This situation was tough as while I technically had the police on my side I couldn't let on to anyone who may be watching that this was the case. The boat was absent with a least one person if not two on board. Gunni's jumper was here which meant nothing more than the fact that her jumpers was here. It could have been taken from her anywhere, forcibly or otherwise. Was this a regular spot for Gunni and her part time paramours? The possibilities opened up more questions than answers and when that happens it is best to assume nothing. Fill in the wrong clue and the whole crossword goes pear shaped.
So first things first, thought I, holding the jumper up to the light. It was stretched but then it was stretched on the night that we met it was one of those sort of jumpers that those Beatnik types love so much. There were no holes aside from the usual. The jumper was a bit murky from the water but not too despoiled. Then it clicked, the jumper was not inside out. Had it been forcibly removed I figured it would be either partially or wholly inside out. Likewise if the jumper had been forcibly removed then what of other garments? A quick scout around and fish around in the water with a boat hook suggested that the jumper was the only mislaid garment, at least the only one mislaid here. I was coming to the conclusion that it had been removed by the owner.
Perhaps Gunni had brought a 'friend' here, or perhaps it was left as a sign that she had been here recently.
I was quickly jumping to conclusions in my head, conclusions that may be the wrong clues filling up my grid with red herrings. It was then that the boat house door swung open. One of the goons had come back. Recognising me he charged but I still had the boat hook, an unwieldy weapon but useful if you have the space. I kept the length of the boat hook between my assailant and myself. Pivoting on my bad foot still hurt but I was determined to get a win out of this one.
Everytime he tried to move around the hook end I moved to meet him, there was only so long that this could go on for. Then a nasty thought came into my head, surely my police escort would have seen the approach of this man and even expect the fight that would ensue. Anything I did could be called self defence…..
Lunging with the point on the end of the boat hook and in doing so jabbing its unhealthy barb into my opponent's leg. As he screamed I twisted my weapon and forced him nearer the water and with a vindictive shove he went over the edge and into the drink. I was tempted to hold him under for a bit but that was when my bodyguards arrived, just when I was beginning to enjoy myself.
The two plain clothed officers jostled their way through the door and quickly took in the scene. There in the gloom was I, leaning on my erstwhile prop. There in the water was my attacker. I quickly explained that this was one of the fellows who'd attacked me on the street and that Inspector Lehrmann would be wanting a word in his shell-like. It wasn't unlikely that there were more of these goons around but as one of the objectives of my being followed was to arrest and question the bad guys my police friends decided to take the wet felon back to the station. This was not so good for me as it meant that not only was I still injured I would now also be alone.
The jumper I retained, though I did explain its significance to the officers present, however I was without a bloodhound and even so my guess was that wherever Gunni had gone she had gone by boat.
It was time that I used my initiative a boat wouldn't be motorised at this time of night, it would be heard a mile away and picked up by the constabulary. However oars, or a punt, were not out of the unreasonable, they would also be comparatively slow. If I legged it fast enough and hadn't left it too late then it may be possible to catch the boat. This worked on the assumption that the boat had left that evening and fairly recently.
How wrong was I?
Two hours later I sat slumped by the Van Eyck statue looking down a long stretch of canal. Not only was my plan dreadful but I had also underestimated how much my poorly foot would slow me down. I was cold and I pain, my next action was quite a predictable one. I went to find a bar.
The only bars open at this time were the tourist traps on the main square but as I had a wage now I could afford the extortionate prices. The first one that I could find would do and so I stumbled in. Ordering a large whisky and Belgian Beer,
"That's in two glasses, if you please!"
You couldn't be too careful when ordering abroad.
At least this bar was well lit and had a few voices I could understand in it. Unlike Remy's bar I actually felt quite safe here and if anything were to happen at least there would be witnesses. It was long past the whisky chaser when a familiar voice asked if he could join me. It was Inspector Lehrmann, my heart sank.
"Fear not, Sean," he'd called me 'Sean' I noticed, a touch informal. " Relax I am off duty, this is my regular bar. I like drinking with tourists, they do not know that I am a policeman and I am tonight staunchly off duty. How's the foot?"
"Not bad, " said I, "considering I've just had to tango with one of the smuggler's goons at Burune's boathouse."
Lehrmann seemed surprised,
"Really?" he said, "I haven't heard about that yet, did your shadows save the day and make the arrest?"
Retelling the tale with a bit of poetic licence I informed the good Inspector of his officers late arrival and my heroic endeavours in apprehending a villain. There was something else to present to him.
"I also have this," I presented Gunni Burune's jumper to him. "It is the jumper that Gunni was wearing on the night that I met her. It was in the water at the boat house. Don't ask me why I didn't pass it on to the officers, they were very busy at the time."
"Sean, this is our first significant find and with the absent boat we may have something to work with. I shall make a call and the I will be really off duty. Get us both another drink while I'm gone." And in breaking the tradition of the great Inspectors of the age he left the exact money on the table. This was a unique policeman.