Deadly Cruise Page 18

  “Sorry, I forgot to tell you, she fainted in the casino. She’s fine – pregnant women can drop their blood pressure, and Alex suspects she’s anaemic as well. She’s in overnight. I wonder where that wretched woman is this time!”

  Gwen came out of her office. “What wretched woman? Is everything alright?”

  At that moment, Alex walked through the door and Sarah excused herself to accompany him for his examination of Eva. Rachel saw from Gwen’s face that the situation was becoming clear.

  She looked at Rachel.

  “Where’s Lauren?”

  Rachel wasn’t sure it was her place to say anything, so she shrugged her shoulders.

  Sarah popped her head out of the infirmary. “Ms Sipka says Lauren’s gone to her cabin to collect something for her.”

  “It’s not good enough,” muttered Gwen. “She can’t just leave a patient unattended without telling me. That woman has no concept of ship hierarchy, thinks she can do as she pleases. Well I’ve had enough.” Gwen wasn’t as much speaking to Rachel as letting off steam. Sarah had gone back into the infirmary, and Rachel wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Can I get either of you some coffee?” Raggie appeared just in time.

  “Yes please, Raggie. Rachel, do stay – I could do with a break. Come and join me.”

  Gwen motioned her to sit in one of three comfy chairs around a coffee table. There was also a two-seater settee, similar to the set up in Waverley’s office. Rachel guessed senior officers had identical offices, and this one would be where Gwen’s team held medical meetings.

  “Sorry, Rachel, that was unprofessional of me. I trust you will use your discretion.”

  “My hearing’s been playing up recently,” Rachel replied, and they both laughed.

  Gwen’s computer pinged.

  “Excuse me for one moment.” Gwen moved over to the computer and tapped a few keys, her face paling.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Not really.” She picked up the phone and spoke to whoever answered at the other end. “It’s Sister Sumner, you need to come down here, now.”

  Rachel could tell this was something serious, but wasn’t sure whether to go. “Should I leave you to it?” she asked, hoping Gwen would say no.

  “You’d better, please, this is confidential. Have your coffee outside and see Sarah before you go, though.”

  Rachel was tempted to decline, but decided she might as well enjoy a percolated coffee.

  She sat in the waiting room. Waverley burst through the doors, heading straight into Gwen’s office, not noticing Rachel, whose radar was now on full alert.

  What is Waverley doing here?

  Raggie took coffee in to Gwen’s office, but left the door ajar on his way out. He didn’t spot Rachel either and left the centre, so she seized the opportunity and moved a chair closer to the office where she could listen in to what was being said.

  “It sounded important, Sister. What is it?”

  “Something’s been bothering me about our new nurse. She seems to go missing far too often, and I noticed she’s been signing out a lot of medication.”

  “Go on.” Rachel detected from his tone that Waverley wanted the facts as quickly as possible.

  “I pulled her CV and work history and realised she had worked at a hospital in Connecticut where I have a friend who is chief nurse. We go back a long way, but you don’t want to know about that.”

  “Quite,” said Waverley.

  “Well, I decided to email her and ask if she knew anything about a Lauren Blythe who had worked there from 2006 to 2007. It was before her time, but she agreed to ask around. Emails have been a bit hit and miss over the past twenty-four hours, but I’ve just received one sent yesterday.”

  What does it say? Rachel had to stop herself saying it out loud.

  “What does it say?” asked Waverley, sounding tense.

  “It seems she left under a cloud. There were unsubstantiated rumours that drugs had been going missing from the ward.”

  “Are you telling me she might be a drug addict?”

  “I wish it were that simple,” Gwen answered. “The drug was insulin. Nothing was proven, but my friend has now interviewed all the nurses who worked there at that time, and they say in retrospect, there were a high number of patient deaths during her tenure.”

  Waverley gasped.

  Gwen continued. “The thing is, none of them registered this in isolation, but now they all seem to say the same thing. My friend’s predecessor encouraged Lauren Blythe to leave, feeling they didn’t have enough evidence to call in the police. To cut a long story short, my friend has now involved the police who are looking into the deaths during that time period.”

