by Rose Donovan
Fina detected a definite shift in collective body language. It was as if everyone’s body slowly stiffened.
A breeze ruffled a curtain drawn over an open window.
Fina opened her eyes – just a crack – to see everyone’s faces. Ruby’s fluttering eyelids indicated that she was doing the same. So was Ian.
Patricia repeated her question, but the planchette stayed put. She shifted in her seat, eyes still closed.
“Why were you murdered, Balraj?”
Now the planchette skidded across the board, gaining speed. It went to the M, then the O.
As the planchette danced about, Fina’s barely opened eyes scanned everyone’s faces. To her dismay, she saw that Patricia was also peeking out from under her half-closed eyelids. Fina hastily squinched her eyes shut to avoid being caught. Patricia’s haughty voice intoned the rest of the planchette’s message. “N… E… Y.”
At that, Fina opened her eyes completely. Patricia’s face was contorted in an expression of utter surprise. Whose face had she seen?
22
A warm sun bathe on the deck was just what Fina needed. She tensed and relaxed her muscles, tossing her arms over the arms of the lounge chair. Turning on her side, she looked at Ruby in the adjacent chair. Looking glamorous as always, she had on round sunglasses and an emerald green swimming costume. She was reading the Makhno book, this time more carefully than before.
Although lunch’s séance offered tasty food for thought, they had both turned sluggish due to a natural lull in energy and a hearty meal. Instead of fighting it, Ruby suggested they position themselves on the sundeck in such a way that they might be able to overhear conversations. Conversations about m-o-n-e-y.
Not forgetting their primary task of making contact, either, Ruby thought it a good way to be available for someone to approach them. Fina felt fortunate that Sadie had said she did not need to give Victor lessons that day. She was quite sure he wouldn’t be able to concentrate.
They had been fishing all morning. Now it seemed appropriate that they just let the bait sit, as it were, and see what might come of it.
As if pulled by Ruby and Fina’s invisible magnetism, passengers began to emerge on deck. The pair had decided beforehand that the best course was to ignore everyone who came on deck – unless they initiated conversation.
Fina felt a little hand touch her arm. The first person to take them up on this offer was Victor, of course.
She pushed her sunglasses down and squinted at the little figure by her side. “Yes, Victor?” He held up a miniature pink pig. The pig had a devious, crooked smile and a gleam in his eye, but she decided Victor wouldn’t notice or wouldn’t care.
“Darling pig, Victor,” she said. “Does your pig have a name?”
“Her name is Wendell,” said Victor, looking affectionately at the pig.
Fina sat bolt upright, nearly knocking over her iced tea. Ruby looked over in surprise. Doing her best to calm down so as not to startle Victor into silence, Fina relaxed her shoulders and gently put her hand on Victor’s shoulder.
“What a darling name for a pig, Victor. It is rather unusual for a pet name, however. How did you come up with it?”
Ruby was upright now, sitting on the edge of her lounge chair, straining to listen.
“I heard someone talking about Wendell yesterday and I liked the name.”
Ruby said, “Who was talking about Wendell?”
Victor’s face contorted in the effort of remembrance. Fina could tell he was enjoying the attention and was going to milk this scene for all that it was worth.
“Well, I heard someone mentioning it in the dining room yesterday – while we were making that smashing pea catapult,” he said. Fina approved of his use of the word “smashing”.
“You can’t remember who it was?” asked Fina.
Violet Gibbs came rushing up to Victor, interrupting his concentration. Today she was wearing a pale green poplin afternoon dress. Fina was surprised that Violet could move that quickly, given her sickly condition.
“There you are, Victor,” she said in a half-relieved, half-irritated voice. “We’ve been searching for you all over the ship. We were beginning to get worried. But now that we’ve found you, why don’t you come join us with your pig. Gilbert has a pet cow so perhaps they can play together.”
Removing her sunglasses so she could look directly at Violet, Ruby said, “Victor’s pig is quite charming. Her name is Wendell.” Ruby gave Violet a smile.
Fina’s eyes locked on Violet’s pasty face. Was it just her imagination, or did she see a flicker of her eyelids?
“Yes, charming, quite charming,” she murmured as she led Victor away.
Ruby leaned back on her arms in mock disbelief. “Did I just hear that correctly?”
“Yes, you did, dear Ruby,” responded Fina. She sipped her iced tea which was rapidly becoming hot tea. It was still refreshing.
Sipping her own iced tea through a straw, Ruby said, “Wendell the pig. So he heard someone talking about Wendell, which means that person was talking to someone else about Wendell. Does that mean there are two contacts on the ship?” She let out a sigh of frustration.
“It would seem that way. Should we be looking for pairs?”
“Well, there’s the Gibbses, Emeline and Patricia, Ian and the captain, Lev and Neville, Ian and Balraj—”
“—and Balraj and Dolores. I suppose there might be some other configuration between Lev, Agnes, Sarah, and Neville.”
“That’s a lot of pairs, Feens. I don’t know if that means we can eliminate any pairs connected to Balraj or not. I suppose we can eliminate – temporarily at least – Gibbs and Dolores because they weren’t at dinner as pairs last night.”
Fina held her head, as if it hurt. “I agree, but I’m so overwhelmed by even that list of suspects!”
Ruby nodded. “I agree. I think we need to make a list, but we need to do it out of sight. Let’s go back to our cabin so we can talk about this before dinner. Especially because dinner will provide opportunities to ask more questions.”
Fina scooped up her clutch and wriggled her feet into her sandals.
“Wait,” hissed Ruby in a barely audible voice.
Fina scanned the horizon of the deck. She could see the Gibbses and Victor in one corner – all huddled underneath an umbrella as if they were in some sort of downpour. Except for Gilbert. He seemed to be setting some sort of insect on fire with a looking glass. Fina shuddered. Hopefully he was just looking at something closely.
Beyond that, she could see the outline of the bar toward the ship’s stern. Lev was wiping down the bar and tables.
“What is it?” whispered Fina in disbelief. “It all looks calm to me.”
Ruby gently motioned her head in the direction of the bar.
Neville rushed over to the bar, a large folder under his arm. He didn’t acknowledge Lev’s presence. That was decidedly odd, thought Fina, as Lev was a few tables away from the bar. But he didn’t look up either, though he surely must have heard Neville’s approach. If anything, he began to rub the table even more vigorously than before.
Neville left the folder on the top of the bar and loped down the deck.
Lev looked up from his spotless table, wiped his brow and made his way to the bar. He scooped up the envelope and slid it under his shirt. After gulping down a pink beverage on the bar, he shuffled off toward the stairs.
23
The chewy, gummy sweetness melted in Fina’s mouth. “Thank you, Ruby. Exquisite,” she said as she clenched her teeth on the next piece of dried mango.
“It is delectable, isn’t it?” said Ruby, removing another piece from the handkerchief on the nightstand. “Ian gave me this bundle of mango this morning. We talked about it when we were at Pauncefort – I remember telling him how much I missed it.”
“He is thoughtful, isn’t he, Ruby?” Despite her jealousy of Ian and his somewhat suspicious behaviour, she liked him.
Ruby rubbed her nose
. Fina knew what that meant. “He’s just trying to cover for his odd behaviour – such as following us.”
Washing down the mango with a large glass of water, Fina decided silence was enough of a response for now. She pulled out a full sheet of paper from the writing desk, rooted around for the pen, and then sat down to write.
“Thanks, Feens,” said Ruby, wiping her sticky hands on a nearby handkerchief. “Let’s try to organise our thoughts and then we can go back and take it all apart. Now, first – when might Balraj Chadha have been killed?”
Fina nodded, and wrote at the top of her sheet of paper: What happened?
Ruby said, “We know that he went to his cabin at 6:15. At 6:45, Agnes knocked and there was no answer.”
“So he must’ve been killed between roughly 6:20 and 6:40,” said Fina. She scrunched up her face. “That’s not much time.”
