Death on the Wind

by M. J. Mandrake

  Kitty paused, unwilling to translate anything that might get them stuck in a cell overnight.

  The chief flicked a glance at Kitty, then moved on. Wise move.

  “Five minutes. You,” he pointed to Kitty, “can take them to the restroom. Señor Estornell will bring the dogs outside.”

  “Sure, I can take Toto out,” Leander said. “If she’ll let me.”

  Kitty hated to ask, since she usually never let Chica out of her sight. But desperate times and all that. “Would you take Chica out, too?”

  “Of course.”

  As Kitty led Elaine and Penny down the hallway, she tried to allay their fears. “Leander’s going to see if they’ll let us go back to the ship for the night.”

  “Oh, no more Mr. Estornell? Leander, is it?” Penny wiggled her eyebrows at Elaine.

  Kitty ignored the comment and pressed on. “Because the ship doesn’t leave port until tomorrow, I think we have a good chance of catching whoever it is before then.”

  “We? Don’t you think we’re suspects now?” Elaine asked. Following the signs for the toilet, they turned the corner and headed down another long hallway.

  “A person who kills for money is a shallow sort of person and neither of you seem the type.”

  “To kill?”

  “For money,” Kitty clarified. “You might kill for something else.”

  They both stared at her, aghast, and Kitty couldn’t keep her face straight. “I’m kidding. Honestly, you two.”

  Elaine pointed out the crooked little sign that announced the women’s bathroom. “Penny, you go first.”

  “Call me the sacrificial lamb,” she said, pushing the door and peering inside. “Good thing I’ve got my will straightened out.”

  After Penny had gone inside, Elaine said, “I’m glad you don’t think we’re capable of that, even with someone like Heather.”

  “Chica likes you. I always trust her judgement.”

  She nodded. Her carefully coiffed white hair was starting to show the wear of the day but her eyes were still bright. “Good girl. Does she trust Leander?”

  Kitty felt herself blushing and didn’t answer. Every conversation seemed to lead back to him. There had been a murder, for heaven’s sake, and they were still trying to pry some kind of incriminating confession out of her. She could tell Elaine that Chica treated Leander like an old friend, and vice versa, but that would only encourage them in their matchmaking. At least they weren’t hounding her about Jorge.

  “You don’t need to answer,” Elaine said. “I have eyes. And I see more than you both think I do.”

  Kitty desperately wanted to know what exactly Elaine had seen, but she resisted the urge to act like a tenth grade girl and pump her friends for information on her crush. “I don’t think the chief was too happy with your explanation,” she said, changing the topic.

  “About how we didn’t care that we’d lost a million dollars?” Elaine asked. “He was half right.”

  Penny emerged from the bathroom and squirted antibacterial soap on her hands.

  “So, you were upset?”

  “Of course we were. Nobody likes losing money,” Penny said. “But we were madder about Anthony being pushed out. He was doing important research there.”

  Elaine said to Penny, “Kitty says the chief didn’t like the way I implied he’d be more likely to kill over a million bucks than we would.”

  She grinned. “No, he didn’t. That was a little too much truth. Just one more example of that unique way you can― how should I say it― light up a room full of people.”

  “My dear,” Elaine said as she headed toward the (()) bathroom, “it’s called arson and those people are called witnesses.”

  Kitty laughed as she disappeared through the door, but a few moments later, she felt the seriousness of the situation settle on her once again. The day was wearing on. The group would need to eat, and Elaine and Penny always took a long afternoon rest during the day. Kitty would have to approach the officials about finding a more comfortable place for them than the interview rooms. Leander had said he might be able to get them all released to the ship, but it wasn’t looking good from where she stood. The chief had interviewed half the group, lacked any sympathy for their situation and seemed to suspect them all.

  A door closed nearby and Kitty jumped. As her heart rate settled, she had to admit that it was one thing she and the chief had in common. At the moment, she wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Heather’s death wasn’t just one angry person paying a hired killer to drop the blonde bully into the ocean.

  It was looking more and more like it had been a group effort, and that meant that the circle of people she could truly trust was swiftly shrinking.

