Day Four (40 page)

HF
: And what exactly does ‘to your satisfaction’ mean?

We need answers, Ms Fall. We need to know the fate of the passengers and crew who were absent from the vessel when it was discovered.

HF
: How are you going to do it?

Do what, Ms Fall?

HF
: Dispose of us after we’ve answered your questions, of course. Do you have a system like the mafia where you feed us to the pigs? Make us disappear in some porcine bowel track? There are worse ways to go I suppose.

Ms Fall. We have your computer. We have reason to believe that your intention and reason for being on the cruise ship was to take your own life.

[Subject shows symptoms of distress]

HF
: That is private. You have no right to access my personal belongings.

We understand that you find this upsetting, Ms Fall. There are many families out there who need answers.

HF
: They won’t get them from me. Where are the others? Where’s Maddie? Althea?

They are being extremely helpful and cooperative, Ms Fall.

HF
: Then you don’t need me.

[Subject refuses to respond to further questioning at this time]

[Interview suspended]

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

and then when the sun came up . . . well . . . We saw it for the first time.

Saw what, Ms Gardner?

MG
: Look, I’m going to tell you what I experienced, but I want it on record again that I know it’s unbelievable. It’s nuts. Beyond nuts, really, but you asked me to be honest about what I saw, so I’m going to do that. If you want to lock me up in the funny farm afterwards, then so be it.

Duly noted. Please continue. What was it that you saw – or believed you saw?

The ship moved closer to the coastline, heading for the channel that leads to the harbour, and the closer it got, the more we could see. God. I suppose the first thing that hit me was that I couldn’t see anything move. No one on the beach, no boats in the water. Nothing.

Then Eleanor, one of Celine’s core group of Friends, had the idea to look through the view-finders on the exercise deck. But I didn’t need to look through them. As we got closer still, we saw blocks of holiday flats stained with smoke. There were vehicles – big army trucks – and huge white tents all along the beach.

God. I think it was then that the smell hit us. Just the thought of it now makes me feel sick. The slightest breeze blew it towards us. Have you ever smelled a dead body? I hadn’t. Not until then. Imagine the stench ten thousand bodies make when they’ve been rotting in the sun. It was making people sick all over. I retched several times, but I had nothing to bring up.

Baci came over the intercom again and said that he couldn’t get any closer without a harbour pilot guiding the ship in. The engines were still running, but the ship slowed right down to a stop.

I know you don’t believe me, but the others will back me up. I mean, why would I concoct a story as crazy as this one?

And the others on board? How did they react?

MG
: I suppose at first we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. People started crying, a few started saying that it must be terrorists. You know what I mean, ‘Fucking ragheads got us in the end,’ that kind of bullshit. We all knew that something had to have happened while we were stranded. It’s what we all expected, I guess. Seeing it like that though . . . your worst fears realised. God. It was . . . Can I have some water, please?

[Interview suspended for seven minutes]

Where was Celine del Ray at this point?

MG
: She was now on the main deck, parked in front of the Lido bar. I don’t know how long she’d been there. I didn’t see her arriving. Jacob wheeled her over to the railings and everyone turned to look at her. And then she said . . . she said something like: ‘What a mess. We really made a mess with this one.’ I can’t be precise. I was pretty shaken up at that point.

What did she mean by that?

MG
: I don’t know. She didn’t seem to be too surprised at what she was seeing.

Xavier was next to me, and he squeezed my hand so tight I could feel the bones crack. That’s the kind of detail that makes it real. He was saying, ‘I knew it, I knew it, I knew it,’ over and over again. ‘I knew something had happened.’

Someone said, and I don’t know who it was – Eleanor again, maybe – said, ‘Should we go and see if there are any survivors?’

No one answered her for a minute or so. It was clear that Miami was fucked – sorry. We didn’t know if we’d stumbled into the aftermath of a war, or a plague, or what. Then the dam burst and arguments broke out, some people saying we should head for land and check it out, others saying that that would be madness if a biological weapon had been let loose or whatever. Celine just let them rage on. I suppose she knew they had to get it out of their systems.

When there was a lull in the shouting, Celine said, ‘Go and see if you like. I wouldn’t bother though.’

We all turned to look at her. Then she said: ‘Any volunteers?’

No one spoke up for what felt like ages, and then one of the security guys, Devi, stepped forward and said that he’d go. He looked terrible, like he’d been hit by a bus, his face all puffed up and bruised. Rogelio, one of the assistant cruise directors, begged him not to go.

I think it was then that it really started to hit people, and they started asking, ‘What if it’s not just Miami?’ and talking about their friends and family. Celine spoke up again and said something like: ‘It is not just Miami, my darlings.’ And then she began . . . God, I suppose you’d call it preaching. She spoke for at least half an hour, promising people that they’d see their loved ones again ‘in spirit’ and reminding them that she’d kept them safe so far, and they must continue to trust her. The people there wanted to hear that. They wanted someone to tell them what to do. They were terrified, traumatised, broken. She was good at talking. That was her real gift. When she spoke, people listened. Not even Xavier interrupted her.

