rknapp

A few details that stuck in my mind, and have not been mentioned in this thread thus far (I'm assuming they've not been considered): Dirk said to Jim some time ago, when he intended to take Atlantis away, "Put it with the other one." What other one? Ares, perhaps? Could be a whole Ares, or an Ares with a hole. Remember, Catamarans can still float, even if the hulls are punctured, on the saloon (salon). Bridget said (and the narration implies that she isn't lieing) that she was the first on the scene of the "accident", even before the authorities. Currents might strong around Bimini (not really, I've swam in those waters before, untethered from our boat), but I refuse to believe that Ares would have drifted out of sight (miles, BTW) in the time it took for Bridget to get there and find what little wreckage there was. Dirk also asked Trevor to transit Suez. Once dirk had confirmation of this transit, he would spill the beans. I get the feeling his confirmation would be Trevor calling from the satphone. Since pink rocks don't get very good service in the Arab world, we might have to wait for the next port-of-call. I also believe that the wreck of Ares was a hoax, and that Rachel is still alive. Where? Dunno. Why? Dunno. I think we'll find out once Dirk has "the talk" with Trevor. BTW I also don't think Bridget had anything to do whatsoever with Ares and Rachel disappearing. She said once before (narration confirms) that she held no ill contempt against Rachel. Rachel even sailed some of her drug runs for her (under the false pretense that she was moving boats for her cover business).

*wonders if this is CJs charming way of dropping hints*

I am? *checks surroundings* Nope, not New Jersey... and no one calls me "the engineer". You're grasping at straws here... the kind found only on cliffs!

Hah! That beats the JetBlue guy, who took a ride down the blow-up ramp after the plane landed, with a beer in each hand.

Say, Ceej, how is it that you know about this type of thing so well... you know you've pretty much just admitted to being this mystery person. You've made the relay system already... and I know you've been to New Jersey at least recently, and most probably in 2006...

Who else is guessing the idiot will blow himself up when he transports it to Suez?

The wrench in your gears is I was not even studying engineering at the time of this event, nor was I in possession of such a phone relay system. In fact, I still am not in possession of a phone relay system, nor am I an engineer. Damn job market. -.-

Oh Snap!

Some of my predictions are coming to fruition. Dirk and Rachel, or possibly just Rachel, ran into trouble in the Bahamas, concerning Bridget's source of income. This explains why Dirk is so adamant that Trevor stay away from Bimini, but it still leaves guesses on the statute of limitations.

Uh, I think every time diesels are mentioned in the story behind Bridgets house, other than Atlantis, CJ is referring to the Sea Witch. This is a 39-foot Sea Ray powerboat, not a 55-foot Catamaran sailcat. The Cat is much longer, and uses far less powerful engines. It is also far wider, with two hulls. The Sea Ray has one. There should not be any confusion. No one in their right mind would salvage the engines from a sailcat for use in a powerboat, they're completely useless in that application. Additionally, I get the feeling that Dirk knows exactly where the Ares is, and it's not submerged. I think I remember him mentioning "the other one" to Jim when he sabotaged the Atlantis.

For the love of all things holy, get this twit away from the spotlight. The amount of a media attention being tossed at a 12 year old is disgusting. As for the door crap. Won't someone PLEASE tell him to stock f**king with his hair while walking. Lord have mercy when he learns to drive...

Recruiters who claim they looked at my resume, then tell me to look at job that I'm obviously no where near qualified for. Gets me no where, thank you very much.

Hmm, the name of the boat, and its reference to Bridget, suggests her history is very wet and very dirty. Interesting. I wonder when Lisa will get her head out of her ass. I'm curious why Bridget would have the boat serviced in Boca (Raton?). Every major port and marina has the facilities she needs... including Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, etc.

The question then is, why? Why would Dirk and (presumably) Rachel do this? Surely it do two things. Give them lots of money, and destroy whatever trust Trevor had in them. There has to be more to it than that, and I believe Bridget might have a clue.

*gasp* He wouldn't! Would he?

Very interesting. So, Arnold sold the Ares to Dirk. That means Bridget and Arnold were divorcing. Oh yes, she SO killed Arnold, or at least arranged for it. Finally, we have our first clue that Jim and Dirk are lovers. First was Officer Gonzalez mentioning their private relationship, and intentionally trailing off. Then, the notion of a "first vacation together" and a warm smile. See guys? That's kind of information we needed! Still no concrete evidence or confirmation, but its the first hint. Now I'm suspicious of Officer Gonzalez. Why would he so blatantly lie to Detective Alfred about Jim's location, and intention? Any good detective would be able to easily find Jim's return ticket records and find Gonzalez to be a liar. Is he fishing to find the leak, or does he have some ulterior motive? I really want to know what this ten year statute of limitations crap is leading us to. What illegal thing did Dirk do?

Was it really from Rachel? The narration didn't specify who made the transmission.

CJ, that's one thing I've paid close attention to, the narrator. Rereading that passage, given the information you've provided, I still can't read it such that Bridget is a murder suspect. I don't know, it just doesn't read that way. The only thing that connects it is her being offended, but she could have been offended by anything. Women are like that. Also, upon rereading that passage, I found something to question, and I'm kicking myself for not questioning it earlier. Bridget spoke of the Ares, which disappeared under "markedly similar circumstances". Was the Ares sabotaged?

