlebars of the scooter, head down, his eyes narrowed against the wind. ‘Coming through!’ he shouted.
The woman pulled at the dog’s lead and they all stepped off the towpath. The scooter shot by. The man had a carrier bag hooked over his left wrist. He was exactly as Jessie had described him – dark haired, bearded, wearing a blue denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up, green corduroy trousers and Timberland boots. As he went past, Lulu caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his left arm.
‘Why do people think that is in any way acceptable?’ said the woman. ‘He could kill someone, driving at that speed.’
‘They are so dangerous,’ agreed Lulu. The scooter rider stopped at the rear of the Blue Moon, folded up the scooter and carried it onto the rear deck. Lulu stared at the sliding window, but there was no sign of Conrad.
‘We should say something to him,’ said the woman.
‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea, darling,’ said her husband. ‘He looked a bit manic, actually.’
The man attached the scooter to the roof of the narrowboat, then started his boat’s engine. A cloud of grey smoke belched from the exhaust. ‘He’s leaving,’ whispered Lulu.
‘A good thing too,’ said the woman. ‘We don’t need his sort here.’
Lulu’s heart was pounding as if it was about to burst out of her chest. Where was Conrad? What was he doing?’
‘Come on, darling, or we’ll be late,’ said the man. For a moment Lulu wasn’t sure if he was talking to his wife or the dog, but it was his wife who answered.
‘We’ve plenty of time,’ she said. She smiled at Lulu. ‘Well, lovely to meet you, you enjoy the rest of your day.’
‘You too,’ said Lulu, just wishing that they would hurry up and leave. She looked over at the Blue Moon and bit down on her lower lip. The husband and wife finally walked away, the dog between them. Lulu had to fight the urge to run over to the Blue Moon.
The man on the boat unlocked the chain, opened the doors and took his carrier bag down into the cabin. Lulu could barely breathe. Would he see Conrad? And if he did, what would he do? Her hands began to tremble.
The dog was barking at the Blue Moon, its tail wagging like a metronome.
The man reappeared, closed the doors and then stepped off the boat and untied the centre line. He jumped back on, coiled the line and placed it on the roof.
Lulu stared at the sliding window. If Conrad jumped now, he’d be able to run along the towpath and there was a good chance the man wouldn’t realize where he’d come from.
The dog’s bark intensified and its owner was pulling hard on the lead. Lulu heard the woman’s voice as she tried to calm the dog.
The man jumped back onto the towpath and untied the stern line, and carried it to the rear deck.
‘Come on, Conrad,’ Lulu whispered to herself. ‘Now’s the time to get the hell out of there. Jump. Please jump.’
The dog walkers reached the boat. It didn’t look as if the woman was going to carry out her threat to say something to the man; they just walked slowly by as the Blue Moon pulled away from the bank. Lulu kept staring at the side window, willing Conrad to appear, but there was no sign of him.
She stepped back onto the towpath and hurriedly began to untie her lines.