High Sea Murder - A Kit and Kat Mystery 2

  I felt like we were just groping in thin air. We needed to come up with something more substantial.

  When I'd asked Inspector Rashan if he thought the dent in Barsha's head could have been made with a golf club, his response had been, "I suppose so. Like maybe a nine iron."

  I wondered now if he was serious or just making a joke, because of table "nine." Maybe that's why he had that little grin on his face.

  We heard a knock at the door, from a crew member with a note in a sealed envelope from Inspector Rashan. I read it aloud.

  "I have decided to delay getting the bodies to the Coroner here, and will wait until we reach Dubrovnik the day after tomorrow. I know the Coroner in Dubrovnik, and feel it is the right thing to do."

  Kat said, "If the Coroner's office comes up with the conclusion that a nine iron or any size of golf club could be the murder weapon, then we have to be looking for a golfer with his or her own clubs. We should have that report in few days. Or sooner – if the doctor on the ship comes up with something before we dock in Dubrovnik."

  I said, "Until then, let's keep our eyes on Alex. But we still need to keep snooping around on the other staff workers and guests."

  "Also," Kat said, "we must check with Inspector Rashan to see whom he's thinking of at table nine. Maybe we can help him by talking with his suspects, without them knowing that we're checking on them."

  Just then from the loudspeaker we heard, "We will shortly be dropping anchor close to the island of Mykonos, but I am afraid that due to our being delayed by the storm, and unforeseen circumstances on board the ship, it will not be possible to disembark. However, we will sail around the island to give you an idea of what you will be seeing if you take advantage of our free offer of another trip. Once again the company apologizes for this inconvenience and disappointment.

  "Early this evening we shall be leaving for our next port which will be Dubrovnik in Croatia, which is a thirty-six hour cruise up the Adriatic Sea. I know many of you will be upset by not being able to land here in Mykonos, so tonight will be a special night for all of our guests. It will be a formal occasion; so everyone, put on your most glamorous outfits.

  "For dinner we'll be serving all-you-can-eat steak and lobster with all the trimmings. We'll also be giving away lots of door prizes, plus every guest on board will be given a twenty-five dollar gift certificate redeemable at the gift store. Everyone, have fun, eat a lot and good luck. And by the way, five of our dollar slot machines will be offering a twenty-five thousand dollar jackpot."

  We could hear, "Oh's and ah's" all through the ship, with many clapping their hands and shouting out, "Jack pot, jack pot!" So it seemed that most people weren't too unhappy by the news that they were confined to the ship, and food and money were more important to them than Greek culture and history.

  I looked over at Kat, and could tell she was already planning on what she'd be wearing. It also happened to be the day of our six month anniversary.

  We looked for Inspector Rashan and finally found him sitting comfortably, having a cup of tea on the mezzanine, watching the rugged coastline of Mykonos slide by as the ship did a circle of the island. Fortunately the waves were smaller now, and not causing the huge cruise ship any problems at all.

  "Hi, Inspector. Kat and I've been looking for you. If you'd rather not be disturbed, it's okay. You seem to be enjoying your quiet time alone."

  "No, it's fine. I was just thinking about the two of you, and was soon going to come looking for you. Now that you have found me, what can I do for you? I take it you got my note."

  We both nodded, and I said, "Well, we're curious about which two at table nine you're thinking might be involved in the case. Are you free to give us their names?"

  "Yes, of course. It is nothing definite yet; just what you detectives call a hunch, but not much evidence. Maybe you two can check into it further. The two I have been a little suspicious of are Maria's daughter Marcy, and her stepfather Jason. I think you know that Marcy likes to gamble. I have found out she does have some debts she's not paid off. Furthermore, she has a problem with drinking, and has been into rehab twice. But I must confess that whenever I've been watching her, she's not even had so much as a glass of wine at dinner. The bar staff say they've never served her. Of course, she could be trying to throw off any suspicion. Sometimes under the influence of alcohol people can do some strange things, even to their loved ones.

