by Rose Donovan
“An excellent point. It bothered me for quite a while, but I realized Gustave must have arranged it so the trigger point would have been the closing of the door shut, not just the motion of opening it,” said Ruby, taking a sip of water.
As it all began to come together, Fina said, “Then Gustave must have gone back to his cabin – after he and Ian had a nightcap in the green room.”
Ruby shivered. “Yes. That was the first thing that struck me as incongruent, though it took me quite a while to realize it. Do you remember the conversation I had with Gustave at dinner the night of the murder, Fina?”
Fina could feel her brow furrow in the effort of remembrance. “Didn’t you suggest that the two of you could sketch together that evening after dinner?”
“Exactly. Gustave replied that he was too tired. I took that at face value at the time. Not only should it have been a hint about his original career – given his rather weak sketching skills, but also—”
Ian jumped up. “He went to have a nightcap with me in the green room instead. And he was the one who made the suggestion!”
“Right. While it could have been that he was looking for an excuse not to sketch with me, which was odd since that’s exactly what we’re supposed to be doing on this trip, why would he suggest a nightcap with Ian?”
Fina’s frame bolted upright into a ramrod straight posture. “He didn’t want to return to his room because he’d have to sit with a corpse until the middle of the night!”
Ruby gave Gustave a sympathetic look. “It must have been awful to have to wait with the body in your room until, what, 2 o’clock in the morning? Isn’t that right, Gustave?”
Gustave’s face had returned to its frozen state. No reply.
“Then you must have dragged the body – I surmise you used a dressmaker’s bag or some sort of item to hide it – just past Dolores’ door to Mr Chadha’s cabin. By then, you had his key, since it was in his pocket. You didn’t stand much chance of being caught. Luckily for you, there was a storm. You also had an advantage because you only had to go a very short distance. Though you did have to push aside the untouched dinner tray that had been left for him.”
Dolores eyes widened. “That must have been the sound that woke me at two in the morning?”
Ian and Ruby both nodded at her.
“What about the bedding?” asked Fina.
“He must have thrown those overboard,” said Ian. “They were underneath Balraj when he was killed to catch any of the… mess.”
“But why not throw the statue overboard?”
“Its absence would have been noticed, I expect,” said Ian, “by Agnes, if no one else. He felt safer keeping everything the way it was before.”
“Wait a minute,” said Fina, recalling their first search of Balraj’s cabin. “I’ve just realized that the statue was missing from his desk the first time we looked in his cabin. Why was Balraj’s statue missing if Balraj was killed with Gustave’s statue?”
“Yes, I was puzzled about that, especially because the statue miraculously reappeared the second time we searched his cabin,” said Ruby.
“I know,” said Ian, his eyebrows wriggling furiously. “Gustave must have taken it when he first moved the body so he could have a ‘clean’ statue appear on his desk – in case anyone became suspicious. This gave him time to scrub the murder weapon clean. Once that was accomplished – and it must have been quite a job to scrub it clean – he returned Balraj’s original statue to his room and put his own statue, the murder weapon, back on his own desk.”
“But why not switch the statues? In other words, wouldn’t it be safer to put the murder weapon back in Balraj’s room so it couldn’t be traced back to himself?”
Ruby smoothed her hair. “Yes, that’s what was just puzzling me right now after our little experiment, but I suspect it was to be on the safe side.”
“Safe side?” asked Fina.
“Yes, he couldn’t be sure that the statues were identical – after all, they were hand carved by Neville, so there were bound to be small differences. It’s unlikely anyone would have noticed, but he didn’t want to take that chance.”
Everyone began to move their heads up and down as if the truth were dawning on them slowly.
Phillip asked, “What about Mrs Burbage?”
“As we already established, Gustave suspected that Patricia knew that he was under pressure from Balraj. That was confirmed by the séance and the revelation about money. Little did Gustave know that there were other extortion victims on the ship. He was sure that she would figure out what had happened. It’s the same story for Miss Gidge.”
