Page 10 of Murder in Portofino

I shook my head. ‘I’m afraid I don’t know the man’s name, but I think I know how you can locate him.’

He dropped his pen onto his notebook again and gave a little snort. ‘You don’t know his name…’ There was a pause while he collected himself before continuing. ‘If you don’t know his name, what makes you think this is the same person?’

Seeing him looking sceptical, I tried again. ‘He’s part of a group of British tourists. I saw them in Lucca on Friday night and I’ve seen some of the group on a yacht moored off Portofino this morning – and I do know the name of the yacht. Like I say, I don’t know the man’s name, but I’m sure I could recognise him again. Alternatively, it should be a simple matter for you to send somebody out to the yacht to check whether they’re missing a one-eyed man or not.’

He gave a heartfelt sigh – not dissimilar to the sort of noise Oscar makes when he knows he’s got to wait until I’ve finished eating before he gets his food. ‘All right, thank you. Please let me have the name of the vessel and I’ll get somebody to look into it.’

I gave him the name, Regal Princess, and saw him duly write it down. To my surprise, he then closed his notebook with a snap and stood up. ‘Thank you, Signor Armestronga, I’ll get somebody to look into it.’

I was genuinely amazed. ‘You don’t want to take a statement from me?’

‘No, we have your contact details. If we need to speak to you again, we know how to reach you. Besides, this is a matter for the Coastguard or Carabinieri. I’ll pass the information on to them.’

Two minutes later, I was standing outside on the pavement under the blue and white Polizia sign feeling bewildered and vaguely annoyed. I thought back on the sergeant’s final words to me and slowly began to realise what the problem might be. Presumably, his branch of the Italian law-enforcement service didn’t have primary jurisdiction in this case. I remembered what my friend Virgilio had told me. As the body had been found at sea, the investigation would have been initiated by the Coastguard and, from what the sergeant had said, it sounded as though they were working in collaboration with the Carabinieri, rather than the Polizia. The Carabinieri carry out a very similar investigative and enforcement role to the police although they are in fact originally a part of the Italian military. Talk about complicated…

As I crossed the road and walked back to where Anna and Oscar were waiting, I found myself seriously doubting whether this information would even be passed on. The sergeant certainly hadn’t looked particularly interested and if, as I had always suspected, there was a certain amount of competition between the different forces, it was quite possible that he just wouldn’t bother. When I got back to the table where Anna was sitting, she must have worked out from my expression that all wasn’t well.

‘Trouble?’

I recounted the less than warm reception I had received from the sergeant and Anna gave me a little smile. ‘What did you expect at lunchtime on a Sunday? I’m surprised the police station was even open.’ She pointed to a glass of beer on the table in front of her. ‘Sit down and have a drink. I got you that. It’s alcohol-free beer in case you’re thinking of driving anywhere this afternoon.’

I took a very welcome mouthful and reflected on my next move. In fact, it didn’t take long. I wiped the froth off my lip and looked across at her. ‘I think I need to go back over to Portofino to speak to the Coastguard.’ Seeing a look of thinly veiled exasperation on her face, I did my best to explain. ‘It won’t take long, but I need to pass on this information to the people directly involved with the investigation. You get that, don’t you?’

She gave me a resigned smile. ‘I get it, Dan. The detective inside you won’t let you rest until somebody takes you seriously. So does this mean you’re going straight down to the ferry now?’

I noticed her use of the singular pronoun ‘you’, rather than ‘we’, and I took the hint. ‘I won’t be away long. Why don’t you have a walk around town with Oscar or go on the beach or maybe just go back to the hotel and have a lie-down?’

She glanced down at Oscar, who was sprawled under the table with his tongue hanging out. ‘I think I’ll have a sandwich here and then he and I can go back to the hotel. I’ll give him his lunch and then we’ll both have a lie-down. The room should be nice and cool and, if not, I can always put on the air con. You go off and do what you feel you have to do.’

I drained my glass and stood up. Oscar didn’t even bother moving, obviously far too weary – or maybe he’d heard Anna say ‘lunch’. I gave Anna a quick peck on the cheek. ‘I won’t be long, I promise, but you know how it is. I feel I’ve just got to speak to somebody about this.’

A long-suffering expression appeared on her face. ‘I know how it is, Dan, believe me, I know.’

I only just managed to find a seat on the ferry, which was packed, and I had no doubt that Portofino would be heaving with people. When we got there, I was relieved to see the Regal Princess still moored at the mouth of the bay, but the crowds on the quayside were every bit as bad as I had feared. The good news, however, was that I recognised a figure in a blue and white uniform at the far end of the quay by the fishing boats, so I filed off the boat and struggled through the mass of humanity along the dockside towards the young Guardia Costiera officer I had seen before. He was looking stressed and I didn’t blame him.

‘Good afternoon, Officer, could you spare me a minute or two?’

‘Just a few seconds, I’m afraid, as we’re in the middle of a murder investigation.’ Unlike the police sergeant in Rapallo, he was at least doing his best to be polite.

‘It’s about that. Have you been able to identify the body yet? If not, I think I might know who he was.’

It was clear that I had immediately got his attention. ‘That would be very helpful indeed, Signor…?’

I gave him one of my cards and I saw him study it before looking up at me. ‘You’re a private investigator? Can I ask what your interest in this affair is?’

I shook my head. ‘None whatsoever. I’m here on holiday with my girlfriend, but I just happened to overhear a conversation when we were in Lucca on Friday night that might have a bearing on this case.’ Seeing his obvious interest, I gave him a quick summary of what I’d heard on Friday night and my fear that the body in the water might turn out to be the big man I had seen in the restaurant with Susie Upton. He listened intently without interrupting until I reached the end of my tale and at that point, he nodded a couple of times.

‘That’s very interesting indeed, Signor Armstrong, but you have no idea of the identity of the two men you overheard?’

‘Unfortunately, no, but I’m reasonably sure that they came from the noisy group in the private dining room.’

‘Do you think you would recognise their voices again?’

I’d been wondering that myself. ‘I’m not sure. Neither of the voices were very distinctive but, you never know, it might be possible. Of course, I might be completely wrong and the one-eyed man I saw might be having his breakfast on the yacht out there at this very moment, but I thought it was worth letting you know. What are you thinking of doing? Presumably you have to speak to your boss now.’

‘Ideally, yes, but he went off to Milan yesterday evening and he’s on the early morning plane to South Africa for a conference as we speak. We still haven’t been able to contact him. Even if he decides to come straight back, the earliest we can expect him is late tomorrow or even the next day.’

‘Is there a risk that the yacht will leave before then?’

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