They followed him into the dressing room and watched as he flipped on the lights surrounding the mirror, then sat down and with great care, examined his face from every angle inspecting it for damage. “I was outside on the deck talking to my wife when someone came up behind me and hit me on the back of the head.”
“Did you get a look at who hit you?” Grace asked.
“No, it happened so fast. The next thing I knew I was flat on my back and my head was pounding. All I could see were stars. I was so confused.” He picked up a hand mirror before swiveling around and turning his attention to the back of his head. “Penny must know who attacked me. She had to have seen whoever it was.”
Kyle frowned. “Was she there when you woke up?”
“No, she—” A look of horror crossed Leo Rycroft’s face. The mirror slipped from his fingers as he turned frightened eyes towards them. “Where’s Penny?” he asked, his voice rising in panic. “Where is my wife?”
Chapter Fifteen
Leo Rycroft lay in the hospital bed, his face wan and tired, as Drew Mulligan, Grace’s favorite security officer, insisted that Penny was fine. “She’s probably having dinner right now.”
Grace checked her watch, surprised to find it was already after six o’clock. After Leo’s panic attack in the dressing room, Grace and Kyle had insisted that he go to the medical center for a checkup. He only agreed on the condition that Kyle would try to find Penny. She hadn’t seen Kyle since and Leo’s anxiety as to his wife’s fate grew until he became convinced she was already dead.
“No, it’s too late,” Leo said in a weak voice as he stared blankly at the wall. “She’s dead. I can feel it.”
Grace sympathetically rubbed his shoulder as Mulligan rolled his eyes. “Did you actually see Penny die?”
“You haven’t found her,” Leo said, his voice rough with emotion. “If she was on the ship someone would have found her by now.”
Mulligan nodded his head. “Right, so you didn’t actually see her die. So how much did you have to drink today?”
Leo turned from the wall his eyes blazing. “I haven’t had a drink in three months,” he said through clenched teeth. “My wife is dead and I am next. What I would like to know is what you’re going to do about it?”
Mulligan smiled patronizingly. “Just relax, Mr. Rycroft. You’re perfectly safe here. I’m sure Penny will show up soon.”
“Get out!”
Mulligan seemed shocked by Leo’s angry outburst. He glanced at Grace, his brow furrowed in confusion as if he wasn’t sure if Leo was talking to him or to her.
Leo sat up and pointed his finger at Mulligan’s chest. “Go find my wife and don’t come back until you do!”
Grace eyed the heart monitor next to her worriedly, as Leo’s heart rate skyrocketed.
The kindly nurse Grace had met when she brought Leo in forced her way past Mulligan and into the room. Leo’s wrath paled in comparison as she pointed her finger towards the door. “I want you two out of here right this minute!”
Grace jumped to her feet, hurrying out of the door along with Mulligan. She followed the security guard down the white sterile looking hallway and into a relatively full waiting room. Once in the waiting room, Mulligan jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Do you see what you just did?”
“Me? He was yelling at you.”
“Only because you upset him. All your talk about murder. Geesh. Do you know we’ve been fielding frantic questions from passengers all day long? They don’t see someone for an hour and they’re calling us convinced Jack the Ripper has thrown them overboard.”
A man with a bag in his hand and a queasy expression on his face looked up in concern. “Who’s on board?”
“No one,” Mulligan said dismissively before addressing Grace. “Everyone is in a panic because of you and your husband.”
“Good, because there is…” She glanced at all the eyes watching her and dropped her voice to a whisper. “…a you know what on board and don’t roll your eyes at me. Bruce Pritchard is dead.”
“For your information, I checked the security log and it said that he left this morning.”
“You’ve been tricked.”
He blew a raspberry. “You’ve been tricked. Bruce is playing with your mind.” He wagged his finger in her face. “See, I know him and Penny pretty well. They’re probably sitting back laughing at you right as we speak.”
“What about Leo? Does he look like he’s laughing?”
