I realized it was William’s voice that advised us to check anything bought on shore. He said the smugglers were using false bottoms, coral pieces sewn into hems and seams, inserted into ceramics, purses, gift baskets, rolled up T-shirts, and a number of other places. I was horrified that some of this contraband was probably in our stateroom.
As if reading my mind, William warned not to remove anything from the items. We must catch the smugglers in the act of retrieving the coral. They obviously had access to the staterooms so there had to be a crew connection. We had to devise a way of making the smuggler believe we wanted “in” on the action. Perhaps Hattie’s spyware would help after all. I’ll bet she had an arsenal in her possession. But of course, that meant telling Hattie everything which we would have to do eventually anyway.
Looks like the proverbial ball was in my court. Only two more days at sea to bring these smugglers to justice and solve the case. No way was I letting them off the ship to redeem a fortune in illegal coral.
I had two ideas. The first involved the ship’s tour that was free because of Suzy and Amy’s Platinum status. The other involved the Friends of Dorothy gathering which was supposed to take place tomorrow night. I was excited and terrified at the same time. Finally, the Thursday Club will go into action. I wasn’t a lone ranger. I might be brave but I wasn’t stupid.
Just to be sure I watched the video again. This time I forgot to insert the ear plugs because I was concentrating hard to identify the two people who looked vaguely familiar. Nothing. But maybe when the girls watched it they would spot our smuggler companions.
At that moment a familiar face appeared over the monitor.
“Checking in with Tom?” Amy asked.
I blanched. Lying to my friends was not one of my strong points.
“Yes, just having an online chat.”
“I know you are lying. You always lose color in your face when you lie. Besides yesterday you mentioned that Tom was unreachable today because he was traveling. And why the earphones? Now spill before I alert everyone on this ship that there was no murder and that there are smugglers among us.” Amy’s voice quivered but I knew she was serious.
“Pipe down. I will tell you everything. Just not here. We have to find somewhere private.”
“How about the fitness room or the spa?” Amy suggested.
We caught the elevator to Deck 14. This deck was one I hadn’t checked out. The fitness room was large and chocked full of folks on steppers, rowing machines, and treadmills. I hadn’t seen that much spandex stretched to its capacity in a long time. I felt like we were inside a ticking time bomb that a single Twinkie© could erupt. Imagine the damage that all of that latex could do! With a giggle we passed up that facility and checked into the spa. After a quick surveil we headed for the Salt Room. Luckily no one was there as it was nearing the dinner hour. In a few minutes I laid out everything I knew. Amy cried a few tears when I told her about William showing up in Atlantis.
They were tears of joy and probably relief. I talked rapidly and in between begged forgiveness for holding out on her. By the end of my explanation of the video, she was patting my hand and apologizing for my having to carry the entire burden. She knew of course about the USB and the video. I revealed my plan to show it to all the girls now that we were at sea. Everyone had to be in agreement so that we could end this voyage with smugglers arrested and the black coral reefs safe from plunder.
“It’s going to be hard to keep my joy about William from the others,” Amy said. She was taking all of this much better than I imagined.
“I will try to keep up the grieving pretense a little longer, so that no one will question me,” she decided out loud.
“Good plan,” I agreed. “Why don’t you go back to the room first? I will follow in about 30 minutes or so. We can get dinner and have an early night. The girls are pretty tired from the excursion today so that shouldn’t signal any alarms.”
“One question. Who put the hanging monkey in our room?” She asked.
“The same one who will be retrieving any contraband black coral,” I said. “And that someone hasn’t been identified as yet. But God help them when we know.”
14~
After a night of tossing and turning, Day 8 at sea arrived. It was Go Time for the Thursday Club. The Captain and William obviously communicated after our meet up because there was a message on our phone to be at the Captain’s office at 11:00 a.m.
I didn’t say anything about the Captain’s message until after the Breakfast Buffet. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Hattie complained about the ship “stealing” her rum and vanilla (which was another flavor of rum that she insisted was extract for baking).
