Sail Away

by Celia Imrie

  ‘That’s his.’ Suzy pointed to 8127.

  ‘Amanda is next door,’ said Liliane.

  ‘Next door?’ Suzy was shocked.

  ‘It’s too bad,’ said Arturo, flicking at the DO NOT DISTURB signs which dangled from both 8125 and 8127.

  Suzy rapped on 8125. After her recent experience in Appenzell’s cabin she dared not call out.

  ‘Amanda!’ called Arturo.

  ‘Amanda! Amanda!’ echoed Liliane and Myriam.

  Arturo held up a finger and asked them to hush.

  ‘Someone is in there,’ he said. ‘I hear scratching.’ He bent down and put his ear to the door. ‘Someone lying on the floor …’ Arturo got on to his hands and knees, pulled a small mother-of-pearl horn from his pocket and held it up to listen. ‘Who’s there?’ He pressed his finger to his lips and listened intently. ‘They sound very feeble.’

  All three women now banged on both doors, pounding with their fists, kicking with their shoes.

  Attracted by the noise, a flurry of porters and stewards arrived, running down the corridor.

  ‘Mesdames!’ said one. ‘Do stop! People are resting.’

  ‘Someone inside is in grave danger,’ said Suzy. ‘We need to open up.’

  A cabin boy scuttled along. ‘I cannot let you in,’ he said. ‘I saw you here before. I shall have to call an officer to restrain you.’

  ‘You won’t restrain me, though,’ said Arturo, raising his stick and bringing it down hard on the door.

  ‘Please desist,’ ordered one of the stewards. ‘You must not knock. Not when the DO NOT DISTURB signs are up.’

  Suzy grabbed both signs, ripped them off the doors and flung them over her head.

  ‘Now have a go. Open up!’

  Wincing with apprehension, the cabin boy held up his passkey, which swung from a chain round his waist. Arturo snatched it from his hands and dragged the boy forward, then used the card to open Amanda’s door.

  Inside, sprawled on the carpet between the wardrobe and the door, lay Jason, prostrate but on the verge of consciousness.

  ‘Oh, my word!’ cried Myriam, running inside. ‘It’s that handsome giggler.’

  ‘Phone for help, Myriam,’ shouted Suzy, who was kneeling just inside the door, loosening Jason’s clothes.

  ‘The phone is gone!’ Myriam, flustered, looked around on the tops, pulling open the drawers. ‘There IS no phone.’

  ‘Call for a doctor,’ Suzy shouted back to a steward, who stood gaping in the corridor. ‘This is an emergency.’

  The steward turned to run off.

  ‘But where is Amanda?’ Myriam was trying to pull open the balcony doors.

  As Suzy jumped to her feet, Liliane and Arturo stooped to take care of Jason.

  ‘No! Come back!’ Suzy shouted after the steward. ‘First you must open that other door.’

  She pointed at 8127.

  The steward shrank back.

  ‘He frightening man,’ he said, cowering. ‘Too much. No. I cannot.’

  ‘Hear my voice.’ Arturo leaped up and blocked the steward’s way. He pulled a small blue stone on a gold chain from his pocket and dangled it in front of the boy’s eyes. ‘Watch the stone. Do as I say. When I click my fingers, you will freeze.’

  Arturo clicked his fingers. The boy stood transfixed.

  ‘Now open the door to 8127,’ said Arturo, softly but deliberately. As though in a trance, the steward pulled the chain from his waist, went straight to the door and slid in his universal keycard.

  Together Arturo and Suzy pushed the door open.

  Arturo clicked again and the steward stood still, bemused.

  ‘Off you go!’ said Arturo. ‘Get help.’

  The steward ran off.

  Suzy dashed into the cabin.

  Amanda lay inert on the bed, her face in the pillow. She was wearing a bloodstained torn nightgown. A gentleman’s tie was knotted round her neck.

  Suzy climbed up on to the bed and rolled Amanda over. Her face was swollen, her tongue protruding.

  ‘Help!’ Suzy struggled to loosen the tie. ‘Help!’

  Arturo pulled a penknife from his pocket and cut the tie.

  Amanda’s fingers were twitching. As Suzy knelt upright, Amanda took a sudden massive intake of breath.

  ‘We need water,’ said Arturo.

  Myriam ran round the side of the bed and telephoned down to the Medical Centre. ‘This is an emergency! Come to Cabin 8125 and 8127. Bring oxygen.’

  Suzy jumped off the bed and flung open the bathroom door. She stood by the basin, took a tooth mug and ran the tap.

  Then she froze.

  The shower curtain had moved a fraction, giving out a little plastic crackle.

  Suzy knew that Karl Appenzell must be standing in the bath.

  ‘Where’s that water, Suzy?’ shouted Arturo.

  Suzy rested the mug on the basin, turned and ripped open the shower curtain.

  Karl Appenzell fell upon her with all his force. He had a long length of dental floss, wound round and round both hands into a fine but strong string. He drew this around Suzy’s neck, gripping both ends. Suzy struggled. She could not cry out. She tried to pull away but it caused the floss to cut into her skin. Appenzell tightened his grip. She managed to slip one finger under the floss and wriggled it, trying to get herself loose. She could hardly breathe. The pain from garrotte was beyond anything she had ever known.

  Suzy tried to shout but she could not even manage a whisper. Her tongue was being squeezed out of her mouth.

  She knew she could only last a minute or two of this torture.

  ‘Suzy, what are you doing, we need the water!’ Liliane appeared in the doorway. Suzy grasped an arm out in her direction.

  Liliane froze and screamed out to Arturo. ‘Help! Now!’

  Then Liliane turned away. Suzy couldn’t believe it. Liliane was going to leave her here.

  Suddenly Liliane stepped backwards and, gripping the towel rails with all her force, shoved her bottom into Suzy’s stomach, thrusting her against Karl until he lost his balance and reeled back into the bath, losing grip of the garrotte.

  Suzy bent forward, gasping for breath, and staggered out of the bathroom.

  At that moment, Tyger appeared in the cabin doorway.

  ‘I heard all the noise right from the table-tennis room,’ he said. ‘What’s going on?’

  Suzy was on all fours. She rocked towards Tyger, trying to push him out of the way.

  But she was too late.

  Karl jumped out of the bath, shoved Suzy and Liliane out of his path, and ran towards the corridor.

  He grabbed hold of Tyger and sprinted away.

  Suzy, still bent double, teetered forward, trying to chase after Karl. She opened her mouth to scream, but her voice was gone.

  In the distance, along the corridor, she could see the doctor and some uniformed men running in their direction.

  She turned and lurched in the other direction, following Karl, who had slammed out through the door into the table-tennis room.

  When Suzy came into the games room, the ping-pong players were all gathered, cowering, in a corner. One of them pointed towards the door to the open deck.

  ‘They went that way,’ called the kid.

  Suzy hobbled after Karl and Tyger. She stepped outside and was met by a cold damp blanket of fog. Light from the deck lamps pooled in fuzzy white balls, suspended in mid-air.

  She looked around in every direction, listening. But although she could feel the muffled vibrations of the ship’s engines, she could hear nothing but the sheering water being repulsed from the ship’s beam.

  There was no sound of footsteps.

  She stood still, straining to hear. She had no idea which way Karl Appenzell and the boy had gone. The deck was at this point both wide and long.

  To run in the wrong direction now would be a disaster.

  A sudden deep blast from the foghorn shocked Suzy into taking a few tiny steps to keep her balance.

>   She realised that she was nearly at the stern of the ship. Surely Karl would have headed towards the bow, which gave him so many more options: more doors in, more stretches of open deck, more places like tennis courts to hide.

  She spun round and ran forward into the patchy mist, stopping every few moments to listen. After about twenty yards she found herself standing next to one of the large games boxes. She knew these were full of heavy shuffleboard discs and deck quoits. If she opened one up it would at least provide her with something of a weapon.

  She pulled out a rubber deck quoit, then, moving on, unhooked a shuffleboard stick from its clip on the wall.

  The foghorn once more blared out its warning. Suzy wondered why the two blasts were so near to one another. Usually the interval was longer. Was the ship running into some obstacle? Or was the Captain warning another ship it was in their path?