  Chapter Nine

  “They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time."

  —Banksy

  “Where are you going, mi amor?”

  Kitty turned to see Jorge approaching, a huge smile on his face. He was his usual handsome self, all gelled hair and bright white teeth. She was actually happy to see him and ignored the mi amor bit. “I thought a little Bingo was in order after…”

  Jorge wrapped her in a warm hug and Kitty didn’t fight it. She’d been the one supporting her group members since the tragedy. Aside from Chica, there wasn’t anybody giving her hugs and telling her it was going to be okay.

  “I heard what happened. Terrible.” He stepped back, still holding her shoulders. He looked her in the eye. “You need Bingo. And a big drink.”

  She smiled. “Maybe Bingo and a small drink. I still have dinner to get through.”

  “Yes. Lots of Bingo will make it better. I will leave you to play. It’s very boring to me.” Chica nosed her way between them and Jorge looked down. “I have a feeling Chica does not want me to go. Or that she…”

  Kitty knew he was going to say that Chica didn’t like him. “She’s possessive. If she really thought you were a bad guy, you’d know about it.”

  At that moment she looked over Jorge’s shoulder and saw Leander standing at the end of the hallway. He’d clearly seen Jorge’s hug and had paused, not wanting to interrupt. She flashed back to the first time she’d met Leander and he’d found a note from Jorge in her book. At the time she had denied there was anything going on between them, and it was still true, despite appearances. Awkward.

  “Here. I want you to meet the attaché to the American Embassy who helped us during the last investigation.” Kitty tugged Jorge down the hallway. “We were very lucky to have him again.”

  “Sí, señorita. Very lucky.” His tone was inscrutable.

  She felt strangely nervous as they neared Leander. He had a polite smile on his face, but there was a tightness near his eyes. She said, “This is―”

  “Jorge, I presume,” Leander said. He stretched out a hand and Jorge shook it, seeming to be at a loss for words. Kitty understood what Jorge was feeling. She often felt the same way, and always at the most inconvenient times and places. There was something about Leander’s brightly colored, mis-matched eyes, the white forelock contrasting with the dark hair, the nicely fitting suit, and the height that added up to a rather intimidating figure.

  Kitty glanced at Jorge, who still hadn’t spoken. It was funny. Jorge was the activities assistant and was an extrovert in the extreme. She’d never seen him act so awkwardly. She elbowed him discreetly.

  “Nice to meet you,” Jorge said. “You like Bingo?”

  “Oh, I’m sure he doesn’t,” Kitty said quickly. “He’s just here to assist the group overnight. We have to return to the station in the morning for more questions.”

  “I’ve never played. I’ve always wanted to, though.” Leander smiled, putting his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. “Is there a game soon? We have a few hours to kill before dinner.”

  “Sí, a game is starting right now. We must go together,” Jorge said.

  Kitty
shot him a glare. So Jorge suddenly needed to play Bingo with her? Apparently it wasn’t so boring now. If Jorge was going to be a possessive jerk, she could avoid him completely. It was a big ship. There were plenty of places to hide.

  “Sounds wonderful,” Leander said. He cocked his head and looked at Kitty. “Right?”

  “Right,” she mumbled. “Come on, Chica.” Her dog looked from Leander to Jorge to Kitty. She seemed as confused as Kitty was. “Now, where is the four o’clock game, Jorge? I forget.”

  He frowned. “It’s… uh…”

  Kitty allowed herself a little smile. A real Bingo fan would know these things. “I think it’s in the Crow’s Nest? Or is it in the aft lounge?”

  Her ridiculous guesses seemed to snap Jorge from his daze. “The deck above us, last lounge on the forward promenade.”

  “Ah, yes. That was it. Well, let’s head that way, shall we?” She didn’t relish the idea of Leander watching her play Bingo, but she didn’t want to skip the game, either. Her addiction was too strong.

