A Christmas Cruise Murder

by Dawn Brookes

  “Their new names and location were found a fortnight ago while Sosa was on the previous cruise, so he obviously went to London when the ship reached Southampton to track down his wife, probably assuming his son would be home for the Christmas break. I don’t think for one minute he would have mentioned to her that his son was the likely heir to a small fortune.”

  “I see,” said Jason, continuing to peruse the letter in his hand. He then turned to a copy of the will that accompanied the document and whistled. “Wow! His father was wealthy – by your calculation, the estate is worth £1million.”

  Rachel nodded. “So that gives the sister and brother-in-law ample motive to track down his son also.”

  “What if the solicitor in Cuba has done the same and found Mikey? Perhaps he and his mother do know,” said Jason. “And what do you think Sosa had in store for his son?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that too. If Christine was aware of Mikey’s fortune and shared the news with her family, and if she suspected her son was in danger, there is also motive for her to want to get rid of Sosa – not to mention his violent record with them. As for what Sosa was going to say or do to his son, we’ll never know. It is a possibility, albeit a remote one, that he was going to come clean and make amends for his past.”

  “If the man had changed in any way I would agree with you, Rachel, but that’s not the picture we’re getting.”

  “In which case, his son would have been in mortal danger, and that alone might account for Brenda’s father being on board. I had forgotten until earlier that I’d witnessed Sosa arguing with a passenger on the dockside on embarkation day. That has to be either the ex-father-in-law or Paulo Gonzalez. I’m certain the man was British, so I think it likely it was the former.”

  Jason took in a deep breath. “There is real motive here, but if it was Richard Jones, Brenda’s father, he would have needed help from an accomplice on board.”

  “And that brings us back to Brenda,” Rachel finished.

  Jason groaned. “Just when I thought it was all so simple. It could be that Stella and Paulo Gonzalez were in cahoots with Sosa and they were coming together for a planning meeting.”

  “Unless they were going to dissuade him from doing anything stupid, knowing the kind of man he was.”

  “Okay, we’ll keep an open mind about them for the time being.”

  “Also, from the notes and pictures on the left, there is evidence Sosa was blackmailing at least four of his colleagues. I have found evidence of regular entries of money into Sosa’s bank account from them.” Rachel pointed to a financial ledger detailing the payments.”

  Jason frowned. “So we have Pash, Mishka, Danielle and Claudia Kitova all paying him off. That does give us another angle to work on. The only name missing is Sacha.”

  “Yes, so if blackmail was the motive, he’s in the clear. Mishka actually admitted he would have been tempted to feed Sosa nuts, but I think he was joking. Anyway, he obviously believed nuts to be the cause of death, so that makes him an unlikely candidate too. Equally the man could have been killed by Richard Jones or by his own sister and the restaurant staff are just glad to be rid of him.”

  “Okay, so what do we know? We know he was blackmailing Danielle to do his bidding, and according to this – something she neglected to mention – he was also extorting money from her. So we urgently need to find out what he had on the others. It does explain why they’ve all been so cagey and unhelpful. There have been rumours that Pash is having an affair with the casino manager’s wife. It wouldn’t be the first affair he’s had so I think we can assume that’s what he was under the cosh for, but I’ll get confirmation. I’m concerned Claudia Kitova is on this list because she’s the one I’d crossed off from the start as we didn’t find any links between her and Sosa. What’s more, I like her. One thing is certain, the opportunistic brute had a blackmail list.”

  “That’s about the sum of it. So it seems that the majority of people who crossed his path had motive to kill him. We just don’t know what that was.”

  “I’m beginning to know how they feel,” said Jason, scowling.

  “Me too.” Rachel laughed.

  “Top priority, we need to find out what Sosa had on Mishka and Claudia and confirm that Pash’s affair was what he was being blackmailed about. I’ll come down heavy on them.”

  “That would tell them we suspect murder. Why don’t we do it a different way? Remember, we have a secret weapon – Bernard.”

  After she’d explained her plan, Jason left to update Waverley on the latest findings. Rachel agreed to meet them with Sarah in Waverley’s office at 2pm so that they would all be in the picture.

  Chapter 15

  The Bradshaws and Sarah were already seated in the Club Restaurant when Rachel arrived for lunch. She tried hard not to limp, but her right hip was sore and the stitches pulled with every step. The eagle-eyed Mary Bradshaw didn’t miss the signs, as her concerned look showed. Hoping Sarah had made up a cover story, Rachel would wait until the Bradshaws brought it up.

  Pash marched ahead of her at speed, pretending not to notice the limp, but she was certain he had seen it when she went to the desk – if he hadn’t been the cause of it in the first place. He was the most ambitious among the waiters and high up on her suspect list, not to mention the fact she found him hard to like.

  “Trust your instinct,” her father had always told her as she was growing up. “It will keep you out of many a tricky situation.” The advice had become a major part of who she was and often helped her solve crimes, both on and off cruise ships, but it would never be as reliable as good, solid evidence.

  “Hello, Rachel. Sarah told us about your accident this morning. I hope you haven’t done yourself too much damage?” Mary Bradshaw clasped her hand as Rachel gingerly sat down.

