Tidal Rage by David Evans (best big ereader .TXT) 📗

I was hoping to give him the good news, but I’m sure you can relay it to him. We got them both; Hilton, and more importantly Rothhelm, who has now admitted to his part. Congratulations on giving us a rock solid case, Tuck,” Carly confirmed happily.

As soon as he finished the conversation, he hung up the phone and went in search of Cheryl. Tuck discovered her on the back porch, sitting in the rocking chair with her laptop on her knee. She had been booking the hotels and travel for Robert Stahmer and Ghislaine.

“We got them, Cheryl,” Tuck said, with a big, boyish grin.

Cheryl looked up, startled. “Got who?”

“We got Don’s killers. Both boys have admitted their guilt, and they are staring at long stretches inside. You were right, Cheryl, it was Hilton and Rothhelm,” he stated.

The laptop was sent heavenwards as she jumped up out of the rocking chair.

“We really got them?” she pleaded.

“We really got them, honey,” Tuck replied lovingly.

She fell into his arms, and the years of anguish poured forth as she cried and cried and did not stop sobbing in Tuck’s arms for over an hour.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sebastian had wanted to leave Seattle. He had been sent home after the Port Stanley authorities in the Falklands could not come up with enough evidence to hold him any longer. He had been excluded from leaving the Falklands for over a month. The desire to leave was greater than his constant desire to kill, and he abstained during that period.

He had long ago run out of body hair, and if he were to fulfill the overwhelming desire that was with him day and night, it would be too dangerous to pursue his needs in his home city. He needed to be back traveling the world.

At first Sebastian was shocked to find he had been allocated to re-join Classical Canta Libra in Genoa. He had never done a double stint on the same ship; generally they rotated him around the fleet. Sebastian was sure the crew members would know he was under investigation. He hoped that may of the crew had been rotated or on leave.

Sebastian was unaware how much pressure the board of directors had been under to resolve what had occurred in the lifeboat. The bad press and television coverage from the families of the deceased were affecting bookings, and this would lead to a loss of profit and stability of the company—and board members. Most crew members, and the team of artists and musicians, had either been rotated back to the ship, or remained and had leave deferred until after the investigation.

The board had their own security team and investigators, but had taken advice to bring in a set of specialists to avoid accusations of a cover-up. They knew and accepted the risks this would bring, as the investigation would be out of their control. But regardless of the outcome, it had to be better than the negative press they now found themselves exposed to.

After several weeks of identifying potential investigators, Robert Stahmer’s name had been put forward by Sean Wright, the director of marketing, who in a previous life had worked for Scotland Yard as head of public relations. He knew that Stahmer now worked for a company called MIDAS, a company the board had never heard of before. But investigations into the managing director, Max Cutler, all came back with glowing reports and reliable recommendations.

Initial contact had been made by Sean Wright through the MIDAS Geneva office, and details had been passed on by Fabienne Asper to Cutler.

The board agreed to Cutler’s request that all employees and contractors who had been on the ship at that time would be available in the same location for an interview. They set about revising holidays, rest periods and ship allocations to bring the entire crew back again to the Classical Canta Libra. Only two were missing; one had died of cirrhosis the week before, and the other had been injured in a car crash and was unable to fly.

Sebastian re-joined the ship, and realised after several hours that something was amiss. The entire detail of the previous crew had been reassembled, an event that none of them had ever seen before. You could work with the same cruise line operator for life and not see a crew mate for years due to rotation.

Before too long, it became apparent that they had been gathered together intentionally, as the captain gave them the news that there was an investigation team on board who would be joining them on the week-long cruise from Genoa to Istanbul.

Prior to the Liverpool Airport incident and Hoagie’s death, Cutler had assigned Stahmer as lead investigator, and Ghislaine Lyman as his translator, due to the multitude of nationalities among the crew. Cutler realized that most would have English as a second language, but some of the ship’s maintenance crew and seamen, and some of the housekeeping staff, would have limited or no English.

During the flight to Genoa, Ghislaine refreshed her knowledge of Filipino, as Fabienne’s research indicated that forty percent of the crew were from the Philippines. This was mainly due to their hard-working nature, but also, they were some of the cheapest labour on the planet.

Stahmer and Ghislaine landed at 9 am, and the Classical Canta Libra was not due to leave its berth in Genoa until 6 pm the following day. The chauffeured Mercedes met them at the main entrance to the airport, and was soon navigating the narrow streets to their hotel. No sooner had they settled into their lush single rooms than Sean Wright called from reception.

Without delay, they were once again circumnavigating the streets of Genoa in the same Mercedes, and under a bright blue and cloudless sky they entered the dock area. They proceeded into the depths of the dockyard until they arrived at a