by Mel McCoy
No, it can’t be.
She froze for a moment before turning around to see if anyone was behind her. She wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want Loretta to lay eyes on what she had stepped on.
Then she had a marvelous thought. Perhaps her eyes deceived her. Maybe it was a joke. Yes! Maybe Chef Mills was a prankster. That would explain his tardiness. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. In fact, he had a sense of humor. A dark sense of humor, but Ruth could get behind that. She almost laughed out loud at the thought.
Yes, that’s what it was. It definitely couldn’t be what she thought it was.
She gave it a nudge with her foot, and it rocked back lifelessly.
Realization and horror consumed her.
Ruth gasped.
But it was…
A human hand.
Chapter 9
The hand at Ruth’s feet lay there, peeking out from around the corner. Was this a dream? It certainly felt like a dream state she had fallen into. Time seemed to have slowed down.
Ruth swallowed hard, steadying herself. She leaned into the spacious pantry, lined with shelves that started at the doorway and made their way around the entire room. She craned her neck around the first corner. The hand was connected to a body. A full human body, face down with the head turned away from her. There was what appeared to be some sort of small hatchet sticking out of the person’s back.
Loretta’s footsteps approached. “What is it, Ruth? Did you find the mouse?”
Oh no! She couldn’t let Loretta see this, but before she could do anything to protect Loretta from the awful sight, it was too late. She’d come around the corner behind Ruth and shrieked.
“Oh, my gawd!” Loretta’s eyes seemed like they were ready to pop out of their sockets. She took several steps back and pointed at the body. “Is that…?”
The body that lay on the floor was wearing a white chef’s jacket, similar to the ones they were wearing. Ruth held up her hands at Loretta, a signal for her to calm down. After a moment, she said, “I’m not sure what this is.”
“Are they…?”
Ruth shook her head. Loretta didn’t have to finish her sentence. Ruth knew she wanted to know if the person that lay before them was dead, and she wasn’t sure how to answer that question.
Loretta started again. “Can you, you know, check…” Loretta frantically waved her finger toward the body, lying helpless and unmoving inside the pantry. The victim was facing the opposite wall, their curly blond hair blocking their face.
Ruth furrowed her eyebrows. “What?”
“Don’t you remember our training? The first thing we are supposed to do when we find an injured person on the floor is to ask them if they are okay.”
“They don’t look okay.”
“Doesn’t matter, Ruth. We are always to ask.”
Loretta was right. Though, Ruth was sure that the reason they were supposed to ask was to ensure they didn’t get sued if they tried to help them. But who was she to argue the rules? “Why me?”
“You saw it first.” Loretta blinked rapidly, still trying to process what she was seeing. Ruth could only assume she was going through the same thing she had gone through only moments ago after the discovery.
Ruth took a deep breath and carefully stepped over the arm that stuck out above the victim’s head. The person’s other arm seemed to be tucked under their body. “Hello,” she said to them. “Are you okay?” When no answer came, Ruth looked at Loretta, who shrugged before motioning for her to do something more.
Ruth sighed. She asked again.
Silence.
She positioned herself by the victim’s head and crouched down, before leaning over to see who it was. Their hair hung over their face, but Ruth craned around to get a better angle. When she caught a glimpse of the face, a new horror consumed her.
“Oh no!” Ruth shot to her feet, clasping both hands over her mouth.
“What?” Loretta inched closer to get a better look. “Well? Who is it?”
Ruth let go of her face. “It’s…it’s Chef Mills.”
“Is he…”
“What do you think, Loretta? He’s got a meat cleaver through his back!”
“I don’t know! It could be a flesh wound, you know. Maybe he just needs stitches or something. I’m not a doctor.”
“Neither am I, but it doesn’t take one to see he’s dead.”
“Maybe we should do CPR. Do you remember the training?”
