The long-lost revenge

Hey there! My name is Tina Gibbons, and let me tell you what happened to my parents the previous fall. They went on a cruise from the US all the way to Europe, traveling across the Atlantic. The name of the cruise was ‘The Dream Cruise.’ Ironically, it was a dream for my parents to go on a long cruise for their 20th anniversary, escaping their hectic schedules and finding paradise. Finally, the time had come. However, the thrill, joy, and excitement did not last long because on the very first day of their voyage, something occurred… Money was stolen – exactly ten thousand dollars – from my mother’s handbag. She was alarmed, but being experienced and knowing how to handle such situations (after all, she is a prosecutor), she remained composed. My dad was also no stranger to handling such circumstances; he manages the Boston branch of The Bank of America. And, to top it off, they both love Sherlock Holmes – they even made me endure all those tedious movies.

The timing was perfect; they now had a mystery to solve, an opportunity to feel like Sherlock Holmes. “Who stole the money?” they pondered. This might not have been as significant as a murder case, but on a cruise, it was more than enough to intrigue them. They began by creating a list of people they had encountered on the ship. First, they met the manager who had issued their boarding passes. A very talkative man, my father said. He asked about my father’s profession, and seemed delighted to learn that my dad was a banker. He even inquired about the bank’s new high-interest rate schemes. My father could tell that he was struggling financially. Next, they encountered the porter who assisted them with their luggage.

During the evening, they had a few exciting events planned. They visited the casino and promised not to spend more than a thousand dollars there. The highlight of the casino was my parents getting into a heated argument with the dealer, asserting that they hadn’t received the proper amount of poker chips. Although my parents were frustrated, they didn’t let it ruin their night. They still had the rest of the evening to enjoy, sipping their drinks and watching a renowned dance group perform. The group was called ‘The Poor Protagonist,’ a name that intrigued my mother. And the performance truly lived up to its name – the main dancer, Jen, was wearing clothes that were looking torn and old. My mother playfully joked about the title, mentioning how people sometimes take names too literally – which was the case here. After spending a few hours in the ballroom, they ate dinner and returned to their suite.

The next day, my mom opened her bag to put a few things inside. To her dismay, she discovered that the money she had kept in her bag was missing. After recalling the events of the previous day, my parents focused their suspicion on the manager. He was an odd character, who had been hovering around them throughout the day, asking my father about investments and my mother about sentencing for theft and other criminal offenses. Initially, my parents didn’t pay much attention to him, but now they were skeptical. A few hours later, there was a knock on the door, and the manager entered, announcing that he had found their stolen money. As it turned out, the person they had suspected was actually their saviour. The manager had caught the porter red-handed with a large bundle of cash. The porter immediately confessed, revealing that he was the brother of a criminal whom my mother had prosecuted a few years ago. He had coincidentally spotted her on the cruise and sought to take long-lost revenge for his brother. Now, when my parents look back on this experience, they exclaim, “Oh! What an adventure we had on that cruise.”