[New Voices]The Case of a Cruising Phantom
Revenge is more than "best served cold" - if it comes with entertainment onboard a mystery midnight cruise, what could go wrong?
by S. H. Marpel
- - - -
I KNEW EXACTLY WHY I was still here. To haunt whoever had pushed me overboard.
My only problem was finding them. And if they weren't still alive, they had relatives.
Meanwhile, I kept amused by haunting the ship's passengers and crew. And the cruise line didn't have a problem with it. Their "haunted cruises" were a big hit. Full capacity for this old boat and its evening dinner cruises out beyond the harbor.
"Misstep Mary" they called me. Even had a faded photo of me blown up and cut out so passengers could take photos with me "haunting" them. Because they ruled my death accidental. But would I still be here if it was?
So I arranged for the Ghost Hunters to show up and solve this. Otherwise, there was no peaceful 'going into the light' for me. Getting revenge might be almost as good as being alive again...
I
ANOTHER BALMY NEW YEAR's eve on board a dinner cruise. A full capacity crowd. Dining and dancing and drinking.
Perfect for haunting and scaring and mayhem.
My type of evening these days. Ever since I died.
I almost wish they didn't make so much money off me, but then, I'd never find the people who pushed me overboard unless I could advertise. And ghosts can't exactly run an ad, I mean someone has to pay for it.
That was my exact point.
Someone needed to pay for it.
- - - -
ANOTHER COUPLE COMING along the upper deck, where there weren't so many diners and waiters and crew to interrupt their privacy. They were young, and privileged, and care-free. Probably because someone else was picking up the tab.
Arm in arm, they walked, each holding a thin champagne flute glass half-filled with bubbly. He wasn't fooling me. His was sparkling cider, while hers was the prime stuff. And she was a little more tipsy than she should be.
But her unsteadiness wasn't fake. He really had to hold her up to keep them walking.
Something suspicious here. Wait - there's a small pill container in his pocket. And some residue in the bottom of her flute. Not from the grapes...
"Just a little farther, dear." He was smiling a very sweet, very fake smile at her.
"Thish isn't like me, Ed. Two glasses shouldn't have done this - thiss..." And her flute hit the deck to shatter. All the evidence now on the deck. The arm holding it was slack, and her head tilted down toward her chest.
Another couple suddenly came out of a cabin ahead. Ed swept his date up in an embrace, swirling her against the railing behind him, and supporting her head against his own while he kissed her neck.
Until the other couple had taken the nearby stairs down to the party below. His own flute then went seaward at that point, freeing up that hand for other work.
Letting her sag, Ed roughly held her tight around her waist and simply dragged her along the deck, trying each cabin door until he could find one that was left open. It didn't take long - that couple who just left were unsuspecting accomplices this time.
Dragging her into the small cabin, he dropped her on the unmade and disheveled bed, its condition left from the departing couple's activities there.
Of course I saw all of this, because I didn't have to wait for an introduction to follow them. And they couldn't see me, well not unless I wanted them to.
My name was Mary when I died. This cruise ship has been my home ever since.
And no one mistreats my guests in my own home.
This girl needed a doctor, fast.
And faster than that guy could get his tux undone - carefully, without popping buttons, of course. Because he would need it in good shape for his alibi.
I'd seen this tried before. And I knew about this happening because I could "feel" it in the air.
Time for some quick action.
Over the intercom, I gave an announcement to the ship's doctor, copying the petite purser's voice and using the code "bravo" and the cabin number.
That young Ed didn't recognize the cabin number or the announcement, as he was too busy getting his tux off so he could have his way with the young girl.
So I decided to help him. The jacket came down over his shoulders, along with his shirt, turned inside out. His suspenders were in that mix somewhere as well. Only his hands were left in the inside-out sleeves, secured with his expensive cuff-links holding his cuffs tight around his wrists.
Then his trousers came loose and shoved themselves around his ankles, while his suspenders kept them mid calf, held securely under his cummerbund.
Time to make my appearance, right in front of him, inches from his face. "Hey, there big boy - what's your rush?"
Ed's eyes went wide. I was in my "dripping wet" outfit, which was pretty form-fitting, but came with pieces of seaweed artfully arranged in my hair.
