The Rainbow Conspiracy

by Stuart Hopps

  As the two men stood there watching the US coastline slowly disappear into the middle distance, Clive offered Michael one of his Black Russians, which was graciously accepted, and the Englishman set about lighting it up for him. Michael took a few puffs but then said he found it rather strong, apologised for wasting it and threw it overboard. He then broke an awkward silence by announcing that he felt totally shattered and said that if Clive didn’t mind, he needed to turn in, find his cabin and have a lie-down.

  ‘Michael, I’m not the least bit surprised you’re tired. You must be exhausted from all that driving. Look, you go ahead and get some rest. I’ll stay here and finish my cigarette.’

  As Clive stood there alone, staring out across the vastness of the lake, he breathed in the fresh air and at last, as the realisation that they had been able to safely leave the USA finally began to sink in, he started to unwind and felt a little more secure. He must have been standing there for some time, leaning over the rail, quietly enjoying his cigarette, when quite suddenly a disturbing sensation sent a shiver down his spine, and he was overcome by the idea that an ominous presence was behind him, which made him turn around quickly. Imagine the shock he got when he saw Dr Allen Levitt coming straight towards him, glaring at him with that awful cheesy grin of his.

  ‘Great to see you, Clive – welcome aboard. Now I can finish my examination.’

  ‘Why, you son of a bitch!’ Clive retaliated. ‘Oh no you don’t! … I know who you really are and who you’ve been working for. And if you think you’re going to get away with it, you’ve got another—’

  But before he could finish the sentence, he quite suddenly received the most almighty shove to his shoulder from behind, and, without being able to stop himself, was propelled head first over the side of the ship, and down into the murky waters of Lake Erie. He’d quite obviously not been aware that Nurse Edith had crept up behind him, and, at the right moment, she had used all her strength to push him overboard. The two Americans, now with their mission accomplished, and believing their deed had gone unnoticed, nonchalantly turned on their heels, and, arm in arm, calmly sauntered back to the far end of the deck, smiling and chatting away as they went, as though nothing at all had happened.

  Fortunately for Clive, further along on the starboard side there was a young couple who had also been enjoying the fresh air and had been staring out into the same middle distance as him. They were quick to respond to what they saw happen and it was this Mr and Mrs Green who alarmed everyone by shouting: ‘Help! Come quickly! Help! There’s someone in the water! Help! Help!

  In no time at all, two members of the crew came out on deck to see what the commotion was all about, and immediately sprang into action, shouting, ‘Man overboard! Man overboard!’

  One of the crew went off straight away to raise the alarm and inform the captain on the bridge about what had occurred, while the other firmly stood his ground, focusing on the person who’d gone overboard and pointing in Clive’s direction, since it was crucial to monitor his exact position. Once notified, the captain then pressed the man overboard device, which immediately shut down the ship’s engines in order to avoid colliding with the unfortunate passenger in the water. Time was of the essence, and the engines were soon started up again and the ferry went into an Anderson turn, hard starboard, so as to circle round the person and avoid causing an undertow. At the same time there were three long blasts of a whistle and then the Oscar flag, red and yellow squares, was raised.

  More crew appeared on deck, and the officer of the watch, knowing the position of the floundering passenger, automatically released safety rings, and a life raft was launched into the lake, which contained a float emitting orange smoke to guide the person in the water towards it. Then two other crew members clambered into a rescue boat, which was very carefully lowered down into Lake Erie.

  In all the confusion and concern for the person they were trying to rescue, no one seemed in the least bit interested in Clive’s two assailants, who, once again, seemed to have vanished into thin air. In fact, Allen and Nurse Edith created their own disappearing act by both managing to quickly escape in a motor launch that had pulled up on the port side of the ferry when the ship’s engines had been shut down, and because of all the commotion on the starboard side, their speedy escape drew not the least bit of attention.

  By now, many of the other passengers had arrived on the scene, including Steve and Shirley, who, like everyone else, had responded to the alarm and, in common with all on board, were more than anxious to know who had fallen into the lake. From where they leaned over, they couldn’t quite make out who was in the water, but that didn’t impede their curiosity. Meanwhile, poor Clive, who Allen had cleverly discovered was not a strong swimmer at the best of times, had struggled to keep afloat for a short while, but was able to grab hold of a safety ring and just about managed to reach the life raft and haul himself onto it. Then the two crewman in the rescue boat, obviously well trained and fully prepared for such an eventuality, managed to come to the assistance of their passenger and pulled him on board their vessel.

  They immediately attached a life jacket to Clive and covered him with thermal blankets, since he was now at risk of hypothermia and could lose consciousness. One of the two seamen also administered some artificial respiration, which caused those on deck who could see the team in action to break into lively applause. This display of sincere admiration for the crew’s ability to rescue the poor fellow helped alleviate the extreme anxiety amongst those passengers who had witnessed the drama.

