Dark Passage

by Marcia Talley

  ‘But, he would have had time to slip the drug into your niece’s drink,’ Pia observed.

  ‘What would his motive be?’ I asked.

  She shrugged. ‘Maybe he’s in cahoots with the rapist. Maybe they work as a team.’

  I tried to imagine what would motivate a personable, clean-cut guy like Wesley to enter into an infernal partnership with a serial rapist. Money? Blackmail? Or maybe … my heart did a somersault … maybe they took turns?

  ‘What about that photographer, Buck Carney?’ I asked after a moment. ‘I’m sure I saw him taking pictures at the disco while Phreakin’ Phil was performing. And he’s practically stalking my sister, Georgina.’ I paused, as a thought struck me like a clap of thunder. ‘He’s got a fetish for red hair. My niece, Julie, has red hair. He’s tried to take her picture, too.’

  ‘I know the guy you’re talking about, Hannah. He’s a bit of a creep, but aren’t all paparazzi creeps? It kind of goes with the territory.’

  ‘Was Carney taking pictures on Voyager, too?’ David asked.

  Pia nodded. ‘He goes freaking everywhere with that camera, but, honestly, I think he’s harmless.’

  ‘Buck Carney has just shot to the top of my list, David.’ I sat back in my chair. ‘So, we’ve narrowed it down to the bartenders, Wesley Bray, Ethan Hines and Buck Carney,’ I said, counting the suspects off on my fingers. Then I had a sudden thought: ‘Pia, who did you mean when you mentioned the “usual suspects”? Am I missing anyone obvious?’

  ‘Only myself and Tom to add to the three you mentioned that I know of, staff-wise.’ Pia paused. ‘What do we do now?’ she wanted to know. ‘Do we have a plan?’

  ‘David?’ I asked.

  David shuffled his papers, tapped them on the table to even up the edges, then stuck the papers back into his briefcase. ‘Up until now, I’ve been keeping a low profile, but I think I’m going to come out of the woodwork. Start playing hardball. Officer Martin doesn’t know who I am, but I think he’s about to find out. He wasn’t involved in the investigation into my daughter’s disappearance, so he probably can’t see the connection. But I can’t imagine any honest officer would want to tolerate the presence of a pedophile and murderer on his ship. If we put our heads together …’ David let the sentence die.

  Pia squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.

  David noticed. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t involve you, Miss Fanucci.’

  ‘So, what’s your plan?’ I asked him.

  ‘I’m going to talk to Martin, of course. Lay it all out. I’d appreciate it if you’d come along, Mrs Ives. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about dealing with cruise ship corporations, it’s never go in alone. Always take a witness.’

  ‘I think it goes both ways, David,’ I said with a smile. ‘Ben Martin always has Molly Fortune and her trusty little notebook along.’

  I agreed to accompany David to the security office, but I felt a twinge of guilt about blindsiding Ben Martin like that. And then I thought, no, that’s why they pay him the big bucks, to deal with people like me. Martin was between a rock and a hard place. To keep his job he had to keep the owners happy, but that meant keeping customers happy, too. If so, we might find him more willing to cooperate.

  ‘When shall we beard the lion in his den?’ I asked.

  ‘What’s wrong with now?’

  SEVENTEEN

  ‘The owner of a vessel to which this section applies (or the owner’s designee) shall contact the nearest Federal Bureau of Investigation Field Office or Legal Attache by telephone as soon as possible after the occurrence on board the vessel of an incident involving homicide, suspicious death, a missing United States national, kidnapping, [or] assault with serious bodily injury.’

  Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010

  (H.R. 3360)

  ‘Ben isn’t here right now,’ Molly Fortune told us. ‘He’s checking on an issue with one of the security checkpoints. Why don’t you come back in about half an hour?’

  ‘That’s OK, we’ll wait,’ David said, claiming the seat nearest the door.

  The frown lines between Fortune’s eyes deepened. ‘Is Julie OK?’

  I was quick to reassure her. ‘Julie’s fine under the circumstances, Officer Fortune, but we’re here on a related issue.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’

  Figuring it would do no harm, I introduced her to David Warren. ‘David and I met quite by accident,’ I said, ‘but we recently discovered we have something in common. We think the information might help Officer Martin solve the mystery of who attacked my niece.’

