Murder at Sea of Passenger X Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #5 (Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery Series)

by Anna Celeste Burke

  Murder at Sea of Passenger X

  Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #5

  Anna Celeste Burke

  Copyright © 2017 Anna Celeste Burke

  www.desertcitiesmystery.com

  Published by Create Space & Kindle

  All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher except brief quotations for review purposes.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Anna Celeste Burke

  Photo © by James Steidl for Dreamstime.com

  ISBN-13:978-1543005646

  ISBN-10:1543005640

  Books by Anna Celeste Burke

  Murder at Catmmando Mountain, Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #1

  Love Notes in the Key of Sea, Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #2

  All Hallows’ Eve Heist, Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #3

  A Merry Christmas Wedding Mystery, Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #4

  Murder at Sea of Passenger X, Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery #5

  FIND BOOKS IN THE SERIES HERE: http://bit.ly/shawcozy

  ~~~~~

  Cowabunga Christmas! Corsario Cove Cozy Mystery #1

  Gnarly New Year! Corsario Cove Cozy Mystery #2

  Heinous Habits! Corsario Cove Cozy Mystery #3 Out 2017

  FIND BOOKS IN THE SERIES HERE: http://bit.ly/covecozy

  ~~~~~

  A Dead Husband Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery #1

  A Dead Sister Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery #2

  A Dead Daughter Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery #3

  A Dead Mother Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery #4, Out 2017

  FIND BOOKS IN THE SERIES HERE: http://amzn.to/1WMdJrS

  Love A Foot Above the Ground Prequel to the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery Series @ http://smarturl.it/loveabove

  DEDICATION

  To smooth sailing and great adventures with people we love!

  Contents

  1 The Purrloined Note

  2 Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!

  3 Passenger X

  4 The Commissary

  5 Shipboard Extravaganzas

  6 A Dodgy Perroquet

  7 Midnight Casanova

  8 Patty, Patsy—Whatever

  9 Spas and Gossips

  10 Eat Dessert Twice

  11 Cabin Fever

  12 No Honor Among Thieves?

  13 Pearls in a Bottle

  14 Not a Bora Bora

  15 Morning Constitutional

  16 Anagrams and Arrivals

  17 Stop that Pig!

  18 A Psycho Logical Move

  19 Maui Bound

  Cowabunga Christmas Excerpt: 1 SURF’S UP

  RECIPES

  About the Author

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thanks to my many-years-husband who read the first draft of this book and gave me tips on what to fix before it went out to beta readers. That included checking up on some of the technical details about how long it takes to fly to Tahiti in a private jet, security measures taken by cruise lines to keep us safe, and the background required for a chef to get a Michelin star rating. He also recalled some great moments from our cruise through the Society Islands. That trip we took eons ago long before I ever dreamed of writing a story about the place. It was still a great source of inspiration.

  Thanks, as well, to Ying Cooper for tackling the proofreading job with skill and grace, as usual.

  I’m also grateful for the ongoing support and feedback from readers of Advance Review Copies: Denise Austin, Peggy Hyndman, Doward Wilson, Valerie Bargewell, Andrea Stoeckel, Andra Weis, Jeanine Carlson, Bonnie Dale Keck, Michele Hayes, Karen Vaughan, Donna Wolz, and Michele Bodenheimer.

  1 The Purrloined Note

  The screams didn’t wake me. I was already up by then. I’m not sure what had stirred me from my sleep. Maybe I sensed the sparkling blue eyes gazing intently at me. Two sets since Miles and Ella sat side-by-side in Sphinx mode. Their chocolate ears pointed straight up—radar on!

  “What has put you two on high alert?” I had asked my super-sensitive pair of Siamese cats. Talking to my cats was an old habit, usually rewarded by a bellow in return. Not this morning. It was quiet in our lovely suite on an upper deck of the MMW Fantasy of the Sea, one of the newest ships in my megalomaniacal boss’s cruise line. That grandiose streak in him isn’t all bad. Max Marley had paid for our honeymoon cruise to the South Sea Islands, and arranged for our cats to go along on the adventure, as a wedding present. I’m not ungrateful, just realistic about the gentleman genius who runs Marvelous Marley World, the entertainment conglomerate where I work.

