Page 204 of The Silent Appeal

Sarah-Jane MacDonald

Independent Retail Marketing Consultant

To: Nicky-Rose Dearing

From: Isla Coole

Date: June 2, 2025

Subject: Warning

Dear Nicky-Rose,

You hired me for the Voyager Eclipse summer tour of the Caribbean last year. I’m sure you remember it, as I was thrown off the ship in St. Lucia. I still have fond memories of you and Stuart.

Getting back to Vancouver from St. Lucia when I hadn’t been paid was no joke and you were kind enough to send me money for the flight from your own account when Katrina Neale refused.

I believe what goes around comes around, so want to pay you back with a word of warning. A Barbadian police inspector called David Lascelles interviewed me this morning about the girl I shared a room with on the Eclipse. I explained I wasn’t on the ship long but liked Tiffany from the first conversation we had. Her parents were both dead, like mine (it’s what my stand-up act is about), so we bonded, I guess.

She was a confident girl and really ambitious to act, only she’d discovered her cruise contract didn’t come under Equity jurisdiction and was annoyed. That was all. I had such a bad experience on that job, I got home and put the whole thing behind me—so hadn’t heard the sad news that she’d disappeared not long after.

Inspector Lascelles asked whether I’d seen any of the crew being particularly friendly with Tiffany or taking an interest in her, and I hadn’t. But in one of the few conversations we had, she mentioned receiving a message from Twin Star just before we docked in St. Lucia. She was asked to find a particular crew member and he would take her to meet up with you and Trina when the ship docked in Bridgetown a couple of days later.

She was rattled from then on, convinced she was going to be fired. I couldn’t reassure her because for all I knew she was going to be fired. Why else would you want to meet her in the middle of a contract? In any case, I had my own issues with a chef who’d been harassing me from day one. I told him I’m not into men, but that made him a hundred times worse. I’ve thought back to it many times since then, but (this is an out-there theory) did he want me to get kicked off the ship? Did he want to get rid of Tiffany’s roommate?

Anyway, it all blew up for me in St. Lucia and the entertainment manager threw me off “for making false accusations.” I resigned, but it was messy, as you know. They cleared my things out of the cabin and I left without seeing Tiffany again.

Lascelles told me she went missing when she was ashore in Bridgetown. The two questions he had were: Who told Tiffany to meet Twin Star in Bridgetown, and who was the crew member she had to go with? He said the answers are key to finding out what happened to her.

As I was leaving, he said he was on his way to the airport—he’s coming to the UK to speak with someone he called “the other Twin Star woman.” I’m guessing that’s you.

Like I say, I remember what you did for me and wanted to tell you. Forewarned is forearmed.

I know you had nothing to do with what happened to Tiffany. Someone who paid my airfare back to Canada—when she didn’t have to—would hardly commit murder, but it can be a dirty world, and what’s right isn’t always what’s fair.

Thanks again, Isla

To: Inspector Laurence Cooper, Lockwood Police

From: Inspector David Lascelles, Bridgetown Police, Barbados

Date: June 2, 2025

Subject: Case DL/0027245/OR

Dear Inspector Cooper,

I am the OIC on a case here in Bridgetown, Barbados, about which I am hoping for cooperation with Lockwood Police. On June 4, 2024, twenty-four-year-old female Tiffany Ramirez disembarked from the ship on which she was employed as a dancer, the Voyager Eclipse, and went into Bridgetown to meet representatives of the entertainment company Twin Star (Barbados) Ltd., following communication by a person or persons unknown. She was accompanied by another crew member and has not been seen since. Her phone was switched off shortly after she left the ship and has neither been found nor switched on since.

Records show that she signed back on board at 11:25 p.m. on June 4 but was not seen by colleagues and did not take part in the dance show the following evening. She was declared lost overboard a few hours later.

Her parents are based in the United States and are not satisfied with this declaration. Upon examination by Forensics, we determined that the signature on the log had likely been forged, and that it was probable that Ms. Ramirez had never returned to the ship. We therefore concluded the forgery was an attempt by person or persons unknown to make her disappearance look like suicide. We are seeking to ascertain who was involved in the conspiracy to remove her from the ship and what transpired once she was ashore in Bridgetown.

As part of this investigation, I intend to interview a former employee of Twin Star, Ms. Nicky-Rose Dearing, who I understand is now living in Lockwood. I will be flying to the United Kingdom this week and would greatly appreciate any assistance that your department could offer. I look forward to meeting you when I arrive.

Yours sincerely,

Inspector David Lascelles