“Well, before she did that, I bet she put him in his place,” Willy said as he stood up and took off his tuxedo jacket. “Honey, it’s been quite a day. Why don’t we—”
“There’s one more thing I noticed,” Alvirah interrupted, as she smoothed the crease in the skirt of her evening gown. “We had a pretty good spot to observe what was going on at Lady Em’s table last night, and I was kind of looking over because she fascinates me. But then I started to pay attention to Roger and Yvonne.
“Willy, the looks those two exchanged would have stopped a clock. Especially on Yvonne’s face. She had such a nasty expression when she stared at him. I just wonder how she’s feeling now, after that terrible accident. I mean, how would you feel if we were on the outs and I fell overboard?”
“Honey, we’re never on the outs so I wouldn’t worry about that too much.”
“I suppose not, but still I can’t help thinking Yvonne must be so sorry if she and Roger were quarreling before the accident.”
She was not sleepy and longed to continue the conversation, but after watching Willy yawn again, she decided to leave it for morning. Then after she was in bed she could not fall asleep. Her bones were telling her that trouble was on the way.
Serious trouble.
48
Brenda knew that Lady Em’s quiet dismissal of her when she offered to escort her to her room was one more indication that her employer was aware of the substitution of her jewelry. She was sure of what would happen when Lady Em’s suspicion was confirmed.
In her stateroom Brenda remembered in vivid detail when Gerard, the chef of eighteen years, had begged Lady Em not to prosecute him when his theft was discovered. Lady Em told him that a prison term would be good for him. She had said, “I paid to send your three children to good colleges. I remembered their birthdays. I trusted you. Now get out. I’ll see you in court.”
That’s exactly what she’ll say to me, Brenda thought frantically. I can’t let it happen. She had almost gotten over her attacks of claustrophobia but now had the frightening sensation of a prison door being slammed behind her as she was pushed into a cell.
There was only one way out. Lady Em had admitted at the table that she was not feeling well. If she were to die, her doctor would certainly verify that her heart was in bad shape. She’s on a lot of medication. I have a key to her room, Brenda thought. When she goes for a walk, I could go in and mix up some of her pills. Her heart pills are very strong. If I put some of them in all the other vials, they might bring on a heart attack. It was the only possibility that might save me from prison, Brenda thought. Unless I can come up with a better idea.
And maybe I can.
49
After she got rid of Brenda, Yvonne enjoyed her two scotches, then ordered room service. If her butler was surprised by the three-course dinner and the bottle of Pinot Noir the supposedly grieving widow ordered, he did not show it. With an appropriately subdued manner as he served, he reminded her that if she wanted anything at all he would be at her service throughout the night.
She was thankful that the butler had removed the meal cart minutes before the Captain and Chaplain Baker came to speak to her. As she listened to the Captain explain why they would not go back and search for Roger, she was concerned that the scotches might have made her eyes red. But then she relaxed. I’m a grieving widow. My eyes should be red. And if having a few scotches is helping me cope with my tragedy, who would criticize me?
After they left, as she took a last sip, Yvonne started to think of the future. Granted, she would have the five-million-dollar insurance policy, but how long would that last? The Park Avenue apartment and the house in East Hampton were mortgage-free, but they would surely be seized if Roger’s theft was discovered. And given the luxurious lifestyle she enjoyed, five million dollars wouldn’t go very far.
As she sipped the velvety smooth wine, Yvonne began to consider what options might be available to her. It was clear that Lady Em was going to begin that outside audit as soon as she got home. Was there any way to stop her? After all, the Cleopatra necklace had a curse on it. “Whoever brings this necklace on the sea will not live to reach shore.” She smirked when she wondered if Lady Em, like her late husband, enjoyed sitting on the railing of her deck.
For a long time, she continued to mull over possible solutions to her problems. It was easy enough to get rid of Roger.
Would it be easy enough to get rid of Lady Em as well?
50
With a sigh of relief Celia closed the door of her suite and dropped her evening bag on the coffee table. It seemed like such a long time ago that she had shared lunch with Alvirah and Willy and been comforted by Alvirah’s cheery optimism that all would be well. She knew that some of the passengers had recognized her as the ex-fiancée and, perhaps, co-conspirator of Steven Thorne. Several times she happened to glance around and catch the embarrassed expression of someone who was looking directly at her.
For long minutes she sat on the edge of the bed trying to tell herself that she must not give up. Now she wondered if it had been a mistake to wear the gown tonight. She had received many compliments on it, but possibly the people who made them had been wondering if it had been bought for her by Steven with other people’s money. It might even be possible that some of his investors were on the ship now. He had cut a wide swath with the groups of people who fell for his enticing offer of spectacular returns.
I’m not doing myself any good with this kind of thinking, she told herself as she reached up to take off her earrings. At that moment the phone rang.
The caller did not waste time on a greeting. “Celia, this is Lady Em. This is an outrageous request, but could you possibly come to my suite now? It’s very, very important. And I know this may sound ridiculous, but would you bring your eyepiece with you?”
Celia could not keep the surprised tone out of her voice as she replied, “If you wish.” It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if Lady Em had taken ill, but instead she said, “I’ll be right there.”
