Under arrest, pal!

Gumshoe stole down to the blunt end of the ship, frigid night air biting his face and hands. He passed two doors but paid them no mind. His target was the room he suspected to be the captain's office.

Making no noise except for the slight slither of his long green coat on the deck, Gumshoe moved at a crouch to the door of the lit room. Fortunately the door had been left ajar, or perhaps it was in such disrepair that it didn't shut properly. He could hear voices inside, so he angled his head into the gap as much as he dared and looked in.

The office was just as shabby and ramshackle as the rest of the ship, but was equipped with luxuries such as bottles of whiskey, a box of cigars and an expensive looking computer on the desk. Behind the desk, highlighted by the ghostly blue of the computer monitor, sat a chubby man in sweaty, worn out clothing. His eyes were sunken and squinted, and the cigar in his mouth left his head encircled by a halo of smoke. On the other side of the desk sat a man who was silhouetted instead by the weak lamplight. His back was to the door, but Gumshoe recognised him immediately- Captain Alec Tremaine.

"I don't know, Tremaine," the fatter man said coolly. "After the trouble you had getting that file, I've got to wonder if it's the real deal."

"Of course it is," Tremaine didn't rise to the bait. "I checked it with what I already know about those agents. This file is genuine."

"Still, the Deputy Chief moved it to his own house for safekeeping, and your supposedly incompetent accomplice managed to track you to your safe house, I've been thinking that maybe this file is hot. You've checked it for trackers, righ-"

"Don't mess me around. I'll hand you this file for the agreed price or not at all."

The 'business meeting' looked like it was going to go on. Gumshoe backed away from the door carefully and reached into his coat. If he could record just a slice of their conversation, he'd have the proof that would bring the law running. He just hoped he could remember how to use the video function on his cell phone; he cursed himself as he thought of the video camera left in his car.

Gumshoe raised his phone to eye level and began testing its functions. Thankfully his experimentations didn't cause any noise to come from the phone, because it hadn't once occurred to him to mute it. Suddenly, Gumshoe was distracted by something in the corner of his vision- a movement. He looked towards it and realised that there was a moving reflection in the mirror on the corner of his mobile. Not thinking much of it, he turned to see what the movement was. He was presented with the image of the sentry he'd knocked out baring down upon him with a hatchet.

Gumshoe reacted like lightning. There was neither fear nor excitement, only action. His brain went numb of thought and emotion, and his body took over completely.

The cop let the cell phone fall. He spun round and cleared the foot and a half gap between him and his assailant in a heartbeat. With one slap, the axe went flying. The guard made to yell for help, but Gumshoe crushed the lower half of the man's face in his massive palm, covering the mouth and nose before he could call out. The villain flailed in panic, but was nowhere near strong enough to fight off the large police officer. Gumshoe calmed down slightly and looked back at the office. There was no reaction; apparently he hadn't been heard. He looked back at the smothered criminal he held. He was mumbling urgently, punching at the constricting arms as hard as he could.

Gumshoe whacked the man on the temple, knocking him out again. Rather than let him drop to the floor, he dragged the limp form back to one of the doors he'd passed. He pushed open the door, finding that it led into a room with a radio set. As he set down his victim, he eyed a certain dial which gave him an idea. Gumshoe sat next to the radio and messed around with the switches until it turned on. He put his mouth close the transmitter, and reached out for the dial that had grabbed his attention- the one marked 'Distress Frequency'.

"Mayday! Mayday!" Gumshoe tried to sound as urgent as possible while whispering. "This is 'Moonwalker' at quay one six three. Our ship is being hijacked by armed criminals. Please send police support, over."

He waited impatiently for a reply. The receiver burned with static. If it didn't work he'd be back to square one; trying to find a way to convince the police to come down and investigate the ship on his word alone. He worried at the curling wire of the radio transmitter with his sausage sized fingers, until at last-

"This is the harbourmaster's office; we're receiving you. Report of criminal activity aboard your ship. Confirm?"

"Confirmed. Several criminals, armed and dangerous. Please send for the police."

