The Lido was quickly filling up with guests. Afraid of being overheard, the Reillys and Meehans had gone to Alvirah and Willy’s cabin so that they could talk and Alvirah could lie down on her bed.
“I’m safer here than in that infirmary,” Alvirah declared, “but who knows if anyone is safe on this ship? I’m just sorry I got you all into this.”
“No, you’re not, Alvirah,” Nora said, smiling.
“You attract trouble, and you enjoy it,” Luke agreed.
“I’ll admit it makes me feel alive,” Alvirah said, then wished she hadn’t nodded, as a sharp pain shot across her forehead. “I always preferred working in houses for people who were a little off,” she declared. “It was so much more interesting than just cleaning up after your average slob.”
“You’re not even safe with Santa Claus,” Luke commented.
Alvirah cleared her throat, anxious to get down to business. “I know we don’t have proof, but it sounds as if someone really tried to kill Crater. Why him, and why is he denying it? If it happened, that means there’s a would-be killer on this ship, who might strike again. The thing is, you can’t tap someone on the shoulder and ask if they tried to suffocate Crater.”
“Dudley promised he’d get me the passenger and crew list right away,” Jack said. “My office will have it checked out in a couple of hours. They’ll find out if there’s anyone of interest on the list, and we’ll see what Crater’s all about.”
“Something else,” Alvirah said. Trying to ignore the aching in her head, she pulled open the drawer and reached for the deck of cards. She explained how she had discovered the peculiar markings on the royal cards in the deck and what happened when you held them up to the mirror. “Willy found the cards in the drawer of this room, which was Eric’s, but Eric didn’t seem to know anything about them when we tried to return the cards to him. I think they might be a clue to whatever’s going on around here.”
Alvirah’s phone rang. It was Dudley. Alvirah put him on speakerphone. “I’m meeting all the Santas in fifteen minutes in my office and I have the passenger and crew list!”
“Jack and I will be right there,” Regan said.
“Okay.” Dudley hung up.
Jack picked up the deck of cards as they got ready to leave Alvirah’s cabin. “My bet is that these belong to a card shark. I’ll see if I can check those symbols out. There’s a guy in my office who specializes in gambling fraud and might have an idea of what these numbers mean, if anything.”
Alvirah wanted to go with Reagan and Jack but knew she would be voted down if she made the suggestion. With regret, she watched them file out the door.
“I’ll keep my thinking cap on,” she called after them. “I can promise you that.”