Dying for a Diamond

by Cindy Sample

  I colored but the couple both laughed and told me not to worry about it. The bus screeched to a stop, interrupting our conversation. Tom lifted my tote bag for me, and we brought up the rear as everyone piled out of the bus.

  “What’s next?” Tom asked as we both looked around. “I could really use some food right now.” He lifted his head and sniffed like a bloodhound on the trail of his quarry.

  “BBQ,” he said and pointed to our left. I remembered that the ship provided a luncheon buffet for the cruisers from eleven until two. We passed by some restrooms and I ducked inside. I washed up as best I could, grateful that I’d tucked a ball cap and extra T-shirt in my bag.

  Klutzes come prepared.

  Feeling somewhat refreshed, I joined my husband, who despite his dunking in the lagoon, still looked as hunky as ever.

  As the tangy smell of spicy BBQ drew closer, Tom’s strides grew longer. We finally reached the shaded lunch area, our anxious taste buds ready for almost anything. The aroma of grilled meats had attracted half the passengers on the ship. Although there were five different buffet stations, all the lines were long.

  I gazed at a sea of picnic tables filled with happy diners. I asked Tom to bring back a plate of food for me while I scoured the area for empty seats. I picked up two glasses of iced tea and began my search.

  There were multiple dining areas for the throngs of passengers, although most were completely filled. I kept searching and finally found a seating area a long way from the buffet. Only a few people occupied the redwood tables.

  I slid onto a bench seat facing the direction Tom would be coming, although the odds of him finding me were not high. I should have dropped a trail of bread crumbs, or in my case, chocolate chips. I sipped on my tea and fanned myself.

  I noticed Claire headed my way and I waved my hand at her. She walked over to our table, a plate in one hand and a drink in the other.

  “Can I join you?” she asked.

  “Of course.” I smiled at her. “Is Rick still out with his tour group?”

  “I think so. It was a two-hour wave runner ride. Much too long for me.”

  “The one and only time I rode on the back of a jet ski in Tahoe, we bounced over the waves so hard I thought my boobs would knock the contacts out of my eyes.”

  Claire choked on her stir fry, undoubtedly, at my overly visual description. One of these days I needed to add a filter to my conversation.

  “Have you enjoyed the cruise so far?” I asked. “You must have been surprised when Rick presented you with the tickets for your anniversary.”

  She nodded. “Very much so, although I actually came across the reservation when I was hunting for a screwdriver. The one place I know I’ll never find the tool I need is in Rick’s toolbox. He always chucks his tools wherever he used them last. After going through our kitchen drawers, I switched to his office and found the cruise information under a few papers in his desk drawer. When he came home from work that night, I ended up surprising him.”

  “Did you ever find the screwdriver?”

  “I did. Under our bathroom sink.” She and I both swapped smiles. Typical male behavior.

  “Twenty-five years of marriage is a success story these days,” I said. “What’s your secret?”

  “Patience, and lots of it.” Claire stopped eating and gazed out toward the sea. “I’m lucky that my husband is an excellent provider. It gave me the opportunity to stay home with the kids. But now that my last little chick has flown the coop, I’m trying to figure out who I really am, outside of a supportive wife and mother.”

  “What kind of work does Rick do? Maybe you two could work together.”

  She scrunched up her nose. “I couldn’t last a minute in that environment.” When I sent a questioning look in her direction, she replied. “He’s with a large talent agency, TTCA. Stands for Top Talent Creative Agency. He deals with lots of prima donnas.”

  “It sounds challenging but also interesting. You must have met your fair share of actors through the years.”

  She sipped her tea. “As Rick says, they all put their underwear on one leg at a time. Most of the actors and singers I’ve met were quite nice.” She grimaced. “With a few exceptions. He has some horror stories he could share.”

  “Maybe he’ll share them right now.” I pointed behind her as our husbands approached. Her dark hair whipped around as she turned to greet Rick.

