Strange Tidings

by Ivy Dawson

  There was something sad about a wrecked photo album. Whoever had made it put a lot of care into the album. There were little annotations on the bottom, and it looked worn. This was a cherished item.

  “The pictures were mixed,” Victor said, his voice sad. “Some were from before. I didn’t like looking at those, but they made my granny happy.”

  “Victor, do you have any idea about who would want to do this to your family? Do you have enemies? Maybe a disgruntled employee?”

  “A hundred million dollars means that we have a lot of enemies,” Victor quipped, rolling his eyes. “We have a lot of companies. I’m sure there are one or two employees who blame us for something. I just don’t think anyone would want to do this to us. We’re harmless. I don’t have any real power until I’m twenty-five. And my granny lets the board make all the big decisions now. She’s retired.”

  “When do you turn twenty-five?” Shae asked.

  “In a week. That’s why we’re taking this cruise.”

  “Do you think someone could be trying to kill you before that happens?”

  Victor looked at her in surprise and she shrugged at him. He was in a tough situation, but that didn’t mean that she had to coddle him. Bad things happened, and the only way through them was to deal with them properly.

  “Why would they want to do that?” Victor asked with a shrug. “I’ve been working for the company ever since I left college.”

  “What about Samuel? What does his return mean for the family and business?”

  “Nothing,” Victor scoffed, rolling his eyes. “My father never cared about the business. He just cared about his boats and his books. If that man really is my father, then all he gets is access to the family fortune. He’d get some shares in the company, but he signed away his responsibilities long before he disappeared.”

  “So, all he’d be getting is the money?” Shae asked slowly.

  “That’s enough for any con artist,” Victor said, shaking his head in annoyance. “If this guy pulls it off then he’s set for life. You wouldn’t believe how many times this has happened.”

  “Have any of them gotten this far?” Shae asked, leaning against the counter. She watched as Victor gathered all the pieces that were still recognizable.

  When he was done, she got a little dustpan out of one of the cupboards and started sweeping up the mess. He nodded gratefully and leaned against the counter. The he seemed to get bored and started opening cupboards, looking for something.

  “No, not really,” he admitted heavily, taking a cloth out of the cupboard. His voice was muffled as he walked into the little bathroom. “We usually let the police deal with those people. They weed out most of the imposters. Once someone got past the police, but then he didn’t recognize his old tortoise. My father had a tortoise, and we kept it.”

  “You’ve had it rough,” Shae said sympathetically. “I can understand why you wouldn’t want an imposter weaseling in. You’d do anything to stop that from happening to your family.”

  “Nice try,” Victor scoffed, walking out with a damp cloth. He waved her away and started wiping away the mess. “I know what you’re trying to do.”

  “What am I trying to do?” she asked innocently.

  “You’re trying to look sympathetic. So that you can get me to confess. It won’t work. I’m not doing any of this. Why would I burn my own family photos? He isn’t even in most of these.”

  “Sorry,” she said with a grin. “I’m just trying to find out what happened. Can’t trust anyone in this line of work.”

  “What a coincidence,” Victor said with a small smile. “I can’t trust anyone either. Being a Van Houghting isn’t an easy task.”

  “You’ve got a hundred million dollars to cushion the blow,” Shae said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. “Listen, did you ever have an employee named Estelle? Or maybe someone you knew?”

  “Estelle,” Victor said slowly, narrowing his eyes as he thought. “No, sorry. The name doesn’t sound familiar. I don’t know anyone with that name who worked with the family. I mean, maybe there’s someone in one of the offices or something.”

  “It was a long shot,” Shae said with a little sigh. She took her phone out and started typing a message to Alexa. They had to follow a different lead to find Estelle. A pit of worry had formed in Shae’s stomach, and she hoped that they’d find the old woman alive and well.

  “They’re taking a while in there,” Victor commented, biting his lip as he looked at the door. He looked down at his expensive watch, then back at the door.

