A Cruise to Murder

by Dawn Brookes

  “Look at him!” Rachel exclaimed as she saw a man dressed in a skin-tight suit, painted gold and balancing upside-down on one hand, staying absolutely still.

  “Human statues,” remarked Sarah. “People have their photos taken beside them and put money into the caps or containers. Look, there’s someone doing just that.”

  Rachel watched a child standing next to the man while his mum took a photo on her mobile phone. The child then put some coins into the man’s gold top hat.

  “It makes a change from busking,” said Sarah.

  “Indeed it does. Oh, I do like it here, Sarah.”

  “I knew you would. Come on, let’s keep walking.”

  The two young women spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering up and down Las Ramblas, and Rachel bought a Barcelona tea towel for her mum and a pair of brightly coloured socks for her dad with a picture of Barcelona’s football stadium sewn into them. It was only when they sat down to have coffee and ice cream that they discussed the events of the past few days.

  “Graham did decide to alert the captain to your suspicions, and the captain was aware of the report given by the Portuguese police, but there is not much else that can be done. The captain and Graham agree with your view that the killer, if there is one, believes he has been successful and that Marjorie should be safe.”

  “I do hope so,” replied Rachel. “But what if he sees her?”

  And what if Carlos is involved? She kept that thought to herself.

  “The Captain has alerted security but they have nothing to go on. No description and no real evidence that it was a murder at all, when it comes down to it.”

  “You’re right, it could all just be a nasty sequence of coincidences, I suppose.” Rachel hoped rather than believed this to be true.

  “He has also assigned a security officer to keep an eye out for Marjorie, but it will be difficult because they have so much to do with actual disturbances that go on throughout the ship. They had to arrest someone last night and found cocaine in his luggage. Thankfully only for personal use, but we do get drugs on board as we can’t search all the passengers’ luggage.”

  By the time Rachel returned to the ship, she felt quite calm. Sarah went back to work and Rachel went and sat on her balcony. The late afternoon sun glittered, and Rachel dreamily enjoyed the weather while watching the coaches returning way down below her.

  It was getting close to sail away time when she saw what she assumed were the final two coaches arriving. She watched as passengers got off, and became alert when she saw Marjorie being assisted from the penultimate coach. Rachel was pleased that Marjorie had made it out for the day and watched as she stood upright.

  She was about to look away when, to her horror, she saw Carlos get off of the same coach about ten people behind Marjorie. Reaching for her binoculars, Rachel focussed the lenses on him. It was hard to see whether he was following Marjorie or whether this was yet another coincidence.

  Rachel put the glasses down as her heart sank into the pit of her stomach and her head throbbed. Had she been right to be suspicious of Carlos?

  Dear God, no! she pleaded.

  Chapter 17

  The man was livid when he got back to the ship. He had gone on land to check his bank account, but no money had been added. He had then spent most of the day trying to get his mobile phone to work. It was a burner phone he had picked up a day before the cruise so that it couldn’t be traced, but the damn thing wasn’t working.

  I’ll kill that stupid man when I get hold of him.

  Then he caught sight of the woman and couldn’t believe his eyes. He joined the coach trip she was on, bribing the driver, and confirmed it was her. How had she survived?

  It gradually dawned on him that he had killed the wrong woman and he felt a knot in his stomach. He had relaxed for the past couple of days as the adrenaline had subsided and he had started to let his guard down again. He always liked to celebrate his kills with a woman and he had just the one in mind. He couldn’t believe his bad luck.

  When he got back to the ship, he was angry, but from his calm outward demeanour, nobody would have known it. Years of preparation and training as a hitman had given him the ability to hide his feelings beneath an outwardly charming facade. After his first kill at the age of seventeen, when he had been sick for two weeks, he had been determined that this would never happen again, and he had trained himself well. He kept to a rigid routine of exercise and mental discipline, teaching himself to behave perfectly normally, even moments after a kill.

  He wasn’t keen on killing a woman in her eighties, and now he had killed another one by accident. This had never happened before. Doubts about this job plagued him again. It wasn’t his normal hit and he had been in two minds about taking it, but money was tight and he needed the work. A killer always needed to stay in practise; he’d heard of others who lost the edge when they had big gaps in between jobs. He was stashing money away so that he could retire at forty because he didn’t want to be in the killing game for ever. It wasn’t something he took pleasure in, but he did take a certain pride in his work, and he had never failed an assignment before.

  The mobile signal was working again; it had been off all day, in spite of his being on land. He looked at the screen: sixteen missed calls. Blast! Well, at least he knew what this was all about.

  He was about to do a call back when the phone rang in his hand. Cursing to himself, he answered.

  “You damn well missed her, you idiot. You said it was done! I’ve been trying to get you for two days.”

  “Calm down, will you. I saw her today so I realised. What happened?”

  “You tell me!” The shouting continued down the phone. “You killed the wrong woman. What kind of killer are you? You need to get this done and it needs to look like an accident, which might prove difficult now. Do they suspect anything?”