“Loretta…He’s dead. CPR isn’t going to work.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Well, let see…He’s not moving, not breathing, I’m pretty sure there’s no pulse, and he has blue lips, and there’s this…” Ruth gestured to the weapon sticking out of the man. “Yeah, I think all signs point to him being dead.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen a dead person before, and they definitely didn’t teach us this in training.” She peered at the body again, her head cocked in pity. “Who would do such a thing?”
“I don’t know. But the man certainly had some enemies.” Ruth glanced at Loretta.
Loretta met her gaze, and her forehead crinkled. “Don’t look at me.”
Ruth sighed. “I wasn’t looking at you like you’re a suspect. You have an alibi. You were with me last night.” Ruth paused a moment. “Though, you could’ve snuck out while I was sleeping. Maybe that’s why you didn’t wake me. You needed to take a shower to wash away the evidence first,” Ruth said, half-jokingly.
Loretta shifted her weight and crossed her arms. “How dare you. I was asleep, just like you.”
“You’re right. I know you couldn’t have done this.”
“That’s right.” Loretta nodded with conviction. Then she stopped. “Wait, are you saying I couldn’t pull off a murder because I’m too dumb or something? Because I’m not.”
“No, Loretta, I’m not saying that at all. I meant that you don’t seem like the kind of person who’d do something like this.” Though, Ruth had no idea what a person who was capable of doing such a thing would be like.
“That’s right, I’m not!” Loretta cried. “And who’s to say that it wasn’t you? You know, maybe that’s why I couldn’t wake you this morning. Because you had an awfully busy night.”
Ruth pinched her lips. “Look, it wasn’t me, and we are not going to get anywhere bickering. We need each other now.”
Loretta released her arms and relaxed them to her sides with an exhale. “You’re right,” she murmured. She leaned over to get a better look at the wound. “Looks pretty deep.”
“Yeah, like whoever did this was enraged.”
“So, what do we do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we should get Janice.”
Loretta shook her head. “If she thought a mouse would be bad press, wait until she hears about this.”
Ruth put her hands on her hips. “Really, Loretta? Jokes now?”
Raising her hands in defense, Loretta said, “We all have our own way of dealing with trauma. Mine just happens to be humor.”
Ruth opened her mouth but shut it right away. Instead, she sighed. Who was she to argue how Loretta, or any person, for that matter, handled death? Or, in this case, a crime scene. “Let’s just get Janice.”
“No, wait. I don’t think that’s a good idea. If anyone had reason to murder Chef Mills, it’s her.” Then she gasped. “What if she did it? We could be next!”
Ruth swatted the air with both hands. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“To be honest, I don’t think Janice liked us either. I think we should get Officer Humpty.”
“You mean, Humphrey.”
“Whatever. But this isn’t for Janice to handle. I’m sure it’s above her pay grade anyway.”
Just then, the kitchen door opened.
They both jumped, and Loretta gave Ruth a surprised look.
Ruth could hear the familiar furious footsteps of a woman on a mission.
“Aaron! You slimy li
ttle weasel!” Janice trotted down the aisle between the cooks’ and the bakers’ stations. She paused from time to time as if she were looking under tables or something. “First, you steal my kitchen, and now you order me to do your crappy scheduling?” Janice grunted, stomping around some more. “Where are you?”
Ruth’s heart jackhammered as Janice’s footsteps drew closer.
Then Janice paused. She leaned back to get a better look at the pantry doorway and squinted. “Ruth? Is that you?”
Waving her hands frantically in front of her, Ruth tried to give Janice the signal to stop. She didn’t want to make the same mistake that she’d made with Loretta, not reacting in time to save her from the imagery and nightmares that would come with witnessing a dead body. But Janice didn’t heed Ruth’s frantic gesturing and came barreling through the pantry’s entrance. “Do you know where that scummy little worm is—” Janice froze, and her mouth hung agape.
Ruth and Loretta exchanged glances, waiting for Janice’s reaction to Chef Mills’s lifeless body.
Chapter 10
Janice pointed to the body on the floor. “Who? What?” Her eyes were wide with shock. “Did you two…?”
“We just found him like this,” Loretta said.