  She moved stealthily along, always scanning the mist for movement.

  A distant sound. Whirring growing louder. Then a helicopter flew above the ship and away. Under cover of the engine noise Suzy ran forward quickly. She managed to cover some distance, certain no one could have heard her footsteps.

  About twenty yards further on there was a sudden break in the haze and Suzy saw them. Karl had his arms around Tyger. He was gripping the boy, bending him back over the rail. Tyger was grappling, trying to push himself away. Doing her best to remain silent Suzy darted forward.

  She wished she could call out for help, but did not want to warn Appenzell that she was so close. She stood very still, pushing herself back against the damp white metal walls. She estimated the distance, then threw the hard rubber quoit high into the air.

  It rose in a steep arc, disappeared for a few moments into the mist then landed with a loud thud, hitting the deck just behind the spot where Appenzell was standing.

  Appenzell jumped back in surprise.

  Tyger pulled away.

  Appenzell looked around.

  He caught eyes with Suzy, then turned and ran.

  Suzy dashed after him, running like she never had run before.

  But he was gone again, disappeared into the fog.

  Suzy halted. She remained motionless, once more listening for footsteps. She could hear nothing but the pulsing of the ship’s engine.

  She tiptoed forward once more. She could see yellow haze flooding through a door. Just beside this was a metal ladder, rising perpendicular up the ship’s side.

  With a holler, Appenzell leaped down from above, landing upon her, flinging her on to the deck.

  Suzy fought to knock him off her but he grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the slippery wooden planks, his own weight preventing her from moving.

  ‘That friend of yours, Jason, deserved what he got,’ he hissed into her ear. ‘He ruined everything for all of you.’

  The dampness in the air made it hard for Appenzell to get a purchase on Suzy’s wet skin and she slid her hands free. They wrestled on the decking.

  ‘I never wanted you in that Zurich theatre company, you bitch. The actress I wanted pulled out. She was a real woman. She had kids. When you joined the show it turned my whole plan into a pointless exercise.’

  Suzy groaned. This appalling man thought that running a theatre company would be an easy way to procure the company of other people’s children.

  ‘You revolt me,’ said Suzy.

  Appenzell shoved her, then rolled her over. He pressed her head down. She brought her knee up, but failed to hurt him. Appenzell flipped her over again, holding her down, pressing her arms against the wooden deck.

  She felt a distant sound, a kind of dull clang.

  ‘You killed Stanley,’ she said.

  Appenzell looked up; at the same time Suzy lurched forward and bit into his cheek, gripping his flesh between her teeth, until he yanked his head back.

  She rapidly rolled away from him, backing up until she hit the ship’s cold metal side. Here she could grasp her way to an upright position.

  Once she was standing she stooped to grab the shuffleboard stick, which she had dropped when Appenzell had jumped her.

  A sudden flurry and she saw him scuttling in her direction. She shunted the stick forward, bumping at his feet, knocking him off-balance.

  Once he was down Suzy jumped, landing with all her force on his back.

  Winded, Appenzell gasped, still grabbing out behind himself to snatch at her ankle.

  In the distance she heard Tyger shouting. ‘This way! This way!’

  ‘Stanley was a fat useless waste of space,’ hissed Appenzell. ‘I wish I’d never set eyes on him.’

  Suzy spat into his face.

  ‘You bitch,’ Appenzell jeered. ‘You and that crazy woman, Amanda.’

  He toppled Suzy back down on to the deck, her cheek hitting the floor with a crack. He pushed her head down, pressing her ear into the wet wood.

  She could hear a pounding sound, like a battery of drums. What was it? Could it be the sound of her own heart?

  Appenzell stayed on top of her, bashing at Suzy with his fists. She lifted one hand and pressed the side of it against Appenzell’s Adam’s apple.

  She was aware of black shadows gathering around her.

  She feared she was losing consciousness until, with three shouted words, the black shadows, moving as one, descended on her and Karl.

  ‘Go! Go! Go!’

  Karl was lifted from her body.

  Three men in black wetsuits stepped forward.

  ‘You OK, ma’am?’ asked one.

  Suzy nodded.

  ‘We got him,’ one of the men in black said into a walkie-talkie.

