'What is it? Why have you asked us here?'
The Captain turned to Robert, eyebrows raised, but Robert shook his head. He simply could not bring himself to tell Julie, let alone accuse her.
The Captain shrugged, and turned back to the girls, twirling the ring in his hand.
'This valuable ring,' he began, 'was today found in your suitcase, Mrs Carstairs. Can you explain how it came to be there, hidden in a pocket, wrapped in tissues?'
Julie had gone so white Robert thought she was about to faint, but she grasped the edge of the desk and took a deep breath, shaking her head. He could have sworn the production of the ring had shocked her, but was it the shock of discovery, or of innocence?
Susan, in contrast, had flushed, but it seemed like anger rather than the embarrassment of being found out.
'What right have you to search our things without permission?' she demanded, so furious her words were tumbling out of her mouth. 'Are you accusing Julie of putting it there? That's utter and complete nonsense! She wouldn't steal a – oh, I don't know! An apple fallen from a tree onto a public path! She didn't put it there, and if you are thinking of accusing me, I didn't either! Oh, how dare you! I won't stay on this ship a moment after we get to Malaga, and if you don't apologise I'll find the best lawyers to demand compensation for this libel!'
'Slander,' the Captain said, and then recalled himself. 'I think you are protesting too much, Miss Phillips. No one else can get into your cabin – '
'Apart from the stewardess!' Susan interrupted.
'Are you accusing her?'
'No, but what you said is wrong. She can get into the cabin, and perhaps someone else crept in while she was, I don't know, fetching something or answering someone's bell. Or perhaps she left the door unlocked. The people on board might have suspected you were searching the ship, and dumped the ring.'
'Why should anyone else hide this stolen ring there? How could they hope to retrieve it later?' the Captain asked. 'And why would they want to hide it anyway?'
'How the devil do I know?'
'We were searching, someone might have known that,' Robert put in, and the Captain gave him a glance of irritation.
'As soon as we arrive at Malaga the local police will be called, and you will be arrested,' he said. 'I will have you escorted to your cabin now. It will be as well for you if you stay away from the other passengers and do not attempt to speak to anyone of this.'
He glanced at Robert, then rang a bell on his desk. When one of the officers came in he asked him, without any explanation, to escort the ladies to their cabin.
'Are you going to lock us in, add false imprisonment to what we'll be charging you with?' Susan demanded.
'You will be free to use the ship's facilities as normal,' the Captain said, 'but it is late now, and I doubt you will want to talk to anyone else tonight.'
Julie cast an anguished glance at Robert, and he started up from his chair, wanting both to assist and comfort her, but the Captain pulled him back.
'Let them go,' he ordered.
Julie managed to rise to her feet, and Susan, spitting mingled curses and threats of what she would do if the Captain's accusations were not withdrawn, put her arm round her sister and together they walked from the office, followed by a somewhat puzzled officer.
Robert, with just a nod to the Captain, swiftly left also. He could not endure any further discussion.
*
Susan, who often resorted to sleeping tablets, insisted on giving one to Julie.
'I'm so angry I won't sleep a wink,' she raged. 'Nor will you, so although I know you don't like them, you must have one tonight. How could he! And Robert just sat there, believing we're thieves! I thought he liked you, in fact I – but never mind that. Here, take this.'
Numb, Julie did as she was told. She undressed in a daze, but when she was in bed, and Susan was asleep, she still lay sleepless. How had that wretched ring got into her suitcase, and why had anyone put it there? When would they be hoping to retrieve it? She would have been packing on the next day, her suitcase would be on its way.
Then she recalled what Susan had told her. The suitcases would be placed outside the cabins on the final night, and the crew would take them to a central point from where they would be unloaded straight to the quay, ready for passengers to reclaim on their way home. Could someone have been hoping to break into her suitcase and retrieve the ring while it was there? The case was locked, but it would be comparatively easy for anyone with a picklock to open it, even perhaps to close it afterwards, so she might never have known how the case had been used.
Why should anyone do such a thing? And how had they got into the cabin? When?
It was always possible the stewardess had left the cabin unlocked, but she had seemed honest and careful. Might she be the thief, or in league with whoever it was? How could she have stolen the ring, if she had? The stewardesses did not go to the public rooms, where she might have had an opportunity of stealing the ring, but others of the crew who might have been in league with her could have done.
Julie recalled the previous night, when Mary had taken off the ring because her finger was becoming swollen. Had she left it on the table in the bar? Might one of the barmen have found it? Had they persuaded the stewardess to hide it, in case they were suspected when the ring was missed and Mary remembered where she had left it?
No one else could have got into the cabin except by chance. Could it be someone who occupied one of the nearby cabins, taking a sudden opportunity. Yet why should they, unless they were afraid of being suspected of the theft?
Why should they? OK, the ring had disappeared, apparently after Mary had left it in the bar. But surely only the people who had been present would know it was there, unless a complete stranger had walked past the table later and seen it. Had Mary been complaining while many of the passengers were in Marrakech? If so, the thief had to be someone not on that trip.
She turned over for the tenth time. Why didn't Susan's pill work on her? She looked at the luminous dial of her travel alarm. Only half past two. Another four hours at least until she could reasonably get up and wander onto the deck.
