I figured that was what happened. He’d tried to recruit Jake, but when he didn’t seem angry enough to join his scheme, he moved onto other targets, finally getting lucky with Heidi.
Perhaps he’d offered her the accounts first, and then seeing how delighted she was with those, upped the ante and suggested a murder plot too. One she’d enthusiastically joined.
Alex started walking back toward me again, and when he reached the table he slammed the cardboard box down on top of it. The lid popped open, revealing rows and rows of mini meringue pavlovas.
“You take that back this instant! She was like a mother to me!”
“No! You did it, you killed her!” I shouted in response. I folded my arms in front of me angrily. In retrospect, I should have kept them free.
He was outraged by the accusation and with eyes wildly looking around, spit flecking on his lips, he searched for something. His gaze settled on his box, and a moment later he’d grabbed two fistfuls of the mini cream and strawberry topped meringues.
“Shut up!” He yelled, and began to fling desserts.
The first one caught me right below the nose, splattering my face with a rather delicious tasting cream. Instinctively I caught the strawberry with my mouth as it fell, and before I knew what I was doing I was enjoying the sweet fresh fruit.
When the second pavlova came, I snatched it out of the air with my hand, and threw it right back at him, scoring a direct hit on his forehead.
“Take that!”
Before he could fling any more, Cece and Sam leapt on him, each of them grabbing one of his arms. Bernice stood off to the side, watching with a glazed expression on her face.
I pulled a piece of meringue off my face and started to chew on it.
“Thanks for dessert, killer.”
“I. Am. Not. A. Murderer!” He tried to struggle free again, but my two friends were easily his match between them.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, leaning over the table and grabbing the sleeve of his shirt. “Then how do you explain this.”
I pulled the sleeve up and revealed the rash that had been caused by his supposed evergreen allergy.
“I had a reaction!”
Cece, Sam and Bernice all looked at his red arm quizzically, not quite sure of the significance.
“A reaction to the hedges in the maze! You killed Geraldine, and then when you heard Jake and me and Sam coming through the maze, you forced your way out through the hedgerows so you wouldn’t meet us!”
“What? No! I didn’t. I told you, I got this rash from the garden behind the maze! I was crouching down to examine a flower and I brushed my arm against a small bush in a pot!”
“I don’t believe you! And don’t forget, I saw Heidi coming out of that maze too!”
Alex breathed in a very deep and long breath, and then slowly blew it out again. While he was doing so I wiped my face with my hand. He may have been a killer, but he made a mean dessert.
“Listen to me. Yes, I went in the maze. And yes, I met Heidi there. But not to kill anyone! We were nowhere near the center of the maze. That’s why you didn’t run into us on your way in. We were at a dead end around the back of it.”
“Yeah, right. Here’s another story. A better one. You and Heidi killed Geraldine, then you heard Jake coming so you forced your way through the evergreen hedgerows to escape without being caught. How’s that for a story? I think it’s time you joined her in the brig.”
He shook his head. “Look at me. And think of Heidi. Do you remember the maze? Do you remember how thick the shrubs that makeup the hedgerows were? You can’t even see through them! There’s no way we could squeeze through the hedgerows, we’re too big. And if we’d moved the planters you would have heard them dragging, if we could even move those massive things. And look! It wouldn’t just be my arm that had a rash, my face would have taken the brunt of it! I’ve only got this little tiny rash where I touched a couple of leaves!”
I stared at him, hating him for his logic. It did kind of make sense. Unless, I was just a little bit off on the timing. Perhaps they killed her earlier, before we got there, and walked out. But I’d seen Heidi enter. I sighed.
“And furthermore,” he continued. “Heidi isn’t in the brig. I was at security first thing this morning. She’s been released. She may have done a little sabotaging of the conference, but none of it was illegal, and she had nothing to do with Geraldine’s death. And nor did I.”
“I… but… you…”
Alex folded his arms in front of him, and stared at me.
