by steve higgs
As I opened my mouth to speak, the doors were shoved roughly open as the dreaded Mr Schooner arrived. He immediately tried to take over. ‘Ah, well done, sir,’ he addressed the captain while shooting me a hateful stare. ‘I see you caught her. No need for any further involvement on your part, sir. I’ll take it from here. Terribly embarrassing that she gave my guards the slip, of course. You can expect a full report once I have investigated their failing.’
The captain allowed Mr Schooner to shake his hand but did not depart when advised he could do so. It was clearly what Mr Schooner wanted: to isolate me again. ‘Actually, Mr Schooner, Mrs Fisher had some interesting things to say about your involvement in this affair. Something about a priceless jewel. Perhaps you would like to hear it.’
Mr Schooner cracked a smile as if the captain had just told a joke. Then, he started issuing commands, ‘Sorry, sir. You seem to have been taken in by Mrs Fisher’s lies. You, you, and you, weapons on them now,’ he barked as he jabbed his finger at the three guards nearest to him.
They reacted instantly but as their weapons left their holsters, they then looked confused. Whose orders should they obey?
‘Lower your weapons,’ ordered the captain, annoyance at Mr Schooner’s attitude beginning to show.
‘No, captain.’ Mr Schooner moved to bring his greater height to bear against his superior. ‘Several of my guards have been assaulted. Two report that Miss Berkeley used chemical spray on them. Her butler was expressly forbidden from aiding her and yet here he is, and I see that you have also caught her main accomplice, the former partner in crime of Jack Langley, Shaun Metcalf who took a job on the ship to exact revenge on the man that left him to rot in jail.’
He turned to face me though he continued to address the captain, ‘I have been trying to protect you from the terrible events that have been going on since Mrs Fisher came aboard, but clearly it is time I explained.’ He turned back to the captain as he began to lie, ‘Sir, you are already aware that Mrs Fisher was seen leaving the upper deck restaurant with Mr Langley the night that he was murdered. She was subsequently found in his cabin attempting to recover her purse which she left there when committing the crime. She concocted a story about finding her rings missing to explain her presence in his room and a search of her suite did not reveal them. At first, I assumed she had simply hidden them in her safe since she refused to reveal the whereabouts of the key, but today they were found in the cabin of one of our stewards, Shaun Metcalf, a former criminal partner of Mr Langley. My investigation had led me to believe Jack Langley was the person responsible for the recent spate of jewel thefts from guests. The thefts coincide with his time on board.’
‘I learned much of this through my work with Flint Magnum who was hired by the Queen of Sweden after Jack Langley stole priceless diamonds from her. It would seem though, that there were other priceless items in his possession. Through her butler, Mrs Fisher was able to learn today that we were now aware of Mr Metcalf’s past and went to retrieve them before they could be discovered. I believe that further investigation will reveal that Mrs Fisher is known to Shaun Metcalf and the two of them cooked up a plot to kill Jack Langley so that they could recover the items in his possession and to exact revenge through his murder. Mrs Fisher murdered Lieutenant Davis when she needed to escape her suite and liaise with her accomplice. I believe Miss Berkeley became involved at this point and used her looks to lure Lieutenant Davis inside the suite where Mrs Fisher murdered him. The motive for Miss Berkeley’s involvement being nothing other than the offer of riches. Mrs Fisher is, as one can tell by her clothes, not a lady of wealth and could never afford the suite she is staying in. The royal suite was part of her ruse. She played the role of a rich widow on an around the world trip to attract Mr Langley. Her plan to have him invite her into his suite so she could murder him and steal whatever jewels he had played out perfectly in less than twenty-four hours from coming on board. You can see her rings have recently been removed and my research revealed that she is, in fact, still married.’
The captain raised an eyebrow in my direction but refrained from speaking.
Mr Schooner continued, ‘Mrs Fisher intended to commit her crime, then cancel her trip and get her money back. You are aware, sir, that she has made an attempt to book a flight home, yes?’
Looking at me, the captain nodded, ‘Yes, I was aware.’
