The Clue of the Gold Doubloons Read online

  Heights where almost everyone knows I'm a detective.

  Besides, a good investigator suspects everybody.”

  “Well, we're not guilty, that's for sure.” George fell

  onto her bed. “We were in here all night snoring

  happily.”

  “Right,” Nancy replied as she stopped at the end of

  her bed to take off her jeans. “George, did you notice

  the gold coin on the bed in the room that was

  burglarized?”

  “A coin?” George mumbled, her head buried in her

  pillow.

  “Yes. Just like the doubloons we're using for props in

  the movie.”

  George's head popped up. “You're kidding.”

  “No.” Sitting on the bed, Nancy pulled off her shirt.

  “I wouldn't have thought much about it except I keep

  remembering the mysterious person in the cargo area.”

  “Do you think there's a connection?” George asked.

  “Could be.” Nancy yawned sleepily as she crawled

  under the covers.

  “Tomorrow we need to tell Daniel and Andrew what

  happened,” she continued. “Sooner or later Detective

  Weller will figure out where the coin came from.” She

  sighed. “I just hope it's later. Until then, I want to do a

  little investigating myself. Let's hope that doubloon

  had nothing to do with the robbery.”

  On Tuesday morning Nancy and George hurried to

  the Swift Adventure. Most of the cast and crew were

  onboard, eating and talking. Janie had laid out a buffet

  breakfast of doughnuts, bagels, fruit, and juice on a

  makeshift table on the quarterdeck.

  “Looks delicious,” George said as she made a

  beeline for a box of doughnuts.

  “Save me a glazed,” Nancy called. She needed to

  talk to Andrew and Daniel as soon as possible.

  The twins were standing by the stern railing, talking

  to a man in a dress shirt and tie. “Five hundred

  dollars?” Nancy heard Andrew exclaim. “For a couple

  of sticks of wood!”

  When Nancy drew closer, she saw that they were

  standing next to the broken railing where Harold had

  fallen overboard.

  “Not just sticks of wood, Mr. Wagner,” the man

  explained. “They have to be carefully crafted to match

  the existing rail.”

  “Look, just give me a knife and a chunk of wood and

  I'll whittle one myself,” Andrew retorted. He ran his

  fingers through his hair, obviously exasperated. And

  tired, Nancy thought, noting the dark circles under his

  eyes.

  The man gave him an annoyed look. “I can tell you

  don't value historical accuracy.”

  Daniel chuckled. He wore his usual baggy shorts

  and shirt. A bright red bandanna was tied around his

  head. “That's what I've been telling him all week, Mr.

  Perry. He keeps buying props from toy stores and

  discount places.”

  Perry. Nancy remembered the name. He was the

  man from the historical society whom Janie had dealt

  with when she'd requested permission to use the ship

  for the film.

  “I will send you the estimate tomorrow,” Mr. Perry

  continued. “It will probably take a week for the job to

  get done. Until then, the carpenters will make a

  temporary railing. For safety's sake, keep this area off-

  limits. When the new railing is finished, I will expect

  you to pay the bill promptly. Good day.”

  He turned so quickly that he almost bumped into

  Nancy. With a terse “Excuse me,” he left.

  Andrew's scowling gaze shifted to Nancy. “Good

  morning, assistant director.”

  “Why was he in such a huff?” Nancy asked.

  Daniel laughed. “It must have been Andrew's earlier

  comment about wormy old wood.”

  “I hope you brought me some good news,” Andrew

  said. “So far, this film has been jinxed.”

  Nancy wrinkled her nose. “Um, I'm afraid my

  news—”

  Just then she saw Detective Weller climb the ladder

  to the quarterdeck. Had he traced the doubloon to the

  Swift Adventure already? Nancy wondered.

  “—is not good. I was hoping to tell you before the

  police did.”

  “The police!” Andrew and Daniel said in unison.

  “The man coming onboard is with the Baltimore

  police department,” Nancy explained.

  The twins turned to see to whom she was referring.

  “What's he doing here?” Daniel asked in a low voice.

