boom's cousin-down here asking us all a few questions about his death.
Martin Bledsoe was introduced to me as the owner of the Pole Star Line, which included the ship the Lucella Wieser.Bledsoe sat down and joined us for lunch.
‘Sorry about your ship,Niels. What happened ?’
‘She ran into the wharf We’ll be investigating, of course.’
I asked Grafalk about his company. It was the oldest and the biggest on the Great Lakes, started in 1838. Grafalk became quite enthusiastic, telling me about some of the great ships.
‘Mr Grafalk’s a fantastic sailor,’ Phillips said. ‘He still sails his grandfather’s old yacht.’
‘what about the pole star line?’ I asked Bledsoe. ‘Is that an old family company?’
‘No. I started it myself, eight years ago,’ Bledsoe said. ‘Before that, I used to work for Niels.’
‘I felt deserted when you decided to compete with me,’ Grafalk said lightly. ‘By the way, I heard about the trouble on the Lucella.’
‘The damage was minor, but we don’t Know who put the water in the holds,’ Bledsoe said. ‘At least the ship itself wasn’t damaged.’
‘You do have two smaller ships, don’t you?’ Grafalk smiled at me. ‘We have sixty-three other ships to take the place of my damaged ship. My engineer made a mistake; it was an accident, not something deliberate.’
‘I did wonder if this was part of your programme to get rid of your smaller ships,’ Bledsoe said.
Grafalk dropped his fork. ‘We’re satisfied with the engineer’s explanation,’ he said. ‘I do hope you won’t have any further accidents, Martin.’
‘I hope so, too,’ Bledsoe said politely, picking up his wine glass.
Grafalk turned to me again. ‘Martin went to a tough school. That’s where he learned to be so self-controlled. Being from a wealthy family, I had an easier time.’
I heard glass shatter. I turned to stare at Bledsoe. He had crushed his wine glass in his hand and blood was pouring on to the tablecloth. As I jumped to my feet to send for a doctor, I saw Grafalk watching Bledsoe with a strange expression on his face, and I wondered why the two men disliked each other so much.