“And that took care of Jonah, right?”
“Well, let’s say other forces came into play here too.”
Judy waited while he read the entire account, then asked, “Satisfied?”
“They have things like this to read on the Midnight Cruise ships?”
“I wouldn’t think so, although they do serve shark as a meal selection.”
Mako handed the book back to her. “Let’s keep Billy in ignorance of this little story. With his imagination who knows where he’d go next. The eater would turn out to be a real gourmet.”
“For boats?”
“No, for people who were surrounded by a boat hull.”
Judy made a wry face and nudged him with her elbow.
Mako pulled another volume from the shelf. It was dated from 1904 to 1920 and seemed to be a history of the local islands, well studded with black-and-white photos. Peolle and Ara were pretty much the same and the lone picture of Scara Island showed an accumulation of wreckage of small boats and one two-masted sloop that was pretty well smashed up. The naval base where the Sentilla was doing its exploration work was functioning where the German government previously had had a submarine refueling facility.
Mako showed the page to Judy. “You know about this sub base?”
“Oh, yes. Most do, but they weren’t Nazis then,” she stated.
“Those World War One submarines couldn’t have made a trip this far at that time,” Mako said, puzzled.
“Read on. You’ll find they used a refueling sequence in those days too. Earlier, they had attempted to tow subs, but that proved too slow and dangerous. So they had supply ships meet them at designated spots at sea and resupplied their provisions.”
“And they were going to hit U.S. shipping?”
“They never got that far. One of the islanders sailed a canoe up to the States and put them wise. He had landed on a Florida beach where the sailors guarding the area held him prisoner for three days before he got somebody to listen to him.”
Mako frowned and shook his head. “I never heard of any subs being captured here then.”
“They weren’t. Their intelligence system got wind of it, radioed the boat commanders, and they blew the bottoms out of their subs before they were captured. Two more almost were caught, though.”
Mako waited.
“They didn’t get the message until they were fifty miles offshore. That’s when they saw our destroyers in the area and made a run for the base. They were submerging when one took a direct hit from one of the destroyers’ guns and went down with all hands before the destroyer could reach it.”
“What happened to the other one?”
“Oh, he submerged and they laid depth charges all around the area. The bottom is about four hundred feet in that area, so either the depth charges got him or the pressure crumpled the hull. They didn’t have the asdic devices then to pinpoint the wreckage, but they did a search thorough enough to make sure the U903 was gone. As a matter of fact, some graduate college students collecting data on World War One checked it out through the archives in Germany.”
“It’s a good story, doll. They ought to make a movie about it.”
“Should I?” Her tone was serious, but there were laugh lines around her mouth.
“Well, you could afford it, I suppose. You think your dad would have approved?”
“Sure,” Judy nodded. “He was a big risk-taker. Even when he was broke, if it looked good, he’d go for it.”
“Your dad didn’t inherit money?”
Judy busied herself putting the books back and straightening up the shelves. “Nope,” she told him, “not daddy. Every cent he got he earned.”
Mako made a small arc of motion with his head, taking in the room. “He did all right.”
“He was a good businessman, Mako. He took advantage of every opportunity and built up his little empire the hard way.”
“And now you have it all.”
Judy gave a small shrug. “I have good advisors. The big money interests they take care of. I’m sort of the lucky charm for the movie company.”
“How did Anthony Pell get into that?”
“Dad hired him. In fact, he brought him up from another company he owned.”
“Movies?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” she answered.
“What studio?”
“He was an independent. He and dad made four low-budget films that were released in Europe before they came to the U.S. and they made a bundle. Dad brought him into his company as a partner after that and the profits have gone up fifty percent. Luckily, he had a good block of voting stock in the Midnight Cruise line and that venture floated them in the early days, so they made out just fine.”
“Well... as long as it doesn’t disturb the tranquillity of the islands...”
Judy tossed her head and her hair did a little dance in the air. “Oh, Mako, they’re not the usual vacation tours. Those ships cater to casino towns where the rich can play the money games. I know it sounds awfully materialistic... and it is... but this is a wild generation that makes it hand over fist and spends it the same way. One-half the population has hunger pangs and the other half eats their way into a first-class casket. It’s crazy.”
“You can say that again.”
“I suppose you want to know where I stand in all this.”
Mako nodded. “I’m kind of wondering.”
Judy’s eyes met his with startling directness. “I don’t,” she said simply.
“You don’t what?”
“Mess with all that. I live here. I own this place free and clear and run a damn good fishing business with top restaurants on the mainland. I have no partners, so nobody can own me. I still have major hunks of dad’s old businesses, but I don’t control them. I probably could, but I choose not to. Long ago he assigned others to handle his affairs and I have let it stay that way.”
“What do you do with the money you make?”
“I pay taxes, bills, and bank the rest.”
“You a millionaire?”
“I was that when I was twelve. Next question.”
“What would you like to own?”
“A boat like yours,” she said.
“Why don’t you?”
“Because they don’t make those antiques anymore.”
Mako grinned at her. “I had a hard time finding mine, and it’s not for sale.”
“Got a classy name, though.”
He grinned again. “Ah, yes, the Clamdip. Would you like to take a cruise on her?”
“I’d love it.”
“We don’t stop at any exotic ports of call, y’know.”
“So I won’t dress up. When can I go?”
“Tomorrow. We leave the dock at six in the morning. What would you like for breakfast?”
“Billy Bright will know.”
“Good. I’ll tell him to leave the eyes in.”
“Certainly,” she said, and he knew she meant it.
Chapter Eight
Mako watched the runabout disappear into the night, then turned and went to his house. While the coffee was perking on the stove he brought the transmitter out and made his contact; when the agency answered, he flipped the switch to scramble, identified himself and said, “Find out if Anthony Pallatzo operated inside the porn movie business. That would go back to at least twenty years ago.”
The operator on the other end replied, “Right, hold on.”
Only the faint hum of the generator was audible for a full ten minutes while a computer was busy scouring files, then the voice from the States said, “Got it. Tony Pell was active for six years, but nobody ever held him for anything. He was clean with Internal Revenue, none of the gals or guys they used ever laid a complaint on him and he just walked away from the business when it got too legal for him. There’s a reference here to his association with a legitimate California-based studio called Alberta Productions. Nothing further has been recorded. There is no death notice on him.”