Agnes coughed. “Yes, Miss Dove. You see, I asked all the guests if they had any extra linens to be washed – as I was missing a set. It was an innocent question. I asked everyone, you see, but he must have thought I was asking him especially.”
“But how did he get the cyanide?” asked the captain.
Gustave cleared his throat. He folded his hands over his stomach as if he had just enjoyed a rather indulgent meal. He appeared strangely satisfied.
“Let me start by saying,” he said, looking toward Agnes, “that I am truly sorry for what I did to you, Miss Gidge. I actually did not want to kill you – just incapacitate you. And I hoped that you might forget what had happened.”
He turned to Ruby. “And to you, Ruby. I’m also sorry. I did try, rather clumsily, to poison your breakfast. But it was just like Miss Gidge – I didn’t want to kill you – just incapacitate you. And as for the port, I did put it in the bottle as well as Patricia’s glass when everyone was distracted by the commotion in the kitchen. I did that after your port had been poured.”
Ruby looked nonplussed. “Why?”
“Mainly to cause confusion,” admitted Gustave. If everyone thought you were the intended target, they might not make the connection with Patricia’s little séance.” He sighed, as if overcome by the extent of his own deviousness.
“But as for the other two murders, I’m not sorry,” Gustave continued, watching everyone’s faces as they contorted into countenances reflecting puzzlement and disgust.
“Everything you say is true, Ruby,” he said. “You are an excellent detective, as well as a dress designer. As for the cyanide, well, let me explain. All of you might be thinking right now that although I had a motive to murder Balraj, and then murder Patricia to hide my motive, you suspect my original motive not strong enough for murder.”
He wiped his brow, but Fina noticed that his hands didn’t shake.
“There is something that even you, Ruby, have failed to guess,” he said with a small, tight smile. “For a long time now, I’ve been very ill. About six months ago, I found out that I had a year to live. A month or two ago, Balraj began to increase his payment demands. I simply couldn’t keep up, and to make matters worse, he said he was tiring of this game. He threatened to expose me in London. If he had followed through on his threats, I would have gone to prison immediately while awaiting trial. My last months of life would be spent in prison.”
The nervous tension began to ease off. Fina watched as the passengers’ facial expressions softened a bit.
“I didn’t know Balraj was going to be a fellow passenger on this voyage,” he said, looking pointedly at Sadie. That must have been why she seemed so surprised at Balraj’s appearance that first evening, thought Fina. She didn’t know it, either.
“I think he rather enjoyed following his victims,” he continued. “I was on the run, as it were, to beat the clock before I died. I thought I could spend my few remaining months in Trinidad. Lying in the sun.”
Every muscle in Gustave’s body relaxed. He melted into the chair. “As for Patricia. Well. I think she concocted that séance fiasco to find out if others had also had money extorted from them by Balraj.”
“She saw your face during the séance,” put in Ian. “She must have thought you were also a victim and therefore the murderer.”
“Yes, when the planchette spelled
out that horrible word, our eyes locked. In that moment, I could tell she knew I had also suffered the same fate. After that, I was afraid she’d give me away,” he sighed. “Little did I know that Patricia and I weren’t the only ones,” he added, looking around the room.
“Did you put Souse, the cat, in Sarah’s kitchen to create that awful fuss?” asked Agnes.
Gustave gave a slight affirmative nod of his head.
“What about the cyanide?” Phillip queried.
“Before I left England, I procured cyanide capsules for the time – when it came – for me to take my own life. I didn’t know I would use them for other purposes.”
He gazed around the room, legs crossed, his expression by now almost benevolent. It was a rather relaxed attitude for someone confessing to murder, Fina thought.
Gustave reached into his waistcoat pocket with a limp hand. Ian tensed visibly. Lev and Neville leapt to their feet. But when Gustave pulled out his hand, all it held was a tiny pill. He popped it into his mouth and smiled.
