Hello, all! Another chapter! This one's shorter than the others, but I hope you enjoy it! Thanks again to Johnny'shumiliatedgrape for reviewing religiously - I love you!

Chapter 5: Breakthrough

The next day, they docked in Port Royal. Flynn shared his information about John Ottoman with Gillette and Governor Swann, who decided it would be best to detain him. They took him into custody and Flynn questioned him. There wasn't much evidence that said he didn't do it, but then again, there wasn't significant evidence that said he did. He said that he was just going out to the market and he hadn't seen Norrington that day at all. He hadn't seen anyone in the building at all, according to him. Unfortunately, Gillette was very angry about the Commodore's death and claimed that there was enough evidence to hang Ottoman. Flynn said he was being far too hasty, but Gillette had even convinced Governor Swann, and Ottoman was to be hung a week later.

That night, Flynn sat in his room, wondering what evidence he could present to show Ottoman's innocence, or, at least delay the hanging until they could be sure. He thought for a long time, taking notes in his notebook and looking over notes taken previously. He usually needed complete silence to concentrate, and the noise from Jack and Celeste's room next door wasn't helping his thought process. Eventually, he was able to sort of block it out, except when it got really loud in which case he would look disgustedly at the wall conjoining the two rooms. After a couple of hours of studying his notes, he reentered the conscious world and noticed that the noise was still going on.

"…Wow." he muttered and went back to his notes. He saw something… "Wait a moment… If… the left… and Ottoman… the… OF COURSE!" he cried and jumped up. "Oh, I must tell someone!" And, forgetting the noise next door, he ran outside and flung their door open.

Celeste yelled in surprise and buried herself in the covers. Jack looked extremely irritated at the interruption and glared at Flynn. Celeste sat up, keeping the covers up to her neck.

She cleared her throat. "Erm, yes, Mr. Flynn, what is it?"

"Pardon my intrusion, but I've found it!" Flynn exclaimed.

"What the bloody hell are you yellin' about?" Jack asked, now in very bad temper.

"Jack, watch your language." Celeste scolded.

"Sorry, love." Jack replied, but didn't really mean it.

"I mean, I've found out that John Ottoman is innocent!" Flynn told them.

"Wonderful." Jack said flatly. "Now, if you'll kindly get out, I would be-"

"No, Jack, I want to hear this." Celeste interrupted. "Continue, Mr. Flynn."

"Well, I was going over my notes and I analyzed the murder scene." Flynn said. "Remember how I said things were placed? Norrington's throat was slit, and the knife was to the left of the victim."

"Must we take the long road on this story?" Jack asked, still angry.

"Jack!" Celeste scolded. "Now, don't be rude."

"And 'is interruption at the most inopportune moment wasn' rude at all."

"Jack, be quiet." she ordered. "Excuse him, Mr. Flynn, please proceed."

"Well, as I said, the knife was found to the left of the victim." Flynn continued. "Now, when a throat is slit, it is almost always from behind, correct?" Celeste nodded; Jack had gotten extremely bored with the conversation and had resumed to kissing Celeste's shoulders. "Alright, well, the murderer would've slashed from right to left if the knife was dropped on the left side." Celeste listened intently. "Slashing from right to left would infer that the murderer is-"

"Of course!" Celeste exclaimed. "Left handed!"

"Exactly!" Flynn confirmed. "I noticed upon my interrogation of John Ottoman that he signed a document with his right hand, therefore making it impossible for him to have committed the murder. I doubt anyone except people trained in this field would realize to place the weapon elsewhere to throw off an investigator. It is highly unlikely that Ottoman killed Commodore Norrington. I intend to point this out tomorrow to Gillette and Governor Swann."

"Oh, Mr. Flynn, you're brilliant!" Celeste cried. "That's absolutely wonderful! Oh, thank goodness you were able to figure it out in time! Poor Mr. Ottoman could've been hanged… Thank you for informing us. We - or rather, I am glad to know this information."

"You're very welcome, Mrs. Sparrow." Flynn replied. "And please excuse my indecorous intrusion."

"Yeah, yeah, leave already." Jack muttered, but Flynn didn't hear.

"Er, good night, Mr. Flynn." Celeste bid. He nodded and left.

"Finally." Jack said, pulling Celeste to him.

"Jack, you were so rude to Mr. Flynn." Celeste scolded. "You should never be rude to nice people like him."

"Well, 'nice people like 'im' shouldn' interrupt nice situations like ours." he told her, running his hands up her back.

"Oh, goodness, Jack, is this all you care about?" she asked. "Mr. Flynn just saved someone's life for heaven's sake."

"No, I jus' 'ate bein' interrupted." he told her. "I swear I'm gettin' locks put on these doors…" He kissed her.