  Nancy opened her mouth to give them a brief

  explanation, but Weller was already striding across the

  deck, his attention focused on Nancy.

  “Why, if it isn't Ms. Drew.” Pulling the pad from his

  pocket, he flipped back the pages, then read, “River

  Heights. Heard nothing unusual.”

  Nancy smiled politely. “That's me.”

  “What's going on?” Andrew demanded.

  Weller turned his intense gaze on him. “And you

  are?”

  Andrew and Daniel introduced themselves, then

  Andrew repeated his question. Detective Weller

  explained about the burglary and finding the gold

  doubloon.

  “So what?” Andrew propped his hands on his hips.

  “Why do you think it came from here?”

  “We got an anonymous tip,” Weller explained.

  An anonymous tip! “What did the caller say?” Nancy

  asked.

  “Someone phoned 911 early this morning,” Weller

  explained. “They told the operator that the gold

  doubloon found in the burglarized room came from

  this ship.”

  “Wait a minute,” Nancy said to Weller. “Don't you

  think that's suspicious? If the coin didn't belong to the

  guests, then the burglar must have left it, which meant

  he or she called in the tip.”

  “Perhaps.” Weller glanced around the ship as if

  expecting to spot the robber in the crowd.

  “I'm very confused here,” Daniel said. “Will

  someone explain to me what's going on?”

  Nancy filled in Daniel and Andrew about the last

  night's burglaries and the gold doubloon. Then she

  turned back to Detective Weller. “Was there a coin in

  every room that was burglarized?”

  “Good deduction, Ms. Drew.” He held out a piece

  of paper. “I have a search warrant. I'd appreciate it if

  one of you would show me where the doubloons are

  kept and give me a list of people who have access to

  them.”

  “Officer, uh, Mr., uh, whoever you are,” Andrew

  sputtered. “We have a film to shoot. Unless you are

  accusing us of—”

  “I'll take him,” Nancy cut in before Andrew made

  Weller angry. “The box of coins is in one of the cabins

  that's being used as a dressing room,” she explained as

  she led the detective down the ladder to the main

  deck.

  A police officer was standing at the top of the

  gangplank. Nancy glanced at her watch. The tour

  groups started in half an hour. She wondered if the

  police were going to keep them from coming onto the

  ship.
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br />   “Ms. Drew.” Detective Weller stopped Nancy

  before they went down the steps into steerage. “Don't

  you think it's more than a coincidence that you, a

  person who obviously knows about the coins, are also a

  guest on the floor that was robbed?”

  Cocking one brow, Nancy gave him a cool look.

  Actually, it was just the kind of question she would

  have asked. “Yes,” she replied honestly. “And if you

  doubt my innocence, I suggest you call Chief McGinnis

  of the River Heights Police Department.”

  Weller wrote the name on his pad. “I think I'll do

  just that.”

  Nancy made her way through the dark passageway

  to the dressing room. The box of doubloons was still

  stashed under the bed.

  Nancy considered telling Weller how she'd almost

  caught someone trying to take them, then stopped

  herself. If the detective thought she was involved in the

  burglaries, he would think she'd made up the story to

  cast suspicion on someone else.

  It looked more and more as if the mysterious person

  in the cargo hold had indeed been after the doubloons,

  Nancy thought. She decided to do some investigating

  as soon as she had the chance to look around on her

  own.

  “This room isn't kept locked?” Weller asked.

  “No. Only cast and crew are allowed down here,

  though,” Nancy said.

  Weller exhaled loudly. “Then we'll have to interview

  everyone.”

  Squatting, he opened the box and took out one of

  the coins. “Identical to the one on the bed. Who

  purchased them for the film?”

  “I believe Daniel Wagner did. Eli Wakefield is in

  charge of props, so he might be able to tell you where

  they came from.”

  “Thank you.” He followed Nancy to the ship's waist,

  then excused himself to go to his police car. Nancy

  climbed the steps to the quarterdeck. George, Janie,

  Selena, Andrew, Daniel, and several other cast and

  crew members were huddled in a circle, talking.

  Nancy heