Heart of Darkness pg 26-31

In these pages, Marlow meet Mr. Kutz.  Kutz is a very quiet and seemingly sneaky character.  He does not do much and does not make "to much noise", but the ship that Marlow had to command, is soon sunk as Mr. Kutz a boards, coincidence?  Further Kutz becomes ill and Marlow takes the time he has to get to know others such as the general manager, whom him and others for some reason seem to keep Marlow away from Kutz.