Got My Eye on You Chapter Eighty Eight


Pocket Full of Rye (Part Eight)


"Hold on tight- the metal ladder gets slippery at this time of year."

Donna was down in the inflatable, calling up at the consulting detective now coming down from the dockside. The tide was not at its lowest, that had passed a few hours ago. But even so, it was a long way up to the quayside. As the consulting detective descended the ladder, the orange light that had shown him clearly at the top grew dimmer. She felt better when the boat moved under the weight of a new passenger. He passed her at the motor end and then sat in the middle, facing her. "Is this okay, or do you want me further forward?" He spoke quietly but clearly. In the darkness, it was hard for her to see his face.

"Bloody hell, Sherlock. I see what you meant about it being dark down here. We don't make ship visits at night, so I'm not on the water after dark. I can hardly see you, and I know you are less than two meters away." Other than her voice, the only other sound down here was the lapping of the water against the rubber sides and the concrete dock. Above them, the quayside would be busier. Even this late, the cranes on New Branch would be working. Lorries and goods trains were always on the move on the roads that ringed the outside of the dock area.

"That's the whole point. Down here at night, no one is looking for a small inflatable craft with no running lights. Just the sort of thing to move a precious cargo to the cruise ships."

He'd argued that they tackle the Gemini first. "On the principle that it is closest- and it's the only one that has a clear line of sight from its berth to the Cruise terminal berth. And it would be easier to hide illegal immigrants on it than it would the catamaran or the ferry, neither of which is kitted out for overnight journeys. Lockable cabins make better prisons."

Donna pulled the cord on the small outboard motor. When it failed to catch on the third pull, she asked Sherlock if he had a torch. The small inflatable boat shifted as he came down to her end, shining a small pocket torch. She had already opened the fuel reservoir and now used the torch to peer in.

"A bit low on petrol, but it should still be enough at the speed we'll be going."

"Let me try." Sherlock knelt and gave the cord a sharp pull. The two stroke motor roared into life, sounding hideously loud to their ears. She quickly cut the choke and throttled back the revs, so the motor was just barely turning over. He went back to his seat, but this time face away from her. She cast off and moved the clutch from neutral into forward gear. Slowly, they moved away from the quayside.

Sherlock shifted in the seat, putting one of his long legs over onto her side. This way he could talk and be heard.

Donna giggled. "I should have asked if you know how to swim."

"Yes. And I have used boats like this before, too."

"Good. You should be wearing a life jacket."

"No-the jackets are reflective. We need to be invisible if we are going to get close enough to see without being seen."

The little engine putt-putted quietly, as they went down the 200 meter Eastern Branch dock and then turned into the main water that ran in a south-western direction. It was cold; the forecast had predicted freezing temperatures, and there was a stiff breeze. She was glad to be wearing gloves. Across the dark expanse, Donna could see their target- the Gemini.

As they came closer, Sherlock made a hand gesture that Donna took to mean ahead slow, so she throttled the motor back until it was scarcely turning over. Still, their forward momentum took them alongside. That was the joy of an inflatable- no loud bangs, just the bump of rubber, as they came to the waterline hull entrance at mid-ship. This was the part that she didn't understand- how would Sherlock get on board through a watertight and sealed entrance?

"Can you hold position here?"

She pushed the lever to neutral. "What are you proposing to do? Knock?"

That drew a chuckle in the darkness. "Not exactly, but near enough."

"Are you crazy?!"

"No. Where's the boat toolkit?"

"Under the seat."

Through the murk, she saw the small torch beam come on, and then realised he was holding it between his knees, while rootling through the box.

"Ah- hah!" He sat up, and picked up the torch to shine it on what he had been looking for- a rather large metal screwdriver and a roll of duct tape. "Now the tricky bit. How quickly will it take you to scoot around the stern so we can't be seen by anyone opening the hatch?"

She peered through the darkness. "It'll be quicker if I turn around. It depends on how loud I can let the motor go."

"We need to be around the stern when they open the hatch."

Donna was thoroughly confused, but gave it her best guess. "At low throttle, maybe two or three minutes; half that if we are prepared to make more noise."

"Good, unless they are literally standing by the door, it should take them that long to get down here."

"Sherlock- it'll take a lot longer than that, even if they could hear a bang on the door- which I sincerely doubt. The security team will be split. There'll be the one on shift who is up on the bridge; the other one will be bunked down- and probably asleep. That's eight decks above for the one on duty – and probably several for the one who's asleep, assuming he heard it in the first place, which is extremely unlikely."

