Max Collins - The Titanic Murders

Hoffman considered that, then said, “No. We will speak in private. A moment please.”

He rose and moved two seats down, to an attractive young blonde woman in her twenties, to whom he spoke in French. She smiled at him, nodding, speaking in Swedish-accented French! The only word Futrelle recognized in her response was “ Oui, ” for despite his Huguenot heritage, he knew barely enough of the language to order in a French restaurant.

As the blonde woman took the father’s seat between the boys, Hoffman smiled shyly at her and thanked her, then kissed each boy on the forehead, a gesture neither seemed to notice, so common was it from this doting father. Then Hoffman’s benign expression dissolved into a glower, as his gaze fixed upon Futrelle; Hoffman nodded toward the exit and bid Futrelle follow him.

Futrelle glanced behind him, seeing Andrews frowning and stepping forward; but Futrelle gestured to him to stay put. Andrews nodded and fell back.

The cabin was farther aft on D deck, and neither party said a word as they made their way there, Futrelle trailing dutifully after the smaller man. Hoffman unlocked the door and gestured for Futrelle to go in, which he did.

The Second-Class cabin was cozy but not cramped, and Futrelle had been in First-Class quarters on other ships that did not equal these pleasant accommodations: bunk berths at left, a sofa bed at right, a mahogany dresser against the wall between the beds, equipped with a mirror and foldout washbasin. The walls were white, the floors linoleum-tiled.

“May I sit?” Futrelle asked, gesturing to the sofa.

Hoffman nodded, his eyes tight with suspicion.

Futrelle sat and then Hoffman sat, too, opposite, on the lower berth.

“First of all, Mr. Hoffman, I want to assure you I don’t represent any police agency in any way.”

Alarm leaped into the dark eyes, but Hoffman tried to keep his voice calm and casual as he replied, “Why should that bother me if you did?”

“Because you’re traveling under an assumed name.”

“Nonsense.”

“You’re a Slovak with two French-speaking boys named Lolo and Momon. But you boarded as an Englishman named ‘Hoffman.’”

Eyes wild now, he sprang to his feet. “How much has he told you?”

Futrelle patted the air, as if trying to calm a child. “Nothing…”

Hoffman’s hand dropped into his suit coat pocket. “Are you with him?”

“What?”

“Are you part of this… ring?”

“No!”

And Hoffman’s hand withdrew from the pocket: in it was a small, but no less deadly-looking, blue-steel revolver.

The revolver’s single eye was staring at Futrelle.

Hoffman’s voice trembled with rage and something else, something worse: fear. He said, “You tell him, you tell your Crafton, the only price I’ll pay him is bullets. Tell him that.”

Futrelle rose, slowly, holding his hands, palms out. “I’m not with Crafton.”

Now Hoffman jammed the gun into Futrelle’s belly and said, “What, you think you can cut in on his game? Maybe you want to go over the side, yes?”

“No. Mr. Hoffman, I’m not a blackmailer. I’m in the same position you’re in-damnit, I’m Crafton’s prey, too!”

Hoffman thought about that, withdrawing the snout of the gun from Futrelle’s belly, stepping back one step.

In a move so fast it surprised even himself, Futrelle slapped the gun from Hoffman’s hand and it clattered onto the linoleum, thankfully not firing as it landed. Hoffman, startled but furious, threw a punch at Futrelle, but the larger man leaned back and the fist swished by harmlessly.

Then Futrelle-so much bigger than Hoffman-threw a punch into the man’s midsection that doubled him over, sending him stumbling backward, into the berths.

Futrelle retrieved the little revolver. He checked the cylinder: it was fully loaded. Sweating, nervous, Futrelle said, “You’ve gotten on my bad side now, Hoffman. Sit down. Now.”

Hoffman, clutching his stomach, desperately seeking to retain his fine Second-Class meal, sat back down on the lower berth.

“I’m not a blackmailer,” Futrelle said, and he emptied the revolver’s shells onto the linoleum floor, then tossed the empty gun at Hoffman, who he stood looming over. “I’m no friend of John Crafton’s, either. Let me tell you how he threatened me….”

And Futrelle sat down again, on the sofa, and quietly told Hoffman about Crafton’s threat to expose his mental breakdown. Slowly, Hoffman regained his composure and his manner softened.

“I’m sorry,” Hoffman said, and then he began to weep.

More startled by this than when the man had drawn the gun on him, Futrelle found himself rising and settling next to the little man on the lower berth, easing an arm around his shoulder.

Gently, like an understanding parent, Futrelle said, “Tell me, Mr. Hoffman. What is this about? Crafton holds some threat over you and your boys, doesn’t he?”

Hoffman, tears streaming, snuffling, nodded. “Do you have…?”

“Certainly.” Futrelle withdrew a handkerchief and gave it to the man.

“My… my name isn’t Hoffman. I’m a tailor and yes, I was born in Slovakia, though for the last ten years I’ve lived in France. I married a beautiful young girl from Italy…”

Yet another country heard from.

“… and we had our two beautiful sons. No man ever had a happier life.”

Hearing those words from a man whose face was streaked with tears, his nose running, his lips trembling, could only mean a tragedy was about to be recounted.

It was, and a familiar one: “My business began to fail, my wife had an affair… we separated. The boys went with their mother. Lolo and Momon, they came to stay with me over Easter, and I… I stole them.”

“You kidnapped your own children?”

He wasn’t crying now; he had himself under control. “Yes. I have made arrangements for a new life in America. A former partner awaits me to go in business with him-and I am a good tailor, I will give my boys a good life.”

“What about their mother?”

He lowered his head. “I still love her. If she comes to her senses and leaves this man, perhaps she’ll come and find us one day, her little family.”

And the weeping began again.

“How did Crafton find out?”

Bitterness edged Hoffman’s voice. “It’s his business to know the grief of others. My wife has posted a reward, there are circulars… Crafton says if I don’t make him a partner in the new business, he’ll turn me over to the police. I’ll go to jail for kidnapping my own flesh and blood.”

Futrelle patted the man on the back, in a “there there” manner, and then he said, “When did you see Crafton last?”

Hoffman shrugged. “On the deck that day. He’s like you-in First Class. He does not come bother me again-but he will in America. He will in America.”

“No he won’t.”

Hoffman looked up at Futrelle with red eyes. “What do you mean?”

“If I tell you something, Mr. Hoffman…”

“It’s Navatril. Michel Navatril.”

The little man offered his hand and Futrelle shook it.

“Mr. Navatril, I need your word that if I share a confidence with you, it will go no further than these walls and our ears.”

“You have my word.”

“John Crafton is dead.”

“… How?”

“Someone murdered him.”

“It wasn’t me!”

“No. I’m fairly certain you’d have shot him and tossed him overboard. No, he was smothered with a pillow. Those in charge of the Titanic are keeping this news concealed, for the moment, for their own purposes. But you must be careful-you are known to be one of his blackmail victims.”

“How could anyone know?”

“A list of ‘clients’ was in his room. You need to get off the ship, when it docks, and quickly disappear with your boys.”