Something is wrong on board the Princess Claire, a luxury cruise ship. For the past eight months, three or four passengers have vanished on nearly every trip. Naturally, this cannot go on unnoticed or be allowed to continue. Enter the investigators...
The owner of the ship, Gerald Whitmore is onboard, along with his daughter Irene. Other people of note include Marcus Carlton, an acquaintance of Whitmore’s rumoured to have ties to organized crime; Sean Lyons, a wealthy young man just out of med school; and Dr. Muraki, a famed Japanese surgeon and private personal physician of Irene Whitmore. (Irene was born with a heart condition, and credits Dr. Muraki with saving her life.)
A rumour circulating among the ship’s crew is that the disappearances are the work of the ghost of the first passenger to vanish, a young woman named Iris. But if it is, then she’s been very quiet for most of this particular voyage; no one has disappeared yet. Despite this, Whitmore seems very stressed and worried.
Eventually, someone lets slip that Whitmore and his daughter were on every trip where passengers vanished.
Before this connection can be investigated, bigger problems arise. Marcus Carlton is found dead in the VIP lounge; his heart literally cut out of his chest, and taken away. Dr. Muraki performs an autopsy, and discovers that Carlton was actually strangled to death. A note is found next to the body, addressed to Irene Whitmore: “I did this for you. I am the one that truly loves you.”
Upon reading it, Irene faints, and is immediately taken to her cabin and tended to by a concerned Muraki.
Suspicion falls equally on Whitmore and Muraki; a crewman witnessed Carlton having an arguement with Whitmore, and there is a possibility of blackmail.
But Dr. Muraki obviously knows something about it, and hints that Carlton was only the first. But the doctor is quickly cleared of suspicion: he is found dead in his bed the next day. There is another note just like the first, and Irene becomes confined to bed. Sean Lyons volunteers to perform the autopsy and finds that Muraki was poisoned.
Two days after the doctor is killed, any suspicions that Whitmore is the killer seem confirmed when he is discovered in his own cabin, apparently a suicide. A final note is found, and is identical to the other two.
Possibilities
1 The disappearances had nothing to do with the murders. Sean Lyons has been quietly stalking Irene for months, and has decided to make his move.
Carlton made an unwanted pass at Irene, so Lyons strangled him in a rage and cut his heart out. He poisoned Dr. Muraki at dinner from jealousy at his spending so much time with Irene. Then he faked Whitmore’s suicide, both to take suspicion off himself, and because he felt that Whitmore was keeping him from his beloved. Lyons will be very sympathetic and comforting, but if Irene does not return his affections, he may become violent.
2 The disappearances are the victims of an organ theft ring based in a concealed operating room onboard. The idea was suggested when Irene had a heart attack during a voyage, and Dr. Muraki felt that the only way to save her was to perform an emergency transplant. He found a passenger who would be a likely donor: Iris, the young woman who vanished first. He murdered the girl and transplanted her heart into Irene. Unfortunately, Whitmore cooperated with that, and Muraki used that leverage to set up the operation. Carlton found out about it and tried to blackmail Whitmore.
Unfortunately, Whitmore was tottering on the edge of madness, tormented by guilt (and ghostly voices that only he heard). He finally snapped, and strangled Carlton. Muraki cut his heart out because it was a perfect opportunity. Whitmore then killed Muraki, knowing that the doctor would never let him stop otherwise. Then he committed suicide in order to spare his daughter from finding out about it.
3 Dr. Muraki is not dead. He was running the organ theft ring, but not for the money. Muraki is a sorcerer, and it was merely to cover up his own nefarious researches. He has finally completed his project, therefore saw no reason to maintain the charade. Carlton tried to force him to keep doing it, so Muraki hypnotised Irene into killing him and cutting out his heart. He then faked his own death, and hypnotised Sean Lyons to provide a feasible autopsy. After he had the run of the ship, he had Irene kill her father.
The notes served a dual purpose: they confused matters and amused his perverse sense of humour. If discovered before the ship docks, Muraki tries to have Irene kill the investigators. He is also very powerful and has access to very powerful spells. If Irene is somehow freed from his control, he tries to murder the girl and anyone who knows his secret, by magic if possible, but he has no objections to more physical methods.