“Hattie, once again I will explain. The ship only takes those items for safekeeping until we disembark in Miami. It’s the ship’s policy. I warned you that it would happen. Even if you buy those items on board, they hold them for you until we leave.”
“Humph.”
“And what about the grits. I ordered them from room service and I asked for them here at the buffet. And what do I get? Cream of friggin’ Wheat. It’s NOT the same I don’t care what they say.”
We let her rant on for a while. She finally hushed but she still wasn’t convinced either about the confiscated rum or the grits.
While I had everyone’s attention, I announced that the Captain wanted to meet with us privately in his office. Suzy stared a hole through me and nodded toward Amy who was suddenly intent upon her napkin. I mouthed ‘it’s okay.’ Clara was helping Hattie tie the chin strap on her straw sombrero so she didn’t catch our mimes. We gathered our things and caught the elevator to the Captain’s office on the Deck 15.
Kitty was at her desk and I watched with amusement as the color drained from her cheeks. If looks could kill, our entourage would all be in the morgue.
“Hello Kitty. Remember me? I have an appointment with the Captain.”
Without a word, Kitty took keys from her desk and unlocked the Captain’s office door. We each brushed by her as we entered. She closed it behind us without a single comment.
The Captain wasn’t there but left instructions on how to boot up the computer and insert the USB. He had a ginormous computer screen so that we could all view the video. We pulled up chairs so that all could see. I turned the volume up and took a back row seat since I had already watched it twice. There was an audible whimper when William first appeared. Either Amy was still in shock or a better actress than I pegged her for. Perhaps her brain had accepted the truth but the emotional impact was just now registering.
I gave everyone a few minutes to comprehend what William had told us by laying out the brochures, printed information, maps, and pictures that William had left for us to find. As the shock wore off, Amy and Hattie began to ask questions about the black coral smuggling enterprise. I told them as much as I knew. Clara added what she had found out in her research on the web.
“Why did William have to stage his death?” Clara asked.
“He wanted to smoke out the smugglers and force them to turn on each other. He hoped one group would blame the other for his death, thus causing a division. It makes perfect sense if you think about it,” I answered.
Hattie swiveled herself around so she could face us.
“Girls. To the stateroom. I know exactly how to handle this,” she commanded. “I’ve been waiting for a special occasion to show you something and it looks like this is it.”
I swear I caught a glint in Hattie’s eye. She was on a roll. A gang of experienced smugglers had us at a distinct disadvantage. But we had Hattie, our secret weapon.
Back at the ranch, . . I mean cabin, Hattie made a beeline into her storage compartment and brought out a bag I’d never seen before. She wheeled herself into the common area and spread out its contents onto the dining table.
“Is that a Taser?” Clara asked. “I’ve never seen a real one, only pictures.”
“Sure is,” Hattie cackled. “Along with spy cam
eras, camera earrings, recording brooches, night goggles, and the piece de resistance is one you’ve been ignoring all week.”
With that she moved to the innocent looking picture frame sitting on the counter containing a photograph of our friends at Golden Palms. Hattie picked it up and turned it around.
“What? It’s a photograph,” Clara said.
“That it is,” Hattie clucked, “but it also is a nanny cam. You never know who’s lurking about.”
“So . . Hattie. You knew about this smuggling all along, didn’t you? You knew about Jack, the Captain, the black coral, and everything?” I was perhaps a little annoyed, but at the same time proud of her ingenious friend.
“Yep. Most of it. At the end of each day, I removed the recording cell and replaced it with a new one. When I got a bit of privacy, I slipped the cell into my smart watch and played back what it had recorded all day. I’m not as senile or as innocent as you think. But I do, however, love the fact that you always want to protect me. The other day when you went to the Wine the Musical luncheon I installed a wireless mini monitor so that remotely I could see into our cabin no matter where I was on the ship.”
