Murder on the Great lake

by Sandi Scott

  “I’m fine. I need to get back on the top deck. The boat is moving too much for me. I’m a landlubber I guess.” She sniffed, pushing her long hair back over her shoulders and left the washroom.

  Both Georgie and Aleta took a Dramamine to be on the safe side. It had been years since she was on a boat but Georgie was not taking any chances. Plus, she had been promised real desserts and didn’t want queasiness to interfere. But that had been a lie. A vicious lie. An almost unforgivable lie.

  “Where is that Richard Batt?” She wiped her hands on a paper towel and fixed her collar and hem as she looked in the mirror. “He needs to be educated on what the words real desserts mean.”

  Chapter 3

  When Georgie reappeared in the grand ballroom about every seat was filled. The mingling and networking session was over and now something new was about to get started. A man wearing a tuxedo t-shirt that hugged his muscular chest picked up a microphone, stepped up on a small stage and began to work the room.

  “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!” he shouted getting hoots and whistles from the audience. “We are about to get our raffle started. If any of you want to purchase some last minute tickets, you can flag down any of the girls with the Fit Family Gym shirts on and they’ll be happy to take your money.”

  The obligatory chuckles rippled across the crowd.

  “In the meantime, we have a couple who over the years have really captured not only what the fitness lifestyle is all about but who have become true inspirations along the way. We’d like to take a few moments to recognize them here.

  Everyone clapped.

  As Georgie took her seat next to Aleta, she told her about Deck with yet another woman clamoring for his attention.

  “I have the feeling that probably happens a lot in this business.” Aleta raised her eyebrows. Georgie nodded in agreement.

  “First. We have to acknowledge one of the most amazing transformations to take place within the Fit Family Gym franchise. As you are all aware, the gym located at Bryn Mawr and Paulina was in serious trouble two years ago.” The MC nodded his head as did many of the people sitting down. “New enrollment was non-existent. The machinery was low end. It became known as the place to go if you wanted a steroid hook-up. But all that changed. Under new management the Fit Family Gym got some help from local law enforcement who got together and involved their families. Programs for younger members were implemented. And a special singles night brought together some great people who would have otherwise never met, including yours truly. Right Diane?” The MC pointed to a lovely brunette who waved shyly. “My fiancé, ladies and gentlemen!”

  Everyone applauded and cheered.

  “It is with great honor that we present this award for fastest growing, highest earning gym to Deck Zannowski! Where are you, buddy? Come on up here!”

  Georgie and Aleta looked at each other and smiled.

  “Boy, he sure was a modest fellow for someone who did all that.” Georgie said. “It’s no wonder the girls are after him.”

  The gentle giant took the mike. His face was beet red as he looked at the floor and smiled.

  “Thank you so much.” He said over the applause. “I don’t really know what to say. I got some other wonderful news tonight and I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Sometimes it just takes one person to say one thing to put your whole world in perspective.” Georgie saw him look to the woman who had just a few minutes ago thrown up in the ladies room. “Thank you, Maddy. Thanks, everyone.”

  With a quick wave, he was off the stage. The MC was in full flow, talking about pulling some tickets for the raffles and encouraging everyone not to miss the dance-offs. He added heartily that there was plenty of food if anyone was still hungry.

  “How about we go out on the deck for some fresh air?” Aleta suggested.

  “That sounds wonderful. Let’s figure out where we are going to stop to get some food on the way home.”

  “Yes.” Her twin agreed. As they walked out of the ballroom together, Georgie noticed the girl, Abby, who had wanted to talk to Deck stomping past them with the maddest look on her face that Georgie had ever seen. “I’m in the mood for something chocolaty. Like a milkshake or maybe some kind of ice cream.”

  “I’ve got some Haagen-Dazs chocolate-chocolate chip at home.” Georgie offered absently as she watched the woman go in the same direction as Deck.

  “I thought you wanted to go out?”