Suddenly she recalled Cathy saying she could get hold of a spare master key. If she could, perhaps others might know how to as well? She'd talk to Cathy in the morning. On the thought she fell asleep, and when she woke it was after nine in the morning. Susan had gone, leaving a note on the dressing table to say she was in the shop, and suggesting they didn't mention the accusation to anyone else.
'I'm sure it will all be cleared up today,' she'd finished, and Julie could only hope she was right.
*
Robert sat up all night, trying to think of ways in which the ring had appeared in Julie's suitcase, and reasons why she could not be a thief. When the midnight buffet was well over, he went out on deck, and sat on one of the deckchairs beside the swimming pool, hoping the cool night air would help him to think this through. It didn't help, and after an hour, feeling chilly and wishing he had thought to bring a thick sweater out with him, he went back to his cabin.
Julie wasn't a thief, he was now prepared to stake his life on that. But was Susan? Had she planned this without Julie's knowledge? He knew so little about the sisters, just what he had been told by them.
Suddenly galvanised into action, he went back to his cabin, collected his laptop, and took it down to the ship's computer room where he found another man surfing the Internet.
First he sent a stream of emails to the office, marking every single one urgent, to be answered as soon as possible. Then he began to search. There would probably have been press accounts of Andrew's death, especially since he had been young to die. It had been in a car accident, he recalled, about three years ago.
It took an hour, but he found the details, a small Coroner's report, but after all that effort it didn't add anything to what he already knew. Julie had a big insurance lump sum, as the other driver had been drunk and held totally responsible. She also
had a pension from his employers. Googling her name came up with an article on the toys she made, and there were some enchanting illustrations, but nothing more. Susan's name generated nothing, there were several Susan Phillips, but none of whom seemed at all like her.
It was six before he went back to his cabin. He really ought to try and snatch a few hours of sleep, and maybe in the morning he would have some more ideas. He had to find a way of exonerating Julie, his love, the woman he was now sure he wanted above everything else, to marry.
*
Julie knew she couldn't face anything to eat, so after a quick shower she dragged on jeans and a thin sweater, and went to the shop, which was busy with passengers making last minute purchases.
Susan saw her and came across.
'Are you OK? You were so fast asleep I didn't want to disturb you.'
'I'm fine now, but your pill didn't work for hours. I need to speak to Cathy. Can you ask her to come outside for a minute? I don't want to have to talk to her in here.'
Susan looked at her, puzzled.
'Why?'
'Susan, please, I'll tell you later. Do as I ask, I haven't a lot of time left to clear our names, and Cathy might be able to help.'
Her sister shrugged, but nodded.
'As soon as she's finished with that customer.'
Julie retreated. There were some big, comfortable sofas in an alcove just outside the shop and she sank down into one. She hadn't really planned what she meant to say, but hoped inspiration would come.
It was ten minutes before Cathy appeared and sat down beside her.
'What is it, Julie?' she demanded. 'It's bedlam in there, you can see how busy we are, I can't afford the time for a cosy chat.'
'Did you go into my cabin yesterday?' Julie asked. 'Did you hide that emerald ring there?'
'What? Julie, have you gone mad? What emerald ring? Why do you think I know anything about an emerald ring?'
'That monster one Mary Talbot wears. She lost it yesterday, left it in the bar, and you were at a nearby table. Everyone heard about her swollen finger, and that she took the ring off.'
'So what? There were a lot of people in the bar, I recall. I didn't take any notice, I was talking to some of the girls.'
'You know how to get into my cabin. And the ring was found there, it had been put there while I was out yesterday. I don't believe Susan did it, or the stewardess. That leaves you.'
'What? That's ridiculous! Only you and Susan have keys, and if you are insinuating I took hers yesterday you're quite wrong.'
'No, I'm not saying that. But you told me, when Susan was ill, that you could get hold of a spare master key. Perhaps you still have it?'
Cathy stood up and glared at Julie.
'You are mad! I can borrow a master key from one of the stewardesses, yes, but I didn't yesterday. You can ask them. Now are you going to apologise? I'm amazed a sister of Susan could be so crazy as to suspect her best friend of stealing, let alone trying to compromise you by hiding the wretched thing in your case!'
'How did you know where it was?' Julie demanded, standing up and facing Cathy.
For a moment the girl looked blank, then she laughed.
'I was guessing. Where else might a thief hide something small like that. If there is a thief, and you have not just made it all up for some odd reason. Now I have to get back to work. I don't have leisure to concoct fairy stories like the leisured classes do!'
*
Robert, who had been about to join Julie on the sopha, had stepped back behind a big potted palm when he saw Cathy come out of the shop and walk across to her. He hadn't been able to hear everything, but he'd heard enough to realise that here, perhaps, was the solution to the mystery. He turned round and headed for the computer room.
An hour later he was in the Captain's office.
'My people back in England have checked out what I discovered,' he said. 'Cathy Smithers was convicted of theft three years ago and had a few months in Holloway.'
The Captain blinked hard and shook his head.
'She had impeccable references,' he said.
