to the empty suite. And from there, it was just a short climb across the glass divider into mine. The truth was, I could draw the bolt across my cabin door as much as I liked, but any member of the staff could open the empty cabin with their passkey. As for the guests . . .
I thought again of the layout of the cabins. To the right of mine was Archer’s, ex-marine, with an upper-body strength that made me wince when I remembered it. And to the left . . . to the left was the empty cabin, and beyond that, curving round the ship to the other side of the corridor, was Ben Howard’s.
Ben. Who had deliberately cast doubt on my story with Nilsson.
Ben, who had lied about his alibi.
And he had known about the photos on Cole’s camera before I did. His words came back to me as if in a dream: He was showing them to us over lunch. He had some great pics . . .
Ben Howard. The one person on board I had thought I could trust.
But I pushed that thought away—focusing on the phone, and the stupidity and daring of coming in to steal it while I was in the bath. He had risked a lot to take it, and the question was why. Why now? But I thought I knew.
The answer was Trondheim. As long as the boat’s Internet was down, the perpetrator had nothing to worry about. I couldn’t make a call to land without going through Camilla Lidman. But once we started to draw closer to land . . .
I hugged the cushion harder to my chest, and I thought of Trondheim, and Judah, and the police.
All I had to do was make it until dawn.
WHODUNNIT WEB FORUM—
A DISCUSSION PLACE FOR ARMCHAIR DETECTIVES
Please read the forum rules before starting a thread, and exercise caution in posting anything potentially prejudicial and/or libelous to live cases. Posts that violate these guidelines will be taken down.
Monday 28 September
iamsherlocked: Hey guys, anyone else been following this Lorna Blacklock case? Looks like theyve found a body.
TheNamesMarpleJaneMarple: I think you’ll find it’s Laura Blacklock actually. Yes, I’ve been following it. Really tragic and sadly not that unusual. I read somewhere that more than 160 people have gone missing off cruise ships in the past few years, and almost none of those have been solved.
iamsherlocked: Yeah I think I’ve heard that too. Saw in the Daily Fail that her ex was on board the ship. Theres a big sobby interview wiv him saying how worried he is. He reckons she got off on her own accord. Is it me or is that a bit suss? Don’t they say that a third of women are killed by ex’s or partners or something?
TheNamesMarpleJaneMarple: “a third of women are killed by ex’s or partners or something?” I presume that must be in the case of women who are murdered, a third of them are killed by a partner or ex, not a third of all women! But yes, that kind of proportion sounds plausible. And of course there’s the boyfriend. Something about his statement’s not quite ringing true, and apparently he was out of the country at the time . . . hmm . . . very convenient. Not that hard to get a plane to Norway, right?
AnonInsider: I’m a regular on WD (although I’ve name-changed as I don’t want to out myself) and actually I know something about this case, I’m a family friend. I don’t want to say too much for fear of making myself identifiable or impinging on the family’s privacy, but I can tell you Judah is completely devastated about Lo’s disappearance, and I’d be very careful about implying anything to the contrary or you’ll probably find this thread gets taken down.
TheNamesMarpleJaneMarple: Anon, I’d find your claims more convincing if you dropped the mask, and in any case none of what I said above was libelous. I said I didn’t personally find his statement convincing. Show me the libel in that?
AnonInsider: Look, MJM, I’m not interested in debating this with you, but I do know the family very well. I was at school with Laura, and I can tell you, you’re barking up the wrong tree. If you must know, Lo’s got serious problems—she’s taken medication for depression for years and she’s always been . . . well, I think unstable would be the kind way of putting it. I imagine that’s the line the police