"You are assuming that no one else is on board."

She manoeuvred the inflatable around so it was now facing the stern, but still beside the hatch, which was no more than a meter above the waterline.

"Right- now I need your phone."

"What for?"

"I'll explain in a minute."

She handed it over, and then watched as he turned it on, and then turned his own phone on. The light from the phones was surprisingly bright in the darkness. He was tapping her number into his phone. He then started flipping through her apps. He must have found what he was looking for, because he tore off strips of duct tape, and placed them over the back of the phone.

"I'm going to stand up."

He was giving her fair warning, but the RIB was pretty stable. Then he leaned over to the hull and taped her phone to the door, as far up as he could reach.

"Okay. Are you ready?"

"Wait, Sherlock- what are you going to do?"

"What happens if you try to break the seal around a watertight door in a ship's hull?"

"You set off an alarm. Oh- you want them to open the door? Why?"

"Because who opens the door and how long it takes them to get down here will tell us everything we need to know about who's on board."

"Who do you think is on board?"

"The Gemini is the perfect place to keep the gang's supply of illegal immigrants 'stored' in inside cabins- probably locked in the crew quarters below the waterline. They will be ready and available for the next cruise ship and their buyers to show. If the door alarm is answered quickly, then we will know that someone is keeping a close watch down on this deck or the one below. The only reason they would do that is if the women are in there."

"What's my phone got to do with it?"

He smirked and leaned back to show her his own phone. It was running a video of them- as seen from her phone's camera. "Nearly live feed- it's transferring it to my phone every three seconds. When they open the door it will be pulled inward and should show us who has answered the alarm. That will tell us a lot."

She was struck by how carefully he'd thought it all out. "Um, won't they know that someone has figured it out- the phone taped to the door will give it away."

"Yes; that's probable."

"And why do you think that is a good idea?" She wondered what the logic was of telling the criminals that someone knew about the ship's illegal cargo of women.

"Because by then we will know who they are and have the evidence we need to get a warrant. When they realise that they've been spotted, then they might be panicked into getting the women off the ship as quickly as possible. They can't take them off this way, because they guess they are being watched, even if they rip the phone off the door. They won't have arranged with Sharon Gillespie to have access to the RBI- in any case, we're in it. They will have to go out the front door. They can't walk them down the gangplank without getting caught on CCTV, so they'll have to organise some sort of lorry or cargo transport that can be explained. That buys time to get the Met in place. I'll send the video file to Lestrade and tell him to get a team down here as soon as we know who's on board. If it goes according to plan, they'll be less able to use the women as hostages."

"Oh." It sounded all very logical.

"Here we go." Sherlock inserted the screwdriver into the gap between the bottom of the metal door and the hull. It was protected by watertight rubber seals, but with enough force, Donna knew that the pressure would become uneven, and an alarm would be set off.

Sherlock braced his feet against the middle board of the seat. "Increase the motor speed- I need more pressure."

She opened the throttle a bit, and the boat fought against being held back by Sherlock and his screwdriver.

"More!" He was starting to strain from the effort of bracing the boat.

She gave it more, and heard him gasp as the boat kicked against the obstacle. The motor sounded terribly loud in Donna's ears; she just hoped no one else was down on the water.

"Again!" He was shouting now to be heard over the roar of the two-stroke. She opened the throttle further. Then suddenly the RIB jerked forward and Sherlock collapsed. The screwdriver had snapped off, leaving the metal bar of the tool left stuck in the door. They were meters away by the time she killed their speed, and the forward momentum carried them further from the door with every passing second.

"Are you alright?" She could see, even in the darkness, that Sherlock had not sat up again. "Sherlock?"

"Yes. Just bruised and a bit winded. Can you circle back? I need to see what else I can use."

As she finished the loop that brought them back up alongside the door, Sherlock suddenly shouted "Stop!" She throttled back all the way, and threw it into neutral. "Do you hear that?"

She strained to block out the sound of the two-stroke. Then she heard it – an alarm going off, on the other side of the door.

"Hurry- we may not have much time!"

She threw the motor into forward gear and opened the throttle wide. If they were lucky, they'd get around the stern in time.

Sherlock was already sitting up, hunched over his phone when they got around the stern. She killed the engine instantly, and steered them into the back side of the ship. She felt safer here. Given the overhang of the decks above, no one would be able to see them down here- and there were no cabin windows either- only the big lounges- and they were high enough up that no one would be able to see them tucked in close to the stern.

