Deadlock: Unraveling a Mystery on the Docks

Deadlock

A complete failure to reach agreement or solve an argument.

The Case of Boom Boom's Death

1. Boom Boom was an injured hockey player working for Eudora Grain Company; he was found dead.
2. A ship was tied up at the wharf, and Boom Boom went under as she pulled away. His body was badly chewed up (p. 2).
3. Why couldn’t the Lucella Wieser take on grain from Eudora’s wharf?
   Someone put water in the holds, and they had to dry them out (page 11).
4. Eudora’s manager is Clayton Phillips.
5. Niels Grafalk and Martin were a clever businessman who used to work for Niels, but he left. Niels finds it impossible to accept Martin’s departure.

Vic's Investigation Begins

6. Vic returns to Boom Boom’s apartment. Someone had torn the place apart, and the watchman was dead.
7. What was wrong with the car?
   Somebody had emptied the brake fluid and cut through the steering wheel.
8. What did Mr. Grafalk tell Vic about Martin Bledsoe’s background?
   Mr. Grafalk told her that Bledsoe had stolen some money from his father’s company.
9. Why did Vic fly to Thunder Bay?
   Because she wanted to find out if Grafalk’s story about Bledsoe was true and whether the captain or the chief engineer had damaged her car.

Key Players

• Mattingly

11. What did Vic find behind the photo?
    An invoice and a note.
12. Grafalk blackmailed Martin.
13. Why was Boom Boom killed?
    Boom Boom was killed because he discovered that Clayton Phillips was cheating money from his company and didn’t want Boom Boom to tell the President of Eudora Grain.
14. What happened to the ships?
    The biggest ships were shut off from the upper lakes for a year.
15. What did Vic discover about the Grafalk Steamship Line?
    Grafalk had only small ships, and they are unprofitable. He was losing money.
16. What did Vic find behind the photo?
    An invoice from the Grafalk Steamship Company to Eudora Grain and a piece of paper listing six dates when Pole Star had lost contracts to Grafalk.
17. She was his mistress; he paid for everything.
18. What was Vic trying to prove when she drove to Grafalk’s yacht?
    That Grafalk had killed Clayton. She would look for bloodstains or a witness.
19. Because he was trying to kill her; she was trying to save her life.

• Grafalk