Gumshoe dropped the transmitter and smiled to himself. The police would have to come now, and they'd only need one look at the armed guards to know something was wrong. Gumshoe made his way out of the radio room, intending to try and tackle Tremaine and the ship's captain so he could get the file on the special agents before they hid it or something.

He came out onto the deck, but suddenly the door to his left sprang open. Gumshoe turned to look, and found himself confronted by eight huge sailors piling out of the door, arms like bars, chests like barrels, and teeth like fangs. Gumshoe brought up his fists and prepared himself to fight for his very life as the bloodthirsty mob moved to-

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"Wait a moment!" Edgeworth protested.

"What's up, pal?" Gumshoe stopped his tale, exasperated at yet another interruption.

"Eight sailors?"

Gumshoe paused, then took a moment to think about it.

"Well, five," he eventually admitted

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-but suddenly the door to his left sprang open. Gumshoe turned to look, and found himself confronted by five huge sailors piling out of the door, arms like bars, chests like barrels, and teeth like-

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"Hold it!" Nick suddenly exclaimed. "Five? Through a single doorway?"

Gumshoe looked guiltily at his audience and said "Well, one actually."

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-but suddenly the door to his left sprang open. Gumshoe turned to look, and found himself confronted by a huge sail-

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"Huge?" Maya ventured cautiously.

Gumshoe looked down ashamedly.

"He was four feet tall; I didn't see him comin'"

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Gumshoe crept out of the radio room, eyes pointed in the direction of the office. Unfortunately, his gaze was so focused that he didn't notice the extremely short sailor sneaking up on his left. By the time the police officer realised anyone was there, a glass bottle found its way into his jaw.

Gumshoe fell to the deck as beer scented shards tinkled around his head. The man who'd hit him with the bottle started calling for help, but it was all muffled in Gumshoe's ears. He shook his head, but by the time it cleared he was being hauled to his feet but some burley figures.

"My God," someone said amusedly. Gumshoe looked up at the voice to see Tremaine standing before him, along with his cigar smoking mobster partner.

"I've got to hand it to you, Dick Gumshoe. How did you manage to track me this far?"

Gumshoe roared and threw himself at the traitorous man, but only succeeded in provoking the brutes that held him into beating round the head. Gumshoe quickly gave up under the onslaught, falling still and silent.

"Not talking? Suits me fine," Tremaine balled his fist.

"Wait a moment!" the gangster captain said. "If this is the cop you got to steal the file, how do we know there aren't more of them nearby?"

"This man is nothing but a grunt. If the police were planning an operation against us, he wouldn't be here."

"You've screwed up enough times already. Call one of your people at the precinct and check it out."

Tremaine shot an icy look at the captain, but lowered his fist. Gumshoe couldn't help breath a sigh of relief.

Suddenly Tremaine's hand shot out. Gumshoe braced his stomach muscles several seconds too late, but Tremaine wasn't punching- he was searching the pockets of the policeman's trench coat.

As he retrieved a set of keys, he said to someone "Go out and find his car, and bring it here. Once I'm done questioning him you can take him away and kill him," he tossed the keys to someone, then added to Gumshoe "It's the traditional execution style for these guys- dead in charge of a vehicle."

Gumshoe struggled against the arms that held him in a sudden bout of fear. Again, all he got for his trouble was some randomly placed punches.

"Tie him up in a storeroom for now," ordered the captain. "Tremaine, call your people now!"

The two leaders began heading back to the officer. The pair of sailors holding Gumshoe began dragging him away, taking him inside the ship.

'What am I gonna do?' Gumshoe asked of himself. Outnumbered, unarmed, and captured again, things were looking pretty bleak for Gumshoe. At that point the only hope he had was for a miracle to take place.

Back at his own apartment, however, things were starting to happen.

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"Despite the fact that the man is a known killer, that is no excuse for holding him prisoner at gunpoint while injured," Lieutenant Wong stated calmly to the white haired girl.

"He was going to kill me and my Gummy-bear!" Connie wailed. "We had to tie him up to keep us safe!"