“I agree,” said Ruby leaning back on the bed. “But let’s assume it’s possible at this point and move on from there. That means the people who could have done it would be Violet, Patricia, Emeline, Dolores, and possibly one of the staff. I suppose it could have been Lev or the captain, but it would have meant placing their careers in jeopardy.”
Fina put down her pen. “So the murderer goes to Balraj’s cabin, knocks, enters, carrying the weapon with them, and kills him. We still don’t know what happened to the weapon.”
Ruby tapped her teeth. “They must have hidden it, or carried it with them out of the cabin and thrown it overboard. I suppose either is possible. And how would the murderer know that Balraj would feel ill and go back to his cabin in the first place?”
“Exactly. We could suppose it’s possible with extreme planning but that couldn’t include predicting that Balraj would come back to his cabin early. On the other hand, if it were spur of the moment – because the murderer saw their opportunity – then they couldn’t possibly have carried out the murder because it would take too much advance planning.”
“We are definitely missing something that will allow us to go forward,” said Ruby, staring at the ceiling. She sighed. “Let’s look at the possible suspects.”
Fina began to write.
Patricia Burbage: Did go downstairs during murder, to remove plantain from her hair. Unknown reason for killing him, though it was odd she asked for a séance. Something to do with her money?
Ian Clavering: Why is he on this trip? Acquaintance of Balraj. Odd behaviour. No real opportunity to commit murder during dinner.
Emeline Caulk: Did not go downstairs during dinner. No apparent motive for this murder, other than her generally frightful behaviour.
Dolores Dominguez: Has some sort of relationship with Balraj. Perhaps it went pear-shaped and she killed him? She did have opportunity because she sat out the dinner.
Phillip Gibbs: Did not go downstairs during murder, though perhaps he coordinated something with Violet? No apparent reason to kill Balraj, but perhaps he knew something about how they came by their treasure. Also – Balraj mentioned something in passing about the couple being “odd”.
Violet Gibbs: Looks ill and thoroughly unhappy. Not enough to kill, though. Was downstairs during murder. Not sure she’s well enough to hit Balraj on the head.
Gustave Marchand: Did not go downstairs during dinner. Was already friends – or at least acquaintances – with Balraj before the trip. Does his affable behaviour hide something?
Sadie Stiles: Did go downstairs with Victor during dinner, though she’d have to leave him to commit the murder. Seems implausible. Clearly upset with Balraj about something – enough to kill him? And what about that peculiar piece of paper about potatoes and grain?
Wrist aching, Fina put down her pen and wiped her brow. “What a conundrum,” she sighed. “It seems impossible. And we have only two days – not even that – left to solve the murder.”
“If we assume the murderer had to have been downstairs during dinner, then that narrows the suspects down to Patricia, Dolores, Violet and Sadie.”
Fina shook her head. “I agree, but we just said that even if they somehow had enough time to commit the murder downstairs, how could they have known Balraj would return to his cabin?”
“Well, assuming the murderer just took the opportunity to actually follow Balraj without knowing he would leave beforehand, then that leaves us with precisely zero suspects. That’s because Patricia didn’t know she was going to be the recipient of Victor and Gilbert’s plantain play, and Sadie didn’t know she would need to take Victor downstairs,” said Ruby with a small groan after she finished thinking aloud her conclusions.
A knock at the door saved Fina from having to agree with this dismal assessment of the investigation. “Come in!”
As she hastily turned the paper face down, the imposing figure of Patricia Burbage entered the room. Although the cabin was roomy, the woman somehow seemed to take up all the available space.
“Miss Burbage,” said Ruby, putting on her best insincere smile. “How may we help you?”
This time, Patricia was in too much of a rush even to sniff. “I must apologise for disturbing you, but time is of the essence. You saw what happened at the séance,” she said, spitting out the words rapid-fire. “The Ouija board confirmed what I already suspected. My life is in danger!”
Not again. Fina kept her mouth tightly shut. Let Ruby, with her diplomatic expertise, handle this one.
“I did see the séance,” said Ruby, treading carefully, “but to my mind, there was no indication that you, Miss Burbage, are to be the next target.”