"But, seriously, Jack… I'm worried…" Celeste said, resting her head on his chest. "The case has completely hit a wall… with Ottoman out of it, we really have no suspects…" she sighed. "We absolutely must solve this case… We owe it to Commodore Norrington… There's no clues… no nothing."

"Don' worry, love, we'll figure it out." Jack said softly, holding her tighter. "Besides, we've still got that… '2' person who is supposed to 'elp us or somethin', right?"

"Yes, I suppose so." Celeste replied. She sighed. "I hope they can help…"

"Well, 'ey, life doesn' really 'ave to continue until tomorrow, does it?" he asked, tilting her head up so that she looked into his eyes and he kissed her. "We can forget about the world for a little while, anyway."

"I suppose…" she sighed. "If only you could be my world… I wish you could be the only thing in my life…" She placed her hands in his and kissed him.

The next day, Flynn, Jack, and Celeste went down to Governor Swann's to talk to him about releasing Ottoman. When they got there, Gillette was there talking to him already. Flynn explained how it was impossible that Ottoman murdered Commodore Norrington.

"Where is your real proof, Flynn?" Gillette asked. "James was my best friend - the best Commodore this town has ever seen. The only suspect so far is Ottoman and I'm not risking the chance of releasing him."

"'is name was James…?" Jack mumbled.

"Sir, I realize your concern but it would be wholly unethical to convict a man who has not been proven guilty." Flynn argued calmly.

"But he hasn't been proven innocent either." Gillette replied. "Look, I'll give you until Ottoman's hanging to prove his innocence. Whatever happens after, if you fail to succeed, is beyond my hands."

Flynn tried to reason with Governor Swann, but he trusted Gillette's judgment since he figured Gillette reflected what Commodore Norrington would've wanted.

"Alright, then…" Flynn said, as they exited the building. "We have to prove Ottoman's innocence… in a week…"

"We can do it." Celeste stated encouragingly. "We just have to - OW!" she cried. A fist-sized rock had flown out of nowhere and hit her in the back. "Oh, ouch! What the…!" She spotted the rock on the ground and picked it up.

"Darling, are you alrigh'?" Jack asked, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, it hurts a lot, but… this…" Tied to the rock was a note; she retrieved the note and dropped the rock. "It's from that '2' person!" She began to read it aloud. "'Sparrows and companion, it's obvious that you are blind to say the least. The criminal you seek is just under your noses. I can't help but laugh as I watch you stumble in the dark. I have eyes everywhere and always know what you are doing - I watch ceaselessly. Tomorrow another of my helpful clues will be placed by one of my eyes in a specific location. The clue lies within this note. The first line and an old sea-saying will help you to decipher my clue. Since I am gracious, I shall provide you with more hints to break my code: 7/18/10/45/18/10/22/32/53/1/3/18/42/1. Now, it's not that hard - brainless as you are. Don't waste your time. You have until tomorrow to find my next clue. Good luck to you. Your friend, 2 (a man of many talents).'"

"The man is dafter than I am for goodness sake." Jack said, looking over the clue.

"What could this mean…?" Flynn asked to himself.

"You know, I'm not so bad at things like this… maybe I can figure it out." Celeste told them.

"Well, I don't know, this is quite tricky…" Flynn said. "I mean, a woman's mind isn't necessarily-"

"What on earth do you mean by that?" Celeste asked, rather offended.

"You shouldn' 'ave gone there, mate…" Jack mumbled.

"Oh, nothing, just that-"

"You watch, Mr. Flynn, I'll have this figured out by tomorrow - you just watch." Celeste stated and they all went back to the ship. The rest of the day was spent thinking hard. Celeste studied the note and Flynn studied the case for evidence of Ottoman's innocence.

Celeste sat at Jack's desk, trying to figure out the note: she'd been studying for hours.

"Don' you think you should take a break, love?" Jack suggested. "You're goin' to go blind jus' starin' at that parchment all day."

"No, I don't want a break." she said blankly. "The… first line…" she mumbled and trailed off. She had taken many notes and was extremely close to solving it. '"Sparrows and companion, it's obvious that you are blind to say the least…"' she read. 'An old sea-saying… The first… and the numbers…'

"Of course!" she exclaimed. Jack jumped, startled, at her sudden outburst.

"What!" he asked urgently and went to her.

"I've figured it out!" she cried excitedly. He stood behind her and looked over her shoulder at her notes and put his arms around her. "Look, look! Alright, it says to look at the first line, right? It's the seventh letter of the first line - W - and then the eighteenth - I - and the tenth - N…" She wrote out the whole message and came up with the words… "Wind in the sails!"

"Brilliant, darling!" he exclaimed. "Absolutely brilliant!"

