A Christmas Cruise Murder

by Dawn Brookes

  Rachel wasn’t certain it had been teasing, but she laughed anyway. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Let’s get going then, people are boarding the coach.”

  Sarah stuck her tongue out behind her mother’s back and Rachel nudged her. “I hope you’re not going to be childish today.”

  “Only if I’m treated like one.”

  The happy foursome boarded the coach and Sarah turned to wave to Jason, who was checking passengers off the ship through security. He looked up at the right moment and nodded. Security personnel had to concentrate on the cards they were scanning and check the photos of passengers exiting and entering the ship. Rachel noticed the early birds, who had been off as soon as people were allowed to do so, already returning to the ship. Some would probably have lunch and then go ashore again.

  She kicked herself to concentrate on where she was as they found seats towards the rear of the coach. She didn’t want another lecture from Mary about being elsewhere.

  Sarah sat in the aisle seat so that Rachel could look out of the window during the tour. Mary and Gilbert sat behind them as Rachel recognised voices coming from the seats in front and across the aisle. She nudged Sarah and tilted her head.

  Sarah rolled her eyes and groaned before whispering, “Leave it today.” There was no way Rachel would do that and her friend knew it, so she raised her eyebrows in a mock ‘leave what?’ fashion and got a dig in the ribs for her trouble.

  Mishka was sitting in the seat in front of Rachel and Sacha in front of Sarah. Danielle, who had either missed her appointment with Bernard, and therefore with Jason, or been to surgery earlier, was sitting across the aisle from the men, next to someone Rachel couldn’t see without craning her neck, but it was a woman, not a man. Pash wasn’t there.

  The coach left the dockside, and soon afterwards the tour guide introduced herself and began a short history of Lisbon, pointing out various landmarks as they headed out of the city. Mishka and Sacha were not paying any attention as they had likely heard it all before, so Rachel listened to them instead. Her friend had been to Lisbon on numerous occasions, but never to Fátima, so Sarah was clearly concentrating on the commentary.

  At first, the men in front spoke in English about how much some crew members, whose names Rachel didn’t recognise, had drunk the night before. Once they tired of that conversation, they moved on to the subject of work and Rachel’s ears pricked up as she leaned forwards, pretending to look out of the window. She was disappointed as they almost immediately switched to Russian and their tone became more serious. The only thing she could make out was the Russian word for death and the name of Sosa. Gutted she hadn’t continued her study of Russian, she resigned herself to sitting back in her seat with a sigh.

  Sarah raised her eyebrows. “Serves you right,” she said happily.

  Rachel drifted in and out of sleep on the journey until she heard the guide relating the story of the three shepherd children who had seen a vision of the Virgin Mary on multiple occasions over several days in 1917. The apparitions had been approved by the Vatican and the site had become a Catholic pilgrimage since then. They would see a modern Basilica called Our Lady of Fátima and the Chapel of Apparitions. It wasn’t a site where miracles had occurred as some sites were, but one that held spiritual significance for Roman Catholics.

  Rachel was interested in history as her degree had been in the subject so she paid attention to the story. The guide ended her talk by telling them that two of the children had died during the influenza pandemic following the First World War and that the third had become a nun.

  “Fascinating,” said Sarah once the guide stopped talking. “I read a few books about flu pandemics recently – I love medical history. We’re always living in fear of the next one.”

  Rachel nodded. “Swine flu didn’t turn out to be the pandemic, did it?”

  “No it didn’t, but one mutation will be all it takes and huge swathes of the world’s population could be taken out in a matter of months, or even weeks due to modern travel.”

  “I’m pleased to hear you two having such a positive conversation,” Gilbert Bradshaw’s voice cut in.

  “Sorry, Dad. I can’t help it. That WWI pandemic was awful, you know. It killed more people than the war, some estimates suggest over 50 million people worldwide. At the time, people were so pleased the so-called war to end all wars was over, it didn’t get as much coverage as it would have if the Government hadn’t been so keen to raise morale. Nurses and doctors were the heroes, putting themselves in harm’s way, caring for the sick. Many of them died.”

