Palmer and Tony went to the guesthouse hoping to find that McGee had simply overslept or was still eating his way through a giant portion of black pudding.

"Can I help you?" asked a stately middle aged woman when she saw them standing outside the dining room.

"We're looking for Timothy McGee," said Tony. "One of your …"

"Guests. Yes, I know who all my guests are. And who are you?"

"I'm Inspector Paddington-DiNozzo from Scotland Yard. This is Constable Palmer." Tony showed her his warrant card.

"I see. I'm Isabella Lafferty, I own the Montague Private Hotel."

"Mrs Lafferty," said Tony, "As I said, we're looking for Timothy McGee. Is he still here?"

"I don't believe so," said Mrs Lafferty. "Let me check the board," she went into the small office and checked the room keys which were hanging there, "No," she said, "As I thought, Mr McGee left his room key when he left after breakfast. I do not believe that Mr Gibbs returned to the hotel last evening."

"No," said Tony, "He's … away for a few days. What time did Mr McGee leave?"

"About 8am. I remember because he took the trouble to thank me for the delicious breakfast. He is a very polite young man." She sniffed and Tony wondered if there was another guest she didn't consider to be so polite.

"Thank you," said Tony, "That's very helpful. Did you see which way he went?"

Mrs Lafferty seemed to weigh up whether she should answer: she wanted to be helpful but she also didn't want to give the impression that she spied on her guests. Kindness won out over pride and she said, "He turned left out of the door. But I fear that is not helpful to you as the hotel is situated near a junction and he could have taken any direction from there."

"I see. Is that the way he normally leaves?" asked Tony.

"I believe so," said Mrs Lafferty.

"Thank you," said Tony. "Here is my card. If Mr McGee returns, would you ask him to phone Scotland Yard on this number. Or, if you think of anything else, please call me."

"Certainly," said Mrs Lafferty, "May I ask? Is Mr McGee in trouble of any kind? He seems such a nice polite young gentleman, hardly the sort of person to get into difficulties. In fact, if it was not for the accent, I would not have believed him to be American."

Tony could think of no reply to that so he put his hat back on, touched the brim in farewell and led Jimmy outside.

"What now?" asked Jimmy.

"We'll go to the cinema. Make sure Tim hasn't turned up there. No, wait, I'll go there. You go back to the Yard and get the word out that Tim has gone missing."

"Yes, Sir," said Jimmy. "If I hurry there should be a number 17 bus back."

"Actually, I'll come with you, I can catch a bus to the cinema. It'll be a little quicker than walking."

XXXXXX

"Any luck?" asked Jimmy when he and Tony met about an hour later at the Yard.

"As your superior officer, I feel I should point out that it is hard work, dedication and intelligence that solves cases, not luck," said Tony.

"Oh well," said Jimmy philosophically, "I guess that confirms I'm in the wrong job."

"However," said Tony, "As a realist, I'm aware that luck plays a big part. So don't let that be the reason you quit. And no, I didn't have any luck. Tim hasn't shown up. He's gone missing somewhere between Montague Street and Oxford Circus."

"I telephoned to Imperial College," said Jimmy, "Spoke to Dr Henry Wagstaff."

"Who?"

"Tim's lecturer friend," said Jimmy.

"How did you know his name?"

"Tim said his name was Henry. Turns out there's not that many American lecturers called Henry at Imperial."

"Good job," praised Tony, "You should reconsider quitting."

"Thank you," grinned Jimmy, "But it didn't help. Dr Wagstaff said they had an interesting evening, had supper in a restaurant near the Museum and then Tim went back to his hotel."

"Did he …"

"Said Tim was in good form, didn't seem to be worried about anything and was enjoying his stay in London … although not looking forward to the voyage home."

"All right," said Tony. "I need to go see Gibbs. See what he wants to do."

"And I think Tim must have changed his mind about going straight to the cinema this morning," said Jimmy.

"What makes you think that?"

"He left his briefcase here. Perhaps he thought it would be safer to leave it behind if he was going out. PC Jenks said he came back about 6.30pm, after we'd left."

