Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 30

Mr. and Mrs. Castle

Part 2

"The captain said we shouldn't talk to you," Isaac claims from behind a wood-paneled bar.

"Fine, then you can just listen," Kate retorts. "I checked you out, Isaac. There are warrants out for you in Alabama and Mississippi. And Interpol also wants to talk to you. You've been a busy boy. So you can tell me what I want to know, or I can arrange for an Interpol agent to meet you at your next port of call. What's it going to be?"

Isaac slumps over the tastefully aged, wooden surface. "What do you want to know?"

"According to one of your customers, you're the go-to guy for pain relief the ship's doctor refuses to offer. Where do you get your oxycodone?"

Isaac gulps. "Oxycodone! I don't deal oxycodone. That stuff is poison. I just sell weed I score in port. It makes the old ladies feel better and helps the dancers loosen up."

"Assuming that's true, what else is available in port, Isaac?" Kate presses. "Could someone on this ship have picked up other drugs at your stop in St. Croix?"

"Maybe. There was a cargo ship there from China. We don't usually see those."

"And was anyone on this ship interested in that cargo?"

"I think the Food and Beverage Manager and the Executive Chef checked out supplies they could use. F&B is always looking for a deal on provisions. They get bonuses if they keep costs in line. And the environmental officer would have been in the area. The islands get very picky about ships trying to dump anything. Tourists won't swim in dirty water."

"Not unless they want to catch tourista," Rick comments.

"One more thing. Was Laura Madden one of your customers?" Kate queries.

"Laura, no! She didn't even drink. She was one of those clean body, clean mind, clean planet people. If she saw someone toss an empty bottle overboard, she'd have a fit. If they had dancers on Greenpeace ships, she probably would have signed on."

"Clean body," Rick mulls as he and Kate leave the bar. "I met lots of dancers in Mother's shows who felt that way. But none of them ever tried to go after a drug dealer."

"We need to talk to Bethany," Kate decides. "If anyone would have known what Laura was trying to do, she would."

"You heard what Sheri Nelson said about choreographer Sarah," Rick reminds her. "I doubt that she'd give Bethany a break to talk to us, even if the captain hadn't forbidden it."

Kate checks her watch. "We're running out of time before the boat comes to get us. We should go to the ship's theater anyway. We can figure out something when we get there."

"Damn!" Sarah grates out as Kate and Rick stride down the aisle. "The cruise line made me stick the guy who bought the dance package into this number, but he can't come aboard with the ship at sea. I need a stand-in."

Rick waves wildly. "Excuse me, can I be of assistance?"

Sarah gazes at him suspiciously. "If you're the cops, I'm not allowed to talk to you."

"She's a cop," Rick responds, pointing at Kate. "I'm not. But I am a body, and you can use me if you give Bethany a little time to talk to us."

Sarah looks back at the gap in her line of dancers. "All right. But we rehearse the number first, then we'll take five."

Rick bounds up on stage, trying desperately to remember what he learned observing rehearsals of Martha's musicals. He hadn't counted on performing the lift Sarah demands, but at least he didn't fall.

Bethany flops into a chair facing Rick and Kate. "Thanks for the breather, but I don't know what I can tell you, except that Laura was angry."

"Angry about what?" Kate prompts.

"Messing up the ocean. She was always angry about that. But she said something about the ship making the problem worse. I thought she might have been talking about how much diesel the engines burn because she was sneaking down to watch what the crew was doing below. But she muttered something about dumping and said it was better for me if I didn't know any more. Still, she was gathering proof. She had a video camera."

"Is it in your cabin?" Kate asks.

Bethany shakes her head. "No way! Stuff disappears from crew quarters all the time. Most of us have stash spots all over the ship."

"Do you know where Laura's was?"

"Not exactly, but I think it was on deck somewhere near the theater so that she could get there in a hurry."

"Break's over!" Sarah announces.

"Thanks, Bethany," Kate calls as the dancer rushes back to the stage.

Bethany glances back over her shoulder. "Laura was one of the good ones. I hope you catch her killer."

Kate glances around on deck. "If Laura was in a hurry, she probably would have come this way. But I don't see any likely hiding places."

"Isn't that the point of a secret stash spot?" Rick asks, rubbing his back. "But you know, this conveyance is supposed to be reminiscent of the Titanic. Do you remember that steamy love scene in the movie?"

"The lifeboat!" Kate dashes to the rail. "Here it is. I think we found Laura's stash – and our crime scene. There's blood down there."

"And even with as often as the decks are swabbed, I'll bet luminol could turn up a bloody clue or two up here," Rick adds.

After retrieving Laura's camera, Kate pulls a spray bottle and a UV light out of her tote bag. "Babe, give me some shadow from the sun."

Rick works his way along where Kate sprays, allowing her to detect any glow. "Booyah! That's a shoe print."

"Put your foot next to it for comparison," Kate instructs as she snaps as many photos of the scene as she can.

A whistle shrieks through the air. "That must be our unwelcome chariot," Rick guesses.

Kate pats her bag containing the video camera and her cell phone. "Hopefully, we have the evidence we need."

Rick raptly surveys the video on the big screen in Tech. "These are images of someone emptying drums of something overboard. And whatever that stuff is, it's steaming and forming films when it hits the water. Not good. Environmentalist extraordinaire Laura must have twigged that someone on the ship was dumping hazardous waste and was gathering proof."

"But what does that have to do with drugs?" Kate protests.

"Look," Rick urges, "Laura followed this guy back to the cargo hold. And see what he's unpacking from that drum that's labeled flour? All the small print gives them away. Those are pharmaceutical boxes. Laura must have realized what they were and grabbed a sample. Then she stuck it in the handiest place she could before hiding her camera again. The dancing sleuth went looking for killers of the planet and found a murderer of its two-legged inhabitants."

Kate sighs, shaking her head. "And paid for it with her life. Well, her death won't be in vain. Whoever is connected to the dumping is also tied to the drugs. We have a face, so we shouldn't have much trouble getting an ID. We can follow the trail from there." Rick presses both hands against the small of his back. "You OK, Babe?"

"I really should work on strengthening my core. But it's nothing that a hot shower and an enthusiastic massage won't fix." Rick's eyebrows dance in anticipation. "Can I avail myself of your magic fingers tonight?"

Kate grins. "My pleasure."