Flossie was about to lambaste her brother-in-law about keeping the turban when a loud pounding on the cabin door cut her short. She turned to Sterling and said in a tight voice, “This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.” Then she shouted, “Don’t break the door down. I’m coming.”
The pounding stopped and she yanked the door open. Officer Shipley stood framed in the doorway. “Sorry ma’am. I have to ask you two a few more questions.” He glanced around the cabin. “Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”
“Oh no, we’re just trying to recuperate from the scare we had this morning. It isn’t every day you see a dead guy, you know.” She opened the door wider. “Come in. Have you got any news for us? Did you catch the guy?”
When he heard the first knock on the door Sterling shoved the turban back into the bottom of Flossie’s tote. Now he sat back in the chair, trying to look innocent.
“No, Ma’am, I have nothing new to report, but I do have a few questions for you.”
They both repeated pretty much what they had told the officer before. He jotted everything down, interjecting a new question every now and then. He really gave Sterling the third-degree but was quite gentle with Flossie. When he finished, he thanked them and excused himself. “I’ll be on my way now. The FBI wants me to get statements from any of the passengers who came in contact with the late Mr. Kazaam. When we dock in San Francisco, they’ll come on board and question everyone again.”
After he was gone, Sterling said, “Well, Old Girl, it’s been quite a morning. We still have a few hours until we dock, so I’m going to take a little nap.” He reached into her tote, grabbed the turban, stuffed it inside his windbreaker jacket, and hustled Waldo through the cabin door.
A few minutes later there was another knock at Flossie’s door. She opened it to find Red standing there. “I just came by to see how you’re doing, Mom.” Captain Pepper, who was usually as solid as a rock, looked quite disturbed. “This is just awful. Who would imagine there would be a murder on my ship?”
“Come in and sit a minute, Red darling. Don’t look so down in the dumps. This is not your fault. They’ll figure out who did it and things will be shipshape in no time.” She forced a smile at her own little pun. “And don’t worry about me and Sterling, we’ll be fine.”
“Thanks for the reassurance, Mom. When I heard you and Unk were the ones who discovered him, I wanted to make sure you were okay. Particularly after Sterling and Kazaam got into a scuffle last night. Look, I’m sorry, but I can’t stay. Everyone is pretty tense right now. I have to keep the passengers and crew calm. When the FBI boards, just keep your cool and you’ll get past this.”
“Well, to tell you the truth, Red, I’m not in such a rush to get past it. I think it’s kind of exciting. You know, that Kazaam was not a very likeable guy. Of course, that didn’t warrant him getting bumped-off, but it does present quite a mystery—and you know I love a mystery!”
Red slapped his forehead and said, tongue-in-cheek, “No wonder my wife always gets involved in bizarre situations. You know the old saying, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Gotta go. Tell Unk I stopped by.”
***
The Aurora Borealis pulled into San Francisco harbor around noon, and within minutes an FBI team had boarded the ship led by agent Manuel del Toro, sometimes called Manny the Bull because of his stature and his reputation of never giving up on a case. The passengers and crew, too numerous to fit in one room, were gathered in the ship’s two largest salons. The FBI team immediately set to questioning all on board. Most passengers were unaware that a murder had been committed while they were sleeping, eating or otherwise engaged. News had spread quickly among the crew members, but almost all of them had been working at their jobs or busily preparing for their next shift.
After two hours of preliminary questioning, the agents allowed all of the passengers who were clearly uninvolved to leave the ship for their afternoon in San Francisco. The crew and those travelers who might be suspects or witnesses were held behind in the showroom.
Del Toro was an imposing fellow, well over six feet tall with bulging muscles and a shaved head. He and his men patiently questioned each of the remaining people, determining where they were at the time of the murder, and if they had a reason to hold a grudge against the victim. While waiting for their turn, Flossie sized up each of those who left the room after their interview. Most of them were with the magician’s tour.
“Sterling, it looks like Agent Del Toro has pinpointed our group as possible suspects, and I think you’re at the top of the list.”
Sterling fidgeted in his seat. “I’ve had it Flossie! First I have to pretend that I’m subject to imaginary fits, and then when I have a genuine hissy fit I become a murder suspect.”
“Don’t blow your cool, Sterling. There must be other likely suspects. I’m sure some of these folks had professional jealousy. Maybe Kazaam’s snarky attitude just ticked somebody off. It’s easy to see that most of them don’t seem too upset by his death.”
“Well, it won’t take them long to discover that I couldn’t hurt a flea, let alone a fleabag like Kazaam.” There was a note of bravado in his voice but still, he looked uneasy.
Flossie looked around the room. “Hey, I wonder where Jade is.”
“That’s a good question. You would expect Jade Moon to be in this group. Who knows? Maybe they’re grilling her separately, her being part of his act and all. If they don’t have her in a separate room, they must be looking into her whereabouts. This is turning out to be quite a cruise.”
Del Toro questioned the oldsters himself and something in his attitude toward Sterling gave Flossie the creeps. It really did appear that Sterling was on his suspect list.
After the interrogation, Red put in a good word with Agent Del Toro and the elderly pair were cleared to leave the ship for a few hours. They were heading back to their cabin to gather Waldo and the items they wanted to take for their short time ashore, when they heard the loud voices of a man and woman. As they rounded the corner they saw Jade arguing with a fellow who was half in and half out of her cabin. Although they really couldn’t catch the gist of the discussion, the body language indicated that these two might not be strangers. To avoid being spotted, they backed up, hoping to hear what was being said.
Jade’s voice raised, and the volume was matched by the stranger, until they were practically screaming at each other.
The eavesdroppers only caught snatches of what the two were arguing about, but it sounded like Jade said something to the man about sneaking onto the ship. He shouted, “I can sail on any ship I want to.” They argued some more and Jade screamed, “We’ll just see about that.” She elbowed her way past the angry man and slammed her cabin door.
With that, Flossie and Sterling turned and hustled in the opposite direction.
“What do you suppose that was all about, Old Girl?”
“I don’t know, but it didn’t sound good. Maybe he’s a boyfriend stalking her. She is a beautiful woman, you know.”
“Or he killed Kazaam, and now he’s after her. Well, you know what the girls would say—it’s none of our business. Let’s get Waldo and get away from this floating madhouse for a while.”