  “Let me get this straight. You’re telling me we might have a serial killer on board the Coral.” Waverley’s voice was shaking. “Are we sure it’s the same nurse?”

  “Certain. It prevented her from getting a job in a hospital again, according to my friend – mud sticks, but she got a job as an occupational health nurse at a company called Future Motors in Boston. She worked there until 2013, then moved to Africa.”

  Where have I heard that name before?

  “NO!” Rachel couldn’t stop herself shouting, which brought Waverley rushing out of Gwen’s office.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Never mind that now. That company is where Jefgeny Popov worked until he reported some big players for industrial espionage. They tried to steal the prototype for a driverless car. Jefgeny ended up in witness protection. I suspect he saw her, and that’s why he’s in hiding. She knows who he is.”

  Sarah came out of the infirmary, picking up the last part of the sentence. “She was here after I’d seen him on the first day and took an interest in his record. I think she recognised him.”

  “You need to move quickly. She’s gone down to Eva’s room to get something. I’m sure that’s where he’s hiding,” said Rachel.

  “But even if you’re right, why would she want to harm him?”

  “I’m not sure yet, but she killed Erik Marinov with an insulin overdose, of that I’m certain.”

  “And Nikolai Stepanov,” said Sarah as this new information dawned on her. “She was alone with him the night he died.”

  Waverley got on his radio. “Sarah, come with me. Sister, can you explain to Ms Sipka that her boyfriend might be in grave danger and ask her where he is hiding? Call me on the radio when you find out. Send Dr Bentley and Dr Romano after us – we may need them. I’ll ask you how you knew about the witness protection thing later, Miss Prince.”

  Sarah grabbed an emergency bag and followed Waverley.

  “I’m coming too, Sarah might need help,” said Rachel.

  Waverley shrugged his shoulders in resignation and Rachel brought up the rear.

  Chapter 33

  Rachel could feel adrenaline pumping and anxiety building as they made their way through the private staff area and down several flights of stairs. Eva’s room was on Deck B, two decks below the waterline. Waverley took the steps two at a time and Sarah pursued hard on his heels. Rachel’s stilettos kept catching in the metal grids of the steps until she risked going barefoot and took them off.

  By the time they got to deck B, Waverley was panting and had to stop. Rachel sympathised, but didn’t slow down. Sarah raced on ahead and arrived at the room first with Rachel right behind.

  Sarah unlocked Eva’s door. Lauren looked surprised when they burst in. They saw a man lying on the floor; Rachel assumed him to be Jefgeny.

  “Thank God,” said Lauren. “I was just going to call for help. He collapsed; I think he might be dead.”

  “Get out of my way!” Sarah pushed past her and checked Jefgeny’s vital signs. Lauren turned to assist.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” said Rachel, pulling her back and pinning her arms behind her back. At the same time, she checked Lauren’s pockets and pulled out two medicine bottles.

  “Let go of me! What are you doing?�
� Lauren shouted, at which point Waverley arrived, followed soon after by two security guards. He took control of the situation.

  “Get her out of here,” he ordered the security guards, who applied handcuffs to Lauren’s wrists and marched her away.

  “Is he alive?” asked Rachel, handing the bottles to Sarah so she could identify what Lauren had given the man.

  “Barely.”

  Waverley shouted into his radio. “CODE BLUE. Doctors to deck B, 1932, I repeat—”

  He didn’t need to repeat the call as Dr Bentley and Bernard came running through the door.

  “Was that Lauren I just saw in handcuffs?”

  “It’s a long story,” answered Sarah. “Insulin overdose.”

  “Clear the area,” ordered Dr Bentley. “Get a line in.” Bernard handed Sarah the equipment to work with. “Glucagon injection,” Dr Bentley commanded.

