Fred Jose glanced slyly out of the Sunrise’s cabin door. The boat’s line had been shot and he had offered to prepare the crib. Rufus and Curly were in the wheelhouse, Matt and Daniel were smoking at opposite ends of the boat. It was unlikely anyone would come into the cabin for a few minutes and, sweating fearfully, Fred took his chance.
Daniel always left his and Rufus’s crib boxes on the table and stashed his bag in his locker. Fred took out the bag and rooted about in it. There was a clean but unironed handkerchief, a packet of cigarettes and a thick package. His hand trembling, Fred undid a corner of the brown paper. There was something inside the package wrapped in cloth. He didn’t dare undo the cloth but prodded the contents. A triumphant smile broke out on his weak features. He felt a small, hard object attached to a chain, almost certainly a necklace, and what he was sure was other jewellery too. Swiftly rewrapping the package, he thrust it back in the bag and into the cupboard and shut the door.
He returned to his job of making tea and putting the food boxes on the table. He couldn’t wait for the day’s work to be over when he would meet PC Douglas Burt as arranged. The young constable had questioned Fred, as he had Maggie Curnow, and had found Fred more forthcoming. Bitter at what he saw as his unfair treatment aboard the Sunrise, Fred had mentioned he had an idea Daniel kept things hidden aboard the boat; Daniel was adamant his personal items must never be touched. Now Fred had proof that would put the red-haired bastard in prison for months if not years.
Up on deck, Daniel tossed the butt of his cigarette into the swaying water and went up to Matt. He had been unnerved by Constance Spargo’s noisy death last night and felt like talking about it.
‘The tide’s on the make today. Shame the Misty can’t take advantage of it.’
Matt gazed at him. They didn’t speak much nowadays and when they did he was wary of Daniel taunting him about Hannah. ‘A lot has happened in the Spargo household in the last forty-eight hours,’ he replied.
‘You ever seen anyone die before, Matt?’
‘Yes, my father.’
‘Did he go peacefully?’
‘Yes, thank the Lord.’
‘Constance Spargo didn’t.’ Daniel shivered as he recalled her horrendous wailings. ‘I didn’t see it but I heard it, every moment of it. She went kicking and screaming and kept half the village awake. ’Twas bloody chilling. Hope I don’t go like that when my time comes.’
‘Depends on what you’ve got on your mind,’ Matt said quietly.
Daniel looked at him. With Jeff Spargo talking in the pub last night about Mitch getting married, it was all round the village that it was going to be a rushed wedding. Did Matt suspect he was the father of Viv Hickey’s baby? He had seen Hannah speaking to Matt yesterday at the quay. Matt was considered honest and reliable, he never gossiped; if he voiced his suspicions to Hannah it was likely she’d believe him.
‘A wedding in the family will help the Spargos get over the old lady’s death,’ he said. ‘Mitch is a lucky bloke. Viv’s a pretty little thing, a nice sort. I was hoping to get somewhere with her myself but she preferred Mitch.’
‘I thought you did get what you wanted, Daniel,’ Matt said coolly. ‘You bragged about it often enough.’
Daniel’s face darkened. ‘You know how it is. I was just trying to live up to my reputation.’
‘No, I don’t know how it is,’ Matt returned, his mouth tightening. ‘It’s something I would never do.’
Daniel glared at Matt, suddenly afraid that his crew-mate could yet prove to be a threat. Things hadn’t progressed with Hannah as well as he’d hoped, she kept him firmly at arm’s length. ‘Well, I’ve had enough of gallivanting around,’ he said, determined to have the last word. ‘I want to settle down and I’ve got just the right woman in mind.’
‘Fred’s calling,’ Matt said stonily, not rising to the bait. ‘The crib’s ready.’
