Free Steele-Faced (Daggers & Steele Book 6) by Alex P. Berg

going on? Why in the world—”
    I cut myself off as fate gave me the answer to my own question. A broad-shouldered guy in a light gray suit jacket and matching slacks lay face down in a pile of suitcases and trunks that had come loose. An incision about an inch wide cut through the back of his jacket, just underneath his left shoulder blade, but that wasn’t what drew my attention. The blood that soaked the entire back of his coat was.
    “Gods, Steck,” I said. “What the hell happened?”
    “I…don’t know,” he said as he scratched his thin hair. “I…guess someone stabbed him, and he fell into these suitcases, knocking them over.”
    Steele joined me at my side, followed closely by Boatswain Olaugh and the crewman. She glanced at the dead body. “That’s not what Daggers meant and you know it. You told us this was a vice and fraud case. That we were here to ferret out a card cheat or two. So what exactly did you fail to mention in the briefing this morning? What are we actually doing aboard this ship?”
    “What? I don’t know,” said Steck. “I mean, I didn’t keep anything from you in the briefing. This was supposed to be a vice case. Or a fraud case. However you want to label it. Nobody was supposed to die. I have no idea what happened, or why, or even who this is. I swear!”
    Steck gestured as he talked, tucking his hands under his armpits, wiping them on his pants, tucking them into his pockets, but never letting them stay still for more than a second. He made the crewman seem calm.
    “Alright,” I said. “Let’s settle down and tackle this like professionals. Steck, what happened? What do we know?”
    He shook his head. “Ask James here. He found the body.”
    I turned to the sailor. “That’s you?”
    He nodded. “Yes, sir. James Willis.”
    “Tell me how you found this man.”
    James rubbed his hands together nervously. “I came down here in search of a bag for Mr. Tallsdale. He’s one of the ship’s passengers, up on the B deck. He meant to bring the bag with him, but it was put in storage by mistake. So I came down to retrieve it, and when I entered, I found this.” He pointed at the dead body.
    “And then what happened?” I asked.
    “Nothing,” said James. “I ran to the bridge to inform the Boatswain. He summoned Mr. Steck here, and he told me to get you and Mrs. Waters—er, I mean, Detective Steele. Whichever.”
    “No one else has been by in your absence?” I asked. “Nobody else knows?”
    “Just the five of us, to my knowledge, sir.”
    “And did you touch anything?” I asked. “Has the scene changed in any way since you first arrived?”
    “No, sir,” he said. “Not to my knowledge.”
    I turned to Olaugh, who stood at attention with his hands behind his back. “Who has access to the luggage compartment?”
    “Any of the crew, in theory,” rumbled the half-orc. “All the Prodigious’s interior doors that are capable of locking use the same key, apart from the staterooms, of course. Those have separate keys, for guest security.”
    “I assume the luggage compartment locks,” I said.
    “Yes,” said Olaugh.
    “And was it locked?” I asked James.
    “Ah…” He scrunched his brow. “No, actually. I turned my key, but the latch didn’t click. It was open already.”
    “How often is this area patrolled?” I asked Olaugh.
    “Not often, during a regular trip,” he said. “Even less so now.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “The short answer is our staff is busy attending to the opening night festivities,” Olaugh said. “The longer answer is we didn’t think there would be a need. As you can see, the space is largely bare. We have storage to accommodate long trips, but this maiden voyage is quite short due to the poker tournament you’ll be competing in. After we complete that, we’ll dock and head on a longer voyage. Only a few of the guests are staying with us for that longer voyage. This is largely their luggage.”
    “So, basically, pretty