Joe quickly turned around and looked at the deck. The body had been shoved underneath the stairwell and would have gone unnoticed since it was dark there except that one leg was sticking out into the aisle. That must have been what I tripped over, he thought. He realized it was a man as he gently turned the body over and felt for a pulse. "Go find a doctor. If you can’t find him, get me a crew member. Now Victoria."

"But is he..?

"Go!" Joe yelled interrupting her question.

As Victoria hurried off, Joe used CPR to et the man’s heart beating again. He didn’t know how long he had been at it before the doctor finally arrived with several crew members and a stretcher.

Joe stepped aside as the doctor got down on the deck and checked the man’s heartbeat. Joe watched as the doctor shook his head and put his stethoscope away. The doctor said to the crew members, "Take him to the infirmary."

As the crew members picked up the body, the doctor turned to Joe and asked, "Do you know him?"

"No," Joe said shaking his head. "I was walking along with someone when I tripped over the body."

"Was he alive when you found him?"

"No. When I checked for a pulse, he didn’t have one so I tried CPR. I guess I was too late."

"Don’t feel bad. He was probably gone some time before you arrived based upon his body temperature."

"You may be right, but it doesn’t make me feel any better," Joe said. The doctor wrote down his name and room number then walked away to inform the captain.

Joe went over to the railing and looked out at the water. He had seen dead bodies before, but every time it sent a chill through him. Joe’s detective instincts immediately kicked in. He wondered, who was that guy? What was he doing on the ship?

As he thought of more questions, he turned around and looked back at where he found the guy. That’s when he saw something sparkle in the moonlight. He walked over and picked up a gold pendant with a horse on one side. Flipping it over, he found an inscription that read: ‘To my darling, Tori.’

Joe looked at the pendant and wondered if there was someone on the sip the man knew. He carefully put the pendant in the front pocket of his black jeans he was wearing and headed for his room. He stretched out on his bed when he arrived and more questions popped into his head he was unable to answer. He tried to stay awake to let Frank know what happened, but all the excitement had exhausted him and he drifted to sleep.

* * * * *

The next morning, Frank was up before Joe. He had made plans with Callie to have a workout in the gym before breakfast. He came in late the night before and found Joe asleep on his bed with his clothes on. Frank figured his brother had exhausted himself when he was hanging out with Victoria.

Frank finished tying his sneakers and quietly left the room. He went next door to Callie’s room and gently tapped on the door. It opened a minute later and she slipped out. She was wearing a tight pink leotard and black leggings. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

Frank whistled. "You look great." She smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

Callie nodded as she said, "You don’t look too bad yourself."

"Thanks," Frank said.

Callie closed the door and said, "Let’s go workout."

Together they headed up to the main deck, then jogged to the gym to start their workout.

* * * * *

Joe awoke to pounding in his head. He opened his eyes slightly squinting at the sun coming through the window. He sat up quickly and saw Frank was already gone. That’s when he realized the pounding was coming from the door. Moving stiffly across the room, Joe opened the door and was surprised to see Victoria. Her eyes were red and puffy. There were tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks as she sobbed. "Victoria, what’s wrong?"

"Oh, Joe," Victoria cried wrapping her arms around his neck. She cried even harder.

Joe held her a moment trying to give her a chance to calm down. Joe said, "Let’s go inside."

He moved back into the room. Once he knew she was clear of the door, he kicked the door and it slammed shut. After a few minutes, Joe said, "Tell me what’s wrong."

Victoria took a couple deep breaths and chortled a sob. She looked at Joe and managed to get out, "I knew him."

"Knew who?"