The Sandie Shaw Mysteries, Murder Most Olympic: Sandie Shaw, #7

By R T Green

There's a wedding in England! But for Sandie, Daphne and Archie, getting there is to prove a little more dangerous than they imagined.

 

Archie and Rose are tying the knot in Windsor. For Sandie and the team (plus Frank, who gets dragged along) they're anticipating a joyous time. Until it all turns a lot scarier. Boarding the RMS Olympic for the passage to England, none of them realize a life-threatening event lies just over the horizon.

 

Two other passengers are hiding a big secret. It might have stayed a secret if one of them hadn't got himself murdered on the second day of the voyage. The only people aboard with any experience of tackling such things are Sandie and her team, and even off-duty they're not prepared to ignore a crime that needs solving.

 

The murderer doesn't have many places to hide, and for sure not very far to run, but it isn't going to stay that way indefinitely. Once the ship docks in Southampton the killer may easily escape, and never be seen again.

 

There's another complication. Until they make landfall, with an unknown murderer on the loose every passenger and crewmember is at risk. Can Chicago's finest private investigators unearth the secret and discover the culprit in this time-limited case?

 

It's not going to be easy.

 

Check out the whole Sandie series, and our popular 'Daisy' series, on the new rtgreen website

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And enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wise Owl
• Release date: Nov 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215525166

R T Green

The RTG mission in life is simple... to not be like everyone else! ‘Going Green’ has taken on a new meaning, in the book world at least. Whilst we applaud the original meaning (ebooks are a perfect way to promote that) we also try to present a different angle to it. The tendency these days is that if you don’t look and read like everyone else, you don’t sell books. Maybe there’s some truth in that, but we simply don’t do it. The RTG books have been described as a ‘breath of fresh literary air’, and, by those discovering us for the first time, ‘unexpectedly good’. We know many readers prefer the same-old same old, and that’s fine. It’s just not what you get from the RTG stable. Those who know about such things said it would take five years to become a proficient author... I scoffed at that. They were wise. It took six. It’s one reason why even today we remodel existing books, and will always do so. Right from the early years the stories were always good, but were put into words less well than they could have been! These days we have several series and a few standalones, the hit Daisy series most popular amongst them. In everything we do, the same provisos apply – Never the same book twice. If we can’t think up a good story, it doesn’t get written. The RTG brand is about exciting and twisty plots, a fast pace which doesn’t waste words, and endearing (sometimes slightly crazy) characters. We can never please everyone, but it works for us, and, it seems, for those who appreciate our work. Enjoy! Richard, Ann and the RTG crew

Book preview

Introduction

1920’S CHICAGO. WHAT CAME to be known as the ‘roaring twenties’. For private investigator Sandie Shaw, ‘roaring’ was hardly the flattering kind of description she would ever give it.

Born and raised in the city, she despairs at everything it has become. In her view, Chicago typifies the false decadence gripping America. Only just recovering from the lawlessness of the days of the Wild West, her city and the rest of the country then entered the World War for a brief time, and when that was over, the whole nation seemed to lose all sense of reason.

People went crazy. Prohibition raised its ugly head, and the mobsters and the flappers took over Chicago. Her beloved city had fallen at the mercy of those who believed they were above the law... once again.

In truth, Chicago had long held the reputation of being the most lawless place in America. Prohibition, and corrupt governance, had handed a free meal ticket to the gangsters. It didn’t sit well with Sandie.

Taking over the one-man agency when her father died, and making it a one-woman operation, she knew from the off that in a male-dominated environment she had to be tough, and witty, to succeed.

And that keeping well away from anyone with a machine gun was a big part of staying alive.

She managed it, for eight years refusing to be drawn into anything mob-related. But then one day someone came to call, and without Sandie even realizing what she was getting into, suddenly everything changed, and it wasn’t a one-woman operation anymore.

This time round, there’s a wedding in England! But for Sandie, Daphne and Archie, getting there is to prove a little more dangerous than they imagined.

Archie and Rose are tying the knot in Windsor. For Sandie and the team (plus Frank, who gets dragged along) they’re anticipating a joyous time. Until it all turns a lot scarier. Boarding the RMS Olympic for the passage to England, none of them realise a life-threatening event lies just over the horizon.

On the second day of the voyage, someone is murdered. On a big ship, in the middle of the Atlantic. The deMountford and Shaw private investigators are the only people who can get to the bottom of the crime... and they’ve less than forty-eight hours to do it.

Once the Olympic docks in Southampton the killer could easily escape, never to be seen again. But for the two days until the ship makes land, everyone on board is at the mercy of a ruthless murderer...

Enjoy!

Richard, Ann, and the crew

The RMS Olympic

THE RMS OLYMPIC WAS the sister ship to the Titanic. Identical ships, built side-by-side at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, the Olympic was completed three months before her much-more-famous sister.