At the end of the morning they were pulling in a goodly number of dogs and with the tide ebbing strongly, Rufus called to change ends and work from their eastern dan. Daniel was desperately thirsty and slipped into the cabin to snatch a drink of water. He had the tin mug to his lips when the lugger rolled with the heave of the sea and his locker door flew open. Throwing the mug down he rushed to the locker and looked inside his bag. All seemed to be in order but someone must have opened the door because he was always careful to latch it properly. There was only one man shifty enough to search his property and he’d had ample opportunity this morning. Balling his fists, Daniel went on deck.
The rest of the crew were busy about their labour. Fred was pulling in the line as Matt unhooked the fish.
‘Fred Jose,’ Daniel thundered. ‘I want a word with you, you bastard!’
The pure venom in his voice made Fred squeal and he let the heavy line fall back into the sea. Matt was unhooking a dog; the hook was ripped out of the fish’s mouth and took with it the top of his right forefinger.
Matt howled in agony. He shook his hand and blood sprayed over his face and oilskins.
‘Hold your hand still,’ Rufus shouted at him, running towards him.
Fred was stunned at what he’d done. Rufus pushed him out of the way and he fell to the deck. When Rufus had wrapped a rag round Matt’s hand he turned on Fred.
‘You stupid, clumsy bastard!’ he yelled. ‘What’s the bleeding matter with ’ee? You’ve ruined Matt’s hand.’ Rufus lashed out with his boot and Fred yelped as it hit him in the chest. ‘I ought to throw you overboard for this.’
‘It wasn’t my fault,’ Fred whimpered like an injured puppy, scrambling out of Rufus’s reach. ‘Daniel shouted at me. I was startled.’
‘That’s just a bleeding excuse.’ Then Rufus boomed at his grandson, ‘What’s this all about?’
Daniel was frozen in shock.
Rufus hurled a vile oath at him. ‘Don’t just stand there or I’ll throw you into the sea with that other no-good bastard!’ Rufus’s face looked fit to burst in fury. ‘I’ll have to get a new crew at this bleeding rate!’
Curly had run for the first-aid box and as he pushed past, Daniel came to his senses. ‘My locker had been opened.’ He pointed at Fred, who was still on the deck and had received another kick, this time from his disgusted father. ‘It could only have been him.’
‘Yes, it was me,’ Fred shrieked like an indignant schoolboy. ‘He’s got stolen jewellery on board. I saw it in his bag. The moment we get ashore I’m going to tell the constable and he’ll go to prison.’
For a moment the other three fishermen looked at Daniel in amazement, then Curly got on with binding up Matt’s bleeding stump and Rufus advanced on Daniel.
‘Whatever you’ve got, get rid of it. Throw it over the side. The police can’t do nothing if they’ve got no proof. The rest of us never heard what that useless bastard said and,’ he turned, putting his foot to Fred’s throat, ‘you never saw nothing, right?’ Fred stared, terrified, and Rufus roared, ‘Right?’
‘Y-yes,’ Fred nodded, choking and gagging.
Muttering angrily, Daniel went off to obey his grandfather’s order.
‘Can ’ee hold on another hour or so, boy?’ Rufus asked, placing his hand on Matt’s shoulder. The young fisherman was white and shaking. ‘We got a good catch here and you’re gonna need every penny we can get in case you’re laid up.’
Matt grimaced as another wave of pain shot through his injured hand. ‘I-I’ll be all right, Granfer. I’ll carry on working.’
‘Good boy. Curly, take un to the cabin and make un a mug of sweet tea.’
Daniel had thrown his illegal package over the side and he met Matt and Curly at the cabin door. ‘I’m sorry, Matt.’ There was no love lost between the two men but he didn’t like to see Matt hurt in this way.
Matt glowered at him but said nothing.
When Curly left Matt sipping the tea in the cabin, Rufus was unhooking and Daniel coiling the line. Fred was sulking, angry that his plan to get even with Daniel had failed, shamefaced that it had partly caused Matt’s injury.
‘How is he?’ Rufus asked the engineer.
‘What do you think?’ Curly said grimly and made his way to the wheelhouse.
Matt rejoined the crew and they carried on working until the last hook was up. They made for home without a word passing anyone’s lips.