I raised a dripping hand to his face, which then wet down his cheek as I caressed it. "Why the big hurry? Too hot for you in here?"
At that, I let go a small flash of fire right in front of his nose.
He tried to turn and step back at the same time. Of course, he went down, landing on the soft pile carpet. And I bent over him to apply a small pressure to his carotid until he lost consciousness. (I'm no fan of concussions.)
It didn't take much to levitate the pill bottle out of his pocket, putting it on the small desk in the room. A little more difficult was re-integrating the girl's champagne flute and the fluid that had been in it. (Nothing is truly lost in this universe, only transmuted. Anything could be returned to its original state if you took the time to learn how - and I've had plenty of time...)
When the doctor and his nurse arrived to the cabin, they could see instantly what had happened. Female on the bed, young stud on the floor, champagne and pills on the desk. They ignored the recovering Ed on the floor and went to treat and revive his "date" as she lay on the bed. She was going to be OK, now. But they called for a wheel chair and assistance to get her to the ship's small infirmary.
"Poor" Ed was groggy and still unable to even sit up without assistance, due to his disarrayed clothing. He finally gave up and just lay there in his boxers and undershirt. Until the Master-at-arms arrived and helped him out of his predicament.
Busted.
For that is my unofficial job on this vessel. Whenever I'm not searching through the passengers to find the people who caused my early death those years ago, I was making sure that no young female passengers were taken advantage of.
And that meant the ship had an immaculate safety record. The one thing that kept it going all these years, long after it should have been decommissioned and scrapped.
But my job wasn't done, and that meant the ship's job wasn't done. The ship continued promoting its "haunted cruises" and I would make my "mysterious" appearances now and then (especially "photo bombing" those "selfies" people would take.) With capacity crowds, there was always finances for retrofits and upgrades - as long as they didn't change the historical features I was fond of.
And my own research into the ship's passenger list to find my perpetrators was vastly improved when they got wi-fi on board. This meant I could do Internet research without having to leave the ship. Or even login to a computer. Being a ghost has its perks.
But I have to introduce you to Sal, Jude, and John now. Because if it weren't for them, I'd still be haunting that one ship.
II
"SAL, JUDE, YOU'VE OUTDONE yourselves." We were out for a late-afternoon and evening dinner cruise on the U.S.S. Sea Quest. It was December 31st. A balmy afternoon off the California coast. My two good-looking spirit guides were sunbathing on the deck chairs while I was in some casual beige slacks and Hawaiian flowered shirt (they insisted I "blend in" instead of my comfortable farm-work clothes.) Instead of my ball cap, they gave me a brimmed straw hat with a matching flowered band.
Of course, sunglasses all around. Like tourists, you know.
The girls actually went through several changes of swimsuits, whenever the decks would clear or no one was paying attention to them. Jude would stick to black, but the cuts and slits and amount of exposed skin would vary.
Sal started out in her typical ivory with gold trim, but then had to give herself a tan, as it was too close to her normal skin color. Appearing to wear nothing wasn't the modest look she favored.
I was in between them, and amused by their banter as they swapped outfits. Some of it was a bit racy, so I won't repeat a lot of it here. Yes, the girls had quite a vocabulary after being around for a few hundred years, and they could be very expressive and direct with each other. Even profane, in private.
Meanwhile, I was just having a difficult time just staying relaxed with these different outfit changes. For they were forever the same young twenty-somethings to me as when they became spirits, and I appreciated being their partner in these investigations for many reasons. This discussion and tryouts of swim suit styles being one.
At last, Sal had a medium tan she liked beneath her ivory and gold top, with a sarong over her lower half that matched my flowered shirt. Jude settled on a sculpted black top and long black sarong that would reveal and accent her pale goth legs. Her hair was tied up with a scarf in the same pattern of my shirt. Still, her lips and fingernails were dark, almost black, a goth fashion-statement that was unusual and arresting.
Sal and Jude adopted the same flowery accents as my shirt so that the other young men on board would stick with their dates, and not bother us. But wonder about the lucky stud sitting there between these two gorgeous young women.
We were here on business, after all.
This ship's ghost was on our list, but wasn't flagged as dangerous. That was quite an improvement over the assignments we'd had lately.
