by Matt Lincoln
“Oh good! You’re here.” He sounded relieved and weak. He had his curly brown hair pulled back, and there was a mask on his face, as though he’d been helping to perform some kind of surgery. I was more than a bit surprised to see him here. Xavier looked a little pale as I looked him over, and I got the momentary idea that he was about to pass out.
“What’s going on?” I moved inside and quickly closed the door behind me, locking it back up. “Was there a party that no one invited me to?”
“No, no, nothing like that.” Xavier comforted me with his words. He removed his mask and sighed deeply. “Doc said that he needed some help this morning, so I volunteered. And then Doc called George because of something he’d found, and we needed some equipment, so George just stopped by, and now he’s helping us, too.”
“Keeping the ring of conspirators small, I see,” I replied sarcastically. I wasn’t overly upset, but this was going to complicate things. Bringing on extra people always did. I stared toward the back end of the building, where Doc’s moving van was blocking all the views and keeping the examinations private and hidden.
“Doc, George,” I called out, “I’m headed your way.” I didn’t want to surprise them in case they were doing something quite delicate. Even on a dead body, mistakes could be made.
“Do please come along,” George’s voice rang out from behind the van. “We’re just finishing up here on Mr. Mondragon.”
Once I got there, I could see what they’d been up to. Doc and George were both working on the First mate and engineer, Jimmy Mondragon. They had closed up the wounds on his corpse, cleaned the body, and made it look as presentable as anyone could.
Just from my non-expert opinion, they had done a good job, all things considered. “Wow. That’s certainly an improvement.” I got a little closer, but I didn’t want to look or act nosey and rude about it. “Are all of them going to look like this when you’re done?”
“We can only hope.” This was the first time Doc had spoken, as he looked up at me and managed a smile. “I know that I should have called you before I brought George in, but I found something extraordinary, and I couldn’t wait to move on it.” He waited for me to acknowledge this before he continued. Once I nodded, he spoke again. “Captain Farrars was wearing a ring of no great value, but it did have a setting in it. And I was able to see upon closer inspection that he had punched or scraped someone before he was killed. Now, it could be himself or another of the crew, but I’m hoping that it might have been the person that shot them. If that’s the case, then maybe the Captain fought back and collected some DNA for us.”
“That’s a pretty far out gamble and theory there, Doc.” I glanced over at George, still wondering how he was now involved. He must have seen my reactions because he then bowed his head slightly and picked up the story.
“Yes, well, I happen to have a portable centrifuge for his needs,” George informed me. “And now that we’ve accumulated all the samples for the fatalities, we’ll be able to ascertain if there was possibly an alternative person on board that ship.” George stated this with all the inevitability of an inspector general.
I thought about this for a second. “Okay, I get the why, and now, sort of the how. But are we really looking at someone else somehow getting onboard and shooting the crew and the passenger but leaving behind the valuables?” That seemed very farfetched to me. I was skeptical, to say the least.
“Well, I haven’t worked that part out just yet.” Doc cleared his throat and avoided my eyes. “But these five men didn’t shoot themselves. I know that. And I can’t find any proof that one or two of them shot all the others and then somehow turned the gun on himself.”
I had to give him that. The crime scene just wasn’t reading that way to me, either. “So, then I guess, this is as good of a theory as any other. Alright, let’s move on that.”
They went over everything with me that they had been able to find with their cursory tests about the bodies. All were shot at close range, most likely from something like the 9mm that had been responsible for Declan Speirs’ death. The captain’s knee had been blown out, but other than that, the fatal gunshot wounds were the only injuries most of them had.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this yet. And I still couldn’t piece together why the Hester would have gone down the way it did or why the only valuable items on the whole boat, the case of prehistoric statuettes, were still there and had been left untouched. Something didn’t add up. And the only logical explanation would seem to be that someone was hiding something, or that we weren’t being given the whole story.
“Does anyone else think that maybe there was more to or on the Hester than we were originally told about?” I directed this at Xavier simply because he had studied the case file so diligently.
“I have been over all the information that Claude Speirs gave us, Header,” Xavier commented with a shrug. “I’ve triple-checked it, and I couldn’t find anything that would explain these turns of events. And for the record, Claude has been very forthcoming when I’ve questioned him about new developments and problems when they've arisen.”
“So then, maybe it wasn’t Claude that was behind it.” I didn’t like speaking ill of the dead, but there was still a mystery here to figure out, and our list of those liable was quite thin. “Let’s speculate here a little.” I looked over at both Doc and George to engage them in this. “Maybe one of the crew was doing something on the side that they shouldn’t have been. As far as Claude knew, only his brother and the inheritance were on that boat, but there’s no telling what could have been loaded or shipped back under the radar.”
Doc nodded but then cocked his head as if in thought. “You’re implying that the crew, one or all of them, were doing something… not entirely legal? That is always a possibility, I suppose. But we don’t have any evidence to imply that, either.”
“I am aware of that,” I admitted, “and I’m also aware that guesses and ideas are all that we can go on until we check out the Hester a little more in-depth.” We all already knew that we weren’t quite done with our time down on the Hester.