“I wouldn’t take anything Leo says seriously.”
“Someone hit him.”
“He probably did it himself. Penny told me that he’s crazy.” He twirled his finger by his temple. “Seriously, she said that his brother even tried to have him committed before they got married. The guy’s nuts.”
The walkie-talkie at his side buzzed to life. “We’ve got another lost passenger. This one…” There was a moment of static, then, “Never mind. False alarm.”
A woman with a bandaged finger leaned forward. “Who-who’s nuts?”
Mulligan gave Grace a look. “Do you see what I’m dealing with?” He opened the glass door. “Just go to the buffet and the casino like the other passengers and stop spreading rumors. Please.”
Grace glared at the back of his head as he walked out.
“Miss?”
Grace glanced behind her shoulder as the nurse returned.
“Mr. Rycroft would like to see you?”
“How is he?”
“He’s going to be fine. We’re just keeping him for observation. His injuries were relatively minor but try not to upset him, and don’t stay too long. I’ve given him something to help him to sleep so he should be out like a light very soon.”
Grace followed her back to Leo’s room and took a seat next to his bed.
“I’m sorry I yelled,” he said. “I didn’t mean for you to get kicked out.”
“It’s all right. I understand your frustration.” Despite his horrible behavior to Courtney, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him as a tear fell from his eye. “I’m sorry it’s taking so long but don’t lose hope. Mulligan is right. No news is not necessarily bad news.”
“Not in this case.” He wiped a hand down his face. “The killer obviously disposed of her body. I don’t know why he didn’t do the same to me.” He turned his attention to the wall. “He’s playing with me.”
That sounded familiar. “Who?”
“I don’t know. I thought I was the one in danger. I never thought…” His face crumpled. “I never thought she’d die in my place.”
“You didn’t see her die.” She plucked a tissue out of the box on the table next to her and passed it to him. “You mustn’t think the worse.”
He blew his nose. “Someone struck me on the back of the head and my wife’s missing. It’s not hard to think the worse at the moment.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened out on the deck? Maybe we can figure out what happened to her.”
His eyes grew heavy. With a deep sigh, he said, “I found Penny outside and confronted her.”
“About?” she asked when he didn’t continue.
“Our future.” He closed his eyes. “I had this fantasy that if I got myself cleaned up and stopped drinking that she’d take me back, but the moment I returned to the ship, I realized that it was over between us. I told her that I was divorcing her.”
“How did she respond?”
“She asked me if I was the Pied Piper.” His eyes slowly opened as his brow furrowed. “That’s when I realized that it was truly over between us. I don’t know what happened after that. I just remember turning away from her and facing the ocean.” He gestured to his head. “That’s when the lights went out. When I woke up, I was lying on the deck, disoriented. I stumbled around for a bit before returning to the theater where I found you and your husband.”
Grace frowned. “So you weren’t looking at Penny when you were hit?”
“No.”
“Then how do you
know that she’s not the one who hit you?”
There was a moment of reflective silence. He blinked a few times as he sat up. “I beg your pardon?”
“A few seconds after you told your wife that you were planning to divorce her, you were struck from behind.”
He blinked rapidly trying to focus on her. “You think she did this to me?”
“Possibly,” she hedged.
A look of consternation crossed his face. “If that’s true, then where is she?”
“I don’t know. Hiding out somewhere hoping you don’t call security on her?” She sat back. “You said that someone has been trying to kill you? How long has that been going on?”
“Three months. Someone stabbed me the last time I was here.”
Her eyes widened. “Did you see who it was?”
He wearily waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “I was drunk. I don’t even remember it happening. All I know is that I woke up bleeding on someone’s balcony. I still can’t believe I survived.” He covered his eyes with his hands. “I stitched myself up and got off the ship the next morning at Miami and just disappeared.”
“Why didn’t you go to security and tell them what happened?”
He dropped his hands from his eyes and stared at her. “You’ve met them. What would have been the point? All I wanted to do was get away at that point. Let them think I was dead. What did I care?”
