The Atlas Murders (19 page)

 They both made it to the
main deck and Henry watched Fokir move stealthily around the mast house and
after a brief pause, he saw him throw his legs over the gunwale and drop onto
the quay wall. For a big man he was very quick and agile. Henry walked down
through the seaman’s alleyway and listened outside Tukola’s door, it was silent
- no radio on. He moved on to the recreation room. Tukola was playing cards
with four others. He glanced up at Henry then averted his eyes and went back to
his beer drinking and cards.

After walking off the ship,
he made his way out through the dark warehouses to where he spotted Fokir who was
waiting in his car. There were three girls around the car and he seemed to have
them in friendly chat. When Henry arrived Fokir told the girls in their own
language to go. As Henry got in the car Fokir laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

 “Could you believe it, the
three girls all refused to do business with me.”

 “Seriously, but why?”

 “They told me to go home to
my wife and family; they only do business with foreigners off the ships who
they will never see again. Then I gave them a bit of advice to keep a close eye
on one another if they go with anyone from the ships and not to be alone with a
client. Nothing specific that might somehow get back to the killer, just a
general warning.”

“Did they take it seriously?”

 “I think so.”

Henry and Fokir talked about
the discovery of the gun in Oswyn Welland’s cabin.

“Henry, you must be so very
careful. If he is our man, the prospect of him being armed must be worrying for
you?”

“To tell you the truth, I was
shocked when you found it. I wonder where he hides it when we arrive in ports
because the custom search could easily find it where he has it now. And yes, it’s
making me feel a bit more threatened. I wonder has his father told him about me
and had him supplied with the gun before we left Australia?”

 “Henry, I honestly I don’t
like it one bit and I’m becoming fearful for your safety when you are at sea. If
I was your superior I’d take you off that ship now. I don’t want to alarm you
but it looks like your cover could be blown, at least in that quarter.”

“It could be, but who knows?”

“Did you see Tukola, was he’s
still on board?”

 “Yes, he was in the recreation
room playing cards, but there’s a small chance he’ll go ashore a bit later.”

 Fokir spoke with a degree of
resignation in his voice.

“It doesn’t look like you’ll
get a chance to do a search of his cabin during this visit. What are your
chances of doing one when at sea now you have the master key?”

 “Really not great either, as
it’s so hard to get the two of them out of the cabin for long enough; this port
was our best chance. However, we’re bound for Australia with a short stop at
Colombo. I might have an opportunity in Melbourne to do a search.”

 Fokir tried to stretch
himself and nearly pushed the seat out of its bolts.

 “I must get out and stretch
my legs.”

 They both got out of the car.

“Well, I hope you have a
breakthrough before you reach Austral…. Hey! Look, who’s that coming our way. I
think it’s Sweeney.”

They could just make him out
in the gathering darkness. He was wearing a panama hat, probably to keep the
sun off his fair complexion. Henry turned his back to him as he passed the car.
He was whistling and carrying a bag. A girl came out of the shadows and stood
in front of him; they spoke for a few minutes and he took some money out of his
pocket and handed it to her. She stood on her toes and kissed him. They
disappeared into the shadows.

 Fokir motioned to Henry.
“Follow him and see how he behaves,” he whispered.

Henry never replied, he just
walked on after the shadowy figures. When he got close he saw her take him by
the hand and lead him behind the bales of jute. Henry walked up as close as he
could without being seen. She sat him down on a bale and stood in front of him,
she was young, no more than sixteen and in the poor light that filtered through
the passage between the bales he could see her drop her sari and stand naked
before him. Sweeney sat rigid on a small bale like someone had hypnotized him. When
she moved close to him her navel was level with his face. He kissed her stomach
and put his hands around her buttocks and buried his face in her flesh. She
gently pulled him up and kissed him on the lips. Then she opened his buttons
and dropped his slacks to the ground, her hands probed his genitals and her
expression changed - she looked disappointed as she tried to manipulate an
erection, probably thinking she wouldn’t get paid the rest of her money if he
didn’t perform. She whispered in his ear and kissed him gently on the lips. I
hope she doesn’t make fun of him or joke about his failure to get an erection,
Henry thought, as he watch the scene unfold before his increasingly embarrassed
eyes. She knelt down before the lad and attempted to perform oral sex on him,
but after a while she stopped and he started crying. His sobs were real. She
held him like a mother would hold a distressed child. They dressed and she
spoke softly to him and was heard her asking him to meet her again, and she
told him her name was Moyna before assuring him that next time it would be all
right. Then, as he left, he handed her what appeared to be a big wad of rupees.

Henry rushed back to Fokir
who was patently sitting in the car with his legs stretched out the door. He
related the whole episode to him and asked what he made of it.

 “Well Henry it’s very
interesting, although I thought you had gone off with one of those girls for
sex, but seriously, it would have been interesting to know what would be his
reaction if she had slighted him or dismissed him as impotent. If he had been
drinking, that too might be a factor in his lack of response.

 “That’s true. Tomorrow night
is our last night here, I will I see you before we sail.”

 ”Yes, I’d like to see you if
possible at The Blue Orchid tomorrow night say at nine o’clock.”

 “Fine, Fokir that will suit
me. I’ll say goodnight and thanks for your help.”

 “Goodnight Henry.”

 Next day loading continued
with five gangs; one for each hold. By early afternoon the forward holds were
completely full and ready for battening down. Henry brought coffee to the chief
officer and asked him when they would be sailing.

 “Fifteen hundred hours
tomorrow, make sure you have all your mail posted.”

