Synopsis "The Helford Passage (in English)"
James David finds himself in a tiny hamlet in Cornwall, with the intention of spending two weeks gathering information for a book he is currently writing, while living aboard his small yacht. James then decides to extend his two week trip to three weeks when a chance meeting aboard a pleasure cruiser, early in the first week leads to a complex series of circumstances. During the second week of his stay there is an incident that results in damage to his boat. James has to take some temporary accommodation in Gweek while his boat is being repaired at the boatyard in Gweek. He realises, after some careful thought, that as his daughter has gone to University in Paris and his wife has gone off to visit her family in China, there isn't any desperate reason to rush home. James decides to make good use of this time in Cornwall and work on his book while awaiting repairs to the boat, and he must also deal with the unplanned distraction that will develop into a complicated plot. When they burst into the rooms below the house, Edward Bilbi was not there. The officers in helmets carried out a rapid search of the basement rooms but found nothing of interest. D.I. Cook stood in the main room looking around. James and Judith followed his gaze to an object in the centre of the table. It was a book. The book. Picking up the book, the detective noticed the front cover title, 'The Helford Passage', and sticking out from one edge there was a hand-written letter. The paper was acting as a bookmark. D.I. Cook lay down the book on the table so as not to lose the page and showed the letter to Judith. "Do you recognise this handwriting Mrs Berry?" "Yes, Mr Cook, it is Edward's writing". "Right, let's sit down at the table and read this letter, and even more important.... read the book". James and Judith pulled up a chair each while D.I. Cook sent his backup officers to their vehicle, which was positioned at the footpath that accessed the rear of the property. The other backup team was positioned at the entrance gate, to prevent anyone from entering or leaving by the main approach road. D.I. Cook also took a seat at the table and placed the letter in front of him. He began to read the letter out loud, as James and Judith listened closely. 'There is only one copy of this book. It is called 'The Helford Passage' by Edward D. Bilbi. This book has never been published, nor will it ever be published. I hope that you will enjoy reading this penultimate chapter, and please take your time to think about where all this is leading us. Try to imagine the four of us sitting here at this table. What would you ask of me now my friends? You will find the answers to all of your questions in Chapter Seventeen. ....... Edward.
