Death on the Bella Constance (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 6)

by Ann Mullen

  Overwhelming lust on my part would have to wait.

  “You didn’t stab anyone, did you, `ge ya? I know it’s hard for you to avoid the criminals out there. They seem to attach themselves to you like a magnet on a refrigerator door.” He smiled at the captain. “She tries to behave, but…” Billy was being silly and light-hearted like he does when he’s sure there’s something he’s going to hear that he doesn’t want to.

  “You can relax,” I said. “I didn’t stab anyone, but Maggie Anderson plunged a fork into Peter Dawson’s chest.”

  The smile left Billy’s face. “Is he going to be all right?”

  “I’m sure he is,” I replied. “He’s too evil to die.”

  I could almost see Billy’s mind racing. I’ve seen that look many times. That’s how his brain operates. You tell him something like I just did, and he takes that information, tears it apart, and then pieces it back together again, coming up with a complete scenario that either connects to something else, or is in itself the answer to the question… within a matter of seconds. Well, maybe not that quickly, but it seems that way to me.

  “He’s at the Med Center,” the captain said. “I don’t think the wound was very serious.”

  “I assume this meeting is about what’s been going on,” Billy said. “I suggest we start at the beginning. I’ll go first.” Billy walked over to the computer, hit a few keys, and then said, “I can show you all the evidence I’ve gathered if you want to see it, but I can cut to the chase a lot faster.” He hit several keys on the computer, and a slideshow of photographs slowly scrolled across the screen. He explained as the pictures appeared. “This is Jimmy Carlson—the man in room 608 who was the first casualty. In the limo from the airport in Newport News to Norfolk, Loukas got a call on his cell phone from someone who either wanted to warn him that he was in danger, or send a death threat. Loukas didn’t know which one it was. That call has been traced back to a cell phone belonging to Jimmy Carlson. Jimmy Carlson is… or was… the new head of personnel with Constance Enterprises. He’s definitely not a peon. I think his death ties into the ongoing threat on Loukas’ life somehow. There’s a connection somewhere. I’m convinced of it.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “Doesn’t Loukas have Caller ID on his cell?”

  “It came up only as Private Caller. You know—no number listed so the caller’s identity can be kept private.”

  “Not to change the subject, but I wanted to tell you that all the champagne glasses have tested positive for poison,” Captain O’Riley said. “What kind of poison hasn’t been determined yet, but it won’t take those guys long. We still don’t know the identity of the person who had the champagne delivered, but my crew members were the ones who were to distribute them. They all said that their carts were setup and ready for delivery, so they just did their job. All we really have to go on is the actual printout of the delivery orders, and regrettably, the signature is nothing but scribble.”

  “What about your camera surveillance?” Billy asked. “Did you check the video for that area?”

  “Yes, I did, but unfortunately, there had been a blackout for some reason. It went unnoticed for fifteen minutes. It was a busy time. My guys had their hands full and were doing the best they could. The camera was only down for a very short while.”

  “Just long enough so that the perpetrator could get in and drop off his package of lethal poison disguised as very expensive champagne. The timing was perfect. Camera down—package delivered.”

  The captain turned, looked at me, and said, “I apologize for the computer glitch in the elevator. My crew determined that it most likely came from an electromagnetic surge caused by the storm.”

  “I knew there was a conspiracy going on here!” I said. “Downed cameras. Elevator mishaps. I hesitate to imagine what will go wrong next.”

  “What glitch?” Billy asked, looking at me with concern on his face.

  “The elevator stopped between decks, and the lights went out just for a minute,” the captain offered. “No one was in any real danger.”

  “I’ll have to disagree about the danger and that electro surge thingy,” I said. “Peter Dawson intentionally stopped the elevator. He told me so while he was lying on the floor with a fork sticking out of his chest. That was just before he reached over and snatched it out. That gesture alone makes him certifiable. He’s playing games. He was only trying to frighten us, because if he wanted to hurt us, he could have done so very easily. The man’s crazy.”

  “If he told you that he did it, he most likely would’ve bragged about how he did it. Did he?”

