Claire Gulliver #04 - Cruisin' for a Bruisin' (29 page)

Her eyes widened in surprise at the long list of hits appearing on the screen in front of her. She clicked on one from the
Miami Herald
.

Longevity Physician Released, authorities drop criminal charges
. Dr. Richard Walmer went free this morning after authorities admitted they did not have enough evidence to charge him. Dr. Walmer, senior associate of Life of Joy, Medical Association, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of second degree murder when his patient, Alma Myerson, died of unknown causes. Mrs. Myerson’s children reported their mother had been a patient of Dr. Walmer’s for about six months. They said Dr. Walmer was treating their mother with vitamin therapy designed to counteract the ravages of age. They had pleaded with their mother to stop what they thought was dangerous therapy to no avail. They charged Dr. Walmer with wantonly endangering their mother’s life with unproven and untested methods of vitamin injections. Theodore Myerson, Alma Myerson’s eldest child, reported he and his siblings will now seek damages against Dr. Walmer in civil courts, saying, “He must be stopped before he kills more old people.”
Dr. Walmer says his vitamin cocktails are safe and healthy. They have been used extensively on members of the elderly community to heighten seniors’ abilities to live to their full potential in the latter years of their lives. He said Mrs. Myerson’s unfortunate demise was not due to the vitamin therapy, rather to the natural progression of life and its ending.

“Oh, my God!” Claire muttered softly. “I can’t believe this.” She remembered Richard, or was it Mrs. Bernbaum, said he had left his practice in Florida and was seeking a new practice in the San Francisco area. Now she knew why.

She signed off the computer and gathered up her things and went to find a phone. She needed to report this to the security department. But when she called them they were very reluctant to tell her where they were located. Seemingly they considered security and secrecy to be synonymous. Finally she convinced them she had to talk to them privately and did not want to meet in her cabin or in any other of the public places on board, only then was she given directions to their office.

“So, basically, you’re not going to do anything?” She was incredulous.

“Well, not exactly. We’ll keep our eye on him. And when we dock in San Francisco we’ll turn this and all our notes over to the San Francisco Police. We’ve already notified them we have a suspicious death, although our own physician, Dr. Carolton, thinks it’s most likely natural causes due to her advanced age,” Larry Smithston, the Director of Security on board, assured Claire. She felt, however, he wasn’t taking her concerns seriously. The look in his eyes told her all too clearly he thought she was a nuisance. That hurt. She wasn’t used to treatment like this. She had enjoyed the privilege of having her opinions valued, first by her family friend, Captain Sean Dixon, in the San Francisco Police Department and later by Jack Rallins and his associates in various law enforcement agencies. And truthfully, her opinions and theories had proven to be valuable, several times. Now here she was being humored.

She tried once more to convince him, but clearly exasperated he told her, “Ms. Gulliver, I understand your concern, but truly, we act on evidence. And that is somewhat sketchy in this situation. I will hand these items over to the investigating body, which is the SFPD, and we will watch Dr. Walmer carefully during the remaining days of the cruise. But frankly, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to incarcerate him. I don’t see any immediate danger from him. And we know he won’t be going any where in the next two days. Therefore, he will be available when and if we need to talk to him. So I’m asking you to forget about this and enjoy the rest of your cruise. Trust me, we, and the SFPD, will take care of this situation.” He forced a smile, then standing up he indicated the interview was over.

But in the elevator going up to the main decks Claire’s anger got the better of her. She pushed the button for the deck where the computer room was located. She wasn’t going to just let this go. Richard was out of control last night when he pushed her. How did she know he wouldn’t get that way again? She had her own resources and she intended to use them.

After she sent a long email to Sean Dixon at the SFPD with the whole story and including links to the websites with the description of the potassium chloride and the article in the Miami Herald, she glanced at her watch and realized she had totally missed Bingo. She decided she had better go find her mother and see if anyone won. And she was going to quietly alert her mother to Richard’s past. It would be prudent to stay away from the man.

“Hey Ruth, did you win?” Then looking around, “Where’s Mom?”

“No I didn’t win, nor did anyone we know. I didn’t even come close to the big one.” During every session of Bingo they played one game to fill all the squares in a certain number of pulls; if someone won, they would receive the huge jackpot which had been accumulating since the beginning of the cruise. The last Bingo game would pay out the jackpot, no matter how many balls were pulled.

“And your mother went down to Mrs. Bernbaum’s cabin to help Richard pick out an outfit for her to be buried in.”

Claire felt the blood drain from her head at that news. “Mom..., Mom went to help Richard?”

“Yes, he came to apologize for his behavior last night. Then he looked so sad, and he was so totally at a loss to know what to get for the funeral. You know your mother, she insisted she go help him select an outfit for the wake.”

Claire’s brain was spinning frantically. Her first impulse was to call security for help. But then she realized that wouldn’t work. They didn’t think Richard was a danger.

“How long ago did she leave?”

“Just a while ago, maybe ten minutes at the most. Why? Do you need something?”

She shook her head, realizing it wouldn’t do any good to get Ruth all concerned.

“You haven’t seen Ian anywhere around have you?” she asked, perhaps a shade too urgently, because now Ruth was watching her carefully.

“Why, yes. I saw him in the casino a while ago.”

“Ruth, can you find Ian and tell him I need him in Mrs. Bernbaum’s cabin, right away. And tell him to hurry.”

Ruth had already risen. “What is it Claire? What’s wrong?”

“I’ll tell you later. Just find Ian. Fast. Okay?” And she hurried to the elevator. Then not wanting to wait for it to arrive she took the stairs down the two flights to the eighth deck.