  “It must be difficult for her,” Shae said sympathetically. “She lost a son. I’m sure she’s being as careful as possible. I’m sorry. This must be difficult for you too.”

  “A little,” Victor shrugged, tapping his foot impatiently. “I didn’t really know him when he disappeared. I was just a little kid.”

  “That’s right,” Shae said thoughtfully. “You were only four years old. Victor, who would be hurt if he really is Samuel?”

  “Why?” Victor asked with a frown.

  “All this started as soon as he got onboard. All of this has something to do with him. I think that maybe someone’s trying to stop you and Penny from verifying his identity.”

  “I don’t know,” Victor said, his face turning slightly pink, “but you’re right. This is his fault. He probably made enemies or something. I’m tired of waiting,” he looked at the door and let out a heavy breath. “I’m going to find out for myself.”

  He pushed himself away from the counter and marched toward the closed door.

  Chapter 6

  Victor opened the door with a flourish, and a surprised-looking Lucien met him on the other side. Both men blinked in surprise, then flushed in embarrassment.

  “Lucien,” Victor said amicably, a little of his fire dying out. “What’s going on?”

  “I just needed to talk to…” Lucien looked over Victor’s shoulder and made eye contact with Shae, “with her. I didn’t know she was here. I thought maybe I’d have to ask you where she is and then go find her.”

  “How can I help?” Shae asked, her mouth quirking up in amusement.

  Lucien’s English was excellent, but his strong French accent made the words sound different. It was charming, and she knew he probably used it to his advantage.

  Victor smiled at them, then marched across the hall and banged on the door. He didn’t wait before he let himself into the room. The door closed so quickly that she couldn’t see what the reaction on the other side was.

  “What’s going on over there?” Lucien asked in surprise.

  “He’s going to confront Samuel,” Shae said, shrugging slightly. “Why did you want to talk to me?”

  “I need to tell you something,” Lucien sighed, looking around suspiciously and playing with his fingers. “It’s about what happened earlier.”

  “Shae!” Alexa called, jogging down the hall. “Where are you? Something’s happened!”

  “In here,” Shae called, looking back at Lucien who flinched at the sound of someone else. She frowned slightly at him, but her attention was immediately drawn away by Alexa and Mark crashing into the room.

  “You’ll never guess what happened,” Alexa said, panting heavily. “It’s impossible You can’t guess.”

  “You’re wasting time,” Mark snapped at Alexa then looked at Shae. “We need you to come with us. I think we’ve found something.”

  Shae looked at Lucien who backed away slowly. He shook his head at her, and she was about to tell her friends to wait outside when he spoke.

  “I’ll talk to you when you’re done. Come to my room, we can talk safely there,” he took a pen out of his pocket and quickly wrote his room number on her hand before walking out.

  “What was all that about?” Alexa asked, watching Lucien leave.

  “You know relationships between guests and staff are forbidden,” Mark told her sternly. “You’d get fired immediately.”

  The thought seemed to
make him happy, and he smiled to himself. She narrowed her eyes at him. He’d just love it if she was fired and sent home in disgrace.

  “It’s not like that,” she told Mark in annoyance. “He’s got something he wants to tell me about the case. What’s going on with you two?”

  “We may have found Estelle,” Alexa said excitedly. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  Alexa grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room. Shae allowed herself to be dragged along, barely keeping up with Alexa’s brutal pace. They made their way to the top deck where a group of seniors were playing shuffleboard.

  “There,” Alexa said, pointing toward an old woman who looked an awful lot like Estelle from behind. “We asked the staff to look out for an old woman named Estelle, and they told us about her. We came to get you before we did anything else.”

  “Thanks,” Shae said absently, walking up to the woman and tapping her on the shoulder. Shae felt her heart pound in her chest. She hoped that they’d found Estelle and that this whole thing was over.

  The woman turned around and Shae felt her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach. It wasn’t Estelle.

