Love is a Many Splintered Thing

by Jamie Lee Scott

  He shrugged. “Maybe it was open? Or maybe Ken let me in. He and Shawn weren’t with us.”

  “Why weren’t they with you?”

  “Who knows? Stuck up snobs. Ken and Marvin got in an argument, and Shawn decided to stay back with Ken.”

  “What was the argument about?” I asked.

  “Don’t know. But I do know it had nothing to do with this Alan guy. We hadn’t even met him yet.” His plate half empty, he leaned back and burped.

  “And you, Marvin, and Clay were together all night? Other than when you left the bar to take Alan back to his cabin?”

  “That’s how I remember it.”

  “How much time between when you left the room, and when you met up to go to the buffet?”

  He shoved his arm at me. “I don’t know. See a watch? I’m on vacation. I wasn’t paying attention to the time.”

  “Fair enough.”

  If Cal had something to do with Alan’s disappearance, he was a great actor. There were some inconsistencies I needed to check, but I wanted to talk to Charles first.

  14

  Charles

  I didn’t have to go far to find Marvin and Clay. Creatures of habit, these guys. I found them at the exact same table in the exact same bar they were in last night. I wondered why their third wasn’t with them.

  “Hey, where’s Cal?” I asked as I walked up to their table.

  “You’re the guy from the blackjack table last night. Then you followed us into the bar. Are you stalking us?” Marvin asked. His hair disheveled and eyes bloodshot, he had a Bloody Mary and a beer in front of him.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.”

  “That’s not at all creepy,” Marvin said.

  “How do you know Cal?” Clay asked.

  “I don’t, I just know he was with you last night and he’s not here with you this morning.” I sat down in the chair nearest the door.

  “By all means, join us.” The sarcasm wasn’t lost on me.

  “I will. Nothing like a good Bloody Mary before nine in the morning,” I said.

  Marvin didn’t look like what I expected an MBA from Ohio State living in San Francisco would look like. Not that there’s a look, but he didn’t carry an air of success about him.

  “I’m serious, are you stalking us?” Marvin asked.

  “I am. Well, sort of.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “You see, your companion from last night has gone missing.”

  “He’s not missing, he’s in the cabin, stinking up the bathroom,” Clay said. “We decided not to wait, for fear we’d die when he opened the door.”

  More information than I needed to know. “I’m talking about Alan Daly. Is that who you’re talking about?”

  “Oh, I was talking about Cal.” He looked at Marvin. “Cal the mooch.”

  “Shut up already.” Marvin glared at Clay, then asked me, “Have you checked his room?”

  They both sat casually on the upholstered chairs, as if they hadn’t a care in the world. Not huddled together as if in the middle of a conspiracy. Both wore plaid cotton shorts and wife-beater tees, Marvin’s blue and Clay’s white. I wore a tee under my shirt and I was still chilly from the ship’s air conditioning. They didn’t seem the least bit cold.

  “We have. And other than some blood that likely belongs to him, no trace.”

  Marvin and Clay looked at each other.

  Marvin spoke first. “There wasn’t any blood when we took him back to his room last night. Did you see him vomit right here?” He pointed to the spot where Alan had dropped to his hands and knees.

  “I did. And you two, and your cousin, Cal, were the last to see Alan.”

  Marvin said, “What about his wife? I saw her headed toward the room after we left.”

  “How did you know Cal was Marvin’s cousin?” Clay said. “You’re a weirdo.” He sipped from the straw in his drink. To Marvin, he said, “This is creepy. Let’s get out of here.”

  I leaned back, to be less intimidating. “I’m a private investigator. I’m looking into the disappearance of Alan Daly. I’m not stalking, I’m just observant. I don’t really want to be asking you questions, or watching you sip your drinks like teenage girls, but by some intervention of fate, I’m on a cruise with a passenger missing, and I happen to know that passenger.”

  “If you knew him, then why didn’t you take him back to his room?” Clay asked.

