“Well, thank you for letting me ask you about him.”
“Oh, that’s all right. By the way, my name is David, David Brook, and yours?”
“Susan Edwards. Nice to meet you, David. Are you always here at this time of day?” I asked.
“Most of the time.”
I looked into his eyes and could not see any malice. I hoped I could trust this man if I need his advice in the future. I said goodbye and walked back inside the ship to take the elevator.
Chapter 15
His Ghost
I was in a good mood as I descended to the tenth deck in the elevator. When I stepped off into the lobby that darn necklace returned to my attention. “I must tell Larry and Trisha about it, but I’ll refrain from letting my friends know about David right now and our discussion. They may not understand,” I thought to myself.
First, I knocked on their cabin door but received no answer, so I moved on to my room to insert my passkey to enter. Checking to make sure no one was lurking about in my tiny living space, I slipped off my shoes and replaced them with my sandals. I removed my skirt and decided to wear one of my capris. Next, my earrings and the single stone pendant came off. I placed them into their box inside the side pocket of my luggage.
I would love to enjoy the night air, but I didn’t want intruders. “Susan, don’t let your fear ruin a nice evening,” I said to myself as I walked over to open the sliding glass door. I pulled the drapery away so I could see the clear starlit sky and if anyone was hiding out there on the balcony.
I tried calling Trisha, but her phone transferred to voicemail. I figured they might have gone to the theater and turned off their phones. I sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned against my pillows to do some reading. That’s when I heard a murmur.
“Susan, may I come in?” the faint voice said as a whisper but softer.
“Who’s that?” I asked, whirling around.
I half hoped the voice wasn’t Ivan and yet the other half of me wanted it to be him as I looked into the darkness of my room.
“I..van,” the wind said.
“Ivan, do you have something to tell me?” I asked.
“May I come in?” he said, a little clearer.
“Yes, you may. How can I help you?” I asked, now standing in front of my bed.
“I don’t know where I am,” he said as he began to solidify in front of my balcony sliding door. At least, I couldn’t see through him.
“You are on the Swedish Star. Do you remember what happened to you?” I asked.
“I’m sorry I ruined your photograph. I should leave and clean the tables,” he replied.
Now I knew about the shadow but I didn’t want to interrupt his dialog.
“The tables are clean. Tell me, Ivan. What was the last thing you can remember?”
At first, he didn’t answer, and then he reached for the back of his head.
“There was an argument. Three men and another. My head hurts,” he said.
“Ivan, do you remember what the argument was about?”
“I must report them.”
“Who? Ivan, who do you want to report?” I asked, leaning toward him.
I was getting to the heart of the matter when someone knocked on my door. Ivan faded until he was nothing more than a blurry mist floating out onto the balcony.
“Phooey,” I muttered and turned away from my bed to answer the door.
“Hi, there. We came by to make sure you were okay,” Trisha said, smiling.
I looked both ways down the hallway and invited them in.
“How was the show?” I asked, still uneasy about my encounter with Ivan.
“Great, it was a magic act. You should’ve come,” Larry said.
“I should’ve but, Larry, I need to show you this.”
I reached over to the tossed merchandise sack and pulled out the glittering strand to hold in front of him.
“Whoa, I know you came into some money, but this?” he asked, handling the sparkling beads of the necklace.
“I don’t know where it came from. I sure as heck didn’t buy it. I found it in my shopping bag while I was looking for the necklace I did buy. Is it real? I hope not,” I asked.
“Real as me. This meets the description of the item stolen from the jewelry store you ladies visited.”
“Larry, believe me, I didn’t take this.”
“I believe you. I think someone could have slipped it into your bag without you knowing.”
“And I saw Ivan tonight.”
“Now I’m not sure I believe you,” he said.
“Hush, Larry. What did Ivan say?” Trisha asked as she patted his chest with the back of her hand.
“He didn’t seem to know where he was, so I told him he was on the Swedish Star. Then he said he had to clean some tables. He didn’t make a lot of sense until I asked him what was the last thing he remembered.”
“What did he say?” Trisha asked.
“He said something about men arguing and his head hurting. Then he turned his attention back to cleaning tables. I was about to get more out of him, but when you knocked on the door, he took off.”
“Maybe somebody clobbered him,” Larry said. “The likely chance of finding his body out in the ocean is almost nil.”
“Hmm, yesterday I heard some men raising their voices and later one of the men came and sat down on the deck chair near me. Oh, and I saw a reddish stain like spatter on one of the life raft containers. I could show you.”
“Oh, Susan,” I heard Trisha sigh. “I’m worried that you’re getting into something that could be dangerous.”
“The man in the deck chair was polite and when I asked him about the argument he had been in engaged in, he said it was just business among associates.”
“What did he look like?”
“He was an older man in a good black suit but a little