  Fortune’s eyes widened with interest. ‘Can you tell me about it?’

  ‘We could,’ David said, ‘but it’s rather complicated. Rather than have to explain it several times, I’d rather wait for your boss.’

  ‘Completely understandable,’ Fortune agreed. ‘I’ll page him, then. In the meantime, can I get you anything to drink?’

  It was almost lunchtime, and the only thing I’d eaten all morning was the latte I’d brought with me to the meeting in the library. ‘Coffee would be great,’ I told her. ‘If it’s not too much trouble.’

  ‘Coffee’s fine for me, too,’ David said.

  The Firebird café was only one deck above our heads, so the steward who responded to Fortune’s call arrived within minutes carrying a carafe, four cups, assorted packets of sugar, and miniature tubs of cream. I was stirring cream into my coffee and wondering what to do with my bits of trash when Martin returned.

  ‘Mrs Ives, I understand you have some information for me.’

  I stuck the plastic stirrer into the empty sugar packet and tucked them away in my pocket. ‘Not me, exactly, but Mr Warren here.’

  David stood and offered his hand to be shook. ‘Officer Martin, I’m David Warren. My daughter was Charlotte Warren, a youth counselor on board Phoenix Voyager some eighteen months ago.’

  Martin inhaled sharply, replied carefully, ‘Ah, yes. Quite naturally, I’ve heard about the case.’

  ‘Whatever they told you, Officer Martin, I need you to understand that my daughter did not commit suicide. When you hear what I have to say, I think you’ll agree with me.’

  Martin nodded and released David’s hand. ‘Why don’t we all sit down?’

  After everyone was settled, I said, ‘David and I believe there’s a connection between the fifteen-year-old girl who was drugged and raped on that Voyager cruise and what happened to my niece, Julie, here on the Islander. We believe that there is a serial predator on board the Islander who was also aboard the Voyager, that he attacked these two girls – and perhaps others we don’t know about as well – and that, given the opportunity, he will do it again.’

  ‘Charlotte knew the victim, you see,’ David continued. ‘When she heard about the attack, it upset her very much, so much so that she called us about it. I believe that Charlotte subsequently discovered the person who was responsible. Whether she confronted him or not we don’t know, but somehow he must have gotten wind of it and murdered my daughter to keep her quiet.’

  Martin considered us in silence for a moment. ‘Two attacks separated by eighteen months on two different vessels. As deeply invested in this theory as you appear to be, even you have to admit that it’s a bit of a long-shot.’

  David reached for his briefcase and set it on his lap. ‘There were some peculiarities about the Noelle Bursky case,’ he said, as he began to leaf through the documents. ‘It’s clear that the attack was planned, because two of the security cameras had been put out of commission. The one covering the Tidal Wave club on the Voyager had been vandalized, and the other camera was neutralized by the simple expedient of draping a pool towel over the lens. When my daughter disappeared, a similar trick was used. A towel was draped over the camera that covered the area where she presumably went overboard, the area on deck five where her red heel was later found.’

  Martin and Fortune exchanged a quick glance, but David was too engaged in his narrativ
e to notice. ‘Because of this person’s familiarity with the ship’s security cameras, I think it’s reasonable to conclude that he was Voyager staff or crew. Now! We know that there are a number of individuals on board Islander who were also aboard Voyager when my daughter fell to her death. Fast forward. Julie Cardinale was attacked under very similar circumstances to the attack on Noelle Bursky. This leads me to believe that whoever attacked Julie Cardinale is the same person who attacked Noelle Bursky and the same person who murdered my daughter, Charlotte.’ He took a deep breath, exhaled. ‘One. And. The. Same.’

  Martin reached out. ‘May I see that report?’

  ‘Certainly.’

  Martin scanned the report, flipped to the second page, scanned it, too, then looked up. ‘Where did you get this information?’

  ‘I hired a private investigator.’

  Martin handed the report to Molly Fortune. ‘Take a look at that, Molly.’

