A Christmas Cruise Murder

by Dawn Brookes

  “Why would she leave a clear paper trail, though?”

  “That’s not clear, but it appears she made a hasty departure, so perhaps she was planning to destroy the evidence on her return. As you know, deleted files on computers are not as easy to get rid of as they can be recovered from the hard drive.

  “The PI believes that Louise has two reasons to be on board the Coral Queen. Firstly to continue lacing Harry’s drinks or food with a poison – as yet unknown – and secondly to kill the McCauleys and get her hands on the inheritance as soon as possible.”

  “As you say, it’s all very last-minute. What brought about the suddenness of this scheme?”

  “The PI believes opportunity, and also his surveillance has revealed arguments in the marriage. Perhaps she thinks another divorce might be brewing, or maybe she just can’t wait. There is another man she meets regularly when Harry is at work – she herself only works three days a week. The PI did a bit of digging and found out from a receptionist at the health club where they meet that she has apparently been seeing him for three years. This relationship has been hidden, but has continued since she married. He works for a competing AI firm and is possibly the real brains behind the operation. He’s well placed to move over and take on management of the McCauleys company. I suspect that he will marry the woman shortly after Harry dies.”

  “That’s awful. Why did the PI come to you?”

  “He hasn’t been able to contact the McCauleys as they left their mobile phones at home and they had given him my contact details in case he found something significant while they were away. He didn’t want to contact the purser’s office for fear of alerting Louise.”

  “How low people can be. I believe you of course, Marjorie, but this is all circumstantial. She could have a fascination for suicide or marine accidents, and her husband might have some underlying health problem. What would you like me to do?”

  “Rachel, you’ve done it before. I would like you to prevent a murder.”

  Chapter 10

  The ship was buzzing with excited passengers enjoying their Christmas break as Rachel made her way towards Creams, feeling refreshed after sleeping for most of the time since her telephone call with Marjorie. She eyed the Christmas tree standing in all its glory in the atrium and the flocks of people exploring what was the main hub of the ship during the daytime.

  If only we can get this crime solved as quickly as possible, I can have some chill time.

  Work had been demanding since she’d become a detective constable and was likely to bring many more challenges when she got a DS post. There were few vacancies in London so she and Carlos had agreed that she should apply to areas elsewhere as he travelled the country anyway, but she wasn’t keen to give up the luxurious flat Marjorie had invited her to inhabit in Knightsbridge, an area she truly loved.

  Nevertheless, it was looking more and more clear that the only way to get promotion was to move. There were numerous vacancies in the Midlands, so she had sent away applications and copies of her CV before leaving for the cruise.

  “You look like you’ve got the world’s troubles on your shoulders.” Sarah arrived behind Rachel and put her arm around her.

  “I was just thinking about jobs and what might be next for me. I think I’ll end up in the Midlands.”

  “I remember that case you solved when you were at uni, wasn’t that in the Midlands? Gory business – are you likely to end up in Leicester?”

  Rachel smiled. “I’ve been wondering that myself. I don’t think DI Bond would be pleased if I ended up there and I certainly wouldn’t be keen to work for her, but who knows? Anyway, perhaps this case will keep me out of trouble and stop me worrying about the future.”

  “That’s not like you to worry about the future. Your faith will keep you going whatever happens, it always does. You do still have a job, after all.”

  Rachel nodded. “You’re right, it’s all in hand, but I’d still like to know where I’m going. I want to be a proper detective.”

  They both laughed as they found a table hidden in the corner of the quiet patisserie where they would be able to speak without being overheard. Rachel looked round the room. There were just a handful of guests occupying tables nearer to the windows in the main area of the café.

  Sarah glanced through the menu and Rachel felt guilty as her friend looked tired.

  “How was surgery this morning?”

  “Relatively quiet considering its winter and there’re a lot of coughs and colds going round already. The trouble is people bring them on board, and then the viruses spread rapidly as they congregate in the busy passenger hubs.”

  “Not to mention through the air conditioning, or should I say heating system at this time of year?”