"All right, have a look at it. See if anything hits you. I'm going down to Western Dock. Gibbs' little play yesterday may come in handy."

"Sir?"

"I can come the heavy policeman checking up on someone he's suspicious of," said Tony. "I'll take my car. If anything comes up, call through to Western Dock station, tell someone to come find me."

"Yes, Sir."

XXXXXX

Tony found Gibbs walking along the dockside with a surly expression on his face. The scowl deepened when he saw Tony approaching.

"What?" he asked, "We didn't plan to do this again."

"It's McGee," said Tony, "He didn't show up at the cinema this morning. We've checked, he left the guesthouse this morning as usual but didn't show up. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No," said Gibbs.

"He said something was bothering him about the film footage," said Tony, "But he didn't know what it was. He was going to check again this morning."

"What have you done so far?"

"The men on the beat have been told to look out for him," said Tony. "I wanted to check with you first, see how you wanted to handle it." He pushed Gibbs' shoulder, "Sorry," he said, "Don't want this to look like a polite conversation."

"Don't apologise," said Gibbs absently. "What do you think?"

"We can flood the Western Dock with police," said Tony, "The murder of Sewell gives us a reason for doing that."

"You think that's best?"

"If we assume that McGee's disappearance is linked to your case, then yes," said Tony. "But it might not be, might just be coincidence. Well-dressed tourists can be a target for thieves … and worse."

"Humph," said Gibbs, "I'm not a fan of assumptions or coincidences. I was talking to Sewell's landlady. Seems he mostly did casual work but he often worked out of Misselbrook's Warehouse in the Hermitage Basin. I was on my way to see if I could get taken on there."

"I'll get some men down here," said Tony. "Won't flood the area and we won't say we're looking for McGee."

"We've got to find him," said Gibbs. "He's meant to be here to do research. He didn't come here to mix it up with the bad guys. This isn't what he signed up for."

"I know," said Tony soothingly.

"The Marine Corps doesn't leave men behind," said Gibbs firmly.

"Neither does the British Army," said Tony.

"You serve?" asked Gibbs sceptically.

"1916-18," said Tony.

"France?"

"Did eight weeks in the trenches. Then I got moved to be ADC to General Whitworth."

"ADC?"

"Aide-de-camp."

"Ah, gopher."

"If you say so," said Tony evenly. "So, you on board with this?"

"Yes. I'll meet you at the Cross Keys pub at 18.00. In the tap room."

"Make it outside," said Tony. "It'll be better."

Gibbs looked at Tony curiously but agreed. Tony shoved Gibbs again and stormed off In the opposite direction. Gibbs muttered under his breath as if cursing an interfering policeman and walked towards the Hermitage Basin.

XXXXXX

Back at the Yard, Tony looked at McGee's notes about the films.

"Anything?" asked Jimmy.

"No, not really. Don't think he saw anyone who looked like Lambert. It's just a list of the reels he'd looked at and how long each one was. I guess he needed that in case he spotted something so he could work out the time someone came ashore."

"Doesn't help us then," said Jimmy.

"No … wait, there is something odd."

"Yes?"

"The footage for the arrivals lasts about 3 hours. All except the one for the RMS Olympic, that's only got 2 hours."

"So?"

"Probably nothing."

"Perhaps nobody interesting was on board?" Jimmy suggested.

"Maybe. Ask the switchboard to get me through to Claude," said Tony. "Here's the number."

A few minutes later, Tony was talking to his friend Claude.

"Hey, Claude. Thanks for getting that footage to us. Can I ask you … October 21st. The Olympic came into Southampton. Any reason why you didn't film for long?" Tony listened to the reply, "Yes, that's what I thought. Any chance of you getting us another copy? Thank you. I owe you."

"What?" asked Jimmy.

"October 21st. Charlie Chaplin was on board the Olympic. Claude said the filming went on for longer than normal."

"And you remembered that?"

"I knew Chaplin had come into Southampton on the Olympic. It was on the Pathé News but I didn't remember the date. Did Tim mention while you were at the cinema that he was puzzled?"

