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.