There’s a tragic footnote to the story of the two sisters, which is not as well-known as the tale of the Titanic. Going into service a few weeks before her famous sister, if it hadn’t been for an unfortunate accident to the Olympic, the Titanic would likely never have sunk.

On a cruise in the Solent, the Olympic collided with a Royal Navy vessel. The damage meant she had to return to Belfast for repairs. This took men away from the completion of the Titanic, and meant that her fateful maiden voyage to New York had to be postponed to April.

Here’s the rub... if the Olympic hadn’t suffered damage, the iceberg that sunk the Titanic would almost certainly not have been there.

Icebergs were a very rare sight in the winter. In the warmer conditions of April when the ice started breaking away, they were commonplace.

There’s an even more tragically-ironic footnote to the footnote. Captain Edward Smith, the captain of the Titanic on that fateful night, was originally assigned the captaincy of the Olympic, and was in charge of the ship when the collision occurred in the Solent. By not avoiding the Navy vessel, he sealed his own fate.

Then assigned to the Titanic for her maiden voyage, he went down with his ship. The fated liner would most likely not have sunk if the voyage had taken place when it was originally scheduled.

The Olympic went on to traverse the Atlantic for many years after the Titanic tragedy, apart from a brief spell as a troopship during World War One. In 1935 she sailed her final voyage. Tastes were changing, the pre-war opulence of the early nineteen-hundreds being shunned in preference to more modern ships. Out of favour and losing money on every sailing, she was decommissioned and scrapped.

Art_detail_-_Advertisement_for_the__White_Star_Line,_R.M.S._Olympic__Matchsafe,_circa_1911_(CH_18502549)_(cropped).jpg

Murder Most Olympic

Chapter 1

‘I MISS YOU ALREADY.’

‘Sandie, I’m standing right next to you.’

‘I know that Archie, but you’re still being selfish and going to live in England.’

‘Gee, thanks boss.’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘I do?’

Daphne shook her head, and tried to compensate for my bluntness. ‘What Sandie means is that you’ve been her rock for four years, and now her heart is breaking because you won’t be for much longer.’

‘Couldn’t have put it better myself.’

‘No, you wouldn’t have.’

‘Excuse me?’

Daphne grinned, and tapped my arm in a sympathetic and slightly condescending kind of way. I smiled back, a verbal retort appearing to fail me... probably because she was right.

‘I suppose getting married to an English girl is good enough reason to clear... to leave the fold,’ I excused myself.

Archie looked almost embarrassed. ‘The only good one I can think of, Sandie.’

‘That’s nice of you to say. It still doesn’t alter the fact your ginger head won’t be sitting behind your desk any more though.’

‘You’ve got Daphne now. And Frank...’

I sighed, maybe a little more forcefully than I might have. ‘I know. It just won’t be the same though.’

Frank chuckled. ‘No, it won’t. You’ll have no one to call peanut now, Sandie.’

Daphne corrected him. ‘Archie grew into a walnut after he met Rose, remember Frank?’

‘I guess that makes him a coconut now then?’

‘Well, his hair is a similar color.’

‘I am standing here waiting with you to board the big ship, you know,’ Archie said, in a slightly-disgruntled kind of way.

Daphne pulled him close. ‘Just winding you up, Archie. There won’t be many more occasions after all, will there?’

‘Hmph. That implies I’m easy to wind up.’

‘As if,’ I said, and then felt Daphne’s thump on my arm. Archie saw it too, and added his verbal wit.

‘I do humbly apologise for removing myself from the job of making you all laugh.’

It was my turn to shake my head, and then say something that was totally true. ‘I don’t know what we’ll do without you, Archie.’

The short line of passengers waiting to board the RMS Olympic moved forward. We headed slowly up the boarding ramp, the hulk of the black hull blocking out the New York sunlight as we approached the reception deck.

Two stewards in pristine White Star Line uniforms welcomed the passengers. The four of us were greeted especially warmly. Travelling to England was even more of a special occasion this time round, with the wedding of one of us to attend in affluent Windsor.

We’d decided to go all out, a kind of wedding gift for our Archie. We were travelling first class, a rare treat for us all. We’d drawn the line at individual cabins though... it was rather expensive after all. Daphne and I shared one cabin, Archie and Frank the other.

Frank seemed to be giving off the demeanor of someone who didn’t think he had any business being there. Daphne informed him in no uncertain terms that as he and I were now together, he was duty-bound to keep me company. I baulked a little at the word ‘together’, but Daphne’s narrow-eyed stare told me arguing the point really was a waste of time.

Archie was marrying Rose, and Daphne was meeting up with Roland in England after all. Perhaps my time playing gooseberry was at an end. Daphne and Archie definitely thought so.

‘Well, here we go again,’ said Daphne as we followed the steward to our cabins.

‘Still getting flashbacks of that night on the Titanic, hey?

‘What do you think? The Olympic is identical. It’s like stepping back in time fifteen years.’

‘Ah, but it’s not quite identical. They converted it to run on oil a few years ago, so no more coal.’

‘Is that supposed to make me feel easier?’