Sal touched my arm and smiled. "John, I'm so glad we could have all this time on a cruise. This is about as close as we get to a vacation."
Jude turned over to us, "Not like we couldn't take any amount of time we want, since time is always relative, but we picked out this one so we could have some time officially sanctioned to just dally for awhile." Her own smile was infectious, and her dark sunglasses hid the obvious twinkle in her eyes that her voice gave away.
"I hate to break the ambiance, but that reminds me of why we are here." It was hard keeping a serious face around these two, but I did my best. "What do we know about this ghost and her ship?"
As if on cue, the ship's librarian rolled a small cart down the deck and stopped in front of us. Dressed in the ship's uniform, a glance at his shoes showed the same Roman Caliga sandals that Ben always wore. He handed us each an thick folder of papers without a word, but a quiet smile and nod. Then trundled down the deck.
"Never far away from our own Library access, are we?" I said to no one particular.
We each bent to our books.
A ship's steward, about the size of Granger, brought us double-chocolate brownies and iced tea on a tray. Also wordless, she slipped away after her delivery.
"And all the benefits that go with it." Sal added.
Fortunately, the small tables in between the deck chairs allowed us to stow these treats and have free hands to turn the pages and study the background of our assignment.
Jude removed her sunglasses and disappeared them from her hand. She was frowning. "This is an odd one. She seems like she's enjoying herself - and protecting, not harming anyone around her. No one has even had as much as a twisted ankle on board since her first appearance."
Sal disappeared both her and my sunglasses, as they were getting in our way now. "The reports say her disappearance had no foul play reported with it. And she wasn't found as missing until the ship docked. No one noticed she was missing at all."
A person at the rail turned around to us, as if overhearing. She was platinum blond, with a flapper's gray, sequined and beaded juliette-fringed dress, and hair style out of the '20's - tight curls, short. "Because I wasn't missed just added to the mystery. But we can review that over dinner. Table 12 is reserved for you. It's by the windows on the port side. And yes, it was the table I had my last dinner at." She smiled coyly, then shimmered into thin air.
While other people stood at the rail on either side of her, no one seemed to notice her or heard our conversation.
I closed my folder. "Apparently, we've just met Mary. She knows we are here."
III
DINNER WAS JUST BEFORE sunset, and the shades were down on the windows both port and starboard, as the ship was making long circles in the calm sea, giving all diners alternating views of the far-distant harbor lights and the soon-coming sunset. The high clouds were already starting to redden as the Ghost Hunters found my Table 12.
Sal and Jude both adopted flapper outfits of their own. Jude's was entirely a glittery black, a mini dress with a low front and revealing slits on the sides. Sal had opted for a more traditional modest neckline, below-knee dress of ivory and gold, glittering no less than Jude's. Hers was open in the back. Both girls turned eyes as they entered.
John was in a simple black tux without all the restrictive fashion statements. A red tie with a matching red pocket-handkerchief was his only accent. At least his shiny shoes looked comfortable. The girls were dressed for fashion, John had opted for comfort.
There were four seats at our table. Not long after those three were seated, I shimmered in and filled the last chair with my most solid apparition. I was dressed the same as before and felt actually happy to see them. Their reputation for solving mysteries preceded them. I could use the help.
"Hello John, Jude, Sal. You are all looking splendid tonight." The girls smiled in return, as did John. "This isn't probably the way you are often received by the ghosts you work with. Yes, my name is Mary and I'm the phantom you've been sent to help."
I signaled the waiter and he started his way over.
"We are a bit surprised by all this. And thanks for all your hospitality." John was looked intently at me.
The waiter was at my elbow, pad and pen to hand. "Your order, miss?"
"We'll have the special, all around. Extra bread sticks and some sparkling cider."
The waiter nodded, collected the menus, and glided away.
"Joe is one of the best of this summer's wait-staff. He's trying to get an extra stash of income. Seems he's met a good girl and wants to surprise her with a ring when they return for the fall semester."
I looked after him a bit wistfully. "And I'm trying to help him with tips, anything I can."
Jude leaned forward. "Don't they recognize you?"
I sat back, amused. "Of course, they do, but as a regular cruise guest. I'm so real to them, they don't connect my ghost version to this real one. All I have to watch is my entrances and exits. No sudden disappearing until I can round a corner somewhere."
