Pre-Statement

Statement of Vincent Yang regarding his claimed imprisonment by Mikaele Salesa.

Case Number

0002202

Audio By

Jonathan Sims

Author

Vincent Yang

Date of Statement

2000-02-22

Date of Event

2000-01-19

Locations

  • Portsmouth Harbour

Meta Info

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Last Episode

Binary

Next Episode

Burning Desire

Release Date

2017-05-25

Statement

Vincent Yang is convinced Mikaele Salesa drugged him and imprisoned him, although he felt entombed: a new sensation for him under drug use.

Mikaele Salesa used the Portsmouth harbour regularly and Vincent had to detain his shipment due to problems with his papers. When detained, Mikaele was furious and offered Vincent the option to look through his shipping container. He did, but only because he could. The shipping container was icy cold as it was the 18th January, although Salesa wore a tank top and unbuttoned shirt.

As Vincent finished, he stood up and accidentally nudged an old wooden box open, releasing a dusty cloud of warm air. It was completely empty when Vincent checked it. When he turned back to Mikaele, he no longer looked angry, just concerned. Vincent warned Mikaele to get his papers in order. As Vincent went to leave, the antiques dealer grabbed him by the arm and said, “Don’t go to sleep.”

Unsettled, that night Vincent had a few vodkas to help him sleep. He slept extremely well, but when he went to move in the night, he couldn’t. He opened his eyes to pitch darkness and he felt unvarnished wood all around him. He surmised that he was in the sturdy wooden crate he touched the previous day.

He cried out for help before it occurred to him that he might have limited air if he was buried alive. It took him a while to make the link to Salesa’s box he touched earlier in the day. He was not able to open the box, as though something was on top of the crate. It became extremely hot and he started to panic.

As he realised that he could not be buried since he could breathe, the crate seemed to constrict and get smaller. Vincent realised that he could see sunlight outside of the box, but as he started to enjoy it he felt the box get smaller again. Finding he was still wearing his watch he discovered it was 11:56. Eventually he slept, but awoke in the box.

Judging by the rise and fall of the sunlight, he was in that box for four days.

Abruptly the box was opened and icy air flooded in. Salesa and Captain Lukas looked into the box. The captain shrugged and gave Salesa a £20 note before walking off. The antiques dealer helped Vincent out of the box, which was in the shipping container. He handed in his notice but realized he had been returned on the day after he met Salesa, and his watch no longer matched other clocks.

Post-Statement Follow-Up

Jonathan remarks that Salesa and Captain Peter Lukas are clearly related. The team were unable to verify the shipment. Martin tracked down Vincent, but he is in the late stages of early onset Alzheimer’s disease, and became distressed when asked about boxes.

Supplemental

John has been going through Gertrude’s laptop, but has not found much, although she had a budget spreadsheet which indicated she spent a lot of money travelling, and that the money was approved.

Her emails and browsing history showed that she did, indeed, travel a great deal to places such as Nairobi, Wichita, Budapest, Shanghai, and thus possibly Alexandria. She also ordered plenty of petrol, lighter fluid, pesticides, high power torches, and hundreds of different types of labels and filing systems.

It is also clear that she was trying to buy Leitners and is the grbookworm1818 mentioned in MAG 4 - Page Turner who won the Key of Solomon, a book on demonology, on eBay. She also purchased a special printing of ‘The Seven Lamps of Architecture’ by John Ruskin and a 1910 pamphlet entitled ‘A Disappearance’.

Jonathan wonders if he is missing the point: maybe he should not be asking who killed her, but why.

Continuity

Mikaele Salesa was previously mentioned in MAG 14 - PiecemealMAG 38 - Lost and Found, and MAG 45 - Blood Bag.

Peter Lukas was previously mentioned in MAG 33 - Boatswain’s Call.