Page 53 of Tiki Hut Tragedy
“Nope. He put it in his pocket, thanked me and left.”
“I’m on my way.” Millie grabbed her lanyard and tracked down Scout’s stroller. She set him inside and off they went, out of the apartment, down the elevator and to the Guest Services’ desk.
Nikki gave Millie a friendly wave as she approached the counter. “That was fast.” Shedarted around the desk and greeted Scout, ruffling his ears and patting his head. “Even our mascot is out and about early this morning.”
“A sea day is a busy day,” Millie quipped. “I figured I might as well grab my mail before I got too busy.”
Nikki plucked an envelope off the counter and handed it to her. “This is it. We normally don’t get mail until the end of the cruise, when passengers have specific issues they want to complain about.”
“Or want their automatic tips adjusted. Midway through the cruise seems an odd time to complain.” She studied the big black block letters on the front,MILLIE ARMATI.Beneath her name was her title,CRUISE DIRECTOR.
She flipped it over and removed the single sheet of paper. Millie unfolded it, her scalp tingling as she read the single sentence.
Chapter 22
Dixie didn’t accidentally drown.Millie read the sentence aloud. “You mentioned Patterson got the same envelope?”
“Correct.” Nikki told her there were a few other miscellaneous pieces of mail but only two with bold black letters and matching envelopes. “Someone wants you to know the woman’s death wasn’t an accident.”
“It would appear so.” Millie turned it over, studying her carefully written name and title.
“Why would someone send the note to you?” Nikki asked. “I mean, I understand why they would send it to Patterson, but you’re not part of the security team.”
“I’m the Belly Buster group’s main point of contact and host most of the events, plus I helpedSharky recover her body.” Millie briefly wondered if it was meant to rattle the contestants, hoping to upset the upcoming competition.
She remembered Danielle’s comment from the previous night, how two of the contestants were saying basically the same thing. “I need to find Patterson.”
“I believe he was on his way to his office.”
Millie thanked her friend, and she and Scout circled around to the bank of elevators. Pressing the down button, she and her pup were the only ones during the ride to the lower level of the ship.
Unlike the passenger decks, the crew-only corridor was already a beehive of activity. She reached the head of security’s office, and as Millie drew closer, she could see Patterson’s office lights were on but the door was closed.
Giving it a light rap, she twisted the knob and stuck her head around the corner. “Hey, Patterson.”
He looked up from his computer. “Good morning, Millie. I wondered how long it would be before you showed up on my doorstep.”
“I take it you read your note.” She steered Scout’s stroller inside and eased the door shut behind her.
“Yes, and I’ve already left messages for two of the women who were part of the excursion.”
“The ones Danielle told you about?”
A flicker of surprise crossed Patterson’s face. “News travels fast, although I shouldn’t be surprised. What’s your take?”
Millie hesitated.
“Let me guess…you’ve done some poking around.”
“Because something isn’t right. Dixie and/or her cabinmate Wendy were…are taking a boatload of supplements, pills. It’s possible Dixie took too manyorwas given too many. She became disoriented, drowsy and drowned.”
“According to several eyewitnesses, Dixie was the one who caused the panic in the first place,” Patterson reminded her.
“Maybe she had some sort of hallucination and freaked out.”
“I won’t bother asking how you know about the pills,” Patterson sighed. “For the record, the prescription drugs I found were prescribed. As far as the supplements are concerned, there’s no law prohibiting them, although I agree it seems like an excessive amount.”
“Which could be normal quantities if your goal is to eat a lot and pop pills to stretch your stomach,” Millie said. “Someone is either trying to stir the pot or give us a heads up we need to take a closer look at Dixie’s death.”
