by P. C. James
“A clipboard?” Freda said. “Who has a clipboard?” She looked about the room.
Pauline smiled. “No one here,” she said, “but didn’t you see that steward this morning, checking off items as he inspected the pool deck?”
“I didn’t notice.”
“If you hope to become a great mystery-solver, you’ll need to take notice.”
“I didn’t think we were worrying about that cut now,” Freda said.
“Anything strange has to be part of the solution, even if we can’t yet see how.”
“You wouldn’t threaten someone with a clipboard though, would you?” Freda said.
“But if someone closed in on you quickly, and you had a clipboard in your hands at the time, you may thrust it up toward their head to try and ward them off. The metal clip could easily lodge under your assailant’s chin.”
“I suppose,” Freda said, slowly, “but I don’t see how it helps.”
“It suggests to me that we’ve been focused on Jose and his past background when it really could be a very new quarrel with one of the crew who does regular checks of the equipment. Maria’s information this morning seems very important taken in that light.”
“This man wouldn’t go to meet Jose with a clipboard though, Polly,” Freda said.
“He could have met Jose earlier, had the discussion with others in attendance, and then Jose took an opportunity when the man was on his own, making checks on the ship with a clipboard, to confront him.”
“All you’re saying, Polly, is you have no idea who, or how, or with what, Jose was killed and that being so, it is just as likely to be an accident – as Detective Somerville says.”
“Freddie, dear, we’re still in the gathering evidence stage of the investigation. It’s too soon to throw up our hands and give in.”
Freda shook her head in dismay. “I’m going to have a nap before this afternoon’s excursion,” she said. “You might want to take the time to think, instead of daydream.”
“Dreaming, or imagining, is what I do best,” Pauline said. “And I think you’re right. Some time to think would be good.”
She’d no sooner placed her head on the pillow when the bedside phone rang. Pauline picked it up and said, “Yes.”
“Good morning, Miss Riddell. Detective Somerville is with me and I felt we needed you here if we’re to talk shop.”
“I’ll be there in two minutes,” Pauline said, leaping from the bed and hurrying to dress. She was at his cabin in less time than she’d predicted.
“Have you any progress to report?” Captain Ferguson asked, as he handed them their drinks. The briefings were becoming too much like a ‘drinks with the captain’ event in Pauline’s mind.
“I’ve been following up on your chief engineer, Captain,” Somerville said. “I think there’s a good chance he was involved. I’m not saying he murdered Jose because I don’t think anyone did, but I do think he backed the kid into a corner and the kid fell. An accident, nothing like that was supposed to happen but still not exactly innocent either.”
Ferguson’s expression hardened but he only turned to Pauline and said, “Miss Riddell?”
“I’m nowhere near thinking of naming a suspect at this time, Captain, but I’ve been making more enquiries about Rod Chalmers and Arvin Weiss, so far without any new evidence on either.”
“But you are still sure it was murder, Miss Riddell? Or are you perhaps saying it’s looking more like an accident?”
“Oh no. I’m sure Jose was killed. Detective Somerville’s suggestion that Jose was backed into that corner and fell is possible and if so it may be manslaughter rather than murder, but it wasn’t an accident.”
“Why, though?”
“Because that corner is, so far as I and your safety inspectors could see, the only place on the ship where what happened, could have happened. If Jose was backed into there, it was by someone who knew that gate was low and loose.”
“It has been repaired, by the way,” Ferguson said. “The work was finally finished off when everyone was ashore today.”
“That is good to hear,” Pauline said. “Even roped off it was a hazard to anyone up there in rough seas.”
“Quite!” Ferguson said, eager to change the subject. “Now, what are your plans to further your investigations?”
“I’d like more information on the chief engineer, if you can provide it quickly, Señor Hidalgo?” Somerville asked, addressing the personnel manager who was listening in by radio.
“And I would like anything more you can provide on Rod Chalmers, Arvin Weiss and Jose Garcia himself,” Pauline added.
“The police are researching for us,” Hidalgo said, “but they are slow. They have many more pressing priorities, as they never fail to remind us. You must understand, in their minds this case is closed.”
“Have you no other avenues to call on?” Pauline asked.
“We work with a number of agencies who provide us with work candidates. They are looking into it but they have limited resources,” Hidalgo replied. “In fact, the police are their chief source of information for personal backgrounds. With regard to the passengers, we can only go through the police and the embassies and they are understandably wary of revealing information to people who have no authority.”
“Do what you can,” Ferguson said. “We understand these aren’t ideal conditions for investigating possible crimes.”
“While we wait, Captain,” Pauline said, “I’d like to ask for your advice on who might be the best person among the female crew members to interview. I know that up to now, we’ve worked on the assumption that whoever sent Jose over that gate must have been as strong or stronger than Jose. However, it’s possible he was overconfident and then easily overbalanced by the slightest of pushes. A woman could have done that. We shouldn’t neglect that line of enquiry.”
“Very well, Miss Riddell,” Ferguson said, “I’ll ask our hospitality manager, Suzanne, to answer your questions but I feel we’re clutching at straws here.”