  “No, no. I heard the crew talking when I got back to the ship the other day and they said there had been an accident. It’s fine, no-one suspects. I will do it, but I need to leave it a few days for the memory of the other one to die down, just in case. There’s still plenty of time.”

  “Make sure you do and text me when it’s done. No mistakes this time. Remember to use this number.”

  The man on the other end of the line hung up; he hadn’t even sounded concerned that someone else had been killed.

  Well, if he doesn’t care, I certainly don’t. I’m not in the business of caring, but I guess I am going to have to pull back a bit on the relationship that I’ve been developing. Just when things were starting to get interesting.

  He made his way down to the bar and ordered a brandy, before starting his planning.

  This one would have to be different.

  Chapter 18

  Marjorie enjoyed a pleasant day out on the coach tour, although she couldn’t help thinking about Freda and how her family must be feeling. There was also the nagging doubt that perhaps Freda had been pushed, and if so – who would want to do such a thing? The concern about the fact that Freda had been wearing her hat and coat had subsided somewhat as Marjorie persuaded herself that there was no way she could have been the intended victim. She mulled over in her mind whether anyone would want her killed and the idea was preposterous. Although Jeremy stood to inherit everything when she died, the business had always been profitable, giving him a very generous salary and bonuses.

  Marjorie had tried really hard to dispel all of these thoughts from her mind, and she felt the tears falling down her cheeks as she wished Ralph was still alive. He would have known exactly what was going on and would have reassured her that she had just witnessed a terrible accident and was in shock. This made her feel better as she felt the warmth of Ralph sitting next to her once again, whispering words of comfort. Sometimes the pain of losing him was too much to bear. Freda had understood that, and the only consolation that Marjorie could gain from the tragedy was that Freda was now with her beloved husband.

  Not being one to dw
ell in self-pity, Marjorie resolved to pull herself together. Ralph had made her promise that she would make the best of life if he departed before her and said he would be keeping an eye on her from above to make sure she did, and she smiled at the thought. The coach tour guide was starting to explain exactly where they were on their journey and she put the headphones in to listen.

  The tour took in the Olympic Ring on the outskirts of the city before heading on to Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, the cathedral. Most of the tour involved sitting and listening, which was all Marjorie could manage today anyway because her bones still ached from the hypothermia she had experienced. Dr Bentley had not wanted her to go on a tour at all today, but she had persuaded him to let her in spite of his reservations.

  Everyone had been so kind, and if it had not been for Rachel, she didn’t know what would have become of her. Spending time with Rachel had renewed her faith in young people; she was such a kind and caring girl, and the sadness that had been in her eyes at the start of the cruise had started to dissipate. Marjorie was determined that Rachel should be allowed to enjoy her holiday and she didn’t want her feeling that she needed to look after a silly old woman who had got herself into a fix.

  The guide was talking about thousands of years of Barcelona history and famous sights such as monasteries and basilicas when Marjorie drifted off to sleep. She was brought to a sudden awakening when the coach stopped, and as she opened her eyes, she saw that they were back at the ship. The tour guide helped her to her feet as she had stiffened up a little and the driver lifted her down the steps on to the ground. Marjorie gave them both a gratuity and thanked them for the tour before one of the crew members arrived to escort her back on board the Coral Queen.

  “Did you have a nice trip, ma’am?” he asked as he handed her an iced flannel to refresh herself with, followed by a cool drink of squash.

  “Yes, thank you, it was interesting.”

  “I will accompany you on board, madam.”

  Marjorie looked at the smart man who offered her his arm, detecting an Australian accent.

  “There’s really no need,” she replied. “I can manage.”

  “Doctor’s orders, madam.”

  “Oh well, in that case.” Marjorie gratefully took the young man’s arm and was pleased of the support as she was starting to feel a little lightheaded. These dizzy spells had worsened since she’d been in the hospital ward, and she wasn’t sure whether they were a normal reaction to what she had experienced or something else. She hadn’t yet mentioned them to anyone, but thought she might need to if they continued.

  Once she was safely back on board ship, she was escorted all the way to her stateroom where she ordered a pot of coffee as she was too tired to make tea. The stateroom had been cleaned and left looking immaculate by Josie, who had topped up the tea supplies. It had been another very hot day and she was pleased to be in her air-conditioned room.

  The telephone rang in her room.

  “Hello, Mother.” She heard Jeremy’s voice at the other end. “I understand you have been unwell.”

  His tone was crisp and to the point. “Yes, it was an awful event. I met a friend on board and she fell into the road and was run over. I was in shock and they say I suffered hypothermia.”

  “Well I hope you will be more careful in the future, Mother. Are you well now?”

  “Yes, I am much better, thank you. There was a lovely girl—”

  “Sorry, Mother. I can’t speak for long. I have to go into a meeting. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. Bye.”

  “Bye, I love you.” She knew he had hung up before she finished.

  Oh well, at least he called.

  Chapter 19

  It had been six days since Freda had died and Rachel was beginning to put it to the back of her mind, deciding it was just an unfortunate accident after all. The doctor and the captain had arrived at the same conclusion and everybody was more relaxed.

