by Janina Woods
Watson jolted in surprise, which only made him back into the shelf and push a ledger over the edge. It landed on the wooden floorboards with a resounding thump.
“I can tell you that their names are James and Agatha Hill. A wedded couple from Glasgow. That much is apparent from the passenger manifest and the confirming statements of some crewmembers,” the captain explained.
“How did you know?” Watson asked me.
“I should’ve never let you people board my ship,” Fraser interjected. “My gut told me not to, but I obeyed orders. Now there’s two innocent people dead. Ah, don’t look at me like that. They ran an agency for governesses, for god’s sake! Who in their right mind would go to all the trouble and go after them on the ship?”
I appraised the captain once more. He wasn’t as limited in his thoughts as I had assumed. Although he did hold the highest rank on a reputable vessel, that really wasn’t conclusive evidence for anything. I had superiors with less brain capacity than a horse.
“Captain Fraser is right. Also they were left in a location that was easily discoverable, when the murderer could have just dumped them in the sea. It was a greater effort to arrange them in the lifeboat than to simply let them fall to their watery grave,” Victoria added. “So someone made sure we’d see the bodies...”
Then it hit me.
“Where is the woman that found them? The one that cried out?”
“I had the ship’s doctor accompany her to his rooms to give her a sedative,” the captain answered. “Why? Do you think...”
I turned immediately and forcefully pushed the door open. The wood hit a man behind it, who threw some curses after me, but I already turned my back on him. Now I was glad for my previously pointless exploration of the Aurora - because I was able to take the shortest route to the doctor’s office. I sprinted through the narrow service corridors and dodged the occasional crewman, strafed one of them with my elbow and left many more angry words behind me. With a last burst of speed I reached the doctor’s room at the other end of the ship.
The door was open. That wasn’t good at all. Still out of breath I stepped through the doorway, the pocket watch with the wire ready in my hand as it was the only weapon I carried with me at the moment. Careless, utterly careless, I chastised myself in my thoughts.
There was no noise and no movement. The place seemed deserted, even though a yellow light bathed the room in a warm, welcoming glow, indicating a human presence. Either the doctor had left or... I had no need to elaborate further, as my eyes fell onto a person lying behind a desk on the floor. Before I knelt down next to him, I surveyed the rest of the room and inspected all corners as to not be ambushed, but there was no one else present.
“Doctor?” I asked after I confirmed that his heart was still beating. “Doctor, can you hear me?”
After a few gentle shakes, the man blinked his way back into consciousness. Shortly after he winced in pain, and as he sat up I could see why. The back of his head sported a large wound. Blood dripped down through his greying, dirty blonde hair and onto the white shirt, staining the fabric a deep red. His glasses lay on the floorboards next to his legs, crushed as if someone had stepped on them. He tried to say something, but his words only emerged as a pained groan. I stashed my pocket watch and helped the man to lean against his desk.
“This probably feels worse than it actually is,” I explained to him, as he seemed to hear me despite the pain-induced daze in which he floated. “You’re going to be okay. Let me clean this up for you, while you tell me all about what happened.”
“My head is killing me,” he mumbled.
“I would hope not,” I heard Watson’s voice from the door. He paced over and did his own assessment of the damage. “I can take it from here.”
Grateful I backed up and focused on getting sensible information out of the victim. “Doctor...,” I paused for him to fill in the gap.
“Gains, sir. Albert Gains.”
“It’s good that he remembers his name,” Watson said.
“Dr. Gains. Do you recall what happened that made you end up on the floor?”
“Yes, I think so. I accompanied the woman to my office. The captain ordered it, but I would’ve done so anyway. After that dreadful find, you know, she seemed agitated and shaken. I can’t blame her. So I thought I’d give her a sedative to help her sleep, but...”
Gains held his head briefly and shook it like in denial, which elicited a short noise of annoyance from Watson, who had to pause in his cleaning efforts.
“I turned my back to retrieve the pills from the cabinet. You see, the one behind my desk? That’s where I keep the medicine, you know, where I can keep an eye on it. Then something hit me and I woke up with a terrible headache and you, sir, talking to me.”
“So it was the woman who hit you?” I asked.
“I couldn’t tell, sir. With my back turned and all,” his words didn’t come fluently, but there was no reason to doubt him. In my mind I cursed, but on the outside I bestowed a gentle smile onto the bleeding man, who had been injured through my inaction.
“Can you describe her, then?” I asked further, as I had only seen the woman from a distance. “Anything that struck you as odd, maybe?”
“She had long, brown hair. Wore normal evening attire... something in black and white. I couldn’t really say...”
“Her face?” Victoria added.
“Ah, she was crying all the time, shivering, you know? I had to practically carry her along. Kept her face down and in her hands, so I didn’t get a good look,” Gains shrugged and looked apologetic. “Was she of any importance?”
“Good man, it was probably she who struck you down!” Watson exclaimed.
“Me? Attacked and defeated by a woman? Preposterous!” The ship’s doctor laughed, but regretted his actions immediately as the motion agitated the wound on his skull.
