Set Sail for Murder

by Carolyn Hart

  Evelyn reached out to pull the door shut.

  Sophia looked at her sharply. “Where’s Kent?”

  Evelyn’s gaze skittered away. “He wasn’t able to come.”

  “I asked for everyone to be here.” Sophia was imperious, her face cold and hard.

  Evelyn’s hands fluttered. “It…he…he’s sick. Let’s not make an issue of it. Please. I’ll tell him everything that happens.”

  Glenn looked toward Sophia. “I’ll step out and speak with him.”

  Sophia held up a hand. “That’s not necessary. I’m sure Evelyn will accurately report back to Kent.”

  There was an instant of uncomfortable silence.

  Evelyn bustled forward. “Sophia, we’re all terribly upset about the accident this afternoon. Thank God you’re all right.”

  “I’m a survivor. I intend to be a survivor.” Sophia’s words were clipped, her face bleak. She gestured at Jimmy. “You and Henrie O sit on the sofa. You should be together.” It was a command, not a request.

  I looked at Sophia sharply. Enmity flashed in her eyes.

  Jimmy’s brows drew down in a frown. He stood very still, head bent forward, face questioning.

  I touched Jimmy’s arm and moved toward the sofa. Reluctantly, Jimmy followed. I leaned back against a cushion. I kept my face pleasant, but I felt tightly strung as a guy wire. Sophia was proceeding with a well-thought-out, tightly controlled campaign, one she had neglected to share with Jimmy. I had no doubt that a storm was about to break and somebody was going to get hurt. I desperately hoped it would not be Jimmy.

  “Evelyn, you and Rosie take the easy chairs.” Sophia waited until they took their places as ordered. “Alex, Madge, and Val at the table.” There was not a single if-you-please. The director had spoken.

  When her audience was settled at her direction, Sophia glanced at each of us in turn, her stare measuring. She stretched out the moment, heightening the tension. I had a clear sense of her capabilities and an understanding of her success as a filmmaker. She knew how to structure a scene.

  “One of you tried to kill me this afternoon.”

  Her quiet tone emphasized the enormity of her accusation.

  Evelyn jumped to her feet. “Sophia, that’s dreadful. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  “Sit down!”

  Evelyn’s will was no match for Sophia’s. Evelyn slowly sagged into the chair.

  A thin smile curved Sophia’s lips. “That’s revealing. Only Evelyn objects. No one else said anything. How many of you know who is trying to kill me?”

  Rosie folded her arms, her face sardonic. “Come off it, Sophia. We know you’re a drama queen, but that’s over the top.”

  Sophia walked toward the table. “Nice try, Rosie, but this afternoon can’t be brushed away. When something stinks, there’s a rotten egg somewhere. The boulder missed me. Evelyn”—Sophia’s head swiveled toward her—“knew I shouldn’t drink a particular glass of sherry. This afternoon, one of you, and I’m not forgetting our curiously absent Kent”—she pointed at each of us in turn, me, Jimmy, Evelyn, Rosie, Alex, Madge, and Val—“poked me in the back as I started down the stairs. I fell. I should have died. I was saved by sheer chance. Otherwise, I would be in a coffin in the ship’s hold. I was pushed by one of the Riordan family, Evelyn, Alex, Madge, Rosie, Kent, Val.” Her cold eyes rested on Jimmy and me. “Or my attentive husband. Or his lover.”

  Jimmy slowly stood. “Sophia.” His face drained of color.

  “I am including everyone who had the opportunity to kill me.” There was no apology in her voice. “Sit down.” She might have been speaking to an annoying guest.

  Jimmy remained on his feet, face grim, hands clenched tight, staring at Sophia.

  Sophia looked away first.

  I would have given the world to take his hand, hold it in mine, tell him not to care so much, not to be wounded beyond healing. He was a good man, a decent and giving man, and Sophia had announced to the world that whatever she felt for him, it could not masquerade as love. Love believes and hopes and trusts. Sophia had taken his love and deemed it worthless.

  I could not comfort him. Sophia would see that as a gesture of possession. I remained seated, troubled and increasingly angry.

