Shattered at Sea

by Cheryl Hollon

Savannah placed a hand on Edward’s fidgeting leg and whispered, “Be calm.”

  “What do you know?” Edward’s words had a crisp edge.

  “We’re breaking a solemn promise to Ian, but this situation has gone too far to worry about a promise. We had a conversation with Ian that was very personal,” said Rachel. “He was looking demoralized and reckless.”

  “But it was also clear that he had had too much to drink,” said Faith. She nodded to her sister. “Go on.”

  “Fine.” Rachel took her napkin, fussily refolded it, and placed it on her lap. “He was in a mood.”

  “Or it could have been the drink.”

  “Faith, stop interrupting. Let me tell this.”

  Faith pressed her lips closed.

  “Edward, your cousin appears to be having a crisis of some sort. He mentioned that he didn’t feel that life was worth living.”

  “What?” Edward said loud enough to cause heads to turn at the nearby tables.

  “Shush,” said Savannah. “Let’s listen to what they have to say.”

  Rachel started again. “He said that his prospects for a job were bleak and that he didn’t want to be a burden to his parents any longer.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Edward took a long sip of his gin and tonic. “Ian’s parents are well off and happy to make sure Ian gets a good start in life.”

  Rachel pursed her lips. “There’s more.”

  Faith clasped her hands and put them in her lap. She straightened her already perfect posture a tiny bit. “He said he had been looking for a job for six months. He was keeping that part a secret from his parents.”

  “And you, too, Edward.” Rachel sighed. “He said he knew his parents wanted him to be happy, and they fully supported his taking a little time off after graduation. But he wanted to get started in his career as quickly as he could.”

  “That sounds responsible,” said Savannah.

  Rachel continued. “The problem was he wasn’t able to get a job at all. He interviewed every single company that specialized in his field of molecular neuroscience.”

  “But he said that he was rejected from each and every one of them.” Faith brought her napkin up to the corner of her eye. “He broke down and began to cry.”

  “We didn’t know what to do.” Rachel looked over to Faith.

  “Then he made us promise not to tell anyone about his confession,” said Faith. “He especially didn’t want us to tell you.”

  “He was so upset that we promised not to tell in order to calm him down.”

  Edward drained his drink. “So, what you’re saying is that you think he actually might have committed suicide.”

  Rachel and Faith looked at each other. “There’s one more thing,” said Rachel.

  Faith put her hand over Edward’s and patted it softly. “Edward, dear. Ian said that he had forgotten to bring his antidepressants.”

  Edward stiffened. “He lied to me. I asked him straight out if he had them. Blast!”

  “He said he was afraid to tell you,” Rachel added. “He knew you would call his parents and then they would move heaven and earth to send them to him.”

  “It was only a week.” Faith shrugged her shoulders. “He did remember to bring his homeopathic meds.”

  Savannah shot straight up, tipping her drink onto the linen tablecloth. “We can’t wait any longer.” She pushed her chair back. “I’ve had enough tiptoeing around Ian’s feelings or broken promises. Let’s go, Edward. We’re reporting this to security, now!”

  Chapter 9

  Tuesday, at sea

  “You agree, don’t you?” Savannah swayed down the corridor with her feet wide to keep her balance against the pitching seas. She punched the elevator button for deck 2 and waited a moment. “What am I doing? It’s only down one deck. Let’s take the stairs.”

  Edward followed her down the wide carpeted stairway. “Of course, we should have done this hours ago.”

  “Did you know about his depression or about the jobs or about the medication?”

  Edward shook his head. They followed the utility corridor to an office marked SECURITY. There was a window in the top half of the door and it basically mirrored the setup you’d find at your average shopping mall.

  They entered a small lobby with two gray aluminum chairs in front of a counter. A workstation with an office desk was set up behind the counter. An officer was one-finger hunt-typing on a computer keyboard that overlooked a bank of a dozen display screens. Each screen was split into four camera views. The whole ship was under his surveillance. The hunt-and-peck typist walked over to the counter.