"And that's the old sea saying! Oh, I must tell Mr. Flynn!" she cried, stood up, and ran out of the room to Flynn's quarters. "I've figured it out, Mr. Flynn!"

"What! You did!" he asked in amazement.

"Yes! You see, it said to look at the first line! The numbers represent the letter in that line!" She went to him and showed him her notes. "You see? Seven was the seventh letter in the line!" She explained the process to him and he gazed at the parchment in amazement.

"I can't believe…"

"A woman figured it out, Mr. Flynn." Celeste told him smugly. "We really are equal, aren't we?"

"…I… I must congratulate you…" Flynn told her. "I must admit that I could not even figure it out."

Celeste smiled smugly. "But… what could it mean? 'Wind in the sails…'"

"Maybe the clue will be put in the sails somewhere… Yes, that must be it." Flynn concluded. "The clue will be in the sails… Rest easy tonight, Mrs. Sparrow, for you have solved a puzzle of great magnitude, beyond my reckoning. Well done, I must say."

"Thank you, Mr. Flynn." she replied and went back to her room. "Well, Jack, we figured that the clue will be in the sails."

"I think perhaps we should 'ave someone keep watch tonigh'." Jack stated. "Maybe they can spot who it is."

"That's a good idea." Celeste replied. "But who should keep watch?"

"I think Marty should." he told her. "'e's not easy to spot."

"Marty…? My, after nearly two years on the ship, I haven't learned the whole crew's names…"

"Marty… the… very shortest of the crew."

"Oh! Yes, of course." Celeste remembered. "It would be extremely kind of him to keep watch for us."

"I'll go ask 'im." he said, and left the room.

Celeste readied for bed and Jack returned a few minutes later.

"'e said 'e'd be glad to keep watch for us." Jack said, closing the door behind him.

"Oh, that's wonderful." Celeste said cheerfully. "We must thank him tomorrow."

"Aye." Jack agreed.

The next day, they all went up on deck in anticipation. Marty said he hadn't seen anyone at all during the night, but they decided to check the sails anyway. They climbed up into the sails and looked for anything unusual. Finally, one of the crew members found a note tied to an arrow that had been shot onto the mast. They brought it down and handed it to Jack, who read it aloud.

"'Clever, Sparrows, clever. I was shocked when Mrs. Sparrow figured it out.'" he looked up. "'ow did 'e know you figured it out?" he asked Celeste. She shrugged. "'How do I know, you wonder? Well, I told you that I watch ceaselessly. I have eyes everywhere, remember? I know what you do always: every second of every minute of every hour of every day. Always. What's the matter, Sparrows? Bats in your belfry? I'll be watching. The clue will be in place tomorrow. Sincerely, 2.'"

"Simple." Flynn piped in. "'Bats in your belfry.' The bell tower."

"Oh… yes, of course." Celeste concluded. "We'll go there tomorrow then."

That evening, Celeste and Jack went to bed, awaiting the third clue the next day. Celeste climbed into bed and Jack put his arms around her and kissed her.

"You know…" he said, kissing her neck, "I feel like I'm forgettin' somethin'… Somethin' important… Is it Anamaria's birthday? I 'ope not because I forgot… Wait, don' tell me… I can figure this out…" He kissed her. "No, don' tell me, I know this… You know, I think I wrote it down - don' tell me!" Celeste looked somewhat annoyed. He reached over to the bedside table, opened the drawer and pulled out a small box. He climbed on top of Celeste and handed her the box, smiling. "Happy anniversary, Princess."

Her eyes lit up. "I knew you wouldn't forget! I knew you'd never do that!" she exclaimed happily. She opened the box and pulled out a bracelet strung with black pearls (how appropriate); she grinned. "Oh, it's beautiful!" He helped her put it on and she eyed it. "Oh, it's so pretty! I love it! Thank you, Jack!" She kissed him. "And I knew you wouldn't forget. I knew it."

He laughed. "You've been glarin' at me for three hours, love, waitin' for me to say somethin'."

"Well, I was just waiting, that's all. I knew you wouldn't forget." she replied. "And I didn't forget either. Tomorrow, I'm going to make you a big dinner with all your favorite food! I know how much you love food, so I figured you'd enjoy it."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful." he told her. "You know me like a book, darling. Me mouth's waterin' already. More reasons than one, I'm sure." he said with a smirk and kissed her. "Two years we've been married… seems like so much shorter. Happy anniversary, Celeste."

She smiled. "Happy anniversary, Jack. I love you."

"I love you, too, my Princess." he replied, placing his hands in hers, and kissed her.

Hope everyone enjoyed! I'm still pleading with people to read my other fics. Specially Skye Blue and Flowers for the Sparrow and Big Star. PLEASE READ:'-( Anyway, hope you liked the chapter! PLEASE REVIEW!