  Staff Captain Glenn stepped forward. “As I told Mrs. Lennox”—his deep voice was stern—“the incident should have been reported to the police in St. Petersburg. I understand her reluctance to involve the Russian authorities, both because of our limited time in port and because of the language barrier. However, I will pursue the matter with the full authority invested in me as second-in-command aboard the Clio. I intend to assure Mrs. Lennox’s safety both on board ship and ashore. With that in mind, I expect every passenger to offer full cooperation.”

  No one spoke.

  He looked at each of us in turn. “We will re-create the moment before Mrs. Lennox fell. Mrs. Collins, if you will be kind enough to bring me the throw cushions from the sofa.”

  I picked up two tasseled cushions and carried them to Glenn.

  He took the cushions and placed them in a line in the center of the floor. “The cushions represent the edge of the staircase.” He looked at Sophia. “Mrs. Lennox, stand where you were when you were pushed.” He pulled a small notebook from his pocket and a pen.

  Sophia stepped up to the cushions.

  Glenn moved to one side, leaving a large space open behind Sophia. He gestured toward us. “Please position yourselves as you were when Mrs. Lennox fell.”

  There was a general flurry of movement.

  Val stopped and stood with her hands on her hips. “The crowd was huge. It was worse than a subway in Tokyo. All kinds of people were jammed up next to me and that booth where they were selling stuff. I wasn’t paying any attention to Sophia. How should I know where I was?”

  Glenn was patient. “Surely you remember hearing her cry. Where were you?”

  Val lifted her shoulders, let them fall, picked her way daintily as a cat past Sophia and stood near a tall blue pottery vase. “I was looking at the guidebooks.”

  I stopped a good ten feet behind Sophia. On the landing, I’d been part of a packed crowd. Even if I’d been watching Sophia, I doubt I would have been able to see who was near her. Or behind her.

  Evelyn bustled close to Val. “There was a table with guidebooks and another with prints. I’d picked up a print of El Greco’s The Apostles Peter and Paul. He painted both of them with narrow faces. Thin faces. I always think of Peter as being big. With a big face.”

  Madge pulled Alex farther behind Sophia. “We were together and we weren’t even close to her. There were bunches of people between us.”

  “Where was Kent?” Sophia looked at each of the Riordans in turn.

  Rosie lifted her hands, let them fall. “I think he was leaning on one of the big columns.”

  Jimmy moved slowly, his expression brooding. He took his place a little behind and to the left of Sophia as she faced down the stairs.

  Glenn folded his arms, looked at Jimmy. “You were nearest Mrs. Lennox.”

  “I was.” Jimmy’s glance never wavered.

  “Almost at her elbow?” Glenn’s tone was sharp, suspicious.

  “That’s right. Very near.” Jimmy spread his hands perhaps a foot apart.

  Glenn stepped toward Jimmy. “Why didn’t you see what happened to your wife?”

  Jimmy’s eyes narrowed. “Like Val said, the landing was jammed with tourists. Sophia told me she was going down to the lavatory. I’d already turned away when I heard her scream.”

  I walked past Jimmy and Sophia. “Mr. Glenn, the landing was packed. There wasn’t exactly pushing and shoving, but you couldn’t move without coming up against someone. I don’t know that any of us could say where anyone else was. It wasn’t possible. I can tell you what was possible. Any one of our group”—I gestured to include the Riordans—“could have stepped close enough to poke Sophia. It may have been a quick decision when someone saw her turn to
go down the stairs. Sophia”—I watched her carefully—“can you describe what you felt?”

  “A thump.” Her eyes narrowed. “It was as if I’d been hit in the back by a broom handle.”

  I had a quick memory of the milling throng on the landing and the long table crowded with tourists scanning books and prints, buying, moving in and out. There were three or four clerks busy answering questions, taking money, sacking up purchases. Anyone with a quick hand could have filched a desired object.

  “Or a cardboard mailer for a print?” I suggested.

  I sensed an instant of shock on someone’s part. My guess was correct. A mailer had been grabbed and used and dropped to be crushed beneath the feet of the milling crowd.

  Sophia looked at me intently. “Clever of you. Possibly you already knew?”

  “No.” My reply was crisp and definite.

  Sophia shivered. “That is exactly how it felt, something rounded and hard.”

