“Wow. Seems like a rough trip—” Chloe began.
But Kilbride laughed. “No, trust me, I’ve had trips with serious accidents, serious illnesses... A ship becomes a floating village. People are human—and sometimes, more daring than they should be. So far we’re not doing all that badly this trip. The EpiPen did its work. I’m just a cautious man who likes my patients to stay well. But, for now... I think she’ll be out a bit longer if you want to tell Mr. Thompson what has happened.”
“Thank you!” Chloe told him.
She glanced at Wes. It was time for the two of them to head to Italian Night.
She waited until they had left Sally’s cabin behind to speak softly to Wes.
“I don’t get it! I’m sorry, I can’t believe that this was an accident. Edward said that they’d been together and, of course, no one knows what makes anyone else tick, but I could swear that he really cares about her. Oh, and if she was with Edward, she was with George. George wouldn’t have let someone sneak anything into anyone’s food or drink. But, Wes, this couldn’t have been an accident. Definitelynot after yesterday! Was she meant to be a drowning victim? And if so, why? I mean, now this is getting really crazy. Sally doesn’t own or even work for a computer company!”
“No,” Wes said thoughtfully.
“What are you thinking?” Chloe demanded.
He paused, turning to look at her. “I think we need to be very observant when we give our friends the news about what has happened. I agree with you. Two accidents in about twenty-four hours? And you’re right. Why would anyone target her? We need to figure out who did and why.”
Chloe nodded and they hurried onto the elevator and then to the steakhouse where Italian Night was taking place.
Edward was looking upset. His phone was in his hand.
When they arrived, he stood immediately, looking at them with hope and then confusion.
“Where is she? Did you two just leave? I’ve dialed Sally again and again—”
“She can’t answer the phone,” Wes said evenly.
“Oh, no! Oh, no! What happened?” Broderick asked.
“She’s not—not—not—” Celia stuttered.
“Dead?” Jeff asked, his voice sounding sick.
“No, she’s not dead,” Chloe assured them, watching the group. “She did eat something that she’s allergic to. But she’s going to be all right! She’s being taken down to the hospital. The doctor wants to watch her overnight, but she had an EpiPen and she’s going to be fine.”
Edward sank back into his chair and then bolted out of it again. “I have to see her! I have to see her right away. I’m, uh, sorry, I won’t be staying for dinner.” He started to walk away, but turned back and looked at Wes and Chloe. “Thanks, thanks so much. How did you know, how—”
“Oh, when she didn’t come, we decided to try and find her. Her cabin is just down from ours,” Wes explained.
“Right, right, thank you, thank you!”
Edward rushed out. George was instantly up on his feet. He nodded to Wes and Chloe and quickly followed Edward out.
“Wow,” Broderick murmured.
“Well,” Daniel said, “that’s a damper on our dinner party. But, hey! She’s going to be all right! So, I say, let’s eat!”
Twelve
None of it made any sense.
Then again, Wes thought, from the beginning, none of it had made any sense.
Except that it did, of course, if the deaths they were investigating had to do with greed. It had been amazing to him to see through the years what people were willing to do to satisfy their greed.
Sometimes, bad things happened because of desperation. In his early days working in law enforcement, he’d let a thief slip away. The thief had been a boy of about twelve and he had literally stolen a loaf of bread. There had been something about the kid, something in his eyes that spoke of his absolute sorrow over doing what he was doing—it turned out that he’d been trying to get away with the bread because his mom was sick, his dad was dead and his little brother was starving.
That episode had, amazingly, turned out well. Wes had paid for the loaf of bread himself, explaining why to the shopkeeper.
