We ended up meeting for a very late breakfast in Horizons. It had just gone eleven so it was more like brunch. While we ate, Chris gave us a rundown on how we’d discovered the site, mainly for Dobbs’s benefit as I’d already related most of this to Smythe when we met in my cabin. Like me, Chris had the good sense to leave out the bit about the golf balls.
“Anyway,” Chris remarked, “after Mia left, I kept working, trying to identify the administrator of the site. Unfortunately, the satellite signal must’ve been weak because the connection kept dropping. So after a number of attempts, I gave up. I’ll get back to it after we eat.”
“So where are we up to with all of this right now?” Dobbs asked.
I answered for Chris. “We’re going to see whether the victims participated in any of the threads. This would establish a common denominator.”
Smythe observed, “That’s going to take a lot of work, especially since you told me there are so many threads in the forum.”
I gave him a shy smile. I wasn’t yet used to a “nice” Smythe. “Exactly. So Chris and I will be very busy beavers.”
“At least the sexy comments will keep us awake,” Chris dared to put in.
I kicked him under the table and he did his best not to cry out in pain as my foot made contact with his shin. “Don’t worry.” I looked from Dobbs to Smythe. “I’ll make sure Chris doesn’t read any X-rated material.”
“Hey!” Chris protested. “I’m not a child, you know.” He then leaned forward and started to tell Smythe about the golf ball comment.
I couldn’t stop him so I drew Dobbs’s attention away from the conversation and told him, “I ran into Smythe early this morning, when I left Chris.”
Dobbs’s look of mirth told me he was enjoying the situation. “Yes, he told me you were rather cooperative for a change,” he replied, and added when he saw the look of thunder in my eyes. “No, I’m not teasing you, Ferrari. Smythe was really pleased that you guys cleared the air. He said he looks forward to working with you.”
I shot him a suspicious look. “If this is his way of trying to butter me up—”
“He really meant it, girl. So get that look off your face.” He then threw me a warm smile. “And I’m glad I did the right thing by telling you. I think we all make a pretty good team; and now we can truly work together without my having to smooth the path between the two of you.”
“Hmm.” I decided to hold judgement on that one. I turned to Chris instead, who had just finished telling Smythe the spicy tale of the golf ball lady. “Can we get back to business here?” I said rather firmly.
Chris gazed back at us with an official air. “As I’ve said before, as soon as we’re done with breakfast I’m off to see whether I can get a signal so I can keep working.”
“What about you two?” I addressed Dobbs and Smythe.
“Phil and I have a meeting with Jerry Garcia,” Dobbs answered. “Despite our warning to your fancy boy, Enrico, not to gossip, it seems the convention members are talking about nothing else and things are getting out of hand.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s not my fancy boy, Dobbs.”
“Well, whatever the case, Garcia suggested we have a group discussion with the convention members to tell them to stop speculating and gossiping. The last thing we want is panic to spread through the whole ship.”
Smythe added, “We’re also going to give them some security tips so they can stay safe.”
“You mean not to wander alone, especially late at night or early in the morning?” I remarked, not at all hopeful this would work.
He nodded. “Yes, among other things. Until we catch this killer, we need to ensure we can keep him from striking again.”
“Well, we have another two days at sea before we reach Pago Pago. I hope the murderer’s not planning another kill even as we speak,” I stated. “It’s obvious the most dangerous time is when we’re at sea.” I frowned with concern, and it seemed the others echoed my sentiments because we ate in silence until we finished our meals.
“I’m off.” Chris was the first to speak. “Mia, let’s catch up in the afternoon so we can keep working through the threads.”
I nodded and Chris left the table. “I’m going to talk to Martha Barry again. She may be able to remember something more.” I stood to leave.
“Shall we meet for dinner?” Smythe suggested. “We can have another catch-up then.”
Dobbs nodded. “I’m in.”
“Yeah, why not?” I said. “Let’s go to the buffet restaurant so we can seat outside. It’s lovely sitting at the back of the ship away from the breeze and gazing at the night sky.” I didn’t know why I suggested this. Smythe was going to think I was in a romantic mood. But it was too late; it was already out there and I couldn’t take it back.
“Good idea,” Dobbs replied. “Say around eight?”
“Done.” I hurried away, feeling Smythe’s eyes on my back.
~~~
“Mia, so glad you suggested we meet up,” Martha greeted me when I joined her and Joy Gerard at The Mariners’ Hub. “Only yesterday, Joy and I were saying we haven’t seen you for a while.”
I took a seat opposite them and ordered a fruit cocktail from the waiter who glided over to me. The ladies were enjoying iced coffees.
“I’ve been keeping busy with all that’s been going on,” I explained. “Then, I learned Enrico’s been going around talking about the killings, and the word is convention members are now taking bets as to who is going to be next.”
Joy sniffed. “That Enrico is nothing but trouble, I tell you. I think it’s a good thing he never stayed on working at the hospital.”
I gazed at Joy with interest. “You know all about that?”
“Of course!” She harrumphed as if disgusted with Enrico. “I believe he’s told everyone on this ship, including all the crew. Well, what can you expect from someone who’s bed hopping his way through all the gay males onboard?”
Martha laughed. “Oh, Joy! You have such a way of putting things. What the young man does is his business.”
Joy glared at Martha. “All the same, when he goes around telling tales of woe about his hard-done-by life he makes everybody feel uncomfortable. Besides, he could be the killer playing a game of cat and mouse with us all.”
