A Laundry Slip-up
Their downfall came not from the passengers or the ship’s officers, but from an unexpected source: the laundry service. One day, a young laundry cleaner noticed something odd while collecting clothes from Ed and Mabel’s cabin. The couple had been using the service regularly, but the cleaner realized they had been aboard for much longer than a typical cruise would allow. Their laundry patterns didn’t match up with the usual two-week turnover of passengers.
Suspicion in the Air
The cleaner didn’t immediately suspect anything nefarious, but something seemed off. She mentioned her observation to a colleague in passing, noting how the couple’s laundry kept appearing even as new passengers cycled through. Word spread quietly among the lower ranks of the ship’s staff. Conversations over dinner breaks began to focus on Ed and Mabel, with workers wondering if the couple were stowaways or part of some strange, unsolved mystery.