‘You’ve found them,’ I said with certainty.
He took a deep breath. ‘A fisherman found the body of a small, female child on a beach on Cat Island.’
‘Cat Island!’ I said incredulously. ‘But that’s impossible! Lucayan Girl was going south-west to Miami – Cat Island is 200 miles south-east. It can’t be Sue!’
‘I’m sorry, Mr Mangan, but there is no doubt.’
‘I don’t believe it. I want to see her.’
‘I would advise against it.’ Perigord shook his head. ‘You wouldn’t recognize her.’
‘Why not?’
Perigord was unhappy. ‘I don’t have to explain to a fellow Bahamian what happens to a body in our seas in a very short time.’
‘If I wouldn’t recognize her how in hell can you be so sure?’ I was becoming angry at the impossibility of all this. ‘How could Sue have got to Cat Island?’
Perigord took a card from his desk drawer and laid it flat. ‘This is your daughter’s dental record; we obtained it from the school. Dr Miller, your daughter’s dentist, has done a comparison and it fits in every respect. We took no chances; we had another evaluation from a dentist who does not know your daughter. He confirmed Dr Miller’s identification.’
I suddenly felt sick and a little dizzy. It must have shown in my colour because Debbie put her hand on my arm. ‘Are you all right, Tom?’
‘Yes,’ I said thickly. I raised my head and looked at Perigord. ‘And Julie? And the others?’
‘Nothing, I’m afraid.’ He cleared his throat. ‘There’ll be an inquest, of course.’
‘How do you explain Cat Island? You know it’s bloody impossible. Anything abandoned in the Florida Straits would be swept north-east in the Gulf Stream.’
‘I can’t explain it; at least, not to your satisfaction.’ He held up his hand as I opened my mouth. ‘It might help if you could identify the crewman.’
I said dully, ‘I didn’t see him.’
Perigord said, ‘We have asked questions at the marinas with no luck at all. The trouble is that the marinas have, literally, a floating population.’ He repeated that, appreciating the double edge. ‘Yes, a floating population – here today and gone tomorrow. Nobody has been reported missing because everybody is missing, sooner or later. It makes police work difficult. We have also checked from the other end by asking Mr Albury’s friends if he had been seen talking to a stranger. Again, no luck.’
Debbie said, ‘He might not have been a stranger.’
‘Oh, yes, I think he was,’ said Perigord confidently. ‘I think he was a beach bum, one of the young Americans who hitchhike around the islands on the cheap and are willing to crew for anyone if it gives them a leg further. I think this one was going home.’
‘Then he might be on an American missing persons list,’ she remarked.
‘Why should he be?’ asked Perigord. ‘He’s only been gone a week, and he’s probably a footloose young man, a social drop-out. In any case, in which American city do we ask? And with no name and no face how do we operate?’
My brain started to work creakily. Perigord had said something which aroused my ire. ‘You said you couldn’t explain how Sue came to be on Cat Island to my satisfaction. Does that mean that you are satisfied?’ I was becoming enraged at Perigord because I knew he was holding something back.
That got to him. ‘By God, Mr Mangan, I am not satisfied. It gives me no satisfaction to sit here and pass on bad news, sir.’
‘Then what’s all the bloody mystery? Is it because I am a suspect? If I am then say so. Am I to be accused of blowing up my own boat?’
My voice had risen to a shout and I found myself shaking. Again Debbie held my arm, and said, ‘Take it easy, Tom.’
‘Take it easy? There’s been something damn funny going on right from the start.’ I stabbed a finger at Perigord. ‘No one can tell me that a Deputy-Commissioner of Police does his own legwork when a boat goes missing. Especially when he brings a narcotics officer with him. Perigord, I’m well-known in Government circles, and if you don’t come across I’ll be over in Nassau talking to Deane, your boss, and a few other people and you won’t know what hit you.’
Perigord made a curious gesture as though to brush away an irritating fly. ‘I assure you that the police are treating this with the utmost seriousness. Further, the Government is serious. And alarmed, I might add. The Attorney General, acting under direct instruction from the Prime Minister, is putting very heavy pressure on me – as much as I can stand – and I don’t need any more from you.’
‘But you’ll damn well get it,’ I said. ‘Good Christ, this is my family we’re talking about!’
He stopped being impervious and his voice softened. ‘I know – I know.’ He stood up and went to the window, looking out on to East Mall in silence and with his hands clasped tightly behind his back. He stood there for a long time evidently having difficulty in making up his mind about something.
Presently he turned and said quietly, ‘I suppose if I were in your position I would feel and act as you do. That’s why I’m going to tell you something of what is happening in the Bahamas. But I’ll want your discretion. I don’t want you going off half-cocked and, above all, I want your silence. You must not talk about what I’m about to tell you.’
Debbie rose to her feet. ‘I’ll leave.’
‘No,’ said Perigord. ‘Stay, Miss Cunningham.’ He smiled. ‘Mr Mangan will want to talk to someone about this; he wouldn’t be human if he didn’t, and his confidante might as well be you. But I’ll need the same assurance of your silence.’
Debbie said, ‘You have it.’
‘Mr Mangan?’
I thought Perigord was every bit as good an amateur psychologist as Mike Pascoe. ‘All right.’
He returned to his seat at the desk. ‘It is not normal for a well-found boat to vanish in a calm sea, and the enquiries made before I took over the case gave us the assurance that Lucayan Girl was a very well-found boat with more than the usual complement of safety equipment. She was very well-equipped, is that not so?’
‘I made it so,’ I said.
Perigord examined the backs of his hands. ‘There have been too many boats going missing these past few years. There has been much ill-informed and mischievous talk about the so-called Bermuda Triangle of which we are in the centre. The Bahamian Government, however, does not believe in spooks – neither do the insurance companies. The Government is becoming most worried about it.’
‘Are you talking about piracy?’ said Debbie unbelievingly.
‘Just that.’
I had heard the rumours, as I suppose every other Bahamian had, and it had been a topic in some of the American
