Oliver Twisted (An Ivy Meadows Mystery Book 3) Read Free Page A

Harley.” He stepped aside to let me enter the cabin. “You get best room.”
    “Wow,” I said.
    “Nice, yes?”
    “Wow, this is the best room?” was what I meant, but Val seemed sincere in his appreciation, so I kept my mouth shut. The windowless cabin held two twin beds, two small closets, and a built-in desk at the far end of the cabin. The far end wasn’t very far: the entire space was about eight feet long by six feet wide. Not bad if you were on just one cruise, but I knew most crew member contracts lasted at least six months.
    “You are even on passenger deck,” Val said. “With paintings.” There was a large reproduction of an illustration from one of Dickens’s books mounted above the desk. Still.
    Val set my bags on one of the beds, then closed the door behind us. “You play Nancy,” he said. “I am Bill Sikes.”
    I whipped around. Val’s Eastern European accent was gone, replaced by a crass Cockney twang with an undertone of menace. “I kill you,” Val continued in that creepy voice, his unsettling two-colored eyes roaming my body. Then, in his own voice, “So it is good we are friends, yes?”
    “Yes,” I managed to say.
    “I see you are impressed by my big talent.” He grinned, showing snaggledy teeth. “I have other big things.”
    Actors.
    A knock. “Has Fagin’s newest girl arrived?” said a familiar voice.
    “Timothy,” I said, opening the door with a flourish. “Please do come in.”
    Timothy played Fagin, Oliver Twist ’s king of petty crime, and was the reason Uncle Bob and I were hired. A semi-regular on Get Lit! ships, he’d recommended us to the cruise line after hearing about the thefts. Timothy and I met last spring when he played opposite me in an original musical, The Sound of Cabaret . He was a great dancer, a big flaming queen, and the hairiest man I’d ever met. I adored him.
    Timothy gave me a big wet one right on the smacker and hugged me with furry arms. “Omigod.” He stepped back to look at me. “Your hair.”
    “I like it,” said my new friend and murderer, Val a.k.a. Bill Sikes. “Is sexy hair.”
    “I’ll fix it for the Set Sail party,” Timothy said.
    “Is it really that bad?”
    “ Honey .”
    “Okay, okay.” I smoothed my obviously awful hair. “What’s this about setting sail?”
    Timothy shot me a look. “Don’t you think this room’s a bit tight for the three of us?”
    “Not if one sits on the bed. Or maybe two, Ivy baby.” Val sat and patted the mattress next to him.
    Timothy arched a manicured eyebrow.
    “Okey-dokey.” Val got up. “I see you at party.” He left.
    “Should I be scared of him?” I said to Timothy, whispering in case Val stood outside the door.
    “Only that he’ll upstage you,” said Timothy. “His Bill Sikes is crazy good. I mean crazy evil. You know.”
    I plonked down on the bed. This undercover thing was going to be tougher than I thought. I needed to be extra careful, to suspect everyone I met, and to vet everything I said before it came out of my mouth.
    Thank heavens Timothy knew the real situation. I could relax around him.
    He took Val’s place on the bed. “Didn’t they tell you you’d work as an ambient character too? Like for the Set Sail party?”
    “Not specifically, but if I’d thought about it…” Of course. If Madame Defarge was available for a chat with travelers, my character would be too.
    So even though the ambient character thing hadn’t been mentioned in my PI/actor contract, I should have known. I also should have read Oliver Twist all the way through. But hey, I watched the miniseries.
    “You okay with that?”
    “Sure.” I would be. Tonight I’d skim the rest of the book for the parts where Nancy appeared.
    “Good.” Timothy got up and opened the door. “I’ll come back to pick you up for the Set Sail party in,” he checked the time on his phone, “fifteen minutes.”
    Guess I’d wing it.
    Timothy blew me a kiss and shut the door. I began unpacking, then