  “Oh, well. Either way. We could save ourselves a few dollars and go to my house.”

  “You know I think I have some pound cake in the freezer we could have, too.”

  That snapped Georgie out of her trance and she clapped her hands.

  “That sounds perfect. I think maybe a Whopper from Burger King might be in order, too.”

  “You’re reading my mind, girl.” Aleta watched a man and woman in perfect shape without an ounce of body fat on them stroll by. The air out on Lake Michigan was cool and dewy. The smell of rain was still in the air. Off in the distance lightning could be seen flashing here and there beneath dark clouds that were camouflaged by the night sky. The Chicago skyline twinkled like none other and at that moment, from that distance, looked majestic. “But...”

  “But what?” Georgie looked at her sister.

  “But I think that tomorrow I’m going to look into getting a membership at Fit Family Gym.”

  “Really?”

  “You know, Georgie, when you went through your treatments and had your whole life altered, you did things that were out of your comfort zone. Look how much better off you are now.”

  “You aren’t going to dredge up all that nonsense again, are you?” Georgie flashed a nervous smile. She didn’t like talking about having cancer. She didn’t like talking about treatments or medicine. She didn’t even like talking about it going into remission. Something inside her expected the ordeal be treated like a poltergeist encounter. The less you talk about it or even acknowledge it the less power it has. If she talked about cancer, she might somehow bring it back.

  “Why not? You should be up on that stage getting an award for the most positive change in a single person.”

  “I haven’t changed, Aleta. Maybe I walk a little more than I used to and I don’t overeat. But I haven’t changed.

  “Well, I’m not going to argue the details with you but yes you have. The worst part is I haven’t. I haven’t taken one step to do anything better for myself. So now, you brought me to this floating Muscle Beach and I’ve decided to make a change. I’m going to get a membership, and you will be my permanent guest any time you want to go.”

  “That sounds like an offer too good to pass up.” Georgie squeezed her sister around the shoulders. Aleta wiped a stray tear away and smiled.

  “So yes, lets eat the ice-cream and pound cake with a couple of Whoppers tonight, for tomorrow we fast.”

  “Oh my gosh. Speaking of fasting, let me tell you what happened in the bathroom. I was...”

  Suddenly both Georgie and Aleta stopped and froze. Had they really heard those words shouted from a few yards down the deck? No. It was a seagull that cried out and sounded like it was speaking English. It had to be. They stood still, one waiting for the other to speak first and confirm or deny what they’d heard.

  “Man Overboard!”

  A crowd of people dashed to the railing gasping and pointing, while some of the women began crying. From the tier above the deck the Kaye sisters and the crowd were standing on, two blinding searchlights snapped on and fell to the water that had turned black reflecting the night sky.

  As Aleta rushed to look over the railing, too, Georgie couldn’t help but notice that the railing was quite high. She measured it against some of the muscular men who were also peering into the lake water and thought the bars would be very hard to accidentally topple over. Even if a person were severely intoxicated, they’d have to decide to climb onto their tip-toes and lean all the way over to let gravity do its worst. But so far there had been very lit
tle drinking at this event. That isn’t to say no one was having any cocktails but Georgie hadn’t seen anyone that intoxicated.

  “There! There he is!” Georgie heard another person yell. More gasping and crying could be heard. She quickly wormed her way into the growing crowd, found Aleta and linked her arm through hers. As they both looked over the rail, they could see the body floating face down in the water. It was a man. Whoever he was he was very big and muscular like many of the men on board.

  Everyone was pointing toward the body as a bright orange emergency boat near the midsection of the cruise ship was lowered into the water. There were three men in the dingy wearing huge orange life preservers over their shoulders. The engine of the rescue boat kicked to life instantly as it touched the water’s surface.

  Georgie thought she had never heard such a desperate sound in her life as that motorboat engine.

  “Hurry.” Aleta mumbled. “It might not be too late.”

