Murder on the Orient Espresso(55)

‘Andrenyi comes before Arbuthnot,’ Carson, aka Count Andrenyi, pointed out. ‘I should go first.’

‘I think we’ll stick with the book’s order.’ I turned to Zoe. ‘Is the only railroad staff on the train the engineer?’

She shrugged, as if it didn’t matter, and called out, ‘Missy?’

The first Mrs Hubbard half-rose from a seat next to Pete the bartender about three-quarters of the way back. I had to hand it to Missy, she certainly was being sought out by the young men on the train. But then we only had three passengers under the age of thirty – it shouldn’t be surprising that they’d seek each other out.

Even from this distance, I saw Missy blush. ‘Maggy, we had a very tight budget, you know.’

Which had managed to put us in a very tight spot. ‘And …’

‘And, well, the train people said we had to have a conductor and I told them we did.’

‘Don’t tell me,’ I said. ‘Pierre Michel?’

The line between fact and fiction was quickly blurring. Although for these people maybe they were the same thing.

‘Yes.’ She plopped back down in her seat and added miserably, ‘They wouldn’t let us go otherwise.’

‘With good reason, Missy,’ Markus said, not unkindly. ‘The conductor is the person in charge.’

‘Really?’ I asked. ‘I always thought they just took tickets.’

‘Uh-uh.’ Markus was shaking his head. ‘My mother worked at Amtrak’s headquarters in Washington, and my brother Kevin is an engineer. The engineer runs the locomotive and reports to the conductor, who communicates with dispatchers and oversees the train and its passengers.’

And our ‘conductor’ was a kid whose real name was Brandon and worked at an Olive Garden. Lovely.

‘Then you’re it, MacQueen,’ I said to Markus, gesturing for him to go ahead of me.

As we entered the dining car, Pavlik looked up from his notepad and stuck out his hand. ‘Thanks for your help out there. And for keeping the particulars of the situation to yourself.’

Markus shook and slid in on the opposite side of the semicircular booth. ‘Not a problem. Zoe came to almost as soon as Missy and I began helping her back to the train. None of us was eager to spend more time out there with that Jules Verne creature split open on the opposite bank.’

Pavlik shifted over so I could sit next to him and passed the smart phone to me. ‘Do you mind if Maggy tapes us? It’ll help the investigators if we can get everyone’s initial impression.’

‘Not at all,’ Markus said, his open face curious. ‘Are you going to read me my rights?’

‘You’re not a suspect.’ Pavlik gave him a friendly smile. ‘At least, so far as I know.’

I raised the phone and through it, saw Markus’s gaze waver. ‘Well, no. Of course not. But I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. Not that I necessarily can.’

Pavlik raised his hands. ‘Understood. First off, could you state your full name and home address for me?’

Markus complied, giving an address in Washington, D.C.

‘Just for the record,’ Pavlik continued, ‘could you detail your movements after you boarded the train?’

‘Let me think.’ Markus picked up the glass of water in front of him, then set it down again. ‘I saw Maggy here,’ he nodded at the camera/phone, ‘when I was in line for a drink. From there I made my way back through the train, stopping to talk to people here and there until I reached the passenger car.’

Pavlik, who had been studying his notes, looked up. ‘We do know that Mr Potter was in the dining car until Zoe Scarlett welcomed everyone over the speaker system. Would you know about what time that was?’

Markus pulled out a handkerchief – not the dainty square of initialed cambric in Murder on the Orient Express, but a big honkin’ one – and mopped his brow. ‘I remember thinking it was later than I’d expected. When Missy asked me to speak after Zoe welcomed everyone, I assumed it would be right after we left the station, which was just past eight, as you’ll recall.’

This last was directed to me and I nodded encouragement.

‘I remember checking the time at nearly nine and thinking they thought it best to let people chat and get liquored up before they had to sit and listen to me talk.’ A self-deprecating smile.

‘From what I recall from the previous time I was at this conference,’ Pavlik said, ‘people come from all over and may not have seen each other for quite a while during the interim.’

‘Exactly.’ Markus was nodding. ‘Everyone wants to catch up. Find out who got published. Who found an agent. Or even was lottery-blessed by receiving a film option.’