Mystral Murder (Julie O'Hara Mystery Series) by Lee Hanson

men.”
    “I understand Adrienne came back to the club?”
    Cathy paused, as if weighing her answer. “Yes, she brought your book. She wanted you to sign it.”
    “No kidding!” Julie said, touched that Adrienne would come back for that.
    “No, she did.”
    “Security has been all over the ship. Did they question you and Gill?”
    “Yes. We had a small problem; Gill went out for a walk. How about you?”
    “Oh, worse than that. I was so mad at Joe, I spent the night in front of Solaria spa on a chaise.”
    “Gill said they think it happened on Deck 12. Did you see anything, or hear anything?”
    “No, nothing. I took a sleeping pill, an Ambien. You could cook dinner on that stuff and not remember it. Thinking back, it was really stupid of me to take it and then go out on deck. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m lucky I didn’t take a header overboard.”
    “Well, thank God you didn’t. Oh, look, there’s Gill,” she said. He was wending his way through the deck chairs and lounges, tall and tan with thick silver hair, his open floral shirt lifting in the ocean breeze. He had a drink in one hand and a magazine in the other. He dropped the magazine on Cathy’s lap.
    “Hey, Julie, how are you?”
    “Oh, I’m okay, considering…”
    “Yeah, it’s terrible.  Everybody’s shocked. I never saw Adrienne drink like that. She was always so…responsible. You know what I mean?”
    “Yes. She struck me that way, too. Have you been friends a long time?”
    “Yeah, quite a while.  She planned all our cruises, right, Cath?”
    “Yes, we always went together,” Cathy said, standing and putting on a wrap. “Gill, I’m getting hungry. Let’s go get something to eat.” She turned to Julie, tucking the magazine under her arm. “Would you like to come with us?”
    “Oh, no, thank you. You two go ahead. I’m just going to relax here for a while.”
    As they walked off, Julie considered their disparate reactions. Gill apparently liked Adrienne, but Cathy certainly wasn’t going to miss her. Julie settled back on the chaise, her eyes drifting across the pool. Lottie Pelletier was gone.
    * * * * *
     
     
    CHAPTER 19
    J oe had called Dale Simpson to express his sorrow about Adrienne and to apologize in case he’d been out of line the night before. To his surprise, Dale had welcomed his call and suggested they meet at Barrister’s Pub on the Promenade.  It was obvious that Dale’s choice of meeting place and his method of coping with Adrienne’s disappearance dovetailed. Hearing Dale’s slight inebriation on the phone strengthened Joe’s vow of abstinence. When he got to the small pub, he had a quick word with the bartender/ waiter, to omit the alcohol in anything he ordered…and then he took a table outside, so he didn’t have to stare at the bottles.
    Like most of the casual restaurants on the Promenade, Barrister’s Pub was a sidewalk cafe.  Although there were no other patrons in the bar, the ship’s stores had plenty of activity on this “At Sea” day. All the duty-free shops were open - something that was not allowed whenever the ship was docked - and the Promenade looked like an upscale, tropical Mall with liquor stores, designer boutiques, perfumeries, coffee/bakery shops and the like. Joe passed the time watching all the happy shoppers with their Mystral tote bags bulging.
    He looked up several stories to the ceiling covering the huge area. It was made of translucent panels cleverly designed to resemble a vast skylight.  Landscaped oases were carved out of the polished marble floor of the Promenade.  The artificial light doesn’t seem to bother all these palms and plants, Joe thought idly.
    He glanced to the right and saw Simpson approaching.
    “Hi, Dale,” he said, standing. “How are you doing?”
    The two of them shook hands.
    “Okay, I guess, Joe.”
    “Hey, I’m sorry about Adrienne, buddy. Any news?”
    “Thanks. No, there’s nothing new.”
    They sat and waved the