“Yes, he’s fine,” Liz said, removing the stethoscope from her ears. “His heartbeat is strong. The sedative’s still working, but it looks to me like it’s starting to wear off.”
Chris was asleep on one of the beds in Mito’s cabin. His front paws were twitching.
“I think it was probably a dog sedative. They’re used fairly often when traveling or when treating illness or injury. Not that I’d recommend it…”
“Thanks, Liz. I feel much better now,” Hinata said, giving her a big hug. “Are you a vet, too? My mom is a vet, and my dad’s a pet groomer.”
“Oh, my goodness. Well, it’s no wonder you love animals, then, Hinata! I’m not a veterinarian, but I’d love to meet your parents and chat with them one day,” Liz said with a big grin. She stuck the stethoscope in her pocket. “Now, I’ve got to get back to the kennel. You’ll be coming by tonight to drop off Chris, won’t you? Kotarou’s waiting for him.”
She waved good-bye to them and left the cabin. Everyone sighed with relief.
“I’m so glad Chris is okay…” Mayuka sat down on the bed and softly rubbed the dog’s tummy.
“Well?” Kobayashi said to Chihori, who was standing nearby. “Will you tell us what kind of trick you used to set all this up…?”
She looked alarmed at the question. “What do you mean? I didn’t do anything… It was all Hinata. He solved the violin theft, discovered Touko’s drug smuggling—he figured it all out. I couldn’t have done any of that. I’m just a crew member in training who kept messing up…”
“Yes, I’ll admit that Hinata did some fantastic work here. He looks shy, but he’s got a very logical mind and knows how to take bold actions. I knew that, of course—he’s the leader of my kids’ detective club,” Kobayashi said, giving Hinata a thumbs-up. “What I meant was, on whose authority were the captain, Helen, her daughter, and Mr. Soga arrested at the port? You can’t tell me you had nothing to do with it, Chihori!”
She pursed her lips and considered what to say. Eventually, Kobayashi continued a little hesitantly. “I think…this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you. Have we met somewhere before?”
Her eyes widened. “You remember me? I don’t believe it! You didn’t show any signs of recognizing me before!”
“Neither did you!” Kobayashi laughed. “It was at the coast guard headquarters in Yokohama, wasn’t it? When I took Chris there for training.”
Chihori nodded. “But we weren’t properly introduced. We just nodded at each other by the door, right? I’d just been assigned there, and I only remembered you because it was rare to see a trainer bringing in a dog… I was surprised to see you in a wheelchair, since you were walking back then.”
“Wait, wait! I’m getting confused,” said Mayuka, raising her hand. “Does that mean that before you were on this crew, you had a job with the coast guard?”
Chihori laughed awkwardly. “No. As a matter of fact, I’m still in the coast guard. I’m actually here for reconnaissance. There have been multiple top-secret reports lately that suggested there were crimes occurring on this ship…”
“Reconnaissance?” Mayuka repeated.
“She was secretly investigating them…,” Mito explained quietly.
“That’s right. So the sleuthing Hinata did was originally my job. And that includes the matter of Mr. Numata’s turtle-smuggling!” Chihori said, lightly wrapping her knuckles against her head in embarrassment.
“Oh, dear,” Mayuka said sympathetically.
Chihori sighed theatrically and pulled a smartphone out of her pocket to show them. “Well, I figured I could at least put on the finishing touches and called in everybody I could think of! The coast guard, the Primavera’s parent company, the drug enforcement team in Vladivostok, and so on… Believe it or not, I can actually speak a bit of Russian. Though we mostly have their impressive speed to thank.”
Now it all made sense. That was why Chihori had so readily accepted the connection between the captain and Helen and the presence of the drugs. What a stroke of luck…
“I got a call from headquarters saying they’d already seized the drugs placed in dog food boxes. It’s a major bust, all things considered. That and the turtles.”
“What about Mr. Soga?” Mito asked. “Will he be charged with a crime?”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure… He didn’t seem to have any connection to the drugs,” Kobayashi murmured. “He did lie about the Stradivarius being stolen and called Mito and Chihori the culprits, which counts as defamation. His lies also caused the ship to waste plenty of time and resources searching for the violin. That could be fraudulent obstruction of business. But he hadn’t made any false insurance claims yet, so we can’t charge him with that…”
“How irritating,” Mito said, her slender eyes narrowing with anger. “His crimes sound so insignificant… But the god of music will never forgive him for his sins against art. He’s committed blasphemy against music itself!”
“What’s ‘blasphemy’?” asked Mayuka.
“It means dirtying something sacred!”
The others all nodded in agreement. Chihori looked at each of them in turn, then grinned.
“Well, everyone, it’s going to take another five days to get back to Yokohama. Let’s all relax and enjoy the voyage! As a staff member in training, I intend to make your stay as pleasant as possible. Would you like a larger, fancier cabin? I hear there’s a very nice suite on the ninth deck that’s recently opened up…”
Mayuka went pale. “Absolutely not! Why would we go back to the place they locked us up in? That would be the pits!”
Hinata smiled awkwardly. She has a point…
Plus, climbing that rope ladder was something Mayuka probably wanted to forget as soon as possible.
“Well, putting all that aside…Mito!” Chihori grabbed the girl’s hand with both of hers. “Would you play the violin for us again? Perhaps on the theater stage this time…”
Mito yanked her hand away in anger. “I don’t have a violin, and now there’s no one to lend me one!”
“But you do!” Chihori said, her eyes sparkling, as she grabbed Mito’s hand again. “Before Hinata and Mayuka went missing, I asked the ship’s musicians for help. It turns out that one of them has a spare violin! He said that he would gladly lend it to you, though he was a bit ashamed of how cheap it is. It’s no Stradivarius…”
Mito’s mouth fell open, and her eyes grew as big as saucers. Then they crumpled in a pleasant smile.
“Any violin will become a master instrument in my hands. Of course I’ll play it!”
Ooooh! The rest of the room applauded.
“Hooray! We’ll get to hear Mito play again!” cheered Mayuka.
“Woof!” came a loud bark, very close by.
Chris was standing on the bed, wagging his tail happily!
“Chris!” Hinata leaped onto the dog and rolled around on top of the bed with him.
“Woof, woof!”
They tumbled and played together on the mattress.
Chris… It’s so good to see you healthy and safe. You’ll always be my partner!
“We’re giving you a new title today, Chris,” said Mayuka, pointing a finger at him. “You’re a canine detective and a drug buster. Got that?”
“Woof!” Chris barked loudly in reply.
Kobayashi chuckled to himself. “They’re called drug-detection dogs, actually.”
“Woof!” Chris barked again, as if to say, “Either is fine with me.”
Either is fine with me, too, Hinata thought. As long as I can be with Chris forever!
The dark curtain of night had already fallen over the port of Vladivostok. Somewhere in the distance a train whistle blew.
✦ ✦ ✦
—The End—