(Inspired by Yami no Matsuei: The King of Swords.)
© Megan McKnight
The owner of the ship, Gerald Whitmore is onboard, along with his daughter Irene. Other people of note include Marcus Carlton, an acquaintance of Whitmore’s rumoured to have ties to organized crime; Sean Lyons, a wealthy young man just out of med school; and Dr. Muraki, a famed Japanese surgeon and private personal physician of Irene Whitmore. (Irene was born with a heart condition, and credits Dr. Muraki with saving her life.)
A rumour circulating among the ship’s crew is that the disappearances are the work of the ghost of the first passenger to vanish, a young woman named Iris. But if it is, then she’s been very quiet for most of this particular voyage; no one has disappeared yet. Despite this, Whitmore seems very stressed and worried.
Eventually, someone lets slip that Whitmore and his daughter were on every trip where passengers vanished.
Before this connection can be investigated, bigger problems arise. Marcus Carlton is found dead in the VIP lounge; his heart literally cut out of his chest, and taken away. Dr. Muraki performs an autopsy, and discovers that Carlton was actually strangled to death. A note is found next to the body, addressed to Irene Whitmore: “I did this for you. I am the one that truly loves you.”
Upon reading it, Irene faints, and is immediately taken to her cabin and tended to by a concerned Muraki.
Suspicion falls equally on Whitmore and Muraki; a crewman witnessed Carlton having an arguement with Whitmore, and there is a possibility of blackmail.
But Dr. Muraki obviously knows something about it, and hints that Carlton was only the first. But the doctor is quickly cleared of suspicion: he is found dead in his bed the next day. There is another note just like the first, and Irene becomes confined to bed. Sean Lyons volunteers to perform the autopsy and finds that Muraki was poisoned.
Two days after the doctor is killed, any suspicions that Whitmore is the killer seem confirmed when he is discovered in his own cabin, apparently a suicide. A final note is found, and is identical to the other two.
Possibilities
1 The disappearances had nothing to do with the murders. Sean Lyons has been quietly stalking Irene for months, and has decided to make his move.
Carlton made an unwanted pass at Irene, so Lyons strangled him in a rage and cut his heart out. He poisoned Dr. Muraki at dinner from jealousy at his spending so much time with Irene. Then he faked Whitmore’s suicide, both to take suspicion off himself, and because he felt that Whitmore was keeping him from his beloved. Lyons will be very sympathetic and comforting, but if Irene does not return his affections, he may become violent.
2 The disappearances are the victims of an organ theft ring based in a concealed operating room onboard. The idea was suggested when Irene had a heart attack during a voyage, and Dr. Muraki felt that the only way to save her was to perform an emergency transplant. He found a passenger who would be a likely donor: Iris, the young woman who vanished first. He murdered the girl and transplanted her heart into Irene. Unfortunately, Whitmore cooperated with that, and Muraki used that leverage to set up the operation. Carlton found out about it and tried to blackmail Whitmore.
Unfortunately, Whitmore was tottering on the edge of madness, tormented by guilt (and ghostly voices that only he heard). He finally snapped, and strangled Carlton. Muraki cut his heart out because it was a perfect opportunity. Whitmore then killed Muraki, knowing that the doctor would never let him stop otherwise. Then he committed suicide in order to spare his daughter from finding out about it.
3 Dr. Muraki is not dead. He was running the organ theft ring, but not for the money. Muraki is a sorcerer, and it was merely to cover up his own nefarious researches. He has finally completed his project, therefore saw no reason to maintain the charade. Carlton tried to force him to keep doing it, so Muraki hypnotised Irene into killing him and cutting out his heart. He then faked his own death, and hypnotised Sean Lyons to provide a feasible autopsy. After he had the run of the ship, he had Irene kill her father.
The notes served a dual purpose: they confused matters and amused his perverse sense of humour. If discovered before the ship docks, Muraki tries to have Irene kill the investigators. He is also very powerful and has access to very powerful spells. If Irene is somehow freed from his control, he tries to murder the girl and anyone who knows his secret, by magic if possible, but he has no objections to more physical methods.
(Inspired by Yami no Matsuei: The King of Swords.)
© Megan McKnight
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