  “No, just a few grazes, that’s all. I’m fine.”

  Gilbert Bradshaw winked. “You should stay away from slippery running tracks early in the morning. Sarah says you were fiddling with your earphones when you slipped. There’s a lot of moisture in the air at this time of year.”

  “Anyway, Mum, Dad,” said Sarah, “I’m starving. What are we going to eat?”

  At that moment, Mishka arrived to take their order. Having escaped any further enquiries about her ‘fall’, Rachel relaxed and enjoyed lunch while keeping one eye on how the waiters were behaving. Pash was attentive to the Bradshaws, but almost rude to Rachel, and he was definitely avoiding eye contact. Mary asked him about his home and Rachel was surprised to hear that he had a wife and four children whom he supported by sending money home each month.

  “It must get lonely without your family, especially as they’re so young.”

  I think he more than compensates with the casino manager’s wife, thought Rachel, trying hard not to express her distaste when he answered.

  “I miss them every day, ma’am. The children are so good and my wife is beautiful. Never a day goes by when I don’t think of them, but we are poor in India and the money I earn here is much better than I would get at home.”

  “Poor man,” said Mary after he’d left. “I don’t know how he copes, being away from his children. We miss you, Sarah, and you’re an adult; it must be impossible to be without his wife and children.”

  “I’m sure he manages.” Rachel heard herself reacting in a way she wouldn’t normally do; perhaps it was due to the pain in her hip, but it didn’t escape Sarah’s notice. Rachel saw her friend raise her eyebrows and give her a warning look. Fortunately, Mary Bradshaw had moved on to explaining how she and Gilbert had missed Sarah when she went to university and then joined Queen Cruises, but how they were so happy that she had now met Jason.

  “All things work together for good,” her husband said, quoting a snippet of a Bible verse from the book of Romans.

  Sarah had been looking uncomfortable, but she visibly relaxed as soon as Jason was mentioned. She’s got it bad, thought Rachel. Apart from the issues that her friend’s beau ha
d from being stationed in Afghanistan, and his trust problems from a broken engagement, he was a perfect choice. Rachel shook the thoughts away as she didn’t want to be reminded of her own trust issues.

  After dinner, they parted ways as the Bradshaws said they were going to the art gallery on board to browse before attending an art auction, then Mary was going to the hairdresser’s. They were enjoying exploring the ship and engaging in as many activities as they could.

  Rachel patted Sarah’s arm. “Thanks for giving me a cover story; it was as close to the truth as it could have been, so we don’t have to feel too guilty.”

  Sarah put her arm through Rachel’s. “How are you feeling, really? And what was that all about over dinner with Pash?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way downstairs. Come on, we’re meeting Jason and Waverley, who’s now back on the case.”

  “I did hear that, he came to see Graham and told him about the new cause of death. He enjoyed lecturing him on caustic ingestion and Graham let him wax lyrical for a while, then told him about a recent paper he’d read on the topic in relation to paediatrics in America. Graham went into the research paper in great detail until Waverley’s eyes glazed over, then the friendly one-upmanship came to an end and they went to eat in the officers’ dining room.”

  Rachel laughed as she imagined the two chiefs sparring with each other over Dr Bentley’s rare and understandable mistaken diagnosis of the dead man. She updated Sarah on what she and Jason had discussed this morning and where they were with the investigation.

  “This is a difficult one for me, Rachel, because I feel that man deserved to die and I hate feeling this way. It’s not right that anyone should be murdered, no matter how horrible they are.”

  Rachel understood the emotions her friend was going through; she went through them regularly in her police work. Some people were such terrible human beings it was hard at times to remain objective, but it wasn’t her job to judge. That was down to the courts. She had to keep the peace and investigate crime; that was her role, and for the most part she loved her work.

  Waverley and Jason were seated in the comfortable chairs in the chief’s office when they arrived. Waverley invited them in with a wave of his hand before getting up and closing the blinds enough to allow light in while restricting anyone else’s view of who was in the room.

  “Drinks, ladies?” Waverley was remaining chipper and Rachel wondered if Jason had filled him in on the will situation yet, or on the Gonzalezes’s presence. They both requested coffee and sat on the sofa opposite to Jason and the chief.

  “Jason has filled me in on the findings from the contents of Sosa’s safe. I must say the man was most unpleasant and the information has muddied the waters somewhat. It’s going to be very difficult to find out who spiked the whisky, but we might be able to eliminate a few of the suspects if we can pull together any verifiable alibis for the timeframe and find out what people are hiding. The most obvious person was staring us in the face all the time.”

  Rachel gawped. “You can’t mean Claudia Kitova?”

  “Why ever not? She had motive plus opportunity and she was the last person to see Sosa alive. She would know where to get detergent from and would have easy access to his room.”

  “Surely any crew member would have access to detergent, if that’s what was used?” said Sarah. “Most crew members would be able to sneak into a room if they really wanted to; they would just need to distract a room steward for a moment and borrow a key card.”