“Then the best that we can do is have a lot of theories and slowly whittle them down until there are no other possibilities than the actual truth,” Xavier said with a coy grin curling onto his lips. “We’re going to be like Sherlock Holmes or Perry Mason, aren’t we?”
George raised his eyebrows at Xavier. “While I am delighted to see that your knowledge includes the standards of deduction reasoning, I think it best to stay away from such lofty goals in fictitious crime-solving.”
“He’s right,” I added. “Until we know what’s been in play here, let’s just be careful and practical about how far we go.” I liked Xavier’s enthusiasm, but I didn’t want any of us to get carried away. Not yet anyway. I turned my attention back to George. “How long until you can get some kind of readings from your DNA tests on the crew?”
George looked thoughtful and sighed. “I’m going to first test them against the sample from the captain’s ring. This should tell you if there was another person on that ship besides the crew and the Speirs fellow. If that matches any of the five individuals that you know about, then that should at least narrow down your register of theories.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” I interjected quickly.
But George wasn’t finished. “For that basic assessment, I’ll need three days at the most. Now, to identify each person to the singular ring sample, it could take seven to ten days for a higher percentile match. That’s if we do everything correctly, which I promise you that I will.”
I nodded and accepted his word on the matter. “That’s good enough for me. Thanks. Okay, so then, Doc, was that the only thing you needed to tell me?” Not that this wasn’t important, I just had been assuming that there was more to his urgent message.
“Oh, well, he’s done, but I have some interesting news to share,” Xavier piped in as he pulled out his cell from his back pocket. “Hold on, let me get a
hold of Rosa. She couldn’t be here right now, but she needs to know what I’ve found out about the statuettes.” I sort of gave him a sideways look and then motioned toward George. Xavier shook his head as he dialed up the last member of our team. “It might involve Verity’s case, so he’s better off hearing this too.”
That satisfied me as I heard a click from Xavier’s phone, meaning that Rosa was present and able to respond back by text.
He raised his voice so that all of us would be able to hear him speak. “I have been going over some less than legal sites that deal in prehistoric artifacts because frankly, the legal ones are almost always museums. And I’ve been able to identify some statuettes with that catalog that was in the case with them.”
“That’s good to know,” Doc nodded as he paused with his medical work to listen to Xavier.
“Yeah, so most of the Speirs figurines fall into two groups: one is the Venus, which are usually fertility icons, and the other are of the true anthropomorphic variety,” he described. “Those take a basic human and give it animalistic features and attributes, and vice versa. Think mermaids and minotaurs and that sort of creature. Pretty common paleo-historical art types.”
“Are they valuable, or is this more of a family heirloom kind of inheritance that we’re dealing with here?” I clearly wasn’t up on all the details of art valuation and history.
“Both, I guess.” Xavier shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, under the right circumstances and with the right kind of buyers, they could be worth some money. But this collection is very diverse, spanning most of the known continents and prehistoric focal points. Most collectors try to focus on one type, or area, or even time frame. That’s not the case so far from what I’ve seen with these.”
Xavier looked at George. “It would really be useful to have Verity or someone who knows about these things to look at them and give me a better idea about them.”
“I will ask her about that,” he assured us. “She could use the distraction from her current setting, if at all possible. But I don’t know how much she should be doing if these items were the ones that were coming into the shop a few weeks ago.” George gave me a wry grin and nodded. “Yes, I picked up on that too, but she did not. I think she might be too preoccupied with other matters to have seen the connection.”
I nodded in return. Verity’s preoccupation was understandable. “Is there any way that we can really verify that? Like, a note or a name that they used to start to process?” I was really hoping that there was.
He shook his head regretfully. “No, sadly, I don’t think Verity could get anything like that for you. All the records have been seized by the FBI. And her workplace has been locked down. She’s temporarily moved back in with me. That attack at their place of business rattled her dramatically.” He sighed but was trying to keep a smile on his face even now. “We’re expecting a briefing on the continuation of the case in the coming days. That’s what Eve had told me. Perhaps then there will be more information for you about your own operation.”
I liked George’s optimism about all of this, but I didn’t share it. “We’ll have to wait and see.” I turned back to Xavier and his cell. “Rosa? Are you getting all of this, and Xavier, where do you go from here then?”
Xavier nodded down at his phone as Rosa’s confirmation text came through, and then he looked back up at me. “I’m trying to track down who the Speirs family inherited them from and who had them originally. I know that the aunt they inherited these from was named Polly Systland, but I want to go further back than that. I want to find out how and when, and where she got them. If I can track that down, I can find out who curated them first and maybe get a better listing.” His tone dropped down, and Xavier seemed worried now as he spoke about this. “I’m running into brick walls on the inheritance end prior to Mrs. Systland, though. The Speirs file doesn’t mention names before her, and while I have been going through the Liverpool connection, there’s just so much there.”
George cleared his throat and raised a few fingers to get our attention. “Forgive me, but why don’t you simply ask the man who this was received from? I have known the direct approach to be the best and swiftest, has it not?”
