“Nothing! Nothing! I’m fine.” Her voice was clear and steady, but Bert heard the undercurrent of tension beneath the reassurance. “I just wanted to talk something over with you. I’m so sorry I scared you. I know you’ll head in to work soon. Do you have a few minutes?”
“I have as long as you need.” Bert set down his coffee cup and moved to sit at his kitchen table, his full attention on the call. “What’s going on?”
“It’s probably nothing. I might be overreacting.” Mary paused, and Bert heard what sounded like her taking a breath to organize her thoughts. “You remember I mentioned Diane Sutherland? The widow I’ve been spending time with?”
“Of course,” he said. “You said she was interesting and you enjoyed her company. Has a nephew traveling with her.”
“Right… wow… you did remember.”
He didn’t say that he remembered every word she uttered when they talked. He figured that might be too much information to share.
“Well, Colin has been with us almost the whole time. I would have liked to have time to spend with just Diane, but he is attached to her like Velcro.” Mary said his name with a slight edge that immediately put Bert on alert. “He’s in his late thirties or early forties, seems very attentive to his aunt, handles a lot of things for her.”
Colin. Bert’s chest tightened with what he knew was jealousy. Mary was calling to talk about a man she’d been spending time with, who was apparently close to her age and well-traveled and sophisticated enough to vacation on luxury cruises.
“Okay,” Bert managed, his voice more neutral than he felt. “What about him?”
“Something feels off, Bert. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but my instincts are telling me that he controls Diane too much. I just don’t trust him, but maybe it’s nothing.” She sighed heavily. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m really not making sense, am I? And I’m probably too damn suspicious for my own good.”
Relief crashed through Bert so powerfully that he had to take a moment to steady himself. She wasn’t calling to tell him she’d met someone. She was calling because her security instincts had been triggered. This was the Mary he worked with… the highly trained logistics specialist who could spot inconsistencies and assess situations.
“Tell me everything,” he said, his mind already shifting into tactical mode. “Start from the beginning.”
Mary walked him through the observations she’d made about Diane’s confusion about the financial documents she’d supposedly signed. Colin’s control over her medications, phone, and movements. The way he’d quickly removed Diane from breakfast when she started talking about things she didn’t remember. George’s sudden illness that no one else had experienced. Colin’s comments about protecting Diane from “scammers” who might want her money.
With each detail, Bert’s concern grew. He recognized the pattern Mary was describing—isolation, control, creating dependence, and casting doubt on the victim’s memory and judgment.
“You said the other man… George, got food poisoning that nobody else got?” Bert asked, already pulling up his laptop one-handed. “Same meal as other passengers?”
“The lobster roll at dinner. I had it too, and I’m fine. So did everyone else who ate it. But George was supposed to spend the afternoon with Diane today, and now he’s too sick to leave his room.”
“That doesn’t sound like a coincidence.”
“I know. That’s why I’m calling.” Mary’s voice held relief that he was taking her seriously. “I want to ask Sadie to run a background check on him, but I wanted to run it by you first. I don’t want to waste resources or time if I’m being overly suspicious. Maybe I just don’t like this guy. Ugh…” she growled. “I just really needed your thoughts. You can tell me that I need to focus on the trip and shut my brain down!”
“I’d never tell you that. You have one of the sharpest minds I know, and if you get an inkling about someone, I’d want to follow up on it.” He listened as she grew quiet, but knew her brain was working overtime. “Mary, listen… what’s the worst that can happen? You find out that he’s an irritating but sweet nephew who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Our checking on the situation just puts your mind at ease.”
She let out an audible huff. “You’re right. Okay, it’s Colin Morrison. He’s Canadian, probably from Halifax or somewhere in Nova Scotia since that’s where Diane lives. Late thirties or early forties. I don’t have much more than that.”
“I’ll get Sadie on it immediately. She can dig up anything that exists in public records, and probably plenty that doesn’t.” He was already planning on texting Sadie after he talked to Mary. “What’s your plan?”
“Right now? Nothing. I’m on the ship all day today. We’re cruising until tomorrow morning when we dock in Saint John. I thought I’d spend time in the public areas. There are some games planned in the library this afternoon. Stay visible, stay around other people.”
“Good.” His protective instincts screamed at him to tell her to lock herself in her cabin and stay there until they figured out what was happening. But he knew Mary well enough to know she wouldn’t do that, and he respected her competence too much to suggest it. “Mary, I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“Don’t confront Colin. Don’t let him know you’re suspicious. If he’s doing what you think he’s doing, and if he realizes you’re onto him, you could become a threat he needs to eliminate.”
She chuckled. “I’m not stupid, Bert. I know how this works.”
“I know you do. But you’re also protective of people who need help, and Diane sounds like she needs help. I just need to hear you say you won’t try to handle this alone.”
There was a pause, and Bert could almost hear Mary’s internal debate between her desire to protect Diane and her recognition that Bert was right to be concerned.
“I promise I won’t confront him,” she said finally. “And I’ll stay in public areas as much as possible. But if I think Diane is in immediate danger, I’m not going to just stand by and do nothing.”
“Then call me first. Call me, and we’ll figure out a plan together. You’re not a trained field operative, Mary. You’re brilliant at logistics and planning, but direct confrontation isn’t your skill set.”