  I smiled my thousand-watt smile, when I really wanted to take the punk by the throat and shake the answers out of him. “I only knew him in passing.”

  “And yet you sat at the blackjack table with him, then followed him into the bar,” Marvin said.

  “I found him fascinating,” I said.

  “Like that’s not stalkerish,” Clay said.

  “Not stalkerish in that I know you work as an assistant manager for a convenience store in Columbus, and that Marvin works in San Francisco, or that Shawn, who I have yet to meet, went back to Tampa after college and works for his parents? Or that I know Cal makes his money selling drugs, but keeps odd jobs so his little bit of money looks legit?”

  Clay stood. “This is insanity. I have nothing else to say to you.”

  “Sit down, you clown,” I said. “I told you, I’m a private investigator. It’s my job to know about the people I’m talking to. My question is, how did you all afford this trip?”

  “We’ve been planning it for a long time. I saved up. I don’t know about everyone else,” Marvin said. He didn’t seem at all bothered by how much I knew.

  “Figure it out. You’re the investigator.” Clay sat back down grudgingly.

  “Look, let’s cut to the chase. Alan is missing, and you were the last to see him. I’ve already established that. What I want to know is what happened after you left the bar.”

  Marvin drank his Bloody Mary, then chased it with a shot glass of beer. “The guy was hammered. I thought we were drunk, but he had to have started drinking before dinner, because no one gets that trashed on what he drank while we were playing cards.”

  “But you were also drinking in the bar,” I said.

  “He did more puking than drinking once we got here,” Clay said.

  “How embarrassing was that?” Marvin said.

  “You’ve never tossed your cookies in public?” I asked.

  “Nope, never. I’m sure he would have laid in it and passed out right there on the floor if we hadn’t gotten him out of there. I had to search him to find his key card. Let me tell you, it was no fun digging round in his pockets.” Marvin raised his empty glass to let the bartender know he wanted a refill.

  I looked to the bar to see a bartender I hadn’t seen before. Lyle must work late afternoons and evenings. I’d be interested in how his night went. After I talked to Marvin and Clay, I planned to pay Lyle a visit.

  “That’s great. You took him back to the room, then what?” I said.

  “We dropped him in the room, that’s it. We let him in and left him. He was covered in vomit and smelled vile, so off we went. We got him to the cabin safely, and he was no longer our problem,” Clay said.

  “As if he were our problem to begin with. Funny guy at the blackjack table, and too weird we all went to OSU together, but after that it got weirder,” Marvin said.

  “Weirder how?” I asked.

  “Weirder, like that woman, who apparently was his wife, freaking out and leaving. Then seeing her later, hanging all over some young dude.” The bartender brought over two more Bloody Mary cocktails. Clay looked up and said, “Thanks. Don’t let us buy anymore, or we’ll be in worse shape than last night.”

  The bartender smiled, knowing she’d continue to serve them.

  “Where did you see them?”

  “After we dropped off Alan, we met up with Cal, then went for the midnight buffet,” Marvin said.

  “I thought Cal was with you when you left the bar?” I thought this might be significant.

  “He was, but he cut out. Wasn’t much of a fan of
Alan’s. He thought we should’ve left him on the floor in the bar. My cousin can be an asshole sometimes,” Marvin said.

  “So, you saw Kendra with ‘some dude’ at the buffet?”

  “Not exactly at the buffet, but sitting at a table. She was all over that guy. If Alan hadn’t told us she was his wife, I’d have thought she might be the guy’s girl.”

  “You know, I think he was one of the bartenders,” Clay said.

  “Yeah, he was.” Marvin had a revelation.

  “Nothing seemed off or out of place when you left Alan? Did he say anything about going back out?” I asked.

  They both shook their heads.

  “We were hungry. Truth be told, we were glad to be rid of Alan at that point. Like we said, things started getting weird. Like that couple.” Clay leaned back in the chair, fresh drink in hand.

  “That couple. Worse than the woman. The man had a few choice words, then threatened Alan. But Alan didn’t seem to take it seriously. Not that he was in any shape to take anyone seriously.” Marvin still hadn’t touched the drink he asked for.