"Yet there are no signs of a struggle, and no evidence that Officer Gumshoe was here tonight. You ask me to believe you fought with and overpowered this killer single handed, after he'd arrived with the intent to kill you, without making a mess?"

"He was trying to kill us! Dick knocked him out in the car, not in here!"

Of course, Lieutenant Wong knew that Connie must have been holding the gangster in an act of self-defence. The gun she'd been using clearly wasn't hers; it was far too big for her tiny hands, and was the type of weapon favoured by the same thug who was now on his way to hospital with a police escort. Still, he wasn't going to tell the girl that- not till he got the full story of how her boyfriend was linked to the stolen files he was searching for.

"You've got to believe me," said Connie, getting ready to burst into tears. "Dick would never hurt a fly. He hasn't done anything wrong."

"This afternoon we arrested a known safebreaker who Officer Gumshoe had allowed to go free after arresting him for being in possession of stolen property. When we picked him up, we found a diamond necklace that had been stolen from the same safe from which important police documents were taken last night. The safebreaker then named your partner as the man who put him up to the job. You must understand, Miss Cook, there are more than your careers at stake here."

"Dick didn't mean to steal that stuff- he was ordered to! The man told him it was to help keep them safe!"

"And what man would this be?"

"I… I looked up his car number in the police records-"

"Inappropriate use of police resources. Yes, I was going to ask you about that too," to be honest, the lieutenant didn't like being such a bully, but he knew that something big was going on, and he had to know the truth. He allowed Connie to snivel in despair for a moment before she continued.

"The man who made him do it was someone called Alec Tremaine. He lives-"

"Alec Tremaine?" Wong's ears perked up. "You mean Captain Alec Tremaine of the Counter Terrorism Unit, currently being investigated on suspicion of acts of police corruption?" the investigator felt excitement building within him, but didn't let on. "That's a remarkably convenient coincidence; you'll have to do better than that."

Wong barely listened as Connie desperately tried to prove her and Gumshoe's innocence.

Captain Tremaine- now that just fit too well to be mere coincidence.

"Even if I am to believe that Officer Gumshoe managed to record his car registration on a video camera," he said after hearing the next part of Connie's story "if it was the captain of the CTU, the car would be registered to one of their city safe houses, not a home address."

"But Gummy went there and got attacked!" Connie's pitiful plea was enough to make the stoniest of hearts bleed. "And he worked out where Captain Tremaine's gone; he was going to a ship called 'Moonwalker' at the docks, quay one six three!"

That was it.

Hiding his glee, Wong reached for his cell phone and said "Well Miss Cook, I'll investigate your claims and see if there's any truth in what you say. For now, I must ask you to remain here with the officers I'll be leaving; I may need to speak to you later."

Without another word, the lieutenant exited the apartment. He was so close; he had the whole plot laid bare before him. The only thing that wasn't clear was where Dick Gumshoe fitted into the puzzle. Could someone really be stupid enough that they could be tricked into breaking into a house and stealing important police documents? It seemed bizarre, but the alternative was that Gumshoe had been working for the gangs all along, and considering what he'd read in the man's records, most gangs would probably pay not to have anything to do with the bumbling officer.

As soon as he was out of earshot of the apartment, Lieutenant Wong called one of his subordinates at the precinct.

"Prep SWAT teams for raids on the ship 'Moonwalker' and the CTU's downtown safe house. The details are already down in our suspect records. Also, find Captain Tremaine, and have that safe house and the ship watched. I'm going to call the prosecutor's office now and get authorisation to go ahead, but if anything happens at either location that provokes police intervention, begin the raids immediately."

Wong hung up and headed to his car with his entourage of police personnel. He only had time to start the engine before he received a return call from his sergeant.

The 'Moonwalker' had reported a hijack attempt and had specifically requested police assistance- the sergeant just wanted to clarify if that was an acceptable reason to deploy their SWAT team immediately.

Wong assured him that it was.

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Back to the present, Gumshoe paused in his story and looked eagerly at his audience.

