Cruising for Murder: Myrtle Clover #10

Chapter Nine

"Bah," said Myrtle, shoving the souvenir into her massive pocketbook after her latest failed attempt at returning it. "I give up. I'll just keep it myself. Let's find Jack a stuffed animal and pick up some smoked salmon. Here's a shop we haven't been in yet."

They walked in and navigated around the huge tee-shirt display to find the stuffed animals and other goods. The shop was crowded with tourists from the ships.

Miles said under his breath, "Don't look now, but Maisy has just entered the shop."

Maisy had indeed walked in. She appeared to be perusing the magnet section of the shop. Myrtle said under her breath, "Let's talk to her. It will be good to hear from her when she's completely sober."

Maisy's mood was much improved by the lack of alcohol in her system. She greeted Myrtle and Miles cheerfully. She wore a nylon rain jacket and the hood covered her too-blonde hair. "Hi there! Killing a rainy day, like I am? I desperately needed to get off that ship. I didn't disembark when we were in Haines and Skagway, which was a huge mistake."

"It's good to be on dry land," agreed Myrtle. "And how are you doing, dear?" Myrtle fell easily into chatty old lady mode, once she realized that Maisy might be receptive to it today.

"Oh, it's all right. I'm on an Alaskan cruise, so things couldn't be too bad, you know? I guess you've heard that we're having a hastily-put-together memorial for Mother today?" Maisy gave them a questioning look. "None of us were too keen on the idea of having a big 'do' for her when we got home. We figured it was best to do it at sea and explain to everyone when we got home that we needed immediate closure."

Myrtle had the feeling that Celeste would have preferred the 'big do' at home, but she certainly wasn't around to lend her vote to the matter. She said, "I think it's a good idea. And Miles and I will come, of course."

"Of course," repeated Miles courteously, although he shot Myrtle a long-suffering look. He was no fan of funerals and he'd been to several of them recently in the days leading up to the trip.

Maisy said wryly, "That's very kind of you. I think I'd get out of it myself if I could. The family is fractious right now. Maybe it's just being trapped on the ship and that feeling that we can't escape each other. But Terrell, Randolph, and I are totally getting on each other's nerves. And meek Eugenia and loud Bettina are simply annoying. We'll all likely try very hard to stay out of each other's way once the service is over."

Myrtle affected a concerned expression. "What are Terrell and Randolph doing to be upsetting?"

"They're just so coarse!" said Maisy, waving a hand in the air.

Myrtle thought this was rather ironic, coming from Maisy.

"Terrell has been gloomily muttering how Eugenia shouldn't get a penny. He's complaining about Mother's rewrite of her will and saying darkly how he'll have his lawyers all over the document when we get back home. You know—he's just not happy about the money thing. And Randolph switches from egging Terrell on about the lawyers and the will, to being disgustingly gleeful about Mother's death. Randolph was definitely unhappy about the terms of the will and very unhappy with Eugenia."