"Howdy."

"Hello, Wyatt."

Barbara heard the strain in Tommy's voice. She tried to sound friendlier. "Hiya. How are you?"

"We're fine an' dandy, thank yer ma'am. What y'all doin' sittin' here? Madison and me are headin' on up to that ole lookout. We sure would be happy fer y'all to join us."

"Thanks, Wyatt, but Tommy has a dodgy knee. We're just going to sit here for a while and rest, then stroll back to the ship."

"Okie dokie. We'll see y'all at dinner."

"Bye." Barbara forced herself to smile. They waved as they watched the Americans walk down the path and turn towards the lookout. They were unmissable with Wyatt still in his safari outfit and his wife in a pink puffer jacket with lime green ski pants.

"Thank you," Tommy said as he put his arm around her. "This dodgy knee of mine, which one is it?"

"Your choice. Do they serve meals in our cabin?"

"Unfortunately not. Maybe we need a table for two."

"I almost expected him to have a gunslinger belt and revolvers. And maybe be chewin' on straw."

"Please, Barbara. No mimicking, you sound too much like him. Any movement from Schweindeiner?"

"Not yet. I guess we just have to wait."

It was nearly an hour before the Landcruiser's engine started with a throaty roar. Heavily laden, it bounced low over the dirt track. Tommy stood and took out his phone as if to take a photo of the icebergs in the bay. Passing within about 30 yards, he was able to take a few shots of the vehicle below them. As it turned towards the ship, they quickly reviewed his photos. Through the windows, Tommy had captured glimpses of labels on the boxes.

"Can you make anything out?" Barbara asked.

Tommy slid his fingers apart on the screen to enlarge it. "Looks like... is that the biological hazard symbol?"

"Where? Yeah, I think so. That has to be it. There are words there too."

"S... P... O... R... can't read that one... S."

Barbara frowned. "Sports? Maybe they disguise it as sports goods?"

"Possible but unlikely I would have thought... Spores! That would make sense."

"Yeah, coat things in deadly spores then movement stirs it up, people breathe them in and whammo."

"Whammo? You've been listening to Wyatt far too much young lady."

"Could be worse."

Tommy raised one eyebrow. "Dare I ask how?"

"You could have called me old girl. Come on, we have to get back to the ship."

Tommy watched the crew unload the ribs as he stood at the stern railing. From where he was leaning he could just see the plastic boxes strapped down under a green tarpaulin.

"Did you want your hat?"

He smiled as Barbara found him and took his arm. "No, I'm fine."

"I can take over if you need to get ready. You've been here in the wind for too long. I hope you don't catch a cold."

After they returned from shore, they had watched the ribs bobbing around in the harbour. One had made three trips to a small beach about 500 yards from the wharf. Although Schweindeiner had been nowhere in sight, three boxes had come out to the ship and been craned aboard and roped down next to the ones from the fjord. Barbara was shivering, so Tommy had volunteered to take watch.

"I'm not cold. We can't watch all night though. I think it is safe to say that the boxes are destined for somewhere else."

Barbara nodded as she picked some fluff off his shirt. She left her hand resting on his chest. "Yeah. Ilulissat maybe?"

"Most likely." Tommy wrapped his arms around her. "We dock there at nine in the morning, so we have time for breakfast and then come up here."

"What are you thinking?"

"I think they will unload them onto the ribs again. The question is where will they take them. Possibly they will transfer them to another boat, but they might fly them out. I think the nerve agent came from the fjord and then, as you said, they mix it with the spores to provide a means to disseminate it effectively. The question is, do they mix them here and ship the final product, or do they ship the components?"

"Makes sense. I intend to phone Winston in the morning. It's too dangerous from here."

"I agree. There are several tours tomorrow so most people will be busy. We should be able to find a quiet spot. We should think about going down to dinner. I might have a shower. Care to join me?"

"In the shower? Together?"

He grinned at her. "That was the idea, yes. Nice warm water flowing over us. I could wash your back and your..."

"Tommy!"

He took her hand. "So that's a no?"

"I didn't say that."

Tommy yawned. The evening was turning into an anticlimax after their shower had turned rather hot and steamy. If they had not needed to eat, he would have happily snuggled in bed. Determined to avoid the Texan problem, he slipped the waiter money to ensure Wyatt and Madison 'met other guests'. Volker and Kati had seemingly decided not to take any chances either and had secured a table for two, so Tommy and Barbara sat with a Canadian couple and two older women from Edinburgh who were obsessed with cats.

"He's lovely," Barbara told the older woman politely as she looked at yet another photograph of one of her cats.

"Well, Darling, we should go to bed. We have a busy day exploring Ilulissat tomorrow."

Barbara looked at him with a mix of anger and relief. "Yes, Darling, we should."

They said goodnight to the table. She pushed his hand away when he reached for it. "What's wrong?" he asked when they were alone in the corridor.

"Think about it."

He did as they walked silently back to their cabin, but he was still at a loss. "Barbara, I am sorry I have upset you, but I don't understand what I did."

She looked at him and sighed. "Don't worry about it. It's just me being stupid."

He took a step towards her. "But I might do it again if I don't know."

She looked down. "Please don't call me darling."

