A Cuppa Cruise Conundrum: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 7)

by Constance Barker

  "I know you think I can't do it all myself," Eli said. "So I've already decided to enlist everyone's help."

  I raised an eyebrow at him.

  "Almost everyone," he amended. "You, your aunts, my dad and Jules will be all the help I need to get through the interviews and narrow down my list of suspects."

  "So you won't be asking the captain for help?"

  I grinned when he frowned at me.

  "I've seen control freaks before, but he wants to take it to the next level."

  "Maybe he just feels less manly, less in charge with an actual police officer present."

  "Possibly, but no excuse. I can live with not turning the ship around, though it still irks me. But none of the ship's crew should be handling the investigation. Can you imagine the damage they would do to the evidence? They have no idea how to properly collect and store it."

  I left all that collection and storage to Eli. I was good at nosing around and finding things. That's what I intended to do today. I wondered about the party tonight. On the one hand we couldn't investigate 24/7 and letting off some steam might give us a new perspective. On the other hand the person who organized the party was dead.

  "I can interview as many people as you need. And I'll let my aunts and Jules know they should start asking questions discreetly."

  "That's a good start." Eli put his toast down and stabbed a piece of pineapple with this fork. He popped it into his mouth and tentatively chewed.

  "My aunts can fill me in on what's going on with the crime scene. I think they should stay there to kind of guard the area. Nobody would want to cross Essie…not if they wanted to leave with their hiney intact.

  "Agreed."

  "Jules and I can start checking out the staff, and I'll also see if I can get any information out of the passengers."

  "Sounds like a plan."

  Not sure how he would take my next suggestion, so I stalled by taking a sip of my coffee. Not as good as the coffee I served at the Cabana but it had the requisite caffeine. After the super early start we had to the day, I needed all the caffeine I could get. I put the cup down and speared another bite of pancake.

  "Something else on your mind?" Eli asked.

  I put my fork down and gave him a flirtatious smile and batted my lashes. I sometimes forgot how well he knew me.

  "I think you should take it easy today if you can. Rest up and keep the captain busy so he doesn't mess up the investigation while I'm nosing into things."

  Eli shifted in his chair and took another tentative bite of toast. After chewing he said, "I don't like the idea of spending more time with him than necessary but it might be required."

  Surprised that he was agreeing with me I eyed him suspiciously.

  He laughed. "You have good ideas. And I do need to look at the security footage. I can keep him occupied doing that while you guys talk to the passengers and crew."

  "That would work. I hope the footage gives us something."

  At the very least it would confirm Toe was nowhere near the corridor when Margery was killed. The murder had to have taken place right outside Toe's door because there was no blood on the carpet leading up to the door. Even dingy grey carpet would showcase bright red splotches if she'd been stumbling down the hall bleeding.

  I needed to ask Essie about that supposed note to Toe as well. I was almost positive she didn't send it, but my aunts have surprised me in the past. Like when I found out they went home some nights and drank a cocktail or two to get a good night's sleep. That still boggled my mind. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when the gals felt loosey goosey. Then again…maybe not.

  "I'm sure it will clear Toe at least. It's too bad there aren't cameras in the corridors for the cabins, though I can see why the cruise line doesn't do that. Privacy laws and all that."

  I nodded. There was nothing we could do about that now. All we could do was talk to everyone and piece together what happened. Who would lie to us? Who would tell the truth? Crimes like this tended to unbury secrets that should remain buried. For that I was a little sad, but whoever had killed Margery should have thought about that first. If you wanted to keep your secrets, don't kill someone.

  "What about the missing life boat?" I asked.

  "I'll look into that too. Security footage of the deck should help there. Can you ladies handle the rest of roll call for the ship?"

  "Sure. I'll do that first before finding Jules. There must be a way to help move that along."

  "Great. We have a good place to start the investigation."

  We finished eating our breakfast. I cleared my plate and snagged a few pieces of fruit from Eli's when he pushed it away unable to eat any more. The green tinge to his face wasn't coming back yet. Hopefully the doctor would have something stronger. Would a five-day cruise be long enough for Eli to get his sea legs?

  "I better get started," I said. "Let your food settle before you start moving around too much."

  Eli smiled at me and my heart melted all over again. If I could I would protect him from everything. I knew he would do the same for me. I wanted the investigation to move quickly so he could concentrate on relaxing.

  "Yes, dear."

  My cheeks warmed with a blush at his endearment. He was placating me but I didn't care. What kind of endearments would we use for each other when we were married? Honey? Dear? Would we think of other ones that only the two of us knew? So many firsts coming up, but right now this was our first murder investigation on a cruise ship.