  It felt like the entire cruise ship was holding its breath as the rescue team made their way across the water leaving ripples of white behind them as the propeller of their boat cut through the water.

  Finally, they cut the engine as they eased up alongside the body. The man was floating on his stomach, his arms held in a limp “stick-em-up” pose as if he were facing the barrel of a gun pointing up at him from beneath the water’s surface.

  One man from the rescue team slid into the water while the other two leaned over to help hoist the man into the boat. Twice the rescue boat nearly tipped over with the weight of the body builder being almost too much for three men to handle. Finally, he was in the craft, the man in the water immediately pulling himself up behind him. The man operating the motor again kicked it to life as the third man began CPR. All those watching the event unfold exploded in a round of cheers and applause as they watched the rescue.

  But Georgie knew the Dead Man’s Float when she saw it. She didn’t say anything to Aleta or anyone else.

  “They’ve got him.” Aleta breathed. “Maybe they’ll be able to revive him.” Her voice sounded as grim as Georgie’s face.

  “All that work on his body and yet his swimming skills failed?” Georgie whispered to her sister. “That would be peculiar, don’t you think?”

  The mob of onlookers moved along the rails to watch the rescue boat as it was hoisted back up to the second deck. The men in orange life preservers climbed out and pulled the man with them laying him flat on his back on the deck.

  “Oh, no!”

  “This can’t be happening!”

  “How horrible!”

  “I’m never going on a cruise again!”

  “This is crazy!”

  These were some of the comments some of the passengers were making as the man’s face was finally revealed. It was Deck Zannowski.

  Chapter 4

  “Here’s a fun fact for you.” Aleta pulled Georgie away from the crowd. “Did you know there are five different agencies that patrol Lake Michigan?”

  “Five?” Georgie wrinkled her nose.

  “State Police, Chicago Police, the Department of Conservation, the Lake County Sheriff’s Police and the U.S. Coast Guard.” Aleta counted off on her fingers.

  “Well, good luck getting a straight answer to what really happened with that many cooks in the kitchen.” Georgie huffed, folding her arms over her chest. “What a shame. Deck seemed like one of the good guys.”

  “He did.” Aleta looked at her sister with narrow eyes. “This doesn’t sit well with you, either, does it?”

  Georgie shook her head.

  The entire east side of the cruise ship was suddenly lit up in the glare of bright orange lights from the Coast Guard boat that had eased up beside the Chicago Police Marine Unit whose red and blue flashing lights were illuminating the dark waters in an eerie fashion.

  Deck was pronounced dead at the scene. The Chicago Police zipped up the body in a tight-fitting black body bag and with the help of four uniformed men wearing life preservers, transferred his body from the Catherine O’Leary to their police boat.

  The crowd slowly dispersed while Georgie and Aleta remained on deck in the fresh air and watched as the thunderheads began to roll in overhead. As they talked Georgie noticed something strange.

  “Is it just me or has the ship not changed course?” Georgie asked.

  “I don’t know what you mean?”

  “Well, a man just fell overboard and died. There is a storm approaching. Why are we not heading back to port? Those flashes of lightning should be enough but the rain might also wash away any clues the police will need to inspect. Right?”

  Aleta scratched her head and looked out over the water.

  “I’m getting a little uncomfortable out here.” She admitted to Georgie. “I think I’m going to go back inside and anchor myself to the bar or a toilet or something else that can’t fall into the water.”

  “I’ll be right behind you.” Georgie pointed to the deck above them. “I’m going to go see what our Captain has to say.”

  It is obvious that the news of Deck’s drowning had spread like wildfire throughout the ship. As Georgie was walking along the hallway toward the steps leading up to the bridge she saw to her left the men’s room and to the right were clusters of passengers that shook their heads in disbelief, many of them vowing to never set foot on a ship again.

  As she slowly climbed the stairs to the very top deck and neared the bridge she heard a good deal of shouting coming from behind a heavy metal door that was slightly cracked open. When she peeked inside, Georgie saw the banks of controls; radar and sonar screens and other blinking and winking gizmos that served a purpose she’d probably never understand.

