by Beth Byers
Victor snorted with a laugh and said, “Darling Kate, I have never loved you more.”
Chapter 14
“And thus it begins,” Denny said, rubbing his hands together with glee. He entered the dining room with a lightness to his step that declared he would never experience anything better than what was about to occur.
Lila followed after with her baby in her arms. Little Lily watched the world with interest and laughed when her father laughed. Their matching giggles were enough to have smiles sent their way. It was quite unusual for babies to be brought into the dining room and until Lily giggled with her father, most of the looks they received were disturbed.
“You do it,” Violet told Jack.
He stared at her and then crossed to the waiter a few tables from them. “Excuse me?”
The waiter looked up and Jack removed the tray from the man’s hands. “Sir?”
“Thank you,” Jack said easily, carrying the loaded tray on his hand as though he were born to be a waiter.
Denny gasped with such delight, Vi laughed.
Jack led the way, not to their assigned table but one that hadn’t been taken yet. They sat and Vi told him, “You sir, are the most excellent of providers.”
Denny seated Vi and Lila. The second she was comfortable, she reached for the coffee cup that had been turned upside down, waiting for whoever this seat belonged to. Vi flipped it and held up her cup for coffee, ignoring the stares from other diners. Jack poured her coffee while another waiter approached.
“This is not your table sir.”
“It is now,” Jack told him, taking a seat and pouring himself coffee.
“It’s so pale,” Vi muttered.
“It’s regular coffee,” Jack told her.
She sipped and then scowled. “But I need Turkish coffee.”
“Not today,” Jack told her.
“I’ll never survive like this.”
The first waiter approached as Jack poured the last of the coffee. Jack handed over the carafe and then met the man’s gaze when he didn’t leave. “Yes?”
“What can I get you, sir?” The fellow stammered a little and his gaze was moving around the table as though they were mad. He had yet to see how mad they would get, Vi thought almost sympathetically.
It seemed that this waiter had decided to serve them and get rid of them rather than argue.
“We’ll forage,” Denny told the man. “Go about your business.”
The waiter frowned, waiting for an explanation. A moment later, Denny rose. “It’s my turn. It’s me who is giddy as a schoolgirl now.”
His high-pitched giggle drew attention and they all watched him approach the doors where the waiters entered the dining room from the kitchens. Denny watched several go by before one that he liked came out.
The waiter stood next to their table as one of his fellows rolled a loaded cart out of the kitchens. Denny stopped the man, held up a hand, and leaned in. Whatever Denny whispered had the waiter objecting, but slowly letting go of the cart.
Their waiter asked, “What is going on?”
Denny took the cart and rolled it away from the table of waiting passengers. He was overtly grinning as one of the men called, “I say, man. What the devil?”
Denny waved off the question as though he were the queen greeting her subjects. He reached their table and the waiter who was assigned to it said, “What is happening?”
“Speak with your captain,” Jack told him with a firmness that lent weight to that out and out humbug.
Vi glanced at Jack and he shook his head slightly. None of them had explained their plan to the captain, but it gave the waiter enough of a pause that Denny was able to lift the dome off one of the trays.
“I believe we have ebelskivers here.”
“Ooh me,” Lila said. “Dare I hope for lemon curd?”
“You dare,” Denny told his wife.
The next tray was kedgeree, roasted potatoes, and bacon. Denny crowed and put it in his place without regret or apology. He uncovered another tray and found an even more loaded plate of eggs, bacon, sausages and tomatoes.
Denny handed it to Jack with the expression of a man who had been robbed. The tray after that was toast and fruit and Vi was the one who reached out with happiness. She took that plate and then stole a piece of Jack’s bacon and all of his roasted tomatoes. There were three more trays and when Ham and Rita arrived they were taken up too.
“What about Victor and Kate?” Vi asked, worried for her brother.
“Victor pulled the same trick as Denny here to some fellow who had ordered food to his cabin. Kate had been called to the sick bay, so he and the babies were eating together.” Ham’s explanation relieved Vi’s mind and then she paused in her breakfast, daring to look up and around the dining room. They were being watched as though they were lions at the zoo.
Vi’s gaze met Rita’s, and they both burst into giggles. Baby Lily immediately joined them. Lila’s lazy laugh and Denny’s giddy one followed.
Ham shook his head at the two of them and looked at Jack. “These precautions are ridiculous.”
“Agreed,” Jack said easily.
“But so fun,” Denny countered. “The only thing that could make this trip better is chalkboards.”
“No,” Vi said. “The next thing we know you’ll be designing a special trunk like Victor with his desire to bring along a bar.”
Denny stared at Vi as though she were brilliant, and she groaned.
“You did that to yourself, my love,” Rita told Vi. “Foolish girl. These random asides of yours get us into more trouble.”
Kate entered the dining room when Vi was halfway through her tomatoes. She took a seat and then begged, “Does anyone have tea?”
“We might as well,” Vi answered, handing over her pale swill.
“They’re both awake,” Kate said after a long swallow. “They’re awake, and they’ll recover.”
“Fully?” Jack demanded.
