I crouched, stared at the scarred linoleum and thought of Julie lying alone and unconscious in that hot, dirty corner of the ship, so close to the throbbing engines that it was difficult to carry on a conversation without raising your voice. Whether it was that image, or the heat, or the stench of the garbage, I’ll never know, but it made my stomach churn. ‘Thanks for bringing me here, Pia.’
Pia didn’t answer. Perhaps she, too, was thinking about Julie, and about other girls who had suffered in the same way.
I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket and, as Pia watched silently, I took pictures of the area. When I’d finished, Pia squared her shoulders, faced me and said, ‘Tell you what: let’s go find David Warren.’
‘Can you get away?’ I said to Pia’s back as we climbed up the stairs and made our way back to the crew elevator.
It had been my observation that cruise ship crew works practically 24/7. The guy who serves you drinks in the piano bar at 11.30 p.m. might be the same guy who brought you your cheese omelet at 7.00 a.m. the following morning.
‘I think so,’ Pia said, punching the button for deck four. ‘This is my time to rehearse with Tom, but he’s pretty flexible, especially this late in the run. I’ll just check with him…’ She paused as the elevator glided to a halt and the doors slid open. ‘When you find David, will you let me know?’
‘Where shall I find you?’
‘Backstage,’ she said as the elevator doors slid closed.
SIXTEEN
‘Over the last five years, sexual assault and physical assaults on cruise vessels were the leading crimes investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with regard to cruise vessel incidents. These crimes at sea can involve attacks both by passengers and crew members on other passengers and crew members.’
Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010
(H.R. 3360)
When I went to check in with my sisters, I found Georgina napping in her cabin, an open book propped up on her chest. She’d been keeping Julie company while she slept. Ruth was there, too, paging through an issue of People magazine. When I came in, she looked up. ‘Did you know that Katie Holmes was voted by Fitness magazine as having the best revenge body of the year?’
‘Revenge body? What the hell does that mean?’ I asked.
Ruth shrugged. ‘Eat your heart out, Tom Cruise?’
I crooked my finger and pointed to the communicating door. ‘We need to talk,’ I whispered.
In the privacy of our cabin, I said, ‘I know Georgina asked us not to call Scott, but I’m sorry, that’s nuts. What is the point of keeping the bad news from him? He’s going to find out when she gets home anyway and, if I were Scott, even though I know there’s nothing he could do until the Islander returns to port – unless he flew in on a helicopter – I’d be pissed off that she didn’t call me right away. When she wakes up, I’m counting on you to talk some sense into her.’
I took a deep breath. ‘And, we need to take Fortune’s advice and call a lawyer. We can’t wait for Georgina to do it. Julie was kidnapped, and that’s a federal crime. Ben Martin seems to be cooperating now, but there’s absolutely no guarantee he’s going to follow through once we reach dry land and Phoenix’s lawyers get involved.’ I touched her arm. ‘What I’m getting at is I think you should call Hutch, let him know what’s happened, and ask what steps we should take before leaving the ship.’
‘I already have,’ Ruth whispered, pointing to the cabin phone. ‘Per minute cost was simply outrageous. Seven freaking dollars, but what can you do? Hutch said that as soon as we hung up he’d contact the F.B.I.’s Baltimore field office to make certain that they’ve been notified.’
‘That’s good,’ I said, patting her arm. Then I told her about my plan to meet with David Warren.
As it turned out, tracking David down was ridiculously easy. I picked up the cabin phone, asked the operator to ring his stateroom and when it rang, the man actually answered.
My voice still a little shaky, I told him about the attack on Julie.
‘God damn,’ he said. ‘Not another one. We need to talk.’
We decided to meet in the library, which was such a hotbed of drunk and disorderly activity – as if – that Phoenix hadn’t even bothered to install surveillance cameras there. Pia wasn’t backstage, so I left a message for her at the Oracle bar, then headed for the library where I made myself comfortable at one of the game tables, sipping a latte I’d picked up on the way. Pia arrived, still wearing her server’s uniform, followed shortly by David, who was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt and was toting an oversized briefcase.
‘I’m sorry about your niece.’ David pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘Maybe I should have posted warning signs all over the ship: Danger: Sexual Predator On Board.’
He plunked his briefcase on the tabletop and got right down to business. ‘I’m convinced that Charlotte had stumbled on the identity of that sexual predator. He learned of it somehow and killed her to shut her up. I have a list of the people that were aboard the Voyager on the day that my daughter died, Miss Fanucci. By keeping my eyes open and asking discreet questions, I’ve confirmed that a number of them are aboard the Islander today. I’ve started a list. I’m wondering if you could look it over.’
David extracted a thick folder from his briefcase and slid the folder across the table. Pia tilted her head and opened it cautiously, as if expecting a Jack-in-the-Box to spring out at her.
‘Holy cow, Mr Warren! Where did you lay your hands on this? I can’t believe that Phoenix Cruise Lines gave up a passenger manifest voluntarily.’
Inside the folder was a sheaf of papers held together with a black binder clip, the print so tiny I thought Pia’d need a magnifying glass to read it.
David’s grin was humorless. ‘The Miami detective I hired had someone on the inside and called in an I.O.U, but you didn’t hear that from me.’
David had given Pia an impossible task. ‘There are hundreds of names on that list, Mr Warren,’ I said. ‘How can Pia possibly know everyone on this list who is also aboard today? My head hurts just thinking about it. I attended the captain’s cocktail party for the Neptune Club – same as you, David. Half the people in the room that night were frequent cruisers and could be suspects – you, me, the lady in the wheelchair, even Cliff and Liz Rowe.’
‘Not you, Hannah. You weren’t on the Voyager,’ David pointed out reasonably.
‘True,’ I said.
‘But, Cliff and Liz?’ Pia hooted. ‘You’ve got to be kidding! They’re as nice as they come.’
I flapped a hand. ‘Just saying.’
‘Isn’t that what the neighbors always say when a pedophile is arrested?’ David said. ‘ “He was such a nice man! Dressed up like a clown and passed out candy to all the kids on Halloween. Shoveled snow off my sidewalk. Jump-started my car when the battery died.” Being personable is the pedophile’s stock in trade, Miss Fanucci. It’s part of the job description. Charisma. Think Ted Bundy.’
‘I’d really rather not,’ Pia said, shivering. ‘But Cliff and Liz? Surely…’
David’s gaze didn’t waver. ‘Why else do you think I arranged to be seated at their table?’