‘What’s his name?’ Phillip asked.
The fisherman shrugged. ‘Nobody asks any questions. Someone did once and got roughed up when they left the tavern. It was a warning to us all not to ask questions.’
Oliver and Phillip shared a look. ‘Is that his boat or do you think he has purloined it from someone?’
‘I don’t know. He isn’t the kind of man you ask questions of, that’s all I know. He gets nasty. The only good thing about him is that he keeps himself to himself.’
‘Does he bring a catch in every now and then?’ Oliver asked.
‘I haven’t ever seen him bring anything ashore,’ the fisherman replied. ‘But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t take catches to other harbours. He does take the boat out to sea every now and then but what he does when he is out there is anybody’s guess.’
‘Do you think he is a fisherman?’ Phillip prodded.
The man gave him a wry look. ‘He doesn’t go out often enough. I don’t know of anybody who can live without bringing in even one catch.’
‘Have you seen any thugs hanging around here of late?’
‘Yes. They have been unsettling the villagers because they are armed and make no attempt to hide it,’ the man replied, eyeing their guns once more.
‘Have you ever seen them with him?’ Oliver nodded to The Starling.
‘He challenged them when they started to hang around the harbour. I think he was worried that they might work for the magistrate or something,’ the fisherman replied.
‘Has anybody contacted the magistrate about him? Has this Albert reported the man to the magistrate?’
‘Albert didn’t want to worry the man because he lives alone and doesn’t want any trouble. He would prefer to just be left to go about his business. Albert just accepted that his spot had gone. He is moored over on the other side over there now.’ The man pointed to a small blue fishing boat sitting beside a larger vessel.
Oliver and Phillip looked at the fisherman when he said: ‘I get the feeling that The Starling will disappear one day just as suddenly as it arrived. He isn’t any serious fisherman, just a young thug pretending to be one of us so he can keep a boat here.’
‘Have you seen him talking to anyone else? Maybe having a meeting with someone in the tavern?’
‘You had best ask at the tavern owner about that,’ the fisherman replied. He turned to look at his boat meaningfully as if to remind them that he had work to do.
Oliver thanked the man and allowed him to return to his vessel. Once he was on board, and far enough away so he couldn’t hear what was said, Oliver he turned to Phillip, Jasper and Callum. ‘Let’s go and see if the tavern owner is up and about yet. I want to know where our missing skipper is staying. If he isn’t at the tavern, and doesn’t sleep on his vessel, he has to have a room in the village.’
Together, the men made their way around the harbour to the small tavern nestled in the farthest corner tucked away between two houses. An upstairs window was shoved open and a disgruntled man leaned out to scowl menacingly down at them when Oliver knocked on the front door.
‘What do you want?’ The tavern owner growled with a heavy scowl.
‘A word with you,’ Oliver called. ‘We are from the War Office. Open up.’
The man muttered something but banged the window closed. Minutes later, the bolts on the door were slammed back and the door yanked open. ‘I haven’t seen you with the magistrate before.’
‘We work with the War Office,’ Phillip corrected. ‘Can we come in?’
‘Well, the door is open isn’t it?’ the burly man snorted before disappearing into the darkened depths of the tavern.
‘Do you rent rooms?’
‘My family live upstairs,’ the man replied.
‘Is there an inn in the area that might rent rooms to a passing traveller?’ Phillip asked.
‘Aye, there is one up on the main road; the Dog and Duck.’
‘I understand you have had some trouble with the skipper of the new boat that appeared a while back: The Starling.’
Phillip’s brows lifted when the inn keeper’s face suddenly darkened, and his lip curled in a derisive sneer.