“Who is it?” Janice asked.
Ruth used a gentle tone. “Chef Mills.”
Janice looked at them both before gazing back at the scene at her feet. She clasped her hands over her chest and swallowed hard. “Aaron?”
“We were about to call Officer Humphrey,” Ruth continued. “We weren’t sure what to do.”
“Oh my! What is that sticking out of his back?” Janice pointed at the weapon.
“I think it’s a meat cleaver,” Loretta said. “Maybe one of the cooks did it. He was criticizing their food yesterday.”
Janice trembled, but she tugged at the bottom of her white blouse and smoothed it over in an attempt to console herself. “Um, okay. S-So, you both came in here and just found him like this? Like, just a second ago?”
“Well,” Loretta started. “More like several minutes. Actually, we were in the kitchen for about a half hour—”
Ruth elbowed Loretta. She didn’t know how to keep quiet for her own good, and now Ruth had to explain it for the poor distressed woman. “Here’s what happened. Last night, after you left, Chef Mills asked us to be in the kitchen by five this morning. When we got here, he was nowhere to be found. After a half hour of waiting, I decided to start on the croquembouche. That’s when I came in here to grab a few ingredients, and we found him like this. Then you walked in, and here we are.”
Janice nodded. “Okay, okay. We need to call this in.” She adjusted herself, trying to maintain her composure as she walked over to the nearest phone. She tapped a few buttons before saying, “Officer Humphrey. Yes. We have a situation. Deck five, Mermaid’s kitchen.” Silent a moment while still holding the receiver to her ear, she swallowed hard before speaking again. “Code Alpha, sir.”
Ruth inhaled deeply. It was a code they’d learned in their training, one that they’d been tested on over and over. Code Bravo meant fire. Code Oscar meant man overboard. These were codes that they would use so as not to alarm the passengers, but Code Alpha was different. This code was one they used to keep even the crew members in the dark. It could mean anything from a situation with a crew member like a fight or drugs, to injured crew member or, apparently, a dead crew member. And it was one that they’d never imagined they would have to use. At least not on the first trip of a new cruise ship.
Hanging up the phone, Janice dropped her gaze to the floor. Sucking her bottom lip, she looked up again. “Well, ladies, brace yourselves. It’s going to be a long day.”
Within minutes, there was a whole team of sea officers evaluating the crime scene. The chief officer, Humphrey, perused back and forth, waddling from one of his crew to the next, giving orders. Alongside him stood a much thinner sea officer, Marvin Malloy, giving him updates.
Ruth was surprised by how quickly everything was done and wondered if this was how investigations were typically handled. She didn’t see any detectives dusting for fingerprints, but there were several officers placing items in evidence bags and taking pictures of everything, using random items for scale or measurement. Several officers were present as Janice explained everything.
Ruth and Loretta weren’t allowed near the pantry door, so they stood in the kitchen, watching and waiting.
Loretta crossed her arms. “This is insane. Can you believe this is happening?”
Ruth shook her head, her eyes glued to the scene unfolding in front of her. Soon, Janice was standing among them, but she didn’t speak.
After the body had been removed, Officer Humphrey teetered over to them, stained Styrofoam cup of coffee in hand. He reminded Ruth of a Weeble wobbling, or how she would imagine one would walk if they could. “For now, the pantry stays locked up,” he said. “No one goes in. Luckily for us, the pantry is a room of its own, so we can easily conceal it. It’s locked, and it will stay locked until we can get real investigators on the scene. Which probably won’t be until we get back to Florida.”
“Harry,” Janice started.
Humphrey grumbled.
“I mean, Officer Humphrey,” Janice corrected herself. “What about the passengers? They will be expecting their dinner tonight. They will be suspicious if we don’t have their scheduled meals.”
“Can’t you just move them to another dining hall?”
“There is no other dining hall, sir. At least, not one that is available for their scheduled mealtime. I think we would cause more attention and confusion if we try to move their dinner.”
