The Walls Have Ears

Chapter 6- Captain's Interview

0914 hrs | 26 hours after Theo is found dead, Saturday 11th June | On board Serenity, 820 miles NE of Hamilton, Bermuda

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"Oh no, it's a murder all right," Kieran proclaimed. "It's the perfect murder."

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"That's not entirely helpful Kieran," DI Hawkins gently scolded her colleague. "Let's keep looking. There's bound to be something in here that is noteworthy." The detectives followed Natalie's instructions and widened their search. Such was the urgency to find any potential evidence, they looked in areas that would have taken great efforts to reach. They searched, for example, behind the bedframe and even removed the plinth of the bathtub whilst all the while being careful not to interfere with any forensic evidence.

"I've found his phone," Patrick stated, holding the device up in the air for everyone to see.

"Where was it?" Dana quizzed.

"It was in one of the pockets of this," Detective Fowler continued, raising a black, leather jacket. The jacket was one of Theo's favourites. He regularly wore it during some of his downtime on the ship.

"Is it unlocked? Can you get into it?" Natalie asked. She could smell a potential lead.

"No, it's locked." Natalie sighed in frustration. She knew they weren't getting anywhere and were wasting their time. Without being able to take any forensic samples, the challenge of finding a suspect or suspects was exponentially more difficult. The four detectives were interrupted however by a knock on the door and the voice of Joseph Harris.

"Sorry to intrude officers," the captain said to Natalie as she opened the door into Theo's cabin. "I've just received a message from the Met Police Commissioner. Says he has some information to pass on to you all."

"That's great. Perfect timing," DI Hawkins smiled. "We will head up straight away." With the situation with regard to finding any clues in Theo's cabin seemingly hopeless, Natalie, Kieran, Patrick and Dana all made their way back up to the bridge. The former could see a black, wired phone laid upside down on the control panel. It looked terribly retro and out of place for such a modern ship but Natalie picked it up anyway, assuming it was left for her.

"Hello?" a gravelly voice mumbled on the other end. "Is this Detective Inspector Hawkins?"

"Yes, sir. It's me," Natalie responded, recognising the tone of Commissioner Parry.

"Ah, Natalie. Good to hear from you. Listen, I don't know how long this line is going to hold so I'm just going to get on with it. I've got some background information on Theo for you. He had recently turned 31 and has no known relationship or marital status and strangely enough we don't seem to have any next-of-kin for him on the system." Di Hawkins curiously raised a brow. "That certainly needs looking in to."

"Looking at his employment history and his tax returns, it doesn't look like he's been working in the cruise industry for too long- maybe a couple of years maximum. I'm no sailor but that definitely makes his position as first officer all the more curious. You might want to query that with the captain."

"Of course, sir. Do you know what he did for work before he started working on cruises?"

"Yes, well...not a lot by the looks of it. It seems like he worked in a few bars and clubs, but there is absolutely nothing even remotely related to cruising. It begs the question as to how he even got the gig in the first place. On paper, he certainly doesn't seem to have the experience."

"Noted, thank you sir. I'll chase that up now with the captain," DI Hawkins confirmed, putting the phone down as she turned to face her colleagues.

"What did he say?" Kieran enquired. "Anything interesting?"