“What’s wrong?”
“Alex said that he saw Bruce and Penny dispose of Leo’s body but if that’s so, I don’t see how he survived.” She stood on her tiptoes and leaned out even further. She could just make out the balcony beneath them. “Leo said he woke up on a balcony, bleeding.”
Kyle pulled her back, and then took a look himself. “He’s very lucky to be alive.”
“Very,” Leo said from behind them.
They spun around startled to find Leo and Mulligan standing behind them. Mulligan gave them a little wave before becoming distracted by a glowing blue crystal ball sitting on the dressing room table.
Leo smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to come by and thank you. I don’t know what you said to convince security to take me seriously, but they finally provided me with protection.”
The crystal ball slipped from Mulligan’s hands to the floor, miraculously surviving the journey. “I’ve got it,” he said accidentally kicking it forward as he rushed to pick it up.
Sighing, Leo closed his eyes as Mulligan chased the ball onto the deck. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” he said with a shrug.
“It’s all right. I got it,” Mulligan cried as his foot connected with the ball sending it further down the balcony.
Kyle swooped down to retrieve it before Mulligan could do any further damage.
“Have you all found Penny yet?” Grace asked.
“Penny’s dead,” Leo Rycroft said, his voice shaking with emotion.
“We’ve searched the ship, but she’s nowhere to be found,” Mulligan admitted reluctantly his attention still fixated on the glowing orb in Kyle’s hands. His attention turned to Grace as the glow slowly dimmed. “No one has seen her for over twenty-four hours and we know she didn’t leave the ship so I think it’s pretty clear that she’s dead.”
A muscle in Leo’s jaw jumped. “He’s not going to get away with this.”
“Who?”
“Her killer,” Leo said simply. “I won’t let him.”
“Are you sure it’s a man?” Kyle asked.
“Oh definitely,” Mulligan interjected before Leo could answer. “Most assuredly.”
“Why?” Grace asked.
“Because I spoke to Courtney Bernard after I spoke to you today. She said the person who grabbed her was a man.”
“I’m not sure she knows,” Grace said with a frown. “Does she still think Tucker was the one who attacked her?”
“No, they’ve made up.” Mulligan rolled his eyes. “He ran up to her as she was talking to the Captain and convinced her he was innocent. Didn’t take much convincing if you ask my opinion. Anyway, she bought everything he told her, hook, line, and sinker. Not surprising. From what we can tell, Mr. Bernard is nothing more than a two-bit conman. He’s got a record back in Florida.”
Grace slapped a hand down on her top hat before the wind could send it off into the ocean. “For what?”
“Using a false ID. We’re not even sure if Bernard is his real name. See, the way I figure it is that Tucker was working with Bruce and Penny on one of their tricks.”
“I told him about our history with Tucker,” Leo offered.
“Right. So, he was here on the ship, but when he saw his future wife, he realized how wealthy she was and decided to change careers if you know what I mean. He wined and dined so much that I’m betting she started thinking she was in some kind of fairytale romance on the high seas. He popped the question before the ship made it back to the states, and then married the girl three months later.”
“I find it hard to believe the boy’s a killer,” Leo said, “but you have to admit he does move fast.”
Mulligan nodded. “No kidding. It didn’t take him long to tire of the old wifey and try to get rid of her. All he’s after is her money.”
“Which he won’t get if she’s dead,” Grace said. “Everything they own belongs to her father, not her.”
“Hmm.” Mulligan stared out at the sea long and hard. Grace could practically see the wheels in his head start to turn. Finally, a light bulb went off. “Insurance,” he declared tapping his nose. “He’s got an insurance policy out on her life.”
“Do you know that for certain or are you guessing?” Kyle asked.
“I’d bet my life on it. You watch, if she dies, he’s going to make an insurance claim.”
“Why would he kill Bruce or Penny or Alex?” Grace asked. “Why would he want Leo dead?”
“To muddy the waters of course,” Mulligan responded. “To make it seem like she wasn’t the intended target all along.”
“Ah,” Grace and Kyle said simultaneously.
Leo who had remained silent while the security guard laid out a case against Tucker, spoke up, “Or to silence us. We know his secret.”
Kyle lifted his eyebrows. “What secret?”
“That he used to work for us,” Leo said. “For some reason, he seems to be ashamed of that fact.” He smiled ruefully. “I didn’t think we were that bad.”
“Yep,” Mulligan said. “He told Mrs. Bernard several lies while he was on board. Told her that he was a novelist and he was only on board so he could finish up his latest book. Gave her some sob story about his rich parents who died when he was quite young and left him penniless.”
“How do you know he’s lying?” Kyle asked.
Mulligan looked at Leo. “What did you call him?”
Leo lifted an eyebrow. “An adroit manipulator.”
“That’s it,” Mulligan said. “Tucker’s an adroit manipulator.”
Leo waved his hand dismissively. “Tucker always has some hard luck tale.”
“That may be so,” Grace said, “but if his intention was to kill Courtney while scuba diving and then collect the insurance money, why would he care what anyone said to her about him? How could it have hurt him?”
Mulligan fell silent. He looked at Leo who shrugged.