Edgeworth looked as though he was so bored he didn't know whether to scream, cry or fall asleep.

Maya had parked herself in a chair on Edgeworth's right and was trembling with anticipation.

Nick was leaning against the wall on Edgeworth's left, wearing that irritatingly bland smile that gave Gumshoe the inexplicable urge to hit the ex-attorney.

"Well, pals; we're getting to the grand finale. What do you think?"

Maya and Edgeworth didn't verbally reply; they gave a thumbs up and a pair of rolling eyes respectively. Phoenix on the other hand-

"No need to finish, Gumshoe. I already see how this is going to end."

"You do, pal?" Gumshoe queried.

"Yeah, isn't it obvious?"

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Suddenly a great bugle call sounded across the docks. Gumshoe looked up from wallowing in despair and saw mounted soldiers charging over the horizon, swords drawn, muskets loaded, and clad in the royal blue of the federal union.

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"The Calvary arrived and saved the day," Nick explained.

Maya pouted at the poor joke, but couldn't stop the corners of her mouth twitching at Gumshoe's expense. After all his groaning and griping about the story, Edgeworth finally managed an extremely dignified, sarcastic laugh. Gumshoe was not happy.

"No, actually," he growled at scornful audience. "They took a while to get there, and I was stuck the whole time in a storeroom, thinking that they were gonna kill me."

Maya managed to become a little more sombre at that. She shot a look at Nick and Edgeworth that made them stop laughing.

"Okay Mister Dick, how did you get out of there?" she asked with rekindled enthusiasm.

"Well, that was the easy bit," the cop grinned smugly, pleased that they were back on topic.

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Only his wrists had been tied, but the knots were good. Gumshoe was feeling weak from having been beaten up again, and by the feel of it there was a broken piece of glass digging into the lower part of his cheek. Despite all this, he didn't allow himself to give up. Gumshoe grunted as he heaved at the course rope that had been wrapped round his hands and a pipe protruding from the wall. He'd spent the last five minutes trying to free his hands from where they were trapped behind his back but had made no progress, and it was only a matter of time before his captors found his car and left him in it as a bloody mess.

Gumshoe stopped struggling for a moment and took deep breaths to calm himself down. Now was not the time to start panicking, despite the perfectly panic-worthy circumstances he was in. He'd called the police; he only needed to wait long enough for them to arrive. And as he'd told himself before, there were more important things at stake than just what happened to him. He had to make sure the special agent file didn't escape from the ship- it would mean countless lives would be lost, and criminal syndicates would be acting unchecked for years before any other attempt to infiltrate them could be made. Even though he'd been suspended, Gumshoe still remembered the vows he'd taken when he joined the police force; his duty came before his own safety.

Then of course there was Alec Tremaine.

Gumshoe belly knotted with anger. That traitor couldn't be allowed to get away with what he'd done. He had to be taken and put on trial; exposed as the lying backstabber he was. If he managed to get away there'd be nothing to stop him doing something like this all over again. After everything that had happened, Gumshoe knew he couldn't just sit around waiting for the cops to bail him out. He had to stop Tremaine, in return for his deception and to prove his loyalty to the law.

With even greater determination than before, Gumshoe set his mind and body to the task of escape. He pulled again at the cord and thought back to anything that could give him an idea. His mind settled on Connie for a moment. Those small fingers and long nails of hers would be good for working the knots loose. But she wasn't there, and Gumshoe's fingers were nothing like hers; at school, he'd been given the nickname 'Sausage-fingers' (among others).

His thoughts turned to Sergeant Bones. She could probably have burnt her way through the rope with her cigar lighter. But Gumshoe didn't smoke, so that idea was out of the window (sorry; porthole).

Then Gumshoe's thoughts turned to Special Police Agent Hank Bosh.

Of course! The razor blade in his watch! The trick he'd learnt from his TV hero after seeing him escape from the Jumpy Judge's lair with it.

Gumshoe was smiling broadly as he moved his hands to reach his watch. Now he could finally justify breaking his own watch to fit a razor blade inside.

