by J B Raphael
After dinner, which seemed to take forever, they decided to go to the Crows Nest bar at the front of the ship, on the top deck. The view to the sea was magnificent, with a slight swell and rise and fall of the majestic bows. “Hi ya kids,” came the greeting from behind, “may I join you, and buy you a drink?” she said, with her perfect $5000 smile.
Jon stood up, and pulled a chair over to the table and said, “Lovely to see you Helen, how’s your day been?”
“I just love your English manners!” she said. The steward brought their drinks. “Doing the tables again tonight?” Helen asked.
“No, not tonight, we won’t push our luck,” Jon answered.
“Yeah, perhaps you’re right,” she replied, “I think I’ll go down to the nightclub, to see what’s happening.” She finished her drink, “See you all later,” she said smiling sexily at Jon, and winking.
Jon saw his chance, “You’re not well, mal de mer, and you’ve gone to bed,” he almost ordered, “remember, this is a business trip, you can watch a DVD while I go and lay the land with Helen,” he added. He squeezed her knee under the table, “Don’t worry, darling, this one’s going to be big bucks,” he assured her.
In the nightclub, Helen was dancing with an older man, when she saw Jon she excused herself, and walked over to him, “Hiya handsome, on your own?”
“Yes,” Jon said, “Lorna’s a bit sea-sick, poor girl, she’s gone to bed.”
“Poor girl,” Helen said, “ hope she fells better in the morning. Let’s dance, come on, you can can’t you?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied. They danced slow ones, fast ones and finally collapsed into a booth laughing and gasping for breath.
“My,” she said, “you are quite a mover! Let’s go back to my place and fuck,” she suddenly offered.
“Okay,” Jon heard himself say, looking at the four diamond rings, the watch and the bracelet, “you will be gentle with me!”
“Oh,” she said, “I will be fantastic!”
So that they wouldn’t be seen together, he suggested that he knock at her cabin in fifteen minutes, she agreed. He knocked on her door on time, it opened, she was wearing a negligee that left nothing to the imagination, what a gorgeous body she had. He entered the suite and she was immediately on him, her mouth sought his as she pulled him into the bedroom. Slowly she undressed him and when it came to his trousers, she lowered them with expertise that showed lots of experience, and when he was naked from the waist down she went down on her knees and took his penis in her mouth. The sensation he felt was fantastic, before his climax she said, “A blow job was always my forte!” After his ejaculation she disappeared into the bathroom. He looked around but couldn’t see the jewellery, she wasn’t wearing it, so where was it? The room safe, blast, he thought. Their love-making was magical, her orgasms were quite noisy, and his back suffered from her fingernails, no sunbathing for a day or two! he thought. His main thoughts were now the diamonds, but he had to get into that safe. She came out of the bathroom wrapped in just a towel, “Well?” she asked, “had enough? I could go again if you wish honey,” she offered.
“Er, no, I’m sorry, you’ve drained me,” he said.
She laughed out loud, “Yes, it’s been said before, but you’re good, very good, and now good night,” she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” and kissed him on the cheek.
As Jon walked along the corridor he thought, ‘I wonder if she’s guessed it’s the diamonds I’m after. No, she almost dragged me to her place, as she called it’. He told Lorna about the difficulty, she wasn’t happy, but she knew that there was a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow and was willing to put up with Jon’s activities.
Jon knocked on Helen’s door at 9.30am, it opened, she looked amazing, there was an addition to the jewellery, a body chain. A diamond fantasy, at least 100 stones, he couldn’t take his eyes from it. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said, “$60,000 worth of fine quality size-matched stones, and flawless. My late husband gave it to me for our 25th, just a year before he passed away,” she added.
“Breakfast?” Jon asked.
“Yeah,” she replied, “let’s do it,” and they walked down to the restaurant arm in arm.
Jon feigned a mobile phone call, he said it was from Lorna, he didn’t want to be seen with Helen, “Look, I’m sorry, Lorna’s not well, I’ll just check with her and meet you in the restaurant,” he said.
“Okay, honey,” she said, and kissed his cheek, “see ya!” and she walked away.