‘Her mistake was in leaving her purse in Jack Langley’s suite. Had she not done so and then been caught attempting to retrieve it, we might never have identified her as the killer. All that has come since, the involvement of Miss Berkeley, the death of Lieutenant Davis and the attack on Flint Magnum have all occurred because I was not swift enough to realise how dangerous she was and how devious.’
‘What happened to Flint Magnum?’ I asked.
‘Feigning ignorance, Mrs Fisher?’ scoffed Mr Schooner. ‘I accept that it probably wasn’t you that bashed in his skull, but it will have been on your orders. No doubt, sir, she planned to hide away with the jewels and escape the ship somehow once we reached St Kitts. Flint Magnum’s career and reputation depended on recovering the missing jewels. My guess is that he either confronted Mrs Fisher after she escaped her suite, or she actively sought him out to remove another threat from the playing board.’
My mind swirled from the news that Flint had been attacked. Mr Schooner, or his thugs, had been trying to clean house, getting rid of anyone that knew about the sapphire which included Flint Magnum, Shaun Metcalf and of course me and Jermaine and Barbie. They had got to Flint and were interrupted in the act of dealing with Shaun.
Mr Schooner had finally fallen silent and no one spoke for several seconds while the captain, clearly deep in thought, paced the room and tapped a finger to his lips. When he finally looked up, he said, ‘Well done, Mr Schooner.’
‘No!’ I wailed. I couldn’t believe the captain had been convinced by his lies, but then I had to concede the circumstantial evidence, such as trying to get a flight home, was quite damning.
The captain wasn’t finished though, ‘I think perhaps I would like to hear from Mrs Fisher now.’ All eyes swung to look at me. I was staring at Mr Schooner; there was rage in his eyes, but he remained mute. ‘Mrs Fisher,’ the captain prompted.
‘Okay,’ I started, trying to gather my thoughts so I could explain my theory in a way that would make sense. ‘This goes back almost four decades to when two young men embarked on a life of crime. They broke into people’s houses and stole from them. One of the men, Jack Langley, liked to steal jewels and had his mind on pulling off the kind of job that would let him retire. Both men spent time in and out of jail and lost contact until one day Jack reappeared at his old accomplice’s place with a plan to steal a fat, priceless sapphire. The Sapphire of Zangrabar, so called because it was given as a gift from the Maharaja to his wife, is a jewel so famous that once they pulled it off, he discovered that he couldn’t sell it. During the robbery, his partner had an accident and lost two of his fingers.’ I turned and pointed to Shaun, who raised his damaged hand helpfully so all could see. The captain was good enough to look surprised. ‘Leaving his fingers at the scene ensured he went to jail for the robbery, but he never revealed the name of his partner who had fled with the jewel and left him to rot in prison until he was finally released after fifteen years and was recruited to work on this ship.’
‘In the meantime, Jack Langley, suspected of many crimes in many countries, but rich enough to afford a suite aboard this ship, was living a life of luxury spending his ill-gotten gains. He perpetuated his lifestyle by continuing to steal from rich widows and lonely wives who were dumb enough or desperate enough to fall for his charms. He tried the same trick on me but drew a blank because I have no jewellery worth stealing. He took my wedding rings nevertheless which is how I came to be in his suite the morning he was murdered.’
‘Flint Magnum told me his real name is Neil Hammond, but that was a lie also. His real name is Samuel Lawrence.’ I glanced at Mr S
chooner knowing that if I had just guessed wrong his face would show it. He didn’t react at all and I pressed on, ‘And though it is true that he came aboard several weeks ago to investigate Jack Langley, he wasn’t hired by the Queen of Sweden as he claims. In truth he is an insurance recovery agent working for Axiz Insurers, who having paid out when the sapphire was stolen, are still looking to recover the debt.’ I was walking as I talked, the other persons in the room listening intently. Even Mr Schooner was silent, but I think that was only because I hadn’t got to him yet. ‘Mr Schooner learned from Samuel Lawrence that he was on board to track down a famous jewel when he attempted to recruit Mr Schooner’s help. Mr Schooner’s position as head of security made him the right man to approach but he hadn’t realised Mr Schooner would use that information for his own gain.’
‘Preposterous,’ said Mr Schooner.