  "Maria's husband Jason, on the other hand, appears to be clean . . . I'm thinking perhaps too clean. I think maybe he'd like to get his hands on some big money, and run. Those jewels would take him a long way. As far as we can see, he has no income, and after two years into his marriage to Maria he is still without a share of her money.

  "Not much to be going on, I know. I'm just looking for some motive for whoever is our killer. How about the two of you; do you have any suspects?"

  "Like you, Inspector," Kat said, "the information we have is very slim. No real evidence on anyone yet. If it's one of our servers at table nine, we've narrowed it down to two: James and Alex. We're almost certain that it's not Berta."

  I have to say the Inspector look surprised, but he said nothing as Kat continued.

  "Kit and I found out very little about the two of them. James, we're told is moody, and likes to be left alone. That might be two good reasons for him to be a suspect. Maybe he has a boring life and is looking for some excitement. We both agree that whoever stole the necklace probably didn't plan on killing anyone. That most likely happened to protect themselves. Like you, Inspector, this is just theory . . . like we said, no real evidence."

  I said, "We're leaning more towards Alex. We're looking forward to the report on what was used as the murder weapon. If by chance it could be a golf club, then we'll look further into Alex. He's a player and apparently keeps his clubs in his room right next to his door. That's a very handy place, and accessible if he needed them at any time for anything."

  "This is surely amazing," Inspector Rashan said. "All of our questions, on your part and mine, and there have been plenty, seem to have turned up nothing . . . nothing substantial, that is."

  I agreed with him. Then a thought came to me. "I wonder if it could be someone we haven't talked to yet. Someone else on the ship besides the table nine guests and our servers. Someone who saw the necklace, and maybe had never heard the story, but guessed the diamonds and emeralds were very valuable."

  "Yes, Kit, that is possible. I'm going to look over the list of names of our passengers again and their occupations. There might be a jeweler on board the ship."

  "That's good," I said. "When we came on board we had to fill out a questionnaire card stating our name, birthday, wedding anniversary and even our occupation. You might be able to find out if there's someone who'd be knowledgeable in diamonds and precious stones, maybe in some other occupation, like an auctioneer or museum curator."

  "That's a great idea, Kit. Why didn't I think of that! That's how I found out about the two of you. The Captain sent me an email with the list of table nine guests before I came on board. After I read that the two of you were detectives, I went on the Internet to make sure. I found out even more about the two of you." He had another one of those smiles on his face.

  "I remember filling it in," Kat responded. "I also remember smiling when I wrote in . . . Detective. I even hesitated, and my first thought was to leave it blank and not to write anything in. But now I'm glad I did."

  Inspector Rashan said with another grin, "Maybe this is the breakthrough we've all been looking for. It will give us something more to check."

  Kat said, "At least we know he or she is still on this ship."

  Chapter 22

  We said our good-byes to Inspector Rashan, and told him, "We'll see you at dinner."

  "No, I'm not eating in the dining room tonight. I don't have a tux, so I'll be eating at the buffet instead. It's what you call informal, so I'll not look out of place there." He smiled and waved as we parted. "Have a good time. I'
ll let you know if I find out anything after I look over the questionnaires."

  Kat and I headed for the pool area. We found two lounge chairs and ordered our diet colas. I asked Kat, "Are you excited about tonight? I know how much you love to get all dressed up."

  "Yes, of course I am. I've been planning on what I should wear from the moment we heard the announcement."

  I laughed. "I could tell that, by looking in those beautiful brown eyes of yours."

  Kat grinned. "What are you going to wear?"

  "Oh, the usual. My tux. But this time I'll wear my white tux jacket with my black tux pants."

  "Good. I love it when you wear that combination. You always look so handsome."

  "And what will you wear? Let me guess. I bet it'll be the purple dress with the small white jacket. Am I correct?"

  "Maybe." She winked at me. "I'm not sure yet. I have a surprise or two in my closet. And don't you start snooping around. My dresses are all in garment bags, so keep your hands and eyes off them. I want to surprise you. After all, it's the exact day of our six month anniversary."