"Let me see." She spoke very softly, now aware of the noises out on the harbour that she had been unable to hear over the motor. He shifted and came to sit beside her. They both focused on the tiny phone screen, which was showing what could be seen looking out from the hatch.

"Look," she whispered. "You can see the Braemar. It's that pool of light over there."

"Hmm."

Then, suddenly, the picture seemed to jump and jerk about. The video camera's microphone picked up and transmitted metallic noises and the hiss of a seal giving way. Then the view swung away from the water and Donna could see inside the Gemini entrance way. She caught glimpses of a dark-skinned man in a grimy white T shirt as the door was made fast. Then he came into full view, his attention focused on the edge of the opening out onto the water. He held a radio of some sort and was talking into it- fast and furious.

"What language is that?"

"Tagalog. Spoken in the Philippines. Shhh. I'm trying to listen."

"Isang bagay ay nasira ang selyo."

She nudged him. "Do you understand that?"

"Yes. He just told the other person that the seal is damaged. The metal shaft that broke off will have fallen into the water when the door was opened. Luckily, he hasn't noticed the phone yet."

The radio crackled into life. "Hindi kami gumagalaw sinuman ngayong gabi, kaya i-lang-off ang alarma at isara ang pinto."

Sherlock grunted. "That's our confirmation. He just said that they aren't moving anyone tonight. He told him to turn the alarm off and shut the door."

In the light cast by the phone, Donna saw him smile. "That, with the rest of the evidence will be enough to get a warrant." He tapped the recording app and sent it with a text to Lestrade.

"How long will we have to wait before we can set off? If we do it before the door is shut, he will see us."

Sherlock nodded. "Let's see if it's shut." He re-opened the link. The image shown wasn't of the harbour; it was of a face, looking puzzled. A hand came up to touch the camera, and then the video picked up the man standing back, still staring but this time speaking into his radio.

"Boss, may gansal-stuck ng isang bagay sa pinto."

Donna swore. "He's spotted the phone."

The radio crackled back into life. "Turn off the bloody lights, you moron! You can be seen half way across the harbour!"

There was a gasp, and the man turned to look out the open door before sprinting back across the screen. Then the screen went dark.

"Sherlock! That was Tolhurst on the radio- I am sure of it!" Donna was terrified. "Where is he that he could see the open hatch? Has he seen us?"

"Good question. But I don't know the answer. We need to get hidden from the harbour side. If we're lucky, we won't have been seen."

"We don't dare start the motor- it will be heard if he's anywhere near. Use the oar- it's clipped to the right side in front of the seat."

The boat rocked as he moved forward. She watched as Sherlock fumbled briefly in the dark and then pulled the oar free. He knelt by the left side and started to paddle. "Keep the propeller turned so I can push us along, using the hull."

She slid back into the pilot's seat, and turned the outboard so it worked like a rudder. They bumped slowly along the backside of the ship. They were about ten meters away from the dock. Unfortunately, the stern was rather squared off, so there would be no way to hide the inflatable around the bend, between the dock and the hull, until they got quite close to the dock. That left them exposed. Donna's panic rose when she realised what she was hearing behind her, across the water.

"We've got to hurry. That's the launch- the Lady Aileen; I recognise her motor!"

The launch's engine was much more powerful than theirs was- and they had no constraints about being heard. She pulled the outboard far the right as the nose of their inflatable cleared the stern and Sherlock was paddling like mad. Then she saw the beam of light playing across the water, searching them out. Shit.

Her worst fears were confirmed when she saw the light catch on their wake, and the follow it up to the stern. The rest of the boat, and her own body were now behind the bulk of the hull, but the rear, including the motor might still be visible. The sound of the launch's motor suddenly deepened into a roar, and she knew they'd been seen. As the boat came closer, the searchlight suddenly caught them. Ahead of them, in the space between the dock and the ship looming above, she could now see the gangway to the main dock-side entrance. It was about twenty feet in front of them, and on it was standing a man with a machine gun.

She turned to look behind them, and saw the launch was now blocking the way. They were caught- like rats in a bottle.

Sherlock had stopped paddling, but the inflatable's forward momentum brought them closer to the man with the gun.

"Itaas ang mga kamay!"

Sherlock put the paddle back in the boat and raised his hands. Donna did the same. Their deductive trail had come to a dead-end.