by Dawn Brookes
After she’d run twice round the whole deck, the mist began to lift just as she passed the rails overlooking the lido deck.
“What the heck?” She stopped suddenly and stared down at the main pool. “Hey you, stop!”
Rachel raced down the steps to find a man floating face-down in the pool. But before she had the chance to call for help, she felt a blow to the back of her head and everything turned black.
Seeing stars, Rachel found herself struggling for breath, submerged in the pool. Lifting her befuddled and drenched head to the surface, she managed to tread water towards the body and grab the man’s jacket, pulling him to the side before clambering out.
An elderly couple were taking a morning stroll on the deck above.
“I need help,” Rachel shouted. “Call security and medics.”
The couple looked shocked, but did as they were instructed while Rachel tried to haul the wet body out of the water. The elderly man came to her assistance and they managed to pull him out. Dizzy and light-headed, Rachel was relieved to see Brigitte and Graham arriving.
“Help him.” Rachel pushed Brigitte away.
More white uniforms were arriving, so Rachel allowed herself to be examined by Alex and put on a stretcher.
“How did he get there?” she heard Waverley shout. “Call Ravanos, now!”
Rachel turned round and recognised the man from the pool was Gordon Venables, coughing and spluttering as he was brought round following resuscitation. Waverley looked down at Rachel, concerned.
“Are you alright?”
After touching the back of her head and feeling the sticky viscosity of blood, Rachel grimaced.
“I’ll be fine,” she answered, looking at the blood on her hand. “I’m not sure my phone will be, though.” Her heart sank as she saw her brand new iPhone floating in the pool. Waverley reached in to pull it out and handed it to her – the screen was blank.
“I want to get her to the infirmary for checks,” said Alex. “You guys, take this stretcher.” Two pool attendants appeared along with security officers and medics. Then Sarah arrived and took Rachel’s hand.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Pleased to be moving as she was starting to shiver through the wet clothes, Rachel looked up at her friend.
“Is he going to be okay?”
“Yes, thanks to you. We’ll talk more when you’re out of these soaking clothes. They’re bringing him down too. I’m getting flashbacks to your first cruise, Rachel Prince.”
“Trying not to think about it,” said Rachel. “So much for case solved.”
The infirmary buzzed with hurried but controlled activity once they arrived. Rachel felt sleepy and kept being told to stay awake. Sarah helped her out of the sodden clothes and she was glad to be dry, although the white hospital gown was less welcome.
“Great, now I look like something out of ER.”
The curtains were pulled around her and monitor leads attached to her chest and arm, a clip to her finger. Sarah checked the monitors and wrote notes while Bernard shaved a bit of hair at the nape of Rachel’s neck away in order to apply glue to the gash at the back of her head.
“Looks to me like your shoulder took the brunt of whatever hit you, the bruising’s already coming out,” he said.
The activity outside the curtains sounded distant; Rachel couldn’t focus enough to hear what was happening. Then the curtain opened and a worried looking Marjorie appeared.
“My darling girl.” The old lady took Rachel’s free hand and sat in a chair offered by Sarah. Rachel managed a smile.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. At least you’re going to be alright. Don’t talk yet. He’s hovering outside, itching to come in, but Dr Bentley won’t let him just yet.”
Rachel knew she meant Waverley and was pleased for now not to see him; she didn’t imagine she would make much sense.
Dr Bentley raised his voice. “Look, this is not a circus. Everybody out except the medical team. Sorry, Jack, that includes you. I’ll call you when the patients are stable enough to be spoken to, but for now my team need to get on with their jobs without interruption.”
Marjorie chuckled which made Rachel smile.
“My spinning head is a bit better now,” she said. “Can I have a drink, Sarah, and is the drip necessary?”
“Yes, you can have a drink, and yes, it is necessary. Don’t be difficult, you lost a lot of blood.”
“Okay, in that case, no problem.”