I was stunned and not by the Taser. Hattie was very pleased with herself, and I had to admit, it was a relief that we were all on the same page. Even if it was a dangerous page to be on.
“Oh and I almost forgot,” Hattie continued. “Just like you lovely sisters had the pendants made for us as a surprise. I also got a deal from Spy Guy on these babies for you.”
With that she opened a box containing four more Tasers similar to the one on the counter. They came in brilliant colors and were small enough to fit in an evening purse. I pinched myself. Could this be real? A ninety-year-old leading the raid on coral smugglers, and just when I thought we had seen everything!
I chose the red Taser. It matched my mood—flushed with embarrassment that a nonagenarian was better informed and armed than any of us. Clara, Amy, and Suzy each chose their weapon along with a brooch and a pair of earrings. Coach Hattie huddled us up and revealed the plan. We were officially the Thursday Club Gang with Hattie as our gun moll. There was no turning back.
~15~
Hattie decided on a black felt Fedora to go with her black and white pants suit. She placed her ruby red spy camera brooch on the side of her hat which gave her a European flair. I had the honor of being her ‘plus one’ to the Friends of Dorothy get-together. I decided on a navy and white dotted sundress with a red scarf on which I placed my spy ware brooch.
Our mission was to locate Jack and her smuggler companions. We were to subtly make a deal for black coral jewelry. With as much innocence as possible, Hattie and I were to record the interaction with our espionage equipment. The gaudy jewelry we were wearing was supposed to take care of all of that. We had practiced over and over in the cabin but I still had my doubts. Each of us wore our cameras and carried stun guns. We actually looked like we knew what we were doing, which of course we DID NOT.
After the initial greetings I picked up a flute of champagne and began to mingle. Hattie positioned herself beside the bar, accepted a drink, and proceeded to let the interested parties come to her.
Meanwhile the nanny cam was on and working. Clara and Suzy were in charge of monitoring with Hattie’s smart watch from the Internet Cafe. We synchronized our watches and cellphones. The picture frame nanny cam was wireless and was motion sensitive. When anyone entered the room, it began soundlessly recording. The girls had my laptop to keep up with that action.
We had Captain Benedict and William on speed dial. But we also had a text code that meant we were in trouble and needed help STAT. Eventually the leathery-looking Jack arrived with an entourage. That black mane had to be dyed. She was eighty if she was a day! Focus Roxy! Focus.
Hattie and Jack were talking and smiling. Hattie waved me over to introduce me to her friends. I was sweating bullets but it wasn’t from the temperature. This was more dangerous that I realized. I was praying an opportunity would arise so that we could make contact with the real smugglers.
“Hello. Remember me I’m Roxy, Hattie’s friend,” I said and offered my hand.
Jack peered over her sunglasses and muttered something. She waved my hand away. I forgot the rule. On shipboard, no handshakes. Germs, you know.
“Oh sorry. I forgot about the no handshaking rule. This is my first cruise and it’s hard to remember everything. Thank you so much for inviting me to your get-together.”
Was I gushing? I didn’t want to overdo it. I just wanted to sound clueless and excited to make friends.
“Yes dear,” Jack said. “I know you are thrilled. These are my friends, Petra and Gwen. If you have pen and paper handy, I need to write down something for Hattie.”
“I think so. Just let me look.”
I flipped on another recording device when I reached into my purse to search for pen and paper. The wireless device went straight to the authorities so they could hear everything.
Jack snatched the pad away from me and scribbled a Deck and Cabin number. She ripped off the sheet and gave it to Hattie. I retrieved the pad she let drop to the floor.
“Is this where we can see the jewelry,” I asked trying to sound dumb.
“Shhh. Not so loud,” Jack warned. “And remember. Cash Only. Be prompt. Our stock is almost gone.”
Jack then turned on her heel, took the Petra’s arm, and sashayed away. We looked at each other with an ‘I don’t believe we pulled it off’ poker face. I placed our empty flutes on the bar and we slowly pushed through the crowd toward the elevator.