He went back to his stateroom to check with Lorna, she wasn’t there, oh well he thought, probably gone for a walk around the deck. He caught up with her in the restaurant, she was only having coffee and toast. As he walked in he waved to Helen, this was a good move, people would see him at breakfast with Lorna and not Helen. The day would be spent sunbathing, their tans were developing nicely, they finished breakfast and he waved to Helen as they left the restaurant.
“Tonight’s the night,” he told Lorna.
She looked shocked, and said, “It’s not too soon, is it?”
“No,” he said, “there’s a room safe problem, and I’ve got to get to those diamonds before she locks them away.”
“I see,” Lorna said, but didn’t look happy.
“Don’t worry,” he said, kissing her cheek, “it’s going to be all right, those diamonds are fabulous,” he added.
After a room service dinner, Jon went to the Crows Nest bar alone. After about 30 minutes, he was tapped on the shoulder by Helen, “Hiya, handsome, how can a guy that looks like you be on his own?” she complimented. He stood up and took her hand, no cheek kissing, he didn’t want to be seen being affectionate towards her. They ordered drinks, but Jon sat opposite her in the booth. “I’m getting vibes, don’t you like little old me any more?”
“Yes, of course,” he replied, “you’re fabulous, but we will be going our separate ways in two or three days, and I don’t want to get too intense,” he confessed.
“Oh honey, it won’t get intense, but we can have fun can’t we?” she asked.
“Yes, of course,” he said, smiling, “how about tonight, Lorna’s met a friend and they will be doing their own thing.”
“Good,” she said, “the casino, and then bed!” she laughed.
The casino was quiet and they were greeted enthusiastically. They played for about an hour, but only came out even, so Helen tried her luck at blackjack, Jon just watched. She had some good luck, and won $2000. She then decided to go back to the roulette table and within another hour had amassed $12,000. She was euphoric, what with the cash and champagne cocktails, she was having a wonderful time. They almost fell into her suite at 1am, she wasn’t drunk but very merry. She immediately went for the mini bar and pulled out a bottle of champagne and gave it to Jon to open, which he did with a nominally loud pop. He filled two flutes and she came close and, entwining her arm around his, said, “Here’s to our fun and games!” Jon took a small sip, then put it down. She was wearing all her jewellery, he had felt the waist chain when he guided her through the door. He took his chance and grabbed her around the throat, pressing with all his strength on her windpipe, her eyes bulged, and she tried desperately to fight him off. But he was too strong, with the adrenalin making him stronger. She went limp, and her eyes were just staring and glazed ..... she was dead! He undressed her lovely body and put her clothes in a pile, including the glass he had used, the bottle etc., ready to throw overboard with the body. He removed all of the diamonds and put them in his pockets, including the body chain which had a special place in his inside jacket pocket, $160,000 he thought, fantastic. At 4 o’clock, after sitting and thinking of what he had done, did he have any decency in him? No, he thought, I am evil and a murdering bastard. Two gorgeous women dead because of my greed. He put his head in his hands and cried for a long time. Then, he lifted her over his shoulder, and with a tissue opened the balcony door, and tipping forward let her body fall. There was no audible splash, as
the ship was going at a good rate of knots. He left the door open, but re-thought and put the champagne bottle back on the table with one flute. He washed the other one and put it back on the tray after washing the bottle. That could have been a mistake, but what’s not there can’t incriminate, he thought, he should have touched her fingers on the bottle, but it was too late now. He opened the door with a tissue, slowly looking up and down the corridor. He put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door knob, after wiping the shiny surface and the door handle. He saw nobody on his way back to his stateroom, and got into bed beside Lorna, who was asleep, quietly.
The Queen of the Atlantic, pride of Cunard, arrived in New York on schedule, with the usual fire boats sounding their horns and spouting huge amounts of water, with the ship also sounding it’s horn.
