Julie was on the first coach, so were the Tomkins, but Steven, she was thankful to see, was on one of the others. Bill Saunders was with them as one of the tour guides. The ship always had at least one guide on each coach, often members of the crew such as musicians or entertainers, but here, Bill explained, there was the senior tour organiser, Gerry King, as well, and a couple of Moroccans too.
'We'll also have local escorts when we arrive,' Gerry King explained as they drove along. 'Now do remember what you were told on the boat, don't display expensive jewellery or watches or cameras, and ladies, if you can put your handbags round your necks and hold on to them in front of you, please do so. And don't stop to haggle with the touts trying to sell souvenirs, keep up with the rest of the party.'
Half way there, after a drive along a desert road where they passed many herdsmen watching over small flocks of goats, they stopped in a small town and went into a café for glasses of mint tea, sweet and delicious. Bill came to join Julie and a few others, and they bombarded him with questions.
'Why do you people sound so distrustful of the locals?' a large American, video camera slung round his neck, demanded.
'You mean the warning about expensive watches and cameras?' Bill asked. 'In one way it's only being courteous, for this is a poor country, and it might breed envy for them to see the sort of luxuries none of them can ever hope to achieve. It's also a temptation to the unscrupulous, who gather in the main tourist attractions. It's much better than it used to be, some years back, when we had to be escorted round the souk with armed guards. One of the guests, then, had his shoulder dislocated when his camera was snatched, and the strap was still over his arm.'
The American looked unconvinced, but his wife clutched his arm and begged him to leave his cameras on the bus.
'You don't want to run any risks, honey,' she said urgently. 'The camera will be safe on the bus, won't it?' she asked Bill.
'Yes, the coach will be locked. You can buy postcards. And remember, if you take photos of the locals, they will expect a small payment. Especially the water sellers, who have a very colourful costume.'
*
They were driven first to Jemar El Fna, the great central square, and Julie looked round her in amazement. There were dancers, snake charmers, people offering freshly squeezed orange juice, nuts, postcards, and other souvenirs. She wandered round in a daze, just absorbing the atmosphere, and then the local guides gathered them all together for a visit to the great souk.
'Best not go on your own, especially the ladies,' Gerry warned, and the Tomkins insisted Julie went with them.
'We have to look after you for Robert,' Laura said, smiling. 'I'm surprised he isn't here to take care of you.'
'Why should he be?' Julie asked, but knew she was blushing.
Once, years before, soon after they were married, she and Andrew had visited one of his army friends stationed in Oman, and she had wandered through the labyrinth of stalls in that souk at perfect ease. Clearly it wasn't as safe to do so here.
The stalls were full of fascinating objects. There were great copper pitchers, delicate silver jewellery, inlaid wooden boxes, embroidered slippers, carpets and wonderful heaps of spices, as well as more mundane electrical and household goods. Laura was in her element, bewailing the fact she couldn't take more than one of the lovely boxes, she just didn't have room in her cases after all the other souvenirs she had purchased elsewhere.
'Whew!' Susan said when they emerged into the open to find the coaches waiting a short distance away across the square. 'I wouldn't like to be there on my own. It is a bit scary.'
'No, it had a very threatening atmosphere. Have we time to buy some postcards?' Laura asked Bill, who had stayed close beside them throughout the time in the souk.
'There's a shop over there,' he said, 'You'll be fine on your own. I need to speak to Gerry about the lunch stop.'
Laura and Julie walked over to where postcards were displayed on a stand. Laura chose a dozen, and a smiling man came up to her, holding a small paper bag.
'You have chosen? A dollar each, please.'
'Thank goodness everyone takes either euros or dollars,' Laura said. 'It makes shopping so much easier.'
She counted out the notes, and he turned to Julie.
'I want to see if they have a guide book inside,' she said, and smiled at him as he turned away.
She chose a book, and handed her purchases to the man behind the counter.
'Five dollars for the book, and four postcards for a dollar. That's seven dollars, please.'
