8. Blood-Stained Tiles #2
“Mr Eckells gave it to me so I could reach him at all times. I’m sure he’ll want to be apprised of what’s happening on his ship,” Isaiah said, looking up. “But this is our little secret. Not even Mina can know about the phone. Do you understand?”
Poppy nodded.
“Good. Sit on the lid of the toilet. Try not to touch anything.”
He took pictures of the soles of her bloody feet before handing her a towel to clean them, then placing the towel in a disposable bag he found in a drawer. Once most of the blood was off, she felt a little better.
“Stay with Mina in the hall until I come out. Don’t talk to anyone but me,” he instructed her coolly. “Don’t touch anything on the way out.”
Poppy nodded and left him alone with the body without looking back.
“Was that really Patrice?” Mina was pacing when Poppy joined her in the hall.
“Yes,” Poppy admitted. What was taking security so long?
“Do you think this has anything to do with the plan to kill you?” Mina fretted.
Poppy glanced up and down the hall to ensure no one was listening before pulling her into Mina’s room.
“Shh! No, I don’t think so.” She shook her head, not wanting to believe it.
“You can’t know that for sure. What if Patrice was mistaken for you? What if your ex and Duggery hired someone?” Mina said, rubbing her temples. “We couldn’t get into your room last night! Oh God, what if she was being murdered right when we were just outside the door?”
“Take a deep breath. There’s no way anyone would mistake us. She has dark hair and is far taller than me. You’d have to be blind and drunk to mix us up,” Poppy pointed out.
“Okay, fair point. But what are the chances that your manager was planning to kill you, and now you have a dead woman in your bathtub?!”
“You need to calm down before security gets here. This might not have anything to do with me. Patrice had a recording device in her pocket, so I guess she recorded the wrong person saying the wrong thing, and someone followed her to our suite and shut her up.”
“Right. I mean, if she was recording high-profile guests, she could’ve pissed off the wrong person,” Mina said, nodding along, starting to level out.
“You didn’t see or hear anything last night when you got back?” Poppy asked.
“No. I waited for you both to come back, but then I passed out watching TV. Even so, surely I would’ve heard someone being murdered, right?” Mina asked, pale and wide-eyed.“God, maybe I could have helped her if I hadn’t had the TV on—”
“You can’t blame yourself! You had a lot to drink.
We also don’t know when she was killed. We might have all been out when she came by.
Isaiah and I were only next door; we would’ve heard a struggle or someone calling for help, so you can’t put this on yourself,” Poppy said, remembering how fast Isaiah had responded when Mina screamed in the bathroom.
There was no way he would have ignored someone screaming for help in the middle of the night.
They both looked to the door when they heard voices in the hall.
“When security talks to us, say nothing about what my ex or manager were planning until we know more. Only answer the questions asked, and no more. We do what Isaiah says, and we’ll be perfectly safe. It’s why we hired him, right?” Poppy whispered quickly.
“Right.” Mina nodded.
Poppy took a deep breath and opened the door just as the body was being carted away in a black body bag by men in black uniforms with Security written on the backs. They didn’t even look up as they passed.
“Where are they taking her?” Poppy asked Isaiah.
“Every ship has a morgue. A lot of people die aboard ships. They’ll keep her there until we dock,” Isaiah said.
She shivered, not wanting to think about a morgue being only a few floors away.“Do they know why Patrice was here?”
“They checked her recent location when Mina called for help. They’re assuming Patrice came by to check on us when you were marked absent during the drill.
But they found your smartwatch on her, and they don’t know why,” Isaiah said.
“She had been assigned to this floor for the past three years. There are no issues or marks on her record.”
“Do you think she found my watch and was just trying to return it?” Poppy swallowed, fearing this might be her fault. Mina might be right about the mistaken identity. Maybe someone saw her enter my room and thought it was me.
“Maybe; we can’t know for sure. Security wants to close off the suite, so grab your necessities, but don’t go into the bathroom. We’ll be moving to new rooms.”
Poppy nodded as he gestured for her to go into the room.The smell of blood had taken over the whole suite.
She rubbed her wrist, trying to remember when she had taken off her smartwatch.
Drinking had jumbled her memory, and her paranoia kept asking whether she had taken it off or if it had been swiped.
Poppy knew she’d had it when she went to her room to change for the pool and said goodnight to Mina –not that she suspected Mina of killing Patrice.
Then again,she had never suspected Joshua.
Mina had said she was passed out in her room, but how could she confirm that?
Watched by a gruff security guard, she grabbed her large handbag from by the bed, which had all her daily essentials: a purse, makeup wipes, books, and an e-reader.
“Please leave the suitcases, Ms Roe,” the guard said when she glanced at them.
“Are you just going to bark orders, or do you want to introduce yourself?” She didn’t like the thought of being without clothes or underwear, but it didn’t seem right to cry over clothes when someone had just been murdered ten feet away.
“Head of Midas Security, Kenneth Colter, and this is my scene, so you’ll do what I say.”
“We’ll follow your orders; no need for any hostility,” Isaiah said soothingly.
“Sorry. It’s not every day I pull a woman I’ve worked with for the past few years out of a bath filled with her blood,” Kenneth said, pulling at his black cap.
“Bad day for all of us,” Poppy said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, but we have a job to do, so please let’s work together,” Kenneth said.
“Has the captain been informed of what’s happened?” Isaiah asked him as Poppy hovered by the door. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she just wanted to get out of there. She didn’t know if they considered her a suspect.
“Yes, and Captain Hamill ordered us to secure the suite. The three of you will be moved to another area of the boat. You’ll be brought to your new accommodation once we’ve asked you a few questions,” the security guard said, eying them both like they were guilty.
“I’ve got everything,” Poppy said quietly, not wanting to linger.
Everything, except her suitcases. She wished she could bring her clothes, but nothing could leave the crime scene.
She would just have to buy what she needed on board.
She didn’t look forward to seeing her credit card bill when she made it home– or at this rate, if she made it home.
Isaiah escorted her out, leaving the security guard to lock the suite.
Mina was waiting for them in the hall with a suitcase and bags in her arms. She was allowed to keep her things, because technically her adjoining room wasn’t part of the suite.
Poppy noted the fear in her eyes and wished she had a better poker face.
At least any onlookers shouldn’t be able to catch a hint of Poppy’s emotions if they looked at her.
She had spent years crafting her mask, and it came to her naturally.
Without it, anyone could have seen how terrified she was. For weeks, Poppy had feared being suspected of murder, but she’d never expected it to be for the death of a stranger.