What he said made sense. And I had never been entirely convinced that Heidi was the killer. I needed to think and regroup.
“What’s going on here?” said a loud booming voice. “There’s food on the floor!”
It was the Captain, accompanied by Ethan, and neither of them looked particularly happy.
“She’s been going through my things and accusing me of murder,” said Alex angrily.
The Captain gaped at me. Ethan just cocked his head a little, he knew I wouldn’t have done such a thing for no reason.
“What’s the explanation for this?” asked the Captain sternly.
“I thought he was the killer,” I said sullenly.
“Ethan?” said the Captain. “Can you…?” He nodded his head at me and then jerked it in the direction of the door.
“Certainly, sir. If you’d like to come with me?” Ethan’s tone was formal and professional. It felt more than strange to have my boyfriend addressing me in such a way.
Annoyed, grateful and angry I stomped out of the room, computer bag clutched by my side. As soon as we were out of sight, Ethan wrapped an arm around my shoulder and gave me a supportive squeeze.
“Can I interest you in a late breakfast? We can talk about it.”
The brief taste of meringue and cream had certainly awakened an appetite inside me.
“Sure. I guess.”
As we walked away I could hear the Captain, Bernice and Alex all chattering away angrily. I was thankful the Captain hadn’t wanted me there for the cleanup — neither the literal one of the food on the ground, or the metaphorical one of smoothing over everyone’s ruffled feathers.
***
A few minutes later, Ethan and I were sitting in the Croissant Club, the nicest breakfast venue on the ship.
We had a small, white table-clothed two person table next to a large porthole window. The room was calm and serene with the delicious dual aromas of coffee and baked goods in the background. It was a welcome change from the tense and noisy atmosphere of the morning’s earlier yelling and screaming.
With a decent cup of hot coffee wrapped between my hands, I explained to Ethan everything that had happened.
Ethan was reassuringly sympathetic, and by the time our croissants, eggs and bacon arrived, I was feeling a lot lighter, as if unburdening myself had lifted a weight from my shoulders. And emptied a breakfast-sized spot in my appetite.
“Even if he wasn’t the killer, you’ve exposed his corruption. The B&B association will surely be glad of that. Mistakes happen, everyone makes them.”
“You don’t.”
Ethan laughed. “Sure I do. For example, when I agreed with the Captain to lock up Heidi. It didn’t feel exactly right to me, she didn’t have the look of a killer in her eyes. But I went along with it anyway. That’s a mistake, isn’t it?”
“I guess so. I should have figured it out beforehand though, so I didn’t embarrass myself. It couldn’t have been Heidi who did it, because we would have run into her in the maze. Those shrubs are too thick to fit through.”
“They could have moved the planters,” said Ethan with a frown.
“Right, but actually, they couldn’t. We would have heard them dragging, and I doubt they would have been strong enough, even with two of them. No, it was obvious it couldn’t have been Heidi and Alex. She must have been killed before we even got there, and Alex was still back in the Vendor Hall then. And I saw Heidi entering the maze.”
I shoveled up some bacon onto my fork and began to eat.
“So, who could it be? Perhaps it’s someone who hasn’t even come across our radar. Maybe someone who’s kept all their secrets close to their chest.”
“That’s possible, but I doubt it. I think I must have heard about everyone who had a grudge against Geraldine by now.”
“It could have been a random killing,” said Ethan with a shrug.
“On a cruise ship? No way. I bet it’s someone I’ve talked to. But everyone either has an alibi or no reason to want to harm her.”
Ethan and I worked on our breakfasts in companionable silence, both thinking about the various possibilities for what could have happened.
“The Captain isn’t going to think much of me,” I finally said. “Making a big scene and accusing an innocent passenger of murder.”
“I’ll try and put in a good word. But remember, Heidi and Alex weren’t totally innocent. They may not have killed her, but they were both involved in extortion schemes. Bernice, too. The whole lot of them are corrupt. I wouldn’t worry about their opinions too much.”