The day passed uneventfully
and at five o’clock Henry was in the cabin readying himself for shore.

 Gary Conrad came in dripping
wet after a shower and sat on his bunk.

“I see you are going ashore.”

 “Yes, aren’t you coming?”

 “No, I’ve had enough of it here.
I’ll be glad to get back to sea tomorrow, looking forward to Melbourne, a
decent port.”

 Henry looked at himself in
the mirror.

“I won’t stay too long, is
there anything I can get you?”

No, I’m fully supplied
thanks.”

 “Right I’ll be off.”

As Henry was walking through
the warehouses there was no one around - it was too early for the dock girls,
then a lone figure appeared, with familiar shifty eyes, just visible under the
rim of his panama hat.”

 Henry ventured to engage him
in casual conversation.

“Coming back early?”

 There was apprehension on
his face and when he spoke he seemed unsure what to say.

“Er…yes.”

 “But this is our last night
here, we’re sailing tomorrow afternoon.”

He was looking around as if
expecting to meet someone.

 “Yes, I know.”

 “Did you enjoy your stay
here? I met some nice people in the bar uptown, The Blue Orchid.”

 “Oh, I didn’t go into any bars
but I met some poor people. It’s a pity how they have to live.”

 He was shifting from one
foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. Henry looked around. “Don’t see any
of the girls, it must be a bit early for them. I spoke to some of them and they
seem very nice and pretty too.”

 “Do they come around here? I
haven’t seen any of them,” the lad lied, looking over his shoulder.

 “They’ll be around later; a
shame what they have to do to earn a living.”

 “Yes.”

“I’ll be off,” said Henry as
he left Sweeney standing awkwardly by the warehouse wall.

*****

Moyna, the newest girl to ply
her trade in the docks, was the eldest of five children living in a shack not
far from the dock area where her father worked until the day he was in an
accident and had to have his right leg amputated. His aftercare was
non-existent and the stump of his limb was constantly weeping puss and blood;
he could not even sit for a long enough time to beg. Compensation was unheard
of in the local dock companies. Moyna’s mother begged and did menial work to
earn a pittance to feed her family. In desperation Moyna, at just sixteen years
of age had to reluctantly resort to vice to earn some money to help keep the
family fed. It was eight o’clock, nearly time for her to go and meet some of
the men off the ships. This was only her fourth night and she had to be careful
as the older girls would beat her away from their patch - fresh young girls
were too much competition. She washed with a precious bar of soap she had been
given by one of the sailors.

As she left the shack her
mother whispered so none of the rest of the family could hear. ”Be careful my
sweet child and don’t allow anyone to touch you without wearing those rubber
things.”

 “I will be careful mother,
you go to sleep and not wait up for me, I will be late.”

Moyna made her way around the
dock area keeping away from the other girls. She hid behind the bales where she
had a view of the ship. She hoped she might see the boy from the Rangoon again;
he had been very generous to her.

*****

 Henry had one drink at the
counter in The Blue Orchid, it was almost nine o’clock when he drained the
glass. There were no other crew from the Rangoon in the almost empty bar. He
went into the inner sanctum and Fokir was waiting for him, sipping tea and
chatting to the matron. They were both smoking but the sharp aromatic scent
from the cigarettes was not like the usual tobacco.

“Come, sit Henry,” said the
matron with a frivolous air.

“Thank you, good evening
Fokir.”

Fokir was seated with his
shirt unbuttoned to his waist - his body was muscled and firm. He smoked the
cigarette with relish.

 ”I’ve never seen you smoking
before, Fokir.”

 “Tonight I am off duty and
here only to meet you my good friend. The other men are taking care of your
crewmen, so I come here to enjoy. Drink your tea Henry and here, smoke one of
my special cigarettes.”

He handed Henry a hand rolled
cigarette out of a tin box, flicked an American army lighter and held it to the
weed. The first inhaled puff sent Henry into a coughing spasm.

 “Good grief! what’s in that?”

 Fokir laughed out loud.

“Drag a little at a time and
inhale slowly.”

Henry looked apprehensive.

“Go on he laughed, try it.”

He sipped the tea and then
slowly took a small toke on the cigarette and let a tiny amount back into his
lungs. The effect was astonishing. He felt light headed and his vision was
somewhat different – how different, he couldn’t really describe.

 “I will write up our report,
Henry and have it in Colombo when you arrive. You will not be going ashore
there so one of the many boat girls that will visit your ship will be our means
of communication. She will be no different from the other girls; she will be
carrying her basket of goodies for sale but will have a red cloth hanging from
her basket. Approach her with the code word ‘Buddha’. “She will then give you
an envelope.”

 The matron arrived with a
bottle of Johnny Walker and a tray of clinking glasses with a bowl of ice.

“Before I pour, are there any
other items of business we need to discuss?”

 Henry thought for a bit and
couldn’t think of anything. Maybe the cigarette was dulling his thinking. He
felt it didn’t matter much anyway.

“No, I think we’ve covered
everything.”

 “Good, thank you.”

Fokir took the tray from the
matron and poured two generous measures.

“Help yourself to the ice.”

They swirled the golden
liquid round with the ice and drank one another’s health. Henry put the joint
in an ashtray and lit up a Lucky Strike. He offered one to Fokir but he
refused.

 “I only smoke occasionally
and I prefer the local weed!”

 “It’s a bit strong for me; I
prefer the tobacco kind. When this is all over I want to give you my address in
England and if ever you are there you must come and visit.”