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Please - I will agree with your verdict.' She went out then and I looked at H
ide. He was massaging the side of his beard. 'Bland wants us both up in the sa
loon,' I said. 'Can I have your views?'
'Ja. I think it is a matter for the police. As far as we can discover it is
Erik
Bland who sees him last. It is either -murder, or suicide.'
'Fine,' I said. 'That's what I think. In the circumstances I think we should r
efuse to reach any conclusions. This committee of inquiry has no legal standin
g. We should merely file the evidence and hand it over to assist the police in
their investigations.'
Eide nodded. His gaunt, hatchet face was set in the lines beaten into it by ye
ars of violent weather. 'Bland will not like it,' he said. 'It is bad for the
men that we do not reach some conclusion. But we cannot. I agree. So.' He pull
ed himself to his feet. 'We had better go to the conference now.'
I gathered up the sheets of evidence I had so laboriously taken down, clippi
ng them together and stuffing them into my pocket. Up on deck Eide paused, g
azing south towards the ice blink. The white, mirrored on the undersurface o f
the low cloud, was streaked with wide, dark lines. 'See,' he said. 'There are
many wide leads - and they all run south. That is good.' It was like loo king
at a map of the ice below.
The saloon was full of smoke when we entered. Bland was sitting in a big cha
ir. The skippers of the catchers were grouped round him in a circle. Charts
littered the floor, Erik Bland was also there. He was sitting close to his f
ather. 'Well, Captain Eide,' Bland said as we sat down, 'the others agree wi
th me - that we should go south through the pack. The Haakon has reached ope n
sea 600 miles south of us. She reports plenty of whale.'
'Then we also must go south,' Eide said. There are good leads and the weather
is fine.'
'Good. Then it's settled.' Bland rang for the messboy and ordered drinks. Th
en he got up and came over to me. 'A word with you, Craig,' he said. I follo
wed him out of the saloon and along the corridor to his cabin. 'Now,' he sai
d, as I closed the door. 'What are your findings?' His voice was hard and hi s
small eyes had narrowed.
I pulled the sheets of evidence out of my pocket and handed them to him. H
e put them down on the desk. 'Your findings?' he repeated. 'Come on, man,'
he added impatiently as I hesitated. 'You must have reached some conclusi
on.'
'Yes,' I said. 'But I don't think you'll like it. In our opinion Nordahl's
disapp earance is a matter for police investigation.'
He blew his cheeks out like a grampus. It was as though he'd been holding h is
breath. 'Why?' he asked sharply.
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There are two possibilities,' I said. 'Either Nordahl committed suicide or he
was - murdered.'
'Go on.'
'As the inquiry has no legal standing, we take the view that it would not be
right for it to attempt to reach any conclusion. The evidence, which I have n
ow passed on to you, should be handed over to the police on our return to por
t.'
'I see. You and Captain Eide and my daughter-in-law all take the view it is e
ither suicide or murder.'
That is my view and Captain Eide's. Mrs Bland was too upset to consider the
findings.'
'And - is my son involved in any way?'
'Yes,' I said. 'He was the last person to see Nordahl at all after the eveni
ng meal. Later he admitted that he had had a row with him up on the deck. Th
at was shortly after midnight. At twelve thirty-five the fog cleared. It was
only possible for Nordahl to have gone overboard unobserved during the inte
rvening twenty minutes.'
'I see.' Bland slowly sank into a chair. 'But it could be suicide.'
'His daughter doesn't think so. She says he wasn't a quitter, that suicide
woul d never enter his head.'
'But you think it's a possibility. Why?'
'You should know,' I answered.
'What do you mean by that?'
'Weren't you in on the Wyks Odensdaal Rust Development racket?' I counter ed.
Bland turned on me with a quick oath. 'How do you know--' He stopped then
. 'Well?'
'Nordahl came to you and asked to be put on to something good in the fina
ncial world. He mortgaged all his holding in the South Antarctic Company and
invested everything he had in Wyks Odensdaal Rust Development.'
'If he did, then it's the first I've heard of it.' Bland barked. 'He never as
ked me for financial advice in his life. And I wouldn't have given it to him
if he had. He knew nothing about finance and I'm old enough to know that to g
ive financial advice is the quickest way of making enemies.'
So it was Erik Bland who had advised Nordahl. 'Well,' I said, 'that's what yo
ur son says.'
'I see,' He stood by the porthole a moment, drumming with his fingers on the
top of the toilet cabinet. At length he turned and faced me. He looked tire d
and somehow older. He didn't say anything, but sat down at the desk and be gan
running through the sheets of evidence. Then for a long time he sat star ing
at one single page. At last he pushed the papers into a drawer and got t o his
feet. 'Very well, Craig,' he said heavily. 'I agree. It is a matter fo r the
police. Some changes must be made now.' He went to the door and I foll owed
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him back to the saloon.
One of the skytters gave me a drink and I knocked it back. I needed it badl y.
Bland had sat down again. Something in his manner silenced the room. He
watched them, his heavy brows dragged down, his face set in its solid, impe
rturbable rolls. 'I have some changes in command to announce,' he said. 'No
rdahl's death has left us without an experienced leader. As I am here, and
intend to stay out during the whole season, I shall direct operations perso
nally. Petersen, you will take over from my son as manager of the Southern
Cross.' There was a murmur of surprise and a quickening of interest at this
announcement. 'Commander Craig, you are posted to command of Hval 4 in Pet
ersen's place.'
I saw the eldest of the whaling skippers stir in his seat and lean forward. 'E
xcuse me, sir,' I said quickly, 'I don't wish to query your orders. But I woul
d like to remind you that I've no experience as a gunner.'
'I'm well aware of that, Craig,' he answered. 'But you will take command of
Hval 4.' He rounded on Petersen before the old sky tier could begin to arg ue.
'I know what you're going to say, Petersen. But I won't have a girl in charge
of a catcher. Not down her. Craig will command the boat. Your daught er will
remain in her present position as mate. But in addition she will ac t as
gunner. Some adjustment will be made financially in her terms of emplo yment.
Does that satisfy you?'
The old skytter relaxed, 'Ja, hr Bland. I am satisfied.'
'Good. Erik. You will take command of Tauer III. The ship is without deck
officers at the moment. You can choose your own mates.' He turned to Peter sen
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