“You also haven’t explained who attacked him the first night,” Kyle pointed out. “And if he was responsible for this mess, why would he hire me to investigate? Tucker’s in as much danger as anyone here.”
“Uh-uh,” Mulligan said shaking his head. “He showed me those wounds. They weren’t that deep. He could have easily made them himself. Think about it. If his wife dies, he’s going to be the first person everyone suspects. He’s got to deflect that somehow. What better way than to claim he’s a victim. And looky here, he’s got a detective to back him up.”
Grace felt a chill go down her back. What if Mulligan was right? What if Tucker was behind everything? And to think she let him into their cabin.
“You should have told me you were a detective,” Mulligan said with a scolding tone of voice. “If I had known, maybe I would have taken you more seriously the other night.”
“Right,” Kyle said sarcastically, “it’s our fault.”
“Now, look, don’t be too hard on yourself,” Mulligan said magnanimously. “At least, we’re aware of the problem now.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Don’t let it get out though. We don’t want the passengers to panic any more than they already have. Our new assistant cruise director has gone rogue. She’s even organized a citizen’s patrol, which is really starting to make us look kind of bad.”
The corners of Kyle’s lips turned up. “Hard to believe that could happen.”
Grace gently elbowed him in his side. “Where is Tucker now?”
“Dancing with his wife,” Mulligan replied. “Don’t worry. He knows we’re on to him now. He won’t do anything, not unless he wants to spend the rest of the cruise in the brig.”
Grace caught Leo rolling his eyes as he pushed himself away from the railing. “Speaking of which,” he said as he and Mulligan stepped back into the dressing room, “I’m having a little party in my cabin at ten o’clock tonight and I hope you’ll join me.”
“What’s the special occasion?” Kyle asked.
“I plan on confronting a murderer tonight,” Leo said
with a determined look in his eyes. “Don’t forget. Be there at ten o’clock sharp. Diamond Deck 1210.”
* * *
Grace stood still, frozen by the lights as she and Kyle walked out onto the stage. She dropped her gaze to the excited little girl in pink sitting in the front row and smiled for a moment before focusing attention on all of the people sitting around and behind the girl.
Nervous butterflies fluttered through her stomach and her hands grew clammy as she stared back at the sea of faces before her. Just how many family members did this kid have? She thought as Kyle set up the first illusion. Her nervousness grew until she could barely hear Kyle. She could tell he was talking but the words held very little meaning for her as all those eyes stared back at her.
Grace blinked rapidly, trying to clear away the cobwebs. She was supposed to do something. They had rehearsed it but what was it? She vaguely remembered Kyle teaching her a trick using her top hat but the details were sketchy in her mind.
Suddenly, Kyle called her name and her body immediately responded, going through the motions by rote, barely noticing as colorful paper butterflies flew through the air.
This wasn’t so hard, she thought as she turned her attention to the butterflies as they floated above the stage by tiny invisible wires.
Kyle held out his hand towards her as he addressed the audience. “Now, my lovely assistant will unlock the chest of doom.”
The what? She thought as every eye in the room turned towards her.
“Now,” Kyle repeated a little louder, “my lovely assistant will…” He looked at her again with alternating looks of concern, sympathy and amusement on his face. “My lovely assistant will stand there and watch while I unlock the chest of doom,” he said with a smile as he turned towards the chest.
As soon as he stepped between her and the sea of faces, she felt the spell she had been under lift. She took a deep breath and tried to get control of her fear. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to get through the next hour when she could barely get through the first illusion, but she had to do it. Kyle was depending on her.
Taking a deep breath, she trained her eyes on her husband, following his every move as he performed. After a while, she realized that as long as she didn’t look directly at the audience and kept her attention fixed on Kyle, she could relax enough to walk through the steps he had taught her.
After several successful illusions drew thunderous applause, she even started enjoying herself, and the time flew by as she and Kyle entertained the little girl and her family.
Before she knew it, they were at the end of the show and to her surprise, she found herself wishing they had more time.
She stepped back behind the curtain that concealed the waves and ship from the audience and waited as he brought the girl’s father on stage and hypnotized him. Peeking through the curtain, she laughed and clapped along with the audience as Kyle got the man to sing and dance for his daughter.
She had never been prouder of Kyle than now, she realized as the little girl stared up at him with rapt attention on her little face. Grace had seen him perform multiple times since she met him but never like this. His old act usually involved some death-defying trick that made her fear for his safety and her sanity. But tonight, for the first time, she saw his father in him as he effortlessly performed illusion after illusion to the amazement of all who watched.
She was so engrossed in Kyle’s performance that she didn’t even notice that the secret door had opened an inch until she glanced over her shoulder at the big ship looming behind her.
Had Kyle forgotten to close it while they were setting up earlier? She knew she had closed it. She remembered doing it, so why was it now open?
Her hands grew clammy as she turned her attention from the stage to the door.
She was so focused on the door that she didn’t notice that Kyle had moved on to the next illusion until she heard her cue. She hurried to a table set up near the ship and picked up the pink dolphin she had won that afternoon. Keeping one eye on the door, she walked back to the curtain and slipped out and onto the stage just in time for Kyle to magically turn Gracie the grey dolphin pink in his hands.
