"Well, if you were on duty until eleven, when did James first tell you anything about the necklace?"
"The night we were serving, I was on table eleven. When James passed by me, he said, 'Check out the necklace on table nine. It's worth three million smackaroos.' I gave him a long whistle when we passed by each other again, and that was it. The next thing I heard was that it was stolen."
"Did James tell you about the robbery?"
"No, I don't think so. I just heard it through the grapevine. In a place like this, news travels fast. All the staff were talking about it. All it takes is one person to hear something, and it moves like wildfire throughout the ship."
"Thanks, George, you're free to go for now. But, James, please stay for just a little while longer. We'd still like to ask you a few more questions."
"Sure, I'm here for as long as you want me."
After George left, I turned to James. "We'd like to know if there's anyone you might suspect, no matter how slight the evidence may be?"
"No, not really. I do wonder though why Berta told you that she and Barsha were best of friends. They fought all the time. Berta told me the reason Barsha stayed overnight at other friends' cabins in housekeeping was because she didn't want to be with her. I'm not pointing my finger at anyone, I'm just curious, and since you asked."
"Thanks, James, we'll look into that. You're free to go, but if we have any further questions or need your help, can we call on you again?"
"Sure, any help I can be to you will make me feel good. I'm sorry about what I said about Berta. I guess sometimes best friends don't always get along."
After James left, I said to Kat, "Do you think it's possible that Berta accepted Jesus because of fear and guilt? Or maybe even covering up something to put us on her side?"
"No way. I'm sure she was sincere. You saw her tears and the look of peace and joy on her face. And we both felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. There's no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Berta truly invited Christ into her life. And not out of fear or guilt, but because the Spirit of God was working in her life. She definitely wasn't trying to sway us on her side. I know she'll be in the Kingdom of God with us.
"But what I don't understand is why James told us about Berta and Barsha fighting all of the time. Even though he apologized for mentioning it, I'm wondering what his motive was. Why did he bother to tell us that?"
I said, "I'm thinking the same thing. But we did ask him if there was anyone he suspected, no matter how slight the evidence might be, so he probably thought he was helping us."
Chapter 19
Next on the list were Cody and Nancy, Berta's friends. The three of them arrived together. After Berta introduced us to them, she said she had told them about her receiving Christ.
Nancy said she was already a Christian and had invited Berta many times to the early Sunday morning services. She said she'd been praying for her for a long time, and when Berta told her what she had done, she hugged her and started praising the Lord for her salvation.
Cody looked embarrassed, and informed us that he wasn't interested and that his life was just fine. Immediately, his name went on our prayer list of those who needed salvation!
All three of them said yes to a diet cola, and while Kat got up to get them I asked the question, "Did either of you tell anyone else about the jewelry after Berta mentioned it to you?"
"No," Nancy said, "I didn't tell anyone."
"Me neither," Cody broke in. "Berta told Nancy and me at the same time. We were in the game room playing cards . . . just the three of us. Neither one of us had a chance to tell anyone."
Nancy interrupted, "Right after Berta told us, we were informed that there was a robbery and we were to report to our work stations."
Berta joined in. "We didn't know what the thief had taken, and the three of us even joked that maybe someone had stolen the necklace and become an instant millionaire! We had no idea that it really was the necklace that had been stolen."
"Yeah," Cody said, "I headed back to housekeeping and none of us were allowed to leave. I was there for about an hour before we and our rooms were searched by our superiors. Only then were we excused to go to our duty stations."
Nancy said, "I went back to the kitchen. I was on duty to help clean up. Before any of us could begin, we were also searched. About an hour and a half later, over the loudspeaker we heard that housekeeping and the kitchen crew were free to resume their normal activities. We all burst out shouting and applauding. We're a very close group and were happy that none of us were being held as a suspect."
Kat said, "Thanks. The two of you are free to go. Because you didn't tell anyone, you helped to make our jobs a little easier."
I asked Berta to stay just a few minutes longer. Before I asked her my question about any suspects, I asked her how she was doing now that she had become a believer.
"Oh, Kat, you can't imagine the joy and peace I've found. I feel absolutely great, and most of my fears have vanished. And when I do become afraid, I just send up a prayer asking for His peace and comfort. It's amazing how it works.
"When I told Nancy what I'd done, she jumped up and down and just kept hugging me and saying, 'Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,' over and over. She was so excited, and said she had been praying for me for over three months. I think we're going to be very good friends. I mean, why not? We both know Jesus. Thank you again for taking the time to share Christ with me and showing me how to invite Him into my life. I'll never forget the two of you as long as I'm on this earth."
Kat said, "The thanks all go to God. It was He and the Holy Spirit that prepared you to receive His Son. Kit and I were just the tools, the instruments He used to bring you to Jesus."
"Well then, thank you for being those tools."
"Let's pray for a moment."
With Kat's suggestion, the three of us stood up and held hands, and Kat led us in prayer thanking our Lord again for this new soul.
When Kat was through, immediately Berta started to pray. "Lord, I'm new at this, but thank You for dying for me and loving me. Please help my new friends solve this case and find the murderer of my best friend . . . and also please bless them . . . Amen."