  Both men bore plates of food. My stomach growled at the tantalizing scents wafting from Tom’s two colorful plates. He’d even managed to add a small plate piled high with tropical desserts.

  My husband knew me so well.

  I kissed Tom, snatched my loaded plate from him and barely greeted Rick before biting into a char-grilled hot dog. Yum.

  “I’m surprised you found us, dear,” Claire said to her husband.

  “Tom and I started chatting while we waited in that long buffet line. His detective skills led us to the two of you.”

  I narrowed my eyes at my husband. “Got lucky, didn’t you?”

  He laughed and saluted me with his fork. “I kept walking and figured eventually we’d come across you. That pink shirt helped.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, evidently noticing that my hot pink tee was tighter than when I’d boarded the ship eight days earlier. No doubt due to the fine dining the past week.

  “How was your excursion?” Claire asked Rick.

  “Fine.” He rolled his shoulders and winced. “Although I’m a little stiff. Sometimes my head forgets my body belongs to a fifty-five year old male.”

  “I’m only forty, and I can empathize with you,” I said to Rick. “Claire told me about your job as a talent agent. It sounds so exciting.”

  He gave me a small smile. “It has its perks. Los Angeles is an expensive place to live, and my career has provided for my wife and kids. But my job demands constant travel away from Claire.” He turned to his wife and placed his palm over hers. “This vacation has been an eye-opener for me. It’s given me time to reflect on what’s important to me. To us. A career is wonderful, but my wife means everything to me.”

  I was touched to see tears form on Claire’s eyelashes. She swiped her palm across her eye. “That sea air sure brings out the romantic in our guys, doesn’t it?”

  I nodded in blushing agreement. I certainly couldn’t complain about any of our nocturnal activities. Or morning activities. If we could continue on this way for the next fifteen years, we could be as happy as this middle-aged couple.

  “I’m looking forward to the show tonight,” said Claire. “Grease is one of my favorite musicals.”

  “Don’t get your hopes too high,” I replied. “The girl who originally was supposed to play the Sandy part left the cruise to be with her boyfriend, and then the singer taking her place accidentally clobbered the guy playing Danny Zuko when she was aiming for Rizzo.”

  Both Rick and Claire looked confused, and I didn’t blame them. I just hoped Zac could keep track of his performers tonight.

  “Our friend, Stan, will finally have his big night on stage.” Tom looked at me. “This has the potential to be a shipboard disaster.”

  “Or the most comical musical we’ve ever seen,” I said.

  Tom and I exchanged smiles. If nothing else, tonight’s production of Grease should be interesting.

  Rick’s back was still hurting from his wave runner excursion. He decided a dose of ibuprofen would be a better choice than a second helping of BBQ so he and Claire headed for the ship. Tom and I finished our lunch then took a leisurely stroll back to the tenders.

  We stopped for a moment to gaze at the few remaining swimmers and sunbathers dotting the pristine beach. Tall palm trees formed a cinematic backdrop, the bright green fronds swaying in the balmy breeze, almost as if they were waving farewell to us.

  I felt pensive. Our honeymoon had been wonderful in most respects. Yet, here we were on the final day of our cruise with a few nagging questions still to be resolved.

  More than naggi
ng questions. Crimes had been committed. At least one murder plus multiple thefts. Would we be able to resolve everything in less than twenty-four hours?

  What if we didn’t?

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  Back on the ship, Tom and I bumped into Gran and Mabel in front of the elevators. Gran’s smile spread wide across the patchwork of faint wrinkles on her fair complexion.

  “You look like you won the lottery,” I said to her.

  “Close. I’m in the bingo finals this afternoon,” she crowed.

  I gave her a gentle hug. “Congratulations. What kind of prize are we talking about?”

  “Five smackeroos.”

  “Five dollars?” asked Tom. My husband might be an excellent homicide detective, but he was clueless when it came to bingo.

  “Five thousand dollars,” she chortled.

  Tom and I were both stunned by the large amount. Who knew bingo could be so lucrative?

