Eager Beaver

Temple drove them from Starmouth to the riverside village of Topsham. It was and still is a quaint little place. In the 50s, many of the older houses still retained their Dutch windows overlooking the river. Eager did not live in any such luxury though. He rented an old barge that had been converted into a houseboat.

Temple parked the car just off the main street then he and Cantwell walked along a narrow cobbled lane leading to the river. A muddy slipway ran into the water and moored at its end were two old hulks. The furthest one was Eager's home.

They made their way rather gingerly across the deck of the first boat, then stepped via a worn gang-plank onto Eager's boat.

"Hello there!" Temple called. "Anyone on board?" They listened but there was no response. "Go below deck and see if he's there."

Cantwell hesitated when he peered into the hatch. He saw what looked like a black hole leading nowhere. What was worse, the steps leading into it were both steep and narrow.

"Well, go on, man, I'll take a look around the deck. He certainly didn't keep it ship-shape!"

Cantwell pondered whether to go down backwards or facing forwards. He tried the latter, holding onto the rail. He nearly fell headfirst into the hatch. Turning round, he careful stepped onto the top step and descended slowly.

The cabin was dark, even though it was a bright morning. A shard of light came through a hole in a tattered old curtain that hung across the porthole. He pulled the curtain back and a ray of strong sunlight penetrated the cabin.

A table and chair were directly in front of him. Behind them, on the far side of the cabin was a small bunk. On the bunk, snoring loudly, an empty whiskey bottle on the floor beside him, lay the semi-comatosed form of Eager Beaver.

"He's here, Gov!" Cantwell shouted up through the hatch.

Temple came down rapidly and peered round the cabin. Sniffing the air and grimacing, he pushed open the porthole.

"Out for the count, Gov." Cantwell stated rather obviously.

A bowl of scummy water and a jug stood on the cupboard next to the bunk. Temple dunked the jug in the water and dribbled drops over Eager's face. The effect was instant. Eager sat bolt upright and in the process hit his head hard on the topside of the bunk.

"What the fuck ..."

"Hello, Eager, sorry about the rude awakening." Temple said.

"What... what the ..." Eager rubbed his head then peered at Temple and Cantwell. "Who let you in?"

"Better here than at the station, Eager. Not so public here. No one to see us or hear us, as the song says. Really quite cosy."

Slowly, Eager swung his legs over the bunk. He reached down for the whiskey. Its emptiness brought a look of doom to his face. He rubbed his stubbly chin and groaned.

"You've had enough already, Eager." Cantwell said.

"Just one sip - just one then I'll be as right as rain. One of you must have a snifter with you." Eager's soulful brown eyes pleaded more than his words.

"See if there's any in one of his cupboards, Cantwell."

The first cupboard contained two tins of Heinz spaghetti and three tins of baked beans. In the second, there was a half empty bottle of gin.

"This do you?" Cantwell waved it towards Eager.

"It'll have to -No!" He gestured wildly at Cantwell, "Don't waste time getting a glass! Just gimme the bottle."

He grabbed shakily for it and swigged back its contents in one gulp. Coughing, spluttering and grimacing, Eager rubbed his arm across his mouth.

"God! That's better! What's it they say? A hair of the dog and all that." He belched, "Well, it's bloody true!"

"Great, Eager, so now you're ready to answer a few questions." Temple sat on a stool beside the bunk.

"What about 'aving a coffee. Not properly awake yet, am I?"

"When you've answered a few questions, then we'll see about the coffee." He nodded for Cantwell to sit down and take notes. "What did you mean, last night, about Redbourne being responsible for Ellacott's disappearance?"

"Don't recall, " Eager narrowed his eyes and peered into the air above their heads. "Don't recall anything about Redbourne."

"You told me he wasn't legit and was into race fixing." Cantwell hoped this would prompt him.

"I never did! I never said no such thing! And you can't say I did!"

"Calm down." Temple said. "We aren't questioning you formally. That's why we came to your boat. You'd want to help Ellacott, wouldn't you?"

Eager shrank back into the comfort of the bunk. He drew the moth-eaten blanket up to his chin: "It's not worth my skin. You two mayn't think much of the life here on my boat. But it's better than no life at all. And that's what I'd have if I snitched on Redbourne and Steele." He nodded at Cantwell. "Tom must've not heard me properly last night. Never was much good at listening was our Tom."

Temple sighed. He knew they wouldn't get anything out of Eager Beaver when he was in this state of mind. He gestured to Cantwell for him to leave. Then he also moved towards the hatch entrance.

"Okay Eager, we'll be leaving. You know how to get in touch with us. I advise you to think very carefully about where your real interests lie." Eager belched again and turned his head to the wall.