Paradise Can Be Murder

by Susan Bernhardt

  Was the newlywed I was sharing the raft with starting to miss her husband?

  I laughed. “I doubt Phil would give up zip lining for a mellow river like this.”

  * * * *

  Elizabeth and I decided to have coffee while waiting for Deirdre and Janey at a shopping center. Milling around the various outdoor eateries sun-covered with leafy trees and bright flowers, we found an empty outdoor table shaded by a tall palm tree. It was a perfect spot for watching tourists and shoppers pass by. A nearby clock in the area struck two. I took this time to call Neelam to find out how everything was going. I had been waiting until we got off the ship, as it was expensive to place a call on board.

  “All is going fine here, Kay, don’t worry about us,” Neelam said. “Just enjoy your trip.”

  I had known Neelam for two years now and her voice didn’t sound convincing to me at all, that everything was fine. “Are you sure, Neelam? Have you had any other threats?”

  “Kay, don’t worry. You worry too much sometimes. If anything goes wrong, it’s a police matter anyway.”

  “Neelam, we’re almost half way through the cruise. I will call you as soon as we get back.”

  “Sounds good. Now enjoy the rest of your trip. By the way, how is Janey liking the cruise?”

  I sighed. “You knew also? Everyone sure was good at keeping that secret.”

  “Dinesh told me on the way home from the bon voyage party.”

  “She’s having a blast. She’s met new friends, and other than having to sleep in our stateroom, it’s been all right so far. She adds a lot to the fun.”

  “I’m so glad. I was a bit stunned when I heard how Phil planned to surprise you. Wish I could have seen your face.”

  I laughed. “It wasn’t pretty. Janey has it captured on film.”

  “At least you can laugh about it.”

  I glanced over at Elizabeth. She was waving and making kissing motions. I laughed. “Elizabeth is sitting next to me and sends her love.”

  “Tell her thanks. We’ll see you all soon.”

  When Deirdre and Janey finally showed up, Janey couldn’t stop talking about riding the dolphins. “I hung on to my dolphin’s pectoral fins and she glided me through the water.”

  “You had a female dolphin?”

  “I assumed she was. She was sweet and smart and felt so smooth. She did exactly what I told her and was so much fun to be around. I’ll never forget this experience.”

  Deirdre laughed. “I had to practically drag Janey away.”

  “I didn’t want to leave. Can I do this again, if there’s another excursion like this?”

  “Sure. We’ll see if it’s offered.”

  “What made you think she was female?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Well, actually Deirdre told me she was.”

  “I could sense her thoughts,” Deirdre said. “She was pregnant.”

  Elizabeth looked up in the air, then at Deirdre. “How could you possibly know that?”

  “It was a spiritual connection. It can happen between species. Not that you’d ever believe it, but communication is possible.”

  Elizabeth smirked. “Did she tell you if she was having a boy or girl?”

  Janey half rolled her eyes. “My dolphin was really fast. She was great!” Janey took off and walked over to an art store we were sitting near, looking at the window display.

  “I wanted to buy a photo of Janey with her dolphin, but she said it was a rip off and said she’d keep the memory forever with or without a photo. They were a bit pricey. I did anyway when she went off to see an exhibit.”

  Deirdre took the photo out of a folder in her backpack and showed it to us. “I’ll surprise her with the photo at the end of the cruise to add to her collection of the trip.”

  “What a great keepsake this is,” I said, then passed the photo to Elizabeth.

  “Really adorable.”

  “Thanks, Deirdre. That was extremely thoughtful.”

  “It was my treat. She’s such a sweet, young lady. She certainly has changed since I first met her. I bet you and Phil played a big part in that. I’ll never forget the day she arrived at your house and her dancing on your guest bed, after we followed a trail of potato chips up to the bedroom.”

  I smiled. “She certainly has changed.”

  When Janey started walking into the art store, I got up and followed her. On the way, I saw Phil and the blues singer, Sparkle, several stores down. I called out “Phil!” He didn’t hear me and entered the store. What was he doing here with her of all people? I looked at the sign hanging out from the store. A jewelry store? He wasn’t one to buy jewelry. At least not for me. I felt like kicking myself after I thought that. Phil was totally trustworthy.

  Wanting to follow Phil, but needing to catch up with Janey, I entered the art store. She was in the back, looking at an art kit.

  “Look at this kit. It’s so cool.”

  “It does look like a great kit. Would you like it?” I wanted to get out of the store and see what Phil was doing.

  “Sure.” Janey pointed to the box. “Look, there’s a drawing book that has exercises on perspective and shading and everything. See.” She handed me the box.

  I started towards the front of the store as I looked at the art kit. Janey followed. Waiting in line, I looked back at her. “When I was young I received a similar kit for Christmas one year with colored pencils, pastels, markers. It also had a book on drawing. I had a lot of fun with it.”

  At the register, Janey picked up a couple of black markers for outlining. After paying for our purchases, we left and hurried over to the store Phil and Sparkle had entered. Glancing into the windows of the jewelry store, I didn’t see either of them. Why were they together in the first place and second, why would they have gone to a jewelry store?

  Janey and I entered the store. I looked around, still not seeing Phil. The store had a fine selection of silver jewelry. I stopped and looked at a beautiful silver bangle that I thought would be perfect for Neelam. I liked it so much, I bought similar bracelets for Rose and Frances. Will and Frances had been dating now for almost a year and a half. I wondered if I’d be having another daughter-in-law soon.

  Phil said he would take care of getting Andrew and Will’s gifts and planned to buy them something music related. At the last minute, before meeting with the others, I bought a Tortuga rum cake for Dinesh at a souvenir shop. I couldn’t think of anything else for him. Perhaps Phil should have gotten his gift as well.

  We soon met up with Elizabeth and Deirdre. Elizabeth showed me a tropical shirt she had bought for John. The four of us got on the bus and headed back to the ship.

  * * * *

  Before we went to dinner that night, I asked Phil about being at the shops with Sparkle. He seemed evasive and didn’t respond to my question about seeing them shopping, but mentioned that a number of entertainment members from the ship were on the expedition he and Mike had taken. He said he had been surprised to see her there. I didn’t want to press the matter, possibly end up in an argument, and ruin the evening. I had also noticed two members of the entertainment crew on the rafting trip. It was possible that the ship sent crew members on all of the excursions.

  At dinner that evening, a taste of Jamaica was offered: a scrumptious sampling of coconut shrimp, jerk pork and chicken, curried chicken with mango chutney, and salted fish.

  “Ya mon!” Phil exclaimed when he saw the plates of food. He and Mike then proceeded to tell us about their adventures that day in between bites. “We could have touched the top of the trees when we rode through the rainforest to get to the mountain.”

  “It was stunning. We were so high up you could see the coast,” Mike added.

  “Did you see any animals?” Janey asked.

  “Lots of birds soaring,” Phil said.

  “At one point Phil thought he kept seeing snakes up in the trees, but it was some kind of plant growing up there.”

  Phil’s face took on a tinge of red.
r />   “I bet you were seeing strangler ficus trees.” Deirdre said. “I’ve read about those. They establish on a host tree and then encircle it, thus the name strangler, and take over the tree. It then becomes the free standing tree.”

  Phil shrugged. “It might have been. The bobsled ride was thrilling down the mountain. Lots of sharp turns.”

  “It was an adrenaline rush. We each controlled our own brakes. I barely touched mine.” Mike laughed. “I lost my hat on the ride. Deirdre, you would have loved it. Zip lining was quite the adventure through the rainforest canopy.”

  Phil looked over at the table with the two couples. “They were also zip lining. The one woman was complaining that some of the lines were too short.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “She’s a compulsive complainer.”

  Elizabeth, Deirdre, and I all looked over at our other couple, Sybil and George eating in silence. I shrugged. That was probably preferable to eating with insults.