  “Good evening.” He smiled and spoke slowly with a strong Italian accent. “I’m Officer Gaffney. How can I help you?”

  Savannah stepped up to the counter. “We’d like to report a missing passenger, Ian Morris.”

  The officer stood and pulled out a shelf with a keyboard from underneath the counter. The computer display was on the counter with its back to Savannah. “Can I have a few details, please? May I see your keycard?”

  Edward stepped forward. “It’s my cousin that’s missing.” He handed over his keycard to the officer. “Ian and I are sharing a cabin.”

  Office Gaffney slid the keycard over the scanner and it responded with a distinctive bloop.

  The officer punched a few keys. “Cabin 6250, sir?” Edward nodded. “When did you see him last?”

  Savannah tucked her hand in Edward’s arm. She could feel the tense muscles through his tux jacket. “He was seen on the top deck in the wee hours of Monday with friends of ours.”

  The officer typed a few more words into some sort of form. Savannah wished she could see the screen. “Who were those friends?”

  Edward answered quickly, “Miss Rachel Rosenberg and Miss Faith Rosenberg. They’re both Americans from St. Petersburg, Florida.”

  “Oh, I see, the Rosenberg sisters. They’re in one of our suites.” He looked up from the screen and asked Edward, “Did Mr. Morris seem well?”

  “He was pretty sloshed. He was celebrating his recent graduation. This cruise is a gift from his parents. I don’t think he’s ever had unlimited access to drink.”

  “The gift was to the both of you?”

  Edward placed his right hand over Savannah’s, which was still gripping his arm. “No, I’m here with Savannah.”

  “I’m one of the glassblowers for your Hot Shop demonstrations.”

  “You’re part of the crew?”

  Savannah waggled her head. “Yes, but I’m only on board for this cruise. I have it in my contract to mix freely with the passengers, so I have a foot in both camps.”

  Officer Gaffney extended his hand palm up. “Let me scan your card as well.”

  Savannah gave him her keycard and the machine scanned it with another distinctive bloop.

  “Thank you, Miss Webb.” He returned the keycard and then turned the small flat screen around to face them. “Is this Ian Morris?”

  It was the photo that was taken at the check-in station at Barcelona.

  Edward nodded. “Yes, that’s him.”

  Officer Gaffney returned the screen to face himself. “There’s one handy tool I can use to figure out where our Mr. Morris has been.” He used the mouse and then one by one punched in a few letters with his index finger.

  Savannah grimaced as each finger pounded a key. She wondered how many keyboards the man had destroyed. She folded her arms.

  Officer Gaffney frowned, the wrinkles deep on his dark brow, and he bent his head closer to the flat screen. “That’s odd. Let me try that again.” He again used the mouse and pounded the keyboard. “Same answer.”

  Savannah leaned over the counter and managed to get a peek at the flat screen. It displayed a list of bars where Ian had ordered drinks.

  “Ehi!” Officer Gaffney shifted his bulk to block her view. “Ehi! You can’t see this.”

  “What does it mean?” Savannah straightened up. “We need to know.”

  “Wh
at I see, here, on this screen, is that Mr. Ian Morris bought many drinks. The last one was up on the top deck at the Full Eclipse Bar at a little after midnight as we left Barcelona.”

  “And then what?” Edward said with an edge of urgency. “Tell us!”

  “There are no more records after that.” Officer Gaffney began to wring his hands. “It doesn’t look like Mr. Ian Morris has used his card since then.”

  “Exactly!” said Savannah. “That’s why we are reporting him missing. Can we speak to your supervisor? Who’s the security officer in charge?”

  Officer Gaffney continued to wring his hands and stare at the flat screen.

  Savannah pounded her fist on the top of the counter. “Hey! Move! Find the top man, now!”

  As if scalded, Officer Gaffney left the counter and went to the back of the office through a plain door that they hadn’t seen. Savannah and Edward caught a glimpse of a small office filled with officers scanning more banks of CCTV screens. Savannah saw at least four officers monitoring the closed circuit televisions before the door quickly closed.