Kate shook her head and said, “We have no idea. The doctor is drunk within an inch of his life. Nanny Jane thinks that there could be some long-lasting effects, but death won’t be one of them.”
“Who knows?”
“Only Nanny. She made Wenzel leave when he started quoting poetry last night. When he objected, Nanny had him dragged from the sick bay like a robber. She told Margaret Hanson when she woke that her lover had been sent out and that she should think long and hard about whether she wanted to leave her fiend of a husband for a fool of a lover.”
“She didn’t,” Denny breathed. “And we missed it.”
“But she missed seeing you steal breakfast,” Violet told Denny.
Jack handed Kate the last covered tray and said, “Good luck.”
The cover was pulled back and Kate revealed a full English breakfast that had gone cold. Kate shrugged and put the cold egg on the toast along with the roasted tomatoes.
“It occurs to me,” Kate said as she sipped Vi’s rejected coffee, “that we haven’t done our usual conversation about motives and the like. I think we should.”
“Before we go see the twins?”
Kate nodded. “They might not know anything, or they might have a good idea. Since we don’t know what the motive is, we don't know if they’d lie for the person they suspect.”
“Speaking of motives,” Rita said idly, “what are the usual ones?”
“Love,” Denny shot out.
“Money,” Lila added lazily.
“Hatred, jealousy,” Jack added.
“With poison,” Violet added, “it’s called the women’s weapon. So perhaps to do something that a woman can’t normally do for herself.”
“If we were to take love,” Rita said, “we would think well, Liam maybe out of fury that he might be losing his wife.”
“She did have love letters,” Violet agreed. “If he discovered those, it might have been enough to drive him to murder.”
Jack’s expression said he wouldn’t be surprised by such a thing. Exce
pt….
“Except that doesn’t apply to Ruth,” Ham said, repeating the problem they’d encountered time and again. “The conundrum isn’t who doesn’t have a motive, but who has a motive for both women.”
“What if we looked at the timeline instead?” Denny’s mouth was half-full of food and he was holding one hand out to his daughter, so she could grasp his forefinger. He was shaking his head even as Jack countered.
“That doesn’t matter with poison. Probably, Margaret was poisoned through the unattended coffee tray. It seems likely that it was placed in the sugar. The captain put some of the food out for the ship’s rats and the one who ate the sugar didn’t survive.”
Vi scrunched her nose, grateful to have not been part of that. She hated to think of rats on the ship at all and turned her mind away from the idea.
“And with Ruth?”
“The tooth powder.”
Vi started to ask a question, but she was sidetracked by the sight of Mr. Baldwin coming into the dining room, heading towards their normal table and then stopping partway there. He turned to leave and caught sight of them. He frowned a moment, staring in confusion at where they were and at their empty table and then shook it off.
“The captain wants to see you sirs,” Mr. Baldwin said to Jack and Ham.
“We’ll be happy to see him when we’re finished here.”
Mr. Baldwin wanted to object, but he paused long enough to think better of it and leave.
Ham listed the names once again. “Milly Kristiansen has motive to kill Ruth but not Margaret. In fact, like Oskar, she has every reason to want Margaret to survive. Liam has a reason to kill Margaret but not Ruth. The only one who has a motive to kill both is Wenzel Wagner, and that’s only if you give him the weakest of motives. I don’t buy it.”
Vi hadn’t asked about Oskar the night before. Not when her mind was encompassed with the babies.
“What about the dead sister?”
“I asked him about that,” Ham said. “He admitted that his sister had been killed by poison, but he said it was self-administered. She had been quite unhappy, she used her own sleeping pills, and she left a note. Both he and Ruth had been out of the country at the time. He even alibied Liam.”
“He did?” Vi demanded.
“He did. He said that Liam had also been away. He said, in fact, that he’d love it if Liam had murdered Anya and ruined himself, but Liam had not even been there. It seems that Oskar's sister had left home with her sleeping pills, gone to visit a supposed school friend, but it had all been a lie. It was in her note. She wanted to avoid her mother finding her body. She had gone to stay at a convent for a few days. There were no men there. She took her pills and left the convent, laying herself down in the unconsecrated graves with her note in her hand. There was never any doubt about what happened and who was responsible.”
“Bloody hell,” Denny breathed.
As a group they had imagined it all; it was too easy not to picture something so dramatic.
“Why did Liam make it seem as though there was a question?” Vi snapped.
“He’s a fool and self-encompassed. I asked Oskar just that,” Ham told them. “He laughed and said Liam could make anything about him.”
“None of this makes sense,” Violet snapped. “This case is…is…”
“Stupid,” Denny finished and no one disagreed.
Chapter 15
Just outside of the sick bay, the first mate stood with the doctor. The second man was sniffling as though he had gotten ill, but Vi suspected it was another round of needing alcohol and not getting it. She was sympathetic to an extent. She enjoyed drinks fairly regularly but had never done so with the idea that at some point she would start needing them. He should not, however, put others at risk because of his needs. Thank goodness for Nanny Jane, because the doctor wouldn’t have been able to put the IV in the twin sisters.
“What’s this I hear about your odd behavior?” the first mate asked.
“It occurred to us,” Jack said low, “that it was possible the sisters were attacked simply because they’re twins. We have two sets among us.”
