Octavio Jordan Jr

Everything fell into place for Octavio. The guy who had come out of that room was an FBI agent. But the big question was, why were they on the cruise in the first place?

Dr. Juniper Rice

Dr. Juniper Rice looked around the dining hall. There were two teenagers talking in one corner of the room, a boy, and a girl. They had been confronted by Corey Byrd and another man who tried to make sure that nobody saw their FBI badges, but she did. Nothing could get past Juniper.

Everybody had been nervous ever since the news of Henry Clarks’ death was announced. Juniper saw the couple by the window by the far wall talking in hushed tones, and she saw the husband look around the room nervously. That told Juniper that they had (or thought they had) a big secret.

Everybody has a secret, whether they like it or not. Juniper’s secret, you ask? Well, that’s a good question.

-

Henry Clark’s Room

10:00 pm

The Night Before Clark Was Murdered

-

Until now you have experienced the cruise ship through somebody else’s eyes. Now you are going to enter Henry Clark’s room as yourself.

You see Henry emerge from the bathroom, in childish striped pajamas. He is a middle-aged man with thinning hair, a protruding belly, and big pudgy fingers.

You see this man get straight down to business. He drinks some water from a tall glass and climbs into bed.

After a couple hours, the clock now reads 5:22 am. You hear the door creak open. Your nose catches the scent of something strange, was that gunpowder?

You see the shadow of a man through the open doorway. The lights are off, so you do not see his face. You catch a glint of silver right below his hand, and you think that it is a knife.

The person takes a step forward. Henry Clark turns in his sleep.

The man turns the dagger in his hand and moves toward Henry. You turn away as you hear the sickening sound of blade meeting flesh.

Corey Byrd

Corey Byrd and Juniper Rice were walking along the upper level of the cruise ship. There was a salty breeze and the umbrellas nearby swayed.

Juniper suddenly stopped walking, and Corey almost walked into her. “Why did you come on this cruise?” She asked.

“What?” Corey asked, trying to delay the inevitable.

“I mean, you’re good,” Juniper said. “But not good enough to know that there was going to be a murder on this ship.”

“Oh.”

“And,” Juniper continued. “You and that other guy went up to those two kids with your badges. Why? Why are there two of you? What’s the real reason you’re on this ship?”

“Which question do you want me to answer?” Corey asked.

“My first one.”

“Uh, well,” Corey started. “I can’t tell you. It’s against protocol.”

Juniper glared at him. “Since when does protocol matter to you?”

“Uh, since I got promoted?”

Juniper sighed. She had long light brown hair piled at the top of her head in a massive messy bun. She had stretchy black pants with running shoes and a light pink muscle shirt. She was a doctor, but she didn’t look like one. She also was extremely skilled in the martial arts, but she didn’t look that way either.

Corey remembered one time there was someone who had stolen a pair of sunglasses from a store and Juniper had tripped the guy so inconspicuously that he didn’t know what hit him.

“Agent Byrd,” Juniper said all formally. “Do you remember who helped you get promoted?”

“Yes.” Corey said.

“And who was it?” She asked.

“You.”

“Wow!” Juniper mimed clapping. “Bravo! And, you know who can put you back at your old job?”

“Yes.” Corey said reluctantly.

“And who can do that?”

“You.”

“Exactly.” Juniper’s eyes turned serious. “Now, are you going to tell me, or not?”

Corey opened his mouth to start talking, but his phone rang.

He smirked at Juniper. “Saved by the phone.”

Juniper sighed. “Again.”

Corey picked up the phone and started heading down the stairs back to floor 11.

“Agent Byrd.” He said.

“Hey.” Said Milo’s voice. “You got to come down here.”

“What happened?”

“Someone was found hanged in their bathroom.”

“What?!” Corey said. “Who?”

“One of Clark’s clients.”

“Do you think- “

“I don’t know what to think right now.” Milo interrupted. “Just get down here. And fast. I got to go. The kids came back.” Milo hung up the phone and Corey put his back in his pocket. He went down the stairs at a quick pace, regretting leaving the elevator behind.

When Corey got to floor 11, there was caution tape blocking off the entrance to one of the rooms nearby. Cameras flashed. Why were there reporters on a cruise ship?