“Why did you come back?”
“Closure. I couldn’t remember what happened and it was driving me crazy. I don’t know. I guess I wanted to reclaim my life.” He sighed. “I guess I wanted my wife back.”
“Do you have any idea who might have wanted you dead?”
“Bruce.”
“Anyone else?”
“No, the only one who hates me enough to kill me is Bruce.”
“What about Courtney Bernard?”
“Who?”
“Tucker’s wife.”
“Oh.” There was a pause. “Tucker’s married?”
“Yes,” she said slowly. “Remember the blonde girl in the sailor outfit?”
“Oh her. Yes, yes, yes.” He yawned loudly. “You said that I did something to her but I don’t remember.”
“You were cruel to her.”
Leo’s eyebrows drew down. “I was?”
“Yes, you were,” she said with a touch of anger in her voice. While she was sympathetic to his situation, she couldn’t help but feel angry at the horrible way he had treated Courtney.
He grimaced. “Maybe so, but she didn’t do this to me. Bruce did. Ever since he came into my life he has tried to take everything that was mine. He took my wife and then he took my job. The only thing he didn’t take was my life, although not for lack of trying. If I had stayed much longer I’m sure he would have taken my inheritance somehow.” He shook his head. “But Penny…I can’t believe she’d try to hurt me. I don’t understand. She’s my wife. Why would she try to kill me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“You think she’s after my money.” He chuckled weakly. “You don’t have these kinds of worries when you’re poor.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to distress you, but it is something to think about.”
He waved off Grace’s concern. “It’s certainly nothing I haven’t heard before. My brother Louis was convinced of the same thing. I was too proud to believe him,” he said with a trace of bitterness in his voice. “But he was right. He’s always right. If I had listened to him, I could have spared myself a lot of misery, but I was too jealous and pigheaded.” He pursed his lips together. “That’s always been my problem,” he admitted softly. “I’ve always been jealous of my brother. You see, he’s smarter than I am. Even though I know that, when he tells me something, I immediately do the exact opposite. Always have. Take Penny for instance. Sometimes I think I only married her because Louis disapproved. The day he called her a gold-digger, I asked her to be my wife.” He snorted. “I laughed at him. Laughed right in his face. I had nothing, absolutely nothing. I relied on Louis for everything. I didn’t have a dime to my name so I thought it was the funniest thing in the world for him to call her a gold-digger. See, our grandfather was rather sick when I met Penny. It was only a matter of time before my brother and I inherited his estate. Penny knew all about it. She knew before I did somehow.” His eyelids fluttered closed. “Louis strong armed me into having her sign a pre-nup. How I hated him at the time, but in the end, he was right once again.” He yawned. “She won’t get anything if we get divorced.”
“What will she get if you die?”
His eyes popped open. He struggled to sit up as a worried look crossed his face. “Everything. I left everything to her.” He closed his eyes in pain. “I’m such a fool. I mean, I am truly an idiot.”
Grace rubbed his shoulder as he buried his head into his hands. “Don’t be hard on yourself. It’s not your fault that you trusted the wrong person.”
“No, it is all my fault.” He wiped his hands down his face and stared at the ceiling. “If I weren’t such a fool… I should probably change my will. If that’s what she and Bruce are after, I might live longer if I do. I don’t know who to leave it to though. Penny was all that I had.”
“What about your brother?”
“I guess I should. He’s stuck by me all these years, despite my horrid wretched behavior. If it weren’t for him, I would have been on the street or some halfway house. Sometimes I think he must be a saint to have put up with me all these years.” His laugh turned into a cough. When he was finished, he added, “Not that he needs the money—Lord knows he’s got more than he knows what to do with now—but I should repay him in some way. I owe him that much. I’ll change my will as soon as I get home.”
Grace bit her lip. “Do you think you should wait?”
