Murder on the High Seas - The Devereaux CaseFiles Book 3

Chapter 11

The afternoon came just in time for Griffin. Cuthbert hadn't been able to find anything in Eddie's room that pointed to an investigation, anyone knowing their plan or any sign of his killer. The whole place had been bundled up and removed from the cabin, possibly either to make way for their next boarding passengers or because someone wanted to rummage through his belongings. Either way Griffin wasn't happy and he was glad that, on that twelfth day of their trip, he would be getting some back up that would help things along.

He might not have been getting anywhere on his own, especially with Reed around, but it would be a different story once the afternoon had come and the change of passengers took place. Around seventeen passengers were due to disembark at Patmos, while some of the continuing passengers, including himself, went on a trip to the Monastery of St John. But once there, another dozen passengers were due to board and when they did, things were going to change.

"Cuthbert...did you get that cabin list for the new passengers? I'll need to have our friends moved closer to us so that we can confer in private." Griffin asked over his shoulder as he sorted out the paperwork and passports for their departure from the ship once they reached Venice again. His friends would be leaving them once they reached Constanta, their homeland in Romania. They were returning from a previous job and he had to commend them for being so pro-active as to make all the right moves at the right time to be right on schedule and more than willing to help out. When Cuthbert finally found the cabin plans he had asked for and handed them over, he decided that until their trip to Patmos in the afternoon, he needed some peace.

"I'm going to take these to the restaurant to mull over. If you see Reed or his wife wandering around, try having a nosy around their room for Eddie's belongings. We need to know what they know so anything will help, even if it's just paperwork they've written up for the Captain or the notes from the good doctor." Griffin took his papers to the restaurant, glad to be away from everything and everyone for a while. It was only around half twelve in the afternoon and it seemed like the lunchtime rush was over, so the restaurant was conveniently quiet enough for him to get some work done and lounge around in comfort.

The only problem was, that every time a young woman walked past, looking between the ages of eighteen and twenty five, he couldn't help but just sit there and watch them for a moment. He kept wondering which one was Brigit, the girl they were looking for. For some reason, he had never been allowed to clap eyes on her and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to do his job without knowing which girl she was. There was, however, one girl he did have his eye on.

She was young, beautiful and a little shy looking but every time he saw her, she was with Reed Devereaux's wife and he realized that he would never get the chance to approach her. Not only for that reason but because Cuthbert wouldn't allow it. He was good at his job and that meant that for Griffin, fraternizing with other passengers was forbidden. He wasn't sure if he thought he would blab all their secrets to any pretty girl or if he was worried he would let them slip through pillow talk or talking in his sleep. But either way, he didn't see what business of his it was if he took a fancy to anyone. It wasn't as if he would be seeing much of them after their current mission anyway.

They weren't his team. He had only come in at the last minute to replace their leader, who had managed to get himself arrested two weeks before boarding the ship. That was the only reason Cuthbert kept on his heels. He wasn't protecting him, he was keeping an eye on him to make sure that he didn't deviate from the plan.

Griffin would make some sort of deviation, of course, and it would come when they least expected it. But until then he was going to be the good soldier and do as he was told. Despite the fact that he was in charge. He wasn't one for following orders he didn't like but he knew the consequences in that situation if he didn't so he was willing to go with the flow for a little while until he saw his opportunity to break out of the box. Until then he was happy to read through the cabin list and rearrange the cabins allocated to his 'friends' and to the new passengers that were to board later that afternoon. Then when it was finished, he could get Cuthbert to put it back where it should have been and make sure everyone knew what their task was before any orders were given.