A reporter apparently saw Corey in the back of the hallway and muscled her way towards him. She was very short with light blonde hair and a large clipboard with a notebook in her hands. There was a pen behind her ear.

“Hi.” She said to him. She stuck out her hand and Corey shook it. “My name is Ocean Wise. Do you have any idea about what happened here?”

“What makes you think I know what’s going on?” Corey asked. “I just got here.”

Ocean winced. “Oh, well, you kind of have the traits of law enforcement, plus the gun on your belt.”

Corey glanced down. He just noticed that his gun was showing. Oops.

Corey moved his gun so that it was obscured. “Nobody’s supposed to know that I’m here.” He said. “And I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what happened.”

“But- “

Corey walked past her and tried to find a way into the room.

Liberty Gray

I couldn’t believe it. I was standing inside an actual for real life crime scene! This was a big moment for me. I could totally add this to my resumé later on. Not that this hadn’t been my first crime scene. But the first one didn’t count. It was my own house, after all.

Me and Otto (I had to pull him along) were standing in this dead guy’s room with Agent Milo Chang. I was standing by the window with Otto, mostly because I didn’t really want to look at the body hanging by the bathroom entrance.

There was a knock on the door, and the nicer FBI agent, Corey Byrd, walked in.

“How did all of the reporters get on the ship?” He asked to no one in particular.

“We don’t have time to deal with that right now.” Agent Chang said. “I had to bribe the CSI manager for ten minutes in here. I don’t think I can get any longer.”

“So,” I said, smiling innocently. “How can we help?”

“By leaving.” Milo said.

“Ha ha, very funny.” I said. Milo scowled at me. I ignored his look and moved my eyes to other parts of the room.

“So how did he get in?” Corey asked, ignoring me and Otto. How rude.

“There was no sign of forced entry,” Milo said. “But the door was locked anyway.”

“Did the unsub sneak in through the air vent?” Corey said in a way that meant he thought it was very unlikely.

Milo didn’t seem to understand what sarcasm was. “Maybe.” He said. “But I don’t know.”

“Wait.” I interrupted. “What’s an unsub?”

“It stands for unknown subject.” Corey told me.

“Oh.”

“Um,” Otto said. He had stopped staring out the window in a daze. “Don’t people commit suicide by hanging themselves?” He asked. “Maybe that’s what happened.”

“Maybe.” Milo said again. That man needs to work on his vocabulary. He has a very short dictionary it seems. “But two murders – I mean deaths – in two days, that seems like it’s one killer.”

“Unless this guy is the killer, and he killed himself before we – you, whatever, - caught him.” I said.

“Right now, we have to take everything into account and weigh all the options.” Milo said. “Since we haven’t been able to go to the first crime scene, we don’t really know if the two are really connected.”

“Except for one part.” Corey said.

“Byrd,” Milo said accusingly.

“What?” Corey said. “I’m just saying.”

“Not here.” Milo said, and I understood what he meant. Not in front of the kids.

That right there, is what I hate about adults. They think they’re so superior just because they’re a couple decades older than us. Like, seriously?

“What?” I said.

Milo glared at Corey. “Nothing.” He said.

I crossed my arms at Milo. “Really?”

“It’s none of your business.” Milo started to look around the room. “The victim had his computer and luggage out.” He noted. “It doesn’t really look like he was saying goodbye in any way.”

“Is there a suicide note?” Corey asked.

Milo shook his head. “If there is, the forensic examiners took it.”

There was a sharp knock on the door, and I jumped.

Milo sighed. “That’s our cue to leave.” He looked at me and Otto. “How did you guys get past the reporters?”

I shrugged. “We’re kids. They don’t pay attention to us.”

Milo looked like he had an idea. “So, you could sneak into a room without being noticed?”

I shrugged again. “It kind of depends. You have to look like you know where you’re going.”

Milo got a glint in his eyes that made me feel uneasy.

“Okay, I need you two to do something…”

So, a couple hours later, me and Otto were walking towards Henry Clark’s room in the middle of the night. I was pretty excited. We just couldn’t get caught. This was going to be so easy.