  They helped Suzy to her feet.

  ‘You put up a great fight there, ma’am. Now we need to get you inside, get some warm clothing on you, and let the doctor take a look at you.’

  He gave a hand signal to another man. They carried Suzy through the main doors into the warmth and safety of the ship.

  She smiled.

  PART SEVEN

  The Hudson River

  22

  At 4 a.m. Amanda was wide awake.

  Since her ordeal last night, she had been handled so kindly by the ship’s staff. The doctor and nurses had treated her cuts and bruises. While the nurse took her blood pressure and temperature, and thoroughly checked her over, Amanda had learned a lot.

  Appenzell had convinced her, while tied up, that she was lying in his cabin, when in fact she had really been lying tied up in her own, which he had methodically stripped down, removing all her personal possessions along with the phone, the tooth mugs and the door handle.

  Once the doctor declared her to be fine, she was told she could go back to the upper ship, but that she should take care in case she had a sudden moment of post-traumatic shock.

  Her own clothes had been taken away by the New York police as evidence so some ladies from the purser’s office brought down fresh new clothing from the onboard shops. She was told it was being provided free of charge by the ship.

  Everything she possessed onboard had been discovered bundled up inside one of Karl Appenzell’s own suitcases, stashed away in his cabin. This was also deemed to be evidence, so now she had nothing whatsoever to call her own.

  Once dressed, Amanda had been taken in a wheelchair (though she could perfectly well have walked) to a luxurious cabin on the top deck where, at the door, the Captain himself had welcomed her.

  ‘Considering everything you’ve been through,’ he said, ‘I have to say you’re looking pretty lovely, Mrs Herbert.’

  ‘I feel such a fool,’ she said, as he took control of the wheelchair and steered her inside.

  ‘I can only apologise for the appalling behaviour of one of our passengers,’ he said, pushing her towards the window.

  The fog had lifted now that they were in the river, and outside Amanda could see the black water, sparkling under a bright full moon.

  ‘I really don’t understand why he chose me to torment,’ said Amanda. ‘Do you know wh
y, Captain?’

  ‘It appears that Karl Appenzell was the previous owner of your new flat in Pimlico.’ The Captain pulled a chair forward so that he could sit close beside her. ‘Do you mind?’

  Amanda shook her head. She found the Captain’s presence immensely calming. He removed his cap and sat down.

  ‘But how can selling me a flat be an excuse for all these horrible shenanigans?’ Amanda could vaguely remember the wretched man hissing something about her flat, as she fell into the drugged stupor. ‘Really. It still does not answer the question why?’

  ‘I gather that Europol had been pursuing this man for some time.’

  ‘But why?’ asked Amanda, realising that it was becoming her standard question. Why, why why?

  ‘Appenzell was a fraudster, on a large scale,’ explained the Captain. ‘For months he had been siphoning off vast amounts of money from the bank accounts of some of the richest people in Europe. And when I say vast, I am talking millions of pounds.’

  ‘And the police waited until a week after he got onboard a ship before coming to arrest him?’

  ‘To be fair, the man went by so many assumed names that they had had trouble pinning him down,’ he said. ‘I gather that the police had got wind, from their colleagues in New York, that he was planning imminently to cash in his illegally gained fortune and then to fly out to Brunei, which has no extradition arrangement.’

  ‘I still don’t get it,’ said Amanda. ‘What have I to do with any of that? I feel so stupid.’

  ‘You mustn’t think that anything was your responsibility. This man was clearly a psychopath.’ The Captain took out a notepad. ‘If you give me your home number I could phone your husband, or …’

  ‘I’m a widow,’ she said. ‘And it’s probably best to leave me to speak to my children. Despite being old enough to have kids of their own, they can get very panicky.’

  ‘I understand,’ he said, putting the notebook away. ‘I’m in much the same position myself. Widower. Children flew the coop many a year ago. It’s a lonely old life …’ His voice trailed off. He put on his cap and stood up. ‘I’d better go now, and let you have some rest.’

  ‘Please, don’t go, Captain,’ said Amanda. ‘I know it sounds absurd, but I need to go on talking about it all, learning everything you might know about how this all came to pass. Every titbit.’