  “No, he didn’t, and I didn’t think to ask. I was too shocked watching him jerk out that fork without showing the least sign of suffering. But now that I’ve had time to think about it, I think he might’ve had a remote control device—one of those small, handheld types. That way he could be anywhere he wanted to be when he set it off. It’s the only thing I can come up with that makes sense. He might still have the remote in his pocket. Can you call the Med Center and see if he’s still there? If he is, perhaps they can give him a sedative and then search his pockets.”

  “I’d like to add that it might be a good idea to give him a large dose,” Billy offered. “We need to keep him under control. If we can keep him sedated for a few hours, it would give us time to do a few things.”

  “Like what?” I asked, wondering what Billy was up to.

  Not wanting to show his hand in front of the captain, all Billy said was, “Private Detective things.” Then he gave me the look. The look that said he didn’t want to reveal all his suspicions to anyone but me. He would share information, but never divulge everything, using the tricks of the trade that has kept him alive.

  Once again, Billy had shown me that his trust lies with me, first and foremost... above all else!

  Liking the idea, and without batting an eyelash, Captain O’Riley walked over to the ship phone, and made the call. Once he ended the call, he looked at us and said, “That’s done. What next?”

  “Has Maggie been seen by the doctor, yet?” I asked. “I’m concerned about the self-inflicted wounds she has around her mouth.”

  “Doc sent two of his people to check her out.”

  “That’s good to hear,” I said. “Where’s Teresa Anderson? The crew took Maggie away, Peter’s probably sedated by now, and Teresa hasn’t shown her face. Something ain’t right. In case she might really be a victim, I say we find her, before it’s too late. And if she’s not a victim, I say we put her in a room with her mother, and let the two of them go at it!”

  Past events were starting to come together, piece by piece, as the three of us discussed the problem. At least one situation might be fixed. All you can do is tackle one problem at a time.

  A thought came to me. “If Peter Dawson does have the capability to mess with the elevator, he could also black out a camera. I think we can add him to the list of suspects.”

  “I don’t see the connection,” Captain O’Riley said. “He boarded the same time as the rest of the passengers.”

  “He could’ve hacked in before he boarded. He could’ve had inside help. Isn’t that how a conspiracy works?”

  “We’ll see,” Billy said. “For now, let’s concentrate on locating Teresa.”

  “During Maggie’s outburst in the dining room, she said her daughter was missing, and accused Peter of kidnapping her.” I stated, telling my take on the situation. “I don’t know what to believe. I go with what I see, and I’m telling you that poor woman was on the brink. You saw her, captain. She acted like a lunatic. And after seeing the photo of Teresa and Peter together all lovey-dovey, I don’t believe he’s a stalker at all. I think they’ve got something going, and the mama doesn’t know. Maybe the mama was the one behind the stalking charges filed against Peter. Perhaps Teresa is too weak and couldn’t fight her mother by herself, so that’s where Peter came in. Together, they devise a plan to push the mama over the edge. At her age, I’m willing to
bet Maggie is on some kind of medication. If so, I think one of them has tampered with it. Maggie Anderson could be hallucinating.”

  “I saw the video of Peter and Teresa, and she didn’t look much like a willing participant to me,” Billy refuted. “I found that kind of odd. Where’s her mother now?”

  “We have her in a holding room, separated from the rest of the passengers,” the captain replied. “I didn’t think we’d ever need a jail, but I was wrong. This is the first time that we ever had to lock up a passenger.”

  “I have a feeling it won’t be the last time on this cruise.”

  The captain looked at me. “She is getting proper medical attention. I just want to reassure you of that, Mrs. Blackhawk.”

  “While they have Peter Dawson at the Med Center, we’ll go search his room,” Billy said. “If Teresa isn’t there, we’ll go check her room, and at the same time, check out Jesse’s theory about the medication.”

  “I can get my security team to help in the search. Ret. U.S. Marshall Bob Wagner is the head of security. He’s one of the best in his field. We’re lucky to have him.”