  Bernard drew up the solution using a syringe and needle, and Graham injected it into Jefgeny’s leg. Rachel moved out of the already cramped room and joined Waverley in the corridor while the medical team worked hurriedly, but efficiently. She hoped they were not too late.

  “He’s coming round,” said Dr Bentley. “Right, team, let’s get him on a stretcher and up to the infirmary. He’s out of the woods.”

  “Will he survive?” asked Waverley.

  “Yes,” answered Dr Bentley. “She’s used long and short acting insulin, but it’s easy to reverse when you know what you’re treating. We’ll monitor his blood sugars and treat him accordingly. He has a sugar solution going in through the IV line, so all will be well.”

  Sarah and Bernard wheeled Jefgeny away and Dr Bentley followed. Waverley looked exhausted as he picked up his radio.

  “Send fingerprinting equipment down, and seal the room for forensics – we’ll need evidence.” He turned to Rachel. “Perhaps you would like to accompany me to my office and explain what you know. I will see to Nurse Death later.” His smile was grim.

  “You’d better tell me the full story,” said Waverley when they arrived at his office. He poured them both a glass of mineral water from a bottle out of his fridge. “When did you work out it was the nurse?”

  “Only when I overheard your conversation with Gwen. I realised then it involved her, and it makes sense now because she would have access to the crew quarters while the Russian guests wouldn’t. She also has access to medicines. Sarah said that one of the Russians kept losing his insulin – I suspect she was stealing it.”

  “What about the witness protection?”

  “That’s what Sarah and I wanted to confess today. We found out last night – don’t blame Sarah, it was my fault.” Rachel explained about their expedition downstairs the night before, and about finding the newspaper article and the photograph. “I’m still not sure of the relevance, although it seems that Jefgeny Popov and Boris Stanislav know each other. They may even be related. They must have recognised each other in the corridor when we took the tour of engineering.”

  “So has he been hiding from Mr Stanislav or Nurse Blythe?”

  “The latter, I suspect, but he will answer that. She obviously recognised him from her time working at Future Motors. Perhaps she was involved in the initial conspiracy.”

  “That might be a leap too far, but it seems she’s responsible for two deaths on board this ship, and one attempted murder. Case solved – looks like your Russians are innocent after all.”

  Rachel detected a hint of triumph in his voice and she couldn’t blame him.

  “I’m not sure all of them are innocent, but I grant you, they are not guilty of the murders.”

  “It’s time for me to go to the medical centre to speak with Popov and his girlfriend. I suppose you want to tag along?”

  “Yes please.” She got up and followed before he could change his mind.

  When they arrived at the medical centre, all appeared calm. Gwen escorted them through to the infirmary where Jefgeny was sitting up in the bed next to Eva. He looked tired and pale, but relieved.

  “I need to ask you both some questions. Is that alright, Doctor Bentley?”

  Doctor Bentley nodded tersely. “Don’t be too long, we still need to run tests.”

  The pair looked frightened; both knew they would more than likely lose their jobs with the cruise line and not be able to work on board a ship again. Waverley pulled up two chairs and sat down, motioning for Rachel to do the same. He introduced Rachel, explaining that it was she they needed to thank that Jefgeny was alive. Realising the medical team were going nowhere, Waverley started his questioning.

  “First, I need to ask you, Mr Popov, did you kill Erik Marinov?”

  “No, sir, I did not.”

  “Do you know who did?”

  “Not for sure, but I guess it was the nurse who tried to kill me.”

  “Why did you pretend that you couldn’t speak English when I met you?” Sarah asked.

  He looked at her. “I’m sorry, but since joining witness protection, I have trusted no-one.”

  “Who have you been hiding from?”

  “I recognised man in Russian group. He was part of crime I reported before. They said they would never stop until they found us. My friend also went into protection. He is crazy – still visits Russia. I would never go again. I thought about coming to security, but these men have tentacles everywhere. When I decided to come to you later that day, I caught sight of the nurse in my room and thought I recognised her from the company, Fortune Motors. Terrified they had tracked me down and intended to kill me, I begged Eva to hide me – she no want to. She wanted me to come clean, but I was too afraid. It’s not her fault.”

