Майкл Ридпат - Launch Code

‘What about Alice?’ he said.

‘What about her?’

‘You’ve been saying all along that what happened on the Alexander Hamilton had nothing to do with Sam Bowen’s murder. But given what you have just told us, are you sure that’s the case? It’s a cover-up, isn’t it? Did the US Navy kill him? The CIA? To keep him quiet.’

‘No. No, absolutely not. The CIA has done some unpleasant stuff over the years, but they don’t kill journalists or historians who are asking difficult questions.’

‘Can you be certain?’

‘Absolutely. If they did that, imagine the outcry? It would also be illegal.’ Bill coughed. ‘I did check with Admiral Robinson, and he confirmed it. He worked in the Office of Naval Intelligence after the Hamilton — he has good contacts.’

‘So what was Alice doing talking to Sam? Was she asking him about Craig’s death?’

Bill didn’t answer. He was looking worried.

‘What is it, Dad?’ Megan asked.

Bill hesitated. ‘Ever since Mom died, Alice has always been protective of me. She knew that it was me who killed Craig.’

‘You told her,’ Megan said.

‘Not me. Your mother.’

‘Wait. Did she tell Brooke and Maya too?’ Sisterly outrage at being left out was rising in Megan’s voice.

‘No. Just Alice. She wanted to tell one of you.’

And she had chosen Alice, Toby thought. That figured. And Alice hadn’t told Toby. That figured as well. And, actually, that was fair enough.

Megan grunted. She accepted it was fair enough too.

‘OK,’ said Toby. ‘So you think that Alice was trying to persuade Sam to drop the questions about Craig’s death?’

‘Perhaps.’ Bill looked uncomfortable. Exceedingly uncomfortable.

‘My God!’ Toby said. ‘You do think Alice killed him.’

‘No,’ said Bill. ‘No, I couldn’t possibly believe she could do that. Not Alice.’

‘Yes you do.’

Bill pursed his lips. ‘Let’s just say I don’t think it would be good for Alice’s case if the police came to the conclusion that that’s what she was talking to him about.’

Part of Toby was outraged.

Part of him understood it.

They heard the front door bang downstairs. ‘Hello!’ It was Lars’s voice. ‘Anyone at home?’

‘I’ll talk to him,’ Toby said, and he left Megan and her father in the bedroom.

Lars was in the kitchen, still in his rain jacket. ‘Hey, Toby,’ he said. ‘How did it go at the police station?’

‘They wouldn’t let me see Alice. And she is still locked up.’

‘Have they charged her yet?’

‘Not yet. We don’t know whether they will. They can hold her for thirty-six hours without charging her, so technically they could let her out really early tomorrow morning, but her lawyer says if they are going to release her, it will be later today.’

‘Good luck.’

‘Yeah.’

Given what he had just learned, Toby was hopeful that he could prise more information out of Lars about what had happened on the submarine. Confirm Bill’s story, perhaps. Give him a clue why Sam Bowen was killed, a clue he could use to get Alice freed. But it would be difficult to talk to Lars in the house with Bill and Megan around.

‘Hey, Lars. Now it’s stopped raining, do you want to get out of the house? Go for another walk on the beach? With Rickover, of course.’

The dog was on his feet, looking expectantly up at the two men. His vote was clear.

‘Sure,’ said Lars. ‘Let’s go.’

They were donning their coats in the hallway when Bill came down the stairs and greeted Lars. ‘I’m just going to King’s Lynn to get a new faucet for the Cottage bathroom,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t be too long.’

‘We’re going for a walk down to the beach,’ said Lars. ‘If you like, I’ll help you fix it when I get back.’

‘Glorified plumbers,’ said Megan from the stairs. ‘That’s all these submarine guys are, glorified plumbers. Give them a wrench and they’re happy.’

Toby, Bill and Lars all stared at her. ‘Have fun,’ she said, reddening, and she turned and hurried back up the stairs.

‘You know,’ said Bill to Toby with a sigh. ‘My daughter really should engage brain before mouth. But that’s just an engineer talking.’

They went the same route they had chosen that morning, down to the sea and then right along the dunes. The North Sea was closer this time — the tide had come in and was on its way back out. They could hear the waves clearly, and the grass on the dunes rustling in the breeze.

There was always a breeze.

‘I like it here,’ said Lars. ‘I love the sea. Just the sound of it, you know? It calms me down. But I think I prefer being on top of it than underneath it.’

‘It makes a good change from London,’ said Toby. ‘Especially in a rainy November.’

‘I can see why Bill comes up here so much.’

‘Have you taken a look around outside Barnholt?’

‘I went for a little drive along the coast in the rain this morning. Had lunch in a pub somewhere.’

‘I’ve been talking to Bill,’ Toby said.

‘Oh yeah?’

‘Yeah. He told me what happened on the Alexander Hamilton. About how it was you who first tried to incapacitate the captain. About how you were arrested and then Bill smashed Craig over the head with a wrench. And about how the captain then checked his orders and found the launch instruction was an error.’

‘He told you all that? That surprises me.’

‘Megan had found a letter from Bill to Donna that referred to it. Is that right? What Bill said?’

‘Yeah, that sounds about right.’

‘So why did you lie to Justin about killing Craig?’

They were walking on the firmer sand just below the high tide mark, next to the dunes. The wide expanse of beach was almost empty. A woman with a dog was way ahead of them, and a couple were hunched against the breeze down by the sea.

‘Bill has been awfully good to me over the years. And to Justin. Bill wrote me when Justin figured out Craig was his real father; that really cut Bill up. And then he lost Donna, and his daughter was accused of murder. He didn’t need Justin causing trouble. It just suddenly occurred to me that it would be better all around if Justin thought I killed Craig. After all, I had tried to kill Commander Driscoll. He didn’t need Justin hating him. I couldn’t give a shit if Justin hates me. Also...’ he hesitated.

Toby waited.

‘I meant to kill Commander Driscoll, I really did. But I’m kind of glad I didn’t and it was Bill who ended up killing someone. And that someone was our friend. I’ve always felt guilty about that. So, I was happy to take on a little of the blame.’

‘Weren’t you afraid the police would find out what you had told Justin?’

‘Not really. The Navy would never set them straight. Frankly, I’m more worried about the stretch in jail in Guadeloupe. It doesn’t look like that has surfaced yet, but it probably will.’

‘I’m amazed they managed to keep what happened on the Hamilton quiet for so long.’

‘It’s quite an achievement,’ said Lars. ‘There were a hundred forty men on that submarine. But we were all shaken by what happened. Bill and I left the Navy, and so did over half the crew. Most of them failed the Personal Reliability Program that’s supposed to confirm you are psychologically prepared to press the button. After you have been through what we went through, the answer has to be: not really.’

‘Were you and Bill court martialled?’

‘No. Commander Driscoll and the XO came up with a story. I’m not sure how much of the truth they told to their senior officers, but it was made real clear to the crew that no one should ever speak about what happened on the submarine. Bill was a hero. And so was I, kind of.’