Because he didn’t want his name linked, Lorna had left the jewellery in a safe deposit at the reception. He didn’t want to go through US Customs carrying them. They did the usual sights, Times Square, the Empire State Building, “Wow,” they said, “we’re nearly 1000 ft up.” The East River looked like a little stream, Jon joked that if you looked up from the observation deck, you could see King Kong’s claw marks! “Can you?” she said, looking up, then realised she had been had. “King Kong didn’t have claws, he had fingernails!” she said. Jon burst his sides laughing, and then Lorna joined in when she realised it was a gag, and then playfully punched his shoulder. On the way down, Lorna asked, “Did it really knock that aeroplane out of the sky?” They started laughing again, to the amazement of the other people in the lift. They walked down 5th Avenue, or may be it was up, Jon laughed, he wasn’t sure. They got back to the ship at 5.30pm after looking in at Macey’s and Bloomingdales, fabulous stores, they said, but not as good as good old Selfridges, they laughed again.
Back in their stateroom, they showered and had wonderful sex, got dressed and went down for dinner, feeling marvellous, and now they could act like a couple with Helen out of the way. “Let’s go to the nightclub,” Lorna suggested.
“Okay, and then perhaps to the casino,” he said, he wanted to be seen more and more with Lorna, so that from now on staff and crew would only remember him as being with her. They danced and drank at the club, making sure that they were noticed as an involved couple. In the casino, which was not very busy, the croupier had trouble keeping his eyes from Lorna’s cleavage. Jon changed $200 into chips and was soon $500 up, this time Lorna was only a spectator but stayed close to Jon, showing affection. At 1 o’clock, Jon was about $2000 up and decided to cash in his chips.
The girl behind the pay desk said, “A different lady luck tonight?”
“Er, yes, but the other lady was only a fellow player, and has now found someone else. That’s life!” he added, feeling a little worried that she had noticed and remembered. He took his winnings and left. They were soon in their stateroom, both very tired. They collapsed into bed, and slept soundly for eight hours.
Breakfast was taken in the coffee shop, latte’s and Danish pastries, huge ones just like New Yorkers liked them. Central Park seemed like a good place to start their walking tour, “It’s an enormous park,” Lorna said.
“Yes,” Jon replied, “ a zoo, boating lake and enough muggers to sink our cruise ship,” he said. They laughed and decided to take a horse and carriage ride around it. An hour and a half later they were back at Central Park’s south gate and decided to have a drink in the Grand Bar of the Plaza Hotel, which was just across the street.
Up the steps, they were greeted by a liveried doorman, with an enormous white smile, “Welcome to the Plaza Hotel,” he said, as he opened the door for them.
Jon slipped him a ten dollar bill and winked, saying, “This is New York ain’t it?”
“It sure is!” the doorman said, “thank you, sir,” and saluted Lorna with an extra flash of the teeth.
The bar was long, very long, and they sat at the park window end of it and ordered ‘manhattans’ at $15 a time! Once again, Lorna’s cleavage attracted the barman’s gaze, and he also gave her a whiter than white smile, and also an extra shot of whiskey. She said, “Thanks,” to his name badge, Orlando, adding, “you’re very kind.”
He laughed, and said, “Your accent is beautiful, you’re Brits right?”
“Right,” said Jon, “just doing the sights.”
“Right on,” Orlando said, “go up to Harlem, it’s fantastic!” he enthused.
“Yes,” Jon replied, “we might well do that, thanks for the info,” he added as he paid the bill with an extra $10.
“Thank yoo-o-o!” Orlando almost shouted as they left the bar.
“That was an expensive drink,” Lorna said.
“The casino paid for it, and everything else on this trip, just go with it!” he said, putting his arm around her shoulder. He hailed a yellow cab and said,” Take us back to the ‘Queen of the Atlantic’, Pier 90, please.”
‘Hi, this is Bruce Willis, whenever I’m in a cab I always put on my seat belt, it’s not nice to die hard, I know. Bye now!’ the recorded voice said, they laughed, but buckled up at the same time. Back at the ship, as they boarded, they saw two New York cops standing at the entrance. They took no notice of the returning couple, Jon took Lorna up to the reception desk and to his horror saw two NYPD detectives talking to the receptionist, and a ship’s officer, who could have been the Captain. The trio then left, and disappeared into a lift. He watched the floor indicator and it stopped at B deck, where Helen had her suite. Soon afterwards a man appeared at the desk carrying a large metal case, forensic, Jon thought. His blood ran cold, but he thought, now Jon, don’t panic, there’s no way you can be linked to this. He watched as the forensic officer also went up to B deck. “Act normally,” he told Lorna, “there was bound to be an investigation, especially for a US citizen,” he explained.
