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The ominous feeling in the pit of Olivia’s stomach opened up again. Something wasn’t right. She wanted to turn around right then and there. But she was just being stupid. She needed the report from Stefan, as much as Cutler did.
Cutler knocked on the office door, but once again there was no answer. He took the lead in opening the door this time, Olivia standing just behind.
As the door swung open, she couldn’t help the scream that sprang from her throat.
Cutler turned, taking Olivia in his arms, trying to shield her from the sight inside.
But it was too late. She had seen Stefan hanging from the window bar over his office window.
He was dead.
36
The captain and Cutler were locked in the captain’s office, along with the two doctors – Ranj and Tove. Olivia sat in the bridge, a blanket draped over her shoulders, her hands gripping a scalding-hot cup of tea – not that she was drinking it. The sensation helped stop her hands from shaking.
Liam came and kneeled down in front of her. ‘Can I get you anything else? Maybe something to eat?’
She shook her head.
‘I can’t believe it. To have someone die on board? That’s awful. I’m so sorry you had to be the one to find him.’
Olivia felt numb, like she was in shock. Stefan was dead. Apparently by his own hand – that’s what all the ship’s crew were saying, even if that felt wrong to her in the depths of her bones. There had been no signs Stefan had been suicidal. Still, she knew all too well that a person’s mental state couldn’t be judged by their outward actions. Maybe he had been struggling and no one had realized. Yet in the context of what had happened to her already on this voyage, Stefan’s death did not sit right.
Pedro and Elisabet were scouring the CCTV, but the gallery had been shut all day, most of the passengers out on the water on their Zodiac tours or on shore. Apart from the usual flow of people moving from the dining room back to the cabins past the gallery, there was no sign of anyone lingering or acting suspiciously.
Cutler came out of the captain’s office and Olivia leaped to her feet. ‘What are we going to do?’ she asked.
Cutler shook his head, and it was the captain who answered. ‘Unfortunate, very unfortunate.’
‘What about Sergei? Where was he in all of this? Liam told me that you set him free, and now there’s been another death? That can’t be a coincidence.’
‘I can assure you, it wasn’t Sergei,’ said Captain Enzo.
‘How can you possibly know that?’
‘Because Sergei is no longer on board theVigil.’
That stopped Olivia’s protest in her tracks. No longer on board? That meant … maybe he had been the one in the rogue kayak, heading to theClarissa II.Where else could someone go, in the middle of Antarctica?
She was just about to ask the captain, when he continued to speak. ‘The helicopter is gone, so we can’t fly him back to the mainland. We’ve been in contact with Art Aboard headquarters, who are going to be in touch with his family. Our ship has space to keep him in the medical centre until we get back.’ He took a deep breath in. ‘However, we have decided to continue the itinerary as planned on the cruise, for the sake of keeping things as normal as possible for our passengers on board – we’ll just keep the gallery shut. We will continue to sail to Paradise, and, Liam, you will continue to run the excursion tonight. Then we will begin our journey back to Ushuaia as planned.’
Olivia’s jaw dropped. ‘You can’t be serious? We have to turn back now.’
The captain shook his head. ‘This is not a decision I have made lightly. There is another storm front moving through the Drake Passage this evening. If it’s safe to do so, we will miss out on Deception Island, save a day, butit will be more dangerous for us to cross while a storm of that magnitude is in the area. In Paradise Bay, we will be sheltered from it.’
She opened her mouth to protest again but knew it would be fruitless. If there was a storm big enough to create chaos in the Drake Passage, she could see the logic in not putting the entire ship through that again. And keeping the excursions running as normal meant avoiding a panic on board.
The only person the captain had to worry about panicking was her.
‘I have to go back to the cabin. I need to lie down.’
‘I’ll take you,’ said Liam.
She was glad to leave the stuffy air inside the bridge. She took a shuddering breath.
‘Look, I know you’ve had a terrible day. I can’t even imagine.’
‘Just … in shock, that’s all.’