Day Four (39 page)

We have taken into account the possible correlation with the recent Costa Rica Incident where a fishing trawler allegedly carrying fifty-five illegal immigrants disappeared off the coast of Spain, and the events known to the media as ‘Black Thursday’. [See addendum 17a of Section 18c]

Please review the material and provide your recommendations as to how to proceed, no later than 31/3/17.

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>>Smith, Xavier L/ Interview #1/ Page 1

subject name
: Xavier Llewellyn Smith

dob
: 17/11/88

address
: 47 A Street, South Beach, Miami

occupation
: Freelance writer. Writes a daily blog entitled ‘The Wild Card Blog’, the purpose of which is to debunk psychics and faith healers. Purports to be a member of the American Society of Skeptics. See addendum 34a for copies of blog entries extrapolated from Smith’s laptop computer. Smith is financially supported by a trust set up in his name by his deceased maternal grandfather. Smith is estranged from his biological parents.

notes:
Smith was initially hostile. Psychiatric evaluation shows no sign of delusional activity or personality disorder. No history of mental health issues. Tests reveal him to be occasional user of alcohol and marijuana.

Mr Smith, please start by stating your name and date of birth for the record.

XS
:
I told you people, I’m not saying anything else until I’m lawyered up. Seriously, what are you, NSA? Homeland Security? What?

Mr Smith, we would appreciate your cooperation.

XS
: Go fuck yourself. I’m not some illegal immigrant. I’m an American citizen. You can’t do this to people like me.

[Interview suspended due to subject’s agitation]

[Interview recommences]

Mr Smith, previously you have said that the vessel was drifting for five days with all communication and the majority of operational systems out of action. During this time, where was the ship located?

XS
: How in the hell would I know? I’m not a navigator. Ship got lost. Drifted into the Gulf Stream, maybe. Got lost in the Bermuda Triangle. I don’t fucking know.

And you were on board the vessel in order to confront Celine del Ray about the Lillian Small case, is this correct?

XS
: Yeah.

What is your interest in Celine del Ray, Mr Smith?

XS
: I don’t like what she does. Conning people.

You have no personal history with her?

XS
: No.

What was it that sparked your interest in Ms del Ray’s activities?

XS
: I heard her on that radio show. Kavanaugh’s show. She was saying how she knew that Bobby Small and his mother were alive. That pissed me off.

And your intention was to confront her on the cruise ship?

[Subject pauses for several seconds]

XS
: Yeah. Only that backfired on me, didn’t it?

In what way, Mr Smith?

XS
: Jesus. I’ve told you this. Because of what she did. Putting us under group hypnosis or whatever. I told you people that when I was first brought here.

Please calm down, Mr Smith. We are only trying to help you.

XS
:
Yeah, sure you are. Don’t think I don’t know that I’ve bought myself a one-way ticket to Gitmo. No one knows we’re here, right? The least you can do is answer that.

Mr Smith, I can assure you, as soon as we have debriefed you, you will be free to continue your life as usual.

XS
:
[Laughs] Yeah right.

To recap: You believe that everything you experienced since day four of the cruise is the result of being under a delusion?

XS
: You tell me. It’s possible. What I saw wasn’t possible.

We would appreciate hearing what it is you saw, Mr Smith.

XS
: I bet you would.

Where are the missing passengers and crew?

XS
: You really want to know?

[Subject leans forward]

We poisoned their Mai Tais with cheap vodka. Added extra refined sugar to the chocolate fountain. One by one they succumbed, so we had no choice but to throw them over the side.

Mr Smith, we are simply trying to understand this situation.

XS
: You and me both. I don’t know where they are.

[Subject raises his voice and thumps his fist on the table]

I don’t know where they fucking are. Celine del Ray was heading up some sort of suicide cult. After the captain and crew abandoned ship during the storm, maybe she got them all to jump over the fucking side. I don’t know. Why are we here? What are you not telling us?

[Interview suspended]

>>Gardner, Madeleine/ Interview #1/ Page 2

but yes. I knew Celine was a fake when I took the job. If you want me to say it, I’ll spell it out. So what? But that didn’t explain Lizzie Bean or Archie or what some of the other people said they saw on board that bloody ship.

You believe these were actual physical beings, Ms Gardner?

MG
: You think I don’t know how this sounds? Listen, you asked me to tell you what I saw in my own words. That’s what I saw. I saw Lizzie Bean. Is it crazy? Then I’m crazy. Xavier has his own theories about that – group hypnosis or whatever. But you know when something feels real. Lizzie Bean shouldn’t have existed, but she did. The others shouldn’t have existed, but people saw them.

Did you ask Celine del Ray about them?

MG
: No. But I have my own theory about why they were there.

And what is that?

MG
: She used them to manipulate us. Scare us. It amused her. There’s nothing more potent than fear if you want to control someone. Xavier says I saw what I wanted to see. That I bought into Celine’s bullshit. But . . . all the stuff that happened later . . . there’s no way that was all in my head.

You’ve said before that ‘Celine wasn’t Celine’.

MG
: All her actions after the ship stopped – after she had her episode or whatever the hell it was, were out of character. She wasn’t Celine. The old Celine, I mean. She spoke like Celine, had her memories, but . . . you could see in her eyes. No. It wasn’t Celine.

