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‘Ingrid, if you think you’re in danger, you have to tell the captain. Otherwise …’ The lock on the stateroom door clicked open.
Cutler stormed in, his face red with exertion. He stood in the open doorway. ‘Ingrid, put that down.’ He grabbed the bottle, so fast it spilled on to the duvet.
‘Cutler!’ Ingrid squealed, as water poured over her lap.
‘Who gave this to you?’ he asked her.
‘Liam did!’
‘What did I tell you?’ He stormed over to the bathroom and poured the rest of the bottle down the sink. ‘You’re not to drink anything in the cabin that we didn’t bring on board.’
Ingrid’s eyes widened as she looked from Cutler to Olivia, then back to her husband. Cutler blinked, as if seeing her for the first time. ‘Never be too careful,’ he muttered.
‘Olivia knows,’ said Ingrid. ‘About the champagne, the deaths, your retirement – everything. She and I were trapped together in the sauna, and if it hadn’t been for Liam we would have suffocated in there.’
‘Ingrid, my God—’
‘She wants to tell the captain.’
Cutler turned to Olivia. ‘No, you can’t. Every incident will be recorded and passed on to the new buyer. He’s already breathing down my neck as it is. A scandal like this – a malfunctioning sauna – could ruin the deal.’
‘Excuse me, but we almostdiedtoday. Two people already have. You don’t think that’s more important than some deal?’
‘I’m handling it,’ said Cutler through gritted teeth. ‘And you are both alive. For now, let’s focus on the positive. Like going to see Stefan. Since you’re here, we should go and find out what the final numbers were.’
‘This is ridiculous. Liam will report the incident to the captain anyway.’
‘I can deal with Liam. So can I rely on your discretion?’
‘I—’
‘Remember, the Hunt Advisory has as much riding on this deal as I do.’
Olivia stared at Cutler. The epitome of a man used to getting his own way. But she knew if she went to the captain without Ingrid’s back-up, she would sound even more paranoid. He already thought she was a bit of a lunatic. ‘I won’t tell the captain – for now. But if anything else happens, it won’t be the captain I go to. I’ll demand to talk to the police.’
35
Olivia was still fuming as they made their way to the gallery. The ‘CLOSED’ sign hung on the door; the gallery shut while they were at anchor.
Cutler strode ahead, knocking on the door. As he waited for Stefan to open up, he turned back to Olivia. His brows were knitted together in concern, but she felt cagey. ‘Look, I know what happened must have been scary. But my wife is prone to hysteria – I promise you, no one on board is out to target us. I’m just sorry that you got caught in the middle of it. And the couple in cabin sixteen – I have been getting daily updates from the captain. You want the truth? They both ingested liquid MDMA from inside the champagne bottle. They couldn’t have ordered the champagne on board, so they must have brought it themselves. Maybe they wanted to have a bit of extra fun and it got out of hand – who knows? – but it’s been ruled as suicide.’
Olivia shivered. ‘It’s not just that. One of the crew members robbed me last night.’
‘What? I hadn’t heard about that …’
‘They took the engagement ring Aaron had bought for me. So you have to forgive me that I’m a bit on edge.’
‘A ring? Well now. Understandable,’ said Cutler, still keeping up his act of concern. ‘But hearing Stefan’s news will cheer you up, I’m sure. Where is that man?’ He knocked again, even harder.
Olivia leaned past Cutler and tried the handle. It opened. ‘Was he expecting us?’ she asked.
Cutler shrugged.
Olivia’s fingers went cold, dread filling her stomach. She could feel her heart beating inside her ears. She allowed Cutler to take the lead, his bulk and confident take-charge attitude comforting in that moment.
They stepped into the gallery and everything appeared normal. Yennin’s prints still hung on the walls, although most were marked with little ‘sold’ stickers. The pictures looked surreal hanging in between the floor-to-ceiling windows now showing off the stunning Antarctic landscape outside. To Olivia, it only served to show how well Yennin had managed to capture the beauty and sparseness of the environment without losing any of its vibrancy. Like the pulsating water outside the window, the paintings seemed rich with their own beating heart and life. Even as prints, they astounded her.
‘Stefan?’ Cutler called out, but the gallery was empty. He turned to Olivia. ‘I think he has an office in the back. Maybe we caught him napping.’