  While Molly was going over it, I said, ‘Because of the drugs, Julie’s memory of her abduction is patchy, but as you know, she was able to describe an individual wearing a black polo shirt and a ball cap. Would you be agreeable to letting Julie watch the security tapes to see if she can spot that person? Perhaps if she sees his face, it will jog her memory.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Ives, but that’s simply not possible. It would be against company policy. We’ve made copies, as I promised. Our legal department has authorized me to turn the copies over to the F.B.I., along with all the other evidence we’ve collected, as soon as we reach Baltimore. They’re the ones to do a proper investigation.’

  David turned to look at me, his upper lip curled. ‘I warned you that Phoenix Cruise Lines would circle the wagons.’

  Ben Martin stiffened. ‘Mrs Ives …’ he began.

  ‘It’s all right, Officer Martin. You’re just doing your job. I appreciate that you’re following federal guidelines, and that you’ve been so cooperative.’

  David muttered something under his breath that might have been ‘balls.’

  ‘But since you’ve reviewed the video tapes and I haven’t,’ I continued, ‘there’s something that’s been bothering me.’

  ‘Yes? How can I help?’

  ‘There are two cameras in the Breakers! bar area, correct? One near the entrance that also covers the Tidal Wave Club, and the other in the bar area itself?’

  ‘Correct.’

  ‘Earlier, when you described what was on the tapes to me, you said that one camera captured Julie and her friends sitting at a table in the corner, and that other than the waiter who delivered their drinks, nobody else approached them while she was sitting there.’

  ‘I believe that’s what I said. Something like that, anyway.’

  ‘I know that Julie’s glass had a secure-fitting lid, with only a small hole to accommodate the straw, so it’s reasonable to assume that none of the young people sitting at the table with Julie had the opportunity to introduce Ketamine into her drink.’

  ‘That would seem to be the case.’

  ‘I’m not familiar with Ketamine and my old standby, Google, doesn’t work all that well out here – doesn’t work at all, in fact – but, I’ve been wondering. Does Ketamine come as a liquid or powder?’

  ‘Both,’ David answered without hesitation. ‘Ketamine was used on Noelle Bursky, too.’

  I gave him a 500-watt smile. ‘Thank you, David,’ I said, then turned back to Officer Martin. ‘OK, so help me out here. Julie ordered her drink at the bar. The bartender on duty at the time – I think she said her name was Kira – mixes the drink in the blender and while it’s whirring around, she fixes soft drinks for the others at the table. All the drinks go on a tray, get capped and stuck with straws, and the waiter carries the tray to the table. Correct?’

  ‘Yes, I believe so.’

  ‘Well, frankly I can’t see how it’s possible that Julie’s drink was drugged anywhere except at the bar, either by the bartender who was actually making the drink, or by the second bartender on duty that day, or by somebody else entirely, perhaps when the bartender’s back was turned.’ I paused to let that sink in. ‘It was a very busy time of day, remember? The pizza party was over, the movie was about to begin. Wesley was frazzled. I saw for myself that the tables were crowded. There had to have been other people to-in and fro-ing around that bar. Those people must have been captured on the security tape, so tell me, who else did you see?’

  Officer Martin cleared his throat. ‘Uh, this is embarrassing. I’m afraid that particular camera was not in operation.’ To his credit, he actually flushed. ‘The men minding the monitors picked up on it, of course. When the technician they sent up to check on it got there, he discovered that someone had draped a towel over the lens.’

  I recoiled as if I’d slapped in the face. ‘You knew about this and didn’t tell us?’

  ‘What was the point? We’ve interviewed the staff, and we have a pretty good idea which adults were in the Tidal Wave area at the relevant time, but as I pointed out to you earlier, Mrs Ives, we are not the police. We cannot make arrests.’

  ‘Oh, for the love of God, we’re talking about a kidnapping here!’

  At least he had the decency to look embarrassed.

  David shot to his feet, snatched his report off Molly Fortune’s desk, crammed it in his briefcase and said, ‘Come on, Hannah, let’s let Officer Martin and Officer Fortune get on with their work. I’m sure they have many important things to do.’

  He seized me by the elbow and hustled me out into the corridor so fast that I barely had time to say goodbye.

  ‘What was that all about?’ I asked when we were out of earshot of Security.