"Oh... okay. Why?"

Barbara looked up and glared at him. "I'm not her."

"Oh..." It clicked into place. "I would never compare you."

"I know. I said I was being stupid... I don't expect to take her place, but..."

Tommy chanced to pull her into his arms. "I love you, and I want to marry you as soon as I can. I can't change the past, Barbara. I made mistakes. I had loved Helen as a friend for many years, and our marriage was complicated by expectations. I pushed her into it for the wrong reasons. But with you, it's different. We need to be together. Everything else will fall into place."

"Will it?"

"Yes. I have known since Yorkshire that I need you to balance me. I should have realised what that meant then, and not tried to have you and a wife. I'm sorry. I have changed. I don't care about expectations or titles or anything else. I just want to be happy and to make you happy."

Barbara began to hug him back. "You do."

"Then nothing else matters or can't be resolved. Now, come to bed. I have a feeling tomorrow will be tiring."

Barbara woke and glanced at the clock. It was just before six. Despite Tommy's warning about needing sleep, they had stayed awake talking through their fears and had ended up making love very gently and slowly. It was a complete contrast to their earlier eager, almost desperate but highly satisfying encounters. Barbara had finally let Tommy in behind the last of her barricades, and their bodies had expressed a unity of their souls.

Tommy stirred in her arms. "Is it morning?"

"Nearly six."

He sighed. "I want to stay here, like this, forever."

"Yeah, but we have criminals to catch."

"Maybe we should resign."

"Now? We can't."

"No, after this case." He leant up in his elbow and pushed some hair behind her ear. "We agreed last night that we want to start a family, and that's not compatible with our work."

"Maybe we already have."

"Huh?" Barbara watched a grin spread across his face as he remembered. "We forgot the whales. I'm sorry."

"You look it. I didn't forget, Tommy. I chose not to mention it and spoil the moment."

His hand moved down her body to rest on her abdomen. "Any child born from last night would be... blessed, and so would we."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"We'll resign."

"Thank you. We won't regret it. And the other benefit is that I won't have to have the seal, walrus, whale discussion with any more shopkeepers."

"I might not be..."

"I know. But I can't change that if whales intervene." Tommy started to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking of that movie about that whale?"

"Moby Dick?"

"No, Free Willie."

"Thomas Lyn..." Her laughing admonishment was lost in his kiss.

The narrow entrance to Ilulissat harbour was surrounded by a low ridge of the now familiar folds of grey gneiss. On the high side, a fuel depot towered over the entrance. The tanks lacked the neat rows of Western tank farms. Each grey cylinder seemed plonked by a crazy giant too lazy to level the land. Small craft with noisy engines revved near the entrance as they waited their turn to go in or out.

Tommy and Barbara were on the last boat ashore. They had waited until the boxes had been loaded onto ribs on the opposite side of the ship to the passenger transports. As they bobbed in the water, they watched as the German passengers, almost all dressed in a uniform of thick coats, shorts and boots with knee-high black socks, and hiking sticks, formed into orderly lines ready for their trek to the glacier. A smaller group of English-speaking walkers gathered more haphazardly around a small woman who seemed to be trying to take their names.

Barbara pointed. "There's Madison. I wonder where Wyatt is?"

"I don't know."

"Or care?"

"Does it show? I thought Kati and Volker would be hiking, but they're not with the group."

"Maybe they are going by themselves."

"Probably. If we hang around the marina, we have the best chance of seeing if Schweindeiner comes ashore. Can you see those boxes?"

"Yeah, about 200 yards behind us. Looks like they are coming ashore here too."

"Good. Any decent observation spot we can use that won't arouse suspicion?"

Barbara checked her map. "The bridge crosses the river and has a good view of the harbour according to this."

"Okay. We'll slowly head up there."

They stopped on a hilly outcrop overlooking a small dam so that Barbara could ring Winston. Tommy stood guard, waving and smiling at the hikers as they passed while Barbara hunched over her phone out of sight behind the rock.

"Any news?" he asked as she emerged.

"None. I told him about the spores. He's getting it checked out. I said we would ring again before we leave this afternoon."

"Okay. Not much more we can do."

Barbara took his hand. "I know it's frustrating, but we can't arrest anyone until we are sure a crime has been committed."

"I know," he said with a heavy sigh. "Let's see if we can find that evidence."

They sauntered up the road towards the concrete bridge. Being high, it provided a great view into the harbour. Tommy made Barbara stand at the railing while he took photos. He took two of her in case they needed to show anyone, then took a series of shots focussing on the small red boat that the boxes were being offloaded onto.

"Do we try to follow the boxes?" Barbara asked.

"Not sure how we can without looking obvious. I was sure they would go to the airport. Any ideas what they're up to?"

"No good."

"Thank you Inspector Obvious."

"Look. Pigman is not going with the boat. He's coming up the hill."

"Let's slowly start walking into town. Let him pass us, then we can follow him."

Barbara looked up at him. "Do you think that's a good idea? It might be obvious, especially if he leaves the town. It's only two streets."

"It's the only idea I have, Barbara. I'm open to suggestions."

She inhaled then exhaled slowly then looked at Schweindeiner rapidly approaching. She tugged his hand. "We have no choice."