We were running out of time - either the gangsters on the motor yacht were going to board Bandit and likely bash us on the head, or von Moyton would board and do the same. Maybe both would board at the same time and we'd be caught up in the middle, like some Errol Flynn pirate movie write small. I couldn't see how we were going to get out of this, and I turned to say as such to Henry. It was only then I discovered that Henry hadn't come out of the cabin yet. My first through was that he was being craven, and had left me to take the flak. I could hear clunks and bangs from below, so he was up to something. Von Moyton was yelling commands in german to the trawler's captain, and Brigham's motor yacht had begun to edge closer too. So - boarding it was.

I was about to put down the useless machine gun when out of the darkness a new voice cut across the water. This is the point where 'Fruity' Smith and his Flying Squad chums caught up with us all, his launch creeping up quietly until it was only yards from Bandit's stern. I was moments away from my second close shave with death at sea. All it took was Henry to bring it that little bit closer.

As Smith, with the use of a megaphone, began telling us all we were under arrest, I heard Henry clambering up the ladder. Turning, I saw him wild-eyed, staring about at the three boats surrounding us, before reaching behind him to lift a long, heavy object up out of the cabin. Only when Henry hefted the rocket launcher onto his shoulder did I realise what it was he intended to do.

"No, you fool!" I yelled, as Henry aimed at the nearest vessel - which happened to be the motor launch astern of us. I was stood between Henry and the target he was aiming for - I don't think he really knew I was there to be honest - and realised with mounting horror that Henry was going to pull the trigger. Throwing the machine gun away from me, I leaped quickly aside, out of the way. I tripped on the cockpit coaming, and as I fell headlong overboard into the sea, I heard the whoosh! of the rocket as it fired. I hit the water and a fraction of a second later there was a massive thump which forced all the air out of my lungs, and everything lit up.

When my head broke the surface, I saw 'Fruity' Smith's motor launch turning and picking up speed, a large hole in its bow. The skipper must have reacted in shock, as the launch seemed out of control, bows afire, passing just feet from where I was flailing in the water before slamming into the side of von Moyton's trawler with a splintering crash. Men jumped into the sea from both vessels as they quickly began to sink. I looked at Bandit, wondering if Henry had noticed me falling overboard. In the light of the fire from the burning launch, I saw Henry emerging once more from below, a second rocket launcher in hand. This time Henry aimed at Brigham's motor yacht, it's white paint reflecting the fire and making it an easy target.

Seeing what was about to happen, men began to throw themselves off. When he fired, the rocket hit the It Pays amidships, blasting a hole which instantly allowed water to flood inside, causing it to capsize in seconds. The sea seemed to be full of men swimming away from the burning, sinking wrecks surrounding Bandit, and all of them coming towards the safety of the yacht. I moved quickly, calling out to Henry as I swam as fast as I could towards him.

I was just a few feet from the yacht when something heavy splashed into the water inches from my face. I drew back and looked up to see Henry heaving another object over the side. It was a box, and as Henry threw it overboard, it tumbled, spilling its load of little gold bars into the sea as it fell. Another box followed, then another. I could hear splashes from behind me too, as the men from the sinking vessels came closer. In the dark, they couldn't possibly see what Henry was doing. Whether he meant to or not, Henry was taking what was probably the best course of action one could under the circumstances - getting rid of the evidence.

"Henry, help me up! Quick!" Henry stopped his work and looked over the side.

"How did you get there?" he asked, with singular lack of awareness of what had gone on in front of his face.

"Never mind. Just give me a hand!" Henry reached down and grasped my arm, and with a bit of scrabbling, hauled me back on board the Bandit. I stood shivering for a second, then grabbed another of the boxes Henry had brought up and threw it over the side. Henry watched me with an expression of sadness and defeat etched all over his face, then bent down to pick up the last box. He hesitated a moment, running his hand over the box almost lovingly.

"You have to get rid of it Henry, We can't be caught with it on board."

Henry nodded, never taking his eyes off the box. He looked like a man broken, and appeared to be accepting his fate as circumstances moved well beyond his control. I had a shrewd idea what else was going through his mind, too. "You have to let her go too, you know. It won't do to dwell on the past. Please Henry, throw it overboard."

With a final nod of acceptance, Henry dropped the last box over the side. "Good," I said. "Now the weapons too, everything we can get our hands on."

We worked furiously to dump the cache of weapons overboard, but it wasn't enough. The guns had gone, but the yacht was still full of contraband liquor when the first person to reach the Bandit from the surrounding wrecks hauled themselves onto the deck. It was 'Fruity' Smith, followed quickly by two of his fellow policemen. Others followed, cops and crooks alike, and soon the yacht was covered in men dripping wet and gasping. Von Moyton was slumped by the mast, completely done in by the unexpected swim. 'Mad Dog' Brigham stood glowering on the bows, two flying squad officers brandishing truncheons keeping him apart from his crew, who were themselves eyeing warily von Moyton's bedraggled cronies and the remaining policemen.

"Well," said Smith, giving myself, Henry, von Moyton and Brigham a particularly cold, furious stare, "It gives me great pleasure gentlemen, to tell you all that you're under arrest."