The cider arrived with the wine steward and he poured us each a flute of it, then glided away, leaving the bottle.
I sipped at mine, loving the taste.
It was Sal's turn. "You are actually drinking this..."
"Sure, Sal. I long ago learned to appreciate the finer things around here." I leaned forward and spoke in a low voice. "Even the occasional steward or bus-boy, after hours." I winked at John, just to put the girls more at ease. John just went a bit red behind his own flute of cider.
Jude almost laughed at this. Right down her alley. We could have some fun, her and I.
Sal raised an eyebrow, but twinkled in her eyes, so I knew we could be fast friends, too.
John was still a bit serious, though. "Not to spoil the mood, but I don't understand what you're still doing all this for. You have the run of the ship, they all think you're a real passenger, and everything seems to be going great."
At that I sighed, then took another sip. "John, you are exactly why I pulled some strings to get you here. As cute as you are (and Jude, you are so understated about his good looks) it's your brilliance that I need. Tonight, we have a unique set of guests here. All relatives of the same people who were on board the night of my death."
I gestured across the dining room. "I actually reserved the whole ship just to re-enact that cruise I was on that I never came back from."
"One or more of these guests will be able to tell us who pushed me overboard and why."
IV
JOHN'S CURIOSITY WAS tweaked. Just as he was about to ask her for details, two young men came up to our table. The dance music had started, and they eyes for each of my spirit guides. Jude and Sal were both flattered, and looked at me.
"Yes girls, go right ahead. I just want to borrow John for a little while. You two go and enjoy yourselves. These two boys won't bite, but they may want to nibble a bit. Just look out for the slow numbers." I winked, the girls smiled and nodded, then led their boys to the dance floor.
"John, if I may..." Taking my cue, he rose and helped me with my chair.
I took his hand and led him skilfully between the tables and around a bulkhead, where we shimmered out of existence.
To reappear on the fantail railing, with a view of the twinkling harbor lights just disappearing from view behind the ship.
"This is where it happened. Of course I'd had a few too many to remember accurately. The next thing I knew was swimming up to the surface, nearly out of air. Once I cleared my eyes of sea water, I saw the ship sailing merrily away, the sound of the dance band loud enough to nearly drown out the ship's horn. Certainly too loud for anyone to hear a splash."
I looked off at our wake, churning behind us. "And shortly after that, I got too tired..."
John didn't interrupt our silence, which was gratifying. As Sal noted in her reports, a perfect gentleman.
"So, John, where do we begin?"
He frowned. "This is a really cold case. No witnesses, just distant relatives. The ship's report was almost a vacuum of useful data."
I tried to lighten the mood. "Oh don't be so serious. This is just like the old 'Murder, She Wrote' series. You're the detective author, and we have a dead victim. I know there was foul play..."
"But was there really? You said yourself that you had a few too many. Couldn't you have just literally fallen overboard?"
"Look at me. I'm barely above 5 foot tall. These railings are the same type as they were then. At least four foot tall. Even if I tried to go between the rails, I'd have a hard time squeezing through. Here, let's try to re-enact the scene. Go ahead and try to push me over. Don't be shy, you can't hurt me."
John tried to lift me and I didn't resist. But he found that he had to reach right down around my waist to get my center of gravity high enough. And he was red-faced from exertion by the time he gave up.
"What if you were standing with your feet on these rails? Say, half way up?"
I stood on those rails and my waist was above the top railing. He U. S. S.shoved me slightly and I went right over - but then hovered back up to stand flat on the deck again. "OK, that would have worked. But why would I stand on the railings, drunk or not? These are the same shoes I wore then. Slick soled, but I'd still need a lift to lose enough traction."
John considered this. "This is still, excuse me, a 'dead' end. Without additional data, we can't do much with this."
I just smiled at him. "That's why we have the relatives. You made a point in one of your earlier books. The soul isn't a finite substance. It changes with interactions. Thoughts are as contagious as the flu - and that is just a matter of soul-sharing. I've got these relatives here - even the current ship's Master-at-arms had a detective relative on board that evening. We can use them to 'channel' their distant relative's thoughts and get the data we need."