  That afternoon, Sarah had explained to Rachel that the Portuguese police had allowed Freda’s body to be released for repatriation to Scotland, also concluding that it had been an accidental death. They could not confirm the boy’s story, and none of the other witnesses had seen anything sinister or suspicious.

  “It looks like the boy had an overactive imagination after all.”

  “Yes, I’m sure you’re right,” agreed Rachel. “Marjorie seems much happier in herself, too. She says she has been feeling jittery since her husband died and the accident sent her into shock.”

  “Well the captain has had her followed for the past five days since she left the infirmary and nothing suspicious has been spotted by the undercover crew members, so he has called them off.”

  “Did Marjorie know?”

  “No, no-one knew, not even Graham. The captain kept it all very hush-hush until he was sure that she wasn’t being followed. They checked off all the passengers on the same trips, and apart from a family from Ontario, there was no overlap. The poor family has been police checked and everything, and there are no links to the UK at all, let alone to Lady Snellthorpe or her family.”

  “That’s wonderful news,” Rachel said.

  “Now you can concentrate on that dishy Italian, at last!” Sarah laughed. “I’ve got a date myself tonight with the deputy head of security. We got to know each other when I had to explain what had happened to Marjorie.”

  “You kept that under your belt.” Rachel giggled.

  “It only happened today. Hot off the press, and you are the first to know, of course.”

  Rachel had left Sarah to go and get ready for her evening, and had stopped in on Marjorie before returning to her own room. They were ten days into the cruise and nothing further had caused any concerns. Marjorie’s son had phoned her twice and this seemed to please the old lady, although Rachel still got the impression they were not overly close.

  Rachel beamed at the thought of seeing Carlos. As Marjorie seemed so much happier, she could now unwind and enjoy her time with Carlos without suspecting him of any wrong-doing. She had only managed to spend a little bit of time with him over the past few days as he had been distracted.

  “Work stuff,” he had explained when she’d asked. However, this evening, he was taking her to the theatre after dinner.

  She was excited and nervous at the prospect of spending some time with Carlos after the evening meal. Choosing a casual cotton summer dress with short sleeves, she put on a pair of white sling-back sandals. Her skin was starting to look tanned and it gave her a healthy glow. She spent time applying a thin layer of makeup that complemented her features, and she was pleased with the result.

  Carlos was waiting for her outside the dining room and he escorted her to the now familiar table. Conversation flowed freely as each of the dinner companions had developed a familiar, relaxed camaraderie. Sue and Greg had been initially reserved, but even they engaged in quips and teases at the table.

  Jean looked at Rachel. “Beautiful as ever,” she remarked and Rachel blushed as she felt all eyes move towards her. She bore her beauty in a reserved way and didn’t think about it until people brought it to her attention.

  She changed the subject. “Have you been off ship today?” The ship had been docked at the island of Corsica, and was now on the way to the final stop before the return home, Gibraltar.

  Jean and Brenda didn’t usually venture too far from the ship as they liked to be close by. Brenda suffered from health anxiety, and although she was making progress, she still found new places difficult to explore in a totally relaxed way. Jean appeared to accept this and was supportive of her friend.

  It was Brenda who replied. “Yes, we did today. We went on a tour to an aromatherapy craft factory, and then went on to a vineyard for wine tasting and ate locally made nougat.”

  “Oh, I am envious,” Florence chipped in. “We nearly went on that trip, but we went for a walk around the old town by ourselves today. David said he couldn’t take another coach tour.”

  Florence gav
e David a pretend glare and he squeezed her arm.

  “Sorry, love, next time.”

  The dining room was busy this evening, and Stavros and Geraldine were rushed off their feet. Lobster was on the menu, and most of those at Table 305 chose that as the main course.

  “I think we will all be needing to shape up when we get back home,” said Greg as he watched his wife finish up her dessert. Sue had a healthy appetite, and Greg reminded her of it frequently, which Rachel had found embarrassing at times. Sue actually took no notice of him whatsoever in this regard and chomped her way through as much food as was laid on the table.

  As dinner finished, each couple gradually dispersed, leaving Carlos and Rachel alone together, finishing an after-dinner cappuccino.

  “It is nice to have you to myself for a while,” said Carlos as he gazed into her eyes.

  Rachel liked having his attention, and although she wanted the relationship to develop, she still had reservations about a holiday fling and where it would lead. There was also a much smaller, but still nagging doubt about who this man was. He gave nothing away, and even exercising all of her womanly charm, she barely knew anything about him. He said he wanted to forget about life onshore and enjoy the moment. Above all else, Rachel feared he was married. She had almost cleared him of any involvement with Marjorie, but if he was married, that would explain his secrecy.

  Rachel decided that although she wanted to enjoy this night, she had to find out more about this man if they were to become anything other than friends. She opened her mouth to ask him, but before she got the opportunity, he leaned in towards her and kissed her lightly on the lips. She pulled away slightly, aware of waiters and other diners still in the vicinity.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  “Please don’t do that,” she responded, knowing that she was sounding silly and her voice had taken on a slightly higher pitch. She turned, took her shawl from the back of the chair and walked away before he had the opportunity to move.