Another Boat Trip

 

Chapter 18

ANOTHER BOAT TRIP

 

“What’s your speciality, Doctor?” Sonila asked after Irving introduced her to the doctor.

“I’m a gynaecologist.”

Mavis and Sonila stared at him as if he were a new wonder of the world. “D’you know, Doctor? I haven’t felt at all well since arriving here,” said Sonila. “I’m still not really right  and I want to go home.”

“What’s your problem?” the doctor asked.

Sonila took him to one side and said, “At the beginning of the holiday we went to an aquarium and it seemed to me that the water in one of the aquariums wasn’t murky but smoky.”

“What was inside the aquarium?”

“A type of sacred fish.”

“Very interesting. You mustn’t worry, it was nothing to get upset about.”

 “One day smoke came out of all the waste pipes in the hotel.”

“Yes, I know. There’s an explication for everything. There’s nothing that can’t be argued through logical means.”

“Thank you very much, Doctor. I feel much better.”

“By the way, don’t leave the hotel by yourself.”

“Of course not. Just one more thing, I’ve got some little fish scales that Camette and I found on the night that Irving was away.” She rummaged in her handbag and gave the little envelope where she kept the scales safe, to the doctor and he examined them.

“They’re not real. They have come from a fancy dress.”

“We found them on a flowerbed below where someone was passing from balcony to balcony.”

Camette arrived and looked at the doctor with hungry eyes, “Hello, Doctor, I see you haven’t lost time in getting yourself known.”

“Sonila has shown me the scales that the two of you found on the flowerbed .”

“Yes, we found them after the firework display. There was a man, or a woman, on the balconies.”

“Couldn’t you make out the sex?”

“It was too dark; the lights had been turned off for the firework display and they were still off when we saw the person jumping.”

“Was it the same night Irving went to visit that woman?”

“Yes, it was. On his clothes there are strange stains of an orange tone that look like rust.”

“It’s self-tanning. I’ve seen the stains, and Irving and I have commented on this matter.”

      

The following day the doctor decided to take a boat trip around the island’s coast. The group of tourists who were with him were from the same flight, so they were a perfect background so that he wouldn’t stand out as being somebody special. He wished to pass as unnoticed as possible. He had to protect Irving and Camette, who had stayed behind, arguing in the swimming pool.

The doctor’s binoculars had a very unusual enlargement capability, quite out of the ordinary. With them he was able to see with intense clarity the fish at the bottom of the sea, the rocks, and the plants. The excursion was to the north of the island where Irving and Camette had been followed by Filo and Curro in their van. It was hot and the tourists stripped off, revealing their swimwear, to sunbathe. The silence of the place made them drowsy and little by little they were dozing. The doctor thought that the effect of the heat was like a drug or a tranquilizer. He looked out of the corner of his eye at the man who managed the boat, it looked as if he were slowing down deliberately.

“My good man, everyone is having a nap.”

“Except you, sir,” the man said.

“They’re going to get very burnt in this sun, we must go faster so as to reach the shadow of the trees over there on the shoreline.”

The man didn’t like the doctor’s words, nor the tone of voice he had used. “I’m in charge here, sir.”

“I’m a doctor and if these people suffer from sunburns or sunstroke, later I’ll report you to whoever is in charge and you’ll lose your licence.”

“Well, Doctor, whatever you say.” The man recognised in Doom the voice of authority. The boat accelerated and went in the direction of where the doctor had pointed. It was just about then when some of the passengers began to wake up. The doctor returned to his peering through the binoculars. What caught his eye was a small but elegant launch that really had nothing in common with the island or the tourist boats. It was anchored in a little nook on the coast. He didn’t see anyone even though he  kept his eyes on it for several minutes, and then his patience was rewarded with the presence of two heads that had emerged from the sea alongside the launch. He didn’t know them. However, he wouldn’t forget their smiling faces when they took off their goggles and mouthpiece.

The excursion continued on its way, passing the area where Irving and Camette had visited the underwater cave. Now the whole group was awake and they were all taking photos. The sea was once again transparent so it wasn’t difficult to observe the timbers of the shipwreck. This caused great excitement on board and everyone wanted a photo of it. The cave couldn’t be seen from the boat as it was too well hidden behind the tropical vegetation. The rest of the excursion passed with nothing of any great interest happening.