The Eye of Horus, Excerpt Three: On the Steamer
Monique knew it was about a two-hour crossing to Stranraer. It was a beautiful day with crystal clear light and very warm temperatures that reminded her of Malta.
She and Katerina went out onto the promenade deck to watch the Princess Margaret leave the harbour at Larne. The ship had become busier as the departure time approached and there were quite a few passengers out on deck. Many were men in uniform, and most of them were officers. There were a few other women on board. Some were in uniform while others, like some mainly older men, were in civilian clothes. One older woman was travelling with three well-behaved young girls. Monique guessed they might be her granddaughters. She wondered if the mix was any different in the steerage class accommodation.
Monique had seen both Michael Dixon and Inspector Boyle a couple of times since boarding but both were doing a good job of being unobtrusive. Michael was currently leaning on a railing on the harbour side of the vessel and smoking a cigarette.
‘That breeze is welcome,’ said Katerina.
‘It is. I’m thinking that these uniforms might not have been such a good idea for another reason,’ said Monique.
‘I agree. No one else is removing their uniform tunics so I suppose we need to keep ours on too.’
‘Have you seen anyone who looks like he could be Edward Daly?’ asked Monique.
‘Too many, if I’m honest. Not knowing what colour uniform he might be wearing is a real drawback. If you add the thought that Edward might have changed the colour of his hair or stuck on a moustache or beard then a lot of the men we’ve seen are possibilities. Some are too tall or too short. Others are obviously too young, which would be difficult to fake. I did start by discounting men who weren’t on their own before realising that if I were in his shoes I’d strike up a conversation with someone else on their own, just so I didn’t appear to be.’
‘I agree with you, though that is a disheartening conclusion,’ said Monique. ‘Perhaps our best hope is that Mr Daly has decided to hide in a cabin and is discovered there. Let’s do a slow tour of the ship, covering the outside and inside spaces.’
Their exploration of the steamer did nothing to change their initial view. No one stood out as behaving suspiciously and a significant proportion of the passengers could have been the Cuttlefish in disguise. Monique realised that Katerina had been hoping that she’d immediately see through any disguise that Edward Daly might wear and that she was beginning to accept it might not be as simple as that.
After two rounds of the first-class areas of the vessel, they decided to extend their exploration of the steamer to the steerage accommodation. This was accessed by crossing a gangway between the front part of the superstructure and the rear, over an area of open deck with a large cargo hatch.
Despite the efforts of the ship’s designers to keep the two classes of passengers entirely separated, Monique found the differences were not as great as she had expected. The steerage areas were less plush than the first-class areas. They were also busier and had more enlisted personnel and many fewer officers. More civilians were travelling steerage class, including several women with children. On the whole, though, she didn’t think she and Katerina stood out as obviously as she had feared they might.
Having slowly toured the rear of the vessel and stopped for a cup of tea in the steerage class saloon, they crossed back over the gangway linking the two parts of the superstructure just as the steamer passed a lighthouse off to its right.
‘I think that’s Scotland,’ said Monique. ‘We’re running out of time.’
‘How long have we got?’ asked Katerina as they strolled back along the side of the promenade deck.
‘Hello, here’s Michael,’ said Monique. He was leaning on the railing looking out to the shoreline they were now running parallel to.
‘Hello, ladies. If anyone’s watching, what could be more natural than a dashing naval officer chatting to two beautiful WAAF officers?’
He looked around. Monique had already decided there wasn't anyone else within hearing.
‘Katerina was asking how much time we’ve got before we arrive in Stranraer,’ said Monique.
‘We’ve just entered the mouth of Loch Ryan. The ship will slow down in a moment to pass through the defensive boom intended to prevent enemy surface vessels or submarines from getting in. Stranraer is at the southern end of the loch so we’ve still got a little time. How’s it going?’
‘Not well,’ said Katerina. ‘I was convinced I’d know him immediately, but there are so many men on board who might be him.’
‘That’s not ideal,’ said Michael. ‘I can add to our problems that fact that the search teams have had no joy finding the Cuttlefish hiding in a cabin, or in crew accommodation for that matter, which they’ve also searched.’
‘It’s looking as if we’ll need to have everyone cleared by Katerina after the steamer docks in Stranraer,’ said Monique. ‘That’s going to be a slow process and we’ll need to make sure there’s only one gangway operating.’
‘What worries me is that he might have concealed himself in a locker or rope store in the hope he can emerge later tonight and leave the ship,’ said Michael. ‘That suggests we will need to conduct a thorough search if we can’t find him in any other way, which could take days to do properly.’
‘And that’s before we consider the possibility that he might be on a fishing boat bound for France or Norway,’ said Katerina. ‘I told you that the Abwehr believed he would try to come to Scotland, and that’s also what I think. But if he did give up on his mission once he was compromised, we are wasting our time.’
Monique and Katerina continued their stroll around the first-class areas of the steamer but other than affording Monique good views of RAF Wig Bay on one side and the impressively large port at Cairnryan on the other, this achieved nothing.
As the Princess Margaret neared Stranraer, Monique saw Michael Dixon and Inspector Boyle in conversation on the promenade deck and went with Katerina to join them. To her mind, the need to agree on what they should do when the ship berthed was greater than the need to keep up the appearance that they were innocent travellers.
When they finished talking, Michael went to find the ship's radio room.
The steamer pier extended out at an angle into Loch Ryan from the east end of the town of Stranraer. There was a ship already berthed on the far or eastern side. The line of approach of the steamer made it obvious that the captain of the Princess Margaret intended to moor on the right-hand or western side of the pier, the side nearest to the town.
Although at first sight long and narrow, it became clear as they neared that the pier was wide enough to accommodate the substantial, corrugated-roofed shed of what the inspector said was Stranraer Harbour railway station, plus open areas to service the steamers on either side of it.
Monique listened as an announcement was made over the ship’s tannoy asking all passengers to remain where they were and await instructions from the ship’s crew before disembarking.
Monique’s mouth felt dry as the ship came alongside the pier and was tied up, separated from the pier by wooden fenders like those she’d seen at Larne. Several cars were parked by the near wall of the railway station and she could see Bob and Major Malinovsky standing some distance apart beside two of them. Four policemen were on the quayside and she could see two more by the entrance to the railway station. She wondered what proportion of the total resources of the Wigtownshire Constabulary they represented and hoped that this wasn't all going to be in vain.