Tidal Rage by David Evans (best big ereader .TXT) 📗

shed; to Stahmer, it looked like an old storage shed that had not been used for many years due to the lack of repair.

They entered the dimly lit building, and Stahmer could see it was basically a ship repair facility used for stripping down parts of marine machinery for reuse on vessels in the fleet of cruise ships owned by the cruise line. Propped up by a wooden jib in the middle of the building was the burnt-out wreckage of what was left of the lifeboat.

Although the roof had had transparent sheeting built into it at intervals, this had long ago become unfit for purpose, after years of damage from acidic rainfall, eliminating the light they once offered.

Stahmer asked Sean Wright to organize some task lighting so he could carefully inspect the wretched craft before him. Within a few minutes, several high-powered halogen lamps were put in place, and the area around the craft was instantly illuminated.

Stahmer had brought along his investigation kit, which included flashlights, evidence containers, a measuring laser, nylon bags, evidence tags, labels, disposable gloves, camera, tape recorder, video recorder, dust mask and respirator, and two white paper overalls for Ghislaine and himself.

Over years of investigating incidents, Stahmer had developed a fixed routine. First, he made a preliminary scene assessment to determine the extent of the damage, proceeding from areas of least damage to areas of greater damage.

Over the next few hours, Stahmer sketched, photographed, and videotaped what was left of the lifeboat. He spoke into a tape recorder of his findings, and Ghislaine took down specialized instructions that would be used by Fabienne in analysing the data. Stahmer’s skills only went so far, and like any investigation, it would take a team of experts to get anywhere near the truth.

For six hours, Stahmer clambered in and out of the boat. From the case he had brought along with him, he extracted a laser distance measuring device, amongst other vital investigation equipment, the most important of which were the large and small sterilized nylon bags and containers. He placed samples into the bags and containers of fibreglass, engine parts, and the most crucial piece of evidence that was recovered: the remains of a flare from inside the engine compartment.

“I thought there had been a previous investigation into this fire?” Stahmer asked, directing the question to Sean Wright.

“There was a cursory investigation. I’m the first to admit, not an entirely thorough investigation,” he said.

“Well, that may well be an exaggeration. Most of the evidence for surface fire has been lost in the sinking and subsequent retrieval of the lifeboat. But there’s still evidence of the craft that is intact. On the documents you have provided, the only objective evidence is the post-mortems, which show all the deaths are down to smoke inhalation and burns. Written descriptions of the craft are incomplete; there are no sketches noting burn patterns or ignition point. There is neither photographic evidence nor any meaningful scientific analysis.”

“We are quite aware of the shortcomings of the previous investigation and apologize for the lack of the evidence you have discussed. But that is why you are here, Mr Stahmer, to get to the bottom of this,” Sean Wright explained.

“Sherlock Holmes once said that many types of investigations are susceptible to prejudgment, but few as often as fire scene investigations. They are destructive by nature, and basically destroy the very evidence needed to identify the cause. However, compound this with the lack of care by the initial investigators, which may have caused cross-contamination. Items may have been removed and not logged down, and the clothes, or what was left of them, have been destroyed!” Stahmer retorted.

Sean Wright reddened slightly. “Can you deduct anything from what you have seen, Mr Stahmer?”

“Well, it’s far too early to tell, and I have to have these items shipped back to Geneva for forensic analysis before I can conclusively give you an answer. However, I can tell you I have located where the fire started, and the most likely ignition source. I found tiny pieces, that resemble parts of what appears to be a parachute flare, embedded in metal. Also very telling is that the extinguishers are still in place, meaning no one had time to fight the fire; it was catastrophic and quick. I’m pretty certain this is an act of sabotage, rather than an electrical or cigarette fire, as your internal investigation reported, so we’re probably looking at multiple cases of homicide.”

“How do you know the flare wasn’t set off accidently and this caused the fire?”

“Because the metal the flare was embedded in was the interior of the fuel tank.”

“In the fuel tank?” Sean Wright asked, incredulously.

“Exactly. Diesel does not ignite readily, if at all. It is the vapor which ignites; but when it burns, it burns fiercely. You state you only have a minimum amount of diesel in the tanks, to minimize fires, but it is exactly what you should not do, as you have maximum room for the vapours to ignite. The only reason we have anything left of the boat is that when the plastic in the hull melted, the craft sank quickly, dowsing the flames.”

“The flares we use have to be manually set up and connected for them to operate.”

“The flares you use have a switch on the bottom, which releases a cap and completes a circuit. If the circuit is set a millimetre apart it will not fire, but if you rig it so they come into contact, you have an ignition source. Even the movements of the waves beneath the boat could set off the flare. But like I said, it is a hypothesis at the moment, and we can test this once we get some physical evidence back to our laboratories in London.”

Sean Wright sighed, as this was obviously not going to be good news, and he was due to report to