Dead Man Docking - Mary Daheim [24]
“Bien sûr, madame!” Emile said, snapping the fingers of his free hand. “Eh bien, to your stateroom!”
Judith offered Dixie her arm. “Just tell us where to go,” she murmured.
“Mah evenin’ bag,” Dixie gasped. “Please, would y’all get it? Ah left it on the piano bench.”
Judith nodded, heading back toward the raised platform. Captain Swafford stopped her as soon as she approached the piano. “Please, madam. You can’t come any further.”
Judith glanced around the captain’s imposing form. There was nothing on the bench. “Dixie left her evening bag up here. Do you see it?”
The captain scowled at Judith, but looked around the immediate area. “Perhaps it fell under the piano,” he said impatiently. “We can find it later.”
Judith had moved a few paces. She could see the piano from the side. To her dismay, she could also see part of Magglio Cruz’s body. The black tuxedo seemed to shine like onyx.
But she spotted something else: A beaded evening bag lay a few feet from the piano. “Captain,” she called. “I see it. Come over here.”
With a heavy sigh, Swafford trudged to the place where Judith was pointing. His sturdy form wobbled slightly as he bent down to pick up the mislaid bag and tossed it at Judith. “Here,” he said gruffly. “Now please move away.”
Judith caught the bag, but it slipped out of her fingers. Gingerly, she bent down to collect the blue-beaded purse. She wanted to linger, but a crew member motioned for her to leave. Reluctantly, Judith rejoined Renie and Dixie.
“Oh, thank you!” Dixie exclaimed. “Mah best lipstick and powder are inside. Oops!” She, too, dropped the bag.
“Allow me,” Renie said, snatching the elusive purse off the floor. “This thing’s kind of slippery. It feels like it’s got some kind of goop on it.”
“Ah’ll worry about that later,” Dixie said wearily. “Right now, Ah just want to col-lapse.”
Dixie, in fact, could barely walk, forcing the cousins to half carry her out of the saloon and down the companionway.
“Two decks down, aft,” Dixie finally said as they found an elevator toward the stern.
None of the women spoke again until they reached the small but well-appointed stateroom. Dixie lay down on the bed and kicked off her shoes. “Ah have aspirin in mah cosmetic case. It should be in the lavatory. There’s bottled water in the itsy-bitsy fridge.”
Renie went to fetch the pills and a glass for the bottled water. Judith asked if she could do anything to make Dixie more comfortable.
“Ah’d like to take off this evenin’ dress,” she replied in a fretful voice. “Ah feel all damp and clammy, like the very grave itself. There’s a kimono in the wardrobe.”
After a brief search, Judith found the brightly colored kimono. Dixie had removed her gown and tossed it over a chair. She let Judith help her put the kimono on and then fell back on the bed. Renie returned with aspirin and water.
“Thank you,” Dixie said in a feeble voice. “Heavens to Betsy, Ah can’t believe what’s happenin’. It feels like a big ol’ nightmare. How in the world did poor Mags end up in that piano?”
“How he ended up dead in the piano is more to the point,” Judith said grimly. She couldn’t resist asking a question. “Did you see any blood?”
Dixie, who was very pale, shuddered. “Ah don’t think so. But all it took was one look, and Ah was…gone. Though,” she added after a brief pause, “he did look wet.”
Judith frowned. “Wet? As if water had been poured over him?”
“No, not like that,” Dixie replied. “His clothes. At least what Ah could see of them.”
Judith told herself she had to squelch her natural curiosity. She wasn’t getting mixed up in whatever had happened to Magglio Cruz. Furthermore, her hip was bothering her. She dragged a chair over to the bed and sat down. But she couldn’t resist one last query. “You fainted before you could take his pulse, right?”
Dixie frowned. “Ah must have.”
The wind, which could turn a San Francisco spring day into an arctic chill, had risen off the bay. Judith felt the ship move ever so slightly in its moorings. She glanced at Renie, who had sat down in