  “So how was your day?” Phil asked.

  Janey excitedly started in first. “I kissed a dolphin.”

  * * * *

  When we got back to the room that evening, Janey showed me what seemed like hundreds of photos she took during the day. She did this each evening before she’d go to bed. I even asked to see the photos some evenings so she would go to bed. She took photos of anything and everything, and I mean everything.

  “What are these?”

  “Close-ups of ice cubes in a glass.”

  “Aren’t you getting a bit carried away with your photography?”

  “I thought they’d make great art, better than what we saw at the art auction.”

  Many of the other photos looked exactly the same, like she shot the pictures seconds apart. She was a pretty good photographer. Of course, she certainly had enough practice.

  “Janey, that reminds me,” Phil said. “Here’s a new memory card for your camera. Your father gave it to me before he left for California. I figured I’d wait until you were halfway through the trip.”

  I looked at Phil. “More ice cube shots.”

  “Funny,” Janey said sarcastically.

  That evening, after we had settled into our beds, there was a big storm. The ship vibrated and rocked side-to-side in extremely rough seas. The hangers in our closet were swinging back and forth. It was unbelievable that Phil and Janey could sleep through this. I listened to creaking noises and the rumbling of what I could only imagine were the engines, for quite a while before getting out of bed. I went over and looked out the balcony door and up at the sky. The stars were obscured by a heavy fog.

  Returning to bed, I listened to Phil’s and Janey’s soft snoring. They both were in sync with each other. I smiled. Too bad they weren’t always this much in sync when they were awake. Although on this cruise, they had gotten along splendidly.

  Eventually the ship rocked me to sleep.

  Chapter Nine

  Day Five on the ship

  Wednesday, March 30

  “IT DOESN’T FEEL like we’re moving,” I called out from the bed to Phil who was sitting on the balcony. The balcony door stood wide open, the sofa made up. Janey must have been already out of the room. Her camera was missing from the desk.

  “That’s because we aren’t. We’re dead in the water.”

  I heard an announcement over the public address system and quickly reached for the remote on my bedside table. I turned on the television to hear that the ship was having technical difficulties with the propulsion system and something about a drive train. We were stalled. The parts would be flown out to the ship and the engineers would get right on the problem.

  After the announcement, I put on my robe and went over to the balcony. “Phil, how can the ship break down and we still have electricity? And what’s a drive train?”

  “The drive train is the system where the power gets transmitted from the motors to the propellers. There may be a number of possible points of failure. The generator is still producing electricity.”

  Having no idea what he was talking about, I shrugged my shoulders and went back in the room.

  Janey burst into the stateroom all hot and bothered, looking incredibly disappointed. “Did you hear the announcement? Does this mean we aren’t going to make it to Grand Cayman? What about our plans? The dolphin encounter? I was looking forward to swimming with the dolphins again.”

  “I’m sorry. The situation is out of our hands. I think you should consider today being another sea day. The announcement said the ship was well stocked in Jamaica. There’s plenty of food. I’m sure more fun activities will be added to the schedule.”

  “Right!” she said in a sarcastic voice. “More fun than swimming with the dolphins?”

  Although at times Janey seemed wise beyond her years, other times, she seemed immature, as I had mentioned to Phil. “I know it’s disappointing. You could go see what the tween group is doing or practice your art skills with the kit you just got. There’s plenty to do. Work on your report.”

  “Do you suppose I could take photos of the men working on the ship? That would be exciting for my school report. A stalled cruise ship doesn’t happen every day.”

  “I doubt they would let you get anywhere near the area,” I said.

  She sat beside me on the bed. “What if the ship was sabotaged?”

  “By the pirates of the Caribbean?” Phil called out from the balcony. “Better batten down the hatches, blockade the door.”

  I looked over at Phil trying to keep a straight face. “I’m sure the ship wasn’t sabotaged.”

  “Have you ever heard of a cruise ship being taken over by pirates?” Janey asked.

