The water was soaking up her trouser legs. It was disgusting, but luckily it at least was a warm day. Underneath her, Alessandro was up to his chest dipped into the water, a vile mixture of the Yarra, down here laden with the rubbish and mud and whatever water had managed to push up against its current from Port Philip. Phryne clung to the iron ladder bedded into the straight concrete wall and pressed herself into the shadow of the dock as well as she could manage. Above them, about 20 dock workers carried boxes and bags up the planks of the Louisa, an aunthill of excitement that she doubted would let up before the ship was about to leave the harbour. But with a little luck they would get enough of an opening to reach the chain stretching from the back of the ship to the surface, anchoring it to the Yarra's bed.
A gentle tug on her pant leg drew her attention downwards.
"The man over there." He nodded with his chin without taking his fingers off the slippery ladder. "I've worked with him before. His name's Guiseppe."
"I guess we are on the right trail then," Phryne whispered back happily. "I would've hated to ruin this lovely pair of trousers for a dead end."
Alessandro grinned. He had taken to the adventure like a duck to water. Quite literally. If Phryne's position was uncomfortable, his was a whole lot worse. But he didn't seem to mind. Miss Fisher returned her concentration to the men and their cargo. So far she hadn't seen anything suspicious. The shipment seemed to consist of mostly coal, with some large sacks of food thrown in. Maybe coffee? There was movement underneath her in the water and her eyes slipped downwards to find Alessandro looking up at her.
"You all right?" she whispered quietly.
"Just enjoying the view, Miss Fisher," he grinned, not hiding his discomfort. Phryne playfully rolled her eyes at him.
"But my watch tell me, shortly before it's untimely death, I'm sure, that it is after three o'clock, Miss Fisher. If we intend to swim over, we need to do it soon."
Phryne nodded at this. Three men left the boat, in deep conversation, one headed up the plank. He looked like an actual seaman, a young kid who didn't appear to have had a proper meal in about three months.
"I think the crew is beginning to get on board," she whispered. "Let's go."
The splashing of water was all the answer she received. Alessandro could swim, and how. He rather reminded her of a fish. By the time the detective, as quietly as possible, slipped into the brown floods, his head was already bobbing near the anchor chain. He gripped onto it, measuring its strength with his hand while he waited for Miss Fisher to catch up to him. Phryne found the cold water challenging, not only due to it's strange undercurrents, here where salt mixed with sweet water. The dirty river water soaking through the heavy fabric of her trousers also did not help in the slightest. But finally, with gritted teeth, she arrived to where Alessandro was treading water staring up the heavy chain. With a pull of his hands, she was standing on the metal.
"After you, Miss," he said with a broad grin.
"Still not enough of the view?" Miss Fisher asked, but climbed up obediently.
She thought she heard him whisper "never" underneath his breath, but there was no time for banter or flirtation now, her pounding heart reminded her. This was sleuthing. The deck was surprisingly bare of a soul, though someone was singing not too far away.
The Louisa was an old barque which was still hanging on to the past by a thin thread, while steam-powered vessels had taken over the majority of cargo by now. Crouching behind a massive keg, Miss Fisher glanced up into the spiderweb of ropes spun between the three masts. The young kid from earlier was climbing through it like a monkey, readying the sails. He would be her greatest concern in not getting caught. Two seamen in threadbare clothes wandered past their hiding place. Their stench lingered for a moment longer. She felt Alessandro pull a face more than she could see it.
"Let's go," he whispered. "The more people are on board, the less chance we will have to get under deck."
That Miss Fisher couldn't argue with. They waited until the two men had disappeared at the front of the ship, then rushed from their hiding place, following the walls. They first found the camboose, where a tall, skinny cook was chopping something. He turned out to be the origin of the terribly false singing and was in little mood to discover any sleuths sneaking past his galley. They reached a set of steep, wooden stairs with nobody to stop them at all. Phryne's enjoyment of the adventure was slightly dampened by her trousers clinging cold and wet to her legs. But nevertheless her heart beat manically as they reached the lower deck. Her eyes darted around the dim interior. To the left, there seemed to be leading another case of stairs down to the cargo hold, to the right she suspected the sleeping quarters.