  Staff Captain Glenn finished his sketch, marking us down. “I’ve recorded the positions. Does anyone have anything helpful to add?”

  Evelyn fluttered a hand. “This is silly. Sophia fell. Probably one of the tourists bumped her accidentally.”

  “With a cardboard mailer?” Sophia’s tone was sharp and she glanced again at me.

  No one spoke.

  Glenn waited an instant longer, nodded. “Very well. If anyone later remembers anything helpful, contact me at once. Please return to your seats. Mrs. Lennox wishes to speak.” He remained standing near Sophia.

  I didn’t like the feeling of being herded into an audience, rather like schoolchildren in detention, but I moved to the sofa.

  Jimmy looked at Sophia.

  She ignored him.

  Lips pressed together, Jimmy joined me on the sofa.

  Sophia stood straight as an arrow, her face somber. She looked haggard yet beautiful and desperately alone. “Despite someone’s best effort, and it must be quite disappointing for one of you, I am alive. At this very moment”—she glanced at her watch—“we should have been finishing dinner at the Grand Hotel Europe. Had that occurred as scheduled, I would now be announcing that I had decided to approve dissolution of the trusts Frank put in place.”

  Everyone stared at Sophia.

  She stood, eyes cold, face hard, as remote and unworldly as the statue of a goddess. “That is no longer my plan.” She looked at each of the Riordans in turn, one by one. “The trusts shall remain in effect. Moreover, the income from the trusts will no longer be distributed but returned to the trusts to be held. The status of the trusts will not be reconsidered for ten years. I shall have the papers drawn up and ready for my signature upon my return. So those, including Kent, who had hoped to profit from your father’s acumen will have to be patient. Perhaps in the next ten years—”

  Alex jumped up, his freckled face flushing. “That’s rotten, Sophia, and damned unfair. I didn’t shove you down any stairs. None of us did. That’s crazy. Can you see Rosie or Val hurting anybody? Or Kent? And I can tell you for sure it wasn’t Madge or me. Some klutzy tourist poked you in the back with an elbow and you lost your balance. That’s all that happened, and now you want to make it a big deal, use it as an excuse to rip us off. Like Kent says, it’s our money, not yours.”

  “I never claimed the money was mine.” Sophia was unperturbed. “I have never used a penny from your father’s estate for me. But the money you are so willing to claim belonged to your father and I intend to fulfill my promise to him. He knew none of you was ready for responsibility, and everything that has happened on this trip confirms his judgment.” Her gaze at Alex was cool. “You are a fool waiting to be fleeced. Madge has the cupidity of a chorus girl. Rosie chooses jobs that throw her in with seedy people. Kent wanted to marry a girl without any background. Val obviously has a problem with alcohol. If your father were here, he would be appalled.”

  Evelyn lifted a pleading hand. “Sophia, please. You’re upset and—”

  “I am not upset.” No one ever looked more composed than Sophia. “I am simply making it clear that I intend to fulfill my responsibility to Frank. The proposal to dissolve the trusts was not a good one. I was encouraged to do so on the spurious basis that I would then be safe from attack.” She looked at her husband. “I have to wonder why you made that proposal, Jimmy.”

  Jimmy rose and faced Sophia.

  I have never been more proud of him. He stood straight and slim, a distinguished-looking man with a kind face, furrowed now in a thoughtful frown. He looked like what he was: stalwart, forthright, and reasonable. “I advised you to give Frank’s children what belongs to them. From the first, I thought it was foolish—and, more than that, dangerous—to bring them together to decide on the future of the trusts.”

  Sophia folded her arms. The jet bracelet on one wrist gleamed. “You keep emphasizing danger.” She arched a sleek eyebrow, her face demanding. And skeptical.

  “I’ve been proven right.” Anger hardened his voice.

  “Yes, I’ve definitely been in danger. What is the source of that danger? Frank’s children?” Her gaze touched them without pleasure. “Possibly. Possibly not. If I were to die a suspicious death without any suspects available, your position would be quite unenviable, wouldn’t it, Jimmy?”

  Jimmy’s mouth twisted in a sardonic smile. “We all know the surviving spouse is the first to be suspected. However, you have nothing I want.” The message was harsh. “In any event, if I wanted free of marriage, divorce is a good deal easier.”

