Looking around, Beth let Jodi bluster away about her errant ex-husband for a moment. When they reached the cabin in the lower deck, they found themselves in a well-appointed living area, furnished with butter-soft leather club chairs and rich hardwood. Beth felt as if she had just entered an exclusive country club. A large plasma TV adorned one wall and what looked like a Picasso (and could very well be one) hung on another. Beth briefly reflected on the idea of hanging priceless works of art on something that could at some point end up underwater but figured that was Lin and her insurance company’s problem.
One thing was for sure, this was how the one per cent lived. Did Ryan come from a well-off background, she wondered? He’d certainly never given that impression in conversations. But these circumstances, and the world in which the clues were set thus far, well and truly killed off any suspicions that Danny might have been responsible. Like Beth, he came from a decidedly working-class background, a million miles from this salubrious lifestyle.
No, Beth realised yet again with a heavy heart, this definitely wasn’t Danny’s scene. The big question was, could it be Ryan’s?
‘Would you take a look at this place? Gorgeous. I could totally live here,’ Jodi enthused. ‘Maybe I can if Trevor buys something like it. Yes, I could get used to this.’ She chortled. ‘If only that schlep Frank could see me now. Trevor’s the whole package, if you get my drift.’
Beth smiled, pleased at her friend’s happiness, but in truth her mind was on other things – namely, another clue or some indicator of what was to come next in the hunt.
She didn’t have to search long. As she walked from the living area into a zone that housed a well-stocked bar, she suddenly spied a shoe box-sized package on the counter. It was a plain beige box, wrapped with a white silk scarf, on top of which was a gift card bearing her name. It read simply ‘Beth’ in an elegant script.
Her heart immediately hopped into her mouth. ‘Jodi,’ she called out excitedly. ‘You have to come here. Look at this.’
Hurrying into the room, Jodi found her holding the box. ‘What’s that? Where’d you get it?’
‘It was right here. And it has my name on it.’
Jodi shook her head, trying to take it all in. ‘But how?’ And then the realisation finally dawned. ‘So Lin – Angelina – she is involved in this thing too?’
Beth shook her head as if it was full of cobwebs. She looked down at the box. ‘Do you suppose I should open it?’
‘Well, it has your name on it; I reckon that gives you licence enough. Go on. Open it.’
Without further ado, Beth pulled on the end of the white silk scarf, releasing it from its bow. She set the scarf on the counter and opened the nondescript box. It was full of tissue paper, which she quickly extracted and tossed to the ground, looking deeper to find out what the package contained.
And then with the tissue paper gone, the box revealed its contents. A single Yankees baseball cap. Beth stared at the contents of the box feeling perplexed again.
‘Yankees?’ she muttered. ‘But I told him I was a Mets fan…’ She was thinking of that first time she and Ryan went to lunch, when they had joked about his wearing a Red Sox hat in a Yankees bar during a game. She had said that she wouldn’t have been offended since she was a Mets fan.
‘What was that?’ Jodi asked sharply, looking over Beth’s shoulder. ‘Whodid you tell you were a Mets fan?’
Beth snapped from her reverie and quickly covered her tracks. ‘Danny, of course. I was just saying he knows I’m a Mets fan so what’s he playing at?’
Jodi picked the hat up out of the box and turned it upside down, as if looking to see if there was anything hidden inside, anything more to this mystery. ‘So this is another clue then? It has to be.’
Beth took the hat from Jodi and studied it too. ‘I suppose so,’ she said, confused. ‘But I’m really not sure whatthishas to do with anything.’ It seemed once again like another obscure clue. Much like the boat itself. What was she supposed to figure out from this? There was no immediate movie reference here that she could make out. So where, if anywhere, was she supposed to go next?
Quickly she picked up the tissue paper from the ground, cleaning up her mess, and put the hat back in the box. She picked up the white silk scarf, holding it up so it could fall lengthwise and she could fold it. It was a really nice scarf. Hermès, she noted, checking the label. Very fancy. And, once again, expensive too.
But then just as the fabric unravelled, Beth discovered something else. The scarf was obviously a part of the next clue too: there was a message carefully embroidered on the fine material. ‘Jodi, look, there’s something written on the scarf,’ she pointed out excitedly. She read the words out loud. ‘It sort of cools the ankles, doesn’t it?’
At this, the two women stood in silence and then turned to look at one another, baffled.
‘Don’t even ask,’ Jodi said. ‘I have no idea.’
Beth exhaled heavily. ‘Me neither. But I do have an idea of someone who might.’
Emerging back on the deck, Beth and Jodi had no problem finding Lin and Trevor. They were comfortably seated in the shade, sipping prosecco.
‘Hello, ladies,’ Lin smiled coyly. ‘Did you enjoy looking around? Would you like to join us for a drink?’
But Beth ignored Lin’s pleasantries. ‘I really need to know who left this here for me. Please.’
Lin smiled like the Cheshire Cat and took another sip of her drink. ‘Ah, so you found it then.’
‘Yes. I found it. But I don’t understand. This silk scarf, it has a message on it. See?’ Beth held the scarf up to her audience. ‘And then this hat.’ She opened up the box and displayed the Yankees cap. ‘But I don’t know… I don’t understand the connection.’ She looked imploringly at their host. ‘Who knew I’d be here? Why are you involved? Who’s behind this?’
Trevor’s brow furrowed, but Lin simply continued looking placid. ‘I’m sorry, Beth, but I can’t provide you with any other information. I was simply asked to provide the location and was told that I would know you when I saw you – and indeed I did – that wasn’t difficult at all, considering. But I don’t have any other information for you.’