The door of Lady Em’s suite was slightly ajar. With a tentative knock Celia pushed it back and stepped into the room. Lady Em was sitting in a large wing chair that was upholstered in red velvet. Celia had the impression of a queen on a throne. There is something majestic about Lady Em, she thought. But the old woman’s voice was weary as she said, “Thank you, Celia. I had no idea I was going to ask you to make your way here at this hour.”
Celia smiled. With quick steps she walked across the room and seated herself in the chair closest to Lady Em. Seeing the obvious fatigue on her face, she did not waste words. “Lady Em, what can I do for you?”
“Celia, before I tell you why I asked you to come over, I want you to know two things. I am aware of the shameful situation regarding your fiancé. I want to assure you that I am one hundred percent certain that you had nothing to do with it.”
“Thank you, Lady Em. Hearing you say that is very important to me.”
“Celia, it’s so good to be able to talk frankly to someone I trust. God knows there are few people in the world I feel I can trust these days. And because of that, I have an overwhelming sense of guilt. I feel very sure that Roger’s death was not an accident, but a suicide, and it was because of me.”
“Because of you!” Celia exclaimed. “But how could you have any possible reason to think . . . ?”
Lady Em held up her hand. “Celia, listen to me. I can explain very simply. I was at a cocktail party the night before we sailed. Decades ago Richard and I had engaged the accounting and financial management firm that was founded by Roger’s grandfather, and we continued the relationship when Roger’s father took over. When he died in an accident seven years ago, I stayed with Roger. At the party I saw an old friend who warned me to be very careful. He told me that Roger was not the man of integrity that both his father and grandfather had been. There were rumors that former clients of Roger’s believed he had been skimming their accounts. My friend suggested I have my finances
checked by an outside firm to be sure that everything was in order.
“I was so troubled by the warning that I told Roger my decision to go forward with an audit.” In a voice that was suddenly sad, she said, “I have known Roger since he was a child. When I had my yacht, I frequently invited his mother and father to vacation with me. Of course, they brought Roger along. I joked that he was my surrogate son. Well, some son he turned out to be.”
“What would you have done if an audit of your finances proved that you were right?”
“I would have prosecuted him,” Lady Em said firmly. “And he knew it. Only a few years ago the chef who had been with me for twenty years and whose children I sent to college began kiting my food and liquor bills. I entertain frequently, and it was many months before I caught on. He was sentenced to two years in prison.”
“He deserved that,” Celia said firmly. “Anyone who cheats other people, especially those who are good to them, should go to prison.”
Lady Em paused, then asked, “Celia, did you bring your microscope with you?”
“Yes, I did. It’s called a loupe.”
For the first time Celia realized that Lady Em was holding a bracelet in her hand.
“Please look at this and tell me what you think of it,” she said as she gave it to Celia.
Celia reached into her purse and took out the loupe. Holding it to her eye and rotating the bracelet slowly in front of it, she said, “I’m afraid I don’t think very much of it. The diamonds are inferior quality, the kind they use in most of the so-called jewelry bargain centers.”
“That is exactly what I expected you to say.”
Celia could see the quiver in Lady Em’s lip. After a moment Lady Em said, “And, sadly, that means that Brenda, my trusted employee and companion of more than twenty years, has also been stealing from me.”
She took the bracelet back. “I will put this in the safe again and act as if nothing’s amiss. I’m afraid I’ve already given Brenda an indication that I am concerned that it didn’t seem right.”
She reached up and pressed the clasp of the Cleopatra necklace. “Celia, I am desperately worried that I have been a very foolish old woman to have brought this treasure with me on this voyage. I have changed my mind about giving it to the Smithsonian. When I get back to New York, I’m turning it over to my lawyers, and I’ll tell them to arrange with Mr. Cavanaugh’s firm to have it returned to Egypt.”
Celia suspected the answer but still asked, “What made you change your mind?”
“Mr. Cavanaugh is a very nice young man. He made me admit to myself that no matter how much Richard’s father paid for the necklace, it had come from a looted tomb. The proper thing to do is return it to Egypt.”
“You haven’t asked my opinion, Lady Em, but I believe you’ve made the right decision.”
“Thank you, Celia.”
Lady Em ran her fingers over the necklace. “This evening at the cocktail party Captain Fairfax begged me to give it to him to put in his personal safe and have a guard outside his cabin to secure it. He said that Interpol has informed him that they believe the Man with One Thousand Faces, an international jewel thief, is on this ship. The Captain urged me to give him the necklace after dinner tonight. I told him I plan to wear it tomorrow night, but I think that might be a mistake.”
As the necklace slid from her neck, she caught it and handed it to Celia. “Please take this. Put it in the safe in your room and give it to the Captain in the morning. I don’t plan to leave my suite all day tomorrow. I’ll have my meals served in and leave Brenda to her own devices. Quite frankly, I need a bit of quiet time to decide what to do about Brenda and Roger’s thievery.”
“I’ll do anything you want me to do,” Celia said as she stood up. She wrapped her fingers around the necklace and then impulsively put her arms around Lady Em and kissed her forehead. “Neither one of us deserved what happened to us, but we’ll both get past it.”