  They walked up the stairs into the bright sun and headed for the second walkway. Most of the passengers seemed to be gathered by the enormous top-level pool. Kitty saw Reagan, Lacy, and Zoe on the deck, looking just as they had before Heather had died. Matching blue striped bikinis and large sunglasses, tanned bodies glossy with coconut oil, brightly colored drinks in hand. She knew it was unfair to assume Heather’s death hadn’t affected them. Here she was headed to play Bingo as if the murder didn’t trouble her at all, either. Then again, she’d known Heather about three days.

  They arrived at the Bingo hall and there was a low rumble of protest as Kitty walked into the room. It wasn’t her fault that most people couldn’t keep track of five or six cards at a time. Or maybe the grumblers thought she got the cards as an employee perk. She had to pay just as much as the passengers did, sadly. If she got free Bingo cards, she’d probably have to smuggle her two cats on board because she wouldn’t ever go home. Raven and Rook hated the water, but Kitty was sure they’d adjust eventually.

  “I’m surprised there are so many people here,” Leander said, gazing at the sea of white-haired passengers.

  Kitty wasn’t. She knew Bingo was the real deal, the game that really serious gamblers played. Forget poker and blackjack. A game of chance was a much bigger risk than anything where you could count cards or use a strategy. Big money waited for the winner of a Bingo card, although for her it was more about the thrill of the chase. And beating Louise Derry.

  She quickly scanned the room and locked eyes with her nemesis. The older woman looked like Kitty had just spoiled her whole day. Her beady-eyed gaze followed them down the aisle until they reached the last open table.

  Ralph and Judy waved from the next table to the left. Judy looked tired, but relieved to be back on board. Penny and Elaine were in front of them, Toto between their chairs.

  It took a few minutes to get their cards sorted. Leander was lost, but Jorge quickly explained the types of designs that constituted a Bingo and the way a player should stand when they were one spot away from winning. As the room settled, Jane Carmeddon stepped to the microphone. Bright red lipstick and a perfectly pressed linen dress fronted one of the luxury liner’s biggest assets. Her role was part dance-hall caller, part bouncer, part hostess. Kitty had seen Jane step into a fistfight, comfort a weeping player who’d mistakenly thought she’d won a thousand dollars, and dance around with an elderly couple who had won their twentieth jackpot. Kitty liked to think she could take Jane’s place, but she knew that her heart couldn’t handle the stress. Playing was more than enough for her.

  Carefully lining up her cards, she reached into her tote and removed her two favorite daubers, both in bright teal.

  Leander looked at his standard black dauber. “Why teal?”

  “I won a big prize once with teal, so that’s what I’ve used since.”

  “I didn’t know you were superstitious.”

  Kitty frowned. “I’m not.”

  Leander didn’t argue but looked like he was trying not to smile. Well, he’d see. Bingo wasn’t just a game of chance. A player’s chance of winning could be inflated by certain things, like multiple cards, an eagle eye, and the right dauber.

  Kitty was glad Jorge had seated himself on Leander’s other side. She knew he was going to talk all the way through the game. Sure enough, a moment later Jorge leaned over to have a whispered conversation with the young woman at the table to their right. She and her friends giggled loudly. Chica slid a glance in their direction and Kitty hoped they wouldn’t be too loud during the game. She needed to concentrate.

  Kitty took out her book and set it in front of the cards. She hadn’t gotten far on her Moby Dick reread because of Heather’s murder, but she would delve back into it tonight before bed. The burnished leather gleamed in the light and she touched the gilded edges. “Before you ask, I always put my current book here. Not superstition. Just… tradition.”

  Leander smiled. “Book! You lie there. The fact is, you books must know your places. You'll do to give us the bare words and facts, but we come in to supply the thoughts.”

  She wanted to laugh, or shake his hand. Leander was quoting Stubb, the second mate, calm in the worst moments, but only because he believed everything had already been written in the stars, a predestination that could never be changed. “If you’re Stubb, am I Captain Ahab?”

  “I think you’re saner than that,” he said.

  “You have not seen Kitty play Bingo,” Jorge whispered loudly.

  Jane picked up the microphone and the room settled down. “We’re playing for a…” She paused dramatically, scanning the room as if an answer was going to leap from the corner. “An all expenses paid, four day trip scuba diving vacation in Cozumel, Mexico!”