  “What kind of threat?” I remembered the couple, and the man did look pissed off.

  “He called Alan a worthless human being, and then said something about Alan owing him money. The guy wasn’t specific. And the lady, who could have been the bald guy’s wife, kept saying, ‘This isn’t the time or place. Let’s go.’ She was right. Don’t be airing your dirty laundry in public.”

  I took what they said and mulled it around in my head. Something told me they weren’t telling me the whole truth. I couldn’t quite place it. But I needed to talk to Lyle, and the Wallis family, before I could put any pieces together.

  15

  Charles

  I looked at my phone to see what cabin I could find Lyle in, and realized I’d only be able to access it from a service elevator. Leaving Marvin and Clay to start their morning in a drunken stupor, I went in search of someone to point me in the right direction.

  Lyle being in the dining room with a passenger had to be against the cruise line’s employee policy. From what I heard about cruise ships, the employees had their own little city within the ship, and they were prohibited from mixing with the guests. Only this couldn’t really be one hundred percent true, because there are many records of passengers being sexually assaulted by employees. Somehow the employees and passengers were fraternizing.

  I told the first steward I saw, who I was looking for, using both Lyle’s first and last name, and said he’d found my cell phone last night and I needed to get it back.

  “He’d have left it at the lost and found,” the guy said.

  “Actually, no, he said to look him up. Gave me his cabin number.” I read the cabin number to him.

  “Guests aren’t allowed in the service areas,” he said.

  “I won’t tell if you don’t.” I touched his arm and grinned.

  I had the magic touch. He let me in the service elevator and gave me directions to the staff cabins.

  I banged on the door, then waited. No answer. I banged again and heard some shuffling, but still no one answered the door. I tried one more time, with urgency in the banging.

  The door opened a few inches and tired eyes looked between the space. “What?” Lyle grumbled.

  He didn’t look as if he’d just woken up, but he sounded as if he had.

  “We need to talk,” I said.

  “You aren’t even supposed to be down here. How did you find my room?”

  “I’m just brilliant, I suppose. Actually, I don’t suppose anything, I am brilliant,” I said.

  “Fine, you’re brilliant. You’re handsome, too. That still doesn’t explain why you’re at my door.” Lyle pushed the door almost closed.

  “I am handsome, aren’t I? And it doesn’t have anything to do with why I’m here. I want to talk to you about last night.”

  Lyle looked at the floor, then looked back up. “What about last night?”

  “Remember the man I was talking to at the bar earlier in the day?”

  “Yeah, what’s that got to do with anything?” Lyle asked, seeming put out.

  “He’s gone missing.”

  “Missing? This is a self-contained island. How can a person go missing on an island?” He thought about that. “Oh.”

  “Oh is right. Do you remember seeing him last night at the bar?”

  “The bar was packed, and the night, like most, was a blur. But sure, I think I saw him with a group of guys.”

  “What about when you left the bar?” I asked.

  “I didn’t see him when I left the bar,” Lyle said.

  “No, what did you do when you left the bar last night?”

  A sliver of remembrance, or was it guilt, crossed his face, then he hid behind a frown. “I came back here and passed out. It was crazy busy and I was exhausted.”

  “Look, I’m not going to stand in the hall, talking to your disembodied face. Either come out and talk to me, or invite me in.” I thought I smelled the faintest hint of jasmine. Where had I smelled the scent earlier?

  He looked back into the room, then opened the door. Definitely jasmine, and it wasn’t Lyle. Air freshener? A girl in his room?

  I stepped back, but tried to get a good look in the cabin as Lyle stepped out. When he did, something seemed to block the door, keeping it from opening fully. I pushed against it and heard, “Umph.”

  “You have a roommate?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but what’s he got to do with anything?” Lyle stepped into the hall.

  “Is he behind your door?” I asked.

  “Look, I have a chick in the room, okay? And you’re kinda ruining my mojo.”

  “Kendra?”

