Detective Watters Mysteries

Chapter 3-2

"No, sir," Rex looked wildly towards the door as if contemplating a quick escape. Duff moved his burly form further forward.

"I"ve just a few questions, Rex." Watters jumped from the counter, holding his cane ready to repel any attack.

"You"re no" taking him to any b****y police office." Rex"s female companion put a sinewy arm around him. "I"ll no" let you."

"We can ask him in the back room here." Watters decided not to risk a riot. "You can come too."

With Duff and Scuddamore remaining nearby in case of a rescue attempt, Watters escorted Rex and his woman into the back room. Lined with kegs of spirits and casks of beer, the room only had sufficient space for the three of them, particularly as the woman wore a full crinoline to counter her narrow, frowning face.

"You know about the murder on Lady of Blackness," Watters said.

Lady of Blackness"The whole of Dundee knows about it," the woman said as Rex gave a reluctant nod.

"Who are you?"

"I"m Annie McBurnie." The woman sounded surprised that Watters had to ask.

"I"m going to ask you, Mr Rex, the same questions as we have asked your shipmates." Watters tried to reassure the seaman. "I am not accusing you of anything, and I do not suspect you of anything." Yet.

Yet."I don"t know anything," Rex said at once.

Watters let that pass. "Do you know the man whose body we found in Lady of Blackness?"

Lady of BlacknessRex shook his head. "No, sir."

"Did you see anybody on the ship that had no business there?"

"No, sir. I only saw the crew and the dock workers."

Watters leaned closer to the shaking seaman. "What are you scared of, Mr Rex? Did you kill the unfortunate fellow?"

"No, sir! I never killed nobody."

"Do you know who did?"

Rex glanced at McBurnie before shaking his head. "No, sir."

Watters pounced on Rex"s hesitation and the slight alteration in his tone. "You don"t know," he crouched beside the seaman, "but you think you might know."

mightAgain, Rex glanced at McBurnie, who pushed her face towards Watters.

"You leave him alone," she said. "He already told you that he didn"t know."

Watters moderated his voice. He knew that if the crowd in the public bar thought he was brow-beating one of their colleagues, they could trample over his two constables and break the door down. "You"re right, Annie. So he did. Tell you what, let"s have a drink instead. On the house."

With the walls of the room lined with barrels and kegs, it was not hard to find something to drink. Avoiding the garish labels of the kill-me-deadly concoctions, Watters poked at the upper shelves until he found a five-gallon keg. "That will do."

"What"s that?" McBurnie was instantly suspicious.

"Smuggled whisky," Watters said, "straight from the glens, pure peat reek and the nectar of the gods." He prised open the bung, lifted the keg to his lips, and pretended to drink. "Here, Mr Rex, have a wee taste."

Rex took a drink. "That"s the real stuff." He handed the keg to McBurnie who tilted her head back as she swallowed.

Watters watched, fully aware that the illicit whisky was more potent than any of the watered-down spirits the pub sold over the counter. Again, he pretended to drink before passing the keg around.

"Now, let"s get back to business," Watters said. "Who do you think might have killed that poor fellow, Mr Rex?"

thinkRex stopped with the keg at his lips and colourless whisky dribbling down his chin. His eyes were slightly out of focus. "I can"t tell you," he said.

"If you don"t," Watters spoke quietly, "you"ll be withholding evidence. I could arrest you for that and hold you until you speak."

"You wouldnae dare," McBurnie said. "The boys out there would tear your head off."

"I would dare," Watters said. "I could hold you for aiding and abetting and stealing drink from a public house." He pointed to the whisky.

"You"re a bastard, Watters."

"I already know that," Watters said. "Now, Mr Rex here will tell me something I don"t know or," he pulled the handcuffs from his pocket, "you"ll both be leaving here wearing these."

"It"s nothing to do with Annie." Rex tried to push McBurnie behind him only for her wide crinolines to jam between two full kegs.

Watters shrugged. "She"ll only get three months or so."

"I"ll kill you, bluebottle!" McBurnie showed her teeth.

"She"ll get six months now that she has threatened a police officer." Watters tightened his grip on his cane. "Is that what you want, Mr Rex? Do you want to put your girl into jail for six months by protecting a man who might be a murderer?"

"No." Rex glanced at McBurnie. "Jones. Look for Richard Jones."

"He"s one of the crew we have not yet located," Watters said. "Why him? What makes you think he is involved?"

Rex shuffled uneasily. "If I tell you, will you let Annie go free?"

"You have my word." Watters knew that no court in the country would use such slender evidence as he could provide to convict McBurnie.

"I can"t really explain it." Now that Rex was committed, he seemed determined to do his best. "Jones was not right, Sergeant. He sounded like a seaman and knew his way around the ship all right, sir, but he just didn"t ring true."

rightWatters took notes. "Could you say anything more specific, Mr Rex?"

Rex took another unconscious swig of the whisky and screwed up his face with the effort of thought. "No, sir. Well, maybe, aye. His language was more like a Royal Navy man than a real seaman, and even then, it was not quite right. It"s like he was trying too hard, sort of. He kept mentioning battles from the past and kings and queens and things."

Watters noted that down. "Thank you, Mr Rex. Only one more thing, and you are free to go. Could you give me a description of Richard Jones?"

Rex drank more of the free whisky. "Why, no, sir. There is nothing to describe. He was just ordinary. He looked like everyone else."

"Was he tall? Short? Broad? Thin?"

Rex shrugged. "Neither, sir. He was about average in everything. He was a grey man; nothing stands out at all." He frowned. "He might have been French, sir."

"French?" Watters raised his eyebrows. "What the devil makes you think he might have been French?"

"I dunno." Rex shrugged again. "He was trying too hard, saying things like foreigners would think we said. God save the Queen and that."

"Thank you, Mr Rex. Have you seen this patriotically anonymous gentleman since Lady of Blackness docked?"

Lady of BlacknessRex shook his head.

"Did he mention anywhere he might go when he came ashore?"

Again, Rex shook his head. "He spoke about drinking the town dry, sir, and finding a baggage; that"s a p********e, sir."

"Normal sailor talk," Watters said. "All right, Mr Rex, thank you." Watters closed his notebook. "You have been a great help." He opened the door to find Scuddamore and Duff still standing sentinel. The clientele of the pub looked up without interest as Rex and McBurnie sidled out.

"What next, Sergeant?" Scuddamore asked.

"Now we scour the town for a man of average height, average size, and average build with an average face," Watters said.

Duff stamped his feet on the ground. "That should be easy, then. Do we have anything else to go on?"

"Yes, he doesn"t look quite right; he says God save the Queen, and he might be French."

Scuddamore looked around the room. "Can we start here, Sergeant? None of these men looks quite right."

Watters grinned. "I appreciate your sarcasm, Scuddamore; we have a difficult job before us. Luckily, we have you on our side. You start searching tomorrow, public by public, boarding house by boarding house, and brothel by brothel. Have fun." Watters nearly enjoyed the dismay on Scuddamore"s face, until he remembered he had a wedding to attend.