  As Steve and Shirley drew nearer to the rescue scene, they were flabbergasted to discover that it was one of their travelling companions who was being unceremoniously fished out of the water. Shirley lost no time at all in rushing towards the rescue boat as it was hauled safely back onto the deck. By now the chief officer was in command and once Clive had been carefully lifted out of the boat, a path was cleared for him as he was taken to the safety of a cabin. Shirley watched her dear friend being carried through the crowd on deck and she saw that poor Clive, with his heart probably going like the clappers, was now wrapped up like a papoose.

  Displaying all the determination in the world, Shirley eventually pushed her way forward and managed to get the attention of the purser and explained she was travelling with the man who had just been rescued. She lost no time informing the gentleman that her main aim was to be by Clive’s side and attend to him; she rambled on somewhat, informing the young man that this was only what he had done for her at Allen’s clinic.

  ‘The difference this time is that I know he’s not faking anything,’ claimed Shirley.

  The purser, not fully understanding what Shirley was going on about, did however realise that the poor lady was obviously also in a mild state of shock herself, since she appeared to be babbling on incoherently. He begged her to calm down and informed her that as soon as he was given the OK, he would arrange for her to see her travelling companion. In the meantime, he called another member of the first-aid team over to deal with Shirley and made sure that she was given something to steady her nerves.

  Steve stood close by Shirley’s side throughout the proceedings, also tried to calm her down, and was clearly very distressed by what he’d witnessed. Then he took it upon himself to double-check with the medical officer now attending Shirley that Clive was out of danger. It was explained that although hypothermia was still a risk, Clive was doing fine and was recovering as well as could be expected. They would be sent for and allowed to visit Clive as soon as he was in a stable condition. However, the officer warned Steve that once the patient was released, and because he was probably still in shock, the strict medical advice was that Clive should take it very easy for the next few days and not to exert himself in any way.

  In all the hullabaloo that had occurred, neither Steve nor Shirley had noticed that Michael was nowhere to be seen. It was only when they had finished consulting with the medical officer that it dawned upon the two of them that their o
ther fellow traveller had not made an appearance. In fact, Mr Poledri had indeed gone back to his cabin to have a lie-down, and later claimed to have fallen fast asleep despite all the pandemonium. Steve declared that he wondered where in hell his room-mate could have got to, but Shirley believed that Michael must have been so exhausted from all the driving that he’d probably retired early and had left Clive alone on deck. Although she also had to confess that she did think it a little odd that he had not responded to the loud alarm that had sounded throughout the ship. Steve agreed with her, and was clearly a lot more worried by Michael’s disappearance but, for the time being, decided to keep the deep misgivings he was beginning to harbour about his old friend to himself.

  At any rate they both felt that there was no point in wasting time discussing Michael’s whereabouts. The important thing now was to get to see Clive and make sure he was well on the road to recovery and so, when Shirley and Steve were finally admitted into the warmth of the first-aid room, they were relieved to find Clive all wrapped up in blankets and fast asleep.

  However, as they drew near, one of the first aid team explained that their friend was still in a great deal of discomfort, which was hardly surprising, since he was recovering from shock, had obviously swallowed a heck of a lot of unclean water and had nearly frozen to death. As Shirley gently stroked Clive’s hand, she explained to the crew that she was his personal assistant and was keen to show how indebted both she and Steve were to all the gallant seaman who had rescued Clive.

  Steve volunteered to go down to the car and bring up Clive’s overnight bag so that he could have fresh clothes. The medical officer in charge explained that for the moment it was not advisable to remove his layers, since they wanted to keep their patient as warm as possible, but he hoped that before they docked it would be possible to dress him in dry clothing.

  On his way to the car, Steve reflected that he had never told his English companions that he always travelled armed. Of course, like so many fellow Americans, he naturally possessed a licence for the revolver that he usually kept on his person, in his inside jacket pocket. He had not carried his gun on him during their journey, but had kept it more safely stored down below, in his locked luggage. It was in his mind to retrieve that while going down to collect Clive’s overnight bag out of the car. As he approached the vehicle, he couldn’t help but wonder where Michael might have disappeared to and so, with that thought in mind, he decided that once back on deck, he would excuse himself, return to his cabin and try to find the missing Mr Poledri.

  As Steve re-entered the first-aid room, trying hard to conceal his revolver, he noticed that Clive was breathing more easily and was now a little more conscious. Shirley, on the other hand, was deep in conversation with a young couple he’d never met before and when he approached the group, he was introduced to Mr and Mrs Green. It appeared that they had both seen how Clive had fallen into the lake and they had come over to see if there was anything they could do to help. Soon recognising that they should not crowd the patient, they excused themselves and told Shirley and Steve that they needed to go and also inform the chief officer what they had witnessed on deck.

  ‘Shirley darling, what was all that about?,’ exclaimed Steve.

  ‘Steve, I’m so glad you’re here now. I’ve got something amazing to tell you.’

  And as she got Clive’s change of clothes out of his overnight bag, Shirley repeated what the couple had just told her.

  ‘Clive didn’t fall – he was pushed! And the Greens said they saw who did it.’

  Steve was dumbfounded when Shirley told him that the couple said that they had seen Clive on deck smoking alone, but that he’d then been joined by a man with whom he appeared to be having an altercation. The Greens claimed that they suddenly saw Clive being pushed overboard from behind by a woman and when they described the two people in question, to her fearful amazement, their description matched those of Allen and Nurse Edith.