“I agree, Captain,” Somerville said. “I feel the more we eliminate people, the more people Miss Riddell will try to draw into the net.” He glared at Pauline as he spoke.
“We haven’t really eliminated anyone yet,” Pauline said. “And, I find, we’ve been somewhat blind in our thinking. This new avenue may lead us to the truth.”
Somerville shook his head in despair.
14
Floreana Island, Cormorant Point
“Your husband isn’t joining us this afternoon?” Pedro asked Betty, as he helped her off the ship and into the tender.
“He doesn’t feel well enough to join us,” Betty said, in an icy voice.
“Too much carousing last night,” a man already seated in the tender called out. He laughed; others tittered quietly. Some mutterings suggested the carousing had continued this morning.
Betty sat, staring straight ahead, ignoring them.
Freda sat beside her and Pauline sat beside Freda. The tender moved off and the conversation grew as people recounted what the naturalist had told them to look out for and what they hoped to see. Pauline once again thought kindly of Rod’s sarcastic comment about iguanas and stayed silent.
Another wet landing but by now Pauline and Freda were used to getting in and out of the zephyr as it bobbed under their behinds.
Once ashore, the group began forming into its small cliques, which very nicely left Betty to Pauline and Freda and the Mennonite couple who somehow never seemed to find their way into any of the different groups, being neither smokers, gamblers, nor pool nor bar people.
Hoping to give Freda more opportunity to get fresh information from Betty, Pauline led Ruth and Isaac to expand on their hopes for the day. The ploy seemed to work, she and the young couple followed a little way behind the main group while Freda and Betty trailed along at the back. Pauline could barely contain her impatience, surely this new letdown by Rod would tip Betty over the edge and she’d give something away.
Pedro stopped and waited for them to gather around before starting his narration. Pauline found it hard to concentrate because the expression on Freda’s face said she had something to impart that would please her sister. Pauline nodded as surreptitiously as she could. She hoped that now the walls were down, they may learn much more to their advantage.
The walk too was uneventful, apart from the wasps that bugged them the moment they left the shore. Fortunately, the insect repellant they wore almost every time they set foot on an island seemed to keep the things from alighting and stinging anyone.
The island really was one of the most pleasant in the archipelago. Remains of old roads and homes with their gardens could be seen among the undergrowth. It was strange to think people had come here, settled, and lived comfortably for decades, centuries even, before abandoning the island when the capital was moved to Santa Cruz and the National Park established.
After their walk, easier on this most hospitable island, they snorkeled in the warm waters of the bay. An idyllic morning that Pauline found rather flat. Uninspiring was her opinion as she floated in the water looking up into the eternally clear blue sky. She had no new thoughts on the case and time was running out.
“You’re very quiet,” Freda said, rejoining her sister as she lay floating in the water.
“I’m letting my subconscious work its magic,” Pauline said, not entirely satirically. She really was hoping something would strike a chord.
“Do you want to hear what I learned?” Freda asked.
Pauline tried to look around, realized that couldn’t be done floating on her back and struggled to a more upright position treading water. Other swimmers were close, too close for safe discussion.
“Later, Freddie,” she said. “When we’re alone.”
“Then I’ll leave you to your musings,” Freda replied, “before I drive them all away.”
“They’ve had long enough and haven’t delivered,” Pauline said, resetting her goggles over her eyes and rolling to once again study the undersea life that swam below them. They paddled slowly across the rocky seabed, pointing out highlights to each other, letting the time drift away with the tide.
As she and Freda dried themselves and dressed to return to the boat, Pauline said, “We still haven’t found the men who were on deck that night.”
“I’m not sure they exist,” Freda replied. “Arvin didn’t hear them and Rod doesn’t mention them. The only ones who heard them were Ruth and Isaac. Don’t you think that odd?”
“Maybe,” Pauline said. “It may just be the timing but why would they even mention it if it didn’t happen? I don’t think Mennonites are naturally dishonest or mischievous people.”
“No, or natural murderers either.”
“I have to say, you might have something there, Freddie,” Pauline said. “What if they aren’t Mennonites?”
“Not Mennonites? Why would anyone dress and present themselves that way if they weren’t?”
“I don’t know,” Pauline said. “It’s just that many times when they’ve been speaking to others, I’ve felt that Isaac, particularly, is laughing at us all. I thought it was because he sees us as unenlightened souls and, consequently, little more than children but what if it’s because they’re playing a prank on us all?”
“But why?”
“How should I know? A bet with friends back home? A whim?”
“Nonsense, Polly. You’re losing your touch, if not your actual mind.”
“That’s possible too,” Pauline said. “This is a puzzling case.”
“Probably because it isn’t actually a case.”
Pauline sighed. “You still have doubts, Freddie? I hope they aren’t preventing you from chatting in a meaningful way with our fellow guests.”
“It’s because I’m chatting with them my doubts are growing and so is the resistance I’m meeting when I ask a question on the subject. Aren’t you finding that too?”
“There’s always distrust when people ask questions,” Pauline said. “You have to understand people don’t want to be involved and to make that happen they say as little as they can.”