  The drapes in our suite were still drawn, but the sliders to the balcony were partly open. A sea breeze blew in, and the fabric billowed. Jack must have opened it, I thought, stretching, lazily, as I sank back into the comfy bed.

  We both loved the salty air as we ventured from island to island during our ten days at sea. The siren song of adventure was carried along on those breezes for my handsome new husband who spent his life fighting crime as a police detective. For me, they are a reminder of home in Orange County where the Pacific Ocean is a walk away. That's where Jack would live, too, when we returned to California.

  As I had discovered during our week of cruising, Jack is an early riser. I enjoy my mornings, too, but I prefer to start my day slowly if I can get away with it. Perhaps that's because I have a harder time than he does falling asleep at night. My anxious spirit wrestles with worries of the day. Jack nods off at the drop of a hat, a defensive strategy he picked up to survive decades as a cop.

  “Grab your forty winks when you can,” he said. “Crime may not pay, but it doesn’t sleep either. You never know when you’ll get a call in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn.” That admonition was right up there with another of his favorite guidelines: “eat dessert first.”

  After dating the man for almost a year before we married, I knew what he meant. We’d had dinner and other plans canceled or interrupted by murder and mischief more than once. My job was no picnic, either. Marvelous Marley World isn’t always marvelous, as Jack has pointed out more than one occasion. Several of those rescheduled dates had resulted from hijinks in the Arcadia theme park or elsewhere at Marvelous Marley World.

  I yawned. It was tempting to doze off again, but a missive of my own changed my mind. A line by the ancient poet Rumi. The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. Grabbing the lovely silk robe a new friend had given me at my bridal shower, I slipped it on, along with a pair of slippers. When I pulled back the curtains, I hoped Jack would be lounging on the balcony that ran the length of our suite. Not there.

  “Where’s your daddy?” I asked the feline duo still sitting on my bed. Their ears moved at odd angles, in every direction. I laughed at the silly motions. “If you guys are trying to send me signals, it’s not working!”

  “Jack,” I called out as I moved from the bedroom to the adjoining living room and dining area. No luck. The drapes were already pulled back in this room, and the sun poured in. All the polished wood, brass trim, and stone surfaces sparkled. I paused for a moment, as the dazzling blue waters took my breath away. Off in the distance, I could see a craggy peak rising from the sea. Bora Bora was our
last stop before heading back to Tahiti, for a flight to Maui. I took a deep breath relishing the idea that another ten days of island life awaited us before returning to the hustle and bustle of our careers.

  Where could he be? I wondered, feeling just a tinge of concern. It wasn’t like Jack to step out without telling me first or leaving a note. He hadn’t been in our master bath. Maybe Jack was in the bathroom off the second bedroom in our sprawling penthouse suite that was way too large for the two of us. Even “Mad” Max Marley’s generosity was over the top at times, as was the inspiration he drew from the sea for this fantasy ship.

  A video mural graced the walls in this room featuring interactive screens that displayed a realistic underwater world that sprang to life as I moved toward the second master suite. Max’s wild imaginings were everywhere on this cruise ship in what I can only describe as a Walt Disney meets Dr. Seuss experience. Max never skimped, though, and the entire cruise line was top-rate.

  It would be just like my kind husband to shower in the secondary bathroom so the noise wouldn’t wake me. I guessed correctly. Damp towels were hanging over the side of the hamper to dry. Jack had been there, but he was gone now!

  I suddenly felt alone. A crazy thought popped into my head: Had I lost him like the first man to whom I had become engaged? Danny had simply disappeared one evening long ago, after a vicious attack on the beach. The haunting strains of Love Notes in the Key of Sea, the song my fiancé had written for me before he went missing, meandered through my mind. An eerie reminder that life isn’t always about happy endings.