  I stood and kissed him lightly on the lips. He cupped the back of my head with his hand and pulled me closer to deepen the kiss. A tingle rushed through my body and my stomach flipped. With every kiss he gave me I reacted like it was the first. I wondered if it would still be that way after we said our ‘I do’s.’

  When I pulled way I grinned at him. "Hold that thought for a bit."

  "Am I interrupting something?" Harvey asked.

  I hadn't even realized he'd arrived at the table until he spoke. We both shook our heads, both of us grinning from ear to ear.

  "I was just leaving to find my aunts," I said.

  I pulled out my chair for him.

  "Join me for a minute, Dad. I'll fill you in on what we've got planned for the investigation."

  As I left I heard Harvey say, “Picked a good one there, son. You know she’ll be with you in sickness and in health. Be sure you let her know how much you appreciate her.”

  I grinned. My future father in-law was a character and he looked out for his own. It was nice to know that he considered me family already.

  Chapter Six

  When I returned to my deck the aunts weren't at their posts. Instead I found Mr. and Mrs. Carver keeping guard alongside two crewmembers. The crewmembers leaned against the wall looking bored as if this sort of thing happened every day. Mr. and Mrs. Carver were more alert and noticed me as soon as I turned the corner.

  "Hi, Lily," Penny said.

  "Hi. Did my aunts say where they were going?"

  Bob nodded. "They said they would meet you at the pool."

  They hadn't said they would be taking a break but I suppose I couldn't expect them to watch the hallway indefinitely. We were on a cruise after all, and despite the murder on board they were entitled to enjoy the ship's amenities. A nice swim in the pool might help clear my mind and get me thinking in new directions now that I thought about it. I doubted I'd be able to convince them to join me in the water but if they sat close enough we could brainstorm with them on the deck.

  "I'm just going into my cabin to change," I said.

  The crewmembers barely gave me a nod. The couple from Sweet Home rolled their eyes at the crew then looked back at me.

  "I don't know why the captain sent them," Penny said. "They aren't doing anything."

  "He feels someone from the ship should be involved in every aspect of the investigation," I said.

  I hurried to my room realizing I hadn't been inside it since four that morning when Toe pounded on Eli's d
oor. The bed looked inviting. Another cup of coffee should remedy the desire to sleep. Maybe I should get an espresso instead.

  I pulled on my swimsuit and threw a pair of loose fitting shorts and a t-shirt over top then rushed out again. I waved to Mr. and Mrs. Carver as I hurried down the corridor and to the elevator. There must be stairs on the ship too. Could someone have slipped into a stairwell after committing the murder? Most people on board took the elevators but they would need stairs in case there was a fire. And there were those who actually preferred the exercise taking the stairs offered. I should be one of those but I liked the much less strenuous elevator ride.

  I made a mental note to look into the stairwells and punched the button to call the elevator.

  A few minutes later on the pool deck I surveyed the crowd and found my aunts sitting at what I would always think of as "our" table. They sat sipping drinks that I was pretty sure were just fruit juice, but with those two I couldn't tell. They had covers over their bathing suits that they wouldn’t take off. I didn’t know why they wore bathing suits at all if they weren’t going to take those covers off.

  “Don’t you ladies want to get some sun. Take those bathing suit covers off and get some vitamin D.”

  Hildie pointed to Essie. “She won’t take hers off so I’m not either.”

  “How come?” I asked.

  Essie sighed. “I didn’t shave down there before we left…I’m scary hairy.”

  I probably turned as green as Eli. “I hope you’re talking about your legs.”

  I knew she wasn’t however, since her legs were showing in all their white glory.

  “Nope,” Essie answered.

  “Oh Lord,” Hildie sighed. "Lily, how's Eli doing?" She asked, as much out of concern for Eli as to change the subject, for which I was eternally grateful.

  "Holding his own right now. I have to stop by the doctor's office later to see if he has something stronger Eli can take."

  Hildie patted the seat beside her and I sank into it with a sigh. I felt like we'd been running around since the discovery of the body. Constantly moving. The chance to sit and relax for a moment was a welcome change. Even at breakfast with Eli, the short break wasn't enough to make me feel refreshed. Maybe the pool would help with that.

  "What can you tell me about who stopped by the crime scene?" I asked.

  Essie shuddered and scowled.

  "That good?"

  "Don't get her started," Hildie said.

  "You had it easy," Essie accused. "I was the one with the weeping cruise director on my hands."

  "Sarah?"

  "Is that her name?" Essie asked. "I couldn't make anything out except the sobbing. And that she worked with the chef."

  "She was close to the woman and was grieving," Hildie said.

  "How close could they have been? She only saw the woman on holidays for the most part," Essie said.

