“But Ian didn’t commit suicide.”
“We believe that you believe that, Miss Webb.”
“There’s more,” said Savannah. “I had my apprentice back home make an analysis of the nautical charts where we were cruising on the night Ian is supposed to have jumped. With the wind and tide effects in that part of the channel, Ian’s body should have turned up on the shores of Britain within twelve hours. That hasn’t happened—Ian is still on board.”
Chief Dalessio stood still and was obviously struggling with deciding. “I think I must trust you. We’re extremely shorthanded for this cruise and the recommendation we received from Detective Parker is a gift. Would you be willing to help us work on the case?”
Savannah drew up to her full height and smiled. This wasn’t the first time that Detective Parker had managed to make her unique skills known to others. “Yes, of course. So, you’re willing to give me access to any data that you have regarding Ian and anyone else that I suspect?”
“Yes, of course. Anything that we have.”
“When will you release Edward?”
Chief Dalessio sighed. “Ah, that’s a little complicated. We won’t be able to release him until it is proved beyond any doubt that he is innocent.” She tilted her head slightly. “I must consider the ship’s liability issues and the safety of the passengers. It’s possible that he is involved not only with harming his cousin, but also connected with the disappearance of Alan Viteri. Worst case, he has killed twice.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” Savannah stood even taller. “Edward is in no way, shape, or form associated with Alan’s disappearance. I saw Alan myself AFTER you took Edward in for questioning. Alan was leaving the ship by the crew door and he had a large rucksack over his shoulder that he claimed was full of laundry. His exit can be verified by your system in two seconds. Do it now.”
Chief Dalessio turned to Officer Gaffney. “Look up the crew exit database. What time did Alan leave the ship?”
“Actually, Chief. We already have that.”
“And?” prompted Chief Dalessio.
“She’s right. At the time Alan left the ship, Mr. Morris was already in our custody.”
Chief Dalessio let her head drop. She inhaled slowly and turned to Savannah. “That takes care of any involvement with Alan’s disappearance, but doesn’t exonerate him completely. You must appreciate that I am in an awkward position.”
“On the contrary, you are placing me in an awkward position. Edward is a principal member of my investigative team. I need him. His absence will greatly affect my efficiency.”
“Good try, Miss Webb,” said Officer Gaffney.
Dalessio turned a disapproving eye over to Officer Gaffney. “Patience, Officer Gaffney.” Addressing Savannah, “I’m certain you can exonerate Mr. Morris faster than anyone on my staff. I ask that you do that before expanding your investigation to other related matters. That’s fair, isn’t it?”
Savannah considered Chief Dalessio’s tone to be reasonable. It appeared that she had won the trust of Chief Dalessio, but certainly not Officer Gaffney. She turned to him. “Let me get this crystal clear. If I can prove that Edward is innocent, you will let him go?”
“Oh, yes,” said Officer Gaffney. “And we require that you do that first.”
“What about the keycard records? Have you verified his movements?”
“There seems to be a problem in accessing the records during the critical times. We have had some power shortages that have affected our logging systems.”
Savannah pulled at her short curls with both hands. She heard herself growl, “When can I see him? At least that is permitted, right?”
“Of course. You are to be permitted to visit him anytime. Only after you have been searched, of course.”
Quarrelsome idiot, thought Savannah. I’m here to help.
After a ridiculously awkward effort to search her for weapons, they led her through the main office to a corridor. Officer Gaffney pressed a keycard to the hotspot and opened the door.
Edward sat on the edge of a plain single bunk in a small cabin. He stood up. “Savannah! What’s happening?”
She stepped into his arms and returned his strong embrace. “I’m here to assist these officers in their investigation of two missing passengers.”
“Two?” He released Savannah but continued to hold her hand. “Who else?”
“One of the glassblowers. Alan Viteri didn’t return from Florence.”
