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“One of the cleaners told Adele. Isn’t that right, Adele?”

“Yeah, she did,” said Mrs. Biles’s carer. “I thought she was kidding, but she swore up and down that she wasn’t. She said a terrible thing had happened and we probably should ask to change cabins, since that corridor is now cursed because of what happened.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” said Laura. She looked a little sullen, I thought, as she took a sip from her hot coffee. “I already asked the captain this morning, and he said there are no more cabins available. I also asked him about Lil Thug and he said an announcement will be made later today, and he asked me to keep quiet about it for now.”

“As if we can be expected to keep quiet about a thing like that!” said her mother. “Murder! Aboard the Queen of the Seas! It’s unbelievable!”

“Do they have any idea who did it?” asked David Biles as he leaned closer to Chase.

“Not yet,” said Chase. “The investigation is ongoing, though, so for now all I can say is that your cooperation is much appreciated.”

“What cooperation?” asked Mrs. Biles, slightly taken aback by this statement.

“Don’t you see, Mama,” said her daughter. “We’re all suspects now. Isn’t that right, Mr. Chase?”

“Not suspects, necessarily,” Chase prevaricated. “Witnesses? Sure.”

“Witnesses? I didn’t see a thing,” said Mrs. Biles. “I was fast asleep when it happened.”

“Me neither,” said Adele. “I was sleeping the sleep of the dead—pardon the pun.”

“So you didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary last night?” asked Odelia, already in full investigative mode, in spite of the early hour and her lack of sleep.

“No, I’m afraid not,” said Adele. “I’m a sound sleeper, and once I fall asleep not even a cannon shot wakes me up.”

“It’s true,” said Mrs. Biles. “Adele even sleeps through her alarm clock more often than not.” She darted a censorious look in her subordinate’s direction, which to the carer was like water off a duck’s back, as she clearly didn’t give a damn what her employer thought.

“I didn’t hear anything either,” said Laura. “In fact I slept like a log, which surprised me, as usually I have trouble falling asleep when I’m on holiday.”

“It’s the boat,” said her mother. “I never sleep as soundly as I do on the water.”

“How about you, David?” asked Chase semi-casually, though he wasn’t fooling anyone. “Did you notice anything suspicious last night? Strange sounds, activities?”

“Not a thing, officer,” said David dutifully. “I slept great. I did take a sleeping pill, so maybe that had something to do with it. First night of the voyage I always do. So I’m afraid I simply passed out. But don’t they have cameras and that sort of thing? I thought I distinctly noticedone when we arrived on the ship. Several cameras, in fact.”

“They have cameras,” Odelia explained, “but not in the corridors and not in the cabins.”

“Privacy reasons,” Mrs. Biles knew. “They don’t want to film their guests undressing or taking a shower or doing whatever. This is not the Big Brother house, after all.”

“Did you see anything, Salvatore?” I asked our small Maltese friend.

“Not a thing,” Salvatore confessed. “I tend to curl up in a ball and go straight to sleep.”

“Your humans didn’t leave their cabin last night?”

He eyed me curiously.“Is this a trick question? It is, isn’t it?”

“Not a trick question at all,” I said. “Just routine stuff.”

“Well, since I slept in Laura’s cabin last night, I can only vouch for her. And as far as I know, she didn’t get up to any mischief last night. Though as I said, I’m a sound sleeper.”

“I hope they catch whoever did this soon,” said David. “It’s an awful feeling that this happened so close to our cabins.” He shivered visibly. “Which just goes to show: if you insist on displaying your extreme wealth there will always be people who decide they want to take it away from you. It almost makes me feel glad we’re not rich.”

“You can be rich, but you have to be discreet about it,” said his wife. “Not like Mr. Thug, who liked to flaunt his wealth for all to see. And now if you’ll excuse me,” she added, throwing down her napkin, “I think I’ll enjoy some of that early-morning sun on the upper deck. This whole thing has completely spoiled my appetite, I must say.”

Judging from the enormous amounts of food she’d managed to stow away, that statement wasn’t borne out by the facts. But then again, I understood what she meant. If a person is killed right next door, it kind of takes the joy out of a cruise vacation.

“You’re all so selfish,” suddenly Laura burst out. “All you can think about is you, you, you. But what about that poor Lil Thug? Such an incredible talent—an absolute genius—and now he’s gone. Just like that. What a waste—and what a terribly, terribly sad day!”

And with these words, she pushed back her chair and hurried off.