Millie spread a thick layer of iceberg lettuce on the bottom of her plate. She topped it with tomatoes, onions, cheddar cheese, and green peppers. Her final stop was to add a large scoop of ranch dressing and croutons before she followed Danielle to a table in the corner.
Danielle slid into the chair across from Millie. “I was thinking the same thing. Norovirus is bad news.” She spread her napkin on her lap and reached for her fork. “So you’ve given up on figuring out how Delilah ended up eating the tainted cream puff.”
“There’s not much else I can do. I’ve reached a standstill. The suspects are now off the ship, with the exception of the Boskos, who are in quarantine since they’re contagious.”
They discussed the possibility of both Roger and Dixie Keebler following through on their threats to sue the cruise line before moving on to more pleasant topics.
Millie told Danielle she’d enjoyed her time at home but all the time she’d been there, she wondered what was happening aboard Siren of the Seas.
“And you were wondering what Captain Armati was doing,” Danielle teased.
“True. I missed him, I missed everyone, even you,” Millie joked.
They finished their salads and strolled across the pool area to the other end. A somber faced Donovan Sweeney and Andy were coming from the other direction.
A chill ran up Millie’s spine as her eyes met Andy’s eyes. Something told her the serious expression involved her and a knot formed in the pit of her stomach. “What happened?”
Her first thought was something had happened to one of her children or to Captain Armati.
“The corporate office in Miami just called,” Donovan said in a low voice as several passengers strolled by. “Let’s talk over here.”
The four of them headed to a quiet corner, right behind the towel cart and out of the main thoroughfare.
“They received a formal complaint from Roger E. Sanders, accusing Siren of the Seas and Majestic Cruise lines of negligence in the death of Delilah Osborne.”
Millie’s hand flew to her mouth. “He’s not even home yet.”
“He didn’t waste any time,” Andy grimaced.
“That’s not all,” Donovan said. “He specifically named you.”
“Me?” Millie squeaked. Beth had warned her Roger was on the warpath and was spouting threats and accusations Millie was somehow responsible for Delilah’s death, but she didn’t think he seriously believed Millie was somehow involved. “That’s absurd.”
“Now what?” Danielle asked.
Andy sucked in a deep breath. “Patterson already closed the investigation and filed the paperwork. Corporate is forcing him to reopen it. He wants you to stop by his office as soon as possible.”
“I’m on my way,” Millie said. She turned to go and Andy grabbed her arm.
“We know you’re innocent Millie. This is a formality, but if you can think of anything, anything at all your daughter may have said, please be sure to let Patterson know.”
“I will,” Millie promised. She left the three standing on the deck and marched down the steps. “Unbelievable,” Millie hissed under her breath. The more she stomped, the angrier she became.
If the whole matter weren’t so serious and tragic for Delilah and her family, it would’ve made a great soap opera. Who would believe an assistant cruise director’s ex-husband would bring his bride-to-be on board the ship where she worked and ask the captain of the ship, who also happened to be the cruise director’s boyfriend, to marry them and then have the woman die after eating peanuts or peanut butter?
Millie wasn’t sure who to blame. She wanted to place the blame squarely on Roger’s shoulders. At best, it was an accident, pure and simple. At worst, it was a sinister crime, carried out by someone close to Delilah, someone who knew she was deathly allergic to peanuts and somehow managed to trick her into eating the poisonous food.
Dave Patterson’s office was dark but Millie decided to knock anyway. When he didn’t answer, she turned around and retraced her steps.
She could feel her blood pressure rise and knew she’d reached a point where she was about to blow her cool so she headed back to her cabin to cool down.
She stayed inside for several moments and when she spied her cell phone on the counter, she picked it up. Millie rarely used her cell phone while the ship was in open water, partly because reception was hit or miss and partly because the roaming fees and service provider charges were ridiculously expensive.