“What would you like to drink, dear?” asked Marjorie. “I’ll find that nice medical attendant, Raggie, to get you something.”
“Black coffee, please.”
“Coming right up.” Marjorie left to find Raggie.
“How are you feeling?” asked Sarah.
“Like I’ve been hit over the head.”
“Can you remember what happened?”
“Vaguely. I’m wracking my brains at the minute, but I need to close my eyes.”
“Try not to go to sleep, we need to make sure you remain conscious.”
“I’ll try. Coffee might help. I’m tired from last night, I only had a couple of hours’ sleep.”
“It did surprise me you were out so early. I was just finishing up treating a passenger when the code blue came through and couldn’t have been more astonished to find you lying on a stretcher again. Really, Rachel, what is it about you that attracts violence?” Sarah frowned, her unusually dull hazel eyes close to tears.
“I don’t know, but I’m here to tell the story. Come on, Sarah, cheer up. It could have been a lot worse.”
“That’s what bothers me, Rachel. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re my best friend.”
Rachel squeezed her hand as Marjorie came back.
“Raggie is bringing coffee for you too, Sarah. You’ve had a shock,” she said kindly.
Sarah smiled at last. “You’re right. I’m overreacting again. I’m not rational at the minute.”
Rachel sat up and Sarah fluffed up the pillows behind her before checking her monitors and writing notes on her chart at the end of the bed.
Pleased to see her friend appeared to be back in control, Rachel asked, “Can I get rid of these monitors? I feel like a high-tech robot with all these tubes and wires.”
Dr Bentley appeared and said good morning tersely while checking the charts, and then he smiled at Rachel.
“It seems you have escaped yet another attack aboard our ship, young lady. You’re out of the woods, but someone will need to be with you for the rest of the day, I’m afraid. We can remove the tubes and wires, though.”
“Thank you.”
“I can be with her,” said Marjorie.
“Me too, in between surgeries,” said Sarah.
“In that case, you can be discharged. I won’t be able to keep Chief Waverley away from you any longer, though. Are you happy to see him before you leave, or would you prefer him to come to your room?”
“Before I leave, but can I have some breakfast first? I’m starving.”
“You can indeed, Miss Rachel.” Raggie appeared with a pot of coffee. “Trays are on the way from the kitchen. What can I get for you? There’s food for everyone.”
Jack Waverley was beside himself with worry and could sense his blood pressure rising as the realisation of what had occurred on board his precious ship sank in. He had just started to relax again after concluding that Gordon Venables murdered his brother in a fit of jealous rage. He hadn’t been concerned about Gordon’s denials – the evidence against him was mounting and Waverley felt sure that once all the facts were gathered, his man would crack. Now, that same man – supposedly under house arrest – had turned up almost dead in the main swimming pool.
After being turfed out of the infirmary, Waverley assigned a security guard to make sure Venables didn’t move.
“Where’s Ravanos?” he bellowed into his radio as he stormed out of the medical centre.
“He’s outside your office
, sir,” came the reply.
Waverley marched towards his office in a rage, seeing the guard sitting outside.
“Wait there,” he snarled.
After unlocking his office and going inside, he called down to the kitchen for coffee and toast, acknowledging the need to calm himself down before interviewing his inept security officer. He kept the blinds closed and put on a relaxation tape before sitting at his desk and practising the deep breathing exercises Graham Bentley had recommended.
The door opened and in came the ever ebullient Brenda with his breakfast. If anyone could help him to relax, it was she.
“I’m so sorry, darling.” She placed the tray down and kissed him on the head, then his cheeks, then his lips. He found himself softening in her embrace and kissed her deeply, wishing he didn’t have to work.
The lingering kiss came to an end. “You sure know how to make a man feel better.”
“I do hope so.” She smiled seductively. “Now, eat.” She poured him some coffee. “I have to get back to work, but remember, I’m on a promise tonight.”
