“Willy, we’ve got to put our heads together,” Alvirah said firmly, even as she grasped his arm to balance herself against the rolling ship.
“Steady, honey, I’ve got you,” Willy said calmly, while holding Alvirah’s arm with one hand and the railing with the other.
“Let’s go into one of the quiet rooms,” Alvirah suggested. “We need to talk.”
“I thought you wanted to walk.”
“No, I don’t. You never know if someone might be able to hear us.”
“I think we’re the only ones out here, but okay.”
They settled in the English Tea Room and ordered cups of coffee. When she was sure that the waiter was back in the kitchen with the door closed, Alvirah whispered, “Willy, we have to figure all this out now.”
Willy took a deep, satisfying sip. “Honey, I’m more worried about what to do with this darn necklace than I am about anything else.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll figure that out,” Alvirah said confidently. “But let’s consider what we know so far. Somebody killed poor Lady Em and tried to rob her. We know her killer didn’t get the Cleopatra necklace because she had given it to Celia. And we know that just before she died, Lady Em told Celia that Roger Pearson, God rest him, and Brenda Martin were cheating her.”
Willy nodded. “I believe every word of what Celia said, don’t you?”
“Of course. If Celia was guilty, why would she have given us the necklace?” Alvirah paused. “But that isn’t the point.”
“Then what is?”
“Oh Willy, it’s as plain as the nose on your face. Whoever killed Lady Em was going after the necklace. And when he or she didn’t get it, the killer decided that Brenda had it and went after her.”
“He or she?” Willy asked.
“Of course, it could be either one. And you know who my bet is?” It was a rhetorical question. “I put my money on Yvonne.”
“Yvonne?”
“Willy, let’s put aside for the moment this Man with One Thousand Faces. Nobody’s even sure if he’s on the ship. Let’s focus on Yvonne. Look at the way she’s been all over the ship since her husband fell—or was pushed—over.”
Willy’s brow creased. “You mean you think Yvonne pushed Roger overboard?”
“I don’t say I believe it, but it’s entirely possible. I mean, look at her. She didn’t miss a breakfast. She’s been hanging around with her two Hamptons friends. I’ve been keeping an eye on them, and I’ll tell you this, Yvonne is no brokenhearted widow. I mean, how would you feel if I fell overboard?”
“It never would have happened,” Willy said firmly. “First of all, I wouldn’t have let you sit on the railing. And second, I would have grabbed you as you started to fall. And if I couldn’t stop you from falling, I’d have gone over too so I could help you.”
Alvirah’s eyes softened. “I know you would, and that’s why I love you so much,” she said. “But I have to say that Yvonne isn’t the only one I have my eye on. Who else? Anna DeMille—”
Willy interrupted. “The one who tells the stupid joke about not being related to Cecil B. DeMille?”
“Exactly. I think she’s harmless.”
“I agree,” Willy said as he finished his coffee. “She’s too busy trying to land Devon Michaelson to get involved with killing somebody for a necklace.”
“Agreed. Scratch her off the list. Now let’s talk about the other people at our two tables. There’s Professor Longworth.”
“The Shakespeare scholar.” Willy shook his head. “I don’t know about him. He strikes me as a little odd, but not the killer type. But what about Ted Cavanaugh? He was certainly trying to cozy up to Lady Em.”
“Yes, he was,” Alvirah agreed. “But somehow I can’t picture him killing Lady Em. And why would he do it? Celia said that Lady Em was planning to give the Cleopatra necklace to the museum in Cairo.”
“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.