Page 59 of Hearts Aweigh

“A BOUT TIME YOU JOINED US , Daisy.” Emily waved her key card in front of her cabin door until it beeped. She entered, followed by her three friends. “You missed all the fun.”

Gerry collapsed in the chair by the desk. She kicked off her shoes and propped her feet on the edge of the full-size bed. Althea and Daisy sat side by side on the mattress.

Althea snorted. “I don’t call listening to the same phony confession over and over ‘fun.’”

“I hope it was worth it,” Gerry moaned. “I’m sick of confessing.”

“Ditto.” Althea massaged her own neck. “Wasn’t four times overkill?”

Emily stood by the bed and shook her head. “Who knows when the blackmailer’s tuned in? I didn’t want to run the risk of him missing Gerry’s big scene.”

Daisy smoothed the hair at her temples. “But won’t he find it suspicious that she confessed to each of you twice? And in different locations?”

“I was slick,” said a smug Gerry. “On my final confession to Emily, I told her my conscience tortured me. That I needed to unburden every single detail or I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.”

Emily chuckled. “The melodrama abounded on the last go-round. Give them a recap, Gerry.”

“ Whyyyyy ?” Gerry wailed, spreading her fingers wide and pointing them at the ceiling. “Why, God? Why did I ever have to meet that man? Oh, the bitter pain.” She pounded her fist against her rib cage. “It’s buried so deep, I fear it will never come dislodged.”

“‘Dislodged’?” Daisy asked.

Gerry straightened. “I’ve been rereading Hamlet . I’m afraid some old-timey English crept into my performance.”

“Speaking of Hamlet ,” Althea said, “wasn’t your performance a touch on the hammy side?”

“Not at all.” Gerry’s chin tipped. “I even cried a little in the chapel. Right, Emily?”

“The tears were a nice touch,” Emily agreed. “We had to lure whoever is spying on the guests to the lost and found. It’s remote and rarely visited. Makes perfect sense you’d hide a second corpse down there.”

Daisy pressed a hand to her throat. “What a morbid thought.”

Gerry brushed a stray hair from her sleeve. “But how do we catch the blackmailer without him seeing us? There’s nothing but empty hallway on either side of the lost and found, and I refuse to get trapped in a closet with a criminal.”

“Have no fear.” Emily sniffed. “We won’t be anywhere near the place.

” She grinned at Daisy. “I put the fancy new phone your son bought to good use.” She withdrew her own cell from her purse and swiped her finger across the screen.

“I downloaded one of those security apps people use to monitor their homes while they’re gone and set it up so we can watch the live feed.

If someone comes to find Gerry’s latest so-called victim, then we’ve got ’em on tape. ”

Althea gave her a thumbs-up. “But couldn’t the blackmailer argue they were there for something they lost?”

“It might not be enough evidence to convict the villain, but at least it will tell us who we’re dealing with.

We already suspect it’s someone on the security team.

They monitor everyone on the ship from the comfort of a swivel chair.

Once we’ve identified the creep, we can tail them until we catch them in the act.

But now comes the annoying part.” Emily kept her attention fixed on the phone.

“The waiting. One of us must keep an eye on the camera at all times. Chances are, he won’t move until later. I’ll cover tonight’s shift.”

“You shouldn’t tire yourself out,” Daisy said. “We’ll take turns.”

“Thanks. This might be a long haul. I hope the culprit will move before your cell battery dies. If he doesn’t, we’ll replace your phone with one of ours. It depends on how long—” A movement on the screen caught Emily’s eye. “Oh my word!” She hit Record on the app.

“What is it?” Althea scooted forward.

“Girls, you’re not going to believe this. The blackmailer’s already taken the bait.”

“What!” Gerry bolted from her chair to Emily’s side. “From his build, it looks like a man. As we expected.”

The other Shippers crowded behind them. A person in an oversize black hoodie was clearly visible on the screen. A disposable mask covered the lower half of his face.

“Thank heavens it isn’t Magda,” Daisy said. “She’s my favorite spa technician.”

They watched every move the man made. The lights in the storage room were off, but the glow from the hallway partially illuminated the space. He carried a flashlight and swept the beam around, checking among the few rows of supplies.

All four Shippers held their breath.

The hooded figure riffled through the piles of junk. He swung his flashlight at the upper shelves, pausing for an extra second on a mounted moose head.

“Come on, buddy. Forget the stage props.” Gerry rolled her eyes. “Looks like the blackmailer is none too bright.”

“Tell me about it.” Althea nodded. “How would a woman in her seventies hide a body on the top shelf?”

Emily heaved a sigh. “He may never find the mannequin on his own.” She reached to the bedside table and picked up her walkie-talkie. Clicking the button, she held the receiver to her mouth and whimpered, “Help me.”

“What are you doing?” Althea hissed.

Emily shushed her and whimpered again. “Help me … please.”

The figure on the camera feed jerked, his head turning right and left.

Daisy crossed her arms. “Do not tell me you left a walkie-talkie in the lost and found.”

Emily shrugged. “It pays to have a backup plan. I figured it might come in handy. Obviously, I was right.” She spoke louder into her handset. “Help!”

Their culprit crept to the long, body-sized bag they’d borrowed from the ship’s morgue and planted in a dark corner. He tucked his flashlight between his teeth, knelt on the ground, and slowly unzipped the bag. Bending close, he looked inside.

“Aaaargh!” His anxious cry reverberated through the cell phone speaker. He scrambled back. Arms and legs flailed. His flashlight clattered to the floor. The hood of his sweatshirt drooped off his head. He yanked the covering up and raced from the room.

The Shippers stared at the phone. A single beam of light showed on the dark screen where the blackmailer’s flashlight still shone.

Emily waggled her eyebrows at Althea. “Aren’t you happy you bought that horrible mask at the waterfall?”

“Lawd have mercy.” Althea plopped on the bed. “I supposed criminals had more gumption.”

“Bless his heart,” Daisy murmured. “I told you that mask was grotesque.”

“Bless nothing.” Gerry huffed. “He’s a thief. And an incompetent one at that. He deserves whatever he gets.”

Emily set the phone on the table. “Ladies, the culprit cooperated quicker than we imagined.”

“What do we do now?” Althea asked.

“Now, we set the final trap. But we’re going to need help.”

“Help?” said Gerry.

“From a friend of yours.” Emily prayed the long-legged Shipper would cooperate. “Gerry, how do you feel about asking Seamus for a favor?”