  “Look. I paid for this cruise. That’s three hours. There is at least another hour coming to me!”

  “Mr. Batt, I understand your concern. I can assure you that you will be partially refunded if that is what matters to you.” The Captain stated in that same story-telling manner he relayed the history of Catherine O’Leary at the table a short while ago. “But a man is dead. We are going back.”

  “They’ve removed the body. It is in the hands of the police now. That’s where it belongs. But this is a once a year event and people are expecting it to end on a high note.”

  “You may be reaching for the stars on that one, Mr. Batt. Usually an unfortunate death can never be transformed into a high note. With the exception of Hitler, I suppose.” The Captain mused. His words made Georgie chuckle but they further fanned the flames of anger in Richard Batt.

  “I don’t care. This is more important than you realize. I want this boat to remain out on the water until its scheduled time to return back...”

  Georgie didn’t need to hear any more. Quietly she turned and went back down the stairs. After a few wrong turns and retracing her steps more than once, Georgie made it back to the main ballroom and found Aleta sitting at the bar with a Shirley Temple drink in front of her.

  “I’ve decided I’ll never go on a cruise again.” Aleta whispered. “I considered one of those Alaskan trips to see the whales and the Aurora Borealis but this has sort of...how do you say it...ruined it.”

  “You aren’t the only one. The rest of the passengers seem visibly upset and shaken, too. Well, almost all of them.” Georgie nodded at Richard who had come back into the main room. He was smiling and seemed quite confident as he walked up to Abby. Her cheeks were wet and shiny. It was obvious from the way she folded her arms over her chest that she didn’t appreciate Richard standing so close behind her but that didn’t seem to stop him.

  He stooped down and whispered something in her ear.

  “Show some respect.” She hissed loud enough for Georgie and Aleta to hear. “He may not have been a good guy, but he just died.”

  It was as good as a slap. Richard adjusted his collar and walked away from the woman in search of more hospitable guests.

  Georgie scanned the room for Megan, Richard’s girlfriend, but she was nowhere in sight.
Perhaps she had found another broad shoulder to cry on.

  “You know what I find weird?” Georgie leaned toward her sister and took the tall Shirley Temple drink in her hands.

  “This whole group plus the buffet?” Aleta arched her right eyebrow.

  “Besides that.” Georgie took a sip. “Look at the staff.”

  Everyone in a uniform from the young man who poured coffee from table to table to the bartenders to the stewards, everyone who worked for the cruise line was going along as business as usual.

  “Do you think that’s protocol? Maybe when tragedy strikes they are directed to act as if nothing happened.” Aleta took her drink back and took a sip, too. But before Georgie could answer they watched an agitated Richard Batt take the front stage, grab the mike and put his hand up in the air.

  “Ladies and gentlemen.” He put his hand up to get everyone’s attention. “Ladies and gentlemen, if I can have a moment.”

  The room quickly quieted down with all eyes on Richard.

  “I’m sorry but the Captain has informed me that it is protocol for the ship to return to port. In addition, the thunderstorm that is quickly approaching means the festivities must be cut short as well.” He chuckled nervously. “So we will be heading back to the dock. We’re expected to arrive there within the next twenty minutes. If everyone could start gathering their things in preparation for docking, we will be tied up shortly. Thank you.” He practically dropped the microphone and stomped off the stage like a spoiled child being told it was time to leave the playground and take a nap.

  People began to stand up from their tables and quickly make their way toward the disembarking area on the outer deck.

  “It’s raining out there.” Aleta shook her head and took another sip before handing the bright pink drink to her sister. “I’m not in a hurry to get soaking wet. I don’t care who died.”

  “Me neither.” Georgie helped herself to another gulp from the drink. “Let’s wait here until everyone is off. I’d like to study the people as they are leaving. Not that I’ll see anything.”