Julie blinked, and handed over the notes.
'Why did the man outside charge me more?' Laura demanded of Bill when Julie told her what had happened and they were back at the coach, waiting to board it.
'Oh dear, another scam, I'm afraid,' Bill said.
Laura fumed, and Steven, who seemed to have transferred to this coach, and was standing nearby, sympathised.
'I wish I'd been there, I'd have sorted him out,' he said, glancing at James.
Did he expect poor James to be standing over Laura to make sure she wasn't ripped off, Julie wondered.
'I know it was only a couple of dollars, but the cheek of it!' Laura complained. 'And he was robbing the shopkeeper too.'
It was soon forgotten, though, when they stopped for lunch, and were escorted towards the restaurant through narrow alleyways. Their local guides, who seemed to have become a whole army of protectors, waved aside the sellers of shoddy souvenirs, urging the tourists not to straggle.
The outside looked unprepossessing, flaking paint falling from a plain, rough wall, but inside was a revelation. The decoration was luxurious, vivid bold patterns on the walls and ceiling, with plenty of gilt and jewel colours. They sat on low couches, Julie managing to dodge Steven and find a place with Laura and James where there were no more spare seats.
They ate delicious spiced lamb and wonderfully fresh vegetables, followed by sweet almond pastries.
'Now for the entertainment,' James said softly to Julie. 'Here come the dancing girls.'
'Just what you like,' Laura said, grinning at him.
It wasn't quite what Julie had been expecting. She had never seen belly-dancing, but the lithe beauty of the girls, their athleticism, the colourful costumes, and the last display by an older woman, who carried a circlet of candles on her head as she whirled, and finally bent backwards until her shoulders were touching the floor, the candles still flickering on her head, was awe-inspiring.
*
'No one carried the ring off the ship,' Robert told the Captain when most of the passengers, those going on excursions and others who wanted just to visit the town, had left. 'The crew at the gangway have a list of the others we suspect, and will bring them to me if any of them try to get off now. Let's get on with the search of the cabins.'
It was an unpleasant task, but Robert was confident he only had to hold the tracker device just inside each cabin to know whether the ring was hidden there.
'This isn't going to work,' the Captain said when they had only a couple more cabins to investigate.
'Well, if we have to trawl through the entire ship, we can still do it before the excursions are back. But then, if it's in a public place, we won't know who hid the ring, and will have to mount a watch all the time to see who tries to retrieve it.'
The Captain groaned. 'That won't be easy.'
'If all else fails we'll use this little tracker on all the luggage as it's taken off, and the passengers too. If we don't find it we'll just have to keep a closer watch on the crew staying on. Some of them will be leaving now, won't they, so if it is still here we'll know the ones that remain are suspects. But I can't see anyone leaving what they must regard as a valuable ring hidden where it could be found when the ship is cleaned.'
The last cabin to be searched was that occupied by Julie and Susan. Robert had left it to the end, convinced Susan could not be the thief, but the ring had not been found anywhere else.
To his
horror, as they opened the cabin door, the device he held in his hand began to bleep, and as he and the Captain moved into the cabin, the bleeping got louder and more frequent. Robert, moving as if he were sleepwalking, stepped forward, and the tracker led him to one of the suitcases stored in the wardrobes. He pulled it out and opened it. It seemed empty, but in one of the loose side pockets he found the ring, wrapped in a couple of tissues. He pulled it out slowly, turning it over in his fingers, and switching off the tracker, which was now giving out a continuous bleep.
The Captain pushed past him and lifted out the suitcase. He looked at the labels attached to it.
'Mrs Julie Carstairs,' he said. 'It can't be her, she's only been on this cruise.'
'But her sister works in the shop,' Robert said. He felt numb with shock and disappointment. 'In fact she'll be there now. I assumed she was going to Marrakech.'
The Captain was sitting down on one of the beds, looking triumphant and trying to work it out.
