Depth of Deception (A Titanic Murder Mystery) Read Free

the woman.
    The ship’s doctor didn’t look up as he shone a light into the woman’s sapphire blue eyes, " She’s suffered stage-three hypothermia. Her body temperature was so low that I can only assume that her cellular metabolic process had shut down. "
    " In layman’s terms, please. " Sadler asked.
    The doctor peered over his glasses at Sadler, " I’m sorry, Sir. At that point internal organs usually fail. I can’t be sure if she’ll ever regain consciousness. "
    After all this, they still might lose their only survivor. Sadler couldn’t bear to think about it. Sadler turned his attention to Cartier who was still trying to wring the water out of th e woman’s cumbersome underdress . " Did you find any I.D.? "
    " Not quite, Sir. But she was wearing this, " Cartier said as she handed Sadler a gold locket on a chain. Sadler held the locket up to the light to examine it closely. It was quite elegant. On the back was an ornate inscription. Sadler tilted it past the light to make the engraving more legible,
    To Myra,
    Happy Anniversary!
    Archie
    December 31.
     
    Myra? Was this woman Myra? Sadler looked again at the locket. As he hoped, there was a small hinge on the one side. He tried to open it. It was stuck. He reached into the pocket of his trousers, taking out his pocketknife. He flicked it open and then proceeded to carefully pry the tip of the blade along the seam. He felt himself sigh in relief as it popped open. Setting the knife down, he parted the two halves delicately. There he saw two pictures inside: one was of a young man with the mysterious woman—presumably Myra—dressed in turn-of-the-century costumes. The other photo was of a small baby boy dressed in a cheesy old-fashioned navy suit. Both photos had a sepia tone to them— no doubt created at some novelty booth at a carnival, he thought.
    " And Captain, there might also be something here, " Cartier said, pointing to the book on the nearby table. " Looks like a piece of paper used as a makeshift bookmark. "
    Sadler set the locket down carefully as Cartier held the small hardcover up for him to see. It looked antiquated, like the kind found in old used bookstores. Quite small in size, on first glance it appeared to be about five or six inches by eight inches and quite thin. The grey cloth cover was water damaged but as Cartier gingerly opened the book, Sadler could make out the single title on the spine: Futility
    Futility ? The title was somehow oddly familiar to Sadler, but he could not recollect having read it. Cartier carefully pried the pages open to the marked section. The wet mysterious bookmark was stuck into the page. Cartier gently set the book down as she looked about and then grabbed the tweezers from the nearby metal pan . She carefully began to pry up a corner. Sadler was getting impatient but he could see that Cartier had to move ever-so-slowly so as not to rip it.
    She turned it over an d gingerly unfolded it, carefully smoothed it out and moved it into the light to take a look. A confused frown crossed her brow. She looked up at Captain Sadler, opened her mouth as if to say something, then looked back down at the paper and continued to stare at it, as if waiting for something to happen.
    " Well? What is it? "
    Cartier said nothing, but backed away so Sadler could inspect the piece of paper. Sadler recognized it immediately; it was an old style ticket for a steamship. In curved text at the top were the bold letters:
    WHITE STAR LINE
    That was where Sadler had seen that five-point star. It was the old logo of the prominent British shipping company. This was a 'Cabin Passenger's Contract Ticket', which meant 'First Class' but the names that were written in ink were smudged by water damage. He could barely make out: "A__G."
    Beneath the illustrated image of a four-funneled 'Cunard Class' Steamer was the name of the passenger ship typed in bold letters. Captain Sadler felt an odd chill as he read the impossible:
    British Steamship: R.M.S.