The Studied Financier (5)

 5

My cabin was one of the most delightful cabins on the ship. Its scheme was cream, gray, and teal. When I walked in, my small table was to my left and my kitchenette on my right. The Chesterfield sofa was beyond the table. In one corner stood a teal electric piano, an electric fireplace with a com-tab over it was opposite the sofa, and the mock-Sèvres vases on the mantle framed the huge, wall-mounted, com-tab and were filled with cream and teal amaryllis. To me, it was friendly and familiar, like a colorful and gilded paradise.

After getting through the rest of the interesting day, I returned to it and was relaxing before dinner when the doorbell rang sharply.

I jumped up and found my father waiting on the other side.

“Pops! I’m delighted to see you. You won’t believe the day I’ve had. Can I get you some coffee?”

“I was hoping you’d come with me for a pre-dinner Angel Kiss.”

“Let me grab my shoes. I just kicked them off. Would you believe we had another crime today?” I asked, unable to wait any longer to tell him.

“I knew you’d been round to Marshaggins.” Pops replied. “I went to see him, and he told me he’d seen you earlier today.”

“I knew he would,” I said. “Why’d you need to see him? Don’t tell me we have two crimes committed in one day!”

“To tell you the truth,” he said, “I went round to report one of my friends missing. When I found out about the murder, I went to see if the stranger in the tub was by any extraordinary chance Nuaban Nuavy. But he isn’t.”

“Nuaban Nuavy? Wait a minute, isn’t he the famous financier that was staying in the state suite? Is he missing?” I asked as we left for the main dining room.

“Well, I daresay it’s nothing really—he may have disappeared for some reason best known to himself. It only happened last night. Nobody would have thought anything about it except today he was going to attend an important financial meeting and do some deal involving billions. I know he’s got enemies who’d just as soon the deal didn’t come off, so when I got wind of this fellow in the tub, I ran to the morgue to have a look at him before the Themistese authorities arrived. 

“It didn’t seem likely, of course, but unlikelier things do happen on our ship, apparently. The funny thing is, Detective Marshaggins had sunk into the idea it is him, and was wildly messaging his wife to come up here and identify him. But as a matter of fact, the man in the bath is no more Nuaban Nuavy than I am the Sultan of Upsilon Andromedae. Oddly enough, though, he would look extraordinarily like Nuaban if he had a beard. I’m sure his wife would know, but she’s on vacation right now. So, I informed Marshaggins since I am familiar with the man. You should have seen his face sink,” he concluded.