“Do not torment yourselves. Goodbye.”
39
“Do you think we could fly back to London?”
Ruby sipped her orange drink and considered Fina’s question. She gave her a slow smile. “I know what you mean. I’ve certainly had enough sea travel to last me quite a while.”
Fina settled back in her chair to enjoy the scenery. Here they were in a seaside cafe, without a care in the world. Well, almost.
“But the problem is we lack funds, Feens. I asked Captain Mills if we might work on his ship to fund our way home, after we stop in St Kitts. He said he’d see what he could arrange,” said Ruby.
“Ah well,” said Fina. “The main thing is that we enjoy the time we have here,” she said, slurping a spoonful of ice cream. She sat up. “But before we plunge into full relaxation mode, I do have a few questions for you. Then I promise I won’t ask you again.”
“Fair enough! What do you want to know?”
Fina rubbed her temple as if that would help her remember all the loose ends she wanted tied up after that terrible day Gustave had killed himself. Fortunately, the authorities had understood the situation quite quickly and there was minimal fuss.
“First of all, what about the scorpion in Patricia’s bed? That can’t have been Gustave; he had nothing to fear from her then.”
“Yes, I did forget about that. I have an inkling that it may have come from a little closer to home.”
“What do you mean?”
“Believe it or not, I think Emeline did it herself.”
Fina grabbed Ruby’s arm. “Crikey,” she said in a low voice. “You cannot be serious! Why would she do a thing like that?”
Ruby also lowered her voice, even though there was no one within earshot. “Emeline’s double life has put her under a lot of pressure. She’s had no one to confide in, no one who can understand what she’s gone through. Presumably that love affair she mentioned to you didn’t have a happy ending. When that all ended, she was left with a companion who bullied her mercilessly and humiliated her in public.”
“Of course,” breathed Fina. “Poor Emeline must have been under great strain.”
“And Patricia kept a tight hold on the purse strings, too – another way to assert her dominance over her sister. I think Emeline’s little bouts of mischief-making were part of a long-running campaign to undermine Patricia, and get revenge for the way she was being treated.”
“So she was responsible for the other threats and near-misses, too?”
Ruby nodded. “No doubt. I don’t think she actually meant to kill her sister, but she hoped to rattle her. She managed it very carefully so that it would look like some third party bore a grudge against Henry, which was then transferred to his widow. Patricia was completely taken in.”
Taking a last sip of her drink, Ruby said, “You know, I hope Emeline continues with her work for our cause. With skills like that, she’ll make a very effective operative.”
A waiter materialised with another tray of delicious drinks. Fina selected a blue one this time.
She settled back into her chair. “So she turned out to be the contact after all? In all of the chaos around the murders, we haven’t been able to discuss it. Did you give her the letter from Wendell?”
“Dear Feens, you are so patient with me. I was completely distracted by the events of the past few days. I did give it to her, though not without checking her credentials very thoroughly. She really had the perfect disguise. A little too perfect for me, if you know what I mean,” she said, one corner of her mouth lifting a little.
Continuing on, she said, “After I gave Emeline the letter, she returned the favour with one that I was to deliver to our contact. That part was quite easy to arrange as soon as we arrived here.”
A shadow fell over Fina’s face, providing welcome relief from a sharp ray of sunlight.
Ian.
Fina sat up straight, bracing herself for the impact of his arrival.
“I see you two have the right idea,” he said, toasting them with his own glass of water.
“Would you like to join us, Ian?” asked Fina, seeing no way to avoid the invitation.
Ruby shot her a look. She knew that look.
“Thank you, but I have an appointment. Just wanted to see how the two of you were getting on…” he drifted off.
“As you can see, we’re quite well, thank you,” said Ruby, not removing her sunglasses even though she was staring at him.
“I see. That’s how you feel,” he said with a smile and a shrug.
Ruby’s shoulders slumped. Fina couldn’t tell if it was genuine emotion or the scenery that broke through her wall of defiance.