“I suppose you’re right. I still don’t want to see any of them in public though. Now that Heidi’s been released I bet there’ll be all kinds of awful rumors going around about me. I think I’m just going to stay in my cabin.”
“Maybe you should take it easy for a day.”
I nodded. “I’ve got a ton of photos on my phone to upload. I’ll write some captions and get that going. There’s a couple of articles I should type up too. Hopefully by tomorrow word would have got around that I’m not a total idiot. I may accuse people of the wrong crime, but at least they’re criminals.”
“You’re not even the slightest bit of an idiot!” Ethan glanced around, and when he was sure no one was looking he gave me a very quick kiss on the lips. “You’re the best social media manager, and best investigator aboard this ship. And don’t let anyone make you think any different.”
Feeling somewhat reinvigorated by his encouragement I gave a nod of acceptance and a slightly cheered smile.
“Thanks.”
Sitting on top of the table was Ethan’s phone, and it began to buzz. He looked at the screen. It was the Captain.
“I think I’m about to get told there’s another crisis,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Are you done?” He nodded down to my empty plate.
“Yeah. Good luck with the Captain. I’m going to make myself scarce and see if I can’t hide away the rest of the day. If not the cruise.”
He squeezed my hand before I left, and then I made my way back to my cabin, making sure to take the service elevators and passages so as to avoid meeting any of the B&B crowd.
When I arrived I dropped the computer onto the desk, closed the door behind me, and collapsed onto the bed. Maybe I’d take a nap before I got started on work.
Chapter 25
I’m not sure what the cutoff time limit for a ‘nap’ is, but I’m pretty sure I exceeded it. By a lot.
“Addi? Up! Up! Up!”
Blearily I blinked open my eyes to see Sam and Cece standing beside my bed.
“What’s the time?”
“Time for us to go and get pizza. Come on! Up!”
I shook my head. “Cece’s got to go to work.”
My aforementioned friend crouched down so she was at eye level. “I’ve been to work. I’ve finished. While you’ve been sleeping all day, I’ve been working my fingers to the bone.” She looked down at her immaculate hands and grinned. “Pretty much, anyway.”
“What?” I sat up. “Have I been sleeping all day?”
“Yep. The stress must be getting to you. Come on. We’re getting pizza and we’re getting it now. Up you get!”
Rubbing at my eyes, I did as I was told, swinging my legs off the bed and pushing myself to my feet. At least I was dressed already.
“But… I haven’t had lunch yet?”
Sam and Cece looked at each other as if I was crazy then burst into laughter. “Wait. Forget I said that.” I definitely wasn’t thinking straight yet.
I hadn’t done any of the work I planned yet, either. I grabbed the computer from the desk. Perhaps I would find a quiet spot to sit and type up my Mahogany Bay shopping piece after we’d finished eating. I wasn’t likely to want to go to sleep early that night, after all.
A few minutes later we were upstairs, in the brightly lit interior of Slice of New York. As the only dedicated pizza joint on the ship, it was by default the best one. But their pizza was good, if you liked New York style.
We ordered at the counter, getting a massive slice of pepperoni and a soda each. Next, we topped the pizzas with garlic powder, dried oregano and chili flakes at the fixings station. Finally, with the paper plates barely large or strong enough to carry the weight of the hefty triangles, we took our dinners over to a booth up against the window. It had red vinyl-covered seating, and a bright red plastic table in the middle. I sat on one side while Cece and Sam shared the other.
“Thanks guys,” I said when we were seated. “I needed cheering up.”
Cece shook her head at me. “No.”
“No?” I shook my head again to try and get rid of the last of the sleepy grogginess. I clearly wasn’t properly awake yet. What she’d said didn’t make any sense at all.
“This is for cheering me up, not you. There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“I accused people of murder! I was embarrassed in front of everyone. I got a dessert on my face!”
Cece shrugged her shoulders and then flicked a strand of hair back. “Yeah, yeah, that was this morning. Get over it already. We’re all about me now. Look at this.”
