The Giant Rat of Sumatra Part III

"It's a good thing this ship had sails," the captain of the Matilda Briggs said to his first mate, "seeing as how something destroyed our ship's steam engine."

Captain Heelander of the Matilda Briggs stood on the bridge.

"The strangest thing, Captain," said First Mate Leonard Spock, "it almost looks as if someone or something ate a huge piece out of the engine."

"That it does," the Captain shook his head.

Suddenly the two mariners were approached by two men very formally dressed- black suit, black tie, black jacket, black top hat- each man wore.

"I'm Manny Morrison of the firm of Morrison, Morrison and Dodd," the first gentleman introduced himself.

"I'm Derek Dodd of the firm of Morrison, Morrison and Dodd," the second gentleman introduced himself.

"I'm afraid my brother Monty Morrison is down with a bad case of Montezuma's revenge- alas! poor Monty," Manny Morrison looked dutifully sorrowful, "having recently returned from Mexico."

"That's why he isn't here today," Derek Dodd explained.

"How can I help you gentlemen?" Captain Heelander asked, "other than to recommend lots of cheese and dairy products to your visibly absent brother?".

"Speaking of cheese, Captain," First Mate Leonard Spock scratched one of his huge pointed ears, "someone or something has eaten all the two tons of cheese we had down below as well."

"Well, if it's a human culprit," Sherlock Holmes quipped as he strolled aboard the bridge, "he should be easy to catch. Find out who's gotten off the ship and gone to see a physician in Liverpool with the worst case of constipation in all recorded history."

Holmes' colleague the veterinarian Fred Clegg laughed heartily at this remark.

"Aren't you Sherlock Holmes?" Manny Morrison's jaw dropped.

"I am," the world's greatest consulting detective nodded.

"Well, how about this for a coincidence?" Derek Dodd laughed.

"I hope you're not trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson," a porter remarked as he went by carrying some luggage for an older yet very attractive middle-aged woman passenger compared to the youthful porter.

"How a coincidence?" Holmes asked as he re-lit his pipe.

"We've been hired by the manufacturer of the ship's steam engine to determine how damage was done to the ship's engine," Dodd explained, "apparently the shipping company that owns the Matilda Briggs is thinking of suing the steam engine's manufacturer for a faultily built steam engine. Yet as legal specialists when it comes to machinery, we believe the damage to the engine was done externally rather than something which was caused internally within the engine."

"So we thought of hiring you to look into this matter," Manny Morrison added, "but when we sent a messenger to your apartment, we were told by your landlady Mrs. Hudson that you were working on another case."

"And we had no idea that this case you were working on would bring you down here to the Matilda Briggs," Dodd added, "we'd like to hire you to determine what caused the damage to the ship's steam engine."

"I already have a client at the moment," Holmes remarked, "still my job only involves bringing some animals for a circus safely to shore. What say we go look at the ship's engine?".

"That seems the logical thing to do, wouldn't you say, Captain?" Mr. Spock looked towards his superior officer.

"Indeed, Mr. Spock," Captain Heelander replied.

They went to the ship's boiler room.

Inside the boiler room, the ship's engineer seemed to be going through some consternation.

The concerned Captain inquired, "What is it, Scotty?"

"Captain, I can-na hold on much longer," Scotty answered in a thick Scottish brogue.

Scotty was trying to stop one of the valves from exploding.

The valve popped and steam shot up towards the ceiling.

One of the ceiling's beams collapsed from the intense steam and fell on top of the Captain.

Before the Captain lost consciousness, he spoke incomprehensibly, "Beam me down, Scotty."


To be continued.