“Then he shouldn’t have stuck his nose in my business.” She swung the knife again.

I ducked this time and realized Betty was not a very good fighter. Too proper, I imagined.

“I found your little camera. And some emails from a Fabio. You two have been spying on me…on us. Damn you, Pauline. Things were going so well until you came onboard.”

I shoved her with all my strength. She stumbled to the deck. I dove into the tank, forgetting my fears, forgetting the fact I couldn’t swim well, but not forgetting that by now Jagger was probably lying at the bottom of the tank.

The crystal clear water didn’t prove a detriment to my swimming lower. I couldn’t yank the life preserver down so I hung onto the rope and let the donut part go. It floated to the surface of the tank.

My lungs hurt worse than when I had run after Remy.

There, below, was Jagger, limply floating like a piece of seaweed.

I pumped my legs as hard as I could, and before I got closer, his body was propelled toward me, then past, then upward.

In awe I watched Johnny pushing Jagger’s body to the top. I turned, tightened my grip on the rope, and tried to swim upward. My lack of oxygen fought me all the way, until I felt something poke into my back. At first I feared Betty had thrown her knife down then looked to see my buddy Gilbert pushing me upward!

We reached the top of the tank in a second, a whoosh of air flew from my lungs and a deep intake of breath kept me conscious. Before I could thank them, I grabbed onto Jagger and pulled him to the edge.

The door to the stairwell swung open. Tim and the other agent rushed out-followed by Remy!

“Help!” I splashed the water to get their attention. “Tim!”

Suddenly Betty got up and flung the knife at me. It was the dolphin-handled steak knife. In her fury, she nicked my other shoulder with it. I swung around to see the knife splash into the water.

“You bitch! Now you’re in trouble!” I shouted, and then gasped. “I’m not going down after that, you know.”

Tim grabbed Jagger and lifted him over the side while the other agent pulled me out with the aid of several crewmembers. I heard a cough, a gurgle of water and, “Sherlock. Is she-”

Tears mixed with the tank water on my cheeks. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” With that I collapsed into the surprised agent’s arms.

Under the watchful eye of an armed Tim, Doc Peter stitched up both Jagger’s and my wounds. Sure it felt odd to have your doctor being guarded at gunpoint, but out at sea now, we had no other choice.

Peter had killed Jackie.

Betty had freaked out and told Jagger about the killing when he confronted her by the dolphin tank and accused her of medical-insurance fraud. Being ever so proper, it made it difficult for her to accept the nasty accusations-and it wasn’t true.

I’m sure Jagger skillfully goaded her into confessing more and more. I only wished I could have been there to hear-and help him, but he’d said Betty was insanely in love with Remy and really wasn’t involved in the fraud.

Her obsession had been only for Remy, and she hated Jackie because Jackie had found out-and teased her about her feelings, along with saying that Remy would never love her. Betty knew it was true. She’d had a past filled with weirdo boyfriends and never had found her real love.

“Ouch!” I said as Peter yanked on my arm.

Tim and Jagger both moved in as if for the kill.

Through clenched teeth Tim said, “My finger could just slip, buddy,” while Jagger said, “Don’t hurt the lady, Doctor.”

Oh, boy. Just what I needed. Stitches under pressure. I wondered how gigantic the scar would be.

I smiled to myself, lying on the exam table, Rico and Kris at the side and a sterile green paper sheet around my neck and back to keep the area germ free. I’m sure Peter couldn’t make one tiny slipup with all the watchful eyes around me.

I peeked up at Jagger. “What about Peter’s wife?”

“She and those kids were hired family. Actors, who knew nothing of the fraud or murder. Imagine. The guy had planned to have them come onboard as decoys. This way, he could make the moves on Betty behind the scenes while in the open professing to be a loving husband and father. Who would suspect a nice family physician to be involved in fraud? Peter thought he’d covered all the angles.”

“Stop talking about me as if I’m not here,” Peter whined.

Oh, boy. I could see that gigantic scar on my back now. “Well, Peter, you should have thought about the kind of attention you’d get when you killed Jackie,” I said. “Ouch!”

Tim looked down at me. “It might not be a good idea to antagonize the suspect while he’s stitching up your shoulder.”

Despite the pain-I swear Peter only gave me half the numbing drug on purpose-I laughed.

“I’ll put the dressing on,” Rico said, pushing Peter out of the way. I think he wanted to smack the guy, like the rest of us had the urge to do.

Peter slumped into a chair next to Betty, who sat like a proper statue under the guard of the other FBI guy, whose name I never did learn. A few of the crewmembers stood at their sides. Although Betty was handcuffed, Peter took her hand into his.

She glared at him and pulled back. “Blast you, you birk!”

Yikes. I had no idea what that meant, but I was guessing Betty didn’t have the same feelings for Peter as she had for Remy.

Spurned love sure can mess things up, I thought, as Rico helped me to sit up.

“Stay put a few seconds to make sure you don’t get woozy, amore.” He kissed my cheek.

Tim and Jagger took a step forward.

After a few minutes I proclaimed I was fine and got up. With only one stagger, I landed in Jagger’s arms, with Tim still holding his weapon on Doc Peter. The safety officer was now handcuffing the doc.

What a sad, wasted life. He could have been a prominent doctor, but after going bankrupt by being greedy in his practice and having a penchant for overspending, he devised this insurance-fraud scheme and involved his coworkers onboard the ship-and Betty, the woman he professed to love. According to her actions, she didn’t love him back, but Jagger said she sure loved the illegal money that he showered on her.

Her family had been wealthy until her father had an affair and ran away-with his inheritance. There went his title and Betty’s family’s income. That’s why she took money from Peter-no matter where it had come from.

Peter had fallen for Betty on his first cruise as a doctor on the Golden Dolphin. The more he persisted, the more Betty grew to hate him-since it interfered with her trying to accomplish the impossible-to snag Remy away from Jackie. But being so crazy in love, Betty never gave up trying.

However, Jackie, the consummate risk taker, went along willingly with the fraud scheme. I’d bet for the thrill of it and not as much for the money.

Remy, in fact, turned out to be the innocent one. That’s what he’d been trying to tell me in Bermuda. He’d found out about the fraud and had reported it to the captain who in turn told the insurance company fraud unit. After snitching, Remy thought it best to go under cover himself, because he worried about Jackie’s involvement, so he disappeared-hence my job. That’s why the papers were in his file box.

But since he was so in love with Jackie all the way back to their days in nursing school, he must have gotten scared she’d get caught. So he tried to convince her to get off the ship with him at the next port and never look back. In fact, he may have broken some law there.

Typical for Jackie, she’d refused. However, Peter had gotten wind of Remy’s interference from Betty, who had her own agenda involving Remy. Peter worried that Remy’s love could influence Jackie and she’d rat him out…so he’d taken care of her. No way could a dead woman blow their good deal. Peter then took the opportunity to get rid of her body in the sea, as if that would prevent him from being found out and tried for murder.