"Patrick was with me the whole time."
BOOM! That bombshell surprised me and for change I had no words. I didn't know what to say to that without feeling like I was prying. Jules was my best friend, but there were some things you just didn't ask until the information was volunteered.
"I see," I said.
"It's not like that," she swatted my arm and smiled.
"It's none of my business."
"We were up all night talking."
"Is that what you kids are calling it these days?" I grinned.
"No, we really were talking. He's a fascinating man."
"And pretty easy on the eyes," I said.
She gasped then laughed. "He is that. He was leaving my cabin to go get a few winks of sleep before reporting to the bridge when he saw Toe."
"Okay so he didn't do it. He might know who did. Or he might have information that can help us figure out who did. Think you can talk to him some more and focus on the investigation?"
Jules nodded, her hair bounced softly on her shoulders reminding me that I needed to do something with my mop. The pool yesterday didn't do my hair any favors. I needed to rinse it with a good portion of conditioner to see if I could get some life back into it. Not that it mattered if I was going to be investigating the entire trip.
"I promise I will ask him about ship dynamics and how people got along with each other."
She looked like an antsy puppy watching a stick flying through the air. As soon as I gave the word she would dash back onto the bridge and hang on Patrick's every word again. I just hoped this time she asked some questions that furthered our investigation.
"Okay, great. You stick to the first mate like glue and I'll go find the Sarah."
“The cruise director? You think she can tell us something?" Jules asked.
"Maybe. Essie said the woman was broken up about Margery's death even though she hardly knew the woman. The chef was supposed to be mentoring her."
"We'll meet later for lunch to catch up?" Jules asked.
"That sounds like a good idea. Hopefully by then we'll all have more information about last night."
I let Jules get back to her new shipboard romance and hoped she wasn't getting too attached to the man. There was no telling if they'd see each other after the cruise. Five days wasn't a lot of time to get to know someone, but Jules would put it to good use I was sure.
I rushed to the elevator and pressed the button that would take me to the main deck where the restaurant was. I didn't know what I would find there but I was hoping that if Sarah was being mentored by a chef, she would be in the kitchen.
I wouldn't get my tour of the place but I would see the inside of the kitchen. A pang of sorrow hit me when I thought of Margery's smiling face and her generous nature. I didn't know her well but she seemed like a nice lady. Who could have hated her so much that they would kill her? And why now? Toe had to be the reason. It was much easier to shift the blame when there was an ex-boyfriend on board.
When I arrived at the restaurant the maitre'd smiled at me. "Are you eating or are you here to visit the kitchen?"
"I need to see Sarah. Is she in the kitchen?"
He nodded. "This way."
I followed him through the restaurant, past the tables with families eating and laughing, totally oblivious to what was going on around them. So few on board knew about the murder I wondered how it was even possible. Sweet Home was small too and if something happened there the whole town knew by the end of the day.
The maitre'd pushed through the swinging door and led me into a brightly lit state of the art kitchen. Despite the sadness lingering on people's faces, the place swarmed with activity. The show must go on. Or in this case, the meals must be made. Can't have a ship full of hungry people.
I spotted Sarah at the far end of the room speaking with a cook. I turned back to the maitre'd.
"Thanks."
He nodded and backed out of the kitchen.
Among the clashing pots and pans the scent of garlic and onion teased my nose. Despite the pancakes at breakfast my stomach grumbled. It was getting close enough to lunchtime that it wanted to remind me to eat.
Sarah looked up from her conversation and spotted me. She smiled at the cook, telling him something else I couldn't hear from this distance, and then started walking toward me.
"Is there some place we can talk?" I asked.
She nodded toward a closed door on the other side of the room. I let her take the lead, following her to the office in silence. On the way I noticed a set of four knives with one missing. From the size of the slit in the block housing the knives it was one with a thin blade.
Inside, the room was small but functional. A small desk with two chairs, one on either side, offered a cramped workspace. I guessed that the chef didn't spend a lot of time in here.
Sarah sat on the side of the desk closest to the wall. I sat opposite her waiting for her to say something. Long silences especially when someone felt guilty about something tended to make them blurt out things to get the conversation rolling. I watched her wring her hands together on top of the desk and I could hear her legs shifting.
"You're here about my breakup?"
"Partly. You told my aunt that he cheated."
"Yes. He was violent too. I should have broken up with him ages ago but when things were good we got along so well."
"What did Margery have to do with the breakup?"
Shocked, Sarah leaned back in her chair. She watched me through red puffy eyes one could easily fake with a bit of lip liner. But Essie said she'd been sobbing, actual ugly crying earlier, so I gave Sarah the benefit of the doubt and believed, for now that the red puffy eyes were real.