  “What do you want?” the woman asked rudely. “I’m busy concentrating.”

  “I’m sorry, is your name Estelle?” Shae heard herself asking faintly. She was disappointed. The longer it took, the less hope she had of finding out if Estelle was okay. The worry ate at her stomach, and Shae felt a little nauseous. Where was the old woman? What happened to her?

  “No,” the woman said shortly.

  “Then why’d you write that on your scoreboard?” Alexa challenged, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at the old woman.

  “Some broad came over and paid her to do it,” the woman’s opponent said, leaning on his stick and eyeing them warily. “Marge said yes, because she’d do anything for money.”

  “Shut up, Owen,” Marge said, glaring at her opponent. “You would’ve done the same for less.”

  “I would’ve gotten more out of her,” Owen said proudly. “That woman would’ve given you more if you bargained.”

  “What did the woman look like?” Shae asked desperately, trying to get them back on track and save some time.

  Marge and Owen looked at her in annoyance, clearly not happy about being interrupted. She wondered if it would’ve been faster to let them argue.

  “She was a mess,” Owen said eventually, slowly looking Shae up and down.

  She felt an overwhelming urge to smack him but remembered that she needed his help and he had a big stick on his end. It wouldn’t end well for her.

  “Her hair was all wild and her clothes were dirty,” Marge supplied helpfully, not wanting to be outdone by Owen. He clicked his tongue at her, and she made an obscene gesture.

  Shae didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended.

  “Was she hurt?” Shae asked, deciding to move on and not be distracted by their antics.

  “She looked confused,” Owen said with a shrug, “like she wasn’t sure about something. She walked right onto our board, then asked Marge to change the name on the scoreboard to Estelle.”

  “First I thought that she was trying to steal my points or something,” Marge said fiercely, “but then she said she never played shuffleboard and she gave me fifty bucks to do it. So, I did it.”

  “Yes, but was she hurt?” Shae asked, trying not to become impatient.

  “No,” Owen shook his head, glaring at Shae. He didn’t appreciate being interrupted, or even when she interrupted Marge. It was clear the despite their rivalry, they had feelings for each other.

  “She had a cut on one arm,” Marge corrected him, “but that’s all. It didn’t look like anything happened. She was just confused. We get a lot of those ones around here. They get confused and start doing strange stuff. You get used to it.”

  Mark gave her a pointed look which she ignored. She thanked the old couple who both glared at her as she walked away.

  “Now what?” Alexa asked in despair.

  “Now we get back to the real problem,” Mark decided. “We’re not chasing after some crazy woman anymore. The Van Houghtings are in real danger.”

  “You saw Estelle’s room,” Shae protested. “You can’t say that nothing happened.”

  “I know what happened. Estelle is crazy, she destroyed her room, then panicked. She’s probably hiding somewhere on the ship. She’ll come back in a few hours. You’ll see.”

  “Someone was looking for something in Penny’s room too,” Shae said. “They were burning family pictures. What if that same person was looking through Estelle’s things too?”

  “It sounds like whoever was in Penny’s room knew what they were looking for and where to find it,” Mark pointed out. “They got in and got out. This means that we need to look at the family and their friends. People who know the family. You’d know that if you were more focused on the main case.”

  “I don’t agree with this,” Shae said stubbornly, pursing her lips.

  “I don’t care,” Mark said blithely. “I’m your boss. You do as I say. Now, go find out what’s going on here. I’ll go find Stefan and find out if he ever caught up to the intruder.”

  Shae watched him walk away, grinding her teeth in frustration. Something told her that Estelle was more important to all of this than she looked. Something happened in that cabin. Why would Estelle pay someone to use her name?

  The old woman may have been confused, but her actions were alarming.

  “What are we going to do?” Alexa asked, knowing her friend well enough to know that Shae wasn’t about to give up.

