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‘I’m a bit on edge,’ said Olivia through gritted teeth.
‘You’ll feel better once we’ve heard from Stefan. I’m so glad this cruise has gone off without a hitch.’
‘Without a hitch? What about cabin sixteen?’ she blurted out.
She wasn’t sure if he had heard her against the chatter of other passengers, the buzz of the Zodiac motor or the ice cracking against the rubber as he turned his broad-set shoulders away from her.
On board, he stomped away, not even bothering toremove his boots. Dr Vance tried to stop him, but eventually dropped it. He wrote something down on his clipboard, presumably to follow up about the boots later on.
A hand grabbed her arm, swinging her around. It was Ingrid – Cutler’s wife. She gestured for her to follow with a sharp tilt of her head. Intrigued, Olivia obeyed. The woman led her through a wooden door, then closed it firmly behind them.
A prickle rose on the back of her neck. Her eyes flicked around the small enclosed space. The panels of cedar, benches and bucket of water were a dead giveaway. The sauna. Thankfully it wasn’t on, but it was still warm with residual heat.
Sweat began to bead on her upper lip.
‘What have you heard about what happened to cabin sixteen?’ asked Ingrid in a low whisper.
Olivia unzipped her jacket, but the thermals she was wearing underneath were trapping the warmth. She debated how much to say. ‘I was in the medical centre at the same time as the couple.’
Ingrid peeled her hand off the door and started pacing the room. Olivia tugged at the neck of her undershirt, running her hand through her hair. Sweat glued strands to her forehead.
‘You knew them?’ Ingrid asked.
‘Not really. We met at check-in. They were on their honeymoon: Jay and Christa.’ She was about to say she’d swapped cabins with them, but stopped herself. She didn’t want to reveal her suspicion that maybe she was the original target.
Ingrid continued pacing the small space. ‘My husbandalways tells me not to worry, that he has everything under control, but … I heard something I shouldn’t have.’
‘What did you hear?’
‘You tell me! You know what happened. I know you must or else you wouldn’t have asked my husband about it. I saw how he reacted.’ She fumbled at her necklace as she spoke, one of the many pieces of expensive jewellery she had on. The diamond pendant looked almost wet in the humidity of the sauna, as if it had been dipped in the ocean.
Olivia took a deep breath. ‘OK. I know that they were flown back to Ushuaia by helicopter so that there could be an investigation into why they were ill. I don’t know how or why we didn’t turn the ship around, but I assume the captain had a good reason. But that’s all I know, I promise.’
Ingrid sat down on the bench. ‘That’s what you heard? That they were ill?’
‘That’s what the captain told me. But when I asked the doctor, she thought it was much more serious.’
‘That they had died?’
Hearing it out loud, from someone else, made Olivia’s blood turn cold. ‘Yes,’ she replied, but the word barely came out.
‘But how? I don’t understand …’
‘Poison, the doctor thought. Maybe drugs?’
‘No wonder Cutler has been so worried. I expect he is the one who convinced the captain to carry on with things as normal. There is so much resting on this trip for us … he does not need the PR firestorm if it came out that two people died on board.’
Olivia sat down next to her, gripping her hand. ‘Why can’t you ask him to confirm it?’
‘He wouldn’t tell me. He thinks he is trying to protect me.’
‘Protect you? What do you mean?’
Ingrid laughed, but the sound was bitter. ‘When we first got on board, we were shown to cabin sixteen. But I didn’t like it. It didn’t have an adjoining door with the boys, like the one we are in now. I asked that we move, and so we did.’
Olivia swallowed. ‘That was meant to be your cabin?’
Ingrid nodded. ‘I can’t help but think … what if that was meant to be us?’