"Someone's coming," Alessandro whispered into her contemplation on which way to take. A heartbeat later they climbed down the stairs, disappearing from sight just in time before a young man, dressed like an officer walked past and disappeared in the other direction.
"That was close," Phryne breathed. A memory flashed in front of her mind, but she had no time for this right now. The man currently reaching the cargo hold was not Jack and never would be. For some reason that thought filled her with melancholy.
'I'll never be one of them', his voice echoed in her ears, 'even if you want me to be'. Silly man. She shook off the thoughts and followed Alessandro, who was currently inspecting a pile of sacks stacked in the corner.
"Coal," he said.
"Let's see," Miss Fisher grinned, peeling her dagger from it's hiding place. She may have imagined Alessandro taking a tiny step backwards when the blade flashed in the dim light. She crouched down, poking a hole into the rough fabric and sticking her hand in it. It came back black.
"Definitely coal." She frowned. "That's seems hardly worth the secrecy."
"Maybe they're not all the same?" Alessandro wondered aloud, spinning on his heels. There was a lot of cargo filling the ship's belly. Piles and piles as far as they could see. Miss Fisher felt her heart sink, but she went through a handful more samples to make sure. Everywhere she went, only black dust greeted her. By now she was cold and rather grumpy. Surely there must be something on the Louisa that would warrant the note in Marco Bricelli's book. Unless…
"Strano may have changed his plan after the murder," she said quietly. "Which means we should probably talk to him."
Alessandro said nothing. She could tell that he wasn't thrilled with the idea in the slightest. They climbed back up to the lower deck in silence.
"He will not tell me the truth," Alessandro said, just as they reached the landing. Phryne didn't get to reply.
"What's with the water all over the floor. Who of you monkeys has taken a bath?!" a rough voice yelled down the stairs. Heavy footsteps followed. Phryne's eyes shot around herself, but the only way out was forward. She raced towards the door the young man earlier had taken, praying that he had by now left. The door shut behind them, drowning out the still swearing and yelling man outside. To Miss Fisher's surprise she found herself in a luxurious suite – as far as luxury could be managed within a boat. Heavy armchairs surrounded a game of chess. She wondered dimly how well this would go on a stormy day at sea. Beside a collection of decanters filled with a variety of liquids in different shades of amber, was sat a lovely silver teapot. Lined up behind it, several tea jars with exotic decorations. She thought briefly of Dot's fast approaching birthday. Something like this would be rather pretty. Sadly she could hardly ask the owner of this cabin to share where he had acquired them.
"Miss Fisher?" Alessandro whispered, just as her gloved fingers slipped over an embossed Cherry Tree. She tore herself away. Lovely tea jars would not solve this case. She followed him into the second room, where she realised what he had found. A pile of medium sized, brown boxes, neatly stacked in the corner of the sleeping quarters.
"Could be anything," Miss Fisher said, feeling her heart speed up.
"Guiseppe was carrying one of them," Alessandro said. They looked at each other and grinned.
"Let's see then."
Phryne already slit open one of the brown papers. It revealed hundreds of little paper sleeves, all printed with the same distinct pattern.
Alessandro frowned, peeling one open before she had a chance. He dipped his finger into the white powder and brought it to his lips just as Miss Fisher grasped his hand.
"Don't," she said. "It could be anything."
"I have a fair idea what it is," he protested, but resisted the urge to taste it, instead wiping the substance on his wet pants. Muffled shouting sounded through the thin walls.
"We need to get this to Jack," Phryne said, shoving several of the packs into her pocket. "I doubt this is a delivery to a chemist."
A small shock went through the boat just as she finished the sentence. Then the ground began to move underneath her feet. The sleuths looked at each other.
"Damn," Alessandro breathed. "We are on our way to Sydney."
"Not the worst city in the world, I hear," Phryne joked, already on her way to the door. Surely there would be time to get off the boat before they left the harbour entirely. She'd almost reached it when the door swung open and the young officer appeared in the frame. From closer up, he was a lot more intimidating and not at all surprised to see them.
"I thought I heard some stow aways sneaking about," he boomed, waving a pistol at them. "Now, what shall I do with you?"