With tears in her eyes, Berta said, "That's the first time I've prayed out loud with other people around. I hope it was okay."
I said, "Not only okay, but it was wonderful. Thank you for your prayer, Berta. But before you leave, I'd like to ask you one more question."
Instead of asking her if she had any suspects in mind, I asked, "Berta, what are your honest feelings and thoughts about James and Alex?"
"Well I don't know James too well. The other night actually was the first time I worked with him at table nine. He seems like a nice person, but we've never had a conversation together for any length of time. Alex, I know a little better. We came on the ship about the same time, and we worked for a little while together in housekeeping. Alex moved up very quickly to be a server. I know he's married, and I believe he has three kids. And like most of us, he sends his earnings home to his family.
"He always says he's broke, but at every port we dock at, and if it's his free day, he gathers his clubs and heads off to play golf. I've heard it's very expensive. Not that I begrudge him his fun time. But every time I see him leaving, I wonder how he can afford it, since he sometimes complains that he has no extra money for himself.
"I'm sorry. Am I talking about Alex too much? Now that I'm a Christian maybe I should just try and say good things about other people."
She started to cry, and reached in her uniform pocket for a tissue. Kat put her pad and pencil down, walked over to her and put her arm around her. "Yes, Berta, saying good things about people is a great habit to get into. That's something we Christians should practice more often. We should be encouraging to one another.
"But in this case we're looking for a thief and a murderer – probably one and the same person. You were answering Kit's question in an honest way. It's okay, don't worry about it. Y
ou're just a baby in the Lord, and the Lord will reveal many things to you through the years to come. Always be honest and be not afraid, for He will always be with you."
Kat smiled at Berta. "Those are not my words but the words of Jesus. In the book of Matthew, Jesus says, 'I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'"
When Berta got up to leave, we assured her it was all right and she hadn't said anything that would hurt her relationship with the Lord. We told her we would see her tonight at table nine.
We still didn't have any great clues about the robbery or the murder. We were hoping that our next interview might change that.
That interview was going to be with Alex and his roommate Mike. It was to take place shortly after lunch, before we reached Mykonos. We also asked Alex to bring Ken Andrews with him, the person Mike had told about the necklace.
Chapter 20
We had lunch again with the Captain and Inspector Rashan. They were no closer in solving the case than we were. However, Inspector Rashan did say he had a couple of people he was going to continue to investigate, including the people at table nine.
I asked the Inspector, "Any information on how Barsha might have died?"
"The ship's doctor has examined the body thoroughly, the best he could with not much equipment. We'll know more when we can get her body to the coroner at our next port of call. The doctor says Barsha had a heavy blow to the side of her head, most likely caused by a sharp instrument, which probably was the cause of her death. What the weapon was, we're not sure."
"Is it possible that it could have been done with a golf club?" I asked.
"I suppose, like maybe a nine iron." I saw a slight hint of a grin on Inspector Rashan's face as he said this. Clearly he was a golfer. "Why do you ask? Did something maybe come out in one of your interviews?"
"Not really. It was just a thought. One of the staff we'll be interviewing is a golf player, and we believe he has a set of clubs. It's much too early to say anything. In fact, it just came to me this moment that I remember seeing blood on the victim's head. Kat and I will investigate the golf angle a little more and see what we can come up with."
The Captain asked, "Can you give us the person's name?"
"Of course I can, but I'd rather not just yet. Like I said, it's a new thought, but just as soon as we find anything, if we do, we'll let you both know."
We were so happy that Inspector Rashan didn't insist on being given the name. If he had, we would have had to tell him it was Alex. Everything was so premature. We were just searching for some kind of evidence, no matter how slight it might be.
I think Inspector Rashan realized it was much too early for us to give out the information we had. It made us feel good, knowing that he trusted us and our decision in not sharing his name at this time. Besides, we hadn't even interviewed Alex yet. We'd know more after we'd talked to him. I was a little excited though. It was the first hint that maybe we were on to something.
After lunch we went to our cabin and waited for Alex, Mike his roommate, and Ken Andrews. At exactly two o'clock, right on time, a knock came on the door.
This time Kat answered it. "Hi, Alex. Thanks for coming."
There was only one other person with Alex, so Kat asked him, "Are you Mike or Ken?" While saying this, she extended her hand and he reached out and shook it.
"I'm Mike."
Kat said, "Come on in, Mike, and don't look so worried. Neither of you are suspects. We just want to ask you both some questions that might help us with the case."
I looked over at them. Kit was right: Alex and Mike both looked worried, and also scared and guilty. Early on we'd wondered if two people could be involved. I started to wonder if maybe Alex and Mike were partners in a vicious crime.
We told the young men to sit down and try to relax. We offered them some snacks that we'd brought back from the buffet lunch. They both said they'd like a cola, but turned down the snacks.
Mike said, "Sorry, but Ken can't make it here today. He said if you still want to talk to him he'll meet you at another time. He's sick, and was barfing all night. But he told me that he didn't tell anyone about the stolen necklace."
"Even so," Kat said to me, "we'll still need to interview him."