The first mate frowned, not bothering to hide his doubt. “And you consider this a real concern?”
“No,” Jack said flatly. “I think we don’t have enough information about why those sisters were attacked, and we need more details in order to discover who might want to get rid of both of them.”
“Then why are you behaving this way?”
“It’s not worth the risk,” Jack told the first mate without regret. “I think we have a very small chance of danger and in saying that, the danger extends primarily to my wife, her twin brother, and her nieces who aren’t even walking yet. I won’t attend a pair of baby funerals when all I have to do is be a little ridiculous.”
The first mate rocked back on his heels, considering. “Let’s see if we can end this now that they’re awake. I don’t like you, Wakefield. But, it would be best if we could solve this aboard.”
“Of course it would be,” Jack offered consolingly. “If we don’t, the suspects could disperse and someone would be able to get away with quite a horrible crime.”
“You know,” Violet said, thinking something that made her shiver, “if one were a madman, striking on steamships or railways may well be the best way to get away with the crime.”
The first mate snorted, giving Violet that look that said she was a silly woman, when Jack said, “If the criminal were clever enough to attack that way, it would be almost impossible to find them. No motive but madness. If he was careful to have no witnesses, there would be nothing to link him to the crime. The madman would win every time. If he were very, very careful and changed how and through what avenue his attacks occurred, the police might not even realize that they had a madman on their hands.”
The first mate glanced between the two of them with his jaw dropped. Violet laughed at the look on the man’s face and said to Jack, “Enough! We’ll be the suspects in another moment.”
“Why are you here, ma’am?” The tone was respectful enough, but only just.
Jack clapped the first mate on his back. “We have two women who have been assaulted and are afraid. Violet will provide a measure of comfort.”
Vi kept her expression even and her eyes wide and innocent.
The first mate paused and then nodded. “The husbands are quite upset. We need to discover what happened and let them out. Hanson is demanding to see his wife. Nielsen is demanding to see his lover.”
“We should do that,” Vi said. “And watch.” She paused for a long minute and said, “Well, maybe not for poor Margaret. Surely it can’t be good for her recovery to have her husband looming over her.”
“We would be there,” the first mate said.
Vi frowned at him, noting the lack of sympathy and guessed the fellow didn’t care so much about Margaret’s continual abuse. He noticed Vi’s look and lifted a brow. Yes, she thought, Vi didn’t like him at all.
“She needs to stay out of the room.”
“No,” Jack told the first mate, having caught the expression he sent towards Vi. “We need all the help we can get to solve this mystery. We only have today before the ship arrives.”
“I said no,” the first mate told Jack.
Jack paused and eyed the first mate, who stared back in challenge. Vi rolled her eyes, which the first mate caught.
“Do you have a problem with that, ma’am?”
Vi placed her hand on Jack’s arm as she felt him tense.
“Your captain put Ham and I in charge of this investigation due to our time as detectives for Scotland Yard. Has that changed?” Jack’s cool tone sounded almost bored, but Vi could feel the steel of his frame.
The first mate’s reply was only, “Not yet.”
“Then step aside and be quiet.” Jack took Vi’s arm and pulled her with him into the sick bay. “Just be yourself, Vi. You ask the questions. They’ll feel more comfortable with you.”
&nbs
p; That was said for the first mate who snorted again. Vi winked at both of them because she knew it would irritate the first mate. She waited until he reacted and then turned away, putting him out of her mind. She gasped in delight as she saw the twins sitting up, side-by-side. They’d moved onto the same hospital bed and Kate was helping Ruth to drink from a teacup.
“You look fabulous,” Vi said, approaching to squeeze Ruth’s hand and then reaching over to do the same to Margaret.
“Miss Jane and Mrs. Carlyle say that you found us,” Margaret said. “That we survived because of you.”
“I think you survived because you’re fighters,” Violet told them both. “Are you ready to continue the fight?”
The first mate snorted and Vi tried to hide her disgust. Margaret didn’t even seem to notice the derision, but Ruth wasn’t impressed. Jack moved and whatever he did had Margaret tensing though Ruth had the opposite reaction and relaxed.
“I don’t know what we can tell you,” Ruth stuttered out. Her body was still processing the hemlock poisoning and Vi had to wonder if Ruth would ever be able to speak easily again.
“How about, do you know who poisoned you?” Vi asked.
They both shook their heads. Margaret reached out and took Ruth’s hand.
“The biggest problem we’re having,” Violet said gently, “is that there are motives for someone to murder one of you but not both of you. Is there anyone who would benefit from having you both die?”
Both sisters shook their heads again. They didn’t even need to consult. Vi leaned back. Their greatest hope had been that the sisters would be able to provide some illumination as to why they were poisoned.
“No threats?”
Shaking heads.
“No enemies?”
“No,” Margaret whispered. “Not for both of us.”
Violet sighed and asked, “If we can’t find out what happened to you, what will you do?”
“We’re going home to England,” Ruth struggled to say. “Father has sent a wireless.”
Vi sighed with relief. The sisters had every chance to survive now. Their hands were clasped and there was a sense of relief.