He lifted an eyebrow. After a moment’s hesitation, he smiled slightly. “Perhaps you’re right,” he said before calling for a nurse. “I don’t suppose you’d be a witness for me.”
“I’d be happy to,” she said hoping a simple will change might keep the man alive for the duration of the cruise.
The nurse came in and when she learned what he wanted to do she left and returned carrying a pad of paper and a pen. He asked her to stay and act as a witness as well. “I hope this works,” he said as he began writing, leaving everything he owned to his brother. When he was done, he took the paper, folded it, laid it next to his bed, and then laid back down.
He yawned loudly. “It’s done now. Louis will be happy.”
“When’s the last time you spoke to your brother?”
Slowly his eyes opened again. “My brother?” he asked. “What about him?”
“When did you last speak to him?”
“Last week. I—” He struggled to keep his eyes open. “I tried calling…before I left…didn’t answer.” His eyes closed and his breathing evened out, eventually turning into a snore.
Grace sat silently by his bedside mulling over their conversation. If Penny was the killer, why didn’t she finish him off while he was unconscious and defenseless? She could have done anything to him at that point.
She must have thought she had killed him.
That is assuming Penny was the one who knocked him out of course. The only thing Grace couldn’t understand is why she didn’t try throwing Leo’s body overboard like she did with Bruce?
A frown creased her forehead as a new thought occurred to her. Would Penny have been strong enough to pick Leo’s body up and toss it over the railing? What about Bruce’s body? Bruce had to be over six feet tall and over two hundred pounds. Could a girl of Penny’s size pick him up and dump his body over the railing? Not without help, Grace decided. Perhaps that’s why she left Leo where he was.
If that was the case, Leo was very lucky.
A shudder rippled through Grace as she thought what could have happened to the man. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than to wake up alone out in the middle of the ocean watching as the ship sailed aw
ay.
She jumped as a hand touched her shoulder. “Kyle,” she said standing up and giving her husband a hug, “you scared me half to death.”
“Sorry,” he said kissing her on the cheek. He glanced down at a sleeping Leo Rycroft. “How is he?”
“Fine. They’re just keeping him here for observation.” She took his hand and led him out into the hallway so as to not disturb Leo. “Did you find Penny?”
“No, she’s not in her cabin. I tracked down a few friends of hers but no one’s seen her since lunch.”
“It’s a big ship.” Grace pushed her hair back off her face. “Is there a chance that Bruce is still alive?”
He looked surprised by her question. “No, of course not. The man was as dead as a doornail. Why do you ask?”
“Penny’s what? Five feet three inches? Can you see her picking up Bruce’s body and dumping it over the side of the ship?”
“Well, it’s not impossible.”
“But what if it was a trick? What if he and Penny are just trying to fake his death for some reason?”
“Grace,” he said ushering her into the waiting room, “Bruce didn’t have a heartbeat.”
“And there’s no way he could have faked that?”
“Well, I’ve seen my father do it by placing a small ball under his armpit,” he admitted. “But Bruce’s body was already getting cold and stiff. I bet the killer had a difficult time prying his body out of the locker and tossing it over the ship railing.”
A young man wearing a brace around his neck turned his upper body towards them. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Grace quickly assured him. “Everything’s fine.” She turned her attention to a nurse who was just then passing by. “Excuse me, but aren’t there drugs that can make it appear as though someone is dead when they’re not?”
“I beg your pardon?” the nurse asked in surprise.
“I’ve seen it on TV a dozen times. Someone wants to fake their death so they take a pill which makes it seem like they’re dead, and then they come to a little later.”
“Tetrodotoxin,” an elderly woman called out from behind her. “I remembered seeing this story once where the killer faked his death that way. He put the stuff in his French salad dressing while at a buffet and then died a few minutes later. The other characters thought he choked on something and since they were on an island and couldn’t contact anyone, they just placed his body in the basement and went on with the party. Everyone assumed he was dead, so he was then free to roam around the island, knocking off all the other characters.”
The Body in Davy Jones' Locker Page 15
