The Captain, Chief Officer and Purser rushed to the two crew men who had been undertaking the search and discovered a body. The crew men had been told not to enter the locker.
They all arrived out of breath as it was a long way from the Captains Office to the very front of the ship. To get there they walked along a gangway over eight huge cargo holds which contained over 150,000 tonnes of iron ore.
Dave looked down into the small hatch which covered a small rope locker the size of an average bedroom. The Purser as the medical representative on board was the first down the ladder and found the body rolled up in amongst all the ropes.
The Purser untangled the body and managed to roll it over. It was clear from the moment that he touched the body that he was dead but as a semi-professional Dave still had to check. Rolling over the body it became clear it was Joseph Smith and his face was blue and his mouth filled with a gag.
Dave checked for vital signs; breathing, a pulse but no Joseph Smith was definitely dead. The Captain waited on deck and kept the other two crew members away from looking. Chief Officer Black came down and looked demoralised, until now he had held out hope that Joseph Smith might be alive.
'Any sign as to what killed him?' Eliot Black asked.
'Not clear but the gag in his mouth won't have helped him. There is no blood so it looks likely he was either strangled or suffocated.' Dave responded calmly.
Chief Officer Black shone his torch around the dark and dank locker looking for anything out of the ordinary. He couldn't see anything then shone his torch onto the face of Joseph Smith and the power of the beam made his pale and blue face appear like a wax mask. The horror of the scene made them both recoil instinctively.
'Is that blood on his neck?' Eliot asked as the torch illuminated a red mark on Smith's neck.
Dave Clough looked more closely and touched the red mark tentatively and rubbed his thumb and fingers together. He looked up with a confused expression at Black.
'It's make-up. More specifically lipstick.' Dave Clough said quietly.
'Make up? Why would he be wearing make-up?' Black responded confused.
'No I don't think he was wearing it but he's been kissed by someone who was' Dave responded ominously.
They both stood looking at one another. 'Well there's a motive for murder. Joe Smith was carrying on with one of the married women. Trisha Reid?' Black surmised.
'Yes it could be...or my wife. Or Samantha Williams the Chief Cooks wife.' Dave responded with clear concern.
'Well let's get the body covered up then out of here and we'll keep that information secret for the moment then discuss it with the Captain' Black responded understanding why Dave Clough was worried. It put the finger of suspicion of each man who had a wife on board, of which Dave was one.
*
The ship owners who ran large cargo ships were not required by law to have a doctor on board the ship but they were required to have someone who could administer medical care in the event of an emergency. That person was always the Purser and they were given basic medical training and also issued with an instruction manual on Field Medicine which included details on amputations and emergency dental work.
Purser Dave Clough hated the fact he was also on board doctor but the rest of the crew actually hated it more. They all dreaded getting injured miles from shore because they knew that meant an amateur would be messing around with their body.
Joseph Smith's body was carried along the full length of the ship back to the super-structure and then taken to the Medical Room. The Captain wanted answers and until the Canadian authorities arrived he was still in charge of the body so he had the Purser give the body a cursory inspection.
'So did you find anything David?' the Captain asked pensively.
'Well the body had no wounds or punctures. There was some light bruising on the body but that could have occurred post death. Joseph had been gagged and when I removed the gag I also found his throat stuffed with socks. Either Joseph was strangled or he choked to death on the socks. I would say he choked on the socks stuffed into his throat, whether that was by design or accident I can't say.' Dave summed up grimly.
'Anything else?' the Captain asked and Dave thought of the lipstick marks on Joe's neck and then wondered if the Chief Officer would tell the Captain. Dave contemplated not telling the Captain then thought it would make him look guilty.
'We found lipstick on his neck.' Dave said without preamble.
'Lipstick? What do you mean?' the Captain asked confused.
'On closer inspection Eliot noticed that there was a red mark on Joe's neck, we realised it was lipstick. It looks like Joe may have been fooling around with one of the wives on board.' Dave said calmly.
'Right' the Captain responded in a haze of confusion. Dave's wife was on board...this made the situation tricky. He'd had the Chief Engineer sat out due to his proximity to the deceased and now the main investigator was possibly one of the accused.
*
The Canadian Coastguard helicopter landed on the top of one of the huge hatches of Cargo Hold Eight. The huge hatch cover was designed to provide a watertight seal on the hatch below even in rough sea conditions and as a result was more than strong enough to support a helicopter.
The decision had been made not to dock the ship despite it still being within Canadian waters as it would delay the ship and also give the suspect the opportunity to escape. The Coastguard helicopter crew was augmented by a Coroner who was taken down to the large cold store below decks by Captain Jones and Purser Clough. The body of Joseph Smith was kept alongside the meat and fresh produce that required refrigeration. That was a thought that was going to linger in the Captains mind next time he tucked into a steak.
The Coroner did a brief preliminary inspection of the body then they took the body to the helicopter and prepared to fly off.
'Will we get a report on the cause of death?' the Captain asked the Coroner.
'We'll inform your HQ in England and leave it to them to inform you' the Coroner replied and then the helicopters engines throttled up and the deafening sound ended all opportunities for conversation.
The Coroner shook hands with the Captain then jogged whilst ducking over to the helicopter and within seconds the helicopter took off with Joseph Smith's body on board.
The Captain looked up at the external stairwell and saw a group of crew members paying their respects as Smith's body left them behind.
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Floating Lies and Sinking Truth - P1 COMPLETE
Mystery / ThrillerIt's July 1980 and one of the crew go missing on the first day out on a new voyage. Did they jump ship or were they pushed? Were they murdered? If so by who and why? If he is dead and we never find the body we'll probably never know! If his body...