As he watched her leave, he made up his mind – time to remarry. She understood him and was the best thing that had happened to him since his unnecessarily toxic divorce.
He opened the white vertical blinds shielding his office from the corridor and called Ravanos in. The man looked nervous.
“Sit,” Waverley commanded.
Ravanos took the seat in front of his desk while he sat behind it and fired up his computer. He looked up at his officer, finding that his anger had dissipated and confusion had replaced it.
“How did Venables end up in the lido swimming pool?”
“I don’t know, sir. I thought he was in his room until I got the call.”
“Well, Houdini he is not, so admit it, man: did you fall asleep?”
“No, sir, I was awake all night. The only interruption came around 04.30 when one of the crew called me to sort out a disturbance in the corridor. I was only gone a couple of minutes. Just an argument between two of the entertainment team. They calmed down and went to bed.”
“Do you think it was a ruse?”
“Looking back, it must have been, sir. Venables must have been ready to slip away; there’s no way he would have had time to wake up, get dressed and leave otherwise.”
Waverley was thoughtful. “Why would he want to do a disappearing act at that time in the morning? There’s nowhere for him to escape to. What was he up to?”
“I’m really sorry, sir.”
“Don’t worry about it, sounds like we’ve both been played. I need you to find the crew who distracted you and interview them formally. They will be lucky if I don’t get them fired. I’m going back to the medical centre to interview Venables, if Dr Bentley will let me in. At least he’s agreed to let me speak to Miss Prince now that she’s well enough to be discharged.”
Ravanos heaved a sigh of relief and scurried out of the office before Waverley could change his mind.
Waverley pulled up the security record of Gordon Venables again and scanned through to check he hadn’t missed anything. Next of kin, Shirley Venables, wife of twelve months. Enhanced DBS check clear, no name changes, worked for the cruise line for three years, one report of threatening behaviour towards a crewman Miquel Josephs, but complaint dropped by Josephs, and Venables promoted and moved to Coral Queen within six weeks.
Why was the charge dropped? There’s always a reason – something isn’t sitting right.
He picked up the phone.
“Call head office and get me the file on a Miquel Josephs working on the Jade Queen – urgently.”
Next he pulled up the file on Shirley Venables. Dancer, good at her job, worked for the company for six years then had a break when she married Gordon Venables. Appraisals noted she had not mixed well with the dance troupe, which fitted in with her story. One warning for not turning up to do a show, said she had slept through – not unusual as they all worked long shifts on a cruise ship.
His eyes stopped reading and he studied the incident again, finding it linked to a private doctor’s report that he couldn’t access. He emailed the chief medical officer on the Jade Queen and requested information about the incident, explaining the situation and telling him that he needed to know if Venables was ever violent to his wife. He was beginning to sense he might be getting somewhere.
Still believing Venables to be guilty of murder, he shut down the computer and marched towards the infirmary.
Chapter 19
Marjorie brought some dry clothes from Rachel’s room which the younger woman gratefully accepted, and she dressed ready to leave. On opening the curtains, Rachel saw Gordon lying in the bed opposite, looking bemused and terrified. He lifted up his head and stared at Rachel glumly.
“I understand you saved my life, thanks.” His lips trembled as he mumbled the words.
“Anyone would have done the same thing,” she answered, forcing a smile in spite of the pain in her neck and shoulder. He didn’t seem to remember her from either of their previous meetings. “Did you know your attacker?”
“No, he grabbed me from behind and forced me into the pool. The last thing I remember is having my head dunked underwater and struggling to get away with all my might. I panicked because I can’t swim, choked as I inhaled water, then everything went black. The next thing I remember is waking up here.”
Rachel crossed over to his bedside and looked down on the puny man, remembering how just a couple of days ago he’d been beating the brains out of a young Welshman. Did he realise it was she who had pulled him away? If so, he was giving nothing away.
“I’m Rachel, this is Marjorie.”