  “I think we should go talk to Lucien,” Shae said with a sigh. “I hate to admit it, but he’s right. That’s what’s more important right now. When we’re done, we can go look for her. Marge said that Estelle was fine. We have to believe that for now.”

  Alexa nodded and they made their way to Lucien’s bunk. As they were walking, they noticed Remy and Jax talking near the entrance.

  “Jax,” Shae said, feeling excited to see him.

  She smiled sweetly at him, and his face brightened when he saw her. He held out an arm and gave her a quick side-hug. She put both her arms around him, enjoying the sensation before quickly stepping away.

  “Little sleuth,” Remy said, smiling at them. He seemed to be more focused on Alexa and she looked pleased. “How is the case?”

  While Lucien spoke with a thick French accent, Remy had a slight Italian accent. Victor did seem to have a diverse group of friends.

  “It’s going well,” she said, nodding at him. “We’re just about to go talk to Lucien. He wanted to talk to me about something. Do you want to come with?”

  She directed the last part of the question at Jax who nodded at her.

  “I don’t have any work right now,” Jax said with a shrug.

  “Are you sure we can go with?” Remy asked hesitantly, looking down the hallway.

  “I’m sure it will be fine,” Shae said, waving her hand dismissively.

  Remy nodded, and quickly walked in, holding the door open for them. When they were through, he made sure that he was walking in front with Alexa. She smiled at him and he winked at her.

  Before long, they were standing outside Lucien’s door. Remy knocked, and leaned against the wall. He seemed to want to say something to Alexa, but before he could, they heard a pained groan inside.

  They looked at each other in alarm, and quickly opened the door. Alexa gasped and quickly turned away while Remy ran to his friend and crouched by him.

  Lucien was holding his stomach, but it was too late. He turned his head to the doorway, and his mouth moved when he saw Shae. She stepped in behind everyone else, noticing the shattered glass on the floor. She bent down and picked up one of the pieces.

  Someone had smashed on of the vases.

  “Sa…” Lucien gasped, and Remy held his friend up, tears streaming down his face. “Fee. Sa… fee.”

  “Get help!” Remy shouted, looking up at t
hem.

  Shae turned around to start running, but she found herself face-to-face with a masked gunman. He was short, with a scarf around his face, and he held a gun right at them. He looked at Shae and turned the gun to her.

  Jax leapt at the gunman and pushed his hand away while Shae jumped forward and viciously brought the piece of glass down on the gunman’s arm. There was a guttural yell as he dropped the gun and ran.

  Shae cursed as she released the piece of glass, it had cut into her skin painfully, and drops of blood were rolling down her arm. Jax stopped when he heard her, and quickly took her hand to make sure she was okay instead of chasing after the gunman. She was about to berate him when Remy let out a pained shout.

  They looked over at them. It was too late to help Lucien.

  “He’s dead,” Shae said angrily, feeling frustrated by her inability to save the poor man who asked for her help.

  “At least we’ve got this,” Jax said, bending down and picking up the gun. “Now we’ve got his fingerprints.”

  Chapter 7

  “How could this happen?” Mark said, obviously seething. He was pacing up and down outside of Lucien’s cabin. “This is the second death today. What’s wrong with you people?”

  “Us?” Alexa asked indignantly. “We were here. Where were you, Mr. Boss Man?”

  “I was busy investigating!” Mark rounded on her furiously and Shae flinched slightly. Alexa didn’t think before she spoke, and Mark was on a warpath. “I found your old woman for you!”

  “Estelle?” Shae asked, stepping forward. “Where is she? Is she okay?”

  “She’s crazy,” Mark sneered, turning to her. “She doesn’t know anything. You wasted your time on the crazy woman and let our one lead die.”

  “I nearly died too,” Shae protested, “and now the shooter’s injured. All we have to do is find a person with a gash on their arm. And we’ve got the gun now. We can test for fingerprints.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Mark said sarcastically. “Let’s stop every guest on deck and ask them to show us their arms. What a brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think about that?”