I went over and helped Kat with the colas. I whispered, "Do you think it's possible that there could be two people involved in the stolen jewelry and the murders?"
She looked at me. "Anything's possible. Believe it or not, I was thinking the same thing after I saw the looks on their faces."
It always amazes me how our thoughts are so often on the same page.
Kat took out her notebook and wrote their names down as I began questioning them.
"Mike, Alex said you talked to your friend Ken Andrews about the stolen necklace. When was that?"
"It was after the shutdown. Ken and I were in one of the cabins preparing it for the guests. We were pulling down the comforter, fluffing the pillows, making an animal of the towels for on top of the bed, and putting the chocolate candy on their pillows. Those are things that we do each night.
"That's when we heard through the intercom, 'All staff return to your stations.' On our way out is when I told Ken about the three million dollar necklace. It was just conversation. Neither of us knew it was the necklace that had been stolen."
"Okay, Mike, that's all we need to know. Thanks for coming in. And don't look so worried. You're in the clear, for now."
"I'm relieved. This job is very important to me and my family. I have twin girls that we're supporting at the university in my country. I'd hate to lose my job and have to pull them out of school. They're very good students. I was afraid you might think I stole those jewels, and then I'd lose my job."
"Don't worry, Mike, as far as we know, your job is secure."
Kat said, "I'd like to see a picture of your twin girls someday. I bet they're beautiful. How old are they? You look too young to have daughters in a university."
There were tears in Mike's eyes. "Yes, they are beautiful. They're special to us, and we love them very much. They just turned nineteen."
Kat closed the door after Mike left. She then came back and sat next to me. Alex was sitting across from us. We wanted to see the expression on his face as we asked him the next question.
I began. "You know, Alex, we have no suspects. We're looking at all angles, including help from all of you who were serving our table that night. Tell us, being very honest, what do you think about James and Berta?"
"Berta's okay. I like her. We started working together on the ship about the same time. I think she was a little jealous when I moved up to server before she did. But we're okay now. James is a little harder to get to know. He's a loner, and doesn't mix too much with the rest of us. I see him occasionally outside the ship, but that's very rare. One never quite knows what he's thinking. That's all I know about them. I'm sorry, I'm sure I haven't been much help."
"One more question, Alex. We hear you like to play golf. If you send all your money home, how can you afford it?"
Alex laughed in a calm way. "It's no secret. I do love to play golf. I used to play with my father. First I started out carrying his clubs. Then he began to teach me, and as I got older I fell in love with the game. When he died about five years ago I inherited his clubs. A very nice set. I continued to play in the Philippines and even entered some sport events. I won a few tournaments. But when the opportunity to come on board this ship came, I took it. I also have children who need to be educated in good schools in my country.
"My wife insisted I take my bag of clubs, as she knows how much I love the game and find it very relaxing. The first year or two I didn't play. But when I moved up as server, many times someone would give me a ten or twenty dollar bill. I'd save it, and when I had one hundred dollars, I'd send half of it home, and with the other half I could play one or two rounds of golf. In some places where we dock, golfing is not too expensive. I have my wife's blessing on doing this. She's a good wife."
&nb
sp; Kat asked, "So where do you keep your clubs?"
"In my room, right by my door. They're always there ready to be picked up whenever I have a chance to leave the ship and play a game. Or use the driving nets here on the ship when I'm off duty, which is allowed as long as the passengers aren't using them. Although I've not been there at all on this voyage. I guess I've been too busy."
We thanked him, and I said, "If we have any more questions, is it all right to have the Captain schedule you to come and see us?"
"Of course. Any help I can give the two of you in solving this case and clearing any of my friends, I'd be more than happy to do it. Just let me know."
When Alex left, we were more confused than ever. They all had good stories, good alibis and appeared to be innocent. We were back to square one. Another puzzle was that each one had something negative to say about one of the other servers. We wondered why . . . coincidence or??
We went back to thinking about table nine, remembering Inspector Rashan saying he had a couple of people he was going to investigate further. Maybe he was making more headway than we were.
Chapter 21
As the island of Mykonos came into view, Kat and I talked about the interviews with our three servers and their friends. Not one of them stood out as a suspect. Of course we eliminated Berta. She was the only one we were sure about being innocent. For one thing she didn't seem guilty, and for another, since she'd found the Lord she surely wouldn't have tried to conceal such a terrible secret.
So out of our three surviving servers, that left Alex and James, one a loner and at times moody, the other likable and a golf player. And both were sending their earnings back home to help educate their children. At the moment we thought they were both innocent. Yet we had some questions. For instance, we wondered how much it would cost Alex to send his kids to good schools, and wondered if his wife was really behind him playing golf as he said she was.
If it really became necessary, we would ask Inspector Rashan to call her on the ship's phone to make sure. We were hoping that wouldn't be needed. Actually we liked both Alex and James. They appeared to be very good husbands and fathers.
The evidence was slight against Alex, because probably other crew members played golf and had clubs with them. Most sets of clubs included a nine iron. Some of the guests had mentioned being golfers, and maybe some of them had brought their own clubs.