“Get the doctor. Quick!”
“I’ll go,” Lloyd said, already turning away.
Dylan lunged at him, grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. “You’re going nowhere, sunshine.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was neither the time nor the place but Dylan finally realised who the ship’s captain reminded him of. Melgarde was a ringer for the bloke who played Captain Birdseye in the commercials. Both of them were odd buggers who you wouldn’t allow within five yards of your kids. He’d bet the chap who advertised fish fingers had never been this angry though. And Melgarde’s anger was nothing compared to Dylan’s.
“You tell me the fuck again.” Melgarde jabbed Dylan in the chest.
The small room was crowded and, again, Melgarde had the only chair. Mike Lloyd was leaning against the wall. As yet, he hadn’t said a word and he hadn’t so much as glanced at the other man in the room, Tom Jackson. Jackson had made several angry protests about wanting to be with his mother, but Melgarde had silenced him with as many “shut the fuck up”s.
“Okay,” Dylan said. “I saw this man—”
“Talking to Mrs. Jackson,” Lloyd muttered.
“Bollocks!” Dylan said. “I believe that Hanna Larsen was murdered and that—”
“She was.”
“What?”
“She was murdered,” Melgarde said. “The police messaged less than two hours ago. They will be coming aboard when we dock in—” he glanced at his watch, “—one more hour.”
“She was murdered?” Dylan had believed nothing else, but he was still surprised to hear the confirmation.
“Yes. The doctor who do the fucking autopsy or what they call it found evidence. She was suffocated.” He prodded Dylan in the chest again. “What the fuck this have to do with him?” He nodded at Lloyd.
“Hanna Larsen swapped cabins at the last minute,” Dylan said and Melgarde nodded impatiently. “I think Ruby Jackson, the woman who should have had that cabin—”
“The woman you knocked unconscious and almost fucking killed,” Melgarde put in.
“The very same. I believe she was the intended victim.”
“What?” Tom Jackson yanked Dylan round by the shoulder. “You think someone wanted to kill my mother?”
“I do.”
“But that’s crazy. Why would anyone—?”
“She’s a very wealthy woman.”
Lloyd still wasn’t speaking, but a nerve was pulsing at his throat.
“So she’s wealthy,” Jackson said, his voice shaking, “but why would anyone want to kill her? Who would benefit from her death?”
Dylan looked at him long and hard. “You would. I’m sure your TV company could do with a nice injection of capital.”
Jackson was so shocked by the accusation that he took an involuntary step backward and banged his head on the wall. He lifted a hand to rub it. “You surely don’t think—I mean you can’t seriously believe that I’d want my own mother killed?”
“Why not? Your TV company is losing money left, right and centre. You’d asked your mother for funding.”
“Yes, but so what? Wouldn’t you ask your mother? Wouldn’t anyone?” He rubbed his head again. “People turn to their parents in times of need. They don’t kill them.”
“Some do.”
“For God’s sake, Dylan. Get real.”
Jackson was convincing. So convincing that Dylan tried to think of someone else who might pay Lloyd to commit murder. Yet there was no one. Jackson was the only man in need of money who would benefit from Ruby’s death. He had to be involved.
“You policeman?” Melgarde asked, digging Dylan in the ribs yet again.
“Sort of.” What kind of stupid answer was that? “I was. I work—independently. Investigator.”
“And him?” Melgarde pointed at Mike Lloyd.
“I saw him about to—” Dylan didn’t know what he’d seen, but it had been enough for him to risk knocking Ruby unconscious rather than watch her being thrown into icy Arctic waters that would kill a person in minutes. “I saw him about to throw Mrs. Jackson overboard.”
“What?” Jackson and Lloyd spoke at the same time. Both had the same note of incredulity in their voices.
“That’s what I saw,” Dylan said.
“Never in a million years,” Lloyd said, addressing Melgarde. “I was talking to her, that’s all. Well, she was talking to me. The next thing I knew, this idiot cannoned into us and knocked Mrs. Jackson unconscious. It’s a miracle he didn’t kill the poor woman.”
“What the fuck?” Melgarde seemed incapable of uttering anything more than his favourite phrase. “And why the fuck are my passengers being evacuated from their cabins?”
“I’ve told you.” Dylan could scream. “Either a crew member or someone impersonating one, went to my cabin allegedly to check on a heating problem.”
“What heating problem?”
“Exactly!” Dylan was going to lose it in a minute. “My son sent me a text saying someone had come to check the heating and had been in the bathroom. That’s why, after making sure my family got the hell out of the cabin, I told you to seal off the whole area.”
“It is sealed off. We wait for police. What about him?”
“He’s the bastard I kill if I find out he’s been anywhere near my family.” Dylan’s threat did nothing. Lloyd didn’t so much as bat an eyelid.