  “Did you discover anything more about Mrs. Peabody and her sister?” I asked Gran.

  “Only that she likes to play bingo and is not a happy camper when she loses. When Peabody didn’t make it into the finals, she complained about the bingo being rigged and left the lounge.” Gran sent me an apologetic look. “Sorry, kiddo. I got so caught up in my winning cards, I fell down on my sleuthing. I shoulda’ followed her and her sister.”

  I patted her arm. “Not to worry. I’m glad you and Mabel had fun.”

  “How was your kayak trip?” Gran tilted her curly head at us. “You got the look of someone who’s been rode hard and put away wet.”

  Mabel sniffed. “You smell kinda like Eau de Swamp.”

  “We had an unexpected dunking in the lagoon,” Tom explained.

  “You gotta expect the unexpected when you’re with my granddaughter,” Gran cackled.

  Truer words were never spoken.

  When we returned to our stateroom, Tom picked up a message from the captain requesting both his and my stepfather’s presence. I was disappointed, although not surprised to learn my name wasn’t included in the invitation. I let Tom shower first with minimal distractions then took my turn. I used half the coconut-scented shower gel in the jumbo dispenser provided by the ship, trying to eliminate any trace of my immersion in the lagoon.

  Tom returned to our room as I was finishing putting on my makeup in front of the mirror. I brushed coral blush over my newly tanned and freckled cheekbones and applied fresh lip gloss to my chapped lips.

  Tom spun me around and gave me a hearty kiss.

  “Yum. You taste like a strawberry daiquiri,” he said, licking his lips.

  I held up a small gold canister. “New lip gloss, guaranteed to make your honey crave you.”

  “Or crave a daiquiri, which also sounds good right now. Too bad it will have to wait.”

  I pushed my strawberry-pink lower lip out in a pout. “What’s going on? Why did the captain need you and Bradford?”

  “Remember when you asked me to review the video footage for that time period when you thought you saw someone fall overboard?”

  “You mean footage for the time when I did see someone fall overboard,” I emphasized between clenched teeth. “Did you finally find some physical evidence to prove it?”

  “What we found is a lack of evidence,” he replied. “The footage during that time frame doesn’t exist.”

  “What do you mean it doesn’t exist?”

  “There are two possibilities. Either multiple cameras were not functioning, which could happen but is fairly unlikely, or someone erased the footage.”

  I plunked down on the sofa, trying to comprehend the extent of Tom’s statement.

  “So…,” I said slowly while my mind raced furiously, “is there a possibility that Sanjay messed with the videos?”

  Tom plopped next to me. “Yep. I think that’s the most likely scenario.”

  “Since we’ve learned Sanjay had a nasty propensity to blackmail people, what are the odds he decided to blackmail the killer once he looked at the footage?”

  “If I were in Vegas right now, I’d take those odds,” Tom said.

  “This is interesting although it’s not going to help us catch a killer.”

  “But it could mean Sanjay’s murder was tied to your missing person as opposed to the jewel thief.”

  “Or his girlfriend,” I added.

  “Or the two crew members being blackmailed,” Tom said. “Or your cousin who is still a suspect.”

  I sighed and latched on to Tom’s hand.

  “Next time we take on a case, I hope it’s not so complicated.”

  “Funny you should mention that.” He hesitated when someone pounded on our door. Tom opened the door to be greeted by my cousin. Sierra entered the room, still dressed in her official uniform, her face looking as stormy as the clouds that had been gathering on the horizon since our return to the ship.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked her. “Are there problems with tonight’s show?”

  “Or with the captain?” Tom asked.

  Sierra shot him a dark look as she flopped onto the sofa. “Do you have insider information, detective?”

  “The captain is under a lot of pressure from the home office.”

  “And I’m under a lot of pressure myself,” she said tearfully. “I’m trying to ensure that all the entertainment and tours go on as normal. That the passengers have the time of their life. Yet I’m still being treated as a lowlife suspect by the captain and even some of the crew. Even after Mrs. Peabody’s watch was stolen from the spa, and I was nowhere around at the time.”