John gave a wry smile at this. "You know, this might work. But how do we get them all together to reenact the scene? They are all busy eating and dancing and having a great time."
I smiled back. "Just wait. This song is the last just before the announcement. Shall we?" I held up my arms in dancing posture, and he moved into them. We then swayed to the last few bars of the song - of course, they played the chorus one extra time, just for me. It felt so good to dance again...
V
"ATTENTION, ATTENTION all passengers." The announcement came over the ships intercom. "Tonight, we will re-enact and attempt to solve the mystery of 'Misstep Mary's' disappearance. Please bring your dining and dancing partners to the fantail, where we will attempt to determine once and for all if Mary had an accident, or was the victim of foul play."
Mary was grinning from ear to ear. "Isn't this great? You don't know what it took for me to arrange all this. I've been working at this for years. Of course, the ship's PR officer, AKA 'Port Captain' is taking all the credit for it. And there will be photographers present and a few media - who also happen to be descendants of reporters who were shipboard that night."
The crowd started filtering out to join us on the deck. I still had one arm around Mary from our dancing, and she grabbed my hand to keep it there.
Sal and Jude came with their own dance partners, also arm-in-arm. All smiling from ear to ear.
I sent the details of our discussion to both of my gals by closed thought to bring them up to date. Jude and Sal each nodded at me.
The ship's captain took on the role of host for this event. "Ladies and gentlemen, ship's guests and crew: Tonight our Port Captain has organized this first and, if we are successful, final re-enactment of 'Misstep' Mary's final moments on our U. S. S. Sea Quest."
He paused to ensure he had everyone's attention. "Through extensive research into passenger lists and the sketchy details of what happened that night, we have invited each of you to sail with us as one of your distant relatives was present that night. We may ask you to play the part of that relative tonight, if you would be so kind."
The captain smiled at the quiet comments that request started. He raised his hand to quiet them again. "As you know, most of you have received this as an all-expense-paid round trip, courtesy of a 'phantom' anonymous benefactor. Please just enjoy yourselves and join in our little 'after-dinner detective' entertainment. Let me turn this over to the Master-at-arms, whose great-grandfather was on board that night as a vacationing detective. Mr. Salvatore..."
The MAA then stepped up, holding a single sheet of paper in his hand. "Thank you captain. And thank you all for being here tonight. Let me read of the names of a dozen people who are our immediate 'suspects' for our drama tonight. If you'll please step forward as your name is called..."
He read off that dozen names, and then gestured to Mary, who let go of my arm and stepped into the group, now formed a semi-circle in front of the MAA. "Marilyn has consented to play the part of Mary, as she is a direct descendant of our famous guest ghost." The entire crowd applauded her. Mary was all smiles, and even a bit wistful at the recognition.
Unseen by any but myself, Sal, and Jude, Mary made a slight gesture as the applause died.
Everyone present except for we Ghost Hunters changed their posture, and their expressions at that moment.
We did in fact, have the original witnesses occupying their descendant's bodies, all at the original scene of Mary's accident - and there was doubt in every mind that it could well have been a crime instead. And one of them would be able to tell us for sure.
VI
I CLEARED MY THROAT to get everyone's attention. "Thank you, Master at arms. Or shall we call you Detective Salvatore?" The MAA nodded a curt nod, his shoulders slumping to transform into a streetwise cop-turned-detective, just trying to enjoy a few hours of relaxation before he had to get back to the unsolved cases sitting on his desk.
"You all can call me Mary. From what I've been told of my great-grandaunt, she was very vibrant and caring, so probably knew most of you." I heard some grumbling in the back, but most people were smiling and nodding.
"But let's set the stage here. In those days, we had dancing here on the fantail, with tables and chairs around the edges. And plenty of champagne for everyone."
The crew started bringing out tables and chairs, the waiters started circulating with full serving trays of champagne flutes. "Everything is now just as we have been able to determine from the photos of the time. Of course, for safety reasons, we'll have to remove these tables before we get into port again. But for now, we are back in the time my great-grandaunt was still very much alive."
I picked up a flute from a passing waiter and gestured to the tables with it. "Please feel free to take your places that you feel most comfortable being - the one where your distant relative most likely was.."