  “Just hold off on that, captain,” Billy said. “No need to bring them in on it just yet.”

  “What else?” the captain asked.

  “Although, nothing has happened to him so far, we know there is a real threat on Loukas’ life,” Billy said. “Jimmy told him so.”

  “Maybe Jimmy was the good guy after all,” I suggested. “He sure wasn’t the mastermind though, or he wouldn’t be dead. Find the link, and we’ll have our bad guy. I’d go with Utah Hawks. He’s the one to watch. I’d put my money on him.”

  “Let’s go search Peter Dawson’s room while we still can,” Captain O’Riley said.

  “Yes, I think that’s our first priority at the moment,” Billy said, agreeing. “I want to question Teresa, but first we have to find her.”

  “I have a few questions for her, too,” I said. “I’d like to know what she was secretly doing in Peter’s room for an hour and ten minutes yesterday afternoon.”

  Teresa and Peter’s tryst came as no surprise to Billy and the captain. The captain showed very little emotion, but Billy’s concern that Teresa was being coerced into doing something she didn’t want to do bothered him. I saw it on his face.

  The ship phone in our room rang.

  Billy walked over, picked it up, and spoke. When his conversation was finished, he turned to us and said, “That was Bella. She wants us to come to her stateroom… you, too, captain. McCoy and Savannah are already there. She wants us to join her for a very late lunch, and to talk about what’s happening. I told her we’d be there as soon as we checked out something. She was okay with that.”

  “We’d better hurry then,” the captain said. “Nobody keeps Bella Constance waiting.”

  “I’ve noticed,” I admitted. “She has a power over people. Everyone adores her. I know I liked her from the get-go.”

  Ten minutes later, we were standing in front of the door to room 527. The captain swiped his keycard, opened the door, and the three of us walked in. We spread out, and in prime investigative form, started rummaging through Peter’s stuff.

  Billy immediately went to the computer setup on the table, the captain checked the bathroom, and I started going through the drawers.

  “Well… well… well,” I said, delving into the top drawer filled with jewelry, wallets, and miscellaneous items. “What do we have here?”

  I picked up one of the wallets, opened it, and recognized the face on the driver’s license. It was the man who had been standing across from me at the buffet table. I remembered his face, because he was so handsome.

  “Hmm… It looks as if Mr. Dawson has a side job besides lying and doing bodily harm. He’s not a stalker! He and his girlfriend, Teresa, are not only trying to get Maggie out of the picture, they’re also stealing from the passengers. This must be their retirement fund. I’m glad my diamond bracelet isn’t in here. That would really tick me off.”

  “You should see this,” Captain O’Riley said, walking out of the bathroom. “He’s got a suitcase sitting on the toilet that’s filled with make-up, fake moustaches and beards of all shades, wigs, eyeglasses… all kinds of stuff to change his appearance.”

  “Do-i-s-di-hi-na?” Billy mumbled. “I’-na-dv!”

  “What did he say?” the captain asked, looking over at me.

  “I know the last word was snake, but I’m at a loss on the first part.” I handed the wallet to the captain as I walked past him. “This belongs to one of the passengers. There’s more in the drawer, and lots of jewelry among other things.” I came up behind Billy and peeked at the laptop screen. “What you got there, a-yv-wi-ya?”

  Billy looked at me and smiled. “You’re getting very good, `ge ya. I’m proud of you… and you did get the snake part right.” He looked at the captain. “Peter Dawson rigged two passenger elevators. His work is documented right here. He’s hacked into your computer system, and now he has control from right here.” Billy pointed to the screen. “I can fix that right now.” He pecked at the keyboard for a little while, and then all of a sudden, the screen went black.

  “What did you do?” the captain asked.

  “I crashed his hard drive.”

  “How…”

  “Don’t ask,” I said. “He never gives away his tricks to anyone but me.” I smiled. “But even I don’t know how he did that.”

  “What about explosive devices?” Captain O’Riley asked, nervously. “Did you see a…”

  “Bomb! Is that what you mean?” I butted in before Billy could answer. “Please tell us there’s not a bomb in the elevator! I think I’m going to faint!”