“And he’s the man you think try to kill Mrs. Jackson?” Melgarde sounded doubtful.
“Yes.”
Round and round they went for the next half hour. Lloyd insisted he’d been doing nothing more than chatting to Ruby and that Dylan should be locked away in the nearest asylum. Tom Jackson was ready to offer to drive Dylan to the nearest asylum.
Perhaps Lloyd was speaking the truth. Perhaps Jackson had no wish to see his mother dead. And yet—
“Convince me you weren’t setting yourself up with a nice alibi tonight,” he said to Jackson.
“Of course I wasn’t. Bloody hell, Dylan, I was merely unwinding. Or trying to. As you said, as you know, my business is in dire straits. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since I boarded this blasted ship.”
“Which phone?”
“Sorry?”
“Which phone hasn’t stopped ringing?” Dylan asked. “The one you used to make a call after I’d told you your mother should have been in Hanna Larsen’s cabin? Or the one you let me borrow to call my mother?”
“What? Are you completely mad?” This in a near whisper. “I have two phones. One’s my work phone, the other’s personal. I switch off the work phone now and again because there’s nothing I can do for the business when I’m on this ship. You are mad, aren’t you?”
Someone knocked on the door and Dylan swung round as it opened. He’d spoken to Luke on the phone, and Bev, but it was still a huge relief to see his son standing tall next to one of the security guys.
Luke walked into the room and stood close to Dylan. “That’s him.” He nodded at Lloyd. “He went into the bathroom and took the shower head off.”
Dylan was about to lunge at Lloyd and tear him limb from limb, when the strangest thing happened.
A sound, similar to a dog’s bark but more mechanical, silenced everyone.
“Shit!” Dylan grabbed Lloyd’s arm before he had a chance to switch off his phone and silence the ridiculous ringtone. He managed to wrestle the phone from Lloyd. “Answer it.”
Lloyd looked from Dylan to Melgarde and back to Dylan.
Dylan used one hand to shove Lloyd against the wall and the other to hold the phone to Lloyd’s face. “Answer it,” he said again.
Dylan pressed the speakerphone symbol and then hit Answer. He followed that up with an encouraging kick on the shin for Lloyd.
Lloyd didn’t utter a word. The female caller said, “Well? Is it done?”
Who the fuck—?
“Laura?” Every last spot of colour had drained from Tom Jackson’s face. He reached for the phone. “Laura
?” he said again, his voice rising toward hysteria. “I don’t believe—what in hell’s name are you thinking of?”
The connection had been cut. Laura probably hadn’t even heard her brother’s voice.
Jackson dropped onto his haunches as if he no longer had the strength to keep himself upright. He dropped the phone and it slid across the floor toward its owner. He covered his face with his hands and rocked back and forth on his haunches.
“I want a lawyer.” Lloyd stood rigid, his gaze on an invisible spot on the wall. “I know my rights and I want a lawyer.”
“The fuck you do,” Melgarde burst out. “You want to answer the fucking questions.”
“Tell me what you were doing in my cabin.” Dylan had his hands so tight around Lloyd’s throat that he was probably incapable of answering. That wasn’t going to stop Dylan asking though. “What did you do in that cabin? Why the bathroom?”
Lloyd spat in Dylan’s face. “I want a lawyer.”
“What you want, you crazy bastard, is a lethal injection. Tell me about Laura Jackson. How long have you known her? You got this job, and she immediately made a last-minute booking, right? She had her mother’s cabin number and you were to do the deed on that first night. Except you cocked up, didn’t you? Laura didn’t know about the mix-up with the cabins, did she? You didn’t, either.” He gave Lloyd a sharp punch in the ribs. “How much was Laura paying you? Or did you plan to split the proceeds?”
“I want a lawyer!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dylan was dreaming. Two leggy Norwegian blondes had been about to grant him three wishes. The dream was slipping from his grasp and he tried to cling to it as wakefulness insisted on greeting him.
“Dylan, wake up!”
He opened his eyes and managed to suppress a groan as Bev’s face took away the last remnants of the hot Norwegian sex goddesses. The ship’s horn gave a blast.
“Quick,” Bev said. “The northern lights.”
He hadn’t slept for God alone knew how long, he’d been on the brink of being abused by the most gorgeous creatures his subconscious could dream up, and the sodding aurora borealis had decided to put in an appearance. Great.
He sat up, grudgingly, and watched in amazement as she dragged Freya from her bed.
“What are you doing? Leave her to sleep. She’ll be okay for a few minutes.”
Bev looked at him as if mentally questioning his sanity. “She wants to see them too.”
Oh, for—the kid wasn’t even a year old. She would have no memory of this night whatsoever.
“I’ve phoned your mum and Luke,” Bev said. “They’re going on deck to see them. But just look!”
