Did he really think she was guilty of murder?
“Tell me more,” Detektiv Erlich said to the security guard. “Beprecise.”
Pulling out a note pad and pencil,Erlich jotted down brief entries as Oberhauser continued.
“There was another American woman from the ship—a taller woman.It started when Herr Forstmann spilled beer all over her and was his usualobnoxious self about it. The woman was very upset. That is what first attractedmy attention to the matter. Then this woman here—London, I believe she said hername is—demanded that he apologize to the other woman. He wound up spillingbeer on her also—deliberately, I’m sure. And then she attacked him.”
London’s mouth dropped open.
“I did not attack him!” she objected.
“Well, you very nearly did,” Oberhauser said. “If I hadn’t pushedyou away from him, I can’t imagine what you might have done.”
London flashed back to the incident, wondering for a few splitseconds whether there was any truth to what the security guard was saying.
It had all started with hearing Audrey’s voice shrieking at theman who had poured beer all over her. London had stepped toward Forstmann andsnapped at him, “You should be ashamed.”
London didn’t think of herself as an aggressive person, but sheremembered being very angry—even feeling that various frustrations from recentdays might explode within her. But she was certain she hadn’t made any physicalcontact.
Would she have gotten physically combative if Oberhauser hadn’tstepped in to separate her from Forstmann?
She didn’t like to think so. And she didn’t think she was wrongto have defended a passenger who had been purposely sloshed with beer. Then sheremembered that very same passenger had again exchanged angry words withForstmann this evening.
And where is Audrey right now? she wondered.
She looked out into the crowd. While she recognized severalpassengers who hadn’t yet returned to the ship, Audrey herself was nowhere insight.
Detektiv Erlich tapped his pencil against his notebook.
“Let’s hear your side of thestory,” he said to London.
London knew she ought to berelieved at being offered a chance to explain herself. But she’d learned fromrecent experience that she had to be very careful about what she said. And shewasn’t ready to tell the police that Audrey had spoken with the dead man againafter that first incident.
“It’s true that Herr Forstmannspilled beer on one of our passengers,” she said. “It’s also true that Iintervened and told him to apologize. Then he spilled beer on me, and I gotreally angry. But I didn’t attack him. I don’t believe I even touched him.”
“How did you happen to find thebody?” Erlich asked.
“I noticed something … it was theman’s monocle lying on a step next to the stage. I’d guessed that he’d droppedit. I went up onto the stage and saw that some beer had been splashed out ofthe vat. Then I climbed up onto the platform and …”
London cringed as she continued.
“The curtain opened and the lightscame on and there was loud music—and I saw a body in the vat. I … I tried toget him out.”
Indicating Bryce, she added, “Thenmy colleague, Mr. Yeaton, came up onto the platform to help me, and we draggedHerr Forstmann out of the vat. Mr. Yeaton tried to revive him until theambulance arrived.”
Erlich squinted curiously.
“Can you account for youractivities during the few minutes before you found the body?” he said.
London said, “I’d been wanderingamong the crowd, making sure that all our passengers knew that it was time tohead back to our ship before we set sail again.”
Erlich shrugged and said, “Yourstory does make sense, I suppose.”
“Of course it does,” Bryce said,bristling. “What doesn’t make sense is the idea that London had anything to dowith the man’s death. When I got here, she was trying to rescue him. Why wouldshe do that if she meant to kill him?”
While London appreciated Bryce’sintercession, she knew that it wasn’t a very strong argument in her favor.Indeed, somebody in the nearby crowd spoke up to contradict him.
“We all saw her when the curtainwent up. She looked surprised, that’s all—as if she didn’t know the dunking wasabout to take place.”
Another onlooker agreed. “She didn’tstart to try to rescue him until we’d all seen her. Maybe trying to save himwas just an act.”
London was beyond shocked.
Do they seriously think I mighthave killed him? she wondered.
Bryce seemed to be starting to getreally angry.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said.Pointing to the vat, he added to Detektiv Erlich, “Your own theory is thatsomeone hit the man on the head and hauled him up onto the stage and put him inthat chair and dunked him. Do you think London looks strong enough to do allthat by herself?”
Detektiv Erlich stroked his chin and stared at London’s5-foot-6-inch slender build.
“Not by herself, I suppose,”he said.
Bryce stared at him withdisbelief. London herself was perplexed for a moment. Did the detective thinkmaybe she and Bryce had committed the crime together? How could Bryce have hadanything to do with it, when he’d showed up out of the crowd after Londondiscovered the body?
Then she realized.
Audrey.
After all, both London and hercranky passenger had reason to be angry with Herr Forstmann. But did anybodyreally believe that she and Audrey had been angry enough to kill him?
London was hardly surprised by thedetective’s next question.
“Is the woman who he spilled beeron here right now?”
London again scanned the crowd andcalled out.
“Audrey, are you here? DetektivErlich needs to talk to you.”
There was no reply, and Londoncouldn’t see Audrey anywhere.
“I’ll need the name of this woman,”Erlich said.
London told him Audrey’s name andhe wrote it down.
“I also need to know how to get intouch with your captain,” Erlich said. “Your boat may not leave port until thismatter is settled.”
London told Erlich the phonenumber, and Erlich stepped aside to make the call.
“Poor Captain Hays,” London saidto Bryce.
“I know,” Bryce said. “This isgoing to be very hard news for him. But then, nobody on the boat is going to bevery happy to hear that we’re in for yet another delay in another city.Frankly, I’m not happy about it either.”
Erlich finished the call andwalked back over to London and Bryce.
“You two may leave now,” Erlichsaid