Do it. I dare you and your beady little eyes and flappin' heads! Field hockey is a girls sport... but the "girls" in Australia are really hot.

Actually, there haven't been any concrete clues whatsoever regarding the alleged relationship between Dirk and Jim. Each and every one presented thus far has already been shown to mean just about anything. When did the police label Bridget as a murder suspect?! Unless I missed something, no such accusation has been made outside of us. Torsten and Trevor... I wonder which one is the bottom? *hubba hubba!*

Funny how you happen to have such a detailed alibi at the ready. As we all know, you (the goat) are a master of misdirection. It's quite clear you used the chintzy bomb to distract local officials and the public while you planted one of your more sophisticated creations elsewhere. Naturally you had on one of your disguises. Obviously you got your hands on the sunglasses Sonny gave to Frankenstein in "Big Daddy", in NYC, which made him invisible. He was also interested in the carrier exhibit, where they had a video game type setup that allowed you to try to land on a carrier. He failed... miserably... poor baby.

You were in Times Square? Shit, that means they got the wrong guy! I had a feeling, but I didn't want it to be true... *sigh* LAdies and Gents, I think the evidence is incontrovertible... CJAMES IS THE ATTEMPTED TIMES SQUARE BOMBER! Also, you're a bastard. I was in the Air and Space Museum with John the weekend you started the cruise. You were a week too late! I liked it. He hated it, lol. I think the only thing he like was the display for the Ford Tri-Motor, where you stand on a vibrating platform, which simulates the ride of the aircraft.

What speedboat? Jim had a power boat rented in Italy... the only other mysterious boat in the story was the sleek power yacht that has been docked behind Bridget's home twice now. As far as I know, there is no way in hell Julie could afford such a machine running a dive shop in Fort Pierce, or Port St. Lucie. Yes, St. Lucie county had a great many people living beyond their means in this time frame (take a look at the county now, lots of foreclosures), but people in that business can't afford boats like that unless they charter them like the Carlson's did with Atlantis and Ares. I disagree with Julie having a malicious part in the story, but I agree that we're missing another player, or a group of players... one that Dirk is afraid of. Dirk is afraid not of Trevor finding something off of Bimini, or of him searching in the shipping lanes, but something, or someone, finding him! The mysterious yacht may or may not be connected with these people. I get the feeling that whatever Bridget is up to, it's independent of the trouble Dirk is in off of Bimini. Of course I could be wrong. My thinking is Dirk's situation is simply a convenience for her.

Ah, so we have a few answers. The sales dispute was between Arnold, and Dirk. I have to wonder, what did Arnold have to do with Ares? I think it would be safe to assume that Arnold did not own the Ares. Why? Rachel convinced Dirk that Ares was a worthwhile investment, so Dirk wouldn't have started the dispute. The divorcee husband who sold Ares was all for selling at a lowball price to screw his wife, so he would not have started the dispute. That leaves the divorcee wife. She would have plenty of reasons to start a sales dispute over Ares, and would have hired Arnold to represent her in some fashion. BUT, that doesn't explain Bridget's story regarding his murder. She says it was over a dispute of the sale of Ares, between Arnold and Dirk. Why would a defendant in a lawsuit kill the plaintiff's lawyer over a civil court case? No reasonable man would do that, and Dirk doesn't strike me as an unreasonable man (testy, yes, but not cold-blooded). Given that, I'd like to know the circumstances surrounding Arnold's death. Was he aboard Ares? Bridget indicated that he died as a result of an accident, but did not specify precisely what kind of accident. Fishy (no pun intended, I swear!). Bridget's immediate explanation of the email raised a lot of red flags. Okay, she demonstrated how easy it would be to deduce Atlantis' course. She also knew as much about it as Robert Whitaker did, and she also, probably unknowingly, just showed how easily she could have come to the same conclusion, and sent the email. For what reason, I do not know. It may or may not be bad. Her reasoning for why Robert would not do it maliciously could ring true for her as well. To date, I see no reason for her to do that, especially if she wanted Dirk to be jailed. If she did it, she must have known that doing so would reveal Trevor's status as being among the living, which would kill the warrant. Besides, if she does not herself own a yacht, why would she have oceanic weather reports bookmarked?! UNLESS, her actions are merely a cover. Her correspondence with other characters indicates her interest in having Dirk Carlson thrown in the slammer for murder. BUT, does she actually want that? Actions speak louder than words, and CJ hasn't shown us her actions beyond her conversations with the various characters in the story. I wonder, what does she do when no one is looking? Some things I'd like to know more about. How did Arnold Bellevue die? He died ten years ago. Right about when Ares, and Rachel, disappeared. What were the circumstances surrounding his death, and how is it linked to Rachel's assumed death? Who was it who owned Ares before the Carlson family? Who was the husband, and who was the wife? I think they might be important. All I can say is, there is a lot of foul play here, and it will endanger Trevor once he returns to the Caribbean Sea, Florida, and the Bahaman Islands.

I won't come to that conclusion until there is conclusive evidence. All evidence presented thus far (that everyone is jumping up and down with) remains inconclusive. Possible? Sure. Definite? Not yet. According to Mr. Owl, three. ... But, the world may never know...