“Not as preposterous as you might think,” I remarked with a glance at Victoria.
A little while later, Captain Fraser joined us in the doctor’s office, just as we put the man to rest on his own bed. Watson took care of his colleague dutifully, who drifted into a deep sleep as soon as his head touched the pillow, aided by a generous dose of sedatives.
“Now what happened here?” he asked wearily after he closed the door behind him. I quickly recounted the facts.
“...and I suspect the woman to be the culprit - or at least in league with them. She alerted everyone to the presence of the bodies while we were present and disappeared conveniently afterwards,” I closed my explanation.
“I can’t very well round up all female passengers on such a vague assumption,” Fraser sighed. ”What happened is bad enough. The reputation of the company, and my own, will suffer badly if I openly suspect all women of murder.”
“I won’t ask this of you. We will go with the original plan,” I assured him.
“How will an assembly help?” Watson asked.
“By bringing everyone together. I mentioned earlier that my plan is for the culprits to reveal themselves. We will achieve this by telling everyone the following words tomorrow night: The ship is to be searched from top to bottom, except the passenger cabins. We tell them that we’re sure that the murderer is a stowaway and everyone has to remain in their cabins, to be identified upon request.”
“That brings us no closer than we are now,” Victoria remarked.
“Don’t you see? The culprit has no place in a cabin - and if all of them are occupied, they won’t find one to hide in as soon as the passengers have settled. Though they could squeeze into somewhere before everyone returns to their quarters. Our cabin, for example, is large enough for someone to hide in a closet without us ever noticing. It would be an uncomfortable night, for sure, but still preferable to getting caught. Alternatively they might try to hide in the engine room or simila
r, but all of that doesn’t really matter. We will have crewmen positioned at all paths leading away from the deck - and whoever tries to leave early will be apprehended.”
“That might just work,” Watson nodded. “But what if it doesn’t?”
“We have one last bottleneck: As soon as the ship anchors in Alexandria, we can check every passenger against the manifest one last time. But I’d rather lay my hands on them as soon as possible.”
We all turned our heads to Captain Fraser, who held the ultimate decision. He let his gaze linger on Gains for a few seconds while he pondered the options, but I could see in his eyes that he had already decided.
“Let’s proceed as you suggested. The thought of a murderer running free on my ship is enough to induce nightmares. If we don’t catch them with your trick, I will order a search of the ship anyway, and include the cabins as well. It’ll take longer and put more people at risk, but I don’t see an alternative,” the captain leaned against the wall as he talked, as if he were tired of it all - which was probably more than true. “I can brief the crew in the morning, if you tell me what I should say.”
I admit that I was slightly surprised to achieve this level of cooperation so easily, as his initial demeanour had been rather icy. Still, I wasn’t about to complain.
We oversaw the transportation of the corpses into a room adjacent to the doctor’s office for an examination the next day, when we’d have the benefit of sunlight and not just a flimsy electrical bulb.
I slept uneasy that night and woke to a dull ache in my arm, which mirrored the anxiety I felt about another possible encounter with the strange powers that had accompanied us. But this time we had a plan, and bar any complications during the day, I was sure it would prove fruitful. I was determined to be one step ahead. It just had to work.
After breakfast in our cabins, we adjourned to Doctor Gains’ office to examine the Hills more closely. It wasn’t important to our plan, but Watson insisted on a contribution, so I let him have his fun. The bodies were no longer under rigor mortis, so he carefully lifted their limbs and examined any and all places that could’ve been hurt in a struggle - but there was nothing to find.
They clearly had been sedated and carried to the boat one by one. Agatha Hill first, her throat already slit when her husband was brought along after her. I pointed out that her nightgown was only partially sullied by blood on her back, whereas all of James Hill’s clothes were soaked, which meant he was put down after a sizable amount of the red liquid had time to collect in the bottom of the boat. A very sharp blade had been used. There was only one, deep incision. It was all that had been needed. The air supply was immediately cut off, which hindered the victim from screaming and thereby alerting anyone.
The examination brought no new clues. I had looked out for any... odd marks, but if there had been foul play, it wasn’t visible. Watson was irritated by the lack of evidence and Victoria shared his agitation despite my reassurances. They led me to the victims’ cabin to continue the search. I knew that Watson forced himself to keep going mainly out of denial. He blamed himself for leaving his room without permission and subsequently getting to know the couple who had then been killed - likely only because of the contact they had. He was determined to do everything in his power to contribute.
I indulged him this time. I knew all too well how he felt.
“Now I know there was no struggle,” Victoria mumbled as she entered the room behind me.
It had the same layout as my own cabin with a bed that’s just slightly too narrow, a low side-table, two chairs and a dressing table with a big mirror. What I could see of the luggage was neatly arranged on various surfaces, a stack of cases in the corner. The dressing table held a few commonplace items, but nothing more.
