“That’s what Cavanaugh wanted, but did he know that at the time Lady Em was killed?”
Alvirah shook her head dismissively. “Celia probably didn’t tell him, because it would have meant admitting that she saw Lady Em the night before she died. I’m pretty sure we’re the only ones Celia trusted with that information. But I just don’t believe Cavanaugh would kill anyone. He’s from such a nice family. I mean his father was an ambassador twice.”
“A lot of people from nice families turn out to be killers,” Willy commented.
Alvirah ignored that possibility. “Let’s think about it. Who else has been at our tables?”
“Devon Michaelson?”
“Oh, of course, he could be the one, but somehow I don’t think so. I mean, he was on this ship to scatter his wife’s ashes, poor soul. He probably spends most of his time hiding from Anna DeMille. Let’s get back to Professor Longworth. He travels a lot. He’s a regular speaker on these cruises, just as Celia is.”
“Except that Longworth is retired. Celia has a full-time job at Carruthers.”
“She hopes she has a full-time job. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen because that miserable former fiancé of hers has been trying to portray her as a thief.”
“Well, he’ll have no luck, I’m sure of that.”
“He may have no luck tying her to his fraud, but that hasn’t stopped him from making Celia’s life miserable.”
“And honey, I’m getting worried. What are we going to do with this necklace when we get to Southampton or when we fly home?” As he spoke, Willy fumbled in his pants pocket but then was reassured when his fingers touched the emerald necklace.
“We get home, call Ted Cavanaugh and turn the necklace over to him.”
“And how do we explain that we have it?”
“I’m still working on that,” Alvirah said. “Giving the necklace to Ted is what Lady Em wanted. Ted is right. It belongs to the people of Egypt. Cleopatra was their queen.”
“A lot of luck it brought her.” Willy stared at his empty cup but knew Alvirah would not want him to signal the waiter back.
“I still have questions about Yvonne,” Alvirah reflected, “but think about it this way: someone will do anything, even kill, to get that necklace, agreed?”
“Agreed,” Willy echoed.
“That someone killed Lady Em and tried to kill Brenda, but still didn’t get the necklace.”
“That makes sense, at least as far as we can figure it so far.”
“The Captain could have announced that the necklace was secure in his safe, but he hasn’t done that. What does that tell the killer?”
“That somebody else, one of the passengers, has it.”
“So if you’re the killer, whether you’re somebody we know on the ship or this Man with One Thousand Faces, and you’re trying to figure out who has the necklace, and you know it wasn’t Lady Em or Roger or Brenda, who would you guess has it?”
“Celia Kilbride,” Willy said promptly.
“That’s the way my mind is going,” Alvirah confirmed. “There’s no question that with the killer still on the loose, Celia is in grave danger.”
She looked down and realized she had only swallowed a few sips of her coffee. Resisting the urge to grab it, she pushed it over to Willy. “I’ve been watching you staring at your empty cup. You could use a little more.”
“Thank you,” Willy said, as he eagerly reached for the cup.
“Willy, it’s up to you and me to make sure that nothing happens to Celia before we get to Southampton.”
“If we get to Southampton,” Willy said, as they felt a particularly dramatic roll of the ship.
Day Six
85
After speaking to Alvirah and Ted, Celia reveled in the luxurious feeling of having nothing to do. No more lectures, she thought, just a final day of R & R before Southampton.
She threw back the down comforter, got out of bed, stretched and walked over to her balcony door. She slid it back and felt a stiff, cool, breeze, which made her nightgown flutter. The sea that had been very stormy and rough yesterday was only slightly calmer this morning.
Celia phoned and ordered scrambled eggs, an English muffin and coffee. When it was delivered, there was the daily newspaper also on the tray. She was tempted to ignore it, but she couldn’t resist the temptation to glance through it.
Not surprisingly, there was no mention of what happened to Lady Em or the necklace, but there was a notice about Steven’s case. His bail had been raised after the People magazine article in which he openly admitted guilt, the judge saying that he considered Steven an enhanced flight risk. “You bet he is,” Celia said aloud. She pushed away the thought that as soon as she got home she would have to meet with the FBI to be questioned again.
She finished breakfast, lingered over coffee, then slowly got up and turned on both the shower and the steamer in her bathroom. This is heaven, she thought, as she stood in the shower and washed her hair. She felt as though every pore in her body was expelling fear and apprehension. She turned off the shower, put lotion on her face and body and felt infinitely refreshed.
As she dressed, her mind was elsewhere. She was trying to work out what she would say if it became known that she had had the Cleopatra necklace in her suite the night of Lady Em’s murder.
Why would anyone believe that Lady Em gave it to me? she wondered. The answer was, they wouldn’t. Focus on the present, she ordered herself as she tied her robe back on, turned on the hair dryer and brushed her hair. After touching up her face with makeup, she went to the closet. She pulled out the new workout suit she had bought for the trip.
Don’t be silly, she told herself as she dressed. Ted Cavanaugh doesn’t have the slightest interest in me, especially after that article in People. He’s the kind of guy any woman would want. He was just being thoughtful when he asked me to have lunch with him.
It was still early, but when she was finished dressing, she looked in the mirror. She then went to the safe and took out the small gold earrings that her father had given her when she left for college.
He had said, “They were your mother’s. Now I want you to have them.” Then he added, “You have her face, her eyes and her laugh.”
What was my mother like? Celia asked herself. I suppose I should have missed her more than I did, but I was so young and Daddy was always there for me, day and night. I wonder if I demanded too much from him. Maybe he would have met and fallen in love with someone else if he hadn’t always been so concerned about me. It wasn’t a pleasant thought. I’ve been so selfish to blame him for my problems. It would have been more honest to blame myself. I’ve been blaming him for dying before I met Steven, for not being there to give advice.
What made me so anxious to fall in love? I was stupid. Absolutely stupid. But I know one thing. Daddy is with my mother, and I’m sure that he is happy.