The Chimes in the Cabin

The big, tall guy in the window seat next to me on the flight from Truman City, Minnesota, to Washington, D.C., looked at the watch on his wrist and said, "Ten past seven, Tony, we're halfway there, and if I flee overseas, they'll think I'm not coming back."

"Sam, you're not running away." I said.

He smiled slightly and said approvingly, "Yes, I'm not running away."

That's when the "tick, tick, tick" sound came from overhead.

Sam's eyes widened, he was in a long period of terror, as soon as he heard the ticking sound, immediately dazed, one hand clutching the armrest between our seats.

I understood the reason for his terror, it was the sound of the timing device of the time bomb.

He looked at me in horror, as if I could protect him.

I stood up very calmly, but my heart was pounding. I saw the briefcase on the luggage rack above Sam's head. It was not Sam's; his purse was beside him, with the name written on it.

The ticking sound came from the unmarked purse. It was loud, perhaps a personal fancy of mine. It sounded like a drumbeat, each sound seeming to destroy my life and the other forty or so innocent lives on the plane.

I looked at the briefcase and didn't dare touch it. Yes, it was a timing device, but who could say what kind of device it was? Maybe if you remove it, it will explode.

A minute passed and Sam asked, "Did you find it?"

I was speechless. A little boy, very upset in his seat in front of Sam, said, "Mom, I heard the clock."

An air hostess approached with a tray, and she stopped in the aisle next to my seat and listened sideways. "Is that yours?" Her smile was far-fetched, "I think it's a clock in there?"

"That's not mine." I squeezed her close to her ear and said softly, "Miss, it could be a bomb, and that's Sam sitting by the window."

She listened to me and hurried to the cockpit. Sam looked at me. A moment later, a man's voice came out of the microphone, "This is the captain, the unlabeled purse at the top of seat seventeen, whoever it belongs to, please state ......"

The ticking sound was as loud as a drum in my ears. The faces of the passengers all turned to us. There was talk in the cabin, but no one acknowledged the briefcase.

Beads of sweat appeared on Sam's forehead as he said, "Damn, when did it explode?"

The captain came out. He was very calm and unmoving. He looked at the briefcase, listened attentively, and a man at the end of the aisle stood up to talk to him. "Please sit down." The captain said.

Suddenly a man said, "Bomb!"

Passengers were on their feet, scurrying to the front and back of the cabin.

In the midst of the chaos, I quickly told the captain, "My name is Tony, I'm a private investigator, and I'm taking this Sam to Washington to testify that if he can prove what the Tucker Brothers Gang did in the Midwest, it will eliminate a criminal enterprise."

"We can throw it out the door." The captain said.

"And can the cabin maintain normal pressure?"

"There's no way around it."

"Who knows what kind of device it is, and changing the pressure could set off a bomb explosion."

The captain nodded, he raised his voice and shouted, "Gentlemen, please return to your seats, if we can make an emergency landing ......" He showed panic for the first time, "Oh my God, wait a minute." He looked at his watch, "Seven nineteen minutes." A few minutes had passed since the ticking began.

"What we need is a four-kilometer runway. There's a small airport near New Albany ......"

He sprinted toward the cockpit. Seconds later, we buckled up and the plane prepared for an emergency landing.

The huge plane swooped and glided, making a loud noise.

As the plane hovered over the airport, I saw a wind tower, two tiny lonely sheds, and three shiny cars waiting by the runway.

What were those three black cars waiting for?

I felt my facial muscles stiffen and grinned stupidly at Sam. He frowned at me while wiping sweat from his forehead.

I reached over his head and removed the briefcase, and he was so taken aback he almost jumped out of his seat.

I took the briefcase with me and went to the cockpit.

The co-pilot was flying the plane and the captain looked at me and the briefcase: "Are you crazy?"

"I almost became a fool." I said.

The plane was sliding down.

"Fly off the airport now." I said.

The co-pilot ignored me.

At this moment, I did what I could to make them listen, I raised the briefcase in my hand to smash it against the cabin wall.

The captain reached out to grab me, but missed. I opened the briefcase and inside was a small, quiet clock and a noisy clock. The little clock pulled the big clock and it started ringing at 7:10.

That was it, no bombs.

"They know how you always are," I said, "and they figure you wouldn't dare touch the time bomb, and if you heard it start at ten minutes past seven, you'd land here, with those three cars parked at this deserted airport, waiting for Sam. " I said, "Now will you please inform the people at the airport below and notify the police to arrest them."

Sam arrived in Washington at the required time and, as a result of his testimony, the police broke up a criminal syndicate.