The freezing winds of northern Poland rolled through the port, making people's lips twitch and their arms shake like the leaves of a tree. Although some people were not fazed by these winds, as they had lived for decades in these snowy lands of cold indifference. The difference in how the people around the port reacted to the cold made it obvious as to who was the tourist and who was the local.
A massive ship had just docked, its alloy surface resisting the icy waters below, multiple giant ropes held the vessel in place so as not to let it drift away. Sprawling from the central metallic door of the craft was a long bridge that connected to the concrete of the Polish port.
One by one, passengers were being checked thoroughly by the border guards before even stepping a foot on Polish land. After being checked, foreigners then had to present their passports and a valid visa to finally make contact with the frigid country. After this initial phase was done, passengers were then awarded with a temporary shore permit that limited the time that they could stay ashore and limited where they could go around the port.
Though while most visitors went around the port with their shore passes, two people seemed to be looking for more than just a quick tour.
"For how long do they plan to hold us here?"
Her voice was even and calm but the slight clenching of her teeth betrayed the idea of no anger.
The voice of a middle-aged man replied, his voice being actually calm and even without any hidden details to it.
"To be fair to them, this is a very unique situation. So it makes sense that they're going to take their time to verify everything with the higher-ups."
A sigh escaped her lips before Mayhew could even finish his sentence.
But before Margret's patience could run completely dry, two men in police uniforms walked out from the back of the police station.
Seeing them, she rolled her eyes.
'About time, you twats'
Mayhew meanwhile smiled brightly as he saw the two police officers walking toward them, he even waved at them like a joyous child.
The younger of the two Polish officers laid down a map on the counter without saying anything to the pair. This of course caused Mayhew and Margret to look down and see what it was.
Both raised their eyebrows.
'A detailed map of Poland, why did they bring this of all things?' Mayhew wondered.
As Margret continued to stare at the map, Mayhew took to figuring out what the two police men wanted them to do with it.
But before he could even say anything, the older police officer began to speak in Polish.
"Sir, I have confirmed your...special permission to travel around Poland. But the other police officers in Poland don't know about this, so I need you to tell me the route you will be taking to reach your destination—so that I can contact all the offices around the area and inform them of your unique situation. Of course, you will still have to be checked and identified before entering a city, as usual protocol."
Mayhew's Polish was good but it was not perfect, so he didn't understand a few of the words that were said by the elder man. But while a few words were missing, the detective still understood most of what the officer had said.
Looking back down at the map of Poland, the detective began to point out every city that they planned to travel to as well as the route that they were going to take to get there.
After he was done, Mayhew looked back up at the two officers with a friendly smile on his face.
"This are all the places we are going to make stops at."
'I feel as if I made a mistake there.'
Hearing the British detective speak Polish, the elder officer sighed while the younger officer held off a small smile from appearing on his lips.
Mayhew groaned inside.
'I definitely made a mistake'
The elder officer took out a black marker from his pocket and began marking off all the city authorities he would need to contact, and while doing this—he also decided to give the middle-aged detective a quick lesson.
"In Polish,It's 'ten' for 'this' and 'te' for 'these'. It's a very common mistake to make. So what I think you wanted to say was 'THESE are all the places we are going to make stops at'."
The detective placed a hand on his forehead and sighed in utter disappointment.
This action made the younger officer standing beside the older one finally break a small smile and even the elder officer seemed to soften his expression at Mayhew's over exaggerated antics.
Margret meanwhile looked at Mayhew with a deadpan expression on her pale face.
'How does he manage to charm even the most hostile of people." She thought to herself.
Soon enough, the two detectives were all done at the port's police office and began to walk to the front door.
Though of course, Mayhew didn't waste the chance to wave at the two officers—and surprisingly enough the younger officer waved back, while the elder just gave a small lift of the chin.
"Keep those same bright eyes every day officers, it suits you both." Mayhew said right before closing the police station doors behind him.
Walking out from the police station, Margret and Mayhew both dragged their own respective luggage cases with them, as they searched for a currency exchange office.
"You know what, maybe staying inside the office with those two idiots wasn't that bad after all," Margret said with a shaky voice.
Even with thick leather coats covering their bodies, both detectives buckled under the oppressive coldness of northern Poland. The winds already made it difficult for them to keep their eyes open, so when minuscule snowflakes began to rain down on them it became impossible for them to see.
Swiping a small amount of snow from his hair, Mayhew spoke to Margret in a muffled voice.
"Meg, let's stop at that bar over there and ask where we can find the exchange office."
Margret replied with a wobbly "Yeah."
The pair made their way to a small bar just down the block, its name was spelled out in black painted wooden letters.
'Stara Przystań. That would translate to... Old Harbor. That is a nice name, I must say.'
Walking inside, Mayhew and Margret quickly pushed all the snow off their luggage cases and their own clothes—before going to an empty wooden table and sitting down.
The inside of the bar was pretty simple, it was mostly made up of a couple wooden tables and chairs, and a small wooden counter where the owner stood silently as he cleaned the inside of a used glass cup.
Beside the detective duo, there were only four other people inside the bar. There was a young couple that was clearly foreign, and then at the very back of the bar there were two bums who seemed to be sleeping in a pool of spilled alcohol.
The mood wasn't great, but thankfully the duo would not be spending much time here as they were in a bit of a hurry to exchange their money and catch the last train heading to the nearby city.
Mayhew walked up to the counter with a polite smile on his face.
"Dobry wieczór." (Polish for good evening)
The man behind the counter responded with a simple nod, which prompted Mayhew to continue.
"I need to exchange my money so I can catch the train. Do you know where I can exchange it, good sir?"
Cleaning the edges of the small cup, the man behind the counter spoke in a dry voice.
"Go two blocks down from here and make a right turn into the wide alleyway."
The detective smiled.
"Thank you so much, sir. I know that it will be annoying for you to exchange, but I can't leave the bar without paying you something."
Mayhew left the bar owner a twenty-pound note and quickly went to take his partner to exchange their British money.
Looking at the lone crumpled up pound, the owner sighed and placed the money into his breast pocket.
'I guess nice British people still exist out there.' The owner thought to himself as he watched the detective duo leave his bar.
It wasn't long before Mayhew and Margret made their way to the alleyway and found the exchange office. There, they exchanged a good amount of their British pounds for Polish złoty.
Then after a few more minutes of walking around the freezing Polish port, the two partners managed to find the train station, and just in time to buy a ticket aswell.
The train took them away from Kołobrzeg port and into the city of Piła, where Mayhew and Margret got checked thoroughly by the border police once more before they were allowed to pass. Though once inside, the duo quickly secured a state-run hotel to stay for the night.
They could finally relax and not have to deal with police checking every belonging they had with them.
Margret took some clothes from her luggage and made her way toward the bathroom.
"Hey Mayhew, I am going to take a quick shower."
Busy looking at a bunch of different documents and letters, Mayhew simply responded by giving a thumbs up.
After a good night of sleep, the two detectives did not waste any time and immediately bought a rental car to drive to the next city.
The city of Konin.