"I complained about Alec to Mikey and to Margery. The chief engineer always took Alec's side. Margery always had my back."
"Do you know anyone who would want to hurt Margery?" I asked.
Sarah shook her head and her lip trembled like she was going to cry again. She waved her hands in front of her face and took a few huge breaths. I waited for her to control the impending stream of tears.
"No, everyone liked her."
"Do you know who she was seeing?"
"Seeing? I didn't think she was seeing anyone. Most of the crew are already married. And the ones who aren't really aren't relationship material."
"Even Alec?" I asked.
Sarah's face contorted in anger. "Especially Alec. I wish I'd never started dating him."
"If you think of anything, even if it seems insignificant, can you let me know?"
"Sure. I do know she was going to meet with someone but she never said who."
I filed that information away for later. Even if I asked the entire ship I might never know who Margery was going to meet last night. The only thing we knew for sure, it wasn't Toe. Someone was trying to frame him and we needed to find out who. Fast.
“Are there any knives missing from the kitchen?”
Sarah shrugged and looked up as if trying to remember the kitchen’s contents. “I think there is a boning knife missing from Margery’s prized set.”
"Thanks, Sarah. I'll come by later with Eli if he needs more information."
"Okay. Please find out who did this to my friend."
I nodded and left the office wondering why, if everyone loved Margery so much, someone had stabbed her at four in the morning.
Chapter Seven
Eli and I, still on the same wavelength, arrived at the engineering deck at the same time. He looked much better than he had when Toe came pounding on his door. That seemed like ages ago now, even though it hadn't even been twelve hours. Maybe after this we could go to the pool deck and have some lunch. All of us needed to regroup and share what we'd learned.
He smiled at me as I approached and I grinned. He looked official and imposing and sexy as hell. I still pinch myself sometimes to make sure I'm not dreaming and we really are getting married. The months since the proposal flew by and still I hadn’t done much plannin
g for the wedding. I didn’t even know what kind of wedding dress I wanted. I spent more time picking out my engagement party dress than thinking about the actual wedding. I made a mental note that a cruise would not be on the table as a honeymoon option.
"You're looking better," I said.
He brushed my cheek with a kiss. "I feel better. Maybe I'm finally getting my sea legs."
"Do you still need medication? I haven't been to the doctor's office yet but I can still go."
"No, I think I'm okay. The rocking of the boat doesn't seem as pronounced now and I have some of the other medication left."
"Okay. Let me know if you need more."
I was glad he was feeling better but decided to swing by the doctor’s office just in case. I hoped Eli was getting his sea legs but if not I wanted to be prepared. The last thing I wanted was for him to have a miserable time while on board. I didn’t think I’d have any trouble convincing him a cruise was not the best idea for a honeymoon.
So many things to think about with the wedding but we had a murder to solve first. Since the captain wasn’t turning the ship around we needed to get this solved fast for the sake of the entire ship. Did this ship have a brig? I hadn’t thought to ask the captain that, but if it had a morgue there must be a place to confine criminals.
He nodded and squeezed my hand. "You're here to talk to the chief engineer?"
"Great minds think alike."
“You do have a great mind,” he said. “How were your aunts faring? Did they learn anything? Shoo anyone away who was looking suspicious?”
“They’re taking a break by the pool. Mr. and Mrs. Carver are watching the floor for now.”
I filled him in on the sobbing show put on by Sarah. Though some might question why a woman in her twenties was such good friends, at least according to Sarah, with a woman in her late fifties, I thought it was perfectly normal. My aunts are two of my closest friends. I can tell them anything and they have a different perspective on things than someone my age might. I valued their opinions and even Essie’s teasing most of the time. With age came wisdom and I could use all the wisdom I could get.
If Sarah wanted to get into the restaurant business, Margery would be the perfect person to mentor her. I doubted they handed over an executive chef position on a ship to just anyone. With cell phone reception spotty and me unwilling to rack up my data charges for my phone, I hadn’t looked into Margery’s past yet. All I knew about her was what Toe told us. I pulled out my phone, opened its notes app, and added a reminder to visit the ship’s office center to use one of their computers.
“Taking notes about the case?”
“A reminder to look into Margery’s past.”
“Great minds again.” He pulled out his phone and showed me the reminder that had popped up an hour ago.
“The office center has computers we can use,” I said.
“One step ahead of me. I like it.” He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.