Alone in the elevator, we congratulated ourselves. Hattie grinned and said, “One more thing. I did recognize the man in William’s video. He’s the room service steward who brings our breakfast every day. I’ll wager he’s in our room right now ransacking it for the raw coral we’ve conveniently brought aboard for him. I’ve had him on the nanny cam tape several times, but he was only looking in drawers or closets. Though once he looked in the refrigerator. Weird! I don’t know what he expected to find in there. That was before the stop in Nassau. That’s where the big operation is and where we became mules for this operation.
“And another thing, the familiar looking woman we observed in the video, is none other than that scrawny mean-spirited secretary, Kitty, of the Captain’s office.”
“No I don’t think so,” I countered.
“Really? Picture her with a blond wig, dark glasses, and a little padding here and there. Still think she’s innocent? I don’t know if she is working FOR the Captain or WITH the smugglers. Either way she’s got some explaining to do.”
We joined the others at the Internet Café to see what they had picked up on the watch. Via the laptop monitor, we witnessed our cabin steward, Cedric, enter to service our room. Mid-way through making up the room, the room service waiter barged in. He quickly concocted a story about collecting trays. Of course, there were no trays, so he beat a quick retreat. At least, we knew Cedric was innocent.
Just after Cedric and the other crew member collided, Amy came into view. What the hell was she doing at the cabin? When did she slip away?
“Doesn’t she realize that we are watching?” I said to nobody in particular.
Amy went into her bedroom. A few drawers opened and closed. In a few moments, she came out tapped her wrist in front of the picture frame, and headed out. We were all having silent heart attacks.
We continued to wait and watch. Other unidentified people entered the room. We couldn’t make out any faces but they had box cutters and knives. One carried a machete. We assumed that the sharp weapons were for removal of coral, but I was still thankful that Amy was out of harm’s way.
That last fiasco had stretched Hattie’s patience to the limit. She announced, “That’s the last straw. I’ve had enough. I’m going to watch the take down.”
“No Hattie. Are you crazy? These people are dangerous,” I said.
“Yes that’s true. But we know they aren’t
killers, don’t we?”
She had a point. Still I saw everyone’s eyes widen with fear.
“I absolutely forbid it Hattie Sewell!” Suzy yelled. “I am responsible for you. If anything happened that brought you into danger, I would never forgive myself.”
“Damn straight,” Amy added.
We turned to see that she had rejoined us. Suzy yanked her sister’s arm and said, “What the hell were you thinking going back to the room?”
“I went back for this,” Amy said and pointed to a bracelet. “William gave this to me. After I heard he was dead I just put it away and didn’t say anything.”
With all the attention was focused on Amy, we didn’t notice the sound of a scooter slipping away. When we looked up, the elevator doors were closing. Did anyone know where that room was that Jack wrote down?
I used a pencil and lightly shaded the writing pad. Deck 5 Room 5457. I texted the Captain and William that Hattie was on her way and we were not far behind. This was the aft elevator. That meant that when the elevator stopped we needed to go toward the front of the ship to reach that room number.
The Captain texted back ‘danger don’t come’ but it was too late. When we reached the 5th floor a commotion was going on. It seems Hattie had taken the elevator to Deck 6 gone to the forward elevator and continued to Deck 5. That way she was able to head off the escaping smugglers.
When we arrived at the scene, Jack, a surly redhead named Rita that I hadn’t seen before, and Mr. Harrison, the Casino Manager were lying at Hattie’s feet. She had evidently bulldozed her way down the hallway and blocked them with her scooter giving the Captain’s security team a chance to catch up. Jack was limp, the target of Hattie’s Taser. The redhead was not about to mess with Hattie after what she’d just witnessed. Hattie had another weapon poised at Harry’s privates. She did not seem in the least surprised that the Casino Manager was the brains of the smuggler ring. She mentioned that he often talked with her in the casino and even asked her for a dinner date.
Thursday Club Mysteries: All 7 stories Page 12
