The Studied Financier (7)

  7

“Was the front door closed?” I asked in shock that someone could have been walking around the ship naked and no one had reported it. 

“Yes. But people have found a way of getting around some of our locks, and that room has a secret passage to the other suite, remember.”

“But we had the locksmith put locks on all those passages, I thought?”

“Vixie,” I could hear the annoyance in his voice, “You know that even though we fixed them a determined criminal can find his or her way around it.”

“And that’s really all you know?”

“That’s everything—except for one very trifling circumstance.” Sometimes, I felt like my father enjoyed teasing me by dragging things like this out. 

“I love trifling circumstances,” I said. “So many men have been hanged by trifling circumstances. What was it?”

“Nuaban and his wife, who are a most devoted couple, always share the same room. She, as I said before, is currently on vacation elsewhere for her health. In her absence, Nuaban slept in the double bed invariably on his own side of the bed. Last night, he put the two pillows together and slept in the middle. Our maid, who is a most intelligent girl, noticed this when she went up to make the bed and with admirable detective instinct. Since she knew by that time that he was missing, she refused to touch the bed or let anybody else touch it until Marshaggins got there.” 

“Were Nuaban and his servants alone in the suite?”

“Yes, he had three servants traveling with him, and they were the only people with him last night. I got there about 08:40 after Marshaggins was called. He notified me.”

We had to pause here as the waiter appeared with our food. 

“After I finished checking people in with Feliste, I tried to track down who had an appointment with Nuaban last night since with the exception of the waiter, that was the last person who saw him before his disappearance. There may be some quite simple explanation given the quirks of some of our passengers, but I can’t think of one for the moment. Why would anyone come back to their cabin, go to bed, and walk out again baby naked in the middle of the night?”

“Maybe he wore a disguise that wasn’t accounted for—maybe he bought something in one of the shops.”

“I thought of that—in fact, it seems the only possible explanation. But it’s still odd. An important man on the eve of an important transaction without a word of warning to anybody slips off in the middle of the night in disguise and leaves behind his watch, wallet, and—most mysterious—his glasses, without which he can’t see a few feet in front of him. He—”

“That is important,” I interrupted. “Are you sure he didn’t have another pair?”

“His servants vouch for it that he had only two pairs. one of which was found on his dresser, and the other in the desk drawer.” 

“You’ve got me there, Pops. Even if he’d gone out to commit suicide, I think he’d have taken those.”

“So you’d think. However, I didn’t overlook that possibility. I’ve checked sickbay to see if any of the patients had any accidents on the ship today—maybe knocked their head and can’t remember who they are. None of them is Nuaban. Besides, even though he left with nothing, he took his key with him, which looks to me as though he’d meant to come back at some time.”

“Have you spoken to the men he dined with?”

“I found two of them at the Skyfall Casino. They said that he seemed in the best of health and spirits, spoke of looking forward to joining his wife later on—although perhaps not for a few months yet—and referred with great satisfaction to this morning’s business transaction, in which one of them—a man called Aumanderson—was involved. Up until about 21:00, he had no apparent intention or expectation of disappearing.”

“Unless he was an excellent actor. Whatever happened to change his mind must have happened either at the mysterious appointment or while he was in his cabin,” I said.

“It is also odd that a gentleman who was too flurried or unwell to fold his clothes as part of his usual routine would remember to clean his teeth and take care of other menial bedtime tasks.”

“It’s a second mystery in addition to the man in the tub. I wonder if they are connected, Pops? I mean both of them were naked. Did we secure Nuaban’s room?”

“That, at least, is one thing Marshaggins excels in doing.”

“I should dearly love to see his bedroom.”

“Of course, you can come and see it—you’ll probably find lots of things we’ve overlooked,” said my father. “I did check the passage and it was locked.”