Humphrey rubbed his face. “You’re right. We need everything to run as if nothing happened. Just my luck, my first trip as chief security officer aboard a brand-new ship, and we go and find ourselves mixed up in a murder investigation.” Humphrey took a final swig of his coffee, then peered into the empty cup. He whistled for one of his officers.
A young man rushed over, unstained Styrofoam cup in hand. “Need more coffee, sir?”
Grabbing the fresh cup of coffee, Humphrey gave an appreciative nod. Then he regarded Janice again. “When is your staff supposed to be here for morning prep?”
Janice checked her watch. “In about an hour.”
Humphrey took a long sip from his coffee and exhaled the burnt flavor. “Good. They won’t suspect too much. Keep this under wraps.”
“But how am I going to explain to them that they can’t use the pantry?”
“Hm.” Humphrey pondered a moment. “I don’t know. Just make something up. Tell them the food has been compromised and is now contaminated. And that the pantry is on lockdown.”
“Okay.”
“I need to talk to you two again.” Humphrey motioned his Styrofoam cup at Ruth and Loretta. “In my office.”
Janice stepped closer. “Sir, will it be long? If we are going to do this, I’ll need their help to transfer supplies from the mess hall’s pantry from deck two up here.”
“I’ll be brief with them.”
“But I need everything in the kitchen to get started. We’ve already lost several hours. Can they visit you after we transport all the needed ingredients for tonight’s dinner?”
Humphrey thought a moment before giving a curt nod.
Janice let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Officer Humphrey.”
After helping Janice with her task, Ruth and Loretta made their way to Officer Harry Humphrey’s small office. They continued down the hall that, as Ruth remembered, eventually led to the bridge. When they arrived at a door with a gold plaque that read, “Officer Harry Humphrey,” they were instructed to wait outside. There were several cushioned chairs, and Ruth didn’t mind the break off her feet.
Loretta took a seat next to Ruth. “Did you hear he called it a murder?”
“Of course he did. Chef Mills certainly didn’t stab himself in the back.”
“You think they are going to int
errogate us now?”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous. They know we didn’t do anything. I’m sure this is just standard protocol. He needs to get our statements about what we saw this morning.” Though, she wondered if they were going to ask them about any unusual activity in the kitchen or troubled relationships that Chef Mills had had, but she kept this to herself. Instead, she nuzzled her back against the chair. If she closed her eyes, she’d fall asleep. But before she could doze off, the door opened, and Humphrey poked his head out. “Ruth Shores and Loretta Moo-ran.”
“Actually, it’s—” Loretta started.
“Yes, Officer Humphrey,” Ruth interrupted with a polite smile.
Humphrey ushered them inside his office, a surprisingly well-kept space, with books neatly organized on mahogany shelves and a matching desk. There was also a leather couch against the back wall and two comfortable-looking chairs, which Ruth and Loretta both took.
“So…” Humphrey took a seat behind the desk. “I need to get statements. It’s a formality. So, you say you were both scheduled to be in the kitchen by five this morning?”
Ruth nodded. “Yes, sir, that’s correct.”
“Did Chef Mills make that order?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t find his body until thirty minutes later?”
“That’s right,” Loretta agreed.
Humphrey’s pen scratched furiously in his pad.
Ruth continued, starting from the moment they woke up to when Janice called Officer Humphrey on the phone in as much detail as she could remember. Every once in a while, Loretta would pitch in, adding her own details and point of view. Humphrey listened attentively, nodding with an occasional “mm hm.”
“Well,” he said when she was finished, “I want to thank you both for giving me your time.”
“Officer Humphrey,” Ruth said. “In the kitchen, you said it was a murder.”
“Yes, we are treating this as a homicide.”
“If you don’t mind me asking…” Ruth didn’t want to be inappropriate by asking the question lingering in the forefront of her mind, but she couldn’t help herself. Her granddaughter, Emma, was a fan of mystery novels, but Ruth opted for crime shows on television. It was still a shared interest between the two of them, talking about their stories and putting the puzzle pieces together to solve the mystery.