'We both know references can be forged. Did you check them?'
'I was in a hurry to get a replacement to take up the franchise, after the previous shop owner collapsed with a heart attack. So young too.'
'So you didn't check.'
The Captain shook his head.
'Are you absolutely sure?'
'My staff are. When she came out of prison she changed her name and her family helped her start this shop. I imagine they wanted her out of England, they are quite a well-known clerical family and as an ex-con she would have been an embarrassment to them.'
'I'd never have thought it. She seems such a nice girl.'
'I suspect she has been keeping low for some time, but recently the urge to sample the pickings on board must have overcome her. I suggest we look at her shop's accounts too, while we are about it. Or get the accountants to check. I'll be busy elsewhere. She somehow has access to a master key and has been known to get into Julie's cabin, visiting her when she was ill. Can you send for her now?'
The Captain sighed.
'I suppose I'll have to.'
He rang the bell on his desk and gave orders, then sat with closed eyes while they waited. Robert remained silent, offering up thanks that Julie would now be exonerated. He just hoped she would not hold it against him, or believe he had for a moment suspected her.
*
Chapter 9
Julie was walking on deck, wondering what to do, whether anyone would believe her about Cathy, when Steven appeared by her side.
'Almost over,' he said, falling into step as she paced along the promenade deck. 'I can't say it has been a success, from my point of view. I'd hoped to see more of you, hoped to get you to change your mind about me.'
He seemed subdued, and for a brief moment Julie felt sorry for him, than she hardened her heart. This was perhaps a last ploy to soften her.
'No, Steven, I won't do that,' she said. 'Now, please excuse me, I have to go and speak to someone.'
He caught her hand.
'Please, Julie, just agree to see me occasionally, for a drink, a meal, nothing else. After all, we are both single, and I'm lonely, I expect you are too. We could be company for one another.'
Did the man never give up? Julie shook her head in amazement.
'No,' she said again, more forcefully.
She pulled away from him, and darted through the nearest door. Who ought she to speak to? Somehow she did not want to go to the Captain with her suspicions. He probably wouldn't believe her, he'd already made up his mind she was guilty. She heard the door opening behind her, and fearing it was Steven leapt into the lift beside her just as the doors closed. She couldn't go down to her cabin in case he followed her. She wouldn't put it past him. She pressed the button for the penthouse deck before she had thought it through, then smiled. She would go and tell Mary and Bea her theory and see whether they believed her. If they did, perhaps they would go with her to the Captain to explain, and surely he would believe them.
*
Cathy was brought to the Captain's office, angry and belligerent, but when confronted with the evidence Robert had collected, she broke down in tears and admitted the temptation to steal the ring, lying so forgotten on the table in the bar, had been too much for her.
'Why did you try to throw suspicion on Mrs Carstairs?' Robert asked.
'I was afraid,' she sobbed. 'I didn't mean to get her into trouble, I thought she probably wouldn't find the ring. And if she did, she wouldn't know how it got there. People often don't use those internal pockets in cases.'
'What did you mean to do?' Robert asked.
Cathy had no spirit left.
'I knew you'd search, and as I'd been in the bar I'd be suspected. I had the master key, I could get into any cabin on that deck, but I know where Julie lives, and I could go there later on, after the next cruise, perhaps, find some excuse, and get the ring back. I'
ve a few days' leave after the next cruise, I meant to go to England.'
Robert looked at her in disgust.
'What else have you stolen? Apart from the money from Mrs Talbot's purse when she had that party you went to her in her suite.'
Cathy looked at him in alarm.
'How did you know about that?'
'Never mind. You admit it?'
'Just a few dollars. The purse was open, and she wouldn't miss them, she's rolling in money.'
The Captain frowned.
'What about the things that were stolen on previous cruises?' he demanded, taking a list from a drawer in the desk. 'Look through these and see what we know about. Of course, there may be other things people didn't report, but if you admit to it all perhaps the punishment will be less severe.'
Cathy went pale, and barely glanced at the paper he handed over. Suddenly she sighed and sat up straight.
'OK, if I admit it, will you let me go? I promise I'll never do anything like it again.'
'It's a disease,' Robert said slowly. 'Will you promise to go back to your family and get treatment?'
Her eyes lit up.
'Yes, yes, of course, I'll do anything so long as I don't have to go to prison.'
'I can't guarantee that, but perhaps your family will speak for you, take you in hand.'
'What about my shop?'
The Captain glanced at Robert.
'What can we do about that? The stock belongs to Miss Smithers.'
'Then I suggest we buy it from her, and employ Susan Phillips to run the shop. But you, Miss Smithers, will be escorted back to England, you won't be free to disappear and change your name again.'
She paled and gave him a hunted look.
'How do you know I did that?'
'I have my methods,' he replied, feeling like a ham detective in a third-rate drama. 'I know you were in prison, too.'
She made no more protests, submitted to being locked in a secure cabin near the bridge, while the Captain made arrangements for her to be escorted to England. He sent the Purser and two of his assistants to close the shop and make an inventory, and Robert was finally able to escape. He must find Julie, but before that he would let his aunt know the thief had been caught.
Lucky for Love Page 9