Ted Cavanaugh was finishing breakfast and winding up a telephone conversation with his law partner when the announcement of Lady Haywood’s death came over the public address system. He was holding a cup of coffee and had to grasp it tightly to keep from dropping it.
He felt sorry for Lady Em, but his next thought was, I hope that the Cleopatra necklace is safe. I wonder if word of her death has reached the press, he thought, as he began tapping on his iPhone. It certainly had.
“Lady Emily Haywood Murdered and Famous Necklace May Be Missing” was the headline on Yahoo News. That can’t be true, he thought, even as he realized there must have been some verification. The Captain’s announcement had said nothing about murder. There are always wild rumors online, but he guessed this was too extraordinary to not be true. The story went on to say that in the early hours of this morning, Lady Haywood had been smothered with a pillow as she lay in bed. It said that her safe was open and jewelry was scattered on the floor.
The Cleopatra necklace. What a tragedy if it was lost. It was the last piece of jewelry Cleopatra had sent for as she prepared to commit suicide rather than be taken prisoner by Octavian.
He thought of the antiquities he and his law partners had recovered for the rightful owners. Paintings for the families of Auschwitz victims. Paintings and sculptures for the Louvre museum that had been stolen when France was occupied in World War II. And they had successfully sued antiques and art dealers who had peddled to unsuspecting buyers copies of valuable artifacts as if they were the real thing.
His mind raced as he thought of the people on the ship who were close to Lady Em.
Brenda Martin, of course.
Roger Pearson, but he was dead. Were Lady Em and Pearson’s widow close?
How about Celia Kilbride? Lady Em had attended her lectures, chatted with her when they ended and invited the gemologist to sit at her table.
He typed “Celia Kilbride” into Google. The lead story was a People magazine interview with her accused former fiancé, who swore she was in on his swindle.
As a lawyer he knew that after the release of the interview the FBI would be compelled to take a closer look at her potential involvement in the theft. Her legal fees must be exorbitant.
Could she have been driven to steal the necklace? If she stole it, how did she get into Lady Em’s room?
He tried to imagine what had transpired in Lady Em’s suite. Did Lady Em wake up and find her opening the safe?
And if that happened, would Celia Kilbride have panicked, grabbed a pillow and smothered Lady Em?
But even as all this occurred to him, Ted could visualize Celia Kilbride coming into the cocktail party last night, looking absolutely beautiful as she warmly greeted other people in the room.