“But he could show up when we dock in Rome. Trains are cheap and flights are sometimes even cheaper.” Officer Gaffney shrugged his shoulders. “It wouldn’t be the first time that crew have missed the boat. We don’t wait.”
“I’ll accept that if you tell me that he has called his supervisor like a reasonable employee would do.”
“We have heard nothing, miss.”
Savannah turned to face Officer Gaffney. “Could you leave us alone to talk?”
“Oh, sure. Just give the door a knock and I’ll let you out.”
After Gaffney left, Edward sat down on the edge of the bed. Savannah sat next to him and kissed him hard. She didn’t want him to doubt for a second that he was her love.
“How are Aunt Kate and Uncle Howard managing?”
“They’re holding up rather well. The longer they’re in the company of the Rosenberg twins, the more they’re convinced that Ian didn’t jump. How are you?”
“Arghhh!” He lifted his head to look at the ceiling. “This is so maddening. I’m certain he’s alive. I feel so frustrated to be locked up here and not able to help you find Ian.”
“It’s desperate times. First, I’m going to prove your innocence, then I’m going to ask the twins to help us.”
Edward squinted and looked sideways at Savannah. “Did you say Rachel and Faith were going to help?”
“Yes, I know it sounds like a last resort, but if I can get you out of here, we will need some help covering the investigation sites here on the ship and then also in Rome.”
“Why Rome?”
“Amanda e-mailed that she traced Alan’s family to Rome, and we might be able to get some information about them from family and friends in their old neighborhood. The twins will be best there, as everyone loves to talk to them. Meantime, I’m going to look at all the tapes to ensure that Ian hasn’t shown up on a camera.”
“What about a search of the ship?”
Savannah stood up. “That’s what I’m about to talk to Dalessio about. It’s one of my primary worries. But I’ll tackle that right after I find a way to get you out of here. Hang tight.”
She kissed Edward again, then tapped on the door. It was instantly opened by Officer Gaffney, who was flushed around the neck.
“Have you been looking in at us?” Savannah challenged him with a bold stare. “You have, haven’t you?” She shook her index finger under his nose. “Naughty, naughty.” She walked back toward the offices. “I need to talk to Dalessio.”
“But she’s meeting with the ship’s captain right now.”
“Okay. I’ll wait for her here. While I’m waiting, can you set me up to see all the video feeds?”
“Sure, but you’re going to hate this.” He pointed to an empty station with a three-by-three grid of flat screens. “Each screen can display up to nine images.”
“How on earth do you stay alert?”
“Sheer discipline, of course. It’s a boring task and it’s easy to nod off while all the cameras are going. However, this task is part of my duties. It’s a great job.” He stood silent for a moment. “I don’t want to lose it.”
“You haven’t done that, have you? Nodded off?” She noted his sheepish look. “Rats! You have! I’ll need to go through everything.”
I’m not leaving here until I’ve proved Edward innocent.
“Show me how to work the system.” Savannah waved him over to the console. After a short familiarization lesson, Savannah felt comfortable with the video review system.
“Wher
e can I get some coffee?” she said with a serious look aimed directly at Officer Gaffney.
He cleared this throat. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you some from the cruise staff kitchen. How do you take it?”
“Either as a cappuccino or with cream would be great.”
He returned in a few minutes with a take-out cup. He placed it down on the desktop. “I had them make a cappuccino. Are you going to report me for napping?”
Savannah took a deep gulp of the coffee—a perfect cappuccino—then she looked up at Officer Gaffney. “Not if you keep bringing me coffee.”
He smiled and scurried back to the reception room.
* * *
It took Savannah several hours to cover the areas of the ship where she knew Ian had been. As a last measure, she looked at the picture of Ian against the rail. His T-shirt had a distinctive circle logo on the left shoulder. It was a sports jersey. Of course, Ian loved soccer and his local team probably sold shirts as a fund-raiser.
