“It’s what we thought. She looks like she was just laid to rest, only tilting slightly. Some of the containers are open.”
“Zoom in,” said U-Jin staring at the screen. The young man nodded, zooming closer and closer. “Look. Her locks were cut open. If they were cut open, that can only mean one thing.”
“They were cut open after she sank,” said Moose. “Someone got their cargo and it damn sure wasn’t furniture.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“We need to know what other ships were in the area after this ship sank,” said Marc.
“It won’t be that easy,” said River. “We’ll have to find out the exact route of ships since this one sank three years ago. Do you have any idea how many ships that’s going to be?”
“Yep, possibly thousands but not if we narrow them down to Chinese, Russian, Ethiopian, Turkish, or Greek.”
“Why those?” asked U-Jin.
“Let’s just say it’s a hunch,” said Marc. “If we narrow down those ships, check their manifests and history of shipping, we might find our ship that was docked near this one and then, we might be able to figure out what was on it.”
“I never like to interrupt these beautiful moments when you boys are having fun,” said AJ, “but our new friend in Baltimore might be able to move this along for you. I’m sending the information on Tony Carliotta. You make yourselves useful while we’re waiting on Morris.”
“Okay,” smirked River. “It looks like we’re going to Baltimore.”
It was midday before Tony could actually meet with the men. They wanted to ensure that they weren’t seen or in general public, so Tony arranged for them to have lunch at the ‘family’ restaurant.
“Mr. Carliotta?” said River reaching out a hand. The man smiled at him, shaking his head as he looked at the others behind him.
“Damn. Those are some strong genetics. I’m happy to meet all of you but especially you, son. I understand from my new friends Garr and Sor, that you and Priscilla are getting married.”
“Yes, sir, we are,” he grinned.
“Her father would be very happy to hear that. He was my friend and a good, good man.” The men all smiled at him, taking a seat around the big table. Massive platters of food were carried out, one after another. Eggplant parmesan, meatballs, lasagna, veal, and more.
“Eat, eat!” he laughed. “I can tell you boys like to eat. I assumed no wine for you, so the pitchers are full of iced tea. You mentioned on the phone that you needed help trying to find a ship that might have docked over the wreck and dove on her.”
“That’s right,” nodded River. “We saw the wreck and it’s clear that someone went down afterwards and opened the containers. The locks were cut and still hanging there.”
“Well, that definitely feels like damning evidence,” he frowned. “During the month after the wreck, you couldn’t get anywhere near that ship. Most of our ships that were coming into the docks had to skirt around it. There were salvage ships out there, maritime…”
“Wait, wait, wait. Salvage ships?” asked Marc.
“Yeah. They said they could make sure the ship didn’t cause any problems for the shipping lanes and could clear it out of the way.”
“But they didn’t,” said River. “What was the name of the salvage ships?”
“I’d have to ask the boys to look,” he said turning in his seat. Three men seated behind nodded, standing and leaving the room.
“I have to ask this, Mr. Carliotta,“ said River.
“Tony. Just call me Tony, kid.”
“Alright,” he smiled. “I have to ask this Tony. Priscilla’s father was killed about the same time as this cargo ship went down. Is it possible they were connected.”
Tony was quiet for a few minutes and then nodded.
“I hadn’t really thought of it before because they said he died of a stroke. I should have questioned it. Paul was healthy as a horse. Refused to eat half the stuff we cooked here. We kept wheat pasta on hand just for him. Made sure the chicken was grilled just with lemon, no butter. And he never drank. Never.”
“Did he ask you about the ship that sank?” asked River.
“He did. He asked if we knew the company that owned the ship. We’d never heard of it. The ship name wasThe Relief. She was owned by a company called ERG Industries.”
