With a sigh of relief Celia closed the door of her suite and dropped her evening bag on the coffee table. It seemed like such a long time ago that she had shared lunch with Alvirah and Willy and been comforted by Alvirah’s cheery optimism that all would be well. She knew that some of the passengers had recognized her as the ex-fiancée and, perhaps, co-conspirator of Steven Thorne. Several times she happened to glance around and catch the embarrassed expression of someone who was looking directly at her.
For long minutes she sat on the edge of the bed trying to tell herself that she must not give up. Now she wondered if it had been a mistake to wear the gown tonight. She had received many compliments on it, but possibly the people who made them had been wondering if it had been bought for her by Steven with other people’s money. It might even be possible that some of his investors were on the ship now. He had cut a wide swath with the groups of people who fell for his enticing offer of spectacular returns.
I’m not doing myself any good with this kind of thinking, she told herself as she reached up to take off her earrings. At that moment the phone rang.
The caller did not waste time on a greeting. “Celia, this is Lady Em. This is an outrageous request, but could you possibly come to my suite now? It’s very, very important. And I know this may sound ridiculous, but would you bring your eyepiece with you?”
Celia could not keep the surprised tone out of her voice as she replied, “If you wish.” It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if Lady Em had taken ill, but instead she said, “I’ll be right there.”
The door of Lady Em’s suite was slightly ajar. With a tentative knock Celia pushed it back and stepped into the room. Lady Em was sitting in a large wing chair that was upholstered in red velvet. Celia had the impression of a queen on a throne. There is something majestic about Lady Em, she thought. But the old woman’s voice was weary as she said, “Thank you, Celia. I had no idea I was going to ask you to make your way here at this hour.”
Celia smiled. With quick steps she walked across the room and seated herself in the chair closest to Lady Em. Seeing the obvious fatigue on her face, she did not waste words. “Lady Em, what can I do for you?”
“Celia, before I tell you why I asked you to come over, I want you to know two things. I am aware of the shameful situation regarding your fiancé. I want to assure you that I am one hundred percent certain that you had nothing to do with it.”
“Thank you, Lady Em. Hearing you say that is very important to me.”
“Celia, it’s so good to be able to talk frankly to someone I trust. God knows there are few people in the world I feel I can trust these days. And because of that, I have an overwhelming sense of guilt. I feel very sure that Roger’s death was not an accident, but a suicide, and it was because of me.”
“Because of you!” Celia exclaimed. “But how could you have any possible reason to think . . . ?”
Lady Em held up her hand. “Celia, listen to me. I can explain very simply. I was at a cocktail party the night before we sailed. Decades ago Richard and I had engaged the accounting and financial management firm that was founded by Roger’s grandfather, and we continued the relationship when Roger’s father took over. When he died in an accident seven years ago, I stayed with Roger. At the party I saw an old friend who warned me to be very careful. He told me that Roger was not the man of integrity that both his father and grandfather had been. There were rumors that former clients of Roger’s believed he had been skimming their accounts. My friend suggested I have my finances checked by an outside firm to be sure that everything was in order.
“I was so troubled by the warning that I told Roger my decision to go forward with an audit.” In a voice that was suddenly sad, she said, “I have known Roger since he was a child. When I had my yacht, I frequently invited his mother and father to vacation with me. Of course, they brought Roger along. I joked that he was my surrogate son. Well, some son he turned out to be.”
“What would you have done if an audit of your finances proved that you were right?”
“I would have prosecuted him,” Lady Em said firmly. “And he knew it. Only a few years ago the chef who had been with me for twenty years and whose children I sent to college began kiting my food and liquor bills. I entertain frequently, and it was many months before I caught on. He was sentenced to two years in prison.”
“He deserved that,” Celia said firmly. “Anyone who cheats other people, especially those who are good to them, should go to prison.”
Lady Em paused, then asked, “Celia, did you bring your microscope with you?”
“Yes, I did. It’s called a loupe.”
For the first time Celia realized that Lady Em was holding a bracelet in her hand.
“Please look at this and tell me what you think of it,” she said as she gave it to Celia.
Celia reached into her purse and took out the loupe. Holding it to her eye and rotating the bracelet slowly in front of it, she said, “I’m afraid I don’t think very much of it. The diamonds are inferior quality, the kind they use in most of the so-called jewelry bargain centers.”
“That is exactly what I expected you to say.”
Celia could see the quiver in Lady Em’s lip. After a moment Lady Em said, “And, sadly, that means that Brenda, my trusted employee and companion of more than twenty years, has also been stealing from me.”
She took the bracelet back. “I will put this in the safe again and act as if nothing’s amiss. I’m afraid I’ve already given Brenda an indication that I am concerned that it didn’t seem right.”
She reached up and pressed the clasp of the Cleopatra necklace. “Celia, I am desperately worried that I have been a very foolish old woman to have brought this treasure with me on this voyage. I have changed my mind about giving it to the Smithsonian. When I get back to New York, I’m turning it over to my lawyers, and I’ll tell them to arrange with Mr. Cavanaugh’s firm to have it returned to Egypt.”
Celia suspected the answer but still asked, “What made you change your mind?”
“Mr. Cavanaugh is a very nice young man. He made me admit to myself that no matter how much Richard’s father paid for the necklace, it had come from a looted tomb. The proper thing to do is return it to Egypt.”
“You haven’t asked my opinion, Lady Em, but I believe you’ve made the right decision.”
“Thank you, Celia.”
Lady Em ran her fingers over the necklace. “This evening at the cocktail party Captain Fairfax begged me to give it to him to put in his personal safe and have a guard outside his cabin to secure it. He said that Interpol has informed him that they believe the Man with One Thousand Faces, an international jewel thief, is on this ship. The Captain urged me to give him the necklace after dinner tonight. I told him I plan to wear it tomorrow night, but I think that might be a mistake.”
As the necklace slid from her neck, she caught it and handed it to Celia. “Please take this. Put it in the safe in your room and give it to the Captain in the morning. I don’t plan to leave my suite all day tomorrow. I’ll have my meals served in and leave Brenda to her own devices. Quite frankly, I need a bit of quiet time to decide what to do about Brenda and Roger’s thievery.”
“I’ll do anything you want me to do,” Celia said as she stood up. She wrapped her fingers around the necklace and then impulsively put her arms around Lady Em and kissed her forehead. “Neither one of us deserved what happened to us, but we’ll both get past it.”
“Yes, we will.”
Celia walked to the door and then disappeared into the corridor.