  ‘The towel!’ he crowed. ‘That proves it! It’s definitely the same M.O.’

  I shook my arm free. ‘I realize that, David, but why are you in such an all-fired hurry?’

  ‘While it certainly would have been helpful to see the security tapes, Hannah, that’s not our only option. What did people do before there were security tapes?’

  I stopped so quickly that my shoes squeaked on the marble floor. I had been so focused on state-of-the-art, hi-tech options, on what the security tapes might tell us, that I had overlooked the obvious. ‘We talk to people. We schmooze. That’s what we do!’

  We’d reached the elevators. Without consulting me, David pushed UP. He glanced at his watch. ‘And if we hurry, the same young people who were there yesterday will just be coming on duty.’

  EIGHTEEN

  ‘Unless you have the rotating eye skills of a chameleon, it’s hard to watch out for your drink at the same time you watch out for that cute guy on the dance floor. No matter how self-aware you are, there’s always a chance of getting an unexpected pharmaceutical present in your beverage on a night out. Any drink, even an innocent tonic water, can turn into a cocktail that takes you to the Twilight Zone if it’s unattended.’

  http://howto.wired.com/wiki/

  Up at the Tidal Wave, Wesley Bray, as usual, had his hands full. Teens and parents, signing in, signing out, wave upon wave. The rock wall was open, we learned from one of the parents standing in line, as well as the bungee trampoline, and don’t we wish we could do that. Other events included a blindfold obstacle course, a silly dives contest in the pool area, and another showing of Hunger Games.

  David and I waited impatiently until Wesley had finished gathering the rock-climbing contingent and had sent them off to the stern of the ship with one of the youth counselors.

  ‘Wesley,’ I said.

  He looked up from his clipboard, his curious look changed to recognition, then back to serious again. ‘We are so glad to hear that your niece has been found, Mrs Ives. How is she doing?’

  I gave what was becoming my stock answer. ‘Fine, under the circumstances.’

  I was surprised that he knew my name. Then it occurred to me: the staff had been briefed.

  ‘We’ve just been meeting with the security officer, Wesley, and he tells us that the surveillance camera that
covers the bar in there …’ I pointed to Breakers!, where two bartenders were already busy fixing drinks. ‘… well, it was out of commission.’

  The line between Wesley’s eyebrows deepened as he seemed to be considering what to say, then relaxed as he came to the right decision. ‘That’s true, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I’d like you to meet someone, Wesley.’ I turned to David Warren. ‘You knew David’s daughter, I believe. Charlotte Warren.’

  Wesley’s eyes widened as recognition dawned. ‘Char. I did. I’m so sorry for your loss, Mr Warren.’

  David nodded in acknowledgement, his mouth set in a grim line. I wondered how many times he had heard those empty words coming out of the mouths of Phoenix Cruise Lines’ personnel.

  ‘Do you also remember a passenger on that cruise, a young girl named Noelle Bursky?’ I asked.

  ‘Oh, Lord, how could I forget? She disappeared from Breakers! on …’ He blinked. ‘Oh, shit. I don’t think I better say any more.’

  ‘I’m going to be perfectly frank with you, Wesley,’ David said as he eased closer to the counter. ‘We think, and by “we” I mean Mrs Ives here as well as the security professionals aboard the Islander; we believe that the same person who abducted Mrs Ives’s niece also abducted Noelle Bursky and pushed my daughter overboard to her death. If that’s true, then the list of suspects is narrowed down to individuals who are here on Islander who were also on Voyager that day. We know you fall into that category, but we also know that you were right here on duty at the time Julie Cardinale was assaulted. What I’d like to ask you now is, do you remember anybody who was hanging around Breakers! that day, anyone who either worked or was also a passenger on Voyager?’

  During this long speech, Wesley eyes had been riveted on David’s face. Once the speech was over, Wesley took a deep breath, then gazed over David’s shoulder, as if his answer lay somewhere out at sea.

  ‘Wesley?’ I said.

  Wesley started, and turned his dark hazel eyes on me. ‘I wish I could help, honestly, but I simply can’t remember anyone hanging around that day, other than the parents who were coming to drop off or pick up their kids, you know?’