  “I think that’s quite enough of that subject, Sarah, please. Your father and I would like to enjoy a spiritually uplifting visit, not a health lecture, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sorreeey!”

  “It was a bit depressing, but you can tell me more about it another time. Better still, recommend the book.”

  Sarah smiled. “You’re right. Sorry, Mum.”

  The coach drew to a halt and passengers started to alight. Rachel was nudging Sarah to move so that she could be close to the restaurant staff, but her friend decided to be obtuse and wouldn’t budge.

  “If I have to stop talking medicine, you can certainly stop chasing murderers,” she whispered.

  “What are you whispering about?”

  “I was just saying to Rachel how good it was she could forget about work for a while.” The girls’ guffaws drew a look of consternation from Mary, while Gilbert merely shrugged his shoulders.

  “They’re happy, Mary. Come on, let’s get you into that Basilica before it starts to rain.”

  Rachel and Sarah managed to get away from the crowds of pilgrims to grab a hot coffee from a café. As luck would have it, Mishka and Sacha joined them.

  “Are you enjoying day out, Nurse?” Sacha asked.

  “Please call me Sarah. I’m out of uniform, so forget about the nurse bit for today.”

  “Okay, Sarah.”

  “This is my friend, Rachel. You’ve seen her dining with me and my parents.”

  “Delighted, Rachel. We have met, but not properly. I am Sacha and this is Mishka.” Sacha seemed pleased to talk, and if Rachel had to tolerate a small degree of flirtation, she decided it was all in a good cause.

  “Do join us. Are you enjoying the visit?”

  “I would enjoy it more if it were not so cold, but we are Catholic so a good place to pay our respects to Our Lady. The shrine was beautiful.” Mishka’s eyes watered as he recounted his experience. “Sacha thinks I’m foolish, but I felt Her presence.”

  “Enough of that, man. Can’t you just keep these things to yourself? No-one likes to talk religion. I’m sure Sarah and Rachel would rather enjoy sensible conversation.”

  “We are in a spiritual place, so it’s okay. I’m pleased you had an experience, Mishka,” said Sarah, always one to defend the underdog, tapping his arm.

  “What about you, Rachel? How are you enjoying your cruise?” Sacha chose to move away from the topic his friend had started and they ended up having two conversations, Sarah with Mishka and Rachel with Sacha.

  “I’m enjoying it so far. Such a shame about your boss, though. I was only speaking to him on the way down to Southampton. It makes one think, doesn’t it?”

  Sacha looked disappointed that his charm wasn’t having the desired effect and frowned. “Death is always sad, but in the case of our boss – I hope you don’t mind me saying, but he was a bad man. You will find it hard to discover anyone who is sorry about his passing.”

  “He must have had some good points.”

  Sacha’s scowl answered the question for her. “I fear not. Mish couldn’t stand him, he was always giving him trouble. Pash – he is now boss – also hated him. Sosa bullied people, men and women, but I hear he was extra cruel to women, so be pleased you didn’t know him well.”

  Sarah and Mishka had stopped talking, and Mishka looked angry.

  “The world is better place without that man. H
e caused trouble wherever he went. It’s good he died. I was often tempted to feed him nuts. We all knew about his allergy.” Mishka roared with laughter. Sarah was astonished.

  “One minute, you’re telling me about your religious experience, and in the next breath you are joking about the death of another human being.”

  Mishka looked devastated. “I apologise. I should not have been disrespectful, but that man did not deserve to live. I would never have done what I said; it was joke in poor taste.”

  They finished up their drinks, and as Mary and Gilbert joined them, the two men excused themselves. The Bradshaws and Rachel were happy to get back on the coach having enjoyed the visit, but everywhere had been just a little too cold. Rachel and Sarah had been scolded by Mary for not bringing warm coats; Rachel acknowledged their error, but Sarah saw it as nagging and reacted accordingly. Peace had been restored only when Mary told Sarah how much she liked Jason.