Dylan was pulling on a pair of jeans, but he stopped as she opened the door to the balcony of their new cabin. The sky, on a good night dotted with trillions of stars, was awash with colour. Every shade of green and yellow that Dylan could imagine swirled above them. It was as if the planet had paused to watch the dancing lights.
“Just look at it,” Bev said, her voice a whisper. She shifted Freya in her arms so their daughter could see the sky.
People were laughing and cheering up on the deck. This was what most of them had come for, and even Dylan had to admit it was worth it. It was spectacular.
“Let’s go and join everyone outside,” Bev said.
“The show will be over by the time we get there.”
“Not if we’re quick. Come on.”
They grabbed coats and ran along the corridor to the stairs that led up to the deck.
“Just look,” Bev said again.
Dylan was powerless to do anything else. It was like nothing he’d ever seen. Never before had he been so in awe of nature or felt so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
They walked on, their eyes never leaving the sky, to join the other passengers on the deck.
His mother and Luke found them. Luke was taking photos but no camera could hope to capture the dazzling lights as they performed.
“Let’s get everyone in a group,” Luke said, “and we’ll have proof that we’ve seen the northern lights.”
Bill Carr came across. “Let me,” he said.
Luke handed over his camera and they stood in a group. Bev held Freya, his mother stood on one side and Luke on the other. Dylan stood behind them, his arms across their shoulders.
Click. Another click. Carr peered at the small screen, presumably making sure he hadn’t chopped off legs and feet. Another click.
“There you go.” Carr returned the camera to Luke. “What wonderful memories you’ll have.”
Carr stepped aside and gestured for Dylan to join him. “I’m sorry if you thought—well, if there was some confusion. It’s just that with Adam acting as Hanna Larsen’s lawyer, I didn’t like to say too much. Maud and I were put in a very difficult position. Confidentiality, you see.”
“It’s not important.” Dylan gazed up at the sky. “Go and enjoy the show with Maud.”
Hanna Larsen was dead, but Dylan wasn’t going to lose sleep over that. Far more important was that no other lives had been lost. When he stopped to think—
An arm was slipped through his, and Dylan turned to smile at Ruby. In this light, her facial injuries didn’t look too bad. “You’re supposed to be resting, Ruby.”
“And miss the lights?” she said. “No chance.”
They stood in silence for a few moments, their arms linked.
“What do you do for someone who’s saved your life?” she asked after a while.
“You live long and happy.” He gazed at the bandage covering the gash on her head. “And you thank the gods the idiot didn’t kill you in the process.”
She smiled again, but it was a sad smile. It would take her—take anyone—a long time to come to terms with the fact that her own daughter wanted her dead. It was the utmost betrayal of a mother’s love. She was a strong, independent woman though. She would survive. She would move on.
“Laura’s been arrested, you know,” she said.
Dylan nodded. Melgarde had told him.
“I always thought she was happy,” Ruby said. “I thought she was content with her lot. It’s not as if she wanted for anything. She’s comfortably off. And him—” She pulled the face she now reserved for Mike Lloyd. “He was hoping to get a million pounds. That’s all. Just a million pounds for ending someone’s life.”
She spoke as if it was nothing.
“People have been killed for a lot less,” he said.
She shrugged that off. “I was telling him that I’d finally remembered where I’d seen him.”
Dylan patted her hand. “I know.”
“It was only a brief glimpse and it’s more than six months ago now. I’d gone to visit Laura and he was leaving as I arrived. We weren’t even introduced or anything. There must have been something about him though for his face to stick in my memory. We were standing over there—” She pointed to the exact spot where Dylan had knocked her to the ground. “I told him I’d seen him before and he said I wouldn’t be seeing him again. As soon as I hit the water, he said, he was in line for a million pounds.”
She’d told him all this earlier. Perhaps she thought that, if she said it often enough, she would finally believe that her own daughter considered a million pounds money well spent to be rid of her.
“According to Melgarde, he’s been in trouble before,” she said. “Something happened when he was in the army. Nothing was proved but there was a lot of talk.”
Melgarde had told Dylan the same thing. A young army recruit had been badly beaten and left to die. No one was arrested for the crime, but Mike Lloyd had been a suspect.
Melgarde had told Dylan a lot more. Apparently, Lloyd had lied his way to a day ashore in Bodø. He’d claimed a dying relative, saying it would be his last chance to see his grandfather. Of course, there was no grandfather. Instead, a man fitting Lloyd’s description had been seen stealing an old blue car from a car park near the harbour.
/> “I wonder what he’d have done with the money,” Ruby said. “I wonder if he and Laura—”
She broke off as Jackson joined them.
He looked even more shaken than Ruby if that were possible. He’d never claimed to like his sister, but he was struggling to believe her capable of this.
He looked at Dylan. “I still don’t know how we can thank you.”
Dead Calm (A Dylan Scott Mystery) Page 12