She picked up the phone and switched it on. There was a text message from Beth. Her daughter had sent several family pictures she’d taken during the cruise and Millie smiled as she gazed at her beautiful family. Looking at the pictures calmed Millie and helped put things into perspective.
She flipped through the photos and frowned when she spotted a group photo, one with Delilah, Roger, Linda, Delilah’s daughter, as well as a man Millie didn’t recognize. She assumed the man was Linda’s husband.
The group photo was the last one Beth had sent so Millie switched her cell phone off and slipped it into her jacket pocket before she left the cabin and headed for an open deck where she hoped she’d be able to get enough bars on her cell phone to dial out.
She plucked the phone from her pocket and switched it on. There were three bars, enough to dial out so Millie quickly pressed her daughter’s cell phone number.
The call went right to voice mail and Millie, not wanting to cause Beth more stress, thanked her for sending the pictures and told her she’d call her when she reached St. Croix before switching the phone off and slipping it back inside her pocket.
The Cruise Clue mystery/scavenger hunt was next on Millie’s list of scheduled activities and she forced herself to focus on the task at hand.
The sun deck’s tiki bar was the listed meeting place and Millie hurried over to the bar, not far from the mini golf course. The bar area was packed and she quickly realized the passengers were all there to play the game.
Andy had only given her enough packets for five teams so Millie had to double the number of people per group and then randomly select “team captains.” She was relieved Andy had given her detailed instructions including giving each of the teams five minutes to go over the clues and talk strategy.
While one of the teams decided a “divide and conquer” plan would work best, others opted to work the clues in reverse.
The final group’s strategy was to skip going over a game plan and get a jump-start on the game as they split up and canvassed the ship, searching for clues.
According to the instructions, each team was given approximately one hour to either take pictures of, or bring back as many of the items as possible. The team that arrived back to the bar area first with the most items/clues uncovered, would win. Any team who arrived late, even by a minute was automatically disqualified.
After the teams left, Millie hopped onto a stool in front of the tiki bar and ordered a Diet Coke. She pulled out the game’s instruction sheet, which listed both the clues and answers. She placed a hand over the answers and worked her way down the list as she tried to guess what they were.
“Whatcha’ doing?” Annette pulled out the bar stool next to Millie and plopped down.
“What are you doing?” Millie peered at her friend over the top of her reading glasses.
“Looking for you. I have a couple hours off and wondered if you were having a better day today.”
“No, I’m not,” Millie said bluntly. “Donovan tracked me down to let me know Roger filed a complaint at corporate and named me in the complaint.”
Annette rolled her eyes. “What a jerk.”
“I realize he’s in shock, in mourning, or whatever, but surely he knows deep down I didn’t kill Delilah.”
“Maybe in his mind, he thinks you did do it, that you only planned to make her sick, not kill her but it went too far and she died,” Annette theorized. “Did you get a chance to jot down any notes?”
“No. After I got back to the cabin last nig
ht, I read my Bible and went to bed.” Millie glanced at her watch. “I have some extra time right now while I wait for the passengers to get back here from the scavenger hunt.”
“No time like the present,” Annette quipped. “I can try to help.”
Millie flipped the game’s answer sheet over and scribbled “suspects” at the top of the sheet. “You’re good at this. Who do you think may have intentionally poisoned Delilah?”
“Roger, her sister, her brother-in-law, her daughter, son-in-law and the friends,” Annette rattled off.
“Which is everyone.”
“Exactly. We can’t rule anyone out. Supposing it wasn’t an accident. Supposing you didn’t do it.”
Millie interrupted. “Of course I didn’t do it.”
“See? We’re already eliminating suspects,” Annette joked. “In all seriousness, what do we know?”
“We know Delilah ordered room service. The Boskos, across the hall, ordered around the same time. Carmen delivered the food. Roger left to get sodas. When he came back, Delilah was lying on the floor, clutching her throat and the tainted cream puff, and that her throat had swollen shut, suffocating her.”