‘Well, they added more lifeboats too.’

‘Sandie?’

‘Just trying to reassure you. It’s November too, so icebergs are unlikely.’

‘Just be quiet please, Sandie.’

We were led towards the grand staircase that gave access to A-deck. It still took my breath away, even though I’d seen it for real a few months earlier. This time there was a big difference though... on our previous trip to England we’d been second-class passengers, the staircase effectively out of bounds.

On this trip we had every right to be there, and every right to ascend it to the first-class cabins on A-deck. Somehow I felt like royalty.

My eyes flicked upwards to the huge wrought iron and glass dome high above me. The thick solid oak balustrades curved upwards and seemed to go on forever, their ornate black iron inserts with gold detail sparkling enticingly in the artificial light.

We walked across cushioned vinyl, a soft white colour with black triangular insets. We began to climb the curving stairs, my hand brushing across the bronze cherub standing in the centre of the first step, a lighted torch held above his head.

Then we were standing at the very top of the staircase, the glass dome just above our heads. A-deck. The ultimate place to be. It all felt a bit surreal, for a partly-shy private investigator.

The steward didn’t give us any time to pause and soak in the luxury. He and his luggage trolley were heading along the narrow corridor between the cabins, so Daphne nudged me out of my awe-inspired trance and we followed him like good little schoolchildren.

We’d almost made it to our door when the next one along opened, and a woman dressed in a fine black dress stepped out. The amazement on her middle-aged face seemed to light up the passageway.

‘Well well... Daphne deMountford, as I live and breathe!’

Chapter 2

‘Molly? What are you doing here?’

The woman’s kindly face broke into a big smile. ‘Well dear, I assume the same as you? Travelling to England?’

‘But... I thought you would have been put off ocean travel... the Titanic and all that?’

She batted a hand in front of her face. ‘Oh, you know me, Daphne. It’ll take more than almost drowning to keep me down!’

‘I guess I could say the same.’

She cast her eyes over Daphne’s three companions. ‘No James, dear?’

Daphne’s head lowered. ‘Molly, he died last year. He was murdered in Chicago.’

Her face fell. ‘Oh my dear... I am so very sorry. Chicago you say? He was far from the first, and I very much doubt he will be the last, tragic though it is. So what took you from New York to Illinois?’

‘James’s work. I’m afraid he got in with the wrong crowd, and then tried to do the right thing.’

She looked distraught. ‘Oh dear dear. Chicago has such a bad reputation... I assume Al Capone had a hand in it?’

‘Amongst others, yes.’

‘So where are you living now, dear?’

‘In Chicago still. I’m part of a private investigations agency... oh, these are my partners, Sandie and Archie, although Archie is leaving us soon. Getting married in Windsor, and then living there. That’s where we’re heading.’

‘Oh I say. How exciting.’ She shook our hands, and then fixed her eyes onto Frank. ‘And this grizzly bear is..?’

‘That’s Frank. He’s quite high up in the Chicago police, and as of recently Sandie’s beau.’

I narrowed my eyes at her phrasing. Frank chuckled and held out a hand. ‘I got dragged along.’

Molly took the hand, and shook it vigorously. ‘Quite right too. Since I divorced JJ and then he died there is really no one close for me to travel with.’

‘Are you going to introduce us?’ I said to Daphne as I tapped her on the arm.

‘Oh, sorry. How remiss of me. This fine lady is Molly Brown... she earned herself the nickname of the unsinkable Molly Brown in the press, after the Titanic sank.’

She shook her head ruefully. ‘Those journalists love their little quips.’

Daphne didn’t agree. ‘I think it was very fitting, Molly. I remember you getting angry with the quartermaster in our lifeboat because he wouldn’t go back and rescue more survivors.’

Molly chuckled. ‘I threatened to throw him overboard, see how he liked it.’

‘Yes, and then you worked tirelessly to get decent compensation for the third and steerage class passengers, and after that, so I hear, did all you could in France to help rebuild things after the war. I think you deserve the nickname, Molly.’

‘Perhaps, dear. But do call me Maggie, I prefer that these days.’

‘Of course. You appear to be in the next cabin to us, so I’ve no doubt we will see each other over the next few days.’

‘Dinner in the A la Carte this evening?’

‘We shall look forward to it.’

I sank onto one of the sumptuous spring mattresses in our cabin. ‘I can’t believe I’ve just met the famous Molly Brown.’

‘Maggie now, remember?’

‘Maggie, Molly... she’s such an inspiration.’

‘She’s you, plus money I guess.’

I laughed. ‘Okay, rub it in. We’re not doing so bad, but I guess I’ll never have a JJ Brown.’

‘Maggie didn’t think she had as much wealth, until they discovered just how much JJ was worth after he died.’

’All credit to her for marrying for love, at a time neither of them were rich.’

Daphne panned her eyes around the not-very-big room. ‘This is very nice. And there’s a bathroom right next door.’

‘Ah, the perks of