  The crowd let out a deafening cheer. Once the clapping subsided, Leander whispered to Kitty. “You don’t like the prize?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve never been scuba diving. I like to hang out with Chica.”

  Glancing back at Louise, she saw a spread of cards in front of the woman. She had a dauber in each hand. Show off. It was just as fast using one dauber in one hand than two daubers simultaneously. Louise looked up and saw Kitty watching her. She dropped a dauber on the table and waggled her fingers, forcing a hideously fake smile that slid from her face a millisecond later.

  Kitty nodded at her. Old bat. She’d tried to befriend Louise the very first time they’d met, but Louise had turned up her nose at Chica. She’d complained to the captain about ‘dirty animals’ being let into the Bingo room. Tavish had explained that Chica was a service animal, but Louise demanded to know why Kitty needed a dog for the hearing impaired when she clearly wasn’t deaf. Tavish had suggested she take the matter up with Kitty herself, but Louise had spent the rest of the cruise complaining loudly whenever Chica was near. Even without Louise’s bad Bingo etiquette, her treatment of Chica had prejudiced Kitty against her for life.

  Jane started calling out numbers and Kitty felt the adrenaline rush that flooded through her every time she had her hands on a dauber. Chica seemed to feel it, too, and forced her head between Kitty and Leander, as if watching their cards.

  “Tell me if I miss one, girl.” Kitty didn’t take her eyes off the numbers.

  “She needs her own card,” Leander said softly.

  Kitty hated it when people chatted during the game, but for some reason, Leander’s comment made her laugh. Jorge shot her a glance, eyebrows raised.

  Jane was fast and professional, and soon Kitty and three other people were standing. One number away from winning and Kitty’s heart was racing. Maybe she could love scuba diving. She’d heard the reefs were beautiful.

  Eight. She saw other players marking their cards. Kitty started to sweat. Seventeen. She only had one left. The next number had to be hers.

  Chica could stay safely in the hotel room, or maybe with a friend. Not that Kitty really had any friends, but there was always the possibility of her m
aking a few before the scuba trip. She’d have to get one of those underwater cameras. It would be a shame to spend four days exploring the reefs and not have any pictures.

  Ten. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye she saw Louise Derry stand up. Kitty’s mouth went dry. Five players were standing now, all with one number left before the lucky person would win a prize worth thousands of dollars.

  Chica whined in her throat. Me, too, Kitty thought. She hadn’t wanted to go scuba diving, but now it seemed imperative that she win. Or at least that Louise would lose.

  Thirty-one. THIRTY-ONE. “Bingo,” Kitty screamed into the air. She grabbed her sheet and waved it around. “Bingo!”

  Chica jumped away from the table and Kitty followed her. They had a little ritual. A little tail-wagging, a few paw shakes, turn around, jump up and down, another shake, then Kitty pretended to shoot Chica with her finger gun. Chica rolled over and played dead, holding herself still for several seconds. Kitty looked over at Louise who had sunk back into her seat, her expression dejected.

  Chica gave herself a good shake and went back to her spot. Kitty wished she could celebrate a little more but Jane had taken her card to verify it.

  Sitting down, she saw Leander watching her. He looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” Leander said. “That was very entertaining.”

  She spread out her new cards, doing her best to look dignified. So maybe the coordinated tail-wagging was a bit much. “A little post-victory dance is practically required. It wouldn’t be any fun if people just yelled ‘Bingo’ and then sat there, would it?”

  “No, of course not,” Leander said.

  Jorge nudged him. “I play to watch Kitty. Ten dollars and it is a better show than the musical theater on deck four.”

  Kitty rolled her eyes. Only the most determined players won the big prizes and it just didn’t make sense to spend the money to play if she wasn’t going to do her best to win. And if she won, she was going to celebrate. Life was dreary enough as it was. Plus, a scuba diving trip to Cozumel was nothing to sneer at. It was true that she preferred to stay home in Mérida with her cats, but a little vacation never hurt anyone.