  "I'll be a good boy and not go snooping, but right now I'm going in the hot tub to enjoy the late afternoon sun. Want to join me?"

  "No thanks; it looks too crowded. Everyone seems to have come out of their cabins now that the water is calm again. I brought this good book with me by your favorite author, Max Lucado. You go and enjoy yourself. I'm going to stay here and read a little. And then I'll think over the interviews we did, and maybe even take a nap."

  "Great idea. I'll do the same while soaking in the tub . . . going over the interviews, that is."

  After I was in the hot tub for about ten minutes, the group that was there all got up and left, although I don't think it was on my account! I had the whole spa to myself. I closed my eyes and started to think about the interviews. I heard someone getting in. I opened my eyes very slowly and looked right at Jason, Maria's husband.

  He was looking at me and smiling. "Hi, Kit, how's the investigation going?"

  "Not too great. I wish we could tell you and Maria that we've found her necklace. Kat and I really feel bad for her. She loved it so much."

  "That's so true. She does love it, but only because it's been part of her family for over three hundred years . . . not because of its value."

  I nodded. "I know. I remember her saying the money from the insurance means nothing to her. I guess it's the sentiment behind the necklace that's important."

  "Money isn't important to Maria. I guess it's because she's always had plenty of it."

  I felt a door was opening up for me to ask him about his work, so I decided to go ahead. "Jason, what do you do for a living?"

  I was trying to act like I knew nothing about him, and was just trying to make conversation.

  "Not too much now, as Maria loves to travel, and of course she wants me to travel with her. She has other friends, and Marcy could keep her company, but she insists I go. I know there are many years between us, but we do have a very good marriage. You may think I married Maria for her money, but that's not true. I was in real estate big time for many years. After we got married and started to travel, I sold my share of the business to my partner, but held onto my investments and rentals."

  "Rentals? You mean houses? How many do you have?"

  "No, not houses. I used to have some, but sold them off many years ago. By the time Maria and I got married, I owned buildings."

  "Buildings, like the Empire State Building?" I laughed.

  "No, not quite. More like the Trump buildings. Have you ever heard of the Tellbrook Office Buildings? Or the Tellbrook Towers? Maybe you haven't, as they're both in Dallas, Texas. But I own four of the Tellbrook Buildings and two Tellbrook Towers. We're building our third Tower, starting next month in Houston. They're all very well occupied and have very prestigious addresses. I'm not as rich as Maria, but rich enough that I'll never need her money."

  "Why Tellbrook? I thought your last name was Bond."

  "You're right, I'm Jason Bond. I can tell by the smile on your face that you're thinking about James Bond. I've had a lot of teasing throughout the years and it used to bother me, but no longer. Whatever you're thinking about, it's not new. I've heard it all. I personally never wanted to be famous or known as being wealthy. I'm only telling you this so you can tell Inspector Rashan. I really believe he thinks I might have stolen Maria's necklace, as well as marrying her for her money. He's probably looked up my name on the Internet to see what I do – and found out nothing, as far as he could see. That would make it appear that I have no money of my own and am jobless.

  "Because I don't want people to know my business, I call all of my enterprises Tellbrook. That was my mother's maiden name. I like it that way. Maria and I don't really care what people think. But now because of the necklace missing and the two deaths – which most of us at table nine believe are connected –Maria and I agreed that I should tell someone about my financial affairs.

  "So now, Kit, seeing you alone in the spa, I've come over specifically to tell you this. Maria has gone to talk to Kat, and she's giving her the same information."

  I stood up and looked over to where Kat was sitting. She was listening to Maria very intently.

  "Please tell Inspector Rashan if he wants to look up my financial status, to let me know. I'll give him all the information he'll need."

  With that Jason got out of the tub. I watched him as he walked over to Kat and Maria. Kat gave him a big smile. Maria hugged Kat and the two of them waved as they walked away, with Jason's arm around Maria's waist. The tub was still empty, so I caught Kat's eye and signaled for her to join me. We compared what we'd just heard, and couldn't wait to give Inspector Rashan this new information.