  “Oh, stop it, Georgina Shaw!” I chastised myself aloud. “We’re on a cruise ship, for goodness’ sake, out in the calm, open sea still a good distance from land. Where could he go? If he’s not back in an hour, I’ll call the Captain and tell him my husband has gone missing.” The cats had joined me. Miles, the older of the two, boomed in a voice that had earned him his name. My fine, feline’s caterwauling is as distinctive as the trumpet played by my favorite jazz master, Miles Davis.

  “Don’t worry, Miles, I’m talking to myself, not you.” It did not elude me that the statement made it possible to remove “cat” from “crazy cat lady.” I had long ago accepted the term reserved for women who regularly hold conversations with their feline companions. Miles peered at me, as though trying so hard to understand what I was saying that I laughed. He yowled again, and Ella mimicked him in tones that were more melodious. She was a smaller, younger version of Miles—a gift from Jack that had made our little family complete.

  Both my cats, like many of their species I suspect, have an uncanny ability to pick up the emotions around them. Most likely, Miles was reflecting my anxious feelings. Not that he can read my mind or anything quite like that. Cats notice the smallest changes in their territory and I assume that includes the people around them. I had been wary about bringing the cats along on our honeymoon—another part of Mad Max’s master plan. Fortunately, after a day spent inspecting every inch of the suite and patrolling the premises, Miles and Ella settled in and made themselves at home.

  Suddenly, Miles raised his head, pointed his nose to the sky, and bellowed. Some show I watched once said that house cats don’t roar. Wrong! This utterance was no meow. As was often the case, that roar was an alert sent out seconds before Jack’s arrival. I attribute it to Miles’ keen sense of hearing, but who knows?

  The door handle wiggled, and then the door sprang open. There, in all his glory, stood my missing husband. A Panama hat sat jauntily on his head above a pair of dark glasses that gave him the air of a movie star. Hollywood or not, he was my leading man, and I felt a familiar snap, crackle, pop sensation ripple through me.

  “Hello, Doll,” he said in a mock detective voice. The love we shared for old film noir detective movies was almost as great as the enjoyment we got from Jazz classics.

  “I see you’re wearing the anniversary gifts I set out for you last night. Where have you been? Not out detecting, I hope, while your new wife wakes up to an empty suite.” I wanted to scold him, but the smile on his handsome face melted my resolve.

  He was loaded down with packages. I caught a hint of fresh-baked pastry. Coffee, too. From one arm hung a lei of fresh orchids. I rushed to help him unload those packages. By the time, I reached him he had managed to set them down on a bar near the door. Those empty arms were around me in an instant.

  “The only mystery I’m interested in solving is the mystery of what makes you so gorgeous even before you comb your hair or put on any makeup.” The kiss that went with that bit of blarney rattled me to my toes.

  Once he released me from that embrace, I tugged the front of his hat down. He took that hat off and sailed it across the room to a chair in the corner. Two cats flew after it, jumping up in that chair to inspect it. Then Jack took off the shades and tucked them into a pocket of his colorful aloha shirt.

  “Didn’t you find my poetic love note?” He asked as he placed that garland of flowers around my neck. “For my bride of one whole week.”

  “Fresh cut flowers on a cruise ship at sea. Mad Max Marley does have a knack for making dreams come true, doesn’t he?”

  “The man is a class act—when he’s not in mad-hatter mode.”

  “Where did you leave the note?” I asked.

  “On the coffee table under your anniversary gift. See?” We both looked at the table. “Well, what do you think about that? We’ve been robbed!”

  “The purrfect crime, no doubt,” I said, pointing to a small furry mouse lying on that table.

  “Uh oh. Klepto-Kitty’s been at it again. She looked so innocent with those big, baby blues and that beguiling siren song of hers. I swear I had no idea she was a cat burglar.”