  “That too, but at least so far it appears to be a relatively mild virus. We don’t want any flu going round, even if some people are convinced they’ve got the flu when they have a cold.”

  “Yes, we get that a lot at work. People always say they’ve got the flu, and then miraculously recover within a few days. My understanding of flu is that it lasts for longer than that and usually knocks people off their feet.”

  “Oh, here’s Jason.”

  Both women looked up. Rachel loved the way Sarah’s eyes lit up whenever Jason entered a room and wondered if her own did the same when she saw Carlos. She suspected they did; she definitely still got flutters when she saw her fiancé.

  Jason joined them at the table, clearly resisting the temptation to kiss Sarah in a passenger area, but the affection in his eyes said it all.

  “Hello, you two. How has your day been?”

  Sarah repeated the news she had just given Rachel about a relatively quiet surgery and coughs and colds. “Brigitte’s on call now and I’m on tonight after we’ve had dinner with my parents. I take it you’re still coming?”

  Jason nodded before looking at Rachel and giving her time to respond to his initial question.

  “Mine is a lot better now I’ve had a sleep. I forget how tiring nightshifts are when you stop them.” She didn’t mention breakfast as Jason knew she had been in the Club Restaurant earlier in the day. He too looked tired. “It looks like you haven’t been to bed yet, though.”

  He looked sheepishly towards Sarah, who was about to scold him. “Sorry, not yet. It’s been full on, but I’m going to grab a couple of hours when we’re finished here so I’ll be fresh for tonight, don’t worry.” He looked up as one of the waiters appeared. “Cream scones with all the trimmings and a cappuccino, please, Henri.”

  “Yes, sir. Ladies?”

  “I’ll have a blueberry muffin and tea, please,” Sarah answered.

  “Coffee and cheesecake for me.”

  The waiter went away to gather their orders together and they chatted amicably until he returned. Once the food and drink was in front of them, Jason coughed to bring them to attention.

  “You sounded just like Waverley then,” laughed Rachel.

  Jason laughed too. “They say you get like the people you work with.”

  “Don’t you dare! I like you just as you are. Waverley’s fine, but he’s not Jason Goodridge.” Sarah beamed at him.

  “Don’t worry, I’m still here.” He gazed at the adoring eyes looking at him across the table.

  “Er hum, if you two love birds could concentrate for a while, we have an investigation to discuss.”

  Jason pulled himself away from the eye-lock and moved his empty plate, having stuffed two scones down in a matter of minutes while still managing to flirt with Sarah. Rachel suspected he hadn’t had time to eat all day. He removed a tablet from a document holder that he had placed on the floor when he came in.

  “Okay, Rachel, first tell us what you found out in the restaurant this morning.”

  Rachel relayed her conversations with Pash, Sacha and Mishka and their behaviour. “I think Mishka would have said a lot more, but Pash was hanging around and called him away. In fact, Pash was decidedly twitchy when I mentioned I
knew you and Sarah.”

  “Yes, I was hoping he wouldn’t catch on to that, but as we’d already eaten in there last night, I’m sure he would have remembered sooner rather than later. He’s friendly enough most of the time and polite, but he does seem to have issues with authority. It could be as simple as that.”

  “No wonder he didn’t like his ex-boss, there was no-one more authoritarian than Sosa,” said Sarah.

  Jason looked down at the tablet and pulled up his interview notes. “He says he was in the restaurant at the time of Sosa’s death. Claudia Kitova and the galley records confirm that the meal was delivered at 5pm. The waiters didn’t go on duty until 5.30pm so we do have a half-hour gap in all their alibis, which doesn’t help. We have to assume that the food was replaced or intercepted between 4.45pm and 5pm. Claudia had two trays to deliver, the first to a passenger on the next floor up. She left Sosa’s tray on a trolley in the crew-only room on that floor for no more than five minutes. We assume that if there was interference, it happened at that time or when the bread was waiting for the hot food to be added to the tray in the galley.” He pulled out the galley delivery log. “That gap is a little longer, around ten minutes.”