  Kat was smiling all through our talk. She was so happy that Jason seemed to be cleared in our minds of the stolen necklace and the two murders.

  She said, "Their marriage is a lot like a fairy tale. You know, 'Once upon a time a best friend marries his best friend's mother, and they live happily ever after.' I love it."

  A rather odd fairy tale, I thought.

  Chapter 23

  As we were getting ready for dinner and dress-up night, we heard a knock on our door. Kat scrambled to put her robe on. I waited and then opened the door. It was our room attendant.

  "Sorry to bother you, sir, but Inspector Rashan asked me to give you this note."

  He handed it to me. I thanked him and walked over to Kat. "It's from the Inspector."

  "What does he say?"

  I opened it up and read it to her. "'I would like to see one or both of you on the mezzanine floor. I know you are both busy, but before you go to dinner I want to pass on some information I have found out. I will wait for you there.'"

  Kat said, "You go, Kit. I'm still not ready. I'll meet you there. Inspector Rashan most likely has found a jeweler aboard the ship. All you have to do is put on your jacket and tie. It's going to take me a little longer."

  When I arrived, Inspector Rashan was waiting, just as he said he would be. "Hello, Kit, you look very nice tonight."

  "Thanks, Inspector. Kat's still dressing, so she'll meet us here later. You can go ahead and tell me what you've found out. Anything that she should miss before meeting us, I'll relate to her later."

  "First of all, as far as I can tell, there are no jewelers on the ship. There were some blanks left for occupation on the questionnaire, but I've run a check on the Internet, and still I come up with nobody who has anything to do with jewels professionally."

  "Well that shoots that theory of mine."

  "Please don't worry about it, Kit. It was a good idea. But the real reason I want to meet you is to tell you that I had a talk with the doctor. I asked him if he thought a golf club could have been the weapon that killed Barsha. He's not sure, so I asked if we could go and check out the wound again. He says it's okay as long as we don't take long, and he'll see us there now."

  We went to the infirmary to check out the woun
d. It turned out the doctor was also a golfer and kept his clubs in the infirmary. He said there was more room there than in his cabin. So he got out his driver, the one with a wooden head, and laid it next to the opening in Barsha's skull. But the club was much larger than the wound. I thought he should have known that. I then suggested a nine iron. He looked at me a little funny and hesitated for a couple of seconds. Then he asked me why a nine iron. Why not a wedge or a putter?

  I said, "Just another theory."

  He seemed reluctant, but went to his bag and pulled out the nine iron. And sure enough, it fit the dent in Barsha's skull almost perfectly.

  Sheepishly he said, "I hope this doesn't make me a suspect. But looking now, I can almost guarantee that a nine iron was used to take the life out of that young lady. As you can see, it's almost a perfect fit."

  We left the medical room just as Kat came looking for us. She looked gorgeous. She had on a long dress that went down to her ankles. You could see her black shoes with a clip-on velvet bow on each one. She always used them when she wanted to dress-up her shoes.

  The dress was white on top, with many rows of black and white sequins almost to the waist. The rest of the dress was all black until you got to the bottom, where six rows of sequins were also alternating between black and white, the same as on the top.

  I must say she looked beautiful. I put my arms around her, and gave her a quick kiss. "You look absolutely exquisite, Kat. You'll be the belle of the ball."

  She looked up at me and smiled. "And you'll be my prince."

  As we walked over to Inspector Rashan, he winked and said, "You look so very beautiful tonight, Kat. The two of you, I think, will cause a big sensation when you enter the dining room. I wish I was going to be there to witness all the commotion as you make your entrance. I think there will be many jealous males and females." With what I was now recognizing as his trademark grin, he added, "I know, because I'm one of them."

  We thanked him for all of his nice comments, and I promised I'd tell Kat word for word what we'd discovered about the golf clubs. Then we headed for the dining room.

  Kat said, "Let's sit here for a second or two. I have something for you, Kit."