Joy’s comment reminded me not to discard Enrico as a suspect in the investigation; but then, we also had Mike Yuen and the captain. Martha seemed an unlikely suspect by now plus my gut told me she was not the killer type. “Ladies, let’s not talk about Enrico anymore; but at the same time, let’s not give him more ammunition he can use to cause panic among the group.”
“You’re right, Mia,” Martha concurred. “It’s just that many of the members in our group are truly panicking. After all, the victims have all been doctors so far.”
She didn’t look too upset when she said this considering her own loss, so I ventured to ask, “This is what I wanted to see you about, Martha. Aside from what you told me so far, is there anything, no matter how small, you think may be of help?”
Martha looked from me to Joy and back to me again. “Not that I can think of at the moment. I already told you about overhearing the phone conversation with Cliff Downes. And then you found the horse racing betting slips. I gave you the names of the horses I remembered; and that’s pretty much it.”
I sighed with disappointment. It really didn’t look like Martha was going to be able to offer any more help so I changed my line of questioning. “Regarding Cliff Downes, what do you know about him?” Perhaps, Martha could shed some light into the despicable Dr Downes.
Martha shrugged. “Not much. He played the odd game of golf with Jim. We didn’t really socialise with him outside the hospital.” She paused and thought for a while. “I know he’s considered a bit of a looker by the ladies, and he’s always seen with a different woman.”
“And you’re positive he’s in this cheaters’ club?”
She nodded. “As far as I know. I mean, Jim was talking to him about this on the phone conversation I overheard. So I’d say yes.”
“But he’s married, right?”
“Who knows with him,” Joy interjected. “It seems his marriage is already on the rocks, hence his wife’s absence. Whatever he told you, Mia, is probably a lie. He’s tried to crack onto practically every woman here on the ship.”
This was news to me. “Oh?”
Joy didn’t need encouragement to keep talking. “And he doesn’t seem to discriminate between younger and older women. He tries it with all of them—he even tried it on me!” She sniffed at the idea.
“Really? And did you tell your husband?”
“No. I didn’t want to have any trouble, but I did tell Cliff to take a hike or I’d kick his balls in.”
I laughed, remembering how I’d actually carried out what Joy had threatened him with.
Joy threw me a knowing look. “I see he tried it on you, too.”
“Yes, he did,” I told her, trusting her to keep it to herself. “But he didn’t get very far.”
“It seems he’s been keeping a low profile of late though. Someone saw him limping only the other day,” Joy said with humour in her voice. “Could it be you almost castrated the man? If so, you deserve a medal, my dear.”
We had a good laugh at this. Then, my drink arrived and I turned back to Martha. “About the horses, can you remember any more names other than the ones you gave me?”
Martha looked thoughtful for a few moments and shook her head. “No. I’m so sorry, Mia. I would love to be able to help you, but the names I remember are the ones I already gave you. And the only reason I remember them is because Jim won quite a bit of money on those horses. There was...one horse...” She paused, as if trying to remember. I held my breath, not wanting to break her concentration. “Well,” she said finally, “this may not be anything of value, but there was this one horse that seemed to be a favourite with Jim. He was always talking about it and said he’d won on this horse more than on any other.”
“And the horse’s name is?” I prompted.
“Erotic Heart,” she replied, a curious look in her eyes. “The only thing that confused me was instead of saying he’d won on the horse, Jim actually used the word ‘scored’. I’m not sure if this is horse racing lingo or not, but there you have it.”
I sat, transfixed, my heartbeat suddenly accelerating to a rapid tempo. I wanted to kiss Martha. Without knowing, she’d provided me with a clue, and I couldn’t wait to go and see Chris to share the information with him.
~~~
“I think I got it, Chris!” I was so excited when I entered his cabin that Chris had to take me by the arms, guide me to one of the stuffed chairs, and push me into it.
“Calm down and tell me all about it,” he ordered as he took the other chair.
“I think the common denominator among the victims is a woman—a woman with whom all the victims had an illicit affair. And she goes by the name of Erotic Heart, just like the horse.”
Chris regarded me with wide eyes. “How did you come to this conclusion?”
I told him about my conversation with Martha and Barry’s favourite horse. “And here’s the clincher,” I remarked, my eyes shining with elation. “Barry told his wife he ‘scored’ on this horse more than once! Martha was confused and thought he meant he’d won on the horse, but I think he had an affair with whoever Erotic Heart is.”
“Shit!” Chris rubbed his temples, trying to take in the implication of the situation. “So what you’re saying is the members of the cheaters’ club took on names like the horses they used to bet on. At the same time, Erotic Heart is probably the wife of one of the doctors or she could be single—we don’t know this yet—but she had affairs with each victim?”
I nodded. “It’s exactly what I’m saying. And if I’m right, I think Erotic Heart is married.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, my young friend, the killer is a male. And I think these are crimes of passion. We’re not dealing with a serial killer, only a multiple killer. The kills are not very organised, are they? The MOs are all different. So my take on it is that the killer is Erotic Heart’s spouse and he’s found out about the affairs and is now killing off her lovers one by one.”
Chris sat, looking stunned. I smiled with satisfaction as everything seemed to make sense all of a sudden. When Chris recovered, he shook his head in wonder and said, “Man, it looks like we’re dealing with a male version of a bunny boiler!”
I nodded. “I’m afraid so. Which means we need to identify who this woman is pronto! If we find her identity, we’ll be able to get to the killer.”
“But what if the killer disposed of her, too?”
“That’s a chance we have to take. We’ve had no female victims to date. So the killer either took her out and dumped her body back home somewhere, in order to come on this cruise to wreak his revenge, or she’s travelling with him even as we speak, but she’s none the wiser as to what hubby’s up to.”