“Well, you do some questioning when we get back to the boat and see if what I’m saying isn’t true.”
“It maybe because you haven’t an official appointment to question people the way I have,” Pauline said, “but I will continue questioning people and see if you’re right.”
Pauline’s opportunity to ask questions came sooner than even she could have hoped for, shortly after dressing and before the tenders arrived to take those wishing to return to the ship, she found herself alone with Ruth. Isaac was talking to a man farther along the beach.
“Do you find these birds and animals as fascinating as many seem to?” Pauline asked, while she was pushing her wet towel and bathing cap into her bag.
Ruth shook her head. “No,” she said. “They’re all God’s creatures and made as he intended them. I don’t say Darwin was wrong, only that adapting to suit your environment isn’t so big a change and suggesting it leads to new species, well, I leave that to others to argue about.”
“I just find the differences too minute to see,” Pauline said, “which leaves me lost. It’s an odd thing for me to admit to as I usually pride myself on seeing what others don’t.”
“But small differences are huge, aren’t they,” Ruth said. “Tiny differences in doctrine leads to so much religious and social strife because it changes everything.”
“That’s very true,” Pauline agreed. “In fact, I think, the smaller the disagreement, the larger the quarrel is often the case.”
“We,” Ruth said, hesitantly, “have powerful evidence of that in our own lives. My parents have quite cast us off because of Isaac’s radical notions. This trip will certainly mean they will shun me forever.”
“Yet you still came on it.”
“Yes. You must follow your own truth in the world, don’t you think?” Ruth asked. “This isn’t a childish rebellion Isaac and I are on, Miss Riddell. It’s a determination to bring some of the good things of the modern world into our world, without destroying what is good in our world.”
“I do think we have to follow our own truth, however hard that is,” Pauline agreed. “I’ve been puzzled to explain your presence on the cruise, to be honest with you, and now I think I understand.”
“You will think us odd, I dare say,” Ruth said. “We look different, but you should understand that you people have always looked and seemed odd to us. We’re trying to overcome our suspicions about you and bridge that gap for our children and those who come after.”
Pauline smiled. “I’ve often thought Isaac finds us amusing. There’s often a twinkle of laughter in his eye and his voice when he speaks to us. Does he find us very silly?”
Ruth laughed. The first time Pauline had heard her laugh. “He does find outsiders silly,” she said, “but he isn’t really laughing at you. Please believe me. It’s just sometimes he hears himself telling the story to our people back home and imagining their reaction. You see, even though it is Isaac leading our small group to a closer understanding of your world, he still finds it hard sometimes to take your world seriously. None of you seem to show true reverence for the lives you’ve been given.”
“I feel that way sometimes too,” Pauline said. “Even I put my spiritual beliefs into a compartment so I can work and investigate when it should be those things that are in boxes.”
“I think that’s why we feel safer talking to you, Miss Riddell,” Ruth said. “And probably why people tell you things they wouldn’t tell others. They feel you will do what is right.”
“I try to but it is often hard knowing what is right and what is not.”
“Sadly, what is right and what is fun to do are often at opposite ends of the teeter-totter, don’t you find?”
Pauline nodded but was saved from replying with the excursion party once again forming around Pedro to hear more about the Galapagos and its unique environ
ment.
Her conversation with the usually uncommunicative Ruth had, for a time, taken Pauline’s mind off the pressing desire to hear what Freda had learned from Betty. But the moment they were back on the ship, she grabbed her sister by the arm and practically marched her past the welcome aboard champagne and back to their cabins.
“I want to freshen up before we eat, Freddie,” she said, when Freda protested.
“Well,” Pauline demanded, once they were safely out of hearing, “tell me what you learned.”
“Rod is a fool,” Freda said. “He married money and only days after the wedding is throwing it all away.”
“I don’t care if Rod is the world’s greatest court jester, Freddie. What did Betty say about that evening?”
“Oh, that,” Freda said with a shrug. “Ow! Don’t pinch! All right, all right. He wasn’t with Betty as she’s said until now. She doesn’t know where he was and,” she paused for dramatic effect, “he did have an argument with Jose.”
“What about?”
“Jose was trying to extort money from Rod.”
“To do that, Jose must have known of some wrongdoing on Rod’s part. Does Betty know what?”
“If she does, she isn’t saying yet,” Freda said. “Maybe, if Rod hasn’t come to his senses today and doesn’t behave better tonight, she’ll tell me tomorrow.”
“Then here’s hoping he’s too far gone to care,” Pauline said.
“And I hope not. I feel horrible for Betty.”
“She must have been out of her mind to marry him,” Pauline said flatly. “She could have had what she wanted by keeping him as a bit on the side. If people behave foolishly, they deserve what they get.”
“Pauline,” Freda cried, shocked to the core.
“Sorry, Freddie, but you know I’m right. Even if you won’t admit it.”
“I’m not going to be your spy tomorrow,” Freda said, icily. “I’ve had enough.”
“You’re not my spy, you’re my detecting partner so stop this nonsense and get on with your work.”