Eleven Suspects

1- The Recent Gold

Cries of outrage and fright ring through my ears as the lights go out, leaving all of us in a dangerous darkness. I grab the handle of my glass of ale, trying to make out shapes in the darkness. A scream echoes from the right side, across from the room.

A gunshot.

A shriek from where Constance was sitting. "Are you okay?!" I ask, twisting around and almost tripping over my chair. "Constance?!"

"I—I'm fine." A tense voice says.

"Thank the lord."

Another scream.

The lights slowly flicker on, leaving a scene of chaos in its wake. The auctioneer is on the floor, hiding under his table. The shady crook I saw earlier is laughing at a scared lady. There's a bullet at her feet, and she's crying in fright. Constance is pointing over at a tall man doubled over in pain. "Him! Is he okay?!"

We run over to him, and he opens his deep blue eyes. "I didn't get shot." The first words that come out of his mouth. "Don't worry about me. I got knocked over by someone."

Someone...

We all freeze as what he said registered, and we look over at the scared auctioneer. "The diamond!" The crook says, jumping up to his feet. "You kept the diamond with you, right?!"

The auctioneer shakes his head sadly, and the clamor rises again.

The crook draws a knife. "I was on the train for hours to get here, and you're telling me that you hid for your own life?! You're mad, you know, making me wait like this?!"

A guard runs over. "Calm down." She grabs his hand, wresting the knife from his grip. "Are you saying that the diamond was stolen?"

The auctioneer nods silently, then chokes out a frightened reply. "Y-Yes."

"I'm Joan Severn." She says, straightening her cap. "I'm a hired detective tracking the Ghost Thief." A chorus of mutters comes up from the crowd. "You'll be seeing a lot more of me." She paces around the table. "Although it is utterly despicable that you didn't even try to protect the diamond. I was going to place a bid." She looks down at the shivering auctioneer.

Constance grabs my sleeve, her eyes wide. "The Ghost was here!" She says in a breathy sort of way. "He was someone that we saw! For all we know, he could still be in this room!"

"Look around." I say dryly, registering the chaos for a second time. I don't like the looks of that crook. He's drifted over to the man in pain, and looks like he's poking fun and trying to get a response. Joan's eyes constantly drift over to him, then back, as if she's making sure his actions don't hurt anyone. "This is chaos. We should excuse ourselves."

"No!"

Joan picks up a top hat left on the table. "Does this belong to anybody?"

"No." A chorus of mutters sound throughout the room.

The crook holds out a hand. "I'll take it."

"No. That only means this belongs to the Ghost." Joan glares at the auctioneer. "And the diamond as well."

"I'm sorry—

"We have no time." She looks around. "Where is the phone on this ship?"

"There is none."

Joan scowls, straightening her hat in a nervous sort of way. "Nobody here moves. You're staying here tonight. If anyone leaves, we're assuming that you are the Ghost."