Sea of Suspicion Read online

  After checking to make sure there were no pedestrians or bicyclists, Nancy made a sudden right turn into a small alley. She heard the brakes of the car behind them squeal as the bearded man obviously tried unsuccessfully to follow them. Nancy cautiously maneuvered the convertible through a maze of small streets until she was sure she had lost the bearded man.

  Bess’s knuckles were white from clutching the dashboard. “Wow!” she said. “I guess he was following us. Do you think we lost him?” she asked.

  “I think we gave him the slip,” Nancy replied. “I wonder who he is.” She frowned. “Maybe Sean knows.”

  Nancy and Bess were surprised to spot George and Sean on the dock next to the Lady Jane. The couple appeared to be having an intense discussion.

  “Looks like things are heating up romantically between George and Sean,” Bess observed.

  “I don’t know,” Nancy said, puzzled. “I wonder why they’re back early.”

  Sean raised his head as Nancy and Bess approached. “I’ve had some bad news,” he said. “Rusty Jones has disappeared—and so has my gold ingot!”

  Chapter

  Four

  YOUR GOLD INGOT has been stolen!” Nancy gasped. “How? When?”

  “I guess someone broke into the ship last night and jimmied open the safe,” Sean said angrily. “George and I found out about it when we stopped by here on the way to the beach.”

  “You said Rusty is missing—so you think he stole the ingot,” Nancy said.

  Sean nodded vehemently. “When George and I arrived this morning, I found out that Rusty hadn’t shown up today. Zach and I went by his house to look for him. The door wasn’t locked, so we went in and discovered that Rusty’s clothes and suitcases were missing.”

  “Then it is possible Rusty took the ingot,” Nancy said.

  “You bet it’s possible!” Sean exclaimed. “He must have been behind the sabotage of the Lady Jane, too, because I wouldn’t let him dive anymore.”

  “I think we need more facts before we can draw any conclusion,” Nancy cautioned. Still, she had to admit that Sean’s theory made sense. “Have you called the police?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” Sean said. “I’ve been too busy trying to chase Rusty down. Zach’s out looking for him, too.”

  “Let’s give the police something to go on,” Nancy said. “If we search Rusty’s apartment, maybe we’ll turn up a lead.”

  • • •

  Rusty’s home was a second-floor apartment just a few blocks from the marina.

  Nancy quickly surveyed the small dwelling. Every bookcase and shelf was jammed with ocean trinkets and nautical memorabilia. An elaborate model ship that must have taken years to construct took up one whole shelf.

  “It seems odd that Rusty would have left so many personal things behind,” she said thoughtfully.

  “Maybe he left in a hurry,” George suggested.

  Wrinkling her nose, Bess said, “One thing’s for sure—he was really sloppy. I’ve never seen such a mess!” She gestured toward the books and papers that were strewn across the floor.

  Nancy knelt down and first began leafing through the papers, then she picked up one of the larger books. It was oddly weighted. She lifted the cover and gasped at what she found.

  “Sean, look at this!” Nancy called excitedly. The pages of the book had been hollowed out and hidden inside was the missing gold ingot!

  The four of them stared at the ingot, amazed. “I can’t believe you found it just like that,” Bess said.

  Sean reached for the gold bar. “Well, that cinches it,” he said. “Rusty stole the ingot and hid it here.”

  “Why wouldn’t he take it with him?” Nancy asked slowly. “It seems kind of risky to leave it in an unlocked apartment.” She stared at the bar in Sean’s hands. “Now that we’ve found it, we have to call the police.”

  “I’m not going to stay around here and wait for the police,” Sean said heatedly. “I know all of Rusty’s hangouts. It’s only a matter of time before I find him.”

  Nancy was worried that Sean might do something rash. “Be careful, Sean,” she warned. “Remember, you don’t know the whole story yet.”

  “I know all I need to know.” Sean was fuming. “I’m going to track Rusty down right now, no matter what.” He moved toward the door.

  “Wait a minute, Sean,” Nancy said. When he paused, she continued, “Let’s meet at the Lady Jane later this afternoon. We can compare notes then on what we’ve found. I’ll put off calling the police until then.”