Xavier started to speak up, but I got to it first, unintentionally speaking over him. “Normally, I’d say yeah. But we have a problem with that.” I shook my head. “We were only supposed to retrieve the bodies and items from a wreckage. There was never any mention of murder, foul play, nothing like that. And we’ve been trying to get some government authorities to take it over, but they’re all ignoring us. We’ve discussed this, and, well, I think we’re the only ones willing to work this case.”
“As for Claude Speirs,” Doc took over our explanations, “we at least wanted to have evidence and proof of this foul play, if there was any. And now, with these five bodies, we have it. But we’re still no closer to knowing why or who.” Doc looked back into the freezer where the bodies lay. “We’d like to offer some closure to the whole matter, for our client’s sake.”
“Just so all of you do know,” Xavier threw out quickly, “I have been keeping him informed, loosely, I guess you could say. Nothing too detailed, as I’ve said before, but I have been staying in contact with him. It seemed wrong not to.”
“Well, that is justification, but not the finest one I have encountered.” George sounded dismayed at our plan, but I wasn’t too worried about it. I had faith that my team would be able to solve this morbid mystery, return all the crewmen to their families, and satisfy the mission.
I took this time to round up the team and let them know what the next step was. “Rosa, Doc, Xavier? Let’s meet up tomorrow morning and start the search of the Hester now that we’ve retrieved all that we needed to. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can turn some of those theories into motivations.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Xavier smirked and gave me a salute that wouldn’t have fooled anybody.
“Eight o’clock, per usual?” Doc inquired. That gave him time to drop Zaid off at his primary school and reach the marina in that stretch without having to rush too hard.
“Yep. Rosa? That good for you still?” I looked to Xavier, who was watching his cell for her response.
“She says yes. And I third the motion.” He grinned and ended the call with her.
“Alright then, I’ll see you all then. Except for you, George. Thanks for all your help with this. It’s appreciated.” I wanted to acknowledge that he was a valued wing supporter, and that I didn’t take him for granted.
I smiled and showed myself out of the locker warehouse and back into the daylight outside. I had made sure to lock the door from the inside, and I was pleased to see that I wasn’t able to get back inside. At least this location was a secure one. And that was a small thing that I was grateful for.
23
Jake
I got to the marina and had Wraith ready to go by seven-thirty. I had been anxious all night to get back out there and to begin the deep search of the Hester without having to take down the harnesses and straps to bring up the deceased crew. Today’s divers could be split up to cover more ground and get an idea of what had really gone on down there.
Rosa arrived in her customary braided hair, cargo jeans, and black tank. She was looking as ready to get out there as I was, and I loved her zeal for this kind of challenge.
It’s your call, she signed as she climbed on board and made her way toward me, but I think that we should have all three of us in the water, exploring as much as we can today. The weather looks better than it has in days and we should really take advantage of it, don’t you think? She was already thinking ahead as she took her place in the first mate’s chair.
“No, I totally agree with you,” I replied enthusiastically. “We need to hit the engine room, the bridge, and the galley first off. Those are all on three different decks, and there’s no telling if the bridge is even accessible.” I had noticed the weather, too, and I wasn’t about to waste this chance. �
�I’m all for using the weather to our benefit and searching all that we can while we can.”
Rosa nodded. Is Xavier confident enough to man Wraith alone, do you think? I know you wouldn’t leave him if you thought otherwise, but the last talk that we had… Rosa’s words stopped, and she looked unhappy for having signed it at all.
I reassured her otherwise. “He and I had a little talk the other day, and he’s ready and willing to take on more. Today’s situation might be a good way to test him out. For us, and for himself.” I was inclined to get him the opportunity, anyway.
Alright, then. I’ll leave it alone. Good thing, too, as the moment Rosa stopped signing, Xavier’s head popped around the corner of the bridge. He, too, had dressed to be mission-ready in shorts and an oversized black tee-shirt with some kind of emblem on it.
“Morning!” He sounded excited to be back here, too. “I bought coffees and breakfast, but I think that the muffins got a bit squished on the ride over. Sorry. I thought I’d put my laptop on the floor of the backseat. It looks like I didn’t.”
Xavier’s left hand held one of those beverage to-go containers with the hot, steaming goodness seeping from the top of it. Under his left arm was his trusty laptop and in the right hand was a brightly colored bag that carried a heavenly aroma.
“I smell papaya and melon. You went by Norman’s bakery, didn’t you?” I wanted to embrace Xavier right here and now. The food was that good.
“I did. I got the ‘morning blend’ of coffee from there, too. Marcia told me that you liked it a lot.” Xavier smiled as he proudly handed me the goods.
Norman and Marcia were kind of like my, or the marina’s, next-door neighbors. Lael ate breakfast from there every morning, and on the days when I was early getting here, he’d always grab me something new to snack on. But the papaya and melon coffee cake were by far the best thing they had to offer that I’d tried so far. I was sure I hadn’t gotten through all of their menu offerings yet, but I planned to do so. Someday.