As the crowd rearranged themselves, I went direct to the detective, and grabbed his arm before he could move. I pulled him between two of the tables next to the railing. "Detective, I'd like you to meet John, a mystery writer. He has two lovely assistants..." Sal and Jude, as their dancing partners had gone elsewhere, moved toward John and I. Sal took John's arm and Jude took the detective's and squeezed it, to his obvious appreciation.
"They will be your assistants to find the clues we need about my - er - great grandaunt's unfortunate demise."
"Detective Salvatore" pulled out his bound notebook and a pen from his inside pocket, while Jude held onto his arm to help keep the MAA in character. "OK, if we have a crime scene, we have suspects."
By now people in their "old persona's" had spread out among the deck. Some had been dancing at the time, not necessarily with the ones they came with. Others had several flutes in their hands, either holding them for dancing partners or working to drown some sorrow they adopted from their persona.
The detective came over to the railing behind me. "So this is where we think it happened, eh?"
I nodded. "We just don't know exactly how. John and I were trying to re-enact it, but I'm about the same size as my aunt, so I would have had to be thrown bodily over the railing. And all these witnesses would see that, even if half of them were dancing."
The detective nodded. "But the railing would leave no marks of a struggle. So how did your aunt get over the railing? Your shoes aren't meant for climbing. Was your aunt drinking at the time, or do we know?"
I nodded. "We can safely assume so. But even if inebriated, it would make the action of climbing that much harder to do. And it would also be more obvious."
John interrupted at this point. "We have people around us, who feel they were there at the time. Perhaps they might be able to tell us what happened."
The detective touched the brim of his naval cap. "Good point. Let's make our rounds."
VII
I HAD SAL STAND BACK away and keep watch over the other guest's movements. The detective had a fairly loud voice, enough to be heard, so anyone getting a "guilty conscience" feeling might be needing a watchful eye if they tried to make a dash for it.
The nearest male got his first questions. "Sir, what do you say was your relation to Mary that evening?"
A nervous look. "I - I was her dancing partner just before she disappeared. But - but I just turned around and she was gone. I thought she left to use the facilities, honest. I looked for her the rest of the night." And looking at Mary with a dream-filled expression, "You were the most wonderful dancer..."
The detective frowned. "No motive. Not a suspect." He checked something off on his notepad.
"Ma'am?" He asked the lady holding onto his arm. She was frowning. "And did you have any relationship with the deceased?"
"Her? No. I was just trying to find Herbert here as we'd come all the way out here and he's hardly taken me out on the floor once."
"And where were you at the time of the incident?"
"I was coming over here to get Herbert. No, I didn't see Mary. My eyes were on Herbert, but there wasn't any other girl anywhere near him."
"Thank you ma'am." He wrote something down on his pad. Jude watched and sent to me ["motive, but clueless."]
Everyone else was watching someone with a cellphone trying to take a picture, but having a hard time of it.
"Sir? What are you doing there?" The detective wasn't any favor of nosy "press" busybodies.
"Oh, detective. At the time I was trying to take a picture of the group by the railing. And then I had an old box camera with a tripod and flashbulbs, so it took some time to set up."
"Did you arrange the shot, who was where?"
"Yes, yes I did."
"Please do that now. Is everyone present who was then?"
A medium-sized guy tried to ease out of the photo frame, and ran into Sal's solid grip that stopped him in his tracks.
The detective noticed the action out of the corner of his eye and spun, nearly dislodging Jude's grip on his arm. "You sir. Where do you think you are going? And why do you have to leave now?"
Sal's grip tightened.
"I - I was just going to get some more bubbly." Not nervous as much as caught out with no excuse.
"Were you part of this photo?"
"Well, as it turned out, no."
"Then why are you trying to leave?"
"Because I don't need no picture telling anyone I was ever here." Sal's grip became a steel vise, and he winced.
"Your relation to the deceased?"
He looked at Sal, who raised an eyebrow back. "I hated her guts. I thought we had something going, see - and I won that stuff bear for her at the carnival, but the next day she was out with some other guy. Then I catch her at this cruise by the end of the ship and so I wanted to have some words with her."
The detective noted something, but Jude couldn't read it as he had twisted away from her.