  “Was Brenda there all that time?”

  “No, by chance or by design, I can’t confirm which, she left the galley to attend to a cut finger as per health and safety rules. She had to locate a finger dressing from the first aid box.”

  “What do you mean, by design?” asked Sarah, open-mouthed. “You can’t think she would tamper with the bread.”

  “I’m trying not to think anything; I have to investigate objectively. Waverley told me just as much this morning. He says I have to follow procedure to the letter.”

  “Including keeping him up-to-date against the express instructions of your captain, you mean?” Rachel teased. “Thanks for telling him about the Brenda note.”

  “Sorry.” He looked down at the table.

  Sarah nudged Rachel. “It seems I’m out of the loop here. You mean Jason told Waverley?” Turning to him, “You promised!”

  “I did no such thing. Anyway, the boss looked so distraught this morning and desperately wanted to be kept informed. If I hadn’t told him, we would have lost trust, and trust is everything in this job. Rachel understands that.”

  Rachel smiled and nodded. “I do, and on that note, Sarah and I have a confession to make, but for now, go on. What else did Pash have to say?”

  Jason winked meekly at Sarah, checking she understood why he’d broken confidence. Seemingly satisfied that her grin confirmed she did, he continued.

  “At first he was evasive, trying to pretend he liked his boss, but once I got firm and told him if he was lying to me it would look bad and his chances of promotion would be out the window, he became more forthcoming. He confirmed he didn’t like Stefan Sosa, saying that none of the waiters did. The boss nit-picked everything they did, always looking out for mistakes and embarrassing them in front of passengers. He says the staff were always nervous around Sosa and that made them clumsy. Two waiters had managed to get transfers up to the buffet so there were two new starters on boarding day – I’ve discounted them from the investigation. He also said that he always arrived early at the restaurant, before Sosa, so that he wouldn’t be accused of slacking. He swears he was there at 5pm.”

  “Can anyone confirm that?” asked Rachel.

  “No, the others don’t arrive until 5.30ish, but they confirm that Pash was there before them and that he is always early to work. Mishka Prostakov and Sacha Voronin said they hated their boss, but not enough to want him dead. They seemed to think Sosa had something over the wine waitress, Danielle. She insists there was nothing and the others were just jealous, and that she got on well with the man. She wouldn’t budge, even when I told her if there had been something, she could tell me now and that he could no longer do her any harm. She blamed Pash for her boss’s behaviour. According to her, Pash was after the top job and went out of his way to make the others dislike Sosa, frequently sabotaging the smooth running of the restaurant.”

  “My, my, a nest of vipers by the sounds of it,” said Rachel thoughtfully. “Do you think there’s any truth in what the two men say? We do know he was violent towards women. Perhaps Danielle was afraid of him.”

  “There’s more to it than that, I think, otherwise she would tell me now.”

  “It’s not always that easy to admit to, and we can’t rule her out of the equation.” Jason nodded. “What about their backgrounds?” Rachel quizzed.

  “Nothing untoward. They are all who they say they are, no criminal records came up in their pre-employment checks. Danielle Barcellos has a daughter who lives with her mother in Portugal. It seems she got pregnant on board ship a few years before my time; the child is now seven years old.”

  Rachel straightened up immediately. “How long has Sosa been working on this ship?”

  “Twelve years – I see what you’re getting at. You think he might be the father. There’s no way of knowing that, unless Danielle admits to it.”

  “I could check her medical records to see if the father was named at the time of the pregnancy,” suggested Sarah. “It will be on file, but unless it’s relevant to the investigation, I don’t think we will be able to breach confidentiality.”

  “We’ll hold fire on that one. Perhaps you could ask her socially?”

  “I don’t really know her, but Bernard knows everyone, so he might already be in the loop. He would have been on board at that time. I’ll ask him.”

  “I assume you believe the kitchen maid, Claudia Kitova?” asked Rachel.

