“I believe they deal in gift shops. Also weapons systems,” he said drily.
“And you know about the Armstrong Twins?”
“In a general sort of way,” he admitted. The tea came, and they spent several minutes performing the small rituals of pouring, parceling out sandwiches, tasting, complimenting.
“They are a tragic case,” Eddie said. “Or perhaps I should say tragic cases, plural.”
“Do you recall an old American surplus amphibious assault ship that foundered off the coast of Brazil a couple of years ago?”
“Oh hoh,” he said. A tiny sandwich hovered in his hand, forgotten.
“Eddie, it was a floating house of horrors. The Armstrong Twins were kidnapping people, often very young people, and using drugs and lobotomization and quite frankly Nazi techniques to . . .” She fell silent when she realized from his ex
pression that none of this was news to him.
Eddie sat back in his chair, and the cheery face was less cheery by several degrees. “I have heard rumors.”
“The hell,” Pia said hotly. “You knew?”
Eddie shrugged. “There isn’t a great deal that goes unknown on the high seas. If the Royal Navy doesn’t know it, the Americans do. In this case, we both had suspicions.”
“Eddie, don’t dance around on this, please. I’ve met and interviewed one of the survivors.”
That surprised him. “Have you?”
“She’s in Finland. And let me tell you that her story would give you nightmares. She lives in fear, surrounded by former Mossad and dogs and electrified fences.”
Eddie looked grim. “By the time we knew anything about it, it had sunk. There was nothing actionable.”
“Actionable?” She chewed on the word. “You’ve spent too much time with Americans.”
He laughed at that. “Oh, no question. I’d far rather be spending my free time with lovely and ageless Swedes.”
“Eddie, there’s another.”
“Another man? I’m shocked.”
“Another Doll Ship. That’s what she called it: the Doll Ship. It’s a human doll house for the Armstrong Twins. And there’s a second. A replacement for the one that sank. They are still at it.”
Eddie’s face darkened. His eyes went from interested to predatory. “Is there indeed? Do you have proof?”
“I have evidence. Circumstantial evidence. I need you to supply proof.” Pia sat forward and spilled a little tea in the process. “Eddie, they kidnapped a young Japanese American girl from Okinawa just a week ago. A fourteen-year-old child. The Doll Ship is near.”
She let that hang in the air. The wheels were turning in her friend’s head.
“The Albion has completed maneuvers with the Five Power Defense Arrangement and is steaming toward Hong Kong for a bit of a show….”
The admiral made a tiger shark smile that must have come down through generations of prize-seeking Royal Navy captains and a few privateers as well. His eyes were dreamy. He said, “I was just this very minute thinking that the Albion could do with a sudden, surprise inspection by a senior officer. Do the Americans know anything about this?”
She shook her head. “I came straight to you.”
“Better and better,” he said. “Do you have a description of this Doll Ship of yours?”
Pia nodded. “I believe it is a liquified natural gas carrier.”
The admiral opened his briefcase, an ancient leather object with far too many buckles. He pulled out a pad and began tapping away. “Yes,” he muttered.
“Yes what?”