We continued down the hallway to the engine room. Eli pounded on the door to be heard over the ship's engine. The heavy metal door swung open and Mikey stared at us looking haggard. He had a five o'clock shadow emphasizing his jaw line. His eyes were red. He had a sallow complexion. And his uniform looked like he’d slept in it.
Interesting if he had slept in it. Why hadn’t he been in his cabin? If he had been in his cabin why would he sleep in his uniform?
"Mikey, we'd like to ask you a few questions," Eli said.
The man shrugged and moved aside to let us enter. He walked to a small office beside the door. Inside were three chairs and a small desk. On one wall there was a tall filing cabinet that I imagined was stuffed with papers though I couldn't figure out what those papers would say. Reports about the ship I guessed, filled with figures about the ship’s speed, nautical miles, and other sea terms I had no idea about.
He gestured for us to sit. Eli motioned to the chair closest to the wall for me and he took the one near the door. The engineer slumped into the chair behind the desk with a sigh like getting up to answer the door had been the hardest chore he'd ever done.
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
"By now I'm sure you've heard that Margery Johanssen is dead," Eli said.
Pain flashed over the engineer's face so briefly that I almost missed it. Almost immediately he schooled his face back to an impassive expression.
"I'd heard. Poor woman. Do you have any suspects yet?"
"I can't reveal that," Eli said. "We're talking with all the crew to get a feel for the dynamics on board. Did Margery have any enemies?"
The man shook his head then groaned, held his head and took a swig from the mug that was on his desk. Hair of the dog that bit him or coffee to chase the hangover away?
"Everyone loved Margery."
"So the crew keeps saying yet someone killed her," Eli said.
"You think one of us did it? There are hundreds of people on this ship. Her ex-boyfriend, that Toe fella, is on board."
The engineer said Toe's name like it was poison he was spitting out of his mouth. That kind of hatred could only mean one thing.
"Were you the one seeing Margery?" I asked.
Eli gave me a questioning look.
He hung his head. "For a year. She didn't mention that she'd invited an old flame on board and we'd been seeing each other for a year. I had to find out from Sarah!"
"Where were you at four this morning?" Eli asked.
For most people the answer would be sleeping in their beds but I doubted that's where he was. Someone else’s bed maybe since his uniform was not up to ship’s standards based on the rest of the crew I’d seen.
"I got drunk. I didn't mean to but I was so upset about her ex being on board that I dug out the bottle I'd been saving for a special occasion and got sloshed."
"Weren't you supposed to be on duty last night?" Eli asked.
"When I knew it was going to be a bad night I put Alec in charge, went to my cabin, and drank until I passed out."
My heart sort of went out to the guy though he had nothing to worry about with Toe being on board. I had no idea how it ended between Toe and Margery, but it was good enough that they were still friends. I don't know what I would do if I was stuck on a floating hotel with one of Eli's ex-girlfriends. I try not to think about who he dated before me.
"Thanks for your time," Eli said.
We stood and left the engine room. Out in the hallway Eli said, "Let's find out what kind of drunk he is."
"Good idea. Alec?"
"Yes, he should be up ahead."
"You think he might be violent when he's drunk?" I asked.
"If he thought Margery was fooling around with Toe below decks he might get violent."
Before I could fill Eli in on everything else Sarah had said we found the room where the deckhand hung out when he wanted to be alone. Sarah had mentioned it to Essie in all her sobbing earlier.
Eli opened the door. The captain was already there seeming to tower over the young deckhand. I could actually see Alec trembling under the captain's authoritative stare.
When we entered the captain turned around and glared at the interruption, then his face softened.
Alec hadn't seemed like the type to be afraid of much. I wondered what the captain was like when he wasn't putting on a show for guests or trying to out police a police officer. Right now Alec looked terrified of the captain, which meant we would get no information out of him as long as the captain was there.
"Captain, we're so glad we found you," I said. "Isn't that right, Eli?"
Eli looked at me like he had no idea where I was going with this but he nodded.
"Really?" the captain asked.
"Yes. Poor Patrick could use a break on the bridge."
"That is part of his job," Fredericks said.
"I know. But he's been there for a while now and my best friend hasn't been able to spend any time with him. Maybe you could go relieve him for a few hours. For me as a favor t
o the bride?"
The captain looked at Alec who cowered slightly then he looked back at me. I stared him in the eyes and flashed him a smile.
Eli raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged. It would work or it wouldn't. I hoped it worked because I didn't want the two getting into a pissing match over who should be doing the investigating again. All the arguing over who had jurisdiction meant the case wasn't being investigated.
A Cuppa Cruise Conundrum: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 7) Page 7