  "She did mention a boyfriend as well," Hildie said.

  "Margery had a boyfriend?" I asked.

  "Maybe but Sarah was talking about her own boyfriend," Essie said. "Or rather, her ex-boyfriend."

  "What did she say about her ex-boyfriend?" I asked.

  "Not much. Just that she'd been dating Alec and broke it off with him."

  "The deck hand?"

  "That’s the one," Essie said.

  "She also worried about who would mentor her now that Margery was gone," Hildie said.

  "Some mentor. They never saw each other. Frankly, I wondered about how upset she was."

  "Did anyone mention Margery having any enemies?" I asked.

  Hildie shook her head. Essie shrugged. "Couldn't get much out of the sobbing Sarah except how Margery’s death was going to mess with her plans."

  "The bartender didn't mention any enemies but they did say they thought Margery was seeing someone secretly."

  That meant it wasn't Toe. The two might have been a couple years ago but they hadn't rekindled the flame since the cruise started if Margery was secretly seeing someone. She wouldn't have to keep Toe a secret from anyone except Essie.

  "Anyone else stop by?" I asked.

  "I managed to keep the criers away. The crewmembers who were supposed to be there on behalf of the captain were no help. Mostly it was Sweet Home folks coming by to find out what was going on."

  One good part about where the crime happened was that most of the passengers had no idea there had been a murder on board. They were blissfully unaware there was a killer on the ship. Though I doubted the person would kill anyone else, I couldn't be sure. What if Margery wasn't their only target? Maybe Margery wasn't their target at all but no one would have a reason to kill Toe. Except maybe Essie when she was in one of her moods.

  The whole thing was giving me a headache. I needed to clear my mind and let theories flow into it when I least expected it.

  "The captain says he's going to move us all to a new cabin on the other side of the hallway," Hildie said. "Our luggage will be transferred to our new staterooms. "

  At least we weren't moving far. I would still be close enough to examine the scene again if I needed to. Not that I thought it would reveal any secrets to me. It wasn't much of a crime scene, with very few clues.

  "Okay, thanks. Do you know where Jules is? I need to check in with her and get her to start interviewing staff."

  “She mentioned going to the bridge," Hildie said.

  "What are we, chopped liver?" Essie asked.

  "Chopped liver?"

  "We can help too," Essie said.

  “I know. I was getting to that. While I go talk to Jules I need you guys to talk to any other staff you can find. Also, talk to some of the passengers to see if they saw or heard anything. Without giving away that there's been a murder."

  "Done. Don't worry about us we'll be as discreet as mice," Hildie said.

  I stood and glanced longingly at the pool. As much as I thought a quick dip in the cool water would ease my tension and help with stress, I wanted to find Jules and get the rest of the investigation underway. The sooner we caught the killer the better I would feel. And the safer everyone on board would be.

  I left my aunts discussing their strategy for interviewing the passengers without tipping their hand. The elevator ride up to the bridge didn't take long and I found Jules leaning against a console batting her eyes at Patrick who was standing ramrod straight staring forward. Every few seconds he would glance over at her and nod.

  Maybe she was reading my mind about the investigation and she was already grilling him with questions about the case. But when he turned his full attention on Jules and grinned I suspected her mind was not on the case. My suspicion was confirmed when Jules blushed and giggled. Giggled! I'd only heard her giggle a few times while drunk but never when speaking with a man. Okay the first mate was a good-looking man but still. What was Jules thinking when there was a killer on board? For all we knew Patrick could have killed Margery.

  "Jules, could I speak with you out here, please?" I asked. When they both started to walk toward me I said, "Bridal privilege Patrick, sorry."

  Jules tore her gaze away from Patrick. She followed me out into the corridor near the bridge and crossed her arms over her chest.

  "What’s going on?” she asked.

  "Have you forgotten that we're investigating a death?"

  Her eyes lost some of their twinkle. A twinkle put there by the handsome first mate no doubt.

  "I was asking him questions," Jules said.

  "Really? What did you learn?"

  Jules went on to tell me about the first mate's upbringing. The fact that he was half Irish and half Greek. How he'd always wanted to work on a ship and someday he was going to be captain. Nothing of course to do with his whereabouts during the crime. Or how well he knew the victim.

  When I pointed out those things to Jules she blushed again.

  "I know he didn't kill her. I was going to get to the other stuff."

  "How do you know he didn't kill her? Everyone on the ship is
a suspect."

  "Everyone?" Jules frowned at me.

  "Maybe not everyone but we don't know the crew or how they got along. Some office workers don't like each other that much and they only spend eight hours a day together. This crew lived on board. Spent most of their time with each other."