'And Mrs Carstairs might be taking it off the ship with her. But that couldn't have been the method before. They might have used other people, I suppose, or even mailed what they stole. They wouldn't have wanted to trust too many people.'
'Or the sister could have kept everything hidden and taken in to England herself when she had a few days off before this cruise, when you were in port having that overhaul. We'd better put the suitcase back as we found it, and see both of them after dinner. Will you keep the ring meanwhile?'
'I'll put it in the safe, in my office.'
*
Chapter 8
Robert could not rest. Surely his Julie, a girl he felt he could love, couldn't be a thief? He had to see her, before dinnertime, before she and her sister were confronted in the Captain's office.
It had been six years since Lucy had been killed, and he had thought then he could never love another woman. He'd seen none to tempt him, until he had seen Julie on the plane, been intrigued by her look of vulnerability, and come to know her on the ship. Was this love? He decided it must be. He'd been tempted to chance his luck and propose when they had been enjoying that magical day in Madeira, but he'd held back, wanting to finish this job, and knowing he could always meet her back in England. Now it seemed providential he had not spoken, if she were concerned with these thefts. He had not felt so devastated since Lucy's death.
*
Back on the coach, heading to Casablanca, James sat with Julie while Laura went to sit with an elderly woman on her own, who had been feeling faint from the heat and the walking to the restaurant.
'I hope you have enjoyed the cruise,' he said, rather stiffly, she felt. 'We hope, when we are all back in England, you will come and see us.'
'I've enjoyed it more than I expected,' she confessed. 'Apart from my dear sister's attempts to throw me and Steven together! She didn't seem to understand I don't want to be paired off, especially not with him! But I think even Susan believes me now she knows him better.'
'You don't wish to be paired with anyone?' he asked. 'Laura has hopes you and Robert might be – what shall I say – becoming friendly.'
Julie shook her head vehemently. James was as big a gossip as Laura.
'I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready for another relationship.'
'Friendship only, perhaps?'
He was silent, and soon snoozing as the coach made its way back to Casablanca.
Could she meet Robert again? Did she want to? She was attracted to him, but she'd thought she didn't want commitment. Yet never to see him again was painful.
In Casablanca, to Julie's surprise, Robert and another man she had not seen before were picked up when the coach reached the centre of the city. They took seats towards the back while driving round to see some of the sights before going back to the ship.
'It's not like the film,' James, who had woken up, said, grinning. 'There's almost nothing of interest, it's a modern industrial city. The main claim to fame is the Great Mosque. I imagine we'll stop there for a few moments.'
They did, and some of the tourists got out of the coach to see it at closer range. Steven came up behind Julie, took her arm, and though she tried to remain where she was, drew her away from the others.
'I need to talk to you,' he said urgently. 'Please, give me one last chance to explain.'
'There's nothing more to say,' Julie said angrily, and broke away from him.
He stepped towards her and she backed away, then felt an enormous jolt as her shoulder bag was snatched by a boy riding pillion on a small motorcycle.
With a cry of alarm Julie stumbled, letting go of the bag, and fell to her knees. Before she could get to her feet Robert, who must have been standing a few feet away, hurled himself at the youths and snatched back the bag, but as he did so he fell and hit the wing of a car following the motorcycle.
The car sped off, leaving Robert lying, dreadfully still, in the road. Julie scambled to her feet and flung herself down beside him, frantically feeling for his pulse, and looking to see whether he was bleeding. His trousers were torn below the knee, but to her enormous relief there was no blood, and no splintered bones jutting out at odd angles.
'Robert, oh Robert, darling, are you all right?'
He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, looking up into her eyes.
'Say that again,' he ordered.
'Let me get to him, young lady, I'm a doctor,' one of the other passengers said, and Julie, only now realising what her words had revealed, allowed herself to be pulled back.
Robert sat up, pushing away the doctor and handing her bag back to Julie.
