Six Days in June: The Havenport Murders

Sophie had to do quite a lot of convincing before I had consented to take this sunset cruise with her. I must admit to a phobia about boats stemming from a childhood incident with my father when we both nearly drowned. Over the years I had managed to sail on large cruise ships but still had a lingering hesitation about the smaller variety. However, since I trusted Tom’s ability as a sailor and the June evening was so perfect and the sea so calm, with a steely smile I followed Sophie into the boat. After donning life jackets, we cast off. As the sun began to descend and the gentle breezes ruffled my hair, I let out an expansive sigh and slowly began to relax and enjoy the experience. The coastline was transcendently beautiful. The rugged cliffs above us turned golden as the sun grew lower in the sky. We spied several caves that glistened mysteriously as we passed by. Tom maneuvered the lazy currents masterfully, and when he began to sing softly an old sea chantey in his pleasant baritone voice the scene became truly idyllic to me. As Sophie took out the bottle of champagne and three glasses she had tucked into her ever present tote bag, she suddenly shuddered, quickly looked up and squinting her eyes said, “Look, there’s a man watching us from that cliff in front of us. Is he holding something? I can’t see.” We all looked in that direction. I detected the figure Sophie had spotted, “My God, it looks like he’s pointing a rifle at us.” The sound was unbelievably loud and echoed and re-echoed around the cliffs as the bullet found its target.