  Edward looked over to Savannah. “Yelling at the large Sicilian security officer was not the best political choice.”

  She shook her head. “Maybe not, but he wasn’t moving fast enough. They have all those cameras. There must be a recording of Ian up on the deck.” Savannah heaved a deep sigh. “Except that there are blind spots in the coverage of the cameras. Their security system is keyed to passenger activity. It’s not trying to catch gamblers stealing money like a Vegas casino.”

  “I’m concerned that they didn’t have a record of Ian coming into the cabin to take his pill container.”

  “Right. He must have found a way into your room without a key. Like—”

  “When the cabin attendant is cleaning the room.”

  “Yes,” said Savannah. “He could pretend he left something behind and the cabin attendant wouldn’t think a thing about it. We need to have a little chat with him.”

  The plain beige metal door opened and a tall, muscular woman with a mass of long black hair walked up to the counter. She was wearing a highly decorated nautical white jacket and white trousers. Clearly a person of importance on the ship. She extended her hand first to Savannah.

  “I’m Security Captain LuAnn Dalessio. You are Savannah Webb?” Her slight accent was Eastern European, but her English was nearly perfect.

  Savannah shook her hand. “Yes, and this is—”

  Chief Dalessio turned. “You must be Edward Morris.” She shook his hand and smiled warmly. Her slight lisp was charming rather than irritating.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “Officer Gaffney didn’t explain?” said Savannah.

  “Yes, he did. But I would like to hear you explain it from your point of view.”

  Savannah and Edward took it in turns to explain the facts surrounding Ian’s disappearance. They related their conversation with the Rosenberg twins at dinner, as well. When they had finished, they stood in front of the counter waiting for Chief Dalessio to speak. Instead, she nodded curtly and turned to the computer keyboard.

  Her fingers sped across the keys and in seconds, she grunted with satisfaction. “Here is what Officer Gaffney found.”

  She turned the flat screen toward Savannah and Edward. As she had glimpsed, there was a long list of liquor charges that were time-stamped through yesterday afternoon and late evening. Chief Dalessio nodded and turned the screen back to herself. “You can see that the last purchase was different from all the rest. He had been drinking beer throughout the day and evening.”

  Chief Dalessio pointed to the last entry. “Then, here, he orders our most expensive single malt whiskey. It’s quite pricey.” She looked at Edward. “Is that typical of Ian’s drinking habits?”

  “No. The premium brands aren’t covered in our drinks package, either. I would have thought that he would keep to the brands that are covered.” Edward’s voice cracked. “I don’t know why he would do that.”

  “You did mention that he had been despondent,” said Chief Dalessio.

  “I don’t believe he would do anything drastic.” Edward had lowered his voice. “But now that he’s openly confessed his dark mood to the Rosenberg twins, that may have changed.” His last words were barely above a whisper.

  Savannah grabbed Edward’s arm. “I’m not judging here, but has he tried to take his life in the past?”

  Edward exhaled a low groan. “Yes.”

  Officer Dalessio halted her mouse movements. “When was this? Recent?”

  Edward shook his head slowly. “It wasn’t all that long ago, probably about six months—maybe less.”

  “Why?” asked Savannah.

  “He was approaching his final exams at university and everything seemed to be collapsing in on him. He swallowed a handful of his meds, but regretted it immediately and called the emergency services in time for them to pump them out.”

  Savannah rubbed Edward’s arm. “That must have been a terrible time for your aunt and uncle.”

  “They were stunned. Ian had hidden his troubles so well that even his parents were in the dark.”

  Chief Dalessio turned back to the computer. A few mouse clicks brought up a list of the keycards used for Edward and Ian’s cabin. “Ian used his card at the cabin once Sunday afternoon and then once before dinner. He hasn’t used it since then.”

  Savannah leaned on the counter to get a good view of the screen. “That matches what we’ve been able to determine. Could he be in someone else’s cabin?”

