The helicopter landing was quite a sight. There on the rear deck - in
what usually served as the golf putting green stood a small
helicopter. The captain went over to greet the woman and man who
stepped out.
"This is most irregular!" complained the captain.
"Well, your cruise line owner Burke Devlin assured me that you would
cooperate fully, Captain Hobbs," said the blonde woman in an overly
short designer coat.
"Yes, Mrs. Hawks, we will cooperate, but I assure you that your cousin
and his friends never boarded this ship."
"Oh, but they did. Tony, tell him!" Carolyn replied.
"Hello, Captain, I'm Tony Petersen, the Collins family lawyer. And if
we could go somewhere more private and quiet, I imagine the pilot
would like to take off," he shouted.
"Very well. We'll adjourn to the Alpha Lounge."
Carolyn looked at Tony and rolled her eyes. Tony looked back at her
devotedly. Tony had dated Carolyn years ago, but other then his being
totally smitten with the heiress nothing more came of it other than
being selected as the family's principal lawyer. He wondered what his
great-grandfather Lamar Trask would have thought, if he had married
Carolyn. His grandmother used to tell him that Lamar had been married
to Judith Collins and had been master of all Collinwood. However, he
had disappeared one day, and she suspected some man called Count
Petofi. He had gotten to know a lot of the Collins family history in
the last few years. If ever there was a family that was cursed, it
was these people. Even Carolyn, first her father abandoned her and
then he returned, and died. And she had been barely married to Heb
Hawks, when she became a widow. Still he loved Carolyn, and if he
couldn't have her, he wanted her to be happy.
In the lounge, the captain escorted them to a table set back in an
alcove in the corner. He gestured, and said, "Please be seated. Would
you care for any drinks?"
"A Manhattan for me," said Tony, "And for Mrs. Hawks, do you have any
sherry?"
"Not just any sherry," Carolyn snapped, "What kinds of sherry do you
have? I'm particularly fond of Amontillado, if you have it."
"Amontillado, Carolyn?" Tony said with an odd distaste in his mouth.
It reminded him of mortar and brick dust whenever he thought of
Amontillado.
"Yes, didn't you know since Cousin Barnabas came it's the only type of
sherry we stock at Collinwood. It is truly to die for - are you sure
you won't have one?"
"No amontillado, I'm afraid. Would port sherry do?"
"No, instead get me a Cosmo - you know a Cosmopolitan?"
The captain retreated.
"Now, Carolyn, don't be so brusque. We need this man's help. Let me
show him the evidence, and I'm sure he'll help us find out what
happened to David," he said holding her hand. He could help but steal
a whiff of her scent as he leaned in.
"Oh, Tony, I know. It's just I'm so worried. How can a captain not
even know who's on his ship?"
"Well, these cruise ships carry thousands. They're like small cities.
But he'll help us, and we will find David."
"The steward will bring us our drinks shortly. Now what evidence do
you have. I reviewed our ship's records and neither your cousin nor
his friends boarded this ship."
"Then how do you explain these photos?" Carolyn said.
Apparently, you had used your iPhone to snap pictures of your boarding
the ship and on the ship as you paused while following the steward to
your fate. Oh, and if you haven't figured it out yet - you are David
Collins.
"Well, that is our gangway, and the pool and I assume these are David
and his friends?"
"Here's a picture of David and all of them. He used a mirror in their
cabin to snap it."
"None of our cabins look like that? Why that looks like the new
window display for our Men's Resort Store. Damn, even the mannequins-"
the Captain stared and paused. "Our drinks can wait. Come with me at
once!"