  “What happened when you met with Captain Andriessen?” I asked. “He didn’t fire you, did he?”

  “He came this close.” She squeezed her right thumb and index finger together. “Then Zac called with another production crisis. Between the loss of his chief security officer and a temporary stage director producing his first big show, the captain decided to give me one last chance.”

  I patted her knee. “That’s good news.”

  “There’s one provision.” She glanced at me and then at Tom.

  “What’s that?”

  “Somebody determines for once and for all that I am neither a thief nor a murderer.” She sent Tom a beseeching glance. “My future is in your hands.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  On that note, Sierra left for the theater to help Zac with his latest emergency. During the dress rehearsal for Grease, Elizabeth Axelgard discovered that the black leather costume she would wear in the finale was missing from the wardrobe department. It was too late to make a new outfit for her, but Sierra figured the costume had to be somewhere. She couldn’t imagine that Nicole would have taken it with her.

  Sierra’s parting words hit me right in my heavy heart. Once she left, I turned to Tom.

  “We have to help her,” I said.

  “You’re right. Even if Sierra isn’t found guilty of either crime, she’ll have a suspicious cloud hanging over her head for the rest of her career.”

  “What should I do?”

  Tom walked over to the sofa, sat down and placed a hand on my thigh. “You should enjoy the rest of this cruise while I attempt to solve a hideous crime.”

  “No, seriously, what should I do? You know I can’t just sit around doing nothing.”

  Tom heaved a deep sigh. “I know. Tell you what, I’ll ask the captain if I can talk to the passengers in the cabins located on the decks above ours. Ostensibly, Sanjay already did that, but maybe someone saw or heard something that has yet to be disclosed.”

  “What if Sanjay learned something important but chose to keep it to himself. Do you want me to help?”

  “No, I’ll get Bradford to come along with me. I have an idea for you, though. When we interviewed Mizuki, she shared the information about Sanjay and his blackmail schemes, but talking to her was like pulling out wisdom teeth. She might respond better to a woman. Someone who could coax her out of her shell.”

  “Right. And who’s b
etter than me at chit chat?”

  “You are indeed the chit chat queen.” He kissed my hand and took off, leaving me to wonder if my husband had complimented me or not. I finally shrugged and decided it didn’t matter. I had a job to do.

  It took longer to track Mizuki down than I originally anticipated. Neither Chopsticks nor the Lido Café were open yet. I finally discovered her clearing tables in the Seaside Café located by the pool.

  Only a few people lingered on this deck, including one couple frolicking in the pool and a foursome playing cards. The majority of the passengers might be getting dressed for a last evening at sea, or napping, something I wouldn’t mind doing myself. But my detective husband had assigned me a task, and I wanted to prove I could handle it.

  I tapped Mizuki on the shoulder and explained that the captain had asked me to speak with her. Indirectly he had, since he’d asked Tom to resolve the murder situation before we docked the next day.

  She deposited the tray of empty dishes back on the table. I asked her to sit, and she reluctantly did so, her trepidation obvious.

  With her dark almond-shaped eyes focused on me, I explained how Tom and I became involved in the investigation, and in particular, how important it was to me to erase any suspicions the captain might have about my cousin.

  “Ah, Sierra, she is your cousin.” Mizuki frowned as she looked me up and down.

  “No family resemblance as you can tell,” I said. “Sierra used to babysit me when I was a little kid.”

  Mizuki gave a small smile at my comment. “It is good when family take care of one another.”

  “Yes, it is. And the crew should also be looking out for one another. One big happy family, right?”

  Her small hands, previously resting on her lap, clenched together.

  “I guess that’s not the case on board the Celebration, is it?” I asked.

  She lowered her eyes but nodded slightly.

  “I understand that you were with Sanjay prior to his murder.”

  She nodded again.

  “Did you see anyone before or after you met with him?”