Millie knocked on the door, thinking how easy it was to believe Mrs. Bernbaum was still here. But Richard’s sober expression when he opened the door and gestured her into the cabin didn’t allow her to continue that pretense.

She tried to be positive. “Well, Richard, it looks like you’re making progress here.” She nodded toward the two suitcases sitting near the door.

“Mostly thanks to my friend, Kim.”

Millie turned to see the beautiful blonde emerge from the bedroom. She smiled at her in answer to Richard’s introduction. “How nice of you to help, Kim. I’m sure Richard appreciates it. This is a painful task. Believe me, I know.”

Kim nodded and then went to a tray of coffee things sitting on the table, saying, “Would you like a cup? It’s time for us to take a break and this was just delivered, so it’s fresh.”

Millie didn’t really want any more coffee, but saw they wanted a break, so she nodded, accepted a cup and sat on the sofa while Kim poured for Richard and herself. “Millie, I just wanted to apologize once more for my boorish behavior last night. It was so very kind of you and Claire to come to tell me about Auntie Flo, and then I don’t know what happened to me. I just lost it.”

“Richard, don’t you worry even a minute more. We all have times like that. Actually, I shouldn’t have startled you like that, but I was just so horrified you might drop that bag overboard after all we’ve heard about how destructive plastic bags are. I’m afraid I just reacted without thinking. But, the incident is over. I apologize for startling you and I accept your apology for pushing Claire, as I’m sure she’ll tell you herself the next time she sees you.” She sat back and sipped the coffee which did taste good even though she didn’t really want it.

“Well, the funny thing is, I’ve now realized the throat lozenges I bought at the drugstore in Ketchikan were probably still in that bag I threw away. I’ve had a severe sore throat for several days and needed something to ease it. You don’t remember where you dumped it, do you?”

Millie looked startled and then shook her head. “Well, no. I didn’t actually throw it away after all.” She felt a little guilty about that as she tried to explain. “There wasn’t any trash can near there as you probably know. I imagine that’s why you were going to toss it overboard. So Claire took the bag from me. She said she’d throw it away some place.”

Richard actually winced. Then he looked at Kim.

Kim shrugged. “I say do them both,” she said with a grim look on her face.

“Kim! You’re a little over the edge here. How do you think you could cover up multiple disappearances? Think about it. It’s way too risky.”

“It’s too risky to just ignore,” Kim said in a hard tone talking to Richard as if Millie wasn’t even in the room.

Millie looked from one to the other not understanding what exactly they meant, but feeling decidedly uncomfortable about the way they were watching her as they talked. She set her coffee cup on the table and got to her feet, saying briskly, “Well, Richard, let’s check the closet. I was thinking that mauve dress your aunt wore to one of the formal dinners might be just the thing. It was very flattering...”

They both stared at her as if she had just committed some horrible social gaff, and her words just faded away.

She tried again. “Look, with Kim here to help you, you don’t really need me. I’ll just be going. Thanks for the coffee.” She nervously edged toward the door.

Richard and Kim both sprang to their feet. “No, wait,” Richard protested. Then they all froze at the loud pounding on the door.

Claire knocked again. Actually she pounded on the door with her fist, looking up and down the corridor hoping to see one of the stewards. The door opened revealing Richard, who filled the partially opened door, blocking her view into the cabin.

“I’m looking for my mother, Richard. Ruth said she was coming here,” she said brightly as she stretched her neck trying to see around him. He stepped back and gestured for her to come in. She shook her head. Now that she suspected him of such a heinous deed she didn’t want to be near him, certainly not in the same room with him. However, she didn’t want him to know how she felt. She could see her mother behind him and said in a loud voice, using a tone she knew her mother would respond to, “Mom, could I see you out here in the corridor a minute?”

Richard didn’t wait for Millie’s response. He grabbed Claire’s arm, pulling her quickly into the cabin. He then shut the door firmly behind her. “Come in, Claire. We were just talking about you.”

Claire, a very reluctant guest, moved toward her mother. “Mom, I need you for a minute, could you come...?” Her voice trailed off as she turned to find Richard and a blonde woman now standing right behind her. They blocked the path to the door, and neither looked inclined to move out of her way.

“Your mother said you took the trash bag last night to throw away, and,” he smiled self-deprecatorily, “I now find I left something I need in the bag. I wondered what you did with it. Maybe I can find it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Richard, but I threw it in the trash container near the casino last night. I would imagine they’ve emptied it by now,” she lied, trying to keep her face immobile in order to hide what she knew about that bag.

“She knows,” the blonde woman hissed. “See, look at her eyes. She knows, Richard!”

Richard ignored her, looking at Claire with a hard expression. “That’s too bad. I really wanted to find that bag. You know, I think you and your mother are interfering, nosy bitches?”

“Richard! That’s not nice,” Millie protested indignantly.

“Mom, Mom, forget it. Let’s get out of here.” Claire grabbed her mother’s hand and tried to push past Richard and the blonde to get to the door.

Her mother was angry and dug her heels in, refusing to budge. “Wait Claire, why is he being so rude? What would Mrs. Bernbaum think of him behaving like this?”

“Mom, I’m sure Mrs. Bernbaum now understands just what Richard’s all about, doesn’t she, Dickie?” She couldn’t help herself, her loathing just oozed out.

Richard only sneered at her. The blonde woman said, “See, I told you, she knows. It’s the only way out now.”

Millie’s eyes widened, looking from her daughter to Kim and Richard as Claire continued, not able to disguise the disgust in her voice. “Why’d you do it? I thought you were such a great advocate of the aged. Hah, some advocate. You couldn’t even let your own aunt live out her allotted years? You had to help her along? Or wasn’t she even your aunt? Is that it? Was it all just a scam of a little old lady?”