happy to help her.’
‘That’s for sure,’ his wife, Virgie, agreed.
‘It’s just awful what happened to her,’ said Peggy, ‘A young girl like that. With a husband, and a little child. Got her whole life ahead of her.’
Peggy’s husband, Bud, nodded solemnly in agreement. ‘Terrible thing.’
Despite her middle age and obvious infirmity, Peggy had a soft, unlined face, and pink cheeks. ‘The poor thing,’ she said gently, and, for a moment, Shelby felt grateful if these people were the last her daughter had seen.
Virgie wrapped her cold, bony fingers around Shelby’s hand. ‘Now, don’t you give up just yet. They still might find her. I was reading somewhere that people have been known to survive a fall from a ship like this. Don was in the Navy. He would know. Isn’t that true, Don?’
Don winced. ‘I don’t know about that . . .’
‘Mr and Mrs Ridley,’ Agent DeWitt called out. He was gesturing to Bud and Peg.
‘He wants to talk to us,’ said Bud anxiously. ‘We better go.’
‘I’m sorry about all this,’ said Shelby.
‘Oh, heavens, don’t you be sorry,’ said Peg. ‘We’re just sorry this happened.’
All the others murmured agreement.
Shelby felt hot tears spring to her eyes again at their kindness. But their recounting, however downplayed, of Chloe’s last evening on the ship had closed around her heart like cold fingers.
‘Thank you for your kindness,’ said Shelby to the couple as Bud cleared a path for his wife who dragged one leg as she walked and leaned on her cane.
‘We’ll keep your Chloe in our prayers,’ Peggy called back.
Virgie reached out her hand and patted Shelby’s forearm consolingly. ‘And you too.’
‘That’s right,’ Don agreed, and the pity in his eyes was so genuine that Shelby could not bear to look at him.
‘Thank you,’ she mumbled. She lowered her head and hurried away from them. She was intercepted by Chief Giroux as she reentered the incident room.
‘I want to speak to my son-in-law,’ Shelby said.
‘Right now, that’s not going to be possible,’ said the chief. ‘He’s being questioned.’
Shelby looked around for a vacant chair. ‘I can wait,’ she said. ‘I just need a chair.’
Chief Giroux looked pained. ‘Mrs Sloan,’ he said. ‘You’ll pardon me for saying so, but you look exhausted.’
‘I’m all right,’ said Shelby.
Chief Giroux ignored her protestations. ‘And you’ve probably not had a bite to eat. We have arranged for you and your son-in-law to have rooms at a guesthouse here in town tonight. You can have some dinner there and get a bit of rest.’
‘No,’ said Shelby, shaking her head. ‘I’m fine. I want to stay here.’ Tears leaked from her eyes and ran down her face.
The chief’s voice was firm. ‘I will call your cell phone if there’s any news.
‘I promise you. If there’s anything at all, I will contact you. It’s not five minutes from here.’
Shelby looked at him helplessly. Did she have to go, she wondered? Could he force her to leave? In this strange, exotic place, she did not know the rules. She appealed to him the only way she knew how. ‘It’s my daughter,’ she pleaded.
Chief Giroux took her hand and held it briefly. The warmth of his grip made her aware of the coldness of her own hand. For a moment she felt lightheaded, as if she was going to faint. She gripped his wrist with her own hand to steady herself.
‘I understand,’ Chief Giroux said. ‘I have a daughter myself, ma’am. Believe me. You don’t need to be in this room to remind me of the importance of all this. I will do my very best for your daughter. But right now, you should go.’ Without giving her a chance to protest, the chief summoned one of his officers, a light-skinned young man with pale green eyes.
‘Darrell, drive Mrs Sloan to the Maison,’ he said. ‘Christophe is expecting her.’ Then, he turned back to Shelby. ‘When we are finished talking with your son-in-law, I will send him along. And I will see you both in the morning. First thing. Now, you go with Darrell and he will take you to the guesthouse. Go on, now. It’s best if you do.’
The young officer nodded and indicated that they would be heading to the door.
Numbly, Shelby picked up her bag and followed him.
SIX
Shelby sat in the back seat of the police car and stared out the window. The young officer drove slowly, waving and calling out occasionally to people he passed on the street. Though it was evening, the sunset lingered. On the waterfront