She brought up a browser and searched for the St. Albans Football Club. The team was called the Saints and the colors were blue and red. It was an Australian Rules team, whatever that meant, but the main thing was the logo. It was the image of a rough-and-tumble player with a halo floating over his grinning face.
As she scanned the next few feet of video, she saw that the logo was also on the back of the shirt. Yes! She could use that to see if Ian appeared with his back to a camera any time after that evening.
The last few hours of images played like a boring silent film. Maybe it was because the novelty of the task had dulled. Savannah could now fully appreciate Officer Gaffney’s problem. The endless view of passengers doing the same things over and over was mesmerizing. She had sent Officer Gaffney for coffee two more times and still had to pinch the palm of her hand occasionally to stay alert.
Then, just as she was about to concede that there were no sightings of Ian, she caught a glimpse of a round image on the back of a T-shirt.
Her heart leaped. Maybe this was it.
She manipulated the controls to bring the image into focus. Yes! It was the St. Albans Football Club T-shirt. Their distinctive logo was on the back of their promotional T-shirts. The wearer was heading away from the camera and into one of the doors that led to the crew stairways.
The time stamp indicated that it was just after the demonstration where she thought she had seen him.
“Officer Gaffney!” Savannah yelled over her shoulder. “I found him!”
No answer.
Savannah frowned. Where was he? She opened the door to the outer office and there was Officer Gaffney, snoring like a chainsaw. She shoved his shoulder hard enough to overbalance him.
Snort! He woke and lost his balance, then tried to compensate by pin-wheeling with his arms like an acrobat. He recovered before he fell out of the chair and smacked the floor. “What! What?”
“I’ve found Ian Morris. Let me show you.”
She led the sleepy Officer Gaffney to the bank of flat screens. She pointed to the blurry figure about to enter the crew stairway. “Look, see that logo? That’s the T-shirt Ian was wearing out on the top deck. That’s him. He was right there behind everyone so I was the only one who could see him. Well, me and the other glassblowers, of course.”
Officer Gaffney leaned over and squinted at the screen over Savannah’s shoulder. “I can’t quite make this out.” Before he could complete his complaint, the power went off in the office and the computers all wound down to a deadly silence.
In a few seconds, a weak glow lit the room—the emergency power lighting came on.
Chapter 19
Thursday, at sea
“What on earth is wrong now?” said Savannah.
Officer Gaffney shook his head. “That’s weird . . . we never get power outages. I mean we have these wonderful engines generating all kinds of surplus power. This cruise has been haunted by a power gremlin during this trip that the electricians don’t seem to be able to find.”
The polished voice of the cruise director spoke over the PA system. “Please remain calm. We are experiencing intermittent power outages. Our engineering staff is working on the problem. We would ask you to remain where you are until further notice.”
Savannah put her head in both hands. “I can’t get a break.” She released her head and turned to Officer Gaffney. “I saw an image of Ian that was time-stamped for when I saw him at the back of the demonstration a couple of days ago. Ian is alive. You must let Edward go. There’s no basis for the charges.”
“But the system is down . . . I can’t verify it. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
The door to the office opened and Chief Dalessio entered with a large flashlight. She swept the beam between Savannah and Officer Gaffney. “What’s going on? What are you doing?”
“What’s up with the power?” asked Savannah. “I found an image of Ian that shows him alive past the time when you thought he went overboard. I think this is enough for you to release Edward.”
“Someone has been pulling breakers, according to the guys in the engine room. They should have everything sorted out in a few minutes. I need to see that image.”
Savannah clenched her hands into fists, ready to pound the surface of the desk. Then before she could curse, the power came back on. The computers whirred and began booting up. In about ten minutes, Savannah was pointing to Ian’s back with the distinctive team logo. “There he is. Edward is completely innocent. You must release him.”
“You’re absolutely correct,” said Chief Dalessio. “Officer Gaffney, release him immediately.”
“Finally!” Savannah stood up from the office chair and stretched her six-foot frame until she eased the tension in her back and shoulders.
