“I believe nothing you say. Nothing. You dare call me insufferable!” I stopped and checked myself. “Tell me what happened that day you went sailing. That Saturday before my cousin was murdered.”

She winced. “You mustn’t say that, Vic. It was an accident. Niels assured me it was an accident and the police believe so, too.”

“Yes, well, tell me about the sailing trip. Mattingly was there, right? And Phillips. Grafalk, of course. What was the purpose? Why did you drag Boom Boom up for that?”

“Mattingly wasn’t there, Vic. I keep telling you I don’t know him. You accuse me of being unfeeling, but I’m not. When I told Niels that Boom Boom had—gotten close to the truth on the invoices, he wanted Clayton to get rid of him on the spot. But I told him not to.” She lifted her chin and looked at me proudly. “We went up there to see if Niels could persuade Boom Boom to see things their way. On Saturday it looked as though he might. But the next Monday he had a terrible argument with Clayton over the matter, and Niels said it was no use trying to talk to him, in fact that we’d better do something before Boom Boom called Argus. But then—then he slipped and fell and that ended the matter. I was so relieved. I was terrified Niels might do something dreadful.”

It was my turn to be speechless. I couldn’t find words that matched my horror and my anger. Finally I choked, “You tried to bribe Boom Boom and he didn’t live that way. You vermin just couldn’t understand that. You gave him a chance to be corrupted and he refused to take it … What about the water in the holds of the Lucella? What did that have to do with Clayton and Niels?”

She looked blank. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The Lucella couldn’t take on a load of grain because someone had poured water into her holds. Boom Boom was going to talk to the captain about it before he called Argus … Never mind. What about Clayton? Were you with Niels Sunday morning when he put a big hole in the side of Clayton’s head?”

She looked at me with gentle reproof. “I don’t think you should talk to me like that, Vic. You may not approve of my relations with Niels, but he is my lover.”

I gave a crack of manic laughter. “Me not approve! Christ, Paige, you’re a whole separate universe. Why should I give a damn about you and Grafalk? It’s what the two of you did to my cousin that I care about. That’s what makes your relationship stink.”