An Admiral, a Fish... and an eye for the main chance!

In my latest novel, The Girl from Simon's Bay, one of the peripheral characters - although he wouldn't see it that way - is Piet Philander. Piet has a rough upbringing. His mother died when he was young, his father likes to drink and the family fishing boat leaks. But there's a bright spot: he is childhood friends with Louise Ahrendts who comes from a stable, loving home and one day - Piet hopes - she will agree to marry him.

As a teenager, Piet is short of money and he's drawn into a scheme to rob houses. He gets caught and is sent to a reformatory. So, you will be thinking, where does an Admiral fit into this? Spool forward a few years to the outbreak of the second World War. A supposedly-reformed Piet is awarded a contract to supply fish to the Royal Navy. He is overjoyed. He'd get to earn regular wages however much fish he chose to catch - their Lordships seemed uncommonly ignorant of the size of local catches and Piet was in no hurry to enlighten them. Maybe he will be able to keep up with Louise Ahrendts who by this time has become a nurse and is drifting away from Piet's orbit.

At first, Piet sticks to the rules but after a while he sees a chance to make a little more money on the side. What if he could profit from his fish twice over? First from the navy and then from private buyers? He could divert some of his catch to the Cape Town restaurants that had to stand in line behind the navy and the military. Piet's fish travel to the city by train, packed in ice. It wouldn't be too hard to mislay the odd crate amid the confusion of Cape Town railway station.
For while, the scam works but then he's discovered and hauled before the authorities. But Piet has a card or two up his sleeve: each week he personally delivers a gift of his best fish to Admiralty House for the Admiral's private table.
The Admiral knows me, sir. He likes my fish.
No-one else takes the trouble to bring him top fish. Free and gratis.
When the Quartermaster still threatens to expose him, Piet plays his final card.
When I give the Admiral his fish I'll be sure to tell him he only gets second-best fish - his Quartermaster gets the best!
The Quartermaster begins to retreat because Piet does, indeed, slip him the odd fish.
Then Piet adds something even more explosive, which will come back to haunt him.
I'll also tell the Admiral one of his officers is sleeping with a coloured nurse at the Royal Naval Hospital!
Oh, dear, Piet. You shouldn't have, you really shouldn't have...