  “We really must improve our security on board this vessel. I’m not having people believing they can just march into rooms without permission, and that includes you, Miss Prince.” The cough and the redness travelling from Waverley’s neck to his face told Rachel it was time to move the conversation on.

  “What about the other suspects?” she asked.

  “I’ve a good mind to arrest them all right now and throw them off at the next port, but we don’t want to alert them just yet that we’re on to any of them.”

  “We have uncovered one thing,” said Jason. “Mishka Prostakov has been supplying the crew with cannabis – that’s what he is hiding. He’s been under surveillance for some time, but finally we have video evidence. Security recruited a new team member who joined the ship in Southampton. She’s been working undercover as a junior waitress. It turns out that today has been our lucky day – she caught him out by pretending to buy some for herself and has it all on film. We’re holding fire for now in case he’s our murderer and Janet is continuing with her undercover work, getting to know all the waiters.”

  “Wow! That is useful.”

  “You see, Rachel, we don’t just twiddle our thumbs,” said Waverley pointedly.

  “I never thought you did, but it’s still a big leap to go from selling some cheap pot to murder. I don’t think it’s him.”

  “The payments have been increasing, though, so he may have got tired of the greedy Stefan Sosa,” Jason countered.

  Waverley sipped tea and nodded. “That’s a good point, Goodridge. You certainly need to question him again and see what you can discover. I think it’s time we shook things up and let them know we suspect murder.”

  Rachel wasn’t convinced this was the best tactic, but conceded in her head that aggressive questioning could cause the killer to make a mistake.

  “And then there’s Pash and Danielle, not to mention the others,” said Jason.

  “What others?”

  “The sister and brother-in-law, sir. I’ve just told the chief about them being on board, and about the will.” Jason nodded to Rachel with a look that told her nothing remained hidden. “And, erm, your father-in-law, sir.” Jason stuttered as he just about got the final few words out.

  “Humph! There’s no way Richard Jones is involved in this. I’ve spoken with him and he has assured me he knew nothing about Sosa being on board, and Brenda hadn’t mentioned Sosa’s behaviour to him in the past for fear of what he might do. He’s on a surprise visit to pass on family Christmas presents and see his older daughter, that’s all there is to it. No-one in the family had any knowledge of the will or Sosa’s father’s death and there the story ends. We’re not wasting time chasing our tails while the killer is on board this ship, mocking us.”

  The decibels had risen along with the redness to Waverley’s face. Jason shook his head at Rachel, warning her not to persist, but that was not going to happen.

  “Chief, while I’m sure you’re right, you cannot rule out a person with motive based on their word alone, otherwise we wouldn’t be investigating any of them. People who kill do not generally put their hands up and own the crime until they are caught. That’s our job.”

  Waverley’s head snapped up from his drink. “This is not your investigation, Miss Prince. I can order you to stay out of it at a moment’s notice, so watch your step!”

  Sarah intervened. “It’s been a stressful time for the chief, Rachel, so we must recognise that. He wouldn’t want any of us not to investigate thoroughly to – how do you lot say it? – eliminate people from our enquiries.”

  The reverse psychology worked. “Of course not. I wasn’t saying we wouldn’t check alibis, but we do need to focus on the chief suspects, and in my book the prime suspect is Ms Kitova, and the second, Miss Danielle Barcellos, the wine waitress. Both had the most to lose.”

  Rachel clamped her mouth shut, not convinced she would be able to stand much more of this. If you rule out the potential loss of a grandson and a fortune, went unspoken. She decided not to antagonise the chief any further when they had just reeled him back from apoplexy, thanks to Sarah’s subtlety. Past experience told her Waverley could be inordinately stubborn, but would come to his senses when the evidence turned up, and she would find the evidence with or without him, no matter who was guilty.

  “Right, I’ll leave it to you. Goodridge, interview the suspects again. Perhaps, on second thoughts, we’ll not show our hand just yet about it being murder. Tell them you’re just fin
alising your report for health and safety or something. I’ll speak to my father-in-law again to clarify his boarding time and movements on embarkation day. Rachel, you can befriend Stella and Paulo Gonzalez. I’ve asked Graham Bentley to pull them in and inform them of the tragic death of Sosa, so you can pretend you’re a counsellor or something like that and talk to them afterwards with Sarah, if you like. That’s all for now, then. We have a plan and hopefully we’ll at least manage to eliminate a few of these people from our enquiries, as Sarah so eloquently put it. Now, I have a meeting with the captain. Lock the door when you leave, Goodridge.”

  The three of them stared at the door as it closed behind Waverley in disbelief. Jason was the first to speak.

  “It’s not been easy on him. First he thinks Brenda might be involved, then there’s the euphoria that she isn’t, and then I walk in and tell him that his father-in-law might also have a motive. It’s going to take him time to process it all.”

  “I guess you omitted to mention that Brenda might have assisted him,” Rachel said dryly.

  “It’s called drip-feeding information, Rachel. We do it in medicine all the time,” said Sarah. “Too much information all at once can have a devastating effect; it’s best to go slowly. Waverley will come to his senses; he’s a just man underneath it all.”

  “But we can all be blind when it comes to those closest to us,” said Rachel.