I ignored him. ‘Shaun Metcalf was recruited after Mr Schooner did his own research into Jack Langley. It wasn’t that hard to track down the likely accomplice in prison once he knew the name of the jewel Samuel Lawrence was attempting to recover. Shaun didn’t meet the person that offered him the job. He was collected by Mr Schooner’s two most loyal… henchmen, is that the right term? Can you point to the two men that collected you from prison, Shaun?’
Just across from me, Shaun raised a nervous arm to point at the two men that had been trying to kill him earlier. They both glanced around for an escape route, but there was none to be had.
‘Secure their weapons,’ instructed the captain and instantly the four guards nearest them drew their firearms while two more took the sidearms from the thugs’ holsters. Mr Schooner didn’t react at all, his confidence unflappable.
I continued my summation, ‘I believe that when a check is conducted, the jail discharge paperwork will have been signed by Mr Schooner, who having learned there was a thief on board with priceless jewels in his possession, set about a plot to make himself rich. He recruited the two men you have just disarmed, no doubt promising them a cut or a promotion or something…’
‘How much of this rubbish do we have to listen to?’ asked Mr Schooner feigning boredom.
The captain gave him a level stare, saying, ‘All of it, Mr Schooner.’
‘The night I came on board I disturbed Samuel Lawrence’s attempt to catch Jack Langley in the act of seducing and robbing a rich widow. I did this by accidentally getting drunk and passing out. Now, possibly Samuel intended to find me in the morning hoping to discover that I had been robbed in the night and could use that information to force a search of Jack’s suite. But I was up early, and Jack was already dead. Mr Schooner had killed Jack but when he took Jack’s safe key, he found the safe empty.’
‘Were there no jewels after all?’ asked the captain.
‘Oh, there were jewels alright. Jack had spotted Samuel’s blundering attempts to follow and spy on him and grown suspicious. Having dumped me in my cabin, he proceeded to snatch my rings; why break the habit of a lifetime, but then he took my safe key and stashed his stolen jewels, no doubt including the Sapphire of Zangrabar in my suite. No one would think to look there and he no doubt intended to continue to seduce me so he could recover them later, maybe then switching ships since he was under suspicion here.’
‘If that were true, then where is the key to your safe?’ asked Mr Schooner, trying to make a point.
‘I’m getting to it, Mr Schooner, please be patient.’ I was feeling confident now. As I talked my way through the confusion, it became clearer and clearer. ‘Mr Schooner only discovered the jewels were not in Jack’s cabin after he had killed him and taken his key, but I presented him with a patsy for the murder when he found my purse in Jack’s cabin and could reliably claim that I must have been there. The rings I claimed Jack had stolen were not there because Mr Schooner or one of his goons had already found them. Using that as an excuse and needing time to work out what had happened to the jewels, Mr Schooner had me confined to my suite. It was only after doing so that he discovered my safe key was missing and realised that Jack must have taken it.’
‘Why would he do that?’ the captain was keeping up but like everyone else in the room, he was utterly confused.
‘Because he knew he was being watched and sensed that Samuel Lawrence or Mr Schooner or both were going to swoop soon. He seized his chance when I passed out and stashed the jewels in my safe. I can only assume he took my purse to get my door key and then left it in his own cabin by accident.’
‘So, if Jack Langley took your safe key, where is it?’ the captain asked, his voice hushed, quite transfixed by my story.
I crinkled my face in disgust as I said, ‘It was in Jack’s body. He swallowed it in haste when Mr Schooner attacked him. That is why the body was mutilated after death. Mr Schooner didn’t know I could get out of my suite via my butler’s door, but he wanted to check the safe when the ship was mostly empty after docking in Madeira. He must have checked or used the guard to check that I wasn’t in the main room then snuck in to check the safe. We’ll never know if he tried to bribe Lieutenant Davis and couldn’t, or always planned to kill him, or had left him outside and then been disturbed by him as he retrieved the jewels, but he murdered him in my cabin with one of the knives from the kitchen and left the body to be found later. I couldn’t have done it you see because I was ashore in Madeira.’
The captain’s face filled with surprise. ‘How did you achieve that?’