  “Fine,” Sean said. “I’ll see you at three.” He strode out of the apartment, Rusty’s screen door banging behind him as he left.

  “I hope Sean doesn’t do anything dumb,” Nancy said, and bit her lip thoughtfully. “Let’s go back to the marina and try to find Talia and Zach. Maybe they can help us track down Rusty.”

  George nodded. “Sean said Zach was supposed to check back in at the Lady Jane by noon,” she said.

  Nancy glanced at her watch. “Then he should be there by now,” she said. “Let’s get going.”

  Nancy, Bess and George returned to their car. As Nancy opened the door on the driver’s side, she noticed light bouncing off the roof of a nearby building onto the car. Glancing quickly at the roof, she thought she saw someone standing there.

  Nancy sat down in her seat and pulled a mirrored compact from her purse. “I’m trying to see something,” she explained. She angled the mirror to reflect the roof while pretending to put on lipstick. “Just keep talking,” she said to her friends. “It’s the bearded guy again, Bess,” she finally announced. “He’s watching us through a pair of binoculars.”

  “What bearded guy?” George asked.

  Nancy filled George in on how she and Bess had been followed from the museum. “I got so caught up in the theft of the ingot, I completely forgot to tell you about it,” Nancy said.

  “That guy gives me the creeps,” Bess said. “What do you think he wants?”

  “I don’t know, but I plan to find out,” Nancy said with determination. She snapped her compact shut. “He’s disappeared from the roof, and I bet anything he’s heading for his car to follow us.”

  “Then let’s get going before he can find us!” Bess fretted.

  Nancy shook her head. “I want him to follow us back to the marina,” she said. “Then maybe we can turn the tables on him and find out what he’s up to.”

  As Nancy predicted, the bearded man’s gray sedan soon appeared at the end of the street behind them. “There he is,” Nancy said. “Here we go!”

  She drove directly to the marina, with the sedan following at a discreet distance. “Now,” she said after parking the car, “let’s wander around some shops and see what he does.”

  “All right,” Bess reluctantly agreed. “But for once I won’t be able to concentrate on shopping.”

  The three girls got out of the car and headed for a cluster of shops at the edge of the marina.

  With George and Bess following her lead, Nancy paused in front of a shop that sold tourist trinkets and souvenirs. They spent a moment checking out the window before ducking inside.

  “Okay,” Nancy whispered as soon as they were inside the shop. “Hide and wait to see what happens.” Nancy ducked behind a post. George and Bess headed for the rear of the shop.

  A minute later the bearded man appeared inside the shop. After a few more moments Nancy stepped out from behind the post and confronted him. “I’d like a word with you,” she demanded in a loud voice.

  Startled, the man whirled around and burst back out through the front door of the shop.

  “Wait!” Nancy cried, sprinting after him. The man continued running toward the far end of the marina, where Hank’s diving shop was located. He vanished inside the shop.

  Nancy was about twenty steps behind him. She ran through the front door and crashed straight into Hank.

  “If you’re after that bearded guy, he just blew through here and out the back door,�
�� Hank said, trying to catch his breath.

  Nancy took off with Hank right behind her. They ran out the back door and into an alley. The bearded man seemed to have vanished.

  “Who was that guy, anyway?” Hank asked.

  “I’d like to know that myself,” Nancy said, disappointed that the man had given her the slip. “Do you recall ever seeing him before, Hank?”

  The shopkeeper shook his head. “No, I don’t think so—Wait a minute,” he said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “I do remember seeing someone like him on a boat around here, though. I think it was the Sea Scorpion.”

  “The Sea Scorpion—that’s Leif Dorning’s boat,” Nancy said.

  Nancy and Hank walked back inside the store. Hank reached for a rag to wipe his hands on. “By the way,” he added, “I heard about Sean’s gold ingot getting stolen.”

  When Nancy nodded, Hank continued, “I hear that Sean suspects Rusty stole it.” He clucked his tongue disapprovingly. “I know Rusty’s been having financial problems,” he said. “It’s a shame. He was quite a diver back when he worked for Dorning.”

