‘I think I already am,’ I answered truthfully. ‘I can’t get what happened to Charlotte out of my mind. If it had been Emily…’ I couldn’t go on. I took another breath and let it out slowly. ‘If there is a murderer on board the Islander, Ruth, he’s certainly not going to stand up, wave his hand and shout, “Look, it’s me, over here!” That’s all I’m saying.’
Ruth skewered me with her eyes. ‘Unless someone rattles his cage.’
I smiled. ‘You might well think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment.’
The return ferry deposited us back at King’s Wharf with an hour and a half to spare before departure time. Rather than head straight to the ship, we decided to visit the Clock Tower Mall since Georgina had missed it when she stayed in to nurse Julie through a lulu of a hangover the previous day.
I was fingering a gorgeous teal-colored silk pashmina when the first crack appeared in Julie’s Dear Dutiful Daughter façade. ‘I’m bored,’ she whined.
‘How about a Bob Marley T-shirt?’ her mother suggested.
Julie heaved an exasperated sigh. ‘I’d rather have that rainbow hat with the rasta braids. Not!’
Ruth returned the painted bowl she had been checking for a price tag back to the shelf. ‘I’m bored, too, Julie. How about we go for Häagen Dazs, just you and me? Nannini’s is just at the end of the hall.’
Julie took off in a cloud of dust, with Ruth trailing along behind. After they’d gone, Georgina and I gathered up our purchases – a pashmina for me and a pair of wooden candlesticks for her – and took them to the counter.
I was rooting around in my handbag for my credit card when Georgina whispered, ‘Don’t look now, Hannah, but there he is again.’
‘Who?’ I asked, handing my VISA card over to the cashier.
‘That photographer,’ Georgina said, indicating the next shop over with a jerk of her head.
I craned my neck in order to see over a rack of embroidered tablecloths.
Buck Carney stood framed by a display of ethnic masks. I wondered vaguely what ‘ethnic’ meant in the context of Bermuda; the masks all wore expressions that ranged from startled to horrified and, unless I was badly mistaken, had been carved out of trees by natives in the Congo.
As I watched, Carney snapped another picture, then lowered his camera. He grinned sheepishly and waggled his fingers in my direction – Hi-How-Are-Ya? – then trained his lens unconvincingly on an elderly couple trying on hats.
‘So I see.’
‘He looms, Hannah, like Snoopy on the doghouse. I wish I had never said it was OK to take my picture.’
‘Why don’t you tell him to go away?’
‘I tried to. Yesterday he followed me and Julie, and I asked him to stop. Taking my photo is one thing, but I don’t want him hanging round Julie. He took on such a sad-eyed, kicked puppy look that I didn’t have the heart to say anything further when I saw him snapping away again. It’s just a camera, after all, not a gun.’
I remembered thinking something along the same lines when I had originally encountered Buck at the pool, but that didn’t stop me from feeling guilty for not acting on my unease at the time. We gathered up our bags and wandered out of the shop, heading in the direction of the ice-cream parlor. There was plenty to mull over and, lost in thought, we walked quietly until we reached a scented-candle shop, where Georgina paused outside for a moment. ‘Just what the cruise lines want in their pictorial book, huh? Redhead Sunbathing. Redhead Strolling With Daughter. Redhead Exiting Restroom.’
‘You’re kidding.’
‘I am,’ Georgina said with a chuckle, ‘but only just.’
It was hard to believe that five days had already flown by when the Islander pulled out of King’s Wharf for the return trip to Baltimore. Julie had been on such good behavior during our family outings that Georgina relaxed the rules and allowed her to return to the teen club. On one condition. Not caring how much embarrassment it might cause Julie, Georgina actually escorted her up to Tidal Wave, subjected whatever youth counselor was on duty at the time to a lengthy interrogation – what will you be doing? where will you be going? who is going to be in charge? – before actually letting Julie go.
In the meantime, I was determined to maximize the time we spent together as sisters, which had been the whole point of the cruise, after all. After lunch on Thursday, I insisted we all put on our bathing suits, grab a good book and chill out in the solarium.
It didn’t take much arm twisting.
We weren’t saying much, luxuriating in the delicious depths of the whirlpool. I was in a near meditative state with my eyes closed, until some child – who shouldn’t have been in the adults-only solarium to begin with, I should point out – shrieked. I opened my eyes, and had to blink twice.
‘Georgina, isn’t Julie supposed to be at some Nintendo Wii bowling tournament?’
Georgina shook her head, setting tendrils of her butterscotch hair trembling. ‘What?’
I pointed a wet finger. ‘Over there.’
Dressed in her bathing suit, flip flops and a gauzy cover-up, Julie stood with her back against the etched glass wall of the Surf’s Up café. Supporting himself by one arm braced against the panel behind Julie’s head, Connor Crawford leaned toward her, his face only inches from hers. We were too far away to overhear their conversation, but Julie appeared to be amused because she smiled into the young man’s eyes, pushed a hand flat against his chest and gave him a playful shove.
Georgina rose out of the hot tub as if she’d been shot from a cannon. Without even stopping to grab a towel, she marched straight toward the couple, determination in her step and fire in her eyes. Julie saw her coming, but for Connor it was too late.
Georgina grabbed him by the upper arm and yanked him upright. ‘You! Stay away from my daughter!’ she shouted. ‘In case you hadn’t noticed, Julie is fourteen years old. Do you know how to spell that, young man? That’s fourteen, as in J-A-I-L-B-A-I-T.’
Julie’s lower lip quivered. ‘Stop it, Mother, you’re making a scene!’
‘I’m s-s-sorry,’ Connor stammered. ‘We were just…’
‘I have eyes! I could see what you were just!’
Julie blinked, fighting back tears. ‘The Wii was over, and I thought I’d come join you in the pool! Connor was only getting a hamburger.’
I’d reached them by then, still dripping but carrying a towel for myself and for my sister. ‘Georgina…’ I held out the towel.
She ignored me, her attention still riveted on the hapless Connor. ‘I’m warning you, young man. If you so much as touch my daughter…’
Connor raised both hands in front of his face. ‘I get it, ma’am. I’m going.’ He backed away, stumbled over a lounge chair, then fled through the double doors that led outside to the main swimming pool.
Julie burst into tears. ‘This is so embarrassing,’ she wailed. ‘You’ve ruined everything! I’m going to my cabin and I’m never coming out. Never! Do you hear me? Never!’ And she dashed off toward the elevators.
‘Well, that went well,’ I said, handing a towel to the still-smoldering Georgina.
Georgina used it to wipe the sweat off her brow, then draped it loosely over her shoulders. ‘I can’t prove it, but I’m convinced that kid is the one who bought Julie those Sex on the Beaches. He probably thought it was hysterical to get a child drunk.’