Jimmy thought back. "Come to think of it, yes. We were just leaving and going through the foyer when he said there was something odd that he couldn't put his finger on."

"Anyone in the foyer at the time?"

"Couple of young boys. You know how they hang around hoping to pick up some errands."

"Go back, see if you can find anything out about them," said Tony.

"You think this is why Tim got taken?"

"I think Lambert is a thorough person. If he knew that Gibbs had come here to investigate he might have had someone following him and McGee. And if he knew that Tim was going to the cinema he might have got worried that he was on the film somehow. Looks like he managed to get to the film and get rid of some of it."

"But even if he was on film, it wouldn't have helped us find him, would it?" said Jimmy.

"No. It would have confirmed that he was in the country. It was always a long shot. I think Gibbs went along with it because it kept McGee out of harm's way. Well, that worked out well … not."

"I'm going," said Jimmy.

XXXXXX

Gibbs got taken on to repair shipping crates at the Misselbrook Warehouse. He banged nails in as quietly as possible so as to be able to listen in to any conversations. There seemed to be some anxiety about the increased number of police on the beat but Gibbs got the impression that was because some of his co-workers was resentful that they might not be able to slip the odd bottle of spirits into their pockets: it seemed this was considered a legitimate perk of the job.

When they halted for a mug of tea, Gibbs tried asking a few questions,

"The woman who runs the lodging house, she said that someone got killed here".

"Not here," said Sid. "'e worked here. But they found him up the river a ways."

"Oh, she must have got it wrong," said Gibbs.

"Old Ma Maxie, she gets a lot wrong," said Joe.

"Comes of h'overimbibing," said Sid.

"You can talk," said Jack.

"I don't drink until it's dark," said Sid with dignity before adding, "That's why I like the winter. H'it gets dark early!"

"What was he like?" asked Gibbs.

"Who?"

"Soolie."

"You mean Sewell. Bernie? He was OK. A bit nosy. And clumsy. Think 'e thought 'e was too good for us," said Jack.

"He work here long?" asked Gibbs.

"Off and h'on," said Joe. "When he couldn't get nothing better. Which was most of the time!"

Shortly after this, they were ordered back to work and Gibbs resumed his repairs. He finished one crate and picked it up to return it to the delivery area but took care to take a detour. He didn't spot anything suspicious so collected another damaged crate and took it back to the repair area: he repeated this process a number of times and, by this means, managed to explore a good portion of the warehouse.

In the middle of the afternoon, he took a crate to a dimly lit corner of the building and became aware of a tapping sound coming from beneath his feet. He paused, unsure whether it was just one of the sounds of a busy dock area but as he listened he realised that there was a rhythm to it: three short taps, followed by three longer ones, followed by another three short taps. SOS!

Gibbs put the crate down, looked around cautiously and knelt down. He spelt out McGee in Morse code and waited for a reply. The code for Yes came back quickly. Gibbs grinned to himself and tapped out Gibbs here, wait, will come to get you.

Gibbs peered into the gloom and saw a flight of steps in the corner. He moved towards the staircase, took his flashlight out of his jacket pocket and went down cautiously. The stairs led to another storage area which Gibbs guessed could give direct access to the water. There were a number of doors but only one was shut and it was to this door that he made his way.

"McGee," he whispered through the door, "You there?"

"Boss?" came a similarly muted reply. "Is that you?"

"Who d'you think?" replied Gibbs momentarily forgetting his relief at finding his junior.

"Sorry," said Tim.

"That's OK," said Gibbs repenting his impatience. "Hang on, I'll get you out."

"Gibbs, they might be back soon," warned McGee.

Too late, Gibbs briefly registered the pain to the back of his head before darkness claimed him

XXXXXX

Outside the Cross Keys, Tony paced uncertainly. He stopped under a street lamp and looked at his watch, it was 6.30pm. He hadn't known Gibbs long but it was long enough to know that he wouldn't be late without reason. With a sigh, he started walking towards the Hermitage Basin.


AN: I once read a detective story set around this time in London where the police inspector finished an interview and then hopped on a bus to go back to the police station … so I think it's possible that's what Jimmy and Tony did here.