Once the switch was complete, she backed up to the curtain and dropped Gracie out of sight. Her hair stood on end as she stood next to Kyle with her back against the curtain.
Whatever fear she had of the audience quickly disappeared, only to be replaced by fear of the unknown danger lurking behind her and Kyle. The message they found earlier came back to her mind, feeding her fear until she was nearly jumping out of her skin.
Kyle must have noticed her worry because he shot her a reassuring smile before turning back to the crowd and moving on to the last illusion. While he levitated the glowing crystal orb, Grace took a second to glance behind her shoulder just in time to see the muzzle of a gun sticking out between the curtains and pointing straight at Kyle’s back.
Chapter Twenty-one
Seven-year-old Stephanie Jackson shook Kyle’s hand after the show. They were all standing outside the theater waiting for the security to check out the backstage area. “That was the coolest best magic show ever,” she gushed hanging onto his hand. “I really liked the end when you both dove head first off the stage. That was so funny. I was so surprised.”
Kyle smiled at the young girl. “Me too.” He reached behind his back. “I have a special surprise for the birthday girl.”
Her eyes lit up as the pink dolphin appeared in his hands. She clutched the stuffed toy to her chest as her parents shook Kyle and Grace’s hands and thanked them for the wonderful performance.
While Kyle said goodbye to his new fans, Grace wandered over to the stage. A few seconds later, the ship’s head of security followed by a couple of his officers stepped out from behind the curtain and approached them. “Nothing there.”
“I could have sworn I saw a gun,” Grace said shaking her head.
The weary security officer sighed. “It’s quite all right. There’s been a lot of that going on lately. If you’d like, one of my officers can walk you to your cabin. Make sure you get settled in okay.”
Exhausted and more than a little embarrassed, Grace said, “No, that’s okay. We’ll be fine.”
“If you need anything just call,” he said as he and his crew left.
Grace cast her eyes downward as Kyle joined her. “I’m so sorry, Kyle. I really thought I saw a gun.”
Kyle wrapped his arms around her. “Then you did. The killer could have easily escaped through the stairwell on the balcony.”
“Then why didn’t he shoot when he had the chance?”
Kyle softly smiled down at her. “Because you saved us. Whoever it is doing this is only after certain people. He’s not looking to take out a theater full of people.”
“That’s comforting,” she said, hugging him tightly. “Everything had been going so well. I still feel bad for ruining it for you.”
He pulled back to look into her eyes. “Ruining it? Didn’t you hear Stephanie? She thought the ending was the best part. I did too. Once I woke up of course,” he teased.
Grace snorted. “Very funny.” She gave him a kiss. “Come on, we’d better go get changed. We wouldn’t want to miss Leo’s party.”
He checked his watch, his eyes widening in surprise. Without saying a word, he led her back into the theater where they changed back into their casual clothes and picked up Gracie the dolphin. They made it to Leo’s cabin only ten minutes late.
Loud heavy metal music reverberated throughout the corridor.
They stopped in front of cabin 1210 and glanced at each other. “Funny, I pegged him as more of a Mozart fan,” Grace said with an amused smile.
Kyle wrapped his knuckles against the door. “Maybe he’s trying to torture the murderer into confessing.”
Grace glanced down the corridor. “I didn’t know Leo was staying on the other side of Courtney and Tucker.”
“I wonder if they knew.” Kyle knocked at the
door again. When there was no answer, he banged on the door with his fist.
They exchanged a look as the seconds ticked by.
“Party over with already?” she asked as she checked Kyle’s watch. “We’re not that late.”
Kyle pressed his ear to the door.
“Do you hear anything?”
“Yeah, music.” He raised his eyebrows meaningfully as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his little black case of tools. “And nothing more.”
“Which probably means Leo stepped out for a moment.”
“In the middle of his own party? Right after confronting a murderer? And with the music still on?” He pulled out a special device made just for unlocking electronic locks. “Keep watch.”
Sighing, Grace turned and froze in surprise to find a couple approaching them. She smiled as they passed by. “Hello,” she said stepping in front of Kyle. “Nice night we’re having.”
The couple craned their head to see what Kyle was doing.
“These darn keys,” she said walking around Kyle still trying to shield him from view, “we just can’t seem to get them to work right.”
The couple nodded politely before hurrying toward the door at the end of the corridor.
Kyle tapped her on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Grace pursed her lips together as Kyle opened the door. “They’re probably calling security right now,” she said grimacing at the loud music coming from inside the cabin.
“Good,” Kyle said as he stood in place, “we’re going to need them.”
Grace stood on her tiptoes in an effort to look over his shoulder. “What’s going on?”
He stepped to the side and her gaze automatically fell to the shattered balcony doors. The curtains fluttered in the breeze, drawing her attention to the red stain on the edge of the white sheers.
Kyle cautiously stepped forward. He paused next to a glass lying on the floor. “Look, more blood,” he said raising his voice to be heard over the music.
The Body in Davy Jones' Locker Page 20