Page 41 of Tiki Hut Tragedy
“I’m in the crewmember’s dining room.”
“Even better. I skipped breakfast and am hungry. Do you mind if I join you?”
“Not at all.”
“I’m on my way.” Millie arrived to find that the dining room was mostly empty. Veering right, she grabbed a plate from the stack and filled it with ingredients for fixing a deli sandwich. She added two heaping dollops of cucumber salad to the side of her plate and stopped by the beverage station for a glass of iced tea on her way to the table.
Patterson pulled out a chair, eyeing Millie’s full plate. “You weren’t kidding about being hungry.”
“I’m starving.” She plopped down and reached for her napkin. “Pastor Haakenson and I did a little sightseeing.”
“I met him last week. He seems like a nice guy, although maybe a little…”
“Out of sorts,” Millie finished his sentence. “He’s struggling with adjusting to ship life.”
“If anyone can make him feel welcome, it’s you.”
“Because I know how he feels.” Millie assembled her sandwich, carefully placing the slices of turkey on first, followed by a thick wedge of red onion and a slice of juicy red tomato. She topped it with a piece of crispy lettuce before adding mayo and mustard to the top slice of rye bread.
“Your sandwich looks tasty.”
“Thanks.” Millie took a big bite. “It’s delish. I was thinking about the tiki hut death and wondering if you’d heard anything new.”
“Dixie’s death has been ruled an accidental drowning. No charges will be filed against the tiki hut operator, although he could be fined for not requiring his passengers to wear life jackets.”
“I wasn’t getting a warm and fuzzy feeling about it from the get-go,” Millie said. “I know eighteen isthe maximum number of passengers allowed, but it seemed overcrowded.”
“I agree. However, the operator was within the guidelines. The bottom line is it was an unfortunate accident.” Patterson told her the local authorities asked for a copy of Sharky’s GoPro recording. “While I had them on the phone, I requested a copy of the toxicology report.”
“Which isn’t a bad idea. I forgot all about Sharky having recording equipment on his PRV.”
Patterson wagged his finger at her. “I can see your wheels spinning. Let me save you some trouble. I already viewed the footage. Nothing unusual occurred during the rescue.”
Millie thought about what Astrid had said, how Wendy and Dixie had argued in the casino. “Wendy and Dixie were cabinmates who didn’t care for each other. How easy would it be to knock a competitor in the water, knowing their reflexes were already compromised from taking the stomach relaxer?”
“Your inquisitive mind never rests.” Patterson briefly closed his eyes. “This time, I believe you’re wrong. There’s not a shred of evidence that one of Dixie’s colleagues drowned her.”
Millie let it drop. Perhaps Patterson was right. Maybe it was merely a horrific accident. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for her to do a little digging around, and she knew exactly where to start.
Chapter 17
Millie waited until Nikki was free before making her way over to the Guest Services desk.
“Hey, Millie.”
“Hey, Nikki. Have you had any other complaints about the Superhero Strong song playing?”
“A couple, though not nearly as many. Thank you for jumping in and saving the day.”
“I’m sorry it got out of hand. The Belly Busters haven’t complained about not hearing it as often as they’d hoped, so it looks like we dodged a bullet.” Millie playfully swiped at her forehead. “I have a favor to ask.”
“You’re looking for information?”
“Yep. It’s about a passenger who drowned during an excursion in Grand Turk.”
Nikki grew somber. “I heard. How awful. I was thinking about booking it myself because it sounded like fun, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Between you and me, I think there were too many people on board. A passenger started yelling about something crawling on her, which caused the others to panic. The women all ran to one side, tilting the hut. Most, if not all, fell into the water, and one of them drowned.”