'Thanks, I'm fine, just winded. The car barely touched me. I'll have a bruise tomorrow, and my trousers are ruined, but no worse. Now, let's all get back to the ship.'
'And your wife can look after you.'
Julie looked guiltily at Robert, blushing.
He looked at her, but he wasn't smiling. Perhaps he was more hurt than he was admitting.
'Sure, that'll be the best medicine, cure me in no time, Doc.'
To her relief Gerry made him sit on the front seat, so she was unable to speak to him during the short drive back to the port, and Gerry escorted him on board before any of the other passengers. Laura was full of concern, wanting to know whether Julie had been hurt, but fortunately neither she nor anyone else but Robert had heard those incautious words. What had possessed her? She'd been so frightened, seeing him lying there, frightened he was badly injured, like Andrew, and she suddenly knew she didn't want to lose him.
*
Julie tried to push the thought of what to do out of her mind during dinner. Robert wasn't there, and she worried his injuries had been worse than he tried to pretend. Perhaps even now he was in the small hospital suite, being treated, perhaps having gashes sewn up. She couldn't eat a thing, and when Laura, concerned, asked if she felt ill, said she must have eaten too much of that delicious lunch.
Laura looked sceptical, but to Julie's relief didn't comment. Susan was quiet, saying her headache was threatening to come back after a whole day sorting out stock and checking what they had left, but Cathy needed help in the shop with the last minute rush before the cruise ended.
Afterwards, Laura persuaded Julie to go with them to the ballroom for the nightly show, and listless, knowing she would just worry about Robert until she saw him again, she agreed. Robert might be there. He could have had dinner in his cabin.
As they left the dining room, though, Robert was waiting. To her relief he looked normal, though rather pale, and he didn't smile at her. But he wasn't limping, so perhaps he was all right. He came alongside her, took her arm, and said the Captain wanted to see her and Susan. He turned towards Susan, and ushered them along one of the passages into a lift, and it took them up to where the Captain had his office next to the bridge.
*
Mary and Bea had dined in the penthouse with Robert. They had not been on the excursion, but as soon as he had showered and changed out of his torn trousers he'd dressed in his di
nner jacket and gone to tell them the ring was found, and where.
'That pretty widow? I don't believe it!' Bea declared. 'No, Robert, it's not her.'
'It could be her sister, but as Susan will be remaining on board, Julie must know about the ring if she's planning to take it back to England. God knows, I don't want to believe it, but how else can it be explained?'
'And I'd so hoped you had found someone,' Mary said softly. 'It's high time you forgot Lucy.'
Robert was silent. He'd been thinking about Lucy more than usual of late. She had been killed in a train accident six years ago. It had been just a month before their wedding, and he'd thought he would never forget her, never get over his loss. Despite the urgings of his relatives and friends, he had never before wanted to take anyone else out. Then he had met Julie, and something about her, her gentleness, her quiet beauty, the sadness in her eyes when she thought no one was looking at her, a sadness which mirrored his own, and above all a desire to protect her from such boors as Steven Wilkes, had broken through the carapace he'd erected round his emotions.
Now it seemed she was a thief, or at least an accomplice to one.
He listened to Bea fiercely defending Julie, and trying to find reasons for her to be innocent, but he could not believe in any of them. He dared not hope. She would be convicted, there was no excuse.
'I must go and find them, take them to the Captain,' he said at last. 'Don't, Bea, the evidence was there. They must be guilty.'
*
The Captain invited them to sit on chairs facing his desk, and indicated the one beside him for Robert. It looked like some inquisition, a court where the accusers faced the accused, Robert thought.
The Captain had the ring ready in a drawer of the desk. He produced it, with what Robert sourly regarded as an unnecessary flourish, and held it out on his palm so that the girls could see it.
'Why, isn't that the ring Mary Talbot wears?' Julie said, smiling and turning towards Robert. 'She'll be so pleased it's been found.'
Then, as neither of them responded, she looked puzzled, and glanced from him to the Captain's unsmiling face.
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