After painfully cutting his finger, Gumshoe had managed to open the face of his watch and retrieve the tiny blade. He pressed it against his binds as hard as he could and worked it up and down. The cord started giving way almost instantly. Within moments, he'd be free.

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The guard at the ramp had been replaced. The new guy watched diligently after the fuss with the boarder. Still, there was no reason to be afraid. The crew of the gangster owned ship had gone through the procedures of what to do if cops came snooping. If one or even two more guys were to show up, it'd be no problem.

When a single squad car showed up on the quayside, the sentry wasn't too concerned. Most likely the guy they'd sent out to find their prisoner's car had been busted and they'd brought him to question the captain before hauling the guy off for GTA. Dealing with the cops and springing their friend would be no problem.

Then the sentry's eyes widened as a van with 'SWAT' stamped on the side showed up with a further trio of squad cars. All the vehicles zoomed into the dock and skidded to a halt in front of the stationary boat.

"What… the… HELL? !" the mobster choked as he watched the van disgorged its compliment of tactical troopers, all armed to the teeth and raring to go. An entire arsenal was caught in the light from the ship- sniper rifles, two bullet shields, a door breaching shotgun and armfuls of submachine guns. The thug who'd spent most of his life killing unarmed people with knives or clubs felt his knees start to tremble as the heavy armed police force quickly organised themselves.

"You on the deck- hands in the air!" called an officer from a squad car.

Panicking, the criminal pulled out his colt python and fired.

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The gunshot made Gumshoe pause in his work. He looked around, startled, as though the gunner might be in the room with him. Then he heard shouts and more gunshots, then the familiar sound of someone shouting through a police megaphone. Gumshoe realised the police must have arrived to take control of the ship. He tried to keep calm in spite of the sounds of battle taking place outside- he had to get out and make sure Tremaine didn't escape, or at least make sure the confidential details didn't get away with him.

Gumshoe had already managed to untie himself- now he was getting the door open. The lock was a huge, chunky, old fashioned lock that was contained in a metal box on the inside of the door. Gumshoe may not have had any skill in lock picking, but with some difficulty he found that he could use his razor blade to unscrew the lock from the door itself. Gumshoe had spent his time labouring at the screws while smiling broadly at his own cleverness.

Now, with a battle raging outside, things had changed.

Gumshoe pulled frantically at the screw he was working on, forcing it out. The lock was still in place, but was far looser than before. Gumshoe climbed up from his knees and braced himself to force the door open.

Footsteps ran past the door as he took hold of the door knob. Gumshoe paid them no mind. He tensed his entire body, then threw all his weight back and yanked at the handle as hard as he could. The lock broke off in his hand, and Gumshoe tumbled over with the vandalised mechanism still in his grasp.

The officer disposed of the broken mechanism and got back up. The door was swinging gently open, inviting the prisoner to leave, which he did gladly. He turned left out of the door, remembering his way back to the outside from when he'd be dragged to the storeroom. Tremaine was bound to be still in the captain's office, so that was where Gumshoe intended to corner him.

The hall was dark. As he came to the doorway leading outside, Gumshoe could see a man silhouetted by the light from outside, his jerky movements corresponding with the rumble of automatic fire; the man was using the door frame as cover as he fired a folding stock machine gun in the direction of the boarding ramp. With all the noise he was making with his random fire, he couldn't hear Gumshoe coming up behind him.

He really did hate guns.

Gumshoe sneaked up behind the gunner as quickly and quietly as possible, then with one heave of his powerful arms, Gumshoe grabbed the mobster and flipped him over the boat rail and into the water. The weapon fire was replaced with angry yelling and sloshing from below.

From where he now stood, Gumshoe could see a SWAT team cautiously boarding the ship, a pair of troops with pistols and armoured shields leading the way. One balaclava clad face turned in his direction and raised an SMG, calling for him to surrender. Gumshoe quickly slipped in the opposite direction, disappearing from the line of fire round the natural curve of boat. There'd be time to settle things with his superiors later.