  She quietly ushered Steve away from Clive’s bed, and continued. ‘I don’t understand how it was possible for those two villains to follow us once we had left Columbus without our realising it. They clearly intended to kill Clive … I just can’t get my head around it all. And I bet Dr Levitt and that damned nurse of his are also trying to bump us off as well. And it’s all because of that conspiracy theory and of what we stole from Allen’s clinic.’

  Steve was clearly nonplussed. He just stared at her with an incredulous look on his face and took her hand in an attempt to pacify her. Then he slowly whispered: ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we have a spy in our group. Michael must be in cahoots with Allen after all, and somehow tipped him off. I bet there was some sort of tracking device fitted to his mother’s car – I can’t think there can be any other explanation, can you? And where the hell is he, anyway?’

  ‘Steve, he’s one of your oldest friends and I’ve only just got to know him. I just can’t believe he would want to grass on us and, after all’s said and done, he was Dennis’s lover … I’m trying to understand why on earth he would want to ally himself to Allen if he knew he was the cause of Den’s death. And, more importantly, why would he want to help get Clive killed. None of this is making sense to me.’

  ‘Me neither. Except there was something Clive said about Michael yesterday that made me wonder whether young Mr Poledri was to be totally trusted.’

  ‘That Spoke nose is usually very accurate. But if Michael really is in cahoots with Allen, that would suggest that he has also been working for the FBI all along and I’m also trying hard to believe that.’

  ‘You know, with all that has happened in the last few days, I don’t know what to believe any more. What I do know for sure is that as well as Clive, you and I are also in danger; and without wanting to scare you too much, I have to tell you that I’m now carrying a revolver.’

  To his surprise, Shirley admitted that she felt all the safer for it, and claimed that if Clive were to be more conscious, he would no doubt welcome the presence of an armed guard. She further admitted that she wasn’t nearly so troubled by the men in dark suits as she was by Dr Levitt and Nurse Edith. Steve said shared her views and was also deeply concerned about where all three villains might have disappeared to. More importantly, he confessed that he thought of Allen as a dangerous murderer and wondered whether Shirley was the next to be eliminated or was it now his turn. Having come clean with her, a silence descended upon them as they nervously waited and kept vigil.

  After a certain amount of time had elapsed, their attention was drawn to the figure of an official they’d not met before making his way towards them, and Steve broke their introspective mood by announcing that Shirley was not to be alarmed, since he thought that the fellow might be the ship’s chief officer.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  HOMEWARD BOUND THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

  Much to their relief, the uniformed gentleman introduced himself to them both as Chief Officer Thomas, and told them that he wanted to check up on how his unfortunate passenger was doing and whether his companions were all right. They welcomed his concern for Clive’s welfare as well as for their own, and assured him that their poor friend seemed to be better than expected, though they had been warned that he was not completely out of danger. Then Officer Thomas invited them to step outside the first-aid room, and informed them that Mr and Mrs Green had given him a detailed account of what they had witnessed on deck, which he had made sure was registered in the ship’s logbook. Our two compliant travellers told Officer Thomas that the Greens had also paid them a visit, and that the man and woman they described were probably an American couple they were sure they knew from Columbus, Ohio.

  Officer Thomas said he was taking the matter very seriously indeed, since it looked to him like a case of attempted murder, and warned them not to hold back any information. He invited Shirley to immediately make as detailed a description as possible of the two people in question, and she set about physically describing them. She further explained tha
t Dr Allen Levitt and Nurse Edith Grant had given them rather a hard time a few days ago in the USA but deliberately didn’t go into great depth about what had actually occurred. She also confessed that neither Steve nor she had any idea that they had been followed on board the ferry by the said couple and admitted that she was extremely shocked by what had happened to Clive.

  Shirley also explained that their other travelling companion, Mr Poledri, was causing them a good deal of concern since he seemed to have disappeared, but Steve added that with all that had occurred, neither he nor Shirley had had the time to search for him. Officer Thomas offered to be of any future assistance, should they require his help, but stated that he did not want to question them further for the time being. However, he made it quite clear that he needed to take a statement from Clive, once he was feeling able to answer questions.

  Officer Thomas went on to tell them that there would be a thorough search on board to find the two missing suspects and that, in the meantime, he suggested that they return to their cabins to see if Mr Poledri was anywhere to be found. He instructed them to take Clive to his own quarters as soon as the first-aid team had released him, pointing out that he and his men could keep a better protective eye on all of them there, just in case their Columbus acquaintances turned up again and started causing any more trouble.

  Officer Thomas’s departure left Shirley more agitated than ever, and once again it was Steve who now became the pacifier of the two, and tried to assure her that they should try to keep calm and do as bidden, since he felt they would all be a lot safer in the officers’ area. But first he felt he needed to go to his cabin and see if Michael was anywhere to be found. However, before doing so, he just wanted to check that his revolver didn’t protrude too much, and Shirley assured him that his double-breasted jacket seemed to conceal it admirably.