Devi was still insisting he wanted to leave the ship and see for himself what had happened. Then out of the blue, Xavier said, ‘I’m going too.’ I remembered that he lived in South Beach. I’d seen his address on his driver’s licence. Celine gave him a huge smile and a wink. It was almost as if she wanted him to go. And then I found myself stepping forward. Christ knows what made me do it.

I still don’t know.

Jacob was demanding to know how we’d reach the shore, and one of the deckhands said there was one tender boat left that had jammed when the davits had been incorrectly released or something like that. He said it hung off the ship at a crazy angle, but he should be able to free it. Devi suggested we take the ship’s doctor with us and sent me and Xavier off to find him. No one had seen him for hours.

We found him sleeping on one of the hospital beds. He looked like he’d been drinking, and barely reacted when he saw the coastline for the first time. He’d been pretty crap when he’d dealt with Celine, so I couldn’t really see the point of bringing him along with us, but Devi insisted. A nurse, Bin, who was as sick as a dog, also said he wanted to come along. And then other people started volunteering. Devi put paid to that. He said that whoever was going had to wear protective gear and breathing apparatus in case of infection. He’d collected the ship’s fire-fighting suits, which included helmets and oxygen tanks – God, they were so heavy – and there were only five suits. We would only have an hour of oxygen, so whatever happened it was going to be a short trip.

While the tender boat was being freed, Xavier and I hung out on the main deck. He was withdrawn and didn’t want to talk. He kept glancing at the coastline. Celine was busy organising everyone, getting them to right the chairs that had been thrown everywhere during the storm, sending Althea and other people to get bottles of water and whatever they could find. She was telling people not to worry, that they were the lucky ones. They were safe on the ship for now.

For now. That’s what she said.

People worked together, having something to do helped them. One of the passengers – a woman I hadn’t spoken to before – asked Celine if she could organise a prayer group and Celine told her to go ahead.

Paulo, one of the stewards, was going to be driving the boat, and Devi said we’d have to climb on board it via one of the loading bays, which sounds easier than it was. Paulo didn’t have one of those awful heavy suits and he was terrified, really shitting himself. I tried to reassure him, but what could I say? ‘Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world’?

Xavier was still spaced out, and the doctor and Bin were taking it in turns to throw up over the side. I felt . . . God, I suppose vulnerable would be the right word as we pulled away from
The Beautiful Dreamer
and she loomed over us, casting her shadow around us.

Can I get a coffee or something?

[Interview suspended]

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

AT
: Do you have my green card?

We are working on that Ms Trazona. These things take time. It would help if you would show that you are willing to cooperate.

AT
: I am not stupid. I know how this works. You help me, I’ll help you. I have seen too many people deported to trust you.

We assure you that isn’t going to happen Ms Trazona. If you cooperate, we will guarantee that you and your child are safe and secure.

AT
:
The boy? You have found the boy?

What boy, Ms Trazona?

[Subject refuses to answer]

Ms Trazona, our medical tests show that you are eight weeks pregnant. Again, you have our assurance that—

AT
: If I help you, you will guarantee me citizenship?

Yes.

AT
: I want that in writing.

[Interview suspended for several hours]

[Interview recommences]

AT
:What do you want to know? I will only answer what I want to answer.

That is understood. Ms Trazona, could you please tell us about your relationship with Celine del Ray?

AT
:What about it?

Did you like Celine del Ray, Ms Trazona?

AT
: Like her? No. I did not like her.

Could you explain why?

AT
: I could see what she was. She was not to be trusted. I knew that from the beginning. And I was right. She tricked me. Used me. Just like everyone else.

Earlier you mentioned something about a boy you spoke to on the ship
.

AT
: There was no boy.

When you were first brought here to this facility you told our medical representative that the rescuers must return to the ship and find the boy.

AT
: There is no boy.

[Subject refuses to speak again at this time]

[Interview suspended]

>>Smith, Xavier L/ Interview #2/ Page 3

XS
: Maddie’s delusional. I could see that straight away when we met back in the suite after the storm. Celine had said something to her. Infected her with her bullshit.

Mr Smith, earlier you say that ‘what you saw wasn’t possible’. Could you clarify?

XS
: I didn’t see anything. Let me break it down for you again. The ship got stranded. There was a big fuck-off storm. The captain and crew abandoned us, people panicked, and escaped in the lifeboats. Everyone who was left behind became the victim of a mass delusion where they believed they’d returned to an alternate Miami. One that was fucked up. Then . . . shit, I dunno. Celine convinced everyone to jump overboard, whatever.

Why would she do that, Mr Smith?

XS
: People like her want to be talked about. Maybe she wanted to go down in history or something.

Mr Smith. You say that the ship was drifting for five days before the engines started up again. Where was the ship in the two days following that?

XS
: Going round and round the Gulf Stream. How would I know?

You categorically deny that you at any time left the ship?

XS
: Jesus H. Christ. How many more times?

[Subject becomes agitated. Interview suspended]

>>Fall, Helen/ Interview #2/ Page 5

I felt the ship stop. I didn’t move for a while. I didn’t want to leave her.

You are speaking of Elise Mayberry?

HF
: Yes.

So you were not on deck when the ship reached its first destination.

HF
: No.

You saw nothing? You weren’t curious?