As Gumshoe made his way to the captain's office, he ran into another sailor. This one he recognised as the man who'd struck him with the bottle, leaving a widget of glass that was now stuck under the skin of his cheek. Angrily recalling the incident, he advanced on the man.

The pintsized sailor saw the encroaching danger and tried to bring up some type of rifle to defend himself. Gumshoe snatched the firearm from his grasp before he'd even aimed in the cop's direction. With slow deliberateness, Gumshoe held each end of the long, thin barrel in his shovel sized paws. He brought the weapon down hard, bringing up his knee to meet it, and bent the instrument of death out of shape. Then, with careless movement, he tossed the ruined gun into the water and grabbed the sailor by the collar of his shirt. The sailor took on the appearance of a toad as his lips stretched back and his eyes bulged, fearfully meeting the dark eyes of the man who was practically lifting him off the deck.

"You gotta lot to answer for, pal," Gumshoe growled. "I'm thinkin' that I owe you, big time."

The sailor cringed, bracing self for the worst. However, Gumshoe merely stepped aside and tossed the man onto the deck in the direction he'd just come from.

"But I got more important things to do, so I'm givin' you a chance to turn yourself in to the SWAT team. Think you can do that without screwin' up, pal?"

The small sailor nodded urgently and scrambled across the deck to escape the wrathful police officer. As soon as he was gone, Gumshoe took a moment to rub his knee painfully.

'It looked so easy when Hank Bosh did it.'

The officer moved on, coming to the captain's office. He entered without thought, but found the room empty except for the ship's captain, who was lying unconscious in his swivel chair. From the bloody bruise on his temple, it seemed that Alec Tremaine had a violent temper.

Leaving the office, Gumshoe quickly travelled to the end of the deck and round the stern of the ship. He had a hunch that Tremaine must have already thought of, or even pre prepared an escape plan, relying on the confrontation between the police and the crew of the 'Moonwalker' to cover his retreat. As he came round onto the opposite side of the ship, Gumshoe saw he'd been correct. A tall, thin figure was lowering a lifeboat into the water with an electric winch.

At the sight of the traitorous coward standing there with nothing between them, all of Gumshoe's negative emotions in regard to the man spilled out of his heart- the humiliation at having been deceived, the shame at putting fellow officers at risk by stealing those files, the doubt he felt now he knew that a crooked cop was a very real thing instead of something from the world of fiction, and the hate for that very same crooked cop who now stood before him.

What little common sense Gumshoe possessed was quickly swamped out. Insane fury ignited his blood and made him see red. With an animalistic bellow he charged, arms outstretched, towards Alec Tremaine.

The traitor snapped his head to look at the charging cop. He seemed to freeze at the image of a hulking, thick limbed man thundering toward him intent on murder. Gumshoe came to critical distance with Tremaine, no battle plan in mind, looking only to destroy the man before he could get away. However, Tremaine was more ready than he allowed himself to appear. He lashed out with a briefcase that had been hidden on the opposite side of his body. The blow was targeted at the head, but it fortunately caught the corner of Gumshoe's shoulder. Though not stunned, he was knocked out of his battle frenzy as the weight of the impact made him fall to his knees.

Gumshoe looked up at his enemy who now had the height advantage. The briefcase hammered down again, but Gumshoe caught it with both hands. He stood up and twisted the case, breaking Tremaine's grip on it enough that Gumshoe was able to yank it away from him and into the air out of reach. The loss of his improvised weapon didn't steal Tremaine's momentum. He placed a well-aimed kick at the very side of Gumshoe's left knee. Gumshoe's legs nearly folded underneath him. He dropped the briefcase back over his head, nearly tripping over it. Tremaine advanced, raising his hands in the stance of a complex style of martial arts. Gumshoe raised his fists in a boxing style.

Tremaine's first blow came so fast that Gumshoe didn't even have the chance to block it before it hit him in the stomach. It was the same for the second blow that caught Gumshoe's face as he doubled up.

