“No one from the ship has contacted me about the necklace,” Celia said uncomfortably.
“And wasn’t there a curse on the necklace that said anyone who brought it to sea would not reach shore alive?”
Celia’s mind was filled with the thought of Lady Em joking about the curse. “Yes,” she said. “According to legend, a curse along those lines is associated with the necklace.”
“Thank you, Celia Kilbride, and thank you to everyone in our audience,” Breidenbach said as he stood up and the audience began to applaud.
66
Yvonne, Valerie Conrad and Dana Terrace had attended Celia’s lecture. Afterward they went down to the Edwardian Bar for a cocktail. Yvonne had explained to her friends that she simply could not bear to be alone in her suite. “Every moment that I’m in there,” she said, her voice trembling and sad, “I see Roger. And I live again that terrible moment when he leaned back, then raised his arms as he fell. I was at the door of the balcony and I warned him, ‘Roger, please don’t sit on the railing. You’ll fall overboard.’
“He laughed and said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m a good swimmer.’?” She managed to squeeze a tear out of her right eye.
Valerie and Dana cooed in sympathy. “It must have been so awful for you,” Valerie said. “I can’t imagine anything so horrible,” Dana joined in.
“I’ll have to live with that memory every day of my life,” Yvonne lamented.
“Have you thought about funeral arrangements or a memorial service?” Dana asked.
“I’ve barely been able to think straight,” Yvonne said. “But of course I’ll have a memorial service. I think two weeks from now would be appropriate under the circumstances.” And by then I should have the insurance money, Yvonne thought.
“I heard about the ceremony where the man scattered his wife’s ashes,” Dana said.
“At least he had her ashes to throw over,” Yvonne replied.
“Yvonne, we hope you’re going to be okay,” Valerie said as she patted Yvonne’s hand. “Did Roger have life insurance?”
“Yes, he did, thank God. He had a five-million-dollar policy. But, of course, we have other assets, stocks and bonds.”
“Well, that’s good because I’m pretty sure the insurance company won’t pay right away unless the body is recovered.”
Yvonne hadn’t thought of that potential delay. She made a silent prayer of thanksgiving that Lady Em had been murdered before she was able to order an outside review of her finances.
“Yvonne, it’s much too early to say this, but try to look ahead,” Valerie said. “You’re attractive. You’re young. You don’t have children or other baggage. You’ll be a wealthy widow. I’m sorry about poor Roger, but there is a bright side to all this. If you had been divorced, you would have had to split everything with Roger. This way you get it all.”
“Oh, I never thought of it like that,” Yvonne murmured, as she shook her head.
“We’ll be on the lookout for a suitable guy for you,” Dana promised.
Having settled Yvonne’s future over a second cocktail, they turned their attention to Celia Kilbride.
“That lecture was actually very interesting,” Yvonne said.
“She certainly doesn’t look like anyone who would suffocate an old woman,” Valerie observed. “You were sitting with her, Yvonne. What was your impression of her when you met her with the other people at the table?”
“Pretty quiet, but I guess she has a lot on her mind. I wouldn’t want to be interrogated by the FBI.” And I would be if Lady Em were still alive, she thought. For all I know Roger might have included my name on some of the documents he used to cover the theft. If Celia is the one who killed Lady Em, I say, “God bless her.”
“If Celia has the necklace, what is she going to do with it?” Dana asked. “I mean it’s priceless. But unless she sells it to a Saudi prince, I don’t know who would buy it.”
“My guess is that she’d break it up into individual emeralds,” Valerie chimed in. “She’d get a fortune for every one of them. Don’t forget, she’s in the business. She must know plenty of buyers who wouldn’t question the source.”
The three turned their attention to Ted Cavanaugh. “Beyond handsome,” they agreed.
“And did you notice how he was trying to get close to Lady Em? The first night when Lady Em took a seat at a table, he rushed to get the table next to hers,” Yvonne said. “I was sitting next to Lady Em and I could see that he almost knocked over people to grab the table to our left. He sat with the lottery winners, Devon Michaelson, the bereaved widower who probably had a girlfriend even before his wife’s death, and the church lady from the Midwest . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“What about the Shakespeare guy?” Dana asked.
“The one whose eyebrows keep going up and down,” Valerie suggested as she imitated him with her own eyebrows.
“Exactly,” Dana verified. “I would say he doesn’t look like the type of person who would kill anyone.”
“No, but he sure enjoys talking about murder,” Yvonne insisted. Her voice deepened, “?‘Out, damn spot! Out, I say! Will all the waters in the ocean wash this blood from my hands?’ Or something like that.”
Dana and Valerie went into gales of laughter. “You do a great Lady Macbeth,” Dana said. “Now, what’s wrong with having another Manhattan cocktail?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Valerie agreed as she signaled for the waiter.
67
Ted Cavanaugh attended the jewelry discussion and was impressed by Celia’s speaking skills as she answered all the questions that were tossed at her. He was also once again aware of the fact that she was a beautiful woman. And he admired her poise as she handled a question about Lady Em’s death.
Everyone in the audience had to have been aware of the People article and its allegation from her former fiancé that she conspired with him on the theft, Ted thought.
After it was over, a number of people in the audience waited to speak with her. As the last one left, Ted got up and stopped Celia near the door. They had exchanged greetings at the cocktail party, but that was all.
He said, “Celia, I hope you remember me from the Captain’s cocktail party. Ted Cavanaugh,” he said, extending his hand. “After all that talking, your throat must be dry. Why don’t we have a glass of wine or a cocktail?”
Celia’s first instinct was to refuse, but she hesitated. She definitely did not look forward to being alone with the constant weight of her thoughts. And the weight of the necklace, she added silently.
“That would be nice,” she answered.
“The Regency Bar is nearest. Why don’t we try it?”
“Sounds fine to me.”