“Jonathan Weston?” the suited American voice asked, “I’m Lieutenant Novak of the NYPD, can I ask you one or two questions?”
“Yes, certainly, but what about?” Jon replied.
“Helen Smithson.”
“What about her? I only knew her as Helen,” he said.
“She’s disappeared, presumed dead and her body thrown overboard. That makes it homocide,” he explained.
“Bloody hell,” Jon exclaimed, “I didn’t really know her, we had a drink and a dance in the nightclub and sat at the roulette wheel for a while, that’s all I know about her. A woman like her, gregarious and friendly, could take up with a number of companions on a ship this size,” he offered.
“Yeah I suppose so,” the cop agreed, “Okay, we may have to talk again.” As Novak walked away, he said to his partner, “That’s our bastard, but how the fuck do we prove it?” he whispered.
Jon felt better as Novak left the ship, not realising that he was under suspicion. But the ‘Queen of the Atlantic’ was sailing the next day, so he was almost in the clear, or so he thought. His joyous thoughts were thwarted, when he heard over the ship’s announcer, “Will Jonathan Weston come to the reception desk, please.” He took his time getting there, fearing the worst. At the desk was Lt Novak with a uniformed cop, “Jonathan Weston, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the homocide of Helen Smithson, anything you say can be used in court when it comes to trial, you are not obliged to say anything.”
“WHAT?” Jon shouted, “ARE YOU CRAZY?” he asked.
“If you’d like to come with us down town we’ll get this sorted one way or the other.”
“Can I call my partner?” he asked.
“No,” said Novak, “the receptionist will tell her that you are at the 30th Precinct, Manhattan South,” he added. The uniformed cop stepped forward and handcuffed Jon. He was led off the ship to a blue and white squad car, fellow passengers looked on in amazement.
Novak and a Captain Colletti, questioned Jon for 4 hours, but he was good, kept to his story and didn’t fall for any of their interrogation tricks, such as “Did you think that she was rich because she had a suite?” “I didn’t know
know she had a suite.”
At seven, Novak said, “Okay Jon, you’re free to go. I’ll get a squad car to take you back.”
“No thanks, I’ll get a cab,” he replied. Novak followed him to the front desk, which was surrounded by cops, drunks and hookers. He finally received his envelope containing his belt, cash, watch and wallet.
“That’s a lot of dough you’re carrying, Jon.”
“I won it in the casino on board, anyway you need it in this town, oh by the way, do I have to tip you?”
“No Jon, just think yourself lucky to be free,” answered Novak, and walked away. “He’s the one,” Novak said as he walked into the Captain’s office.
“No evidence,” said Colletti, “there are 1800 passengers on the ship, it would take for ever to check them all.”
“Yeah, but he was seen with her,” he said.
“He was seen more with his girlfriend,” Colletti said, “let’s have a word with her on the ship in the morning, it doesn’t sail ‘til 4 o’clock in the afternoon, she may say something interesting, okay?” the Captain suggested.
At 10 o’clock in the morning the phone rang in Jon and Lorna’s cabin, “I’m sorry to bother you Miss Harper, but there is a policeman at reception who would like a word with you.”
“Okay,” Lorna said, “I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”
She told Jon, who immediately started to panic, mentally, “Okay,” he said, after calming down and starting to think properly, “just answer their questions very briefly, yes, no, I don’t know, those sort of answers, believe me,” he said, “they are clutching at straws, they know nothing, there’s no evidence, have you got that?”
“Yes,” she replied, and went down to the main desk area.
Standing there, was Novak alone, no cop, just him. He thanked her for her time, she found him very personable, he ushered her into a small ‘business man’s office’ just close to the desk. He closed the door and showed her his ID badge, “I’m Lieutenant Novak of the NYPD, I just need you to confirm the movements of Jonathan Weston, your partner I believe.”
