Infinite Loop

Chapter 9 Finding Murder

Swiftly, he went down the ladder as silently as his leather shoes would allow. At the bottom, Warren paused again when he saw movement on the other side of the platform. A door opened and closed near the bow of the ship. Then, he heard whistling as one of the ship's crew came out of the crew berths. There were indistinct patterns of light and shadow which revealed a closed hatch leading to the hold where to the ship's cargo.

Crouching down behind the cover, Warren waited until he saw the faint outline of a man walking around the bow area. The glow of the man's cigarette made it easy to follow his patch. Carefully watching the figure walk across the ship to the port side, Warren suddenly realized he had no idea which hatch to use. He pulled the metal penlight out and held it out while trying to keep the light partially shielded with his other hand. He discovered a series of letters and numbers painted on the cargo hold just a couple of feet away.

Extinguishing the light, he crept to the next hatch. Stopping several times at any perceived sounds, he continued to glance at the cigarette glow coming from the sailor across the deck. Crossing over to the other side of the steel hatch, Warren found the next cargo number, which made no sense either. The disappointment crossed his face. It would not be obvious where he would find his luggage using the numbers from his ticket.

Then, Warren heard the faint echo of metal striking metal. Instinctively ducking behind the hatch, he gradually lifted his head to glimpse the sailor walking back from the port side of the ship. He watched the man re-enter the crew's forward berth. He heard some friendly, but garbled words before the door shut, leaving the area dark and quiet except for the sound of the ship pushing through the ocean.

As he remained crouched next to the hatch door, Warren debated his next move. He heard a soft metallic tapping nearby, but he could not place the source. At first, he thought someone was walking on the darkened deck. However, a quick look at the area revealed nothing to him. Then he heard footsteps, muffled and distant. He tilted his head and realized the sound came from the cargo area below him.

The noise stopped, leaving only the waves splashing against the hull. Then, Warren swore he heard an indistinct voice that turned into a sort of yell. A hollow, metallic bang followed the noise. He scanned the deck again, but the clank noise came from below him. Nothing moved in the surrounding darkness. Warren let out a breath and used his penlight to find a partially opened hatch leading below. The steel door creaked lightly, causing him to pause. With the opening just wide enough to look inside, Baker saw the faint outlines of the ladder leading down to the cargo deck. When he opened the hatch enough to slide his body through, a faint yellow light shining below quickly disappeared. A chill went up along his spine when he realized someone else was already in the cargo hold. He waited for a moment, trying to decide what he would do.

The soft sound of footsteps approached from the outside along the main deck made the decision for him. Expecting one sailor on watch was inspecting the area; Warren carefully closed the door behind him and secured the latch. The slight screech of the steel on steel caused him to hold his breath. He expected the watchman to come running towards his hiding place. Instead, the dark black surrounded him in an eerie quiet. As his senses expanded amid the darkness, he heard the slight back-and-forth squeak of a chain swaying somewhere in front of him. He also noticed a faint acrid metallic smell which reminded him of fireworks which puzzled him.

Feeling his way down the ladder, Warren reached the steel deck after what seemed like fifty steps. Inside the hold, it was quiet, still but for the gentle creak of the ship when it rolled and the occasional clinking sound of the chain, now coming from above him. Pulling his penlight again, Warren fumbled around with the device before getting the light to shine. Bulky and small wooden crates lined the area in rudimentary rows, each line strapped down with cargo nets. Circling around, he turned sideways to squeeze through and navigate the narrow aisle between two rows until he reached the center of the hold. On the other side of the cargo area, he could just make out another ladder leading upward. Seeing no movement as he flashed the beam of his light around, he decided whoever might have been down there must have left.