“We also know Delilah’s balcony connected with her sister’s balcony on one side and her daughter’s balcony on the other.”
“Yep and there was no connecting interior door.”
“We’ve also concluded it’s possible that while Carmen was delivering other room service orders, someone snuck into the service area, spied the ticket on top of Delilah’s order and smeared some peanut butter on the food.”
Millie wrinkled her nose. “That’s a stretch.”
“What can I get you Miss Annette?” Dario, one of the bartenders and Millie’s friend, stepped close.
“It’s been a long day. Give me an eggnog, make it a double.”
Dario’s eyes widened.
“I’m kidding. I’ll take a ginger ale.” She turned to Millie. “Think about your conversation with Delilah the other day when she confronted you about selling your house. Did she say anything that struck you as odd or unusual?”
“No.” Millie shook her head. “She took me by surprise. I was shocked she was standing there in an area where passengers are not allowed.”
“Unless you’re one of the younger crewmembers and you hook up with one of the passengers, but that’s neither here nor there. Go on.”
“She said she and Roger wanted to move and she was interested in buying my house because of the lake view.” Millie subconsciously clenched her fist. “She wanted to buy it, tear it down and build a new one.”
Annette interrupted. “She sounds like a wacko. She steals your husband, flaunts him in your face and then she wants to buy your house just to tear it down.”
“Right?”
“Go on. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Annette popped the tab on her can of ginger ale and took a big swig.
“She said she and Roger needed a bigger house because she thought her daughter was going to move in with them.”
“The daughter who was on the ship?”
“I dunno.” Millie shook her head. “She may have more than one daughter.”
Millie sipped her Diet Coke. “I told her no and I guess our voices got a little loud because Tariq stopped and asked if I needed help. I escorted Delilah out of the crew area right after that.”
“You never saw her again?”
“Nope. The next morning Patterson tracked me down to tell me she was dead.”
Millie twirled her straw in her glass. “The Boskos seem suspect. They are odd ducks, not real friendly and the fact they stayed on the ship and decided to finish the cruise after their ‘close’ friend died strikes me as odd.”
“Maybe we should trail ‘em for a while. You know, track their moves.”
“Remember they came down with norovirus,” Millie pointed out. “They’ve been confined to their cabin until further notice.”
“You’re right. I forgot. I guess that eliminates a search of their cabin. The place is probably full of cooties.”
A group of passengers hurried toward them. “My contestants,” Millie whispered.
“I’m outta here.” Annette gulped the rest of her ginger ale and hopped off the barstool. “Stop by later. We gotta get you out of the frying pan, my friend.”
Millie watched Annette walk across the deck. “I sure do hope we can.”
Chapter 16
After the scavenger hunt wrapped up, Millie headed toward Andy’s office to check in. It was late afternoon and Millie was beginning to fade. She passed by the sushi bar and paused. She’d never been a huge fan of what she’d secretly nicknamed “squishy.”
Annette had attempted to get Millie to try it but none of it sounded appetizing.
A kitchen staff member, someone Millie knew but for the life of her couldn’t remember the man’s name, smiled. “You like to try?”
She took a step closer and studied the offerings. Millie pointed at a small black bowl of soup with chunks of green floating around inside. “What’s that?”
“Miso soup. You want to try it?” The staff member slid a napkin and small tasting spoon toward Millie. “It has green onion and is very good.”
Millie scooped up the soup, the spoon and the napkin and stepped to the side to let the guests behind her reach the counter. “Thank you.”
She dipped her small spoon in the soup and tasted the warm salty concoction. It was good. She quickly finished the small sampler and handed the man behind the counter her empty bowl and dirty spoon. “You’re right. It was very tasty.”
“You try sushi?” Millie didn’t have the heart to tell him no, so she took the napkin and rolled rice piece. “Thank you. I better get back to work.”
