But now Sir Reggie was looking as though he had lost interest andwould just as soon head off elsewhere. He’d never taken much interest in Emil,after all, and the feeling had been mutual.
“Great help you are,” London told him.
Then she again considered the conundrum of the locked door. Hermaster keycard could open any door on the ship, including this one. But what ifshe went into the library only to find Emil in the sort of foul mood that he’dgenerally been in lately? He’d surely be angry with her for intruding. Andgiven how exasperated London herself had been feeling lately, they could easilylose their tempers at each other.
She really didn’t want to ignite an open battle with Emil.Especially not one that would be so public. The ship’s library was situated atone end of the Amadeus Lounge, and a few passengers were scattered about attables in the big room. London could see the assistant bartender waiting onseveral who were lined up at the bar on the far side of the lounge.
Thinking that it could be helpful talk things over with someonewith a sympathetic ear, she hoped that Elsie might also be there. But when sheand Reggie walked across the big room, she didn’t see her friend anywhere.
“Is Elsie around?” she asked the young man behind the bar.
He grinned and replied, “Sorry, she went out again to enjoy thefestival. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
“Thanks, but I don’t think so,” London said.
She noticed that business in the lounge today seemed to be scantand slow. Doubtless a lot of passengers and even crew were going ashore to havea good time.
London felt a twinge of envy. Elsie was surely out there having agood time, she figured. Why shouldn’t she do the same?
But she had set out to do a certain investigation, and she wasgoing to carry that out before she could even think about joining the party.Maybe later, Bryce would be able to get away from work and they could …
“You sure you don’t want a drink?” the assistant bartender asked.
London realized she’d been standing there at the bar trying tomake a decision about what to do next.
“No thanks,” she told him, and she walked back across the lounge,past that closed library door, and out into the elevator area.
I’ll just have to do my research by cell phone after all,she decided. For that, she might as well go back to her room.
Then, as she stepped onto the elevator, her phone buzzed.
She was startled to see that she’d received a text message fromAudrey.
Come to my room right away.
She read it aloud to Sir Reggie and said, “I guess Audrey’sinterview is finished.”
It seemed a short time since she had delivered the chicken-costumedwoman to the captain and Detektiv Erlich. At least they apparently weren’tholding her in custody.
Curious to find out how the questioning had gone and what Audreywanted with her now, she punched the button for the Adagio deck instead ofgoing all the way down to her own stateroom.
Sir Reggie trotted along beside her as they got off the elevatorand made their way to Audrey’s room. When London knocked on the door, she heardAudrey’s voice shouting out, “Is that you, London?”
“Yes,” London replied. “It’s just Reggie and me.”
“Good. Let yourself in.”
London took out her master keycard and opened the door. As sheand Sir Reggie stepped inside, she heard Audrey’s voice through the bathroomdoor, which stood slightly ajar.
“I’m changing. I’ll be right out.”
“Did you talk to Detektiv Erlich?” London called throughthe bathroom door.
“Yes, I answered all his questions,” Audrey called back. “Heasked a lot of them. Are police detectives always so nosy?”
London felt a bit jarred by the question.
That’s kind of their job, she almost said.
“Pretty much,” she replied instead.
“Well, you’d know a lot more about it than I do. You’re kind ofgetting to be an expert about this sort of thing, aren’t you?”
London stifled a sigh.
Yeah, I guess I kind of am, she thought.
She tried to imagine how the interview must have gone. How had DetektivErlich reacted to Audrey’s peculiar and sometimes off-putting manner? Had sheconvinced him of her innocence, or had she made him more suspicious of herguilt—and of London’s guilt as well?
For that matter, London was still struggling to make sense ofAudrey’s mercurial personality. She couldn’t help wondering …
How sure am I that she didn’t have anything to do withForstmann’s death?
Audrey came out of the bathroom wearing an ordinary outfit.London could see the chicken suit hanging inside the bathroom, lookingridiculously oversized even without a human being in it.
“So,” Audrey said, “what brings you here?”
“Uh. You texted me. You told me to come.”
“Did I? Oh, that’s right,” Audrey said with a snap of herfingers. “Well, obviously, I was wondering—what do we do next? About solvingthe case, I mean. I mean, we are working as a team, right?”
London didn’t know what to say. She didn’t remember Audrey andherself agreeing to work as investigative partners.
And yet …
If there was even the slightest possibility that Audrey herselfwas some kind of homicidal maniac, wouldn’t it be a good idea for London tokeep a close watch on her?
Audrey sat down at the table in front of her big window andgestured for London to take a seat on the other side.
“Where do we start?” she asked eagerly.
London sat down and said, “Well, I wish I knew more about who inparticular might have some motive to kill Sigmund Forstmann. I thought one wayto find out was to read some of the stuff he’s written about people here inBamberg. I was hoping to use a computer to go online to do some research, butthe library was closed and—”
Audrey interrupted with a squeal of delight.
“No problem! I’ve got a computer with a great Internetconnection!”
She rushed to her closet and pulled out a laptop computer. Londonsat down at the table with Audrey as she opened it up on her table and wentonline.
“So what do you want to go looking for?” Audrey asked.
“Let’s check out the newspaper in Munich that Forstmann wrotefor—the Sternenkurier,