  “Rusty worked for Leif Dorning?” Nancy’s voice rose with her question. “I thought he worked for Sean.”

  “He worked for both of them, off and on,” Hank shrugged. “When you’re a treasure diver, you go where the money is,” he explained.

  So there’s a connection between Rusty and Sean’s rival, Nancy thought to herself. That meant it was possible that Dorning knew where the gold ingot was kept.

  Nancy thanked Hank for his help. Then she went back to the store to look for Bess and George, but they weren’t there. Nancy decided to head back to the Lady Jane, hoping that her friends were there and that Rusty had turned up.

  When Nancy reached the boat, she found everyone except Sean seated in the lounge cabin. They were eating sandwiches and talking about the gold ingot.

  “I still can’t believe that Rusty would do such a thing,” Talia was saying to Bess. “He’s cranky, but I always thought he had a good heart.”

  As soon as Nancy entered the lounge, Bess and George drew her aside. “What happened with the bearded guy, Nan?” George whispered. “We tried to follow, but we lost you.”

  Nancy filled them in on everything, including what Hank had said about seeing the bearded man on Leif Dorning’s ship. “I also found out that Rusty once worked for Dorning,” she said.

  “Leif Dorning! The skipper who was giving Sean a hard time yesterday?” Bess asked.

  Nancy nodded. “I think we have to investigate his role in all this.”

  Talia came up to them with a platter of sandwiches. Nancy suddenly realized she was very hungry. “Thanks, Talia,” she said.

  Just then the Lady Jane’s ship-to-shore phone rang. Zach answered it.

  “Hi, Sean,” Nancy heard him say. Then his face grew sober. “Okay, I’ll put her on.” He held the phone out to Nancy. “It’s Sean—he sounds very upset.”

  Nancy sprang for the phone. “Sean, what’s going on? Did you find Rusty?” she asked.

  “I guess you could say that.” Sean’s voice sounded low and strained. “Rusty’s dead.”

  “Dead?” A feeling of dread tightened in Nancy’s stomach. “Sean, what happened?”

  “He’s been killed,” Sean answered in a flat voice. “I’m at the Key West police station. Nancy, they think I murdered Rusty!”

  Chapter

  Five

  NANCY SQUEEZED her eyes shut as she tried to take in Sean’s news. Rusty was dead, and Sean was accused of his murder!

  “What happened, Sean?” Nancy asked at last, her voice full of concern. She was aware of the others looking at her with worried expressions.

  “When I found Rusty finally, he was dead—stabbed. The police think I did it.” Sean’s explanation tumbled out in a rush.

  Nancy tried to focus on what needed to be done next. “You can tell me the details when I see you. Right now it’s very important that you call your lawyer.”

  “She’s already here,” Sean told Nancy. “I called her first. She’s with the judge right now, arranging for my bail.”

  “That’s good.” Nancy tried to sound reassuring. “We’ll come to the station right away to pick you up.”

  “Thanks,” Sean said. Nancy could hear the slight catch in his voice. “I can’t understand how this happened,” he added weakly.

  “Everything’s going to be okay, Sean,” Nancy said with more confidence than she felt.

  “Nancy, what happened to Sean?” George said anxiously as Nancy hung up the phone. “I got the impression he’s been arrested.”

  “He has—for the murder of Rusty Jones,” Nancy said.

  “Murder!” Talia exclaimed. “Poor Rusty! What happened? I mean, Sean wouldn’t have—”

  “Murdered Rusty?” Zach completed Talia’s sentence. He shook his head firmly. “Sean wouldn’t kill anyone.”

  “Of course he wouldn’t.” Talia looked at Nancy. “What can we do to help?”

  “Just stay here while George and I go pick him up,” Nancy said. “I’m sure we’ll find out everything that’s happened to him soon.” She looked uncertainly at Bess. “George and I should probably just go by ourselves, Bess. Sean may not feel up to seeing too many people right now.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Bess said quickly. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”

  Ten minutes later Nancy was parking in front of the Key West Police Department. It was just about three o’clock. She and George jumped out of the car and hurried across the street to the tiny police station. Nancy smiled to see that the station was painted robin’s egg blue.