"Ma'am. Thanks for stopping this guy. Now if the two of you could move to where he was when the photo happened..." And Sal nodded to her guy, who shrugged and stepped back into his earlier position, Sal beside him and still holding his elbow, but less vice-like.
Salvatore turned back to the photographer. "Now, is everyone in position?"
"No, that girl - Mary - is way too short to be in front or behind. We must have all basketball jocks here. She's gotta get up on something to be seen."
The other guys in the photo moved a chair over for her so she could be just above their shoulders with her own head. Now Mary was standing where the railing was at her knees.
I pointed out to the detective, "Now that looks like it could have been an accident waiting to happen."
But the detective only frowned. "No other dames in the picture. That's odd."
To the photographer, "Did you purposely leave out their dates? Good looking athletes like this should have tons of girls hanging off them."
"Oh, yea, they are all over there, waiting. You see, Mary was the singer for the band and they all wanted a photo with her. A regular siren on the bandstand. Since we were running out of time, they agreed to pay for a group shot instead."
The detective looked "over there" and saw a lot of frowning dates standing in a group not far away. He noted on his pad (as Jude sent to me) "jealous dames with motive - but no opportunity."
Something was bothering me.
The ship's horn blew at the clock striking midnight - and I looked at Mary.
She knew at least when it happened.
VIII
A SHORTISH GIRL PUSHED through the group of girls and sprinted down the passageway to the ship's stairs. Jude shimmered from where she was standing and reappeared just as the girl was about to escape down the steps. They collided, but Jude knew how to hold her ground. The shorter girl ended up sitting down on the deck in her expensive dancing dress.
I stayed on my chair and watched as the detective and John moved quickly over to see what had happened. Everyone else stayed in character.
The photographer said "OK - cheese!" and got that chorus back. Right at that moment the guy Sal was holding bent over to pick up that something only he saw on the ground. Then the girls swarmed their guys to get their big New Year's kiss.
When I turned to see what the guy was bending over for, I felt the chair move and went over the railing – deja vu.
But this time, I grabbed the railing and held on. Sal let go of the guy and reached over to get my hand to help me climb back up and over. Although we both knew this was more for show than being necessary.
- - - -
"OK, EVERYONE - FREEZE!" Detective Salvatore bellowed out to the crowd and they stood stock still wherever they were. He wove his way through the guys and gals to the position where Mary had been standing. The chair was now overturned.
"Now, who saw what happened?" Nobody raised their hand, they all just stood there.
The detective was puzzled.
He knew as I did, that the perpetrator was in that crowd right in front of us.
He looked at John and Jude, who had brought the shortish girl back. John came forward and had a discussion with the detective I couldn't hear.
Then John came over and started talking quietly to people one by one, and replacing them exactly where they were right after that horn blew. I set the chair upright again, and Sal stood next to me to hold on as I got back up.
We started it again from the top:
Guys and me in the in the shot, gals moved in. Angry guy reached down for the silver dollar. I look over.
And then what?
A big fat nothing.
Meaning it was plausible I got excited by the horn blast and just fell overboard?
Sorry. A person doesn't become a ghost because of an accident, unless they have a whole lot more to live for. And if I didn't, I might have suicided, and that sometimes makes ghosts - if they regret it enough.
But I didn't suicide. And I had a temp singing job on the ship. But I was single, no kids, no big goals left undone. I could have died happy, knowing that I was a clumsy fool and got what I deserved for being tipsy on top of a chair next to that ship's end railing at New Years.
Clumsy, though, I'm not. I remembered the shipboard dancing contests where I only got bested once – and that was when some pro's came on and took over the judging of their own pro's in the competition.
Sal was reading my mind of all these thoughts. And then she started counting heads. Numbers of guys, numbers of gals. Other than the jerk with the silver dollar, you had to include the shorter gal to make them even up for dancing.
Sal looked at the shorter gal, who was crying now.
Jude spoke to her quietly and she quit. A small guy from in front of my chair pushed through to comfort her.
The detective came over to see the shot that the photographer had taken on his smartphone. That small guy also wasn't in the shot.
Then he went over to talk with the couple near Jude. They both nodded, and then came with him and Jude over to talk to me. I got off the chair again to meet them. We all went inside to the deserted dance floor to have a small talk.