“Did you not see what it spelt out? M-o-n-e-y! That was a clear reference to poor dear Henry and his fortune, which passed to me. Miss Dove,” she cleared her throat, “I feel you are not taking this seriously. A Ouija board never lies, you know. And I have had other signs, other foreshadowings, which I have no doubt represent warnings from the Other Side.”
Fina blinked.
“The Other Side,” repeated Ruby. Even her legendary patience was wearing rather thin. Fina braced herself to step in.
“Correct,” said Patricia grimly. “The captain has chosen not to take notice, but you mark my words.” She leaned in closer. “There is an evil-doer on this ship, and that evil is coming for me!”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and left, flinging the door shut with a decisive bang.
Leaning back in her chair, Fina let out a breath of relief. “That was spiffing, Ruby. I don’t think I could have done it without calling her a liar.”
Ruby allowed a small smile to creep across her face. “She certainly does seem to suffer from paranoia. But she’s right about one thing.”
“What’s that? Not the bit about the Ouija board that never lies?”
“No. The bit about there being someone aboard this ship who is bent on doing evil.”
24
The playing cards slid across the table, along with Fina’s gin and tonic. The cards escaped, cascading to the floor in a gentle descent. The gin and tonic was held back, however, by those clever rails installed on the round tables in the green room.
She sipped the crisp G & T, savouring the sweet bitterness of the drink. Despite everything that had happened, she was enjoying herself. After a good supper and a liberal amount of wine, she felt everything was right in the world. Well, almost. Ruby looked as if she were enjoying herself too, imbibing a glass of white port.
Duke Ellington’s ‘Solitude’ drifted from the gramophone in the corner.
Sadie lounged in a glorious pink and black muslin evening dress with a crossover cape. She twirled her pearl necklace between her fingers. Though she gave the physical appearance of attentiveness to Gustave’s conversation, Fina could see by her slightly glazed eyes that her mind was elsewhere.
Phillip, Violet, Dolores and Ian played a lively game of bridge. Violet looked smashing in her white leather shoes, a black and white spotted dress, and a bow belt. Fina noticed a slight colour in Violet’s cheeks for the first time. When it wasn’t her turn, Viol
et rearranged the sugar bowl and shakers on the table, first in a line and then as a triangle.
Dolores held her jade cigarette holder steadily to her mouth. Though she appeared detached from the game, she still somehow managed to play. If Ian’s grunts of approval were any indication, she was a good bridge partner.
Patricia and Emeline sat ensconced in a corner, backs to the wall. Emeline’s carpet bag perched on her knees as if it were a cat. She perused some pamphlet or another. Fina could tell, even from this distance, that it was some sort of instructional manual – probably about how to protect the moral fitness of your pet.
Patricia seemed to be the only one who wasn’t enjoying herself. Her amber brooch, in the shape of a spider, looked as if it might attack Emeline if it had the chance to jump off her lapel. Frowning, she sucked furiously on a cigarette in a scarlet holder. It seemed as if she couldn’t get enough of the juice of the cigarette – Fina half expected her to remove it from the holder and begin chomping on it like a cigar. Instead, she persevered and quickly inserted another cigarette – as if her life depended on it.
Fina focused on Patricia, wondering if her wandering eye might find Sadie. As if on cue, Patricia’s eyes scanned the room and began to stare at Sadie’s neck. Clearly sensing the stare, Sadie’s head swivelled around to stare back at Patricia – for just a moment before she returned to her conversation with Gustave.
Fina bent over to retrieve the recalcitrant cards. The ace of spades and the jack of diamonds. Ominous indeed.
Neville materialised to assist her. She was grateful for the help, as bending over in her alcohol-infused condition was not a brilliant idea. She held her head as she sat upright.
“Are you OK, Feens?” asked Ruby, taking a small sip of port. “A little too much G in your T?” she smiled.
“Yes, perhaps, but I feel quite wonderful!” replied Fina.
Neville gave a short smile. “Perhaps I should ask Lev to serve you some water, or some coffee?” he enquired.