  “I thought I heard you groan a few minutes ago,” Billy said. “I figured you saw a very fine piece of jewelry you liked.”

  The ship had been encountering some pretty rough seas, so I should not have been surprised when a sudden jerk caused it to shake and rise, tossing us around.

  “Don’t even try to tell me that was the wind. I need to sit down.” I walked over to the bed, sat down, and hung my head between my knees.

  “The ship must’ve been hit by a wave,” the captain said, trying to soothe my nerves. “Don’t worry. This ship is as tough as they come. She can hold up to anything… except a rogue wave or an ocean bubble. Either one of those can sink a ship in a heartbeat.”

  “Rogue wave… ocean bubble?” I queried. “Oh, Lord. I have something else to worry about. What’s a… whoa… wait a minute.” I looked at Billy. “Did you just say you heard me groan?” I thought for a minute, looked at the captain, and then at the closet door. “No way! Didn’t anyone check the closet?” I stood up, and walked over. I grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door to see Teresa Anderson, bound, gagged, and balled up in the fetal position on the floor. She wasn’t moving.

  For a split-second, the three of us just stood there with our mouths hung open and a stunned look on our faces.

  “Teresa!” I said as I bent down to check for a pulse. I pressed on the side of her neck with two fingers and felt a weak and irregular beat. “She’s still alive!”

  Billy grabbed his pocketknife from his pants pocket and stooped down beside me. He cut the gag from her mouth and then the duct tape from her hands and feet.

  She fell over like a lifeless rag doll.

  Billy scooped her up in his strong arms like she was nothing but a sack of potatoes, and headed for the door. “Let’s go,” he said. “She needs medical attention, and fast!”

  “Go ahead,” Captain O’Riley said. “I’ll call the Med Center and let them know you’re coming, and then I’ll get the security team over here. We need to confiscate the evidence.”

  “Okay!” I said as we were hurrying out of the room.

  In the background, I could hear the captain talking on the phone, his voice getting fainter the further we ran down the hall. His last words caught me by surprise. I heard him say, “You idiot!” Who was he being tha
t ugly to? This didn’t sound like the captain I knew—even if it has only been a couple of days since we met. His words were totally out of character. I brushed it aside. I had more important things on my mind than a captain using harsh words to a crew member.

  Teresa moaned twice. We took it as a sign that she was coming around.

  “She’s been drugged,” Billy said.

  “Yeah, but she’s going to make it… isn’t she?”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  When we reached the elevator, I hesitated for a second, and then looked up at Billy.

  “Just hold onto me, `ge ya,” he said, reassuringly. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of you.”

  I stepped into the elevator gingerly and held onto Billy’s shirt the whole time as if that was going to protect me. It wouldn’t do me a bit of good if something did happen, but it made me feel better. When we reached the main deck, the elevator stopped, and the door opened. Billy and I rushed down the hall to the Med Center. I was panting by the time we got there. I was in good physical shape, so that wasn’t the problem. I bordered on the edge of a panic attack. I kept telling myself to get it together, hoping I could mentally calm myself down, but it was difficult. Gratefully, I had Billy to make me feel safe.

  Dr. Whitley and his staff were waiting for us as we entered. “Lay her over here on this gurney.”

  Billy gently laid her down and stepped back to allow the doctor room to work while I slipped around to the other side of the curtain to see if Peter was still there.

  “He’s out,” Dr. Whitley said from the other side of the curtain. “I gave him a strong sedative, and he’ll be under for another hour or so. His wound wasn’t deep. He should be fine. I imagine he’ll be in pain for a while. You can’t sustain an injury like that, and not suffer some.”

  I reached over and felt his pockets.

  “I have what you’re looking for over here,” the doctor added.

  I walked back around the curtain and watched as the doctor handed Billy a small, black gadget.

  Billy looked at it carefully and said, “You were right, Jesse. It is a remote control. I figured as much from what I saw on his laptop. It looks as if he knows what he’s doing. This little baby is state-of-the art. He’s slick, all right.”