John looked alarmed, but I shook my head at him and smiled to reassure him.
Then the double glass doors closed behind us.
IX
WHEN MARY LEFT, THE spell was broken. Everyone was milling around, confused.
The captain went over to a call box and got on the intercom - first to his bridge crew, and then to everyone on board. "Ready everyone? Five—Four—Three—Two—One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
The crowd roared, the couples kissed and "Auld Lang Synge" blared over the ship's speakers.
Everyone broke out in grins, especially as the waiters brought even more free bubbly for everyone.
Eventually, they all went back inside and the band started up again. That shorter girl was in front, singing her heart out, while her boyfriend was watching from a nearby table, grinning from ear to ear.
Mary and Jude came back out with the Master-at-arms and Port Captain.
The MAA handed me the notebook. "I think you'll need this for your story. Glad to solve that mystery once and for all. It's almost too bad we solved that ghost story. It was great to have the publicity."
I just shrugged and looked at Mary.
She smiled broadly. "Funny enough, the Port Captain has hired me as a permanent guest on board, since I have such a striking resemblance to my great grandaunt. He says that they had cameras capturing our entire performance from an upper deck. They tell him the footage was spectacular. Oh, he also asked me to tell you that they installed a safety net below that railing, just out of sight, so I was never in any danger. Of course, they could have told me..."
I did have a question, still. But before I could speak, Sal completed my thought.
"The singer you're listening to had a great-grandmother on the ship who used to have the same job, but Mary was brought on as a guest celebrity and stayed on for that cruise. The singer-relative thought her job was in danger, but it wasn't. Her boyfriend at the time simply gave the chair a good kick, when the horn blared, thinking she would fall to the deck and out of the picture."
The MAA nodded. "That smartphone photo showed Mary in the process of falling, but the actual photo was taken before the horn went off, and has her in it. Mary has been gracious enough to forgive her boyfriend for overacting his part in this little drama."
Mary came over and kissed the MAA on the cheek. "But you did a great job, too."
He blushed slightly. "I guess it runs in the family. Well, thanks to all of you. Do come sail with us again." He touched his visor in salute and moved off down the passageway.
Sal and Jude noticed that their erstwhile dance partners had returned. The gals winked at me and re-joined their young men for more dancing.
The fantail was now empty, except for Mary and me.
Mary turned toward me and put her arms around my neck, looking deep into my eyes. The moonlight was making her blond hair almost glow, and the sequins on her dress looked like she was surrounded by sparkles.
"I think you still own me one last dance."
So we did, and I held her close for a long slow tune.
Well, maybe a couple.
- - - -
JUDE AND SAL AND I just shimmered in and started walking back to my cabin through the nearby pasture.
I was back into my usual outfit of work jeans and pocket t-shirt, while Jude was still wearing her flapper mini-skirt with sequins. Sal compromised and wore her off-white, gold-pin-striped jacket over her dancing dress. They each were barefoot, carrying their high-heeled shoes in their free hand – the one they didn't have around my waist.
And I had my arm across their two backs, hands on their shoulders.
The moon was shining above and the fireflies were twinkling here and there. Owls were hoo-hooing, with the whippoorwills calling.
I just had to ask, "Are you two going to recruit Mary? She seems like a good asset."
Sal spoke first. "Actually, there are a lot of ghosts on cruise ships. If there are more like Mary, we might be able to improve the safety standards of the industry. But that's a lot of ifs."
Jude chimed in. "Meanwhile, we are going to have to let Mary be Mary for awhile. She loves that boat and its crew. Now that they think she's human, she'll be able to do even more than before to help everyone. Even if she doesn't take any of the Library's training, she'll be a great contact to have out there.
I just hugged them both. "Well we had a good time, didn't we? You two just about wore out those young men. They looked glad to just be able to walk off the ship by the time we docked."
Jude and Sal both looked at me. Without saying that I'd just set myself up for a whole string of jokes.
The each kissed me lightly and then shimmered away.
I just smiled and kept walking. This would turn out as a great story, even if no one ever thought it did happen that way.
Notes: Mary becomes a fixture in later appearances after this introduction. And one where she saves John’s life. Stay tuned…