  The journey back to the ship was pleasant. Rachel felt rejuvenated, having caught up on her sleep and been out in the bracing cold wind. Mary and Gilbert appeared to have enjoyed the visit with Mary remarking on how peaceful it had been inside the chapel, despite the crowds.

  “People were so respectful. It was atmospheric.”

  Rachel pondered Mishka’s confessions and wondered if he had needed the religious experience in order to assuage his guilt, if he was the person who’d managed to tamper with the bread his late boss had eaten. It seemed odd that he would confess to thoughts of wanting to murder his boss, but she reasoned that he must feel safe because the death was an assumed accident, so he could enjoy the role play, even down to his pretend confession. Some murderers enjoyed the ‘catch me if you can’ bravado following a killing. Could Mishka be the one they were looking for?

  She was determined to find out.

  Chapter 13

  After four days without any real exercise, Rachel felt dreadful. The additional lack of sleep wasn’t helping, she reminded herself while looking at her mobile to check the time: 5.30am. Thoughts had been whirring around her brain all night; she hadn’t managed to see Jason the night before as Sarah had insisted they take her parents to the officers’ dining room again as promised.

  Although annoyed at having to take her eye off the case, Rachel had found the evening refreshing. The respite turned out to be a welcome break for all of them – the whole of the medical team had been there and Jason managed to join them, much to the delight of the Bradshaws. Mary Bradshaw was gushing over Jason, and both she and Gilbert were impressed at being introduced to Captain Jenson who welcomed them aboard and sang Sarah’s praises. What more could they have asked for? The evening had been topped off with a late show and they all retired to bed exhausted, apart from Jason who had been called away shortly after dinner.

  As a result of the pleasant evening, though, Rachel had forgotten to tell anyone about the information she had found in Sosa’s notes and possible motives arising from them, or about the McCauleys. It appeared from financial entries that Sosa may had gathered dirt on all his colleagues and was blackmailing each one independently. It wasn’t clear whether they knew about each other, but it did give a number of people motive to kill him. What she didn’t know was what he’d had on each of them and whether it would be enough to cause them to resort to murder.

  She hauled herself out of bed, realising sleep wouldn’t be returning anytime soon, and donned her tracksuit. A run would help clear her head. At home she ran at least once a day, sometimes twice, and usually when on board the Coral, she would run and go to the gym most mornings. It was the perfect time to get some fitness in while most people were still in bed.

  With renewed vigour, she made her way up to deck sixteen. It was still dark, but the running track was well lit. After stretching for ten minutes, she pulled up a playlist on her iPhone, put her earphones in to listen to music and started to run.

  She had done ten laps without coming across anyone, but now she passed by a crewman jogging in the opposite direction.

  “Morning, ma’am.”

  She noticed a gapped smile where two top teeth were missing. “Morning,” she replied before turning her head back to face the direction she was running in, too late to avoid a foot sticking out and it sent her sprawling across the deck. The dew in the air meant her hands and body slid on the running track, and as she landed and put her left hand down to save her body from too much damage, she felt sharp pain in her right hip and a kick to the back of her ribs. Her assailant then left her to groan and she rolled over on to her back to try to assess the damage.

  The crewman who had been running laps stopped when he found her on the ground, staring at a grazed hand and side. Her mobile phone had landed a few yards away, yanking the earphones from her ears. Her right ear felt sore from the force.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?”

  “Just a fall, I think I must have tripped over something.” Rachel wasn’t sure whether this crewman had deliberately distracted her prior to the attack and she was on her guard in case he was going to finish the job. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of feeling he had been successful if either was the case.

  “You’re bleeding, I’m going to call for medics. Please stay here.”

  Rachel put a hand to her right hip where he pointed and saw a deep cut. It was at that moment she realised she had been stabbed at the same time as kicked. She felt light-headed by the time the man returned. He had managed to find a towel and pressed it firmly against her hip while reassuring her help was on the way.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Sean,” he answered. “You’re Rachel, aren’t you?”

  “How do you know?”