  “Never mind that now,” said Waverley. “Where did you hide? We searched everywhere, including Miss Sipka’s room.”

  “I hid in shaft above shower room. There is service hatch – engineers and electricians know these things. I hid there during day and with Eva at night.”

  “Does that mean your roommate knew of this, Miss Sipka?” Waverley asked.

  “No, she works nights, so she did not know.”

  Rachel doubted that, but enough people would lose their jobs without adding to the tally.

  “Is it Boris Stanislav you were hiding from?”

  “No, he is my brother-in-law. We have not seen each other since I entered witness programme. He looked pleased and almost gave me away. Other man in the group may have recognised me, or maybe nurse was sent after me.”

  “Can you tell me the man’s name?”

  “No. I never met him, only saw from a distance. It’s twenty years.”

  “It may have been a coincidence, Mr Popov. The woman seems to have been working alone; she even killed one of the Russians in the group. I’ll show you photos of the men tomorrow to see if you can identify the man you recognised.”

  Jefgeny closed his eyes and Rachel noticed tears falling down his face. She couldn’t be sure if they were tears of joy or sorrow.

  “That’s enough for now,” Dr Bentley intervened. “Mr Popov needs time to recover. You can post a security guard down here if he’s still in any danger.”

  “I don’t think he is,” answered Waverley. “But it can’t do any harm. I’ll send someone down. Perhaps you and I could get a drink later?” He looked at Dr Bentley.

  “Yes, perhaps we will.”

  Sarah looked relieved that the spat between her two favourite men would be over soon.

  “Good evening to you all. We will speak again tomorrow, Mr Popov. I will report to the captain. Murder case closed, Miss Prince. Russian business transactions are no concern of ours.”

  Rachel took that to mean butt out.

  “Yes, chief,” she answered.

  Day 5

  Chapter 34

  The next morning, Rachel decided to speak with Thomas during the day, and then forget about the whole thing. The nagging doubt at the back of her mind would have to go away. She’d been convinced one of the Russians was involved in the two deaths on board, in par
ticular Asimov or the mysterious Sergei. It didn’t make sense, though, as neither had any link to Lauren. Waverley’s Russian friend had come up with nothing, and Waverley had told him to forget about it.

  Maybe Lauren had acted alone, a psychopathic serial killer who used her nursing skills to exercise her need for control by deciding who should live and who should die. Rachel shuddered. She remembered reading about a doctor and pathological liar, Harold Shipman, who’d murdered hundreds of patients over decades before he was eventually found out. She had studied the interviews at the police training centre. The detectives interviewing him had said he’d mocked them – always believing his intellect was superior and they wouldn’t be able to catch him out, he’d then been haughty even in court. Lauren had displayed some of that contempt to both her and Sarah, and she disregarded authority, so she fitted the bill. Rachel found it hard to comprehend.

  Another example she remembered of a serial killer in the medical profession was a nurse called Beverley Allitt. Didn’t she use insulin too? She’d murdered four children and attempted to murder more while working on a children’s ward.

  Yep, thankfully they’re rare, but perhaps Lauren was one of the few. I dread to think how many she murdered in Africa. Rachel shuddered again.

  Mario brought her a pot of coffee and she took it out to the balcony, happy there had been no stormy days or nights with only two more sea days to go before they arrived in New York.

  The telephone rang.

  “Hello.”

  “Rachel, it’s Thomas. I’ve found out something, can we meet up?”

  “Yes, when?”

  “Can you come to my room, 1508, this afternoon about three? I’m chock-a-block with activities until then. I have something you should listen to.”

  Rachel wrote the room number down on a pad next to the telephone. “Okay, see you then.”

  After putting the telephone down, she wondered what Thomas had discovered. This could be the final piece in the puzzle.

  Rachel knocked on the door of 1508 and Thomas answered immediately, looking breathless with excitement. Sweating profusely, he walked over to his safe and took out a digital recorder.