She did not have time to pursue that thought, as the phone rang. It was Ted. “Is it okay if I come by in a few minutes to pick you up?”
“All set whenever you are.”
When he tapped on the door, she opened it. She could see the approval in his eyes as he linked her hand in his. “It’s pretty rocky out there,” he said. “I think it would be a good idea to hold on to each other.”
Celia snapped her lips closed before she could say, “Gladly, Ted, gladly.”
86
Gregory Morrison went to the Queen’s Lounge for breakfast reluctantly. He had no desire to see the questioning looks on people’s faces or answer their stupid questions about whether he thought anyone else was going to be suffocated or strangled. But it would look as if he were hiding from them if he took his meals in his room.
As if he didn’t have enough to worry about, Captain Fairfax had called him to say the storm was intensifying instead of diminishing. Dr. Blake told him the infirmary was getting overwhelmed by passengers with cases of seasickness. This is just great, he thought to himself bitterly. On my beautiful ship, if you were lucky enough to not get suffocated or strangled, you spent part of the voyage with your head in the toilet.
He had one consolation. Brenda Martin had not already come to her table. She’s probably in the galley torturing the pastry chef, he decided.
The truth was that the rolling of the ship had made Brenda queasy. She had been forced to cancel her plan to make her way to the lower three floors and regale the rest of the passengers by sharing her damsel-in-distress story with them.
Professor Longworth and Yvonne were at the table. Morrison was too distracted to realize that Yvonne was eyeing him with interest. She had researched him online and learned that he had been divorced for ten years and had no children. Besides being the sole owner of Queen Charlotte, he was also the owner of a fleet of twenty ships that specialized in river cruises. He’s sixty-six, she thought. About twenty years older than me, but that’s not too bad. I’ll have to invite him to visit East Hampton around Easter.
She smiled as Morrison chose a seat next to her. What was he saying? Oh, yes, “Did you realize that Queen Charlotte is in no way responsible when a passenger falls overboard?” We’ll see about that, she thought, as she gave him an even bigger smile. Then she noticed that a crew member had rushed over to Captain Fairfax and was whispering something to him. She watched as a surprised expression came over the Captain’s face, and he hurried over to Morrison.
“I need to have a word with you, Mr. Morrison. Please excuse us, ma’am,” Fairfax said as they moved a few feet away. The Captain spoke too softly for her to hear, but there was no mistaking Morrison’s response: “You mean the poor guy was floating for almost eleven hours?”
Oh, no, oh my God, no, Yvonne thought, but she made sure her expression revealed none of that as Morrison walked quickly toward her and said, “Wonderful news, Mrs. Pearson. Your husband was picked up by a passing ship. He has pneumonia, but he is recovering fast. He’ll be in Southampton one day after us.”
“Oh, I don’t know what to say,” Yvonne managed to utter before she closed her eyes and fainted.
87
Time was running out. Tomorrow at dawn they would dock in Southampton. There was less than twenty-four hours left to get the Cleopatra necklace. He had been so sure that Brenda was the one Lady Em would have trusted with it. Obviously, he had been wrong.
Who else? he asked himself as he paced the promenade deck.
It did not trouble him in the least that Brenda had lived. Her account about what happened in her room made it clear she had no idea who attacked her. He wondered what had motivated her to make up a story that her assailant had stolen a pearl necklace from her room.
By pulling the pillowcase over her head and then throwing her in the closet, he had been able to search her cabin. The Cleopatra necklace was not there.
He had not wanted to kill Brenda any more than he had wanted to kill Lady Em. But Lady Em woke up in time to get a clear look at him and might have seen through his disguise. With Brenda, it was a close call. He hadn’t even closed the door to his room when he heard the butler knocking on the door to her suite.
At the Captain’s cocktail party he had overheard the Captain asking Lady Em to allow him to keep the necklace in his private safe. Suppose she had changed her mind and decided to give it to him? She had not been feeling well that last night. But she had the necklace on as she went back to her room.
She had refused to let Brenda accompany her. Actually, Lady Em had appeared very cool toward Brenda that evening. He wondered if she was mad at her for some reason. If so, this would explain why she didn’t call Brenda to come and take the necklace.
Who was left that she might have trusted? Probably Roger, but he had fallen overboard. She didn’t seem close to Yvonne. And certainly Yvonne looked bored whenever Lady Em spoke. The Man with One Thousand Faces was angry at himself. He should have thought this through more carefully before he went to Brenda’s room and waited for her.
Was there anyone else? His mind kept returning to Celia Kilbride. Lady Em had made it a point to have the young gemologist sit at her table. She had been in the front row for both of her jewelry lectures. It was apparent from one of the questions Lady Em asked that the two knew each other and had a cordial relationship. Lady Em appeared to enjoy talking to Celia more than she did to her late financial advisor or her personal assistant.
Did the Captain’s request to put the necklace in his safe make her nervous? Had he told her that the Man with One Thousand Faces might be on board? If that had happened and all of a sudden she was worried about the necklace, whom would she trust with it? It made sense. She would give it to the friendly young gemologist.
He reached into his sports jacket and searched the passenger registry for Celia Kilbride’s name. Her room was a short walk down the hallway from Lady Em’s suite.
She has to be the one, he decided.
88
Yvonne was helped to her cabin by two stewards. She asked them to settle her into one of the club chairs and then insisted they leave. The ramifications of Roger having survived the fall were settling in on her. What do I do if he says I pushed him? she asked herself. I will absolutely deny it. We both had had a lot to drink. I already said I was in the restroom before he went over. Then when I came out and he wasn’t there, I was so afraid that something might have happened. That’s when I called for help.