‘You are out of your fucking mind!’
‘Phoenix Voyager,’ David continued, ignoring the interruption. ‘A young girl named Noelle. Do you even remember her name? Maybe she was your first, maybe not. But my daughter was a smart girl, Channing. She worked with the kids. She had sharp eyes, and she noticed something. What was it? Did she see you slip the drug into Noelle’s drink?’
David slid the point of the sabre slowly up Channing’s chest until it was resting slightly above his breastbone. ‘You murdered my daughter, you worthless piece of shit.’
Channing’s eyes didn’t stray from the hand that held the sabre. A look of desperation clouded his eyes. ‘What do you want from me?’
‘I want a confession, that’s what I want.’
Channing raised both hands in a sign of surrender. ‘OK, OK. Whatever you say. I admit it. I killed your daughter. There, I said it. Is that enough?’
‘And? Come on, Channing. You can do better than that. And?’
‘I pushed her overboard, OK? She was going to ruin everything. She was going to turn me in, ruin my career, and that would…’ He paused and winced as the tip of the sabre bit into his neck.
‘They say confession is good for the soul, Channing. Tell me, now. What had Charlotte found out?’
‘You know exactly what, you maniac. I know you’re working with her,’ he snarled, glancing in my direction, ‘and I overheard her talking with Pia.’
‘Say it! Say it out loud. You like sex with little girls. With children, you piece of slime. Children you have to drug until they’re too helpless to resist.’
Channing stammered; in that moment, he looked truly defeated. ‘You don’t understand… nobody does.’
‘Oh, boo hoo,’ David snapped. ‘You’re breaking my heart here.’
‘Put down the sword, please,’ Channing begged, changing tactics. ‘I’ll do whatever you say. Write a confession, sign it. Whatever. Just put down that sword.’
‘No need for that,’ David snapped. ‘We’re not quite finished here, are we? Tell me about Julie Cardinale.’
Channing’s head swiveled in my direction. ‘I didn’t hurt Julie, Hannah, I swear. And I didn’t know…’
‘Bullshit!’ I couldn’t help myself. ‘Julie may be scarred for life, not that you gave that possibility a moment’s thought!’
‘I didn’t…’ Channing stammered.
‘But you would have, you worm,’ I shouted through the mesh that separated us, ‘if somebody hadn’t knocked on the door.’
Chandler’s chin dropped, and I knew I’d hit the nail on the head.
‘So, now that’s settled,’ David said, ‘I think it’s time for a good, old-fashioned nautical tradition.’
Chandler’s head shot up. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I think it’s time for you to walk the plank.’
‘Plank? What plank?’
‘Figuratively speaking, of course. When in doubt, improvise. The chair will do nicely, I think.’
‘David!’ I shouted, looking desperately around me, wishing that Ben Martin or his officers would hurry up before things got even more out of control. ‘Stop it! Stop!’ I saw a life ring hanging on a railing nearby, lifted it off its hook and held on, praying that it wouldn’t be needed.
‘Jump,’ David said. ‘Jump, you sonofabitch, jump!’ David feinted; the sabre flicked again. Channing closed his eyes and sucked in his lips like a stubborn child.
‘’Course, you don’t have to jump. I could just run you through and save both of us a lot of time.’ The sabre twitched and Channing flinched. ‘But the way I look at it, Channing, you’d have a better chance of surviving if you jump. Death by water or by the sword, take your pick.’
Channing’s wild eyes caught mine, and he mouthed a silent Help!
‘Security is on the way!’ I shouted, hoping that both men heard me.
David risked a quick glance at me. Was he trying to convey some kind of message? Then, ‘Too little, too late,’ he said, before focusing his attention back on Channing.
‘How’d you do it, then, Channing? Drugging those girls – drugging Julie, I mean. It had to have been in the soda straws, but the bartender told me only she and Jack Westfall touched them.’
Incredibly, a slow, sinister grin spread across Channing’s face. Now it was his time to boast. ‘Sleight of hand, Warren, my stock in trade. You redirect their attention here…’ His left arm shot out, the cuff of his shirt sleeve flashing white in the deck lights. ‘… when all the action is really over here!’ Using his right arm, he swept the sword that David held aside.
The trick might have worked, too, if Channing hadn’t been balanced precariously on the chair.
With a desperate glance over his shoulder, Channing teetered backwards and tumbled over the railing.
‘No!’ I screamed, and threw the life ring I had been holding over the side.
Behind me, I heard pounding footsteps, at last. ‘Man overboard! Man overboard!’ Pia was back on the deck, running flat out, waving her arms.
Behind her, also moving at full speed, was Officer Martin, his phone pressed against his chin. ‘Oscar Oscar Oscar Starboard Side.’ His voice was steady, controlled. Clearly he’d practised the man overboard procedure hundreds of times.
Almost immediately, his call was repeated, blasting from the loudspeaker mounted on the bulkhead directly over my head, echoing from other loudspeakers all around the ship. Oscar Oscar Oscar Starboard Side!
Whooo! Whooo! Whooo!
As the deafening sound of the ship’s horns died away, the ship shuddered, slowed, and began to turn.
With icy calm, David lowered the sabre and pulled down on the handle on his side of the barrier that would open the gate. I started to step aside, but as he approached me he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out his iPhone. ‘Hannah,’ he said. ‘Take it. I recorded it all.’
‘Oh, David, why…?’ I managed to croak as he pressed the phone into my outstretched hand and folded my fingers protectively over it.
Then he altered course, heading directly for Pia. ‘This is yours, I believe,’ he said, handing her the sabre. ‘I wasn’t going to push him off, Hannah, you have to believe me. I just wanted to scare him so he’d come clean about Noelle, Charlotte and Julie.’
Despite finally having his questions answered, David didn’t look any better for it. If anything, he looked more broken. I believed him; he may have forced Channing onto the chair, but it wasn’t David’s fault the magician had stumbled over the side. I remembered the look David had given me; clearly he hadn’t foreseen the outcome – Channing actually tumbling over the side.
My heart ached for my friend as he staggered to the railing, sagged and rested his head on his arms. Then, suddenly, more quickly than I believed possible, he had one leg over the rail.
‘No!’ I screamed, but it was too late. Without so much as a backward glance, David launched himself over the railing and flew overboard, too.
I rushed to the railing and looked down. David’s jacket had caught on something. Instinctively I leaned over and stretched out my hand, but he was too far below me for it to do any good. David’s jacket held for perhaps a second more, then ripped away. I watched in horror as my friend plunged into the sea.
Someone had grabbed another life ring. I felt the breeze as it sailed past my face. I leaned over the rail again, straining my eyes, trying to pick out David’s face in the inky blackness of the water.
I should have known it would be fruitless. The ship had been traveling at twenty knots. Thomas Channing and David Warren would already be floating far behind. Strobe lights attached to the life rings – there were more than a dozen of them floating in the water now – blinked in the distance like lighthouse beacons.