Chief Dalessio folded her arms. “I am impressed with your persistence. I’m glad we took Detective Parker’s advice.”
Savannah responded with a curt nod.
Chief Dalessio frowned. “As if there isn’t enough going on, I’ve got to track down who might have been responsible for this latest bit of nonsense with the power.”
“What do you mean, latest bit?” asked Savannah.
“We’ve been plagued with multiple prankish instances of mischief. I don’t understand why anyone on board would want to interfere in the smooth running of the ship. I’ve never seen anything like it and it started with this cruise. Anyway, that’s my problem. I wish you luck in finding Ian. I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when you find him.”
“Thanks,” Savannah said as Chief Dalessio left the office. She turned to Officer Gaffney. “Well, come on. Let’s get Mr. Morris out of here.”
“There are a few paperwork issues that need sorting out. I’ll let you know when he’s released.” Officer Gaffney began gathering a few paper forms.
“Nope!” said Savannah. “I’m staying right here until I can walk out with Edward.”
Under Savannah’s irritated glare, Officer Gaffney narrowed his eyes but lumbered through the paperwork faster than he had probably ever done. In less than ten minutes Edward was released.
After a rib-crushing embrace, Edward asked, “What’s next?”
Savannah turned serious. “Quite a few challenges are on our task list—at least five.” She counted off on her fingers. “First, we must tell Ian’s parents that he’s alive. Second, try to find Ian, which I think is going to be next to impossible. I mean, he’s hidden from us this long and was only caught on camera the one time. He has likely switched shirts by this time.”
“Still, we know he’s on board,” said Edward.
“Have you kept calling him?”
“Every few hours or so until I was detained. Still no answer up until then.”
Savannah frowned. “I wonder why he hasn’t sent you a message?”
“It could be as simple as he hasn’t been able to charge the battery.”
“Logical.”
“We still have to keep trying,” said Edward.
“Agreed.” Sav
annah continued. “Third, we need to search through Rome at our next port stop to verify Amanda’s research and find out more about the Italian family that you and Ian knew who were behind the counterfeiting ring.”
“Agreed.”
“Fourth, we need to eliminate any concerns we had about Ruth and Sally. I’ve seen Ian on camera. He obviously isn’t doing this kind of evasion to merely avoid a romantic misunderstanding. I believe he’s acting through a genuine fear of being murdered. I would like to talk to the sisters again.”
“Ruth should be easy to find. There can’t be too many smoking areas, and she strikes me as a chain smoker.”
“Okay, let’s interview them and then if we’re satisfied that they’re in the clear, I think we must eliminate the threat before we’ll entice Ian out of hiding.”
“What’s fifth?”
Savannah sighed. “Find a way to use the Rosenberg twins to further our progress. There’s no stopping them when they’re on a mission. We may as well use them to our advantage.”
Edward agreed. “Let’s go talk to them. They need to know what we’ve planned. They can get out of hand so easily.”
“Oh, there’s some bad news from Nicole about the pub.”
Edward rolled his eyes. “Just when I didn’t think things could get worse.”
Savannah brought him up-to-date with the flood and what Nicole had planned to do to solve the problems.
“Well, she’s doing everything I would have done. Maybe I should sell the place to her and we could spend several months at sea with you as one of the glassblowers.”
“What about my business? Would you—”
Edward stopped her with another kiss. “Just kidding, poppet.”
Savannah smiled.
They arrived at the door of the suite a few minutes later.
“Hi, Albert,” said Savannah. “Are the sisters in?”
“Yes, Miss Webb. Go right on through.”
The twins were sitting at the dining room table with a map of Rome spread over the table.
“Edward! You’re out of jail,” said Rachel. She reached up and pinched his cheek. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Savannah! Why didn’t you tell us Edward was free?” asked Faith. She reached up and brought Edward’s head down for a smooch on his other cheek.
Shattered at Sea Page 16