Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [37]
Sheila nodded and looked back at Annja. “Sorry.”
Annja waved it off. “Forget it. Just tell me a little something about yourself. How’d you get interested in this stuff?”
Sheila grimaced. “I hate boats. I’m here for the chance to see some of the artifacts from the White House.”
“You really think this is the place you’re going to find them?”
Sheila nodded. “I know what the so-called experts think, that the Fantome is a ghost chase and it doesn’t really have anything on it, after all. But I don’t believe them. I think this ship is carrying actual relics from the White House and I want to be here when they come up.”
“How’d you find out about the operation here?” Cole asked.
“I answered a classified ad in the Washington Post.” Sheila pointed at Hunter. “He put it there.”
Hunter nodded. “The ad said that I was gathering a team of experts who specialized in early nineteenth century antiques. Nothing about the treasure hunt. Too risky to do that.”
Sheila sighed. “Imagine my surprise when I get the gig and he tells me I’m going on a boat. I’ve been constantly seasick since I got here.”
Annja cocked an eyebrow. “You sick yesterday?”
Sheila nodded. “Pretty much all day. I was in my cabin. You can inspect my toilet if you don’t believe me.”
“Why would I do that?” Annja asked. “You don’t flush after you throw up?”
“Of course I do. But there might be some leftover on the bowl.”
Annja stared at Sheila, who stared right back at her. “I think I’ll take your word on that. No need for me to go poking my nose into your toilet.”
Sheila nodded and then looked at Hunter. “Are we through here? I’m not feeling very well again and I’d like to go lie down.”
“Sure. Take it easy.”
Sheila left and closed the door behind her. Annja held up her hand before anyone could speak and waited a few seconds before getting out of her chair. She walked to the door and opened it a crack, checking the hallway outside.
Sheila was gone.
Annja came back inside and closed the door again. “Well, she gets my vote as a possible.”
Cole frowned. “Really?”
Hunter shook his head. “I didn’t see anything suspicious about her. Just struck me as someone who wasn’t feeling very well and didn’t want to have to bother with this line of questioning.”
“She said she hates boats,” Annja said.
“Yeah. So what?”
“Did you see the way she moved?”
Hunter frowned. “I wasn’t really paying attention to that, to be honest.”
“You should,” Annja said. “For someone who hates boats as much as she claims, she certainly knows how to move. She’s well used to being on boats. If she wasn’t, she would have been a lot more unsteady on her feet. But she looked pretty damned graceful to me.”
“So she was lying about it?” Cole frowned. “I guess she could be.” He looked at Hunter. “How did she seem when you interviewed her for the position?”
Hunter shrugged. “She was the first person to phone. Kinda funny, actually. I got the call from her at eight o’clock in the morning on the day the ad ran. Talk about an eager beaver. And she was a bit put off when I decided to hire her and told her about the boat.”
“Could have been an act,” Annja said. “I’m telling you that she has been on boats for a long time. She wouldn’t be able to move like that if she had such a fear of them. She’s our primary, I think.”
“I don’t want to jump the gun on this, Annja,” Cole said. “We need to be sure before we accuse her.”
Annja nodded. “Fine. I understand. But let’s keep her in our sights until we can rule other people out of the equation.”
“How are we going to do that?” Hunter asked. “We can’t sit outside her cabin on surveillance. We’d be kind of obvious.”
“Leave that to me,” Annja said. “You guys are okay here without me.”
Cole looked up. “You’re leaving?”
Annja nodded. “I’ve heard enough. I think Sheila is our target.