‘I helped her,’ admitted Jermaine.
‘So, did I,’ added Barbie.
‘Mr Schooner now had his jewels, including the enormous sapphire, but had missed his chance to get them off the boat in Madeira. He sensed though that he needed to eliminate some clues such as Shaun here and it was blind luck that Barbie and I interrupted his henchmen attempting to kill him and plant evidence in his room.’
‘What evidence?’ the captain wanted to know.
I nodded at the question. I spotted a small bulge in Shaun’s back pocket earlier when we were running away but hadn’t had time to confirm what it was until now. I held my breath as I said, ‘Can you turn around please, Shaun?’ He obliged and we all stared at his bum. Shaun was craning his head to look over his own shoulder at his left buttock. The lump in his back pocket looked distinctly like three rings. He fished them out when asked and there were my missing wedding rings. ‘Mr Schooner believed that he could sew sufficient evidence together to convince everyone that I was guilty of three murders. I would be incarcerated in St Kitts and either held there or shipped home but in the months of questioning that would follow, I would continually fail to tell them where the jewels were which would give Mr Schooner enough time to sell them. However, he hadn’t counted on me being able to escape my suite and save Shaun.’
‘That is a wonderful tale, Mrs Fisher,’ said Mr Schooner, his features still relaxed. ‘You have no real evidence though. It’s all circumstantial.’
‘You missed something, Mr Schooner.’ He tilted his head at me in question. ‘A few minutes ago when you were delivering your lie about my involvement with Shaun, you knew all about his past with Jack Langley.’
A cloud of doubt passed over his features for the first time. He recovered quickly. ‘I, ah, I must have heard it from Samuel Lawrence,’ he stuttered.
‘Samuel Lawrence had no idea who Shaun was. Had never heard of him,’ I lied having never asked him the question. His eyes were widening in panic now. ‘Your guards were in Shaun’s cabin an hour ago trying to kill him. When questioned, will they say it was all their idea to bump him off? Or will they reveal it was on your orders?’
The two guards glanced at each other, then Mr Schooner grabbed the man nearest to him, shoved him roughly toward the guards and produced a gun of his own. I screamed as he ran for the door, lining the barrel up on me as he went. Frozen to the spot, all I could do was watch as he pulled the trigger.
The captain slammed into me, knocking my breath out as we both hit the deck, his weight on top of mine. I heard him wince
and knew he had been shot. He rolled off though, shouting, ‘After him,’ at his stunned guards.
‘Can I help you up, madam?’ asked Jermaine as he loomed over me. I took his offered hand and clambered back to my feet feeling shaken and in need of a lie down.
That’s when I spotted blood on the captain’s white uniform. He had taken a bullet for me. High on his left arm, a furrow of uniform was missing where the shot had grazed his shoulder. It was bleeding convincingly but would not threaten his life. It had been a heroic thing to do and he was now ignoring it as he directed his men to take Mr Schooner’s two henchmen away and search both their cabins and Mr Schooner’s.
Seconds later, as I was barely recovering my breath, I jumped again as a man in the white guard’s uniform burst back into the briefing room we were in. ‘He went overboard, sir!’ he reported out of breath.
‘Show me,’ said the captain and followed the man from the room. Not wanting to miss anything, I followed quickly after him, my small entourage of Jermaine, Barbie and a confused Shaun following me.
Mr Schooner had run across the deck, brandishing his gun and shouting at guests until he reached the port railing and jumped. All around were startled looking guests wondering what on earth was going on. At the railing, we stared at a small blob in the water. He was fourteen decks below us, which equated to at least one hundred and fifty feet and now a few hundred yards clear as the ship sailed on and he stroked for a small island at least two miles away.
‘Call the coastguard and have him picked up,’ instructed the captain. A lieutenant took the order and hurried away to make it happen. Standing by my side at the railing, the captain turned to face me. ‘Mrs Fisher,’ he started and then paused while trying to work out what to say. ‘Mrs Fisher, I cannot apologise enough nor thank you sufficiently for what you have had to suffer through and what you have done to reveal the truth.’ I couldn’t think of a reply so I kept quiet. ‘You paid for an around the world cruise, did you not?’