48 Hours a Day

“Do you really think that a monster broke into Vincent’s house?” asked Anne the moment they left Billy’s house.

“At first, I thought some supernatural entity from the carrack came for him after hearing what he described. However, I changed my mind after I checked out of his house.”

At that, Zhang Heng passed the seashell to Anne.

“What’s wrong with this?”

Anne took a look at it but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“This shell is a foreigner, in the sense that it came from outside of Nassau. You won’t normally find this type of shell here.”

“Hmm… that reminds me of something. Harry picked a bunch of seashells exactly like this one. I don’t think I can ever understand his hobby.”

“And the scale. This a scale of a great barracuda, one of the most common fish often caught by the fishermen around this area.”

“How on earth do you know stuff like this?”

Anne was shocked and slightly impressed by Zhang Heng’s broad knowledge.

“I have done extensive studies on fishes. Anyway, that’s not important.”

In his first round of the game, Bell taught Zhang Heng how to tell apart edible sea fishes. Upon returning to the real world, he had also looked up about fishes online. Now, he could recognize more than 200 types of ocean fish.

“But, that carrack sailed around oceans of the world, right? It’s entirely possible that it ended up around the waters of Nassau at some point.”

“You are right, which is why I investigated Vincent’s garden earlier. He told me that he watered his plants once a week, and Netti helped him to water them five days ago. She also told me that the island hadn’t received any rain lately. The dry, dusty soil in his garden verified her claims. However, I found an exception in one of the spots of the garden.”

“Huh?”

“After I checked out Vincent’s house, I’ve been thinking about what he told me earlier. He mentioned that the mysterious man looked as if he just came out of the water. His shirt was dripping all the time. However, the problem here is that Vincent’s house is quite far from the sea. If that creature came from the ocean, he would have had to take a huge risk by walking all the way to Vincent’s house even under cover of the dark. Most importantly, most of the seawater on him should have dried up after taking such a long walk.”

“I don’t think common sense can be used to solve this matter. Perhaps the mysterious man is cursed and is always drenched in seawater? I’ve heard a similar story when I was a kid.”

“I did think about that possibility. If that’s the case, then the water dripping from his clothes should have been constant. However, I found a spot in the garden that was way wetter than all the other spots.”

“Are you suspecting that someone deliberately wet himself and stuck seashells and scales all over his body? Why would he make himself look like a monster if all he wanted was to break into Vincent’s room to look for the three notebooks?”

“Are you asking about the purpose of him acquiring the three notebooks or the purpose of making himself look like a monster? I can’t figure out why he wanted the three notebooks as well. As for making himself look like a monster, I believe he did that so others couldn’t recognize him. I should’ve thought about it earlier. I’ve checked everything that we removed from the carrack, and I can assure you that there’s nothing wrong with them. We did, however, come across a storm on our way home, though. Now, I finally remember the items that I forgot to take.”

“What are they?”

“it appears that crate of silverware, ring, and the necklace isn’t everything that we brought back. There were seven people on the carrack, including you and me. Someone must have gone behind our backs and secretly took something else from the ship. He should be the same person that broke into Vincent’s room.”

“Is that why you didn’t share your theory when we were at Billy’s house?”

Zhang Heng nodded in reply.

“We were all together last night, so that proves our alibi. That leaves us with five people. I don’t doubt their loyalty, but I do think that the notebook thief didn’t realize the severity of this matter. Not a single person was on the carrack, and there’s a good chance that it has something to do with this. Alright. Since the area is small enough for us to conduct a proper investigation, all we need to do right now is to investigate them one by one.”

“I don’t think we need to do that. I think I know who the person is.”

“Eh?”

“Basically, two in a group when we were tasked to check out the carrack. It’s not easy to hide something when your partner is watching you. I remember that I was checking the cargo hold with Seth. When I heard you kicking down the door, I thought that you came across something dangerous, and I quickly ran to you. Seth was left there alone. If there’s anyone who had an opportunity to hide something from us, it has to be him. He was already on the deck when we regrouped. At that time, I remember that he looked as if he was in a trance. I didn’t think much about it because all of us didn’t look too well, either.”

“What was he doing when the storm hit us?”

“I didn’t see him. He was supposed to be resting at that time. I didn’t see him on the deck as well. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I remember something. I saw a bruise on his face when we met during dinner. He simply told me that he fell somewhere when I asked about it.”

Anne continued,

“Fighting on the ship is strictly prohibited. Still, I heard that some had broken this rule. After all, they are new recruits on our ship, and a few of them already know each other on the island. I wouldn’t be surprised that they had unresolved issues while they were still on the island. Seth… Seth is one of the new pirates from our first batch of recruits. He married not too long ago, and his wife was one of the prostitutes from a brothel. He spent a great deal of money to set her free from her pimp. I heard that they both share an intimate relationship. Still, it’s hard to stop people from gossiping about them.”

“Do you know where he lives?”

“No idea. But, I know someone who knows where he stays.”

Anne looked for a pirate called Sean, one of the cannoneers on the Jackdaw. He and Seth were close friends and had been working on the same ship before the two joined the Jackdaw. They would usually hang out together when they were back in Nassau. Of course, Sean would know where Seth lived. Upon the request of Zhang Heng and Anne, he led them to Seth’s house. The moment they arrived at his place, they saw a large amount of furniture placed at the front of his house.

Seth peeked out from behind a closet he was rummaging through and was caught off-guard when he saw the three of them. However, he became extra nervous when he saw Zhang Heng, swiftly concealing his emotions after that.

“I’m sorry. I’m just about to move,” said Seth.

“Not bad. You just got married, and now, you’re moving. Why didn’t you ask for my help?” asked Sean.

“I don’t have many things, and anyway, I didn’t want to trouble you.”

Seth then glanced at Zhang Heng and Anne.

“I’m afraid that this might be a bad time, captain. Can you come again tomorrow?”