Are you saying you believe she was possessed?

MG
: Christ. No. Maybe. I . . . look, I’m still trying to work through all this, wrap my head around it.

Is this going to take much longer? When can I go?

You are not under arrest, Ms Gardner.

MG
: But I can’t just get up and leave, can I?

As we told you when you were first brought here, this is merely a debriefing. A necessary formality. The people who were on the vessel with you are still unaccounted for.

MG
: You hear stories, that’s all. About what you people do. [Laughs] Shady agencies, people disappearing, that kind of thing.

We understand your concerns. To return to Ms del Ray. You have stated that she was possessed.

MG
: I didn’t say that exactly.

If she was possessed could you speculate by whom? Or what?

MG
: I’m not ready to answer that yet. I’m not sure I even know the answer.

Let’s go back. What happened after
The Beautiful Dreamer
became operational again?

MG
: Oh God. When the ship got moving again, Xavier and I stayed in Celine’s suite for a while. I guess we felt we’d be safe in there, and . . . I suppose I wasn’t ready to see where we were or what we might be facing. I don’t know about Xavier, but by then I was convinced something awful must have happened on land that prevented rescuers getting to us. Or that we’d drifted into unchartered waters somehow, only nothing’s unchartered these days, is it? So yeah . . . That fear, it froze me at first.

I don’t know who made the decision to get out of there in the end. Don’t think we even discussed it, we just stood up and left. I knocked on Helen’s door again to double-check she wasn’t in there. I’d tried many times, so at that stage I didn’t know if she’d left on the lifeboats or not. I couldn’t see how, with Elise so sick. So yeah. We left the cabin and went outside to the pool deck. It was still dark – around four a.m. or so.

Who was there?

MG
: Almost everyone who was left on board. Most of Celine’s contingent. Two hundred people maybe. And a couple who’d been on Celine’s deck. The Linemans or Linekers their name was – something like that. I remember seeing them when Xavier and I ran for the lifeboats. No one was speaking. Eerie is probably the best word to use. By then I should have been used to things freaking me out, but it still made me shiver. There was no sign of Celine. Then a man’s voice, Italian, came over the intercom, and said we were approaching Miami. He sounded nervous, his voice wobbling. Later I learned that was Baci. He’d stayed behind when the other officers abandoned the ship. I don’t know why he didn’t leave. He was never part of Celine’s group. I don’t think he’d even met her until the engines came to life.

Why Miami? Why not another port?

MG
: I don’t know. Maybe that was the closest port to us. Xavier said the crew were able to track where the ship drifted using manual navigation, so it’s possible. Maybe Baci just wanted to get home. Maybe it was Celine’s idea.

Did you talk to anyone while you were on deck?

MG
: No. Everyone was shell-shocked, still recovering from the storm. I saw Jacob, one of Celine’s original followers, if you can call them that, and he acknowledged me, but that was all the interaction Xavier and I had with anyone at that point. We’d all been through so much at that stage. Oh wait . . . I tell a lie. Xavier went up to a girl he knew. Lisa, he said her name was. She looked out of it, barely seemed to see him.

We stood in silence and waited. Five, ten minutes went by, and Xavier said that the officer must have made a mistake about our location.

Why?

MG
: Because if we were approaching Miami, we should have seen lights. But there were no lights. The coastline was completely dark.

I’m tired. Can I have a break now?

[Interview suspended]

>>Trazona, Althea/ Interview #1/ Page 2

the cruise line for five years.

And were you happy in your position, Ms Trazona?

AT
: It was a good job.

Did you have any dealings with Celine del Ray while you were on board?

AT
: Yes.

Could you tell us what those were?

AT
: No. I will not say anything more unless you guarantee me a green card. You cannot make me speak.

[Subject refused to speak at this time despite several attempts to encourage her to do so]

[Interview suspended]

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>>Zimri, Jesse C/ Interview #1/ Page 1

subject name
: Jesse Clarence Zimri

dob
: 17/11/84

address
: 7 Acacia Road, Sun Valley, Cape Town

occupation
: General Practice Medical Practitioner. Dr Zimri voluntarily left his former practice in Tokai, Cape Town after misdiagnosing a sixteen-year-old girl, Sasha Lee Abrams. Ms Abrams was complaining of stomach pains, which Dr Zimri diagnosed as colitis. Abrams subsequently died from complications from an ectopic pregnancy. Subject was addicted to pethidine but did not enter a rehab facility at that time.

Subject is married to but separated from Farouka Majiet.

notes
: First interview with Dr Zimri was aborted. Subject was delirious, vomiting, and suffering from pethidine withdrawal.

>>Fall, Helen/ Interview #1/ Page 2

the British Embassy? This isn’t an interview. This is an interrogation. Does anyone even know we’re here?

Ms Fall, you are in a unique situation.

HF
:
Where are we? I assume we’re still somewhere in Florida. How did you manage it?

Manage what, Ms Fall?

HF
: Spiriting us away like this. I’m assuming no one knows we’re here. It’s all very Tom Clancy, and I’m very impressed. Now. Let me make something clear to you. I will not talk to you whatever you do to me.

Ms Fall. You have our guarantee that as soon as we have finished debriefing you to our satisfaction, you will be released from the facility.