  She shook her head. “Of course, but unless you know who it is . . .” She turned her hands palms up and shrugged her shoulders.

  Chief Dalessio turned back to the screen. She began typing. “Now, one of the things about this wonderful ship is that we have nearly every part of the ship under surveillance. Let me show you the midnight video recording of the top deck.” A few mouse clicks. “Now, here you see him talking with—”

  “A pair of elderly women? Twins?”

  “Yes.” Chief Dalessio adjusted the angle of the flat screen and pointed to Ian standing at the rail. “You can see him with a drink in his hand. He’s obviously quite intoxicated. His balance is bad. He’s having trouble drinking without spilling the whiskey. You can see that the ladies are trying to calm him down, but, right there he yells at them and storms down the deck to a spot just out of camera view.”

  “This is completely inconclusive,” said Savannah.

  “We also know that he—” Edward was stopped by Savannah’s sharp look and a kick on his shin.

  Edward quickly looked at Savannah and instantly understood that she didn’t want him to tell security that he had also been seeing imaginary enemies. “I mean, he could have found someone to spend the night with, but we simply can’t confirm that.”

  “Are there some other circumstances that can help us find Ian?”

  Edward glared at Savannah. “He forgot to bring his antidepressants. He told the Rosenberg twins that he was afraid to tell me. He thought I would make a fuss.”

  Savannah reached for Edward’s hand. “Right, they need to know that.” She turned back to Chief Dalessio. “What else can we do?”

  “First, you are to be commended for your actions. You’ve done the right thing by reporting him missing. I’ll assign one of my officers to scan the tapes for any signs of Ian’s movements from after that midnight drink through to the present time.” She folded her arms in front of her chest. “I have to tell you that these cases end up in one of two ways.”

  “What are they?” asked Savannah.

  “The first one is that they were sleeping off their hangover in someone else’s cabin.”

  “And the second?” said Edward.

  “Sadly, that he took his life by jumping overboard.”

  Chapter 10

  Monday at Webb’s Glass Shop

  Amanda Blake had her first realization that, to some, she might be considered old. It was a shock. She was not y
et thirty, but the computer installer who had brought a large box and a computer satchel on a cart to the shop seemed to be about twelve.

  He put the last box inside the front door of Webb’s Glass Shop and displayed a lively smile. He wore artistically torn jeans and a plain T-shirt under a blue plaid button-down shirt, and his hair was shaved. The finishing touch for the perfect hipster look was a pork-pie hat tilted at a jaunty angle. “Good morning, ma’am. I’m Will Leavy. You’re getting our very best cash register system.”

  She saw his startled look as he scanned her bright lime T-shirt, Capri slacks, and matching lime streak in her hair. He recovered quickly. “Are you the owner?”

  “Oh, no. I’m the manager of the shop. The owner is away. You don’t need her for the installation, do you?”

  “No, that’s fine, everything is already arranged. I’ll get started. Where do you want it?”

  After months of irritating reliability problems, Savannah had finally ordered a new system to replace her dad’s ancient cash register PC. It was so far out of date, even Legacy computer experts refused to show up for repairs. Today was installation day. It was also a day that Savannah could not be reached at sea. Though even if she had been reachable, there was the complication of a time difference.

  “Right where we have the Legacy system on this glass counter. We use it for selling glass, supplies, craft classes, and studio time. Savannah said you would handle removing the old equipment, right?”

  “Absolutely! That’s in the agreement.” He walked around to look at the current system. “Holy—” He clapped a hand over his mouth. “Pardon me, ma’am. I’ve never seen a system like this. This is ancient.” He ran his hands along the worn keyboard, the large CRT display, and bent down to look under the counter at the large upright computer rack that whirred with cooling fans.

  “This is like an archaeological find. It must be at least ten years old.”

  “That’s why you’re here. We’ve needed a new system since forever. It’s very moody.”

  Will stood up. “You’re lucky it works at all. Are you ready to shut it down for the last time?”