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"I'ht you should know"

"H, his ee The captain was not adinner with his passengers every night was an ordeal for hireable

"It's about Man

Dessard instantly laid down his pencil and looked up, his small black eyes alert "Yes?"

"I passed her cabin a few o, and I heard loud voices and a screah the door, but it sounded as though she was saying, 'You've killed ht it best not to interfere, so I came to tell you"

Dessard nodded "You did well I shall check to ht"

Dessard watched the deck steward leave It was unthinkable that anyone would hare to Dessard's Gallic sense of chivalry He put on his uniform cap, stole a quick look in the wallThe chief purser hesitated, then picked it up "Dessard"

"Claude - " It was the third mate's voice "For Christ's sake, send someone down to the theater with a mop, would you? There's blood all over the place"

Dessard felt a sudden sinking sensation in the pit of his stoed for a porter, then dialed the ship's physician

"Andre? Claude" He tried towhether anyone has been in forof seasick pills This person would be bleeding, perhaps badly I see Thank you" Dessard hung up, filled with a growing sense of unease He left his office and headed for Jill Teular event occurred As Dessard reached the boat deck, he felt the rhythlanced out at the ocean and saw that they had arrived at the A and the liner would head for the open sea But instead, the Bretagne was slowing to a stop So

Dessard hurried to the railing and looked over the side In the sea below, the pilot tug had been snugged against the cargo hatch of the Bretagne, and two sailors were transferring luggage froer stepped from the ship's hatch onto the slimpse of the person's back, but he was sure that he must have been mistaken in his identification It was sier leaving the ship in this fashion was so extraordinary that the chief purser felt a small frisson of alarm He turned and hurriedly made his way to Jill Temple's suite There was no response to his knock He knocked again, this time a little more loudly "Madame TempleThis is Claude Dessard, the chief purser I ondering if I ht be of any service"

There was no answer By now, Dessard's internal warning syste His instincts told hi, and he had a premonition that it centered, sohts danced through his brain She had been murdered or kidnapped or - He tried the handle of the door It was unlocked Slowly, Dessard pushed the door open Jill Te out the porthole, her back to hi in the frozen rigidity of her figure stopped hi whether to quietly withdrahen suddenly the cabin was filled with an unearthly, keening sound, like an aniony, Dessard withdrew, carefully closing the door behind him

Dessard stood outside the cabin ato the wordless cries from within Then, deeply shaken, he turned and headed for the ship's theater on theup a trail of blood in front of the theater

Mon Dieu, Dessard thought What next? He tried the door to the theater It was unlocked Dessard entered the large, ers The auditorium was empty On an impulse, he went to the projection booth The door was locked Only two people had keys to this door, he and the projectionist Dessard opened it with his key and went inside Everything seemed normal He walked over to the two Century 35-mm projectors in the room and put his hands on them

One of them arm

In the crew's quarters on D deck, Dessard found the projectionist, who assured hi used

On the way back to his office, Dessard took a shortcut through the kitchen The chef stopped him, in a fury "Look at this," he commanded Dessard "Just look what some idiot has done!"

On acake, with delicate, spun-sugar figures of a bride and groom on top

Someone had crushed in the head of the bride

"It was at that moment," Dessard would tell the spellbound patrons at his bistro, "that I knew so terrible was about to happen"