  Inside, they spotted Sean sitting on a plain wooden bench in the lobby. He was going over some papers with a young woman dressed in a tailored linen suit. Sean’s face was worn and haggard.

  “Sean!” George cried out. The young man’s eyes lit up when he spotted her and Nancy.

  “Hi, there.” Sean reached up and squeezed George’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re here. George, Nancy, this is my attorney, Karen Miller. She’s already posted my bail, so I’m free to go—for the moment.”

  “Sean told me all about you, Nancy,” Karen said, shaking hands. “We may need your help to get Sean out of this mess.”

  “Tell me exactly what happened,” Nancy urged.

  Karen glanced around at the other people waiting in the lobby. “Let’s step outside so we can talk privately,” she suggested.

  The four of them headed for a small park that was next door to the station.

  “How serious is the evidence against Sean?” Nancy asked after they were seated on a stone bench.

  “Very serious, I’m afraid,” Karen said. “Tell her what happened, Sean.”

  Sean sighed. “When I left you guys to look for Rusty, I found a note on my windshield. It was from Rusty. He asked me to meet him at a boat house on the south side of the island.”

  “Did you go by yourself?” Nancy asked.

  Sean nodded. “I know I should have let someone know where I was going—but I was too impatient to confront Rusty,” he admitted.

  “Then what happened?” George asked.

  “When I got to the boat house, I thought it was deserted. There was a door on the side that was open, so I went in. It was very dark, and almost immediately I stumbled over something,” Sean said. “It was Rusty’s body.” He shuddered. “I was so shocked, I couldn’t think straight. I reached down to feel if he was still breathing. He wasn’t, of course. That’s when I felt some kind of metal rod lying next to him. I picked it up and took it outside to check it out. In the sunlight I saw that it was a fishing spear.”

  “A fishing spear!” George repeated. “What was that doing in the boat house?”

  “It was the murder weapon,” Nancy guessed.

  “Yes,” Karen answered.

  “That means your fingerprints are all over it,” Nancy commented. She tried not to sound as distressed as she felt.

  Sean nodd
ed miserably. “I dropped the spear when I saw what it was and flagged down a passing patrol car. They asked me a lot of questions, of course. After I mentioned the stolen ingot and how mad I was at Rusty, they brought me to the station.”

  Nancy sat quietly for a moment, thinking about how serious Sean’s situation was. Finally she spoke. “This whole thing sounds like a setup to me. Sean, I’m wondering if you were intentionally framed, or whether Rusty really did want to speak with you, leading you to stumble onto the murder scene.”

  “That brings up the question of why Rusty was killed,” Karen added.

  Nancy nodded. “I’d like to see the note from Rusty that you found on your windshield,” she said to Sean.

  Karen pulled a paper out of her briefcase. “This is a photocopy of the note I turned over to the police.”

  Nancy studied the handwriting on the note, which was a heavy scrawl. “Is this Rusty’s handwriting?” she asked Sean.

  He held the note up. “No,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Now that I think about it, Rusty always printed in block letters. I guess I was on such a tear, I didn’t even notice the handwriting.”

  “Then I’d say somebody definitely tried to set you up for his murder,” Nancy said. “Can you think of anyone whose handwriting matches this note—say, anyone on your crew?”

  Sean shook his head. “I can’t really remember,” he said. He seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

  “Don’t worry about it right now.” Nancy turned to Karen then. “I’d like a copy of this note, if you don’t mind.”

  “Keep that one,” Karen told her. “I have another in my briefcase. The fact that the handwriting isn’t Rusty’s should help Sean’s case.” She turned to face Nancy. “I’d appreciate any information you dig up about the real murderer, Nancy,” she said. “The police feel they have their suspect, so they might not be motivated to look any further. Meanwhile, I’ll use a connection I have in Miami to help with the case.”

  Nancy suddenly remembered that she hadn’t told Sean about the mysterious bearded man who had followed her that day.