  “Yes I do, she’s a hard-working galley attendant, been with the cruise line for ten years on and off. Brenda is adamant she would have neither the will nor the brains to tamper with food in this way. Here’s where the plot thickens, though—”

  Rachel and Sarah shifted in their seats, eyes focussed on Jason.

  “I’ve been through the passenger manifest and it seems there are guests on board that were known to Sosa.”

  “Now that is interesting. Who?” asked Rachel.

  “His sister and brother-in-law joined the ship yesterday.”

  “That is a little too coincidental. Have you interviewed them?”

  “No, we didn’t know they were on board until we went through an address book that was retrieved from Sosa’s room this morning. It was chance, really. I asked Ravanos to throw all the names in the address book through our computer to see if there were any passenger matches, and was as surprised as anyone to find there were.”

  Rachel and Sarah exchanged glances.

  “What aren’t you two telling me? Why do I think you already knew about the address book?”

  “Sorry, that’s part of the confession, but go on for now,” Rachel encouraged.

  “Their names are Stella and Paulo Gonzalez and they seemingly don’t even know Sosa’s dead yet. I’m waiting to see if they go to guest services and ask about him. If they don’t, that would seem very suspicious, wouldn’t it?”

  “That’s not very kind. What if they have nothing to do with this? They have a right to know, Jason.”

  Jason looked at Sarah. “I’m sorry, love, but I think it’s odd they haven’t already made enquiries. I promise if they haven’t by tomorrow morning, I’ll ask Dr Bentley to see them.”

  Jason turned to Rachel. Anticipating what he was going to say, she prompted him.

  “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  He grimaced, clearly still smarting from Sarah’s rebuke. “Brenda and Christine’s father is on board.”

  Rachel groaned. “You think he might have come to seek revenge on behalf of his daughter? Does Brenda know?”

  “She does now; she’s terrified he might be involved. It’s a complete and utter mess, but I don’t know how it could have been a passenger. They would have needed to know that Sosa had ordered food.”

  “And if my theory is correct, they would have had to move the epi-pen
s before he ate and replace them afterwards. I take it you didn’t move the pens?”

  “No, Waverley was there first. I didn’t look in the drawer. But how do you know about the pens and why do you think they were moved?”

  “I’m coming to that. You’re right, though. I think we should stay focussed on the crew for now.” Rachel wasn’t sure at all, but they had to start somewhere and the suspect list was growing out of control.

  “I agree, but I would suggest you try to befriend the couple and Brenda’s father just in case.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “How you always do it, Rachel – with that innate charm that comes with being a vicar’s daughter.” Sarah laughed.

  “You could have put that a bit nicer!” Rachel quipped back.

  “Now, now, ladies, I hope I’m not going to have to separate you two.” Jason joined in with their banter. Rachel and Sarah couldn’t be closer, they were best friends forever.

  Sarah thumped his arm. “I’d like to see you try.”

  “Are you happy to keep up with eating in the Club Restaurant, Rachel?” Jason asked.

  “You can take Mum and Dad with you tomorrow,” added Sarah. “That will give you a cover. I’m taking them for dinner with the officers tonight. You two are invited, but we can do the same again in a few days’ time, which means Jason can get some proper sleep.”

  “Okay, I can do that. In fact, it would be my pleasure.” Rachel had known the Bradshaws most of her life, growing up in the same village. They attended the church where her father presided, and she and Sarah had been at school together before going to the same university in Leeds and later sharing a flat. “For tonight, though, I will just head up to the buffet, have a quick meal and an early night. Lack of sleep has caught up on me.”

  “Shall we meet up in the Jazz Bar tomorrow night around nine?” suggested Sarah.

  “Sounds good to me,” said Jason. “But before I go, what about this confession?”

  “I’m not being evasive, but can I tell you tomorrow? You’ve likely guessed right – we went to take a look in Sosa’s room in the early hours. My fault, not Sarah’s. I found some notes and photos, but have only managed to skim through the first few as Waverley accosted me after breakfast, and I’ve slept on and off ever since. I’ll go and check through them now and hand them over tomorrow, unless I find anything urgent. Is that okay with you?”