When Brenda reached Lady Em’s suite, she found a guard at the door. “I’m sorry, ma’am, by order of the Captain no one will be permitted to enter this room until we dock in Southampton.”
Frustrated, Brenda said, “I have been Lady Em’s personal assistant for twenty years. Surely I can—”
The guard cut her off. “I’m sorry, ma’am, Captain’s orders.”
Brenda turned abruptly and walked down the corridor, her rigid back expressing her outrage to the guard. That’s the way I would act if I gave a damn about her, she thought. Now no more shuffling behind her, anticipating her every whim or need.
Ralphie! Now she could be with him all the time. Now she wouldn’t have to hide him because she knew Lady Em would not approve of him. The apartment she and Ralphie live in belonged to Lady Em. It wouldn’t have killed her to leave it to me. Who knows how long whoever manages her estate will let me stay there? In the meantime, it’s rent-free. I’ll just stay until somebody tells me to get out.
Her thoughts went back to Lady Em. She is leaving me three hundred thousand dollars, Brenda thought. And we have two million from switching and selling the jewelry. Free! I’m free of all the kowtowing I’ve been doing all these years.
At least during the valuation of all her jewelry I don’t have to worry about someone asking why so many pieces are cheap. Maybe they’ll think that with everything she bought over the years, she might have been taken by a crooked jeweler who sold her the junk. Lady Em insured only the jewelry that was worth more than one hundred thousand dollars. Those are the pieces they’ll focus on. Ralphie and I luckily stayed away from the insured jewelry.
Brenda reassured herself with that thought until it occurred to her that Lady Em might have asked Celia Kilbride to take a look at her “picnic” bracelet. I should find out a little more about this gemologist, Brenda thought to herself, as she opened her laptop. She typed Celia Kilbride into Google. The first story that appeared was about Celia’s potential link to her former fiancé’s hedge fund swindle. But Brenda’s eyes widened as she saw another headline exclaiming “Philanthropist Lady Emily Haywood Murdered on Luxury Cruise Ship.”
After quickly scanning the story, she closed her computer. She felt herself breathing rapidly. I was going to be okay, she thought, if Lady Em had died in her sleep. That’s what old people do. If they’re right and she was murdered, will that change the way they look at me?
It might provide cover for me and Ralphie. The article had said that the Cleopatra necklace was missing. That means the killer probably got into Lady Em’s safe. Unless he’s caught, nobody will know how much jewelry or which pieces were stolen. If I’m asked, I can say that Lady Em used to make copies of various pieces of her jewelry. She brought a number of legitimate pieces and a number of copies on the trip. The thief must have taken some of the good stuff and left the junk.
Brenda was now feeling infinitely better. That also explains the guard at the door of her suite and not letting me in, she thought. The ship was trying to cover up the murder and theft by saying she died of natural causes.
Lady Em’s gone and I have an alibi regarding the jewelry, but I’m not completely home free.
If Lady Em told Celia she suspected I had substituted the bracelet, would Celia tell that to the police when the ship docked? Or would she tell the Captain now, and will the police be waiting for me? If Lady Em was murdered, would Celia feel even more compelled to report anything Lady Em told her? But will Celia have any credibility because of the fund swindle?
If she tells them anything, it will be her word against mine, Brenda told herself nervously, as she returned to the dining room and asked the waiter to bring her a fresh cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin. Five minutes later, after she had taken a big bite of her muffin, her jaw froze. I’m the only one who has a key to Lady Em’s suite. Is anybody going to think I might have killed her?