Reprisal Read Online Free PDF

--Mrs. Reed. For this whole county. It's an elective post, same as some mainland sheriffs. And I have not had this job, haven't kept this job for over twenty years, by being careless."
    "I didn't say your people had been careless. I said I'm not satisfied. Frank never--and I mean never--sailed without a life jacket on. He's ... he sailed since he was a little boy, and he always wore a life jacket. He never allowed anyone to sail with him unless they wore one. He was a fanatic on that; he taught boating safety for the squadron when he lived down in Gloucester."
    Joanna felt herself getting out of breath, hurrying to say her say. "--And also, Frank sailed all his life and he never just fell off a boat--much less fell off a boat in good weather on a calm sea!"
    Carl Early sat and looked at Joanna, an old man examining a woman who might have been his daughter. He sat for almost a minute without saying anything--a silence that must have been useful dealing with lobster-pot thieves and misbehaving tourists. ... Useful dealing with bereaved women, too. Joanna was surprised to find she wished her father had stayed after the service and come out to Asconsett again, at least for a few days. The chief constable would have found Louis a tougher article to handle--a surly old French-Canadian, a retired lawyer, and unimpressed by handsome blue Anglo eyes.
    "--So, that's why I don't believe it." Wrong thing to say. Chief Early made a patient face, must have heard other women say they didn't believe it. "I do
    ... I can believe Frank--just once, just once--didn't wear a life jacket. I can believe he once, just this once, fell off his boat on a calm sea. But I can't believe he did both those things." Early's face still set in weary patience. "--ally didn't know him. If you'd known Frank, you'd know it couldn't have happened like that!"
    A sigh. "Well, if it didn't happen like that, Mrs. Reed--then how do you think it did happen? Your husband was found a mile off Little Shell, and he'd drowned and he didn't have a preserver on. His boat was found beached and busted, drifted way down the coast."
    "I don't know. But not like that. Not that kind of accident."
    The constable surprised Joanna by reaching across his desk--reached over, his hand held out. Joanna didn't know what to do, it was so odd. It was embarrassing, too embarrassing not to take his hand. He had a strong dry grip, a politician's grip.
    "Now, Mrs. Reed, you listen to me. I worked on lobster boats, fishing boats, all the time I grew up and years after that. I still go out. I've been a seaman and known seamen all my life." He released her hand, sat back in his chair. "--I sailed from the time I was a little kid, everything there was to sail, and I can still run anything that floats, and that's a fact. And I can tell you as a fact that when a man is out by himself --especially, especially if he's sailed for a long time and never had any trouble--I can tell you that a man will sometimes take things easy, let things go a little, not bother getting into a jacket. It's just simple human nature." The handsome head nodded agreement with itself.
    "--.I've done it, and I've seen a lot of drowned people and I know better. But I've still done it. What a man tells his wife he does when his wife and kids are with him--is not exactly what he does when he's out there on his own. And that's a fact."
    "Chief. ... All right. So, Frank--who never sailed without a life jacket on, no matter what you say--decided to do that. And then he just happened to fall off his boat--another thing that never happened before."
    "--And that's exactly right, Mrs. Reed. What you just said is exactly right.
    Your husband made a mistake--and then there was an accident. And just that way is how men are drowned at sea. That's all it takes, and I've seen it many times. Things that might happen on land--a mistake, and then some dumb accident right after that--you get away with it. But not at sea." The chief shook his head. His