  “Though not nearly as profitable.” Her tone was silky.

  He looked as though he’d been struck. “That is unforgivable, Sophia.”

  Madge’s shrill voice cut it. “This makes sense.” She pointed at Jimmy. “No wonder he runs around accusing us of everything under the sun. If anybody pushed her, it’s him!”

  Alex grabbed her hand, tugged, but she shook free.

  Staff Captain Glenn stepped forward. “Why did Miss Riordan dump the tray with the sherry?” Obviously Sophia had informed Glenn of everything. “Miss Riordan, were you protecting Mr. Lennox?”

  “I wasn’t protecting anybody!” Evelyn sounded close to hysteria. “I was upset. I told them”—she gestured wildly toward Jimmy and me—“it was because he’d made such a thing about that boulder. I looked at the sherry and I felt scared and I hardly even thought what I was doing. Sometimes I have a feeling something bad is going to happen. Before Vic died, I kept dreaming she was gone and I was running after her, trying to bring her back—”

  No one moved or spoke, but the emotional barometer shifted. A dark and ugly anger pulsed, overriding tension and uneasiness. It was as if we stood at the entrance to a cavern where something terrible awaited within.

  “—but I couldn’t find her. I had to find her or she’d be gone forever. I should have gotten up and gone to her.” Tears spilled down Evelyn’s cheeks. “It was probably already too late and she’d left the house, running down—”

  “Stop!” Val’s cry was harsh, desperate.

  Evelyn’s face crumpled. “Val, I’m sorry. But that’s what happened and now whenever I have that feeling I do something about it and that’s why I spilled the sherry.”

  Madge’s eyes were bright and excited. “Evelyn picks up on things. I’ll bet he”—Madge pointed at Jimmy—“poisoned the sherry and Evelyn had this subconscious warning.”

  “Jimmy did no such thing.” Rosie’s voice was sharp. “That’s as silly—”

  “I’m not silly!” Madge’s voice was high and angry.

  “—as saying one of us pushed Sophia today.”

  Sophia’s face was grim. “One of you did.”

  Rosie looked contemptuous. “Sure, you were pushed. Alex got it right. It’s a wonder all of us didn’t get bumped down the stairs in that crush.”

  Jimmy’s hands folded into fists. He looked at Sophia. “You made a serious mistake tonight. Change your mind before it’s too late. Relinquish the estate to its rightful heirs.”<
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  “Still harping on that?” Sophia eyed him as she might a stranger.

  Jimmy spoke slowly. “If you restrict the income and maintain the trusts, the heirs receive nothing. If you die, they receive everything.”

  Her lips trembled. Her eyes were filled with heartbreak. “If I die, you will be free. You will inherit my estate.”

  “I have no interest in your estate.” His voice was brusque.

  Evelyn made little clucking noises, her kind face crinkling in dismay. “Sophia, Jimmy, all of this has been upsetting. We all need to get some rest. Everything will be all right. Jimmy wouldn’t hurt anyone and neither would any of us. It’s a terrible misunderstanding and I think we’ve talked enough tonight.”

  Staff Captain Glenn cleared his throat.

  Faces turned toward him as if recalling his presence.

  “I call upon each one of you”—his voice was somber—“to consider any information you may possess as to the truth behind these events.”

  Madge shot Rosie a sullen look. “You can make fun of me all you want. But Sophia’s nobody’s fool.” Once again Madge pointed at Jimmy. “She’s onto him. Ask him why he paid for Mrs. Collins’s cabin. Ask him how well he and Mrs. Collins know each other. Ask him if he wants out of his marriage with Sophia.”

  Jimmy looked toward Sophia. “I asked you to marry me because I wanted us to be together. Always. I wanted to take care of you. For better or worse…”

  Sophia wavered. Her eyes held hunger and emptiness and hope. Faith and despair hung in the balance. Then she lifted her chin and said mockingly, “’Til death do us part?”

  Jimmy stiffened.

  Sophia spoke almost without a tremor. “Mr. Glenn has arranged another cabin for you.”

  Glenn reached into his pocket, pulled out a small black rectangular electronic key folder. “Cabin 6048 is ready for you, Mr. Lennox.”