I sat back trying to think it out. 'He might have some son of hold on Lovaas,' Dick suggested. 'It's clear Lovaas hasn't spent all his life catching whales.'
'Jorgensen is more likely than Dahler to have a hold on him,' I answered. 'We'll have a little chat with our friend when he comes back.'
It was over an hour before Dahler returned. And then we had to put him to bed. He was completely drunk. 'Aquavit on top of whisky,' Curtis said smelling his breath. 'We'll get nothing out of him for an hour or two.'
Back in the saloon Curtis said, 'Sunde is the man we want to see.'
I nodded. 'If anyone knows where Schreuder is, he does.'
'Would he have told Captain Lovaas, do you think?' Jill asked.
'No,' I replied. 'I don't think so.' I was thinking of the scene at the midday meal with Sunde nervously trying to avoid Lovaas's questions. 'And if Lovaas had known then he would have adopted a different attitude when he came on board this evening. Lovaas knows something. But it isn't the whereabouts of Schreuder.'
Curtis refilled his glass. 'The way I see it,' he said, 'Sunde could be made to talk.'
'How do you mean?' I asked.
'He wouldn't tell Lovaas anything at Bovaagen. He was safe there in the village. But if he returns here-' He looked at me significantly and raised his glass. 'After that little pep talk from Dahler, Lovaas will stop at nothing. He'll get hold of Sunde and wring the truth out of him somehow.'