“Are you in Port of Spain for long?”
“Just for a few days. I may visit an aunt in Grenada.”
“When are you returning to London?”
“I’m not sure. I have some things I need to sort out.”
“Will you send me a postcard?”
“By all means,” he said, shrugging again as if the request for something so prosaic as a postcard was the ultimate blow to his ego.
Ruby removed her sunglasses. “I mean it, Ian.”
Looking mollified, he replied, “Of course, Miss Dove. You can expect a veritable avalanche of Royal Mail upon your return to the metropolis.”
“I look forward to it.”
Ian nodded and turned as if to go, but his disconsolate posture sparked something in Fina. It seemed a shame to part on such a cold, formal note. Without thinking, she burst out, “Ian, we were just discussing the trip, and how remarkable it was – for all the wrong reasons. But of course, you had your own task to fulfil, didn’t you?”
There was no reply, but Fina thought she caught a hint of a smile. Emboldened, she pressed on.
“Did you manage to complete your, er, mission? Now, what was it again?”
Ian could no longer restrain himself, and he broke out into a grin. “Miss Aubrey-Havelock, your talents as an investigator know no bounds. One would hardly know one was being pumped for information. And, since my mission, as you call it, is now over and done with, I believe I can fill you in, as the Americans say.”
He leaned casually against the back of Ruby’s chair.
“Well, there are certain parties in my circle who are keeping a very close eye on developments pertaining to underground revolutionary networks. There’s more activity on that front than you might think.”
“Why, I am shocked by this unexpected news,” said Ruby, drily, even though there was a twinkle in her eye.
Ian went on, ignoring her irony. “There were two people on the ship who we think play a role in one of those local networks. My job was to keep an eye on them.”
“Who?” gasped Fina, no longer able to keep silent. “Not the Gibbses, surely?”
“No, not a passenger. It was Lev and Neville.”
Fina sat back in surprise. She couldn’t help noticing that Ruby didn’t react at all. “I hop
e they’re not in trouble?”
“Not in the least,” replied Ian. “They never even knew they were being watched. One day, perhaps, I’ll be at liberty to say more. In the meantime, I’ll leave you two to your colourful drinks. Enjoy your time here,” he said and strolled off along the water.
“Well!” said Fina, watching him go. “There is certainly more to that man than meets the eye. But Ruby, you don’t seem a bit surprised. Was it because of the Makhno and Marsh code books, and the way they marked the Wendell code name?”
Ruby removed a small blue envelope from her bag. She slid it across the table to Fina. “Open it,” she said. “Lev gave it to me as we disembarked the SS Sanguine.” Then she leaned back in her chair and stared at the clouds while Fina began to read.
Dear Ruby and Fina,
Please destroy this letter after you read it.
We would like to explain our peculiar behaviour on this voyage, and how we came to know Ruby’s brother’s name. The Caribbean is a smaller place than you might think – especially among sailors. We met Ruby’s brother on a voyage similar to this one, though this time it was from Nassau to St Kitts. It soon became clear that the three of us had much in common, politically speaking. This came up in our discussions of why Lev left Ukraine.
Though it was never discussed, we had the sense that Ruby’s brother was actively involved in similar campaigns as us – and he had mentioned he had a sister at Oxford. When we saw Ruby’s name on the passenger manifest, we wanted to try to see if she, too, had similar leanings. We cannot divulge any secrets in this letter. We thought you two could be helpful in our campaign. That is why we made that rather clumsy attempt with the books. All of our plans to make further contact with you were derailed by the murders.
Thank you for the opportunity to explain ourselves.
In solidarity,
Lev and Neville
Fina folded up the paper and handed it back to Ruby. Ruby began to methodically tear up the letter into tiny, symmetrical strips. She then glanced at Fina.
“Well, I suppose that explains our rightful confusion. I hope we can come up with better code names in the future.”