Millie covered the sushi with the napkin and made her way into the hall as she searched for the nearest trash bin but couldn’t find one so she headed to Andy’s office still carrying the bite size sample.
Danielle and Andy were both inside and looked up when she made her way into the office. “I brought you a surprise.”
Danielle loved sushi. “Yum. What kind is it?”
“I have no idea.” Millie wrinkled her nose.
Danielle nibbled the treat while Millie told Andy the scavenger hunt had been a huge success.
“I haven’t scheduled anyone for Killer Karaoke tonight.” Andy tapped his pen on top of the desk.
“I’ll do it,” Danielle said. “I’ve never done it before.”
Andy hesitated.
“I say let her host it,” Millie said. “It’s only fair. What am I going to host?”
“The Mix and Mingle singles party.”
Millie groaned. “Is there time to change my mind?”
“No way.” Danielle chuckled.
“I’m kidding.” Millie patted Danielle’s arm. “Speaking of singles, has your stalker/admirer shown up again?”
“No, thank goodness.”
Andy leaned forward in his chair. “What stalker?”
Danielle explained how a passenger had been a little too “friendly” and she’d had to put him in his place. She attempted to assure Andy she had it under control. “I think I scared him off. I haven’t seen him all day.”
Despite Danielle’s reassurance she had it under control, Millie could tell Andy was concerned. He turned to Millie. “I’m going to put you in charge of hosting Mix and Mingle until further notice.”
“Aye-aye sir.” Millie gave Andy a small salute. “I guess I better run over there to set up the munchie station and make sure we’ve got some decent music ready to rock the place. Hopefully they don’t boo me out of there.”
“You’ll do fine.” Andy walked the women to the office door. He turned to Danielle. “You, young lady, need to let me know if this passenger approaches you again.”
“Thanks Dad,” Danielle gave Andy a quick hug and slipped out of the office.
“I’ll try to keep an eye on her,” Millie promised. She followed Danielle out of the offic
e and by the time she reached the outer hall, Danielle was long gone.
No one matching Danielle’s description of “Mark” showed up for the singles event and Millie was surprised by how much fun she had hosting the event. It was a lively group and a nice mix of younger and older guests.
Millie’s hosting events ended when she finished emceeing the Gem of the Seas, the headliner show. Afterwards, she wandered to the atrium to watch Danielle host Killer Karaoke and she caught Millie’s eye at one point while one of the young guests on board was singing a rousing rendition of “Blue Skies.” She gave Millie a thumbs up.
Millie finished making her rounds and by the time she tromped back to her cabin, she was exhausted. Tomorrow was the St. Croix port day and a wave of sadness washed over Millie as she thought about her family and how they’d all been looking forward to visiting Buck Island.
She quickly pushed the melancholy mood aside. Millie had bigger problems to deal with, namely Roger formally accusing her of being involved in Delilah’s death. She needed to suck it up and move on. She wasn’t even sure if she had the energy to worry about what Roger might or might not do.
Danielle wandered into the cabin as Millie finished getting ready for bed.
“Great job on Killer Karaoke,” Millie complimented. “The crowd enjoyed it.”
“I did too.” Danielle smiled, the dimple in her cheek deepening. “It’s too bad I can’t host it more often. How did the Mix and Mingle party go?”
“Great.” Millie removed her hair clip and ran her fingers through her hair. “I think I had as much fun as you did. We should ask Andy if he’ll let us swap events for the time being. You take Killer Karaoke and I’ll do at least one of the Mix and Mingle parties.”
“Really?” Danielle bounced on her toes. “Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to take over one of your favorite jobs.”
“I’m sure, Danielle. Besides, it’s good for us to swap jobs every so often.”
“Cool.” Danielle reached inside her closet for her pajamas. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I was going to go to Buck Island with my family.” Millie attempted to keep her tone light but Danielle could tell she was upset.
Suite Revenge (Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series Book 8) Page 11