11th June; On Styles

"Reckon Mister Sewell's last order about you still stands," Thompson told the sailor. "So if you don't want me to gag you, shut it. Thomas, across from him. You'll be comfiest on your side, so I'm only goin' to put one ankle in irons."

He took the key from his pocket to unfasten the padlock that kept the long iron bar in place so he could lock Thomas in the irons as well.

"Merton, this is your and Seward's seachest? What of the contents belongs to you?"

Sewell had not too much hope of finding anything, but at least they had tried then, and even if they found nothing, it was a kind of evidence.

There was no further speech from Seward, though the topman glared sulkily at his feet. For his part, Thomas had nothing to say either. He hesitated before settling gingerly onto the deck, lying on his side as Corporal Thompson had suggested. How long would he have to be here? It was a question burning on his tongue but he dared not ask it. Better, he reckoned, to act as though he was unconcerned.

~

For a moment, Merton eyed the Marine officer warily, uncertainly, before stooping to rummage through the sea-chest. It did not take long for him to separate his belongings from Seward's, shoving the latter's personal effects to one side.

"Them's mine," he said, indicating the assorted items now against the larboard side of the sea-chest.

Sewell nodded and began to sort through the unclaimed items. He was looking for either money or any objects that had belonged to other sailors - identifiable either by markings or memory - or indeed anything suspicious. There was a chance, of course, that any illegal proceedings were hidden somewhere else ... but while one could not expect a crook to be careless, one could not rule it out either, and if the man was innocent, then it was only to his advantage if it was on record that his chest had been found clean of all incriminating evidence.

Each item he checked he passed to Johnson, figuring he might catch something he himself might miss. When they had gone through all, he looked at Johnson inquiringly for his opinion.

In the main, there was nothing of interest in anything the officer passed to him. Johnson set each article aside onto the mess-table after giving it a brief looking-over. There was nothing here. Damn. Though really, Seward would be more fly than - or maybe not. The corporal paused, then held up a tankard, which was remarkable for the worn whipcord someone had carefully braided around its handle.

"This here's Oxley's," Johnson said in a mostly-toneless voice.

Thompson had arrived back just in time to hear Johnson's laconic pronouncement.

How the devil had Seward got hold of Oxley's tankard, he wondered. It wasn't the sort of thing someone would leave lying around, in Thompson's experience.

He arched an eyebrow, waiting to hear what explanation Merton might put forward for Seward's having the drummer's tankard in his sea-chest.

Sewell drew in a deep breath.

"One of you better ask Seward how he got it, and one Oxley. Unless they are well organized, I doubt that the tales will add up."

Merton, to his credit, showed no sign of panic. "Whatever that fool's been up to, it's naught t'do with me."

"I'll go ask Seward," said Johnson, roundly ignoring Merton.

Seward nodded in agreement with Johnson's action and directed his next question to Merton:

"When did the tankard appear in the chest?"

His tone was all business, without any accussation; he seemed to quite expect Merton to be calm - he had never had much patience with unfounded panic.

Oxley had barely been back at his post five minutes when Corporal Thompson came back up, to ask possibly the strangest question ever.

"Me tankard? Corp'l." He blinked up at the NCO, nonplussed. What in the blazes did his tankard have to do with anything? "Ah. Um. Coupla weeks ago, I think." He very nearly asked 'why' and bit his tongue. If the corporal wanted to explain why, he'd do so without being asked.

Merton gazed neutrally back at the officer, feeling decidedly disinterested in this whole affair. "Dunno, sir. It ain't me job to mind his things."