Jimenez undogged the latches, and when he glanced at Espinoza, who nodded, he pulled open the door. Sergeant Lugones had his weapon at the ready.

The interior hallway was dim, so he snapped on his light. The paint job inside was about as bad as the exterior. The linoleum floor was badly chipped in places and looked like it had never seen a mop.

Their breaths formed halos around their heads.

“Looks like nobody’s home.”

“A wry observation, Lieutenant. Let’s get to the bridge. If there are any answers to this mystery, that’s where we’ll find them.”

The men climbed up several decks, checking rooms as they went. Judging by the way the furniture had been tossed around, it was clear the derelict had seen some heavy weather. Beds had been overturned, and a great number of the wooden pieces had been smashed. They found no evidence of the crew, living or dead.

The bridge was broad and dim because of the rime of salt on the windows. Again, they found nobody, but on the chart table behind the helm was a piece of paper that had been placed in a plastic sleeve and heavily taped in place.

Lugones used a combat knife to cut the paper free and handed it to his superior.

Espinoza read aloud: “ ‘To anyone who finds this, we were forced to abandon the Norego when the pumps failed and the sea poured through a breach in the hull caused by a rogue wave. Chief Engineer Scott did everything in his considerable power, but they would not restart. The decision was not an easy one to make. These are treacherous waters far from any shore. But a floating lifeboat is better than a sinking ship. I pray for my men. If we don’t make it, please tell my wife that I love her and our boys very much. It is safe to assume that goes for all the men and their families.’

“It’s signed ‘Captain John Darling of the Proxy Freight Line,’ and, get this, it’s dated January of last year. This old girl’s been adrift for twenty months.”

“Think the crew was rescued?” Lugones asked.

Espinoza shook his head. “No idea. I’m wondering why the ship didn’t sink. For a captain to abandon his vessel, he should be damned sure of his reason. I want to check the engineering spaces.”

It took several minutes and more than a few wrong turns to find a stairwell that led down into the guts of the ship. As soon as Jimenez pulled the door open, a six-inch surge of icy water washed over their boots. Lugones trained his light into the stairwell. It was completely flooded. The water was thick with oil and flashed rainbow spectrums at them.

“That answers that,” the Sergeant said. “She’s flooded, all right.”