  “Ella, did you purr-loin my husband’s love note?” The adorable kitten blinked at me and made the sweet sounds to which Jack had referred. Part purr and part meow, they were sweetly charming. She flopped over on her side, and then rolled over onto her back.

  “Paws up! I’d say that’s a confession, my love. We’ll have to add shiny objects to the list of her temptations.” Ella’s life of crime had started with my warm, wooly socks. One by one, they had begun to disappear. Then one evening I caught her running down the hall with my knitted scarf trailing behind her as she straddled it awkwardly. From there she had moved onto ribbons and bows, delighting in removing them from wedding presents that arrived in the mail.

  “Well, it can’t have gone far. I don’t have nearly as much turf to cover as I do at home to find her secret hideaways. I’m dying for coffee, but I want my anniversary present. I like shiny objects, too.” I dashed over to the coffee table and did a careful search of the area around it. When I got down on my knees to peer under the table and furniture, I had help. Two cats in a slightly spooked mode, peered under the furniture as though something might jump out at them any minute.

  “Miles, if you know where Mommy’s pretty present is, you’d better tell me.”

  “Yes, an accessory to the theft of an accessory. That will go down in the annals of feline crime.” Jack wore a big smile as he poured coffee from a jug into mugs. The aroma was intoxicating.

  “Aha,” I said reaching under a club chair to retrieve Jack’s note. When I sat up to read it, Jack was smiling as he bit into a delicious looking tart. Le Petite Patisserie has the most scrumptious pâte sablée with fillings that blissfully celebrate the flavors of French Polynesia. Tahitian vanilla, coconut, as well as more exotic tropical fruit flavors. An unrepentant chocoholic, my favorite is filled with chocolate ganache topped with a thin layer of passion fruit Bavarian cream, then drizzled with a tangy passion fruit syrup. Jack dangled the box of pastries.

  “I have to read my love note first, darling.” I read it aloud.

  “Roses are red; violets are blue. Gone for sweets and coffee, too. Here’s a little bauble as a token of my affection. A beautiful pearl, that’s no match for your perfection. Your grateful and loving husband of one full week.”

  “You
have to admit. It started out well. Sort of lost the rhythm and rhyme after that.”

  “It’s lovely, Jack.” I stood up and went to plant a kiss on that sweet man’s lips. “You did not buy me that black pearl and diamond pendant, did you?”

  “I did. I caught that sparkle in your eye when you saw it. I can’t resist that any more than I can withstand the siren song of little miss sticky paws over there.”

  “It was way too expensive, Jack.”

  “I’m flush, now that your boss has picked up the tab for our honeymoon.”

  “I should say it’s the thought that counts, but that pendant is a beauty. I’m going to find it and give Ella back that furry mouse she left behind as a clue to her villainy. Wish me luck,” I took several sips of coffee and left for our bedroom. I had learned a few things about where Ella hid her booty.

  “Happy hunting. While we’re on the subject of stolen jewelry you probably won’t be surprised to hear that a passenger has reported another theft.”

  “Aha! So, you did do a little detecting while you were out and about,” I hollered over my shoulder as I stepped into our bedroom. Jack murmured something in reply, but by then I was in the closet moving suitcases and checking the pockets that weren’t zippered shut.

  “Ta-da!” I called out a few minutes later. I went bounding back into the sitting room dangling that trophy. “They ought to put me to work finding that jewel thief. I’d have the case solved like that!” I snapped my fingers. Then I did a little dance of triumph, borrowing a couple moves from the dancers that had entertained us the night before. The smirk on Jack’s face fled when I added a beguiling wifely smile to my routine

  “Put that pearl in here for safe keeping,” Jack said handing me the little black box in which he had bought that pendant. I did as he asked. Then Jack pulled me to him and kissed me like a one-week-husband ought to kiss a one-week-wife. I laughed as he snuffled my hair.