Free Death Surge by Pauline Rowson Page A

check if Johnnie had been in touch with any of them.
    His mobile rang. It was Harriet Eames.
    ‘Johnnie Oslow was here in July,’ she announced without preamble. ‘He was working on-board
Calista
.’
    ‘You’ve spoken to Andreadis?’ Horton asked surprised.
    ‘Yes.’
    Then why hadn’t he returned Horton’s call? Because
he
wasn’t a personal friend. And perhaps he didn’t think he needed to now.
    Eames continued: ‘Xander returned to Sardinia on
Calista
on the eighteenth of July with Johnnie on-board. He had business to get back to and couldn’t make Cowes Week. The
Medussa
and its team, minus Xander, aren’t at Cowes either now. After the Cowes to St Malo race they left for St Tropez. They’re competing in Les Voiles de St Tropez in September and Xander is joining them there.’
    That didn’t surprise Horton. St Tropez, on the French Riviera, was famous for its millionaires.
    ‘Why didn’t Johnnie race on the
Medussa
?’
    ‘He’s not used to racing on that class of yacht.’
    But Horton recalled what Andreadis had said about it being time to broaden Johnnie’s experience. Then why not let him crew on the
Medussa
?
    ‘So sending him back to Cowes just three weeks after he’d left was a last-minute decision.’
    ‘Not necessarily,’ she answered – slightly cagily, he thought.
    But it sounded as though Andreadis had had some doubts about Masefield. Again he considered whether a young man of twenty-three was the right person to send to check that out, and again he doubted it.
    He said, ‘Find out if Johnnie went ashore while on
Calista
and if so where he went and with whom.’ Clearly, it hadn’t been to see his mother. ‘Unless you’re too busy racing. I was forgetting you’re meant to be on holiday.’ He knew she would hear the scepticism in his voice and wondered how she would react.
    ‘I said I wanted to help,’ she answered lightly enough, but he thought he detected tension.
    ‘Good. Then as you have access to Andreadis, and probably his skipper, see if you can find out if Johnnie ever confided in anyone. Was he close to anyone in particular? Did he have any girlfriends? What was his mood like recently?’
    ‘Right.’
    The crispness of her response made him wonder if she was gritting her teeth, biting back the response that she knew how to do her job. Before she could ring off he quickly added, ‘Did Andreadis give Masefield Johnnie’s mobile number?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘You asked?’ he said, surprised.
    ‘No, Xander said you had left a message asking him that.’
    ‘Why didn’t he give Masefield the number?’
    ‘He probably didn’t think of it. And I’m not sure that Nat, Xander’s skipper, or Sophia, his secretary, know Scott Masefield. I’ll check,’ she hastily added before he could instruct her to do so.
    She rang off. He tried ringing Andreadis’s number but again got his voicemail. So how come Eames had got through when he couldn’t? Had her timing just been luck? Or perhaps she had access to another number for the tycoon – one that was very private, only used by close friends and family.
    He joined Cantelli in CID. ‘Anything?’
    Cantelli shook his head.
    Horton took the seat at the opposite desk. ‘Did you know that Johnnie was here in July?’ Clearly not, judging by the sergeant’s expression. Horton relayed what he’d just learnt.
    Frowning as he considered this, Cantelli said, ‘I don’t think he contacted Isabella but I can ask her. He certainly didn’t visit her, otherwise she would have told me.’
    ‘Leave it for now. We don’t want to add to her worries. Johnnie might simply have been too busy to see his mother. He was working.’
    But Horton was getting the distinct impression that Johnnie had been avoiding making contact with his family. Why?
    His office phone was ringing. He hesitated about answering it in case the desk clerk had spotted his Harley in the car park and was now summoning him to investigate a new crime. DC Walters was duty