  “I’m the security team steward, I’ve seen you with the chief sometimes. He likes you.” The gap-toothed smile was broad. “Someone attacked you – I saw them run away just as I turned the bend down the other end of the deck.”

  “Did you see who it was?”

  “No, sorry, I was too far away and they were wearing dark clothing. Even with the lights, I just saw a dark shadow running in the opposite direction.”

  At that moment, Sarah and Alex Romano, the junior doctor, appeared. “Rachel, what happened? I don’t believe this.” Sarah’s worried shaking of the head and angry tone were filled with pent up frustration.

  Rachel grimaced. “I don’t know really. Someone tripped me up, then attacked me from behind.”

  Alex applied further pressure on top of the blood-soaked towel while Sarah handed him a pressure bandage from her bag. Security Officer Ravanos arrived – at least he and Rachel had met before. Ravanos spoke in quiet tones with Sean while Sarah and the doctor helped Rachel up.

  “Will you be able to walk if we help you?” Sarah asked, calmer now, and Rachel was pleased she had returned to competent nurse rather than neurotic friend mode. Rachel nodded and gritted her teeth as the pain shot through her hip when she stood up. Her head felt fuzzy, but she knew that as soon as they got her to the medical centre, she would be able to lie down and have a drink. Sarah shook her head constantly, as if by doing so she would be better able to understand what had happened to her friend.

  “I’m afraid we’re going to need to stitch that wound, I think it’s too deep to glue,” said Alex. If he had any thoughts of déjà vu, he was keeping them to himself, for which Rachel was grateful. There would be enough ribbing once the concern died down later, she was certain of that. The infirmary on deck two was a place that was all too familiar to her from previous cruises, and not somewhere she enjoyed being in the capacity of patient.

  Dr Bentley had been called; Alex Romano knew the chief medical officer would want to oversee treatment of his favourite and most dreaded passenger. The concerned look said it all as he arrived just after Rachel had been assisted on to a couch.

  “Rachel Prince, you have to be the most accident-prone passenger ever to board this ship.”

  “If only they were accidents,” she replied sheepishly.

  �
��Indeed. I’ve had to dismiss Chief Waverley to wait in Gwen’s office, otherwise he’d be having apoplexy with worry. I’ve called Gwen to calm him down while we see to you. Are you up to date with tetanus?”

  “Yes, just a couple of months ago.”

  “Right. Sarah, we’ll need some immunoglobulin.”

  “Already drawn up, I was just about to give it.” She looked at Rachel. “Sorry, this one will hurt.”

  Rachel turned towards her left side slightly to allow the injection to be given in the buttock.

  “Ouch! You weren’t kidding, were you?”

  “I don’t suppose it will teach you to stay out of trouble?”

  “Excuse me, but up until now, you were alright with me helping Jason.”

  “That’s before I realised you could be in danger.”

  “Ladies, could we keep this for later? Sarah, can I take a look at the wound, please?”

  Rachel felt increasingly weak, but she couldn’t resist checking the damage herself as the pressure dressing was removed. There was a two-inch gash to her right hip.

  “Ooh, that doesn’t look nice.” She took a gulp of water from a glass Sarah had handed her. Her friend was being much more sympathetic after seeing the wound.

  Dr Bentley irrigated the gash in her hip with disinfectant and stitched the knife wound after using local anaesthetic to numb the area.

  “It’s not too deep, you’ll be glad to know. Four stitches and I’ll give you a course of antibiotics to take. I take it you’re not allergic to penicillin?”

  “No.”

  “Good. I’ll leave Sarah to tend your other wounds before our CSO forces his way in here.”

  Dr Bentley left the infirmary shaking his head.

  Sarah’s eyebrows were doing their familiar upside-down V thing when Rachel pulled her eyes away from the dressing on her hip.

  “What? How was I to know someone would object so strongly to my involvement?”

  Sarah cleaned Rachel’s grazed left hand and thigh. “You’re right. It’s not you I’m angry with; I’m more annoyed with myself for even thinking it was a good idea to let you do this. Not to mention Jason and Waverley, they should have known better.”