  “Kendra? Who?” He looked genuinely perplexed, then realization hit his face. He laughed. “No, not Kendra, though she worked it pretty hard last night.”

  “At the bar?” I asked.

  Again, Lyle looked at the floor, then at me. “She was at the bar. Hammered and mad. She stumbled out, looking really unsteady, so I took off after her. I felt bad for her. She told me all about what happened with her husband on the plane. Thing was, it had gone viral. I even saw some of the pictures that girl posted.”

  “Seemed like a match made in heaven,” I said sardonically.

  “In the sky, anyway. Then Kendra said the girl was on the ship, too. What are the chances?”

  “Too many coincidences to count. She confronted Alan at dinner, in front of the entire table. It wasn’t pretty.”

  “That’s what Kendra said. Then she had another drink, and that seemed to put her over the edge. Some lady came up and was talking to her, and she didn’t say much more. Then the bar got jam packed a minute later. Formal dinner nights are crazy busy.”

  “What happened with you and Kendra?”

  “Nothing. I asked if I could help her to her room, and she said no. Then she said she was hungry. So I took her to the midnight buffet. I don’t think she was hungry so much as she needed to eat before the alcohol in her stomach rebelled. She ate a lot of bread. And then she wanted me to sit with her. Not a good idea. I was still on duty, even though it was my break. But I sat with her anyway. Then she was all over me. Kissing my neck, touching me.”

  “And you fended her off?” I asked.

  “I did, sort of. Then she reached under the table to unzip my pants, and I knew I needed to leave. I left her sitting at the table. Not that I didn’t want her, but I want my job more.”

  “Do you remember seeing the guys who were sitting at the table with Alan come into the buffet area?” It was a long shot, but worth a try.

  “Dude, I didn’t see anything except Kendra. And the way out. I looked from her to the service elevator and back. Knowing I’d be removed from the ship when we docked if I got caught, I kept my head down. But nothing happened. I finished my shift and went back to my room.”

  His story sounded plausible. He seemed like a nice guy. But again, there was a piece of this puzzle I couldn’t pu
t together. “You remembered Alan from earlier that day, right? I was talking with him at the bar.”

  “Sure, I remember him. He seemed like his life had fallen apart. After you left, he told me all about what happened on the plane. So, if I’m being honest, I only saw the Twitter stuff after the fact. I searched the hashtag he mentioned.”

  “So you didn’t tell me the whole truth?”

  An employee stepped out of a cabin a few doors down. “Hey, Lyle, you good?”

  Lyle waved. “I’m cool, man. Thanks.”

  The guy walked down the hall to the elevators.

  “Whatever. I told you, didn’t I?”

  “What else did he tell you?”

  Lyle looked up and down the hall. “He told me how he was in debt up to his forehead. I asked him about the wad of money he pulled from his pocket. I mean, a guy that broke doesn’t carry around a wad of cash. He pulled it back out and showed me, it was a couple of hundreds, a few twenties, and the rest were ones.”

  I laughed. Classic.

  “He said he bought the cruise tickets before his life fell apart, and tried to get a refund, but couldn’t, so he brought his wife for their anniversary. Then he said he expected it to be their last anniversary when she found out he was broke. Not only broke, but over his head in debt.”

  This was news. I needed to look up financials on Alan. I also needed to look up when he bought the cruise tickets.

  “And you didn’t see him after Kendra left the bar?”

  “I left right after Kendra.”

  “But you came back. Did you see him again, after you were with her?”

  “No.”

  This wasn’t going anywhere, and I didn’t see how Lyle would have anything to do with the couple, other than being a listening ear, and maker of drinks.

  “How did you end up with Emily?” Not that it was any of my business, except I wanted to talk to her.

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but I met her in the bar a lot later. It was almost the end of my shift. She said she wanted to get away from the party atmosphere, and didn’t want to go back to her cabin, so…wait, how did you know the girl in my room was named Emily?”

  “I figure you wanted to see what you could get after seeing what she did with Alan,” I said.