He looked up, not paying much attention to them, but nodded to Marjorie nonetheless.
“Gordon,” he answered quietly. “I’m the cruise director, or should I say, was the cruise director?” His tone turned bitter.
“Was?” questioned Marjorie, obviously ready to continue the subterfuge.
Bernard sat at a desk in the background. Seemingly happy to let the conversation continue, he winked at Rachel.
“They suspect I killed my brother. He went overboard in Copenhagen.”
“We are aware of that tragedy,” continued Marjorie. “Didn’t he fall?”
“They say someone pushed him over. It wouldn’t surprise me either way – he drank heavily so could have fallen, and he had enough enemies to warrant murder. But he wasn’t pushed by me. Now my wife’s left me and I’m under house arrest, plus someone wants to kill me.” He looked down at the bed and tears dropped like rain, causing a wet patch to form on the hospital sheet. His bottom lip trembled and his shoulders shook as the emotions were released.
Knowing his wife had taken advantage of the situation to escape from this hideous man didn’t bring out too much sympathy from Rachel, but she tried to sound kinder than she felt.
“Do you have any idea who would want to kill you?”
“Not a clue. I don’t know that many people on board this ship, apart from the entertainment staff. I guess someone in my brother’s band might have it in for me if they think I did him in, but then again, they didn’t like him that much either. The only other person who might want to harm me is—”
Waverley entered the infirmary alongside Dr Bentley, interrupting his flow.
“You were saying?” prodded Rachel. Gordon shook his head and looked down at the sheet.
Great timing, Chief.
“Glad to find you looking better, Miss Prince,” said Waverley. “May I have a few words?”
“You can use Gwen’s office, and then you’re free to leave, Miss Prince.” Neither the chief of security nor the doctor gave away that they knew Rachel, which she was grateful for. It would help if she managed to speak to Gordon again.
“I’ll be back to speak to you soon, Mr Venables,” said Waverley tersely.
Gordon nodded acknowledgement before looking down at the sheets again. Rachel and Marjorie followed Waverley to Gwen
’s office.
“Good to see you looking better, Rachel,” said Gwen. “I’ll leave you to it. Raggie will bring in a tray of tea and coffee.”
“Thank you,” said Rachel, grimacing as a pain shot through her neck. “I think I’ll sit down, if you don’t mind?” She sat down gingerly on the settee in the centre of the office. A large coffee table and two comfortable chairs surrounded it. Gwen’s desk was at the rear with a formal office chair behind, similar to the setup in Waverley’s office. A Gauguin print decorated the wall and some personal knick-knacks sat on the desk. A few medical journals lay on the large glass coffee table and marble coasters were stacked neatly in a classy looking coaster rack.
Marjorie joined Rachel on the sofa while Waverley placed his muscular frame in one of the chairs. He looked compassionately towards Rachel and warily at Marjorie.
Raggie brought in the tray of drinks and placed them on the table before leaving and closing the door. In spite of his obvious concern, Waverley looked rather chipper, like he had something to celebrate.
Maybe he’s cracked the case.
“I can’t believe this has happened to you again, Rachel. I can’t apologise enough.”
Rachel shrugged. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Not directly, but the security team let you down nonetheless, and I take full responsibility for that. It appears a diversion occurred – manufactured, we believe – and Gordon Venables slipped out of his room without his guard noticing. The security officer didn’t realise he was missing until we called down to find out how he’d escaped.”
“I did wonder how he escaped house arrest. What was he up to?”
“We don’t know. The team is going through security footage, but the cameras around the lido have been tampered with so I don’t hold much hope.”
“Do your men not watch the screens like I’ve seen on television?” asked Marjorie.
“I’m afraid not. Cameras are scattered throughout the ship, but they are not permanently monitored. They record information and we pull them out if an incident occurs. We saved footage of the fight Gordon Venables started the other day, but there’s nothing from early this morning on the lido deck.”
