"Guy N. Smith - Night Of The Crabs 1 - Night of the Crabs" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Guy N)

It was scarcely nine o'clock when he backed the Cortina estate car out of the
garage. The petrol gauge showed that the tank was full. He could be in
Llanbedr by tea-time. The prospect of some kind of action was comforting and
his spirits soared as he finally left London behind him.

The hotel in Llanbedr was not an hotel as such. Few holiday makers were aware
of its existence and the friendly, widowed Mrs Jones preferred to keep it that
way. She had her regular guests who returned, year after year, and that was
how she wanted it.

'Goodness me!' she stood aghast as she recognised Cliff Davenport getting out
of his car. 'Professor! This is a surprise!'

'Hallo, Mum,' the professor greeted her. Cliff always called Mrs Jones 'Mum',
much to her delight.

'I'm sorry to arrive unannounced like this. It's urgent, though. Of course, if
you haven't any room I shan't grumble.'

'It'll have to be the attic-room,' Mrs Jones was slightly embarrassed. 'I've
got a full house, and if I'd known... '

'The attic will do fine,' Cliff assured her, lifting his suitcase out of the
car. 'I don't want to put you to any trouble.'

'I'll put the kettle on,' she declared as she went indoors ahead of him.

'Now, Mum.' Cliff sipped his tea thankfully, and regarded her with a pair of
steely-blue eyes, 'Tell me what you know about the missing bathers.'

'Nothing that the papers haven't already reported.' She busied herself with
laying the table. 'If folks will go swimming where there's dangerous
currents... '

'There aren't any dangerous currents of the South End of Shell Island,' Cliff
Davenport snapped, 'and they were both first-class swimmers.'

'How d'you know that?' Mrs Jones paused. 'It isn't that what's brought you
here, is it, Professor?'

'It is,' he replied. 'Ian Wright was my nephew, and the girl was his fianc├йe.'
'Oh!' Mrs Jones sat down suddenly on the nearest chair, 'I didn't know... oh,
I'm terribly sorry, Professor.'

'You weren't to know.' The Professor smiled wanly. 'But it's almost a week now
since they disappeared, and everybody seems to have abandoned the search,
content just to let the tide wash them up in its own time. Well, I'm not
satisfied that everything's just as it should be. I intend to poke around a
bit. I don't know what it is, but I've got a funny feeling that there's more
to this than meets the eye. I also know in my own mind that they're both