45ebf3c490593574dd454e5dfd5a5758

“Well, she seems to think she’s going to be some kind of influencer star or something, and has been snapping pictures for her Instagram and shooting videos for her YouTube channel.”

“So what kind of content is she posting?”

“Oh, this and that. I haven’t seen everything but mainly it’s beauty tips, and Vesta’s been going from store to store, asking to get clothes for free in exchange for posing with them on her YouTube and her Instagram.”

“Free clothes, huh?”

“Yeah, clothes and shoes and all kinds of accessories. Cosmetics, you name it.”

“And do these shops actually give her this stuff?”

“No, they don’t, which is why she’s annoyed. She claims the stores are sabotaging her attempt at greatness, and she’s not happy about it.”

“I think before you can go around asking for free stuff you first need to be famous,” I said.

“That’s what I keep telling her!” said Kingman. “But she claims it’s the other way around. First you get all kinds of free stuff and that’s how you get famous.”

“Oh, well,” I said. Gran’s shenanigans frankly paled in comparison with the murder of Lil Thug.

“You guys keep up the good work,” said Kingman, “and I’ll try to keep Vesta from floating off into space and getting entirely too cocky for her own good.” He produced a deep sigh. “It’s a tough job but now that you’re not here someone’s got to do it.”

And with these wise words, he signed off.

I glanced up at Odelia and said,“Please tell me that Garth is searching the cabins for that diamond? And that second earring?”

“Oh, you can bet your tiny tush he is,” said Odelia with a smile as she picked up her phone. “So maybe within the next hour we’ll know who’s responsible for the murder.”

“If that were true, this would be the shortest murder investigation in history,” I said.

Somehow, though, I doubted it would be so easy.

13

Garth Dagit had set up a series of interviews, and since Odelia wanted me and Dooley present, we were led into the man’s office, causing him to give us a look of surprise. But since he was basically a kindhearted man, he didn’t say a word when we settled in for the duration in the corner of his office and made ourselves comfortable.

I wished Odelia had brought along our litter boxes, but who was I to get prissy? We were there to do a job, and by golly we were going to do it. After all, dogs managed to restrain themselves for hours at a time, so we should be able to follow their example.

Much to my delight, Garth found it in his heart to place a bowl of water in front of us, so at least we wouldn’t be suffering from a parched throat. Like I said: a good man.

“So did you find anything?” asked Odelia.

“We didn’t find the diamond, and we didn’t find the matching earring, but we did find something of interest in the Ketterings’ cabin.” And he produced a clear plastic bag with some kind of white piece of cloth inside. There were red marks on the cloth, which would have aroused Garth’s suspicion.

“Let’s ask them when they come in.”

“Oh, and I hope you don’t mind, but I already interviewed the Bileses. They said they wanted to leave for the day, so I had them come in.”

“That’s all right. We talked to them at breakfast, didn’t we, Chase?”

Chase nodded as he studied the security man’s little office. It was pretty nondescript: several pictures of a nautical nature bedecked the walls, and one very large picture of Garth posing in front of a lighthouse, a big smile on his face.

“For the rest no dice,” said Garth sadly. “We searched all the cabins but so far nothing. I asked the cleaners to keep an eye out, but I’m not holding out much hope.”

“Do you trust your cleaners?”

“Oh, absolutely. If they find that stone, they’ll hand it over.”

“But if the stone isn’t in one of the cabins, then where is it?”

“No idea.”

“The killer must have hidden it where we wouldn’t find it,” said Chase as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin.

“But where?” asked Odelia. “If the stone was in one of those cabins you would have found it by now.”

“Unless the killer kept it on his or her person,” said Garth.

“Now that’s a distinct possibility,” Odelia agreed. “So do you have the authority to frisk these people?”

“I do,” Garth confirmed. “On the captain’s authority. But he told me to go easy on them and not treat them like suspects. They’re valued clients, and cruise line management doesn’t want to antagonize people.”

“They do understand that a man was murdered last night?”

“Of course, but they also know that we have two thousand paying customers on board, and they don’t want to ruin their vacation, or inconvenience them in any way.”

“It’s hard to fight crime with one hand tied behind your back,” said Chase, as he sympathetically clapped the other man on the shoulder.

They all took a seat behind the desk of the security officer, then a tap at the door sounded, and after Garth had bellowed,“Enter!” the influencer couple strode in, looking extremely uncomfortable. I almost hadn’t recognized them without their ubiquitous selfie sticks. Last night’s murder must have shaken them to a certain extent.