MH370: THE GREATEST DETECTIVE STORY

THERE’S a commentary emerging that people are “getting bored” of the MH370 yarn.

If that is so, people are hard to please. We are witness, in real time, to the world’s greatest detective story, replete with false leads and a cast of possible villains.

It’s like a murder where there’s not only no body, there’s no apparent motive.

But the sense is that the net is closing.

Suspicion first turned, without much basis, on terrorists, then the pilots, and then on Malaysia itself.

Only two weeks ago, the story that the plane had possibly headed for Kazakhstan, or deep south into the Indian Ocean, seemed absurd. Then we were led astray by stories of “debris fields” supposedly spotted on satellite.

The international search continues ... sailors attached to Patrol Squadron (VP) 16 monitor their workstations a P-8A Poseidon during a mission to assist. Picture: US Navy Source: Supplied

It has been a strange ride, and there’s still a nagging feeling someone — such as a major power — knows more than they’re saying.

But now the general feeling here in Perth is that something big is about to break on the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane.

And it already has.

News that the Australian Defence support vessel Ocean Shield detected two long, sustained and separate frequency transmissions is hugely significant.

Going underwater ... Able Seaman Clearance Diver Matthew Johnston is among divers helping search for debris, operating from Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield. Source: Supplied

The search boss, retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said the sounds were consistent with the Boeing 777’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.

HOLDING ON TO HOPE: ‘Miracles do happen’

Houston has not yet been able to confirm that the plane has been located, but as he said in Monday’s press conference: “The audible signal sounds to me just like an emergency locator beacon.”

Searching for clues ... HMAS Success's rigid hull inflatable boat is deployed following a reported sighting of potential debris. Picture: Australian Defence Source: AFP

That was a strong remark from Houston, who prefers understatement out of respect for the families of the 239 aboard.

What is really astounding is that a multinational search is underway, on the basis of only hypothetical information.

Pursuing a positive lead ... Angus Houston, head of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre leading the search, and Australian Defence Minister David Johnston. Picture: Greg Wood Source: AFP

We are asked to accept that international aviation experts believe they have been able to pinpoint the approximate location of where the plane went down, based on fleeting “handshakes” between a satellite high over the Indian Ocean and distressed plane.

Most of us still find it hard to accept that a plane could go AWOL without its movements being precisely tracked from the very moment it veered from its course to Beijing.

Ready to launch ... the Bluefin 21 Artemis autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) being hoisted back on board the Australian navy vessel Ocean Shield after successful buoyancy testing in the Indian Ocean. Picture: US Navy Source:AFP

I believe the plane will be found.

But given all the technology and the interests of the various nations involved in this tale, I have less confidence we will ever know the real reason they found it. -News.com.au