Gumshoe backed away to recover from the assault, but Tremaine came right after him, throwing a kick and another pair of punches. Gumshoe managed to block the third strike with his arm, but the other two had left him reeling. Quite clearly he was overmatched. He moved away, watching for when Tremaine would come at him again, but the traitor instead picked up his briefcase and made a break for his lifeboat.

Gumshoe dashed after him, determined to stop him before the case was tossed overboard. That briefcase was bound to have all the evidence needed to prove what had been going on aboard the 'Moonwalker'. He could afford to let it leave the ship.

Tremaine swung the case at Gumshoe again, but the police officer was thinking carefully this time. He ducked and seized Tremaine's wrist. The turncoat kicked out. Gumshoe deflected it with an elbow block. He then stood up and slammed the offending arm in his grasp down onto his knee. Unlike the rifle barrel, the arm didn't break, but the briefcase slipped from Tremaine's grasp. Gumshoe took it and hurled it across the deck towards the stern. Tremaine glared furiously at Gumshoe, baring his teeth. He was really determined not to leave the case behind. So, all Gumshoe needed to do was keep it away from him until help arrived. Easy, right?

"I should have killed you when you got me that file," spat Tremaine.

"You're not gonna get away with this, pal. Just give it up" Gumshoe said in return.

Tremaine flew at Gumshoe, fist outstretched. Gumshoe ducked below the attack and punched Tremaine squarely in the ribs. Tremaine faltered and tried back off, but Gumshoe held him in place by the shoulder and punched again. The blow was hard and sunk deep into the pit of Tremaine's stomach, but the man didn't go down. He hit the inside of Gumshoe's elbow to break the hold on his arm, then hoisted himself up with each of his hands of the deck rail and ship wall respectively, using both feet to kick Gumshoe away.

Gumshoe lurched away from his attacker, head swimming, mouth full of the taste of a rubber soled shoe. He reasserted his grip on reality as he noticed Tremaine stalking towards him like his own personal Grim Reaper.

For once, Gumshoe regretted following his father's words so closely. The 'ol' one-two' wasn't working the way it did against most people, and despite years of exercising and training to fight barehanded, he could really do with a weapon. The briefcase was nearby, but he didn't want to intentionally bring it within Tremaine's reach again. He looked about and came across a handy fire extinguisher hanging from the wall. Gumshoe pulled the canister free and swung it wildly.

Tremaine easily dodged the red cylinder and darted forward to hit Gumshoe in the face. He leapt back again to avoid the second swing. Gumshoe tried shoving with the extinguisher. Tremaine just pushed the jab aside and hit Gumshoe's jaw again.

Gumshoe was staggering now. He took a moment to spit a glob of blood and possibly some tooth chippings over the side of the boat. A small part of his mind angrily asked where the hell the police were, but most of his concentration was on the fight. Not even months of watching Hank Bosh as a child would help him now, he decided. Brute force and righteous anger would not save him; it was going to take some brain power to overcome the traitor, and since it seemed no one else would be coming anytime soon, Gumshoe would have to think up a solution all on his own.

He closed his eyes in dread.

Tremaine advanced again. Gumshoe brandished the extinguisher as threateningly as he could, looking for any sort of weakness in his rival's defence. Tremaine came dangerously close, apparently doing the same thing if the intense look in his eyes was anything to go by. He flexed his hands and tensed his muscles, preparing to go in for the kill.

Tremaine lunged forward. Gumshoe, despite his injuries, stood his ground. Seized by a timely grip of inspiration, the policeman pulled the extinguisher handle and engulfed his enemy in a jet of mist. Though blinded, Tremaine didn't let the distraction get to him. He stepped out of the mist, keeping his hands high to protect his head from attack.

Gumshoe saw his opportunity as Tremaine brought himself within attack range without going on the offensive. He threw the extinguisher at Tremaine's feet to try and distract him some more, then punched both his fists forward simultaneously. Tremaine easily avoided the extinguisher and knocked Gumshoe's fists aside, a short barking laugh mocking Gumshoe's careless efforts.

But it was a ruse.