“Yes, we will.”
Celia walked to the door and then disappeared into the corridor.
51
The victim of a man who had not only deceived and cheated her, but then tried to tie her to his crime too. Poor Celia, Lady Em thought, as she prepared for bed. I’m glad I gave her the necklace. It will be more secure in the Captain’s safe.
Suddenly an overwhelming sense of exhaustion washed over her. I guess I will be able to sleep for a while, she thought, as she began to drift off. About three hours later she was startled awake by the sense that she was not alone in the room. Aided by moonlight and the night light, she was able to see someone moving toward her.
“Who are you? Get out!” she said as something soft came swiftly down and covered her face.
“I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe—” she tried to say. Desperately, she tried to push away the obstacle that was smothering her, but she was not strong enough.
As she began to lose consciousness, her last thought was that the curse of the Cleopatra necklace had been fulfilled.
Day Four
52
Lady Em had ordered breakfast to be served at eight o’clock. Raymond tapped on the door, then unlocked it and wheeled in the serving cart. The door to the bedroom was half open and he could see that Lady Em was asleep in her bed. Not sure of what to do, he decided to go to his station and phone to tell her that her breakfast had been delivered.
When she did not answer after seven rings, a suspicion began to take root in his mind. Lady Em was old. He had seen the array of medicines in the bathroom closet when he tidied up the suite. Elderly people dying on cruise ships was a regular occurrence.
Before he contacted the doctor, he went back to the suite. He knocked on the partially open door of the bedroom and called her name. When there was no response, he hesitated, then walked into the bedroom. He touched her hand. As he had suspected, it was cold. Lady Emily Haywood was dead. Unnerved, he reached for the phone on the night table.
He could see that her safe was open and jewelry was scattered on the floor. But I’d better leave it there, he thought. I don’t need to be accused of stealing. After making the decision, he phoned the ship’s doctor.
Sixty-eight years old, with iron-gray hair, Dr. Edwin Blake had retired from his successful practice as a vascular surgeon three years earlier. He was a longtime widower with grown children, and a friend at Castle Line had suggested he might enjoy traveling as the head of the medical facility on an ocean liner. As it turned out, he thoroughly enjoyed that opportunity and was very pleased when he was invited to switch to the Queen Charlotte.
After receiving the call from Raymond, he rushed up to Lady Em’s suite. At one glance he was able to confirm that she was dead. But then he was immediately concerned by the fact that one arm was dangling off the edge of the bed and the other raised above her head. Bending over closely, he examined her face and observed dried blood at the corner of her mouth.
Suspicious, he looked around and noticed that the other pillow was haphazardly lying on the coverlet. He picked it up and turned it over, then saw a telltale smudge of blood on it. Not wanting to have Raymond even guess his thoughts, he hesitated, then said, “I’m afraid this poor lady suffered a last instant of terrible pain in the heart attack that took her life.”
He took Raymond’s arm and escorted him out of the bedroom, then shut the door behind them. “I will inform Captain Fairfax of Lady Haywood’s passing,” he said. “Please be aware that you must not say one word about this to anyone.”
The authority in his voice ended Raymond’s intention to be on the phone to let all his friends on the staff know what had happened. “Of course, sir,” he said, “but it is a very sad occurrence, isn’t it? Lady Haywood was a very gracious lady. And to think that only yesterday Mr. Pearson’s dreadful accident occurred.”
This was no accident, Dr. Blake thought grimly, as he started to leave to speak to the Captain. Then he stopped. “Raymond, I want you to stand guard outside this door. Absolutely no one is to go into t
his suite until I return. Is that clear?”
“Absolutely. Lady Haywood’s assistant has a key. It would be dreadful for her to come in before she is informed of what happened, wouldn’t it?”
Or before she tries to destroy any evidence if she’s guilty of murder, Edwin Blake thought.
53
Security Chief Saunders, Dr. Blake and Captain Fairfax arrived together at the suite. Before removing the body to the ship’s morgue, extensive pictures were taken of Lady Em’s face, the position of her right arm and the smear of blood on the pillow.
Their immediate suspicion was that the motive for the murder was robbery. The others watched as Saunders went over to the open safe and looked in it. In addition to the several rings and a bracelet scattered on the floor, he saw that jewelry had been dumped on the shelf. Jewelry pouches were also on the floor, partially hidden by the long evening gowns.
“Is the emerald necklace there?” the Captain asked quietly.
Saunders had seen it on Lady Em’s neck at dinner in the dining room. “No sir, it is not. I am even more certain that we are dealing with a robbery, which led to a murder.”
54
Gregory Morrison was a flamboyant billionaire whose dream it had been to have a cruise line of his own.
He had been wise enough to not follow his tugboat captain father’s advice to skip college and go right to work pulling ocean liners out to sea when he got out of high school. Instead he graduated from college on the dean’s list and went on for his MBA. He then worked in Silicon Valley as an analyst, shrewdly discerning which start-up companies offered the most promising new technologies. Fifteen years after forming his own investment fund, he sold it and ended up a billionaire.