He ignored my question. 'I imagine the main point of that meeting was to use your wife as a lever to get Lloyd Jones to take his frigate out of Mahon. I'm not asking you for the" details of that meeting,' he added quickly. That will be a matter for Captain Wheatcroft. What I want to know is, did Evans at any time during that meeting, or when you were on the island together, give any indication of what his plans were?'
'Of course not,' I said. 'Until the frigate went aground he was fully committed to the new government of Ismail Fuxa and to ensuring that the powerful aid it had asked for would not be hindered from entering the port.'
'Yes, but afterwards — after Medusa had gone aground?'
'The grounding and Miss Callis's arrival were almost simultaneous. You know about what happened after that, do you?' I asked him.
'Yes. But I'm not interested in that, only in whether he gave you any indication of what he might do next, where he would go?'
'There wasn't time.'
'All right, but earlier, when you and he were with Lloyd Jones in his cabin on Medusa.'Again I told him there was no reason for Evans to even think about where he might go next. 'The discussion was about my wife and getting Lloyd Jones to take his frigate out of Mahon. He'd no reason then to think beyond the next few hours.'
'I see.' He was silent then, and the silence lasted so long I began to think we had been disconnected. Suddenly he said, 'You don't think he's still on Menorca then?'
'It hadn't occurred to me,' I said. 'Why?'
That fishing boat you let him have — did you know it was sighted abandoned and on fire just outside Spanish territorial waters?' Another silence, and then he said, 'Oh well, doubtless he's, pushed off with the rest of them.' And he added, 'Now if you'd been able to tell me he was hiding up somewhere on the island…' I could almost hear his shrug over the line as he went on, 'Pity! Looks as though somebody will have to start picking up the trail all over again.' And without another word he rang off.
Captain Wheatcroft, the officer sent out to head the Board of Enquiry, arrived that afternoon. With him on the same plane were his two Board members, a Commander Lovelock from Naval Plans, a marine engineering commander, and a smart little snub-nosed Wren Writer with black hair and rather bulging eyes. All four stayed at the Port Mahon Hotel, which had rooms to spare, some of their American guests having decided to get out. Also on the plane was a Commander Firth. Gareth had apparently served under him and having recently relinquished command of another frigate, he had been flown out to help and advise Gareth during the Enquiry — a sort of prisoner's friend. The Board began their sittings the following day, Monday, on board Medusa.The morning was taken up with questions arising from her Captain's report of the grounding and the reasons for it, the afternoon with the evidence of one or two of the other officers, Lieutenant Commander Mault in particular. He was questioned by the Board for well over an hour.
I only heard about this, of course, later, after it was all over. I knew nothing about it at the time, but after Wade's phone call I was not altogether surprised when a midshipman, not Masterton, delivered a note from the Chairman of the Board calling me as a witness and requesting that I attend on board HMS Medusa at 10.00 hours the next morning. There would be a launch sent for me at 09.30.
Soo's immediate reaction when I told her was, 'Do they know about me?' and she added quickly, 'About my being held as a hostage?'
'Of course.' My own desperate enquiries had made that inevitable, and Miguel's body being found where she had been left to die had ensured maximum publicity.
'I know what they'll try and do. They'll try and prove he grounded his ship because of me. That's why you're being called.' Her large, dark eyes had a wild look. 'Can't you say he barely knew me, that when you were on board with Gareth and that wretched half-brother of his, he was making use of me just as he would any other hostage? I mean, so long as they don't know he was seeing me, then they'll have to accept that he put his ship aground because it was the only way he could be sure he wouldn't be towed out…' The words had been pouring out of her she was so tensed up, but I was shaking my head and slowly her voice died.
In the end I told her quite bluntly that what had happened was common knowledge. 'Things happen. That's life. And once they've happened they can't be undone.'
She nodded slowly, biting her lip. And then suddenly she began to cry. I tried to say I would do what I could. 'I've no desire to ruin his career, but if they bring it up I'm not going to pretend I'm a fool and didn't know.' And I added, 'A lot will depend on the sort of man Captain Wheatcroft turns out to be, how understanding he is of the emotional needs of naval officers, particularly somebody like Gareth.' But she wasn't listening. She had turned away, shaking her head, and with her hand to her mouth she ran to the bedroom and shut the door.
The Board of Enquiry had taken over the Captain's day cabin, the three members seated at a folding table that had been brought up from the wardroom, their blue uniforms with the gold bands on cuffs and shoulder straps solidly impressive. I was shown to a chair set facing them and after the preliminaries the Chairman went out of his way to put me at my ease by saying, 'This is not in any sense a court, Mr Steele, but you will understand, I am sure, that an expensive and valuable Navy ship has been set aground and we have to enquire into the circumstances of that grounding. For instance, was it an accidental grounding or was it deliberate? If the latter, then what were the reasons for the decision to set the ship aground?'
He was leaning a little forward, a long, fine-boned face with sharply pointed nose and high-domed forehead largely devoid of hair. 'I want you to understand — whatever your personal feelings — that the purpose of this Board is to resolve those two questions and report our findings. You will appreciate, of course, that the circumstances were very unusual — almost, I might say, unprecedented. And the odd thing is that you, a civilian, were on board, and to some extent involved, at several of the most crucial moments.'
Captain Wheatcroft had considerable charm, his manner friendly and altogether disarming, except that, as the questions developed, his voice, which was what I would call very establishment Navy, became more aloof and inquisitorial. He had me describe the frigate's movements from the time she raised her anchor to the time she grounded, and here I was able to avoid any reference to the glimpse I had had of an altercation between Gareth and his First Lieutenant. 'So you're suggesting the ship was out of control?'
'It looked like it/ I replied.
'Because he went stern-first through the narrows?' He didn't wait for me to agree, but added, 'He'd no reason to go through the narrows. He had far more sea room to the east of Bloody Island.' And then he said, 'I think I should tell you the evidence we have already heard makes it clear there was nothing wrong with the engines. That was a put-up job to justify the Captain's refusal to move his ship when he had been ordered to leave by the port authorities, and indeed by the self-styled president of the new regime himself. You know about that, I think?' And when I nodded, he smiled as though he had established a point he had been trying to make. 'You realise, of course, what follows from that?'
I nodded.
'So can I have a direct answer from you on the first question we are having to resolve — in your opinion was the grounding of the frigate Medusa deliberate? Yes or no, please.'
'Yes,' I said.
'Good. Now to the second question, Mr Steele, and this I think you may find some difficulty in answering. What in your opinion was the overriding reason for Lieutenant Commander Lloyd Jones's action in deliberately grounding his ship? And let me say here we already know that you were on board and here in this very cabin when a man named Evans arrived from Cala Llonga and was brought up to see him.' He glanced hurriedly through his notes. 'The three of you were together here, with nobody else present, for approximately ten minutes, perhaps a little longer. Now, would you kindly tell us exactly what was said? Evans was holding your wife hostage, correct?'