I didn’t need to be in the room. Nothing in this cabin would’ve made any difference to the plan we had to carry out. Sure, I could now tell you more about James Hill’s tendency to favour his left foot while walking or Agatha Hill’s unhealthy obsession with mint-flavoured candy, but that didn’t help me in any way. The course of action had already been clear, and all that was left was to fill in these boring details my brother called clues.
Still, I took pity on Watson, who did an admirable job of a proper investigation, and so I looked around the room for anything that might strike me as out of the ordinary. The couple wasn’t connected to us by any means other than their unfortunate encounter with Watson, so there was no reason to examine their personal items too closely.
“They were abducted in their sleep, right?” Victoria asked then and pointed at the bed.
Surrounded by orderly objects, the neatly made up bedding didn’t stand out at all - but it was clearly left like that intentionally. Why else would the murderer have bothered rearranging the cloth after they dragged the victims out of bed, if not to direct our attention to it? I felt a peculiar chill as my eyes fell on a little bump in the middle of the bed, cloth tenting just barely. It could’ve just been a coincidence, maybe the murderer just had a strange sense of humour, but something in me knew that wasn’t the case.
I raised the sheet carefully and laid my eyes on yet another clay figurine of the same type I had already seen twice. And underneath it another small ceramic plate.
“I’d like everyone to leave the room right now,” I said calmly, but with emphasis.
Victoria didn’t hesitate; she grabbed Watson by the arm immediately and pulled him out of the cabin into the hallway. We exchanged a glance, and after I gave her a subtle nod, she closed the door behind them despite Watson’s vocal protest. There was no warning feeling in my hand, but there hadn’t been for the last bomb either. This time I was prepared. Never say I don’t learn from my mistakes.
A thorough investigation of the bedding and frame revealed nothing out of the ordinary. But as I couldn’t move the cloth directly underneath the tile in fear of setting off another explosion, I wasn’t yet assured of my safety. From a small sewing set on the dressing table, which had evidently belonged to Agatha Hill, I pulled a length of string and fastened one end into a loop. I put it around the figurine and partially under the plate, then carefully stepped back until I had reached the door of the cabin and joined the others in the hallway.
With a protective layer of wood between me and the present that had been left for us, I pulled at the string to dislodge it. Where I had expected the roar of a localised storm to greet me just like in the church in Rome, there was only silence. While it was lucky to remain unscathed this time, I wasn’t too fond of this irregularity.
We entered the room together. The clay figurine had fallen over and the little ceramic tile turned on its face. I picked it up and found it painted with a simple picture of three circles that were crowned by a cross each. A religious symbol then? I had to find out more about the Desert Wind in Alexandria before I could be sure. Solemnly I handed the evidence to Watson.
“So there’s no doubt,” he stated.
“None at all.”
What are You Implying, Mycroft?
When Watson arrived on the deck that night, Victoria and I had already taken our respective places near two of the five main exits. Most people were still dressed for dinner, and I too was clad in a tuxedo for the occasion, as anything else would’ve made me stand out. Victoria had chosen a simple, but elegant dress in shades of aquamarine that still gave her enough freedom to run after our suspect. It was a nice change to see her in such a feminine attire, but I much preferred her wearing her agent’s uniform. It just felt right.
During the day, the captain had briefed all of his crew about the real goal of the evening. There was a chance that the culprit would find out about our plan this way, but it was slim and in no comparison to what we could gain. Under the pretense that the announcement was also meant for the working people, they would mingle with the passengers and monitor the passageways that we couldn’t cover. They k
new the ship much better than we ever could.
As the space filled up, the atmosphere grew nervous. People were anxious to be in such close contact with others, while the murderer was still at large. All through the day there had been fewer passengers in the common areas, and the ones that did venture out, stayed in groups of familiar faces. Everyone eyed everyone else suspiciously.
Victoria motioned for me to focus my attention on a lone man, leaning against a support beam. He seemed bored by the proceedings and didn’t share the nervous feelings of his fellow shipmates. But I shook my head. This wasn’t the person we were looking for - I could feel it in my gut. I saw the pianist close by, and he nodded a greeting at me, amicably despite everything.
The voices around me grew louder as we waited. Electric lights cast their yellow glow on our heads and were reflected in the sequins of many accessories, making the mass of people sparkle like the sea in the midday sun. A thick fog was building on the water and slowly rose upwards, as if the ocean extended its arms to embrace the ship.
“Ladies and gentlemen, fellow passengers on the Aurora, my crewmen. Thank you for attending this announcement regarding the incident that took place yesterday. Firstly, I would like to let you know that we are one day behind schedule, but will reach Alexandria on the day after tomorrow. As an apology, we will offer you the return journey to England at a reduced rate. Visit my office during the day tomorrow, and I will personally hand out the signed vouchers.”
There were appreciative murmurs among the people around me as Fraser mentioned the vouchers. He held the attention of all passengers on deck. I attentively searched the crowd for anyone who deviated from this pattern, but came up with nothing. My only hope was that my companions would be luckier as the most important part of the speech was still ahead.