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Chapter 6

Roger
March 21

The same afternoon I went back to Pier 1. I still had business to discuss with that grumpy man. Surprisingly, he acquiesced to my demands. The garage door to the warehouse lifted up and I was surprised at what was cradled inside.

"Is that supposed to be a ship?" I muttered, staring at something that I, well, couldn't exactly describe as resembling a boat. The front of this object appeared round, mostly yellow, and obviously made of metal. It rested on brown wooden beams but was held up to the ceiling on heavy duty chains. In the middle of the yellow object was a black large circle.

"It's a little part of the old man's memories rattling around in my head," the man said proudly. "I was driven to build this thing."

I examined the vehicle closely. For the most part it looked like a round ball that someone could step inside in and maneuver. Its transportation depended solely on the movement of propellers. It was certainly outrageous and I had certainly never seen such a thing.

"I never really tested it to see if it could make it diving under water and coming back up," the man said.

"What if I'm interested in renting it?"

"This little lady's not going anywhere. Or at least for a while. It has to be charged up."

"Alright. I will be back then tonight," I said confidently.

"If you want to make that thing run for ya, then you'll want to make that payment up front," the man said happily, eyeing my black briefcase.

******

By the time I returned to my car I was surprised to see that there was an early afternoon fog out. Which could only mean one thing. I looked around sharply.

Sure enough, in front of Pier 2 I saw three hunched figures moving towards the end of the dock. They could've easily resembled human-- just awkwardly doubled over. After all, they did have four limbs. And those bright, glowing eyes were obviously headlights to see in the dark. Webbed feet and hands hinted at scuba diving. Do these fishermen really think those are servants of the sea titan? Ridiculous!

I was going to confront them.

"Hey, stop! You can't fool me!" I yelled, following the single-file line.

All three of them turned around, their headlights emitting an eerie yellow light. And then quickly they jumped into the water.

"Hold it!"

I did not want to give up quickly and so I continued to run to the end of the pier. This case was already all too frustrating; I at least was hoping to see which direction they would be swimming in. I stopped myself at the edge and looked at the ocean. I saw submersion bubbles a few meters away, indicating a dive downwards rather than a swim in any other particular direction.

*****

Forty-five minutes later I was back at my house opening my wardrobe. Dorothy stood by the doorway watching me.

"Are you going far this time?" she asked in that mechanical tone of voice of hers.

"Just a few blocks. But it is far," I said, rummaging through the hangers. I had already taken off my double-breasted suit and decided to change into something a bit more casual.

"Nothing more than riddles."

"I do suppose so. I may go solving those riddles as a matter of fact," I said, moving in front of the mirror like a vain teen. I adjusted my dark brown jacket and admired myself in it. "I've already told Norman-- I won't be needing dinner tonight."