  “Stalled, yes. Taken over? Not in the Caribbean for hundreds of years. Anyway, you don’t need to worry about things like sabotage and pirates. They aren’t going to happen.”

  Phil called out from the balcony, “Let Kay worry about that!” He laughed.

  I smirked, shook my head, and then smiled at Janey.

  She rolled her eyes, then grabbed the art kit from the desk and left the stateroom abruptly, her camera swinging from her neck.

  I went out on the balcony. “I wonder what will happen if they can’t get the ship started?”

  “Well, we had better get our money back,” Phil said. “The ship would get towed.”

  “I’m sure this will only be for a day. We still have half of the cruise left.”

  There was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Deirdre and Mike standing there. “Kay, Elizabeth is waiting with Sybil down at the atrium. We found Sybil sobbing at a table by the pastry shop.”

  Mike raised his eyebrows and walked into our room over to the balcony. “Drama. Always, drama. Even on the ship.” He sat next to Phil. They both looked out at the water.

  That remark seemed a bit uncalled for. Sometimes, when in close quarters for a while, people start to grate on each other. I always thought of Mike as easy-going. I suppose irritation could be his reaction to the ship being stalled. “I’ll just be a second, Deirdre.” I went into the bathroom and quickly got dressed.

  When we arrived at the cafe, we saw Elizabeth consoling Sybil over luscious looking pastries. After picking up a couple of beignets, fruit tarts, and large coffees, we sat down with them.

  “George said it was a mistake to have married me.” Sybil wiped her eyes with a tissue. “He was so hurtful. He said he can’t take it anymore.”

  Elizabeth chimed in. “Sybil says George goes through these mood swings from time to time. That he’s depressed.”

  “I’m sorry, Sybil. Could be he’s upset, frustrated about the ship being stuck here,” Deirdre said.

  “I mentioned that. I said things would pick up once the ship got started again.”

  I took a sip of my coffee. Reaching for the sugar, I added some to the cup and stirred it. I took another sip watching Sybil.

  “I can’t take his depression much more,” Sybil said then looked down. “It’s not just the ship. He’s threaten to kill himsel
f in the past and he lashes out. He’s always finding fault with me. You must hear him at dinner.”

  Elizabeth put her cup down hard on her saucer. She had a bad habit of doing that when upset. I had already seen her break a cup once or twice. Thank goodness it wasn’t one of mine. “Divorce him.”

  I looked at Elizabeth and frowned. How much did we really know about Sybil and George? We certainly heard an earful from her just now and we didn’t like what we saw or heard from George, but for Elizabeth to tell a stranger to get a divorce, that was going too far.

  Deirdre patted her mouth with her napkin. “It’s not our place to give advice, Elizabeth.”

  “I tell it like it is, Deirdre.”

  Elizabeth really didn’t know what it was. I was starting to wonder if any of us really knew the truth about Sybil or George. I already had my doubts about Sybil. Elizabeth was sympathetic towards Sybil, probably because she had been in a loveless marriage for many years. She had gotten married right out of high school when she learned she was pregnant, and stayed in the marriage until her son started college.

  “I’m afraid George might try and kill himself. Jump overboard or something,” Sybil said, looking down, not meeting our eyes.

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was hard to believe George being suicidal. He seemed more angry than depressed. But then anger can be a symptom of depression and we didn’t know him either. “If you think George is going to try and kill himself, you need to contact the authorities on board, Medical or Security, to tell them the situation. Has he tried to get help for his depression?”

  I watched as Sybil fidgeted with a napkin, then tore it into pieces. What was the purpose of Sybil telling us all of this? Why did she keep mentioning George being depressed?

  When Sybil didn’t respond, I asked her, “Sybil, do you believe in coincidences?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What are the odds of running into someone you know on a cruise?”

  She shifted in her chair and didn’t respond. She pushed her pastry around on her plate, biting at her lip.

  “Janey said she saw you yesterday evening in a lounge with the man we had talked about at tea the other day.” I didn’t mention the kiss.