Swamped

Well. This whole mess started because Ash wanted a glove. Might as well grab that - it's not currently doing Marshall any good.

"How's your hand?" you ask. Marshall seems a bit confused, so you make your bluff a bit more direct. "I heard you scratched it this morning. Wouldn't want it getting worse in a place like this."

Marshall nods, and walks towards the cell door.

"I think it's better, but see for yourself." Marshall awkwardly stares for a moment at where the other arm should be. "Um, it'll be easier if you take my glove off, though. I can do it, it's just..."

"I get it," you say. You do, and make a show of inspecting the bare palm.

"Yeah, looks all right. Guess the scratch didn't go very deep."

Now you need a diversion, something to draw the old man's attention away from the fact that you're keeping the glove. Suddenly, inspiration strikes, and you show Marshall the message again, this time openly. "Say, could you hold on to this and show it to Captain Long when he wakes up? I'm wondering what he thinks of it."

"Um, I'm not sure," Marshall says, glancing at it. "If it, ah, if it's something worrying, it could give him a bad shock. And he's in a poor enough state already."

You wonder just what Marshall's reading. But you can't ask directly.

"Well, you can hold onto it, right?"

"Maybe. I'm not feeling so great myself, though. It may not be the best idea for me to keep it."

So Marshall's trying to tell you not to just hand it over. Curious, but you can go along with that.

"Hmmph! Why not read the message aloud, then? Or is your memory that poor, child?"

The old man is suddenly right next to you, and he's grabbed the message.

"Perhaps you're worried about being overheard? If it's the sort of message I shouldn't hear, well, that just makes me more curious. So give me one moment..."

He takes one look at the message, and suddenly his eyes widen and he freezes in place. You weren't expecting that.

Now what?