The moment Tremaine's hands were occupied with pushing Gumshoe's aside, the police officer swung his whole body down as though bowing. His forehead arched down and mashed itself into Tremaine's nose. A wonderfully satisfying 'CRACK' ripped the air.

Tremaine gave a strangled cry as he clapped his hands to his face to stanch the facets of blood his nostrils had become. Gumshoe used the distraction to get close to the traitor and scoop him up in a huge bear hug. Tremaine grunted something, but Gumshoe didn't pay attention; instead he tightened his grip and tried to crush his prey, while the man punched his arms and face in an attempt to get free. The cop squeezed his arms around Tremaine's abdomen as hard as he could. There was a popping sound from Tremaine's spine, followed by an embarrassing yelp. Gumshoe did his best to keep his enemy held aloft and docile, but lacked the knowledge or experience to cause Tremaine any real harm.

Gumshoe felt something pound into the back of his head. The force of it had stars bursting before him. He teetered about, but didn't fall, clinging on like a bulldog with a bone. Then Tremaine hit him with a second karate chop to the back of the head. Gumshoe's entire world rocked. He dropped Tremaine and fell back, clutching his head.

Even through the pain and hazy vision, Gumshoe was able to see Tremaine as he hefted the fire extinguisher in his hands and approached the fallen officer. Gumshoe tried to get up again, but found that his injuries and the effort he'd put into the battle had fatigued him so much that his limbs would barely respond. He wondered for a moment why things like this had never been made clear to him- after fighting, Hank Bosh had never looked so much as tired, unless he'd been battling one of his archenemies. As for Gumshoe's own father, he'd only ever said that punks ought to be given a good beating, but after coming home from having been in a fight for whatever reason, he'd never appeared as exhausted as Gumshoe felt at that moment. Perhaps, he thought, he was doing something wrong. Maybe he should look into joining some sort of martial arts club, but the way his salary was at the moment, that wasn't a very promising plan.

Tremaine loomed overhead, wielding the extinguisher like a cudgel. Gumshoe reached above his head and fumbled for the briefcase. Tremaine swung his weapon in a move that would have shattered Gumshoe's ribcage had he not pulled the thick black case into the path of the extinguisher. Tremaine lifted the fire dousing tool and swung at Gumshoe's head. The blow was shielded with another dull thud against the briefcase.

Tremaine then lowered the fire extinguisher and held it in one hand as he made a grab for the briefcase. Gumshoe clutched the container close to him and aimed a kick right into Tremaine's crotch. The impact was accompanied by a metallic clang. Tremaine moved back, unhurt but surprised, while Gumshoe looked up at him in confusion. Then Tremaine shot him a crafty grin.

"Trick of the trade, Gumshoe," he explained. "Never be without a cup when you're going into a potentially volatile situation. Don't suppose you have one, do you?"

With that, Tremaine brought his fire extinguisher down again, this time towards the policeman's groin. Gumshoe jerked with horror fuelled reaction, only just blocking the strike with the case again. Tremaine then swung the weapon sideways, clipping the edge of the case and knocking it out the way, before moving to smash the extinguisher down while the makeshift shield was gone. Gumshoe raised a hand to try and catch the incoming blow, bracing himself in case it connected with him.

Suddenly, the sound of a single gunshot intruded violently upon the scene. Gumshoe saw a thin streak of fire whizz over his head and vanish into Tremaine's body. The bullet's momentum hurled the traitor to the ground, inducing a tirade of swear words and unintelligible roars from the man.

From where he lay, Gumshoe turned his head upwards so that he could look back down the deck. Despite looking at the world upside down, he saw a SWAT team member with a submachine gun rushing towards him, backed up by another two upside troopers with equally heavy weaponry.

"Armed police! Both of you, freeze!" one of them shouted in a voice slightly muffled by his balaclava. By the sound of it Tremaine was causing a fuss with the trooper who'd moved to guard him, but for his part, Gumshoe was happy to let go of the incriminating briefcase and lift his hands above his head.

As Hank Bosh would have said "The long arm of the law is done reaching out for today."

'Man,' Gumshoe thought. 'That show really was cheesy, wasn't it?'