'Was that the name of the man wot fell overboard from Hval Ti?' Sunde asked, trying hard to cover up his nervousness.
'Yes,' Lovaas answered abruptly.
'Well, we weren't there, see. We didn't 'ear nuffink.'
Mrs Kielland patted Lovaas's arm. 'I'm sure Mr Sunde would have said at once if he'd been there, Kaptein Lovaas.'
Lovaas said nothing. He sat watching Sunde. The silence at the table became uncomfortable. Mrs Kielland said, 'It is so terrible. It is the first man we have lost at Bovaagen Hval. And so close to the station — it does not seem possible.'
'Is this the first man you've ever lost?' I asked Kielland.
He nodded. 'We have accidents, you know. Men cut themselves on flensing knives. And then we had a man's leg badly torn by the winches. But that is all at the factory. Never have we any accidents on the ships. This is the first.'
I looked across at Lovaas. 'But it's not your first, is it, Captain Lovaas?' I said.
'What do you mean?' His eyes flared with sudden anger.
'I seem to remember hearing that you killed a man once.'