World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics
Lying flat beneath Lucy's fluffy pillows, you encounter what is probably the last thing you were expecting to find: a well-used copy of The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics. Thumbing through for loose items, you find none, but note that some of the pages in the Astronomy section have been dog-eared.


Odd Painting
You may be a rookie, but you've seen enough detective films to know there's usually some sort clue secreted behind the paintings. Unfortunately, lifting each of the four small frames reveals nothing but wall. Oh well. You then take a closer look at the paintings. They're pretty typical: a flower, a hummingbird, a grasshopper perching on a leaf. But one of them is rather strange. It's a poorly done watercolor of a clown standing on a mountain, in front of some pine trees. The clown looks back at the observer with an unsettling grin, and beneath it are inscribed the words 'Never forget me. - Toodles'. What could that be about? Who's Toodles? One thing's clear, taking a second gander at the clown's face, you wish you could forget it.

Ulrich's Notebook
Patting down the cushions seems like busywork, but you realize the importance of being thorough. Just as you're finishing up you see something dark along the inside of the sofa between the frame and the seat cushion. It's a notebook with the initials "UJ" embossed on the cover. Opening it up, you see it belongs to one of the suspects: Ulrich Jacobs. Seems our boy Ulrich is developing a game he's calling "Clupea," that involves putting together clues to solve a murder. He must have brought this along to work on his concept during the trip.. or, was this more of an itinerary?


"Psycho Nancy"
Okay, let's the check the railing! Nothing can be more exciting than checking the railing! You dust for prints, look for any abnormalities, but it turns out to be a regular old railing. And the excitement soon runs out. But wait... leaning over the railing you catch a glimpse at the yacht's name. Psycho Nancy? That's a curious name for a boat. Exactly who was Nancy, and just how psycho was she?

Soup Recipe
You'd imagine that a classy joint like this would be kept neat and tidy, so you don't really expect much to come from looking under the armchairs. And sure enough your search seem futile, until you reach the last chair. You feel around and pull out a small bit of paper. It's a recipe card. Written at the top in big letters is 'Aunt Celerina's Miracle Fish Soup'. Now you don’t know much about cooking, but it does seem a bit unusual. It reads:

5 qt. of liquid from the waters of Arno
1 cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 fish, such as bass
3 hot dogs, diced
1 rooster, sectioned
salt and pepper to taste

On high heat bring water to a rapid boil; add cabbage, carrots and celery. Sever head from fish and toss into water. Allow fish head to flavor water for 6-8 minutes, then remove. Place body of fish into soup, along with hot dog and rooster pieces. Turn heat down to medium-low and let simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Serves 7.



Autographed Photo of Mark Hamil
You'd assume the bar top would be a gold mine of fingerprints, but you've gone over it twice and it's spotless. A few martini glasses, a couple bottles of expensive looking hooch. Not much out of the ordinary. But at the far end of the bar sits something unusual. An autographed photo of actor Mark Hamil. It reads: "To my biggest fan! - Mark Hamil - 15th of November, 19XX". The last two digits in the year have been smudged and are unreadable. -- Who was his biggest fan? Could it have been Mr. Crane?

When you think "game room, card table" you think "hidden compartments." Well, you thunk right! Sure enough, on what appears to be the "dealer's side" of this octagonal table there's a small slide-out drawer. It proves a bit hard to open because someone has stuffed it full of something white and awkward. You manage to wrestle the item out, and unroll what looks like a white, nylon golf flag with an unfamiliar symbol written on it. It obviously wasn't supposed to go in there.. was it?


The top of the poker table looks pretty clean. You search the felt for hairs or fabric fibers, but come up with nothing. You wonder who was playing here, as it appears the table was abandoned mid-game. Looking over the cards, your interest is piqued. All the hands are turned face down, except for one. Aside from the 9 heart kicker, it's made up of two pair: An 8 of clubs, 8 of spades, ace of clubs and ace of spades. If you remember correctly, in poker this is called the Dead Man's Hand. Considering the situation, it's grimly appropriate.

As you examine the stars painted on the ceiling over the pool, you're lost for a moment in the soothing effect it has on your being. But then you notice a faint tracing between some of them. It's quite distracting, once you've seen it. It looks like someone has attempted to form a constellation of some sort by connecting the dots. I wonder what it means?




A good detective knows no boundaries. A good detective will go to any length to seek out the truth. This is what you tell yourself as you step down into the freezing water of the swimming pool. What gives? Shouldn't this thing be heated at least a little? Securing your goggles, you bite the bullet and dive in. The pool is thankfully well lit and you do a visual sweep of the bottom. Nothings stands out as abnormal, but then something small and spherical catches your eyes. Reaching down you grasp the object, then bring it back up to the surface. It's a marble. A yellow, cat's eye marble. As there are no children on the ship, you wonder how that could have gotten there.

The sitting area looks fairly un-sat, except for one thing. There's a book left out, laid open, face down on the armrest of one of the chairs. You flip it over and read an excerpt:

"Her ivory skin still glistened with bath water and her bosom heaved with anticipation as David stepped toward her, dropping his towel to the floor."

Whoa!! This is one of those smutty romance novels like they sell at the grocery store -- perhaps Samantha isn't such an ice queen after all?


You wonder what secrets lie behind Samantha Talbot's cold exterior. Could she be a spy? Or a secret agent working for Scotland Yard? Opening the desk drawers, you prepare yourself for a world of espionage and intrigue... But instead find nothin' but a buncha paperwork. Ah well. But then something small catches your eye. A matchbook from the Drunken Bass bar and grill. "The Best Seafood in Texas!", it reads. Is Texas even known for its seafood? Lifting the book cover, half the matches have been used. Hmm, you can't recall if Mrs. Talbot smoked or not.