Cece put her phone down on the table and showed me another picture of Ryan and his family. They were standing by a small dock on a lake, a fair-sized boat just behind them.
“What’s this?”
“Look,” she said, jabbing her finger at the screen. “A lake. A boat. And look!” Cece swiped the picture across to reveal the next in the album. This time we had the family again, but the picture was taken from a position on the dock itself, looking landward. Behind the family we got a glimpse of their property.
“A boathouse. And a summer house! They have a summer home! That’s like, a spare home! For when you’re so rich you can sleep in two places at once!”
Sam winced at me across the table. Clearly she’d been trying to support Cece’s waning self-confidence that day, much like I had the day before.
“Cece, it doesn’t matter if they have ten houses and ten boats. What matters is you and Ryan. This doesn’t change anything at all.”
She glared at the photo.
“It does make a difference. What happens when his family asks about my summer home? I don’t even have a home, I live on a boat!”
Sam rubbed Cece’s back to try and calm her.
“Where’s your aunt’s B&B? Tell them that’s your summer home if you care that much. Or tell them the truth. Most people don’t have summer homes and yachts, Cece, it doesn’t matter!”
“My aunt’s B&B is just outside New Orleans,” she said with a sniff.
Sam and I exchanged glances.
“It is? Why haven’t you invited us there yet?”
Cece shrugged. “Didn’t think of it. It’s in a boring town that doesn’t even have a decent club, and the only bar is for old rednecks with beards down to their boots and guts out to the handlebars of their motorbikes.”
“Sounds fun,” I said.
“Sounds like home,” said Sam with a grin.
“I guess if you’re really interested we could go some time.” Cece didn’t sound too enthused. “But what am I going to do about Ryan?”
“You’re going to do exactly what I told you the other day. You’re going to meet his family, be nice to them, and they’ll be nice to you. If they’re half as kind as he is, you’ll all get on great. Forget the money stuff, it’s simply not important.”
Cece leaned back int
o the booth hard, thumping the padded rest behind her.
“I guess.” She stared down at the phone again. “A boathouse. What kind of rich boat has its own house?” she grumbled mostly to herself.
“My pizza’s getting cold.” I picked up my slice and folded it in half. “Let’s eat.”
And eat we did. And I didn’t even get to complain about my own woes once.
***
Newly invigorated, Cece left us with a bounce in her step as she went to go and meet Ryan for an after-dinner drink. Once she was gone, Sam and I got another slice of pizza each, but I regretted it almost immediately.
Not because the pizza was bad, you understand, but because of who decided to join us.
“Sam!” called a loud voice from the door.
From the way her face lit up I knew who it was even before I’d processed the foreign accent.
“Scott! Come here! Come and join us! We’d love it if you did!”
I didn’t even get a chance to deny that blatant lie. And I couldn’t leave right away either, not with a fresh slice of pizza in front of me.
A moment later Scott was sliding into the booth. It had seemed plenty big when Cece was there, but now with Scott it felt incredibly cramped. He slid in right beside me, presumably so that he could stare stupidly into Sam’s eyes. Or romantically, is I guess how Sam would put it.
Feeling squashed into the corner of the booth, I ate my pizza quickly, merely making mumbling sounds of agreement when my input was requested, my mouth being full the rest of the time.
Sam and Scott managed to have the most inane and boring conversation I’d heard in some time, while appearing to be absolutely riveted in each other’s dull words.
“What did you do today?” asked Sam breathlessly.
“I tried to teach a water aerobics class in the morning… but I kept thinking of you and daydreaming!”
“Oh, stop it,” said Sam giving him a playful poke across the table.
Yeah, stop it!
“What did you do today, Sammy Sam Sam?”
She giggled near uncontrollably. Please, get me out of here! I shoved the last of the pizza into my mouth and began chewing it as fast as I could so I could make my excuses and leave.
Cruise Ship Cozy Mysteries 10 - Bed and Breakfast and Cruises Page 15