It's Murder, On a Galapagos Cruise: An Amateur Female Sleuth Historical Cozy Mystery (Miss Riddell C by P.C. James (easy novels to read txt) 📕

“I expect it’s when they’re cross, Freddie, and you’re right about Rod. If I’d expected a suspicious death of anyone on this ship, Betty would have been the victim and Rod would be the chief suspect.”

“But it isn’t Betty. The thing is, though,” Freda said, “we could easily believe Rod had killed Betty because he seems exactly the kind of man who would kill someone, which is why it’s so easy to believe he killed Jose.”

“And he doesn’t want to say why he was quarreling with Jose – if he was quarrelling with Jose.”

“Do you doubt it?” Freda asked.

“Only one person claims to have seen him and that’s Pedro, who also had a history with Jose that we’ve only just discovered. He only announced he’d seen Rod quarrelling with Jose after we began questioning him,” Pauline reminded her.

“Oh, yes. That’s true. I hadn’t thought of it like that. So, Rod, who looks like an elegant movie villain, may be telling the truth and Pedro, who looks like a nature-loving choirboy, may be leading us astray.”

“Possibly,” Pauline said. “But to get a better idea about that, we need someone else who saw this quarrel.”

“Do you think it was Rod and Jose talking that Isaac and Ruth heard?” Freda asked.

Pauline shook her head. “It can’t have been. According to Pedro, Rod was arguing with Jose in the late afternoon. Isaac and Ruth heard people after dinner when it was dark.”

“I think we should confirm with Pedro what he remembered,” Freda said. “It could be just different words, afternoon and evening, for the same time. We have to be sure.”

“Well, you’re my detecting partner,” Pauline said. “You check with him. I feel I’m wearing out my welcome there.”

“You were right,” Freda said, as she rejoined Pauline in the lounge after talking to Pedro. “It was still light when Pedro saw Jose arguing with Rod.”

“There must have been other people about,” Pauline said.

“Don’t forget, it would be the time the afternoon excursion came back on board. People would all be down on the rear deck meeting their friends and enjoying the champagne we’re constantly being plied with on our return.”

“True but not everyone,” Pauline said. “We were there and the deck wasn’t so very full. Not nearly everybody aboard was there and not even for the free champagne. A lot of people were elsewhere on the ship and someone should have seen this exchange, if it happened.”

“We can’t question all the passengers.”

“Nor can we broadcast a request to the whole ship,” Pauline said. “It’s very unsatisfactory, this way of investigating.”

Freda laughed. “You didn’t realize how much help you usually get from the police, did you?”

“To be honest, I did know,” Pauline said ruefully, “but, as you say, haven’t appreciated it enough until now. They can do things we amateur sleuths can’t do.”

“We can ask questions of everyone,” Freda said.

“You’re really getting into this, aren’t you?” Pauline said, smiling.

“I am. Maybe, now I’ve stopped working, I’ll be a detective too. I’ll pick up your mantle back in the Old Country.”

“Just don’t advertise using my name or I’ll sue,” Pauline said, and then added with a grin, “You see how much I’ve learned since I came to North America?”

“Actually,” Freda said, suddenly serious, “I’m thinking of going back to nursing. I retired because Keith’s health had forced him to retire early. There doesn’t seem much point now, does there?”

Pauline hugged her sister briefly. “Don’t rush into anything. Give yourself time.”

“First we have to discover ‘who dunnit’ here on this ship,” Freda said. “Who are our suspects?”

“Number one has to be Pedro,” Pauline said, “and for all the reasons we’ve talked about. Number two is Rod, he’s strangely reticent about his whereabouts at the time of Jose’s death and won’t give a satisfactory answer to the question about the argument with Jose. If it happened. Number three, for me, is Arvin…” She held up her hand to stop the objection she could see Freda about to make. “You can tell me why you don’t think Pedro did it when you tell me who you think did it,” Pauline said. “And number four is Mr., or should I say, Señor X, one of the crew we haven’t yet unmasked. Someone who knew Jose from before and had a reason to kill him. Now, you can tell me who you think ‘dunnit’.”

“I think it has to be your Señor X because I don’t believe anyone we’ve spoken to is murderer material.”

Pauline grinned. “What you’re saying is you want all the patients to get well.”

“Of course, I do. Who wouldn’t? But I have a sensible reason for saying this. It isn’t just well-wishing.”

“And what’s that?”

“None of the people we’ve spoken to have known Jose long enough to want to kill him. Don’t you think?”

“It’s true they don’t have any good reason that we’ve discovered and the short acquaintance would normally suggest they’re unlikely suspects but Jose seems to be the kind of person trouble gravitated to. I’m not convinced of the passengers’ innocence yet.”

“What do suggest?”

“What you said, we ask questions of everyone we meet, and as quickly as we can,” Pauline replied. “We can start right now in the lounge tonight and continue at breakfast in the morning.”

As Freda happily chatted to the passengers in the lounge, Pauline excused herself saying she would be back in a few minutes. She quickly made her way down to the deck where the guest relations and other offices were.

She was fortunate because the woman she’d come to see was behind the desk looking bored.

“Good evening, Nina,” Pauline said. “Can I ask you some questions?”

“I’m here to assist guests,” Nina said.

“As you know, I’m helping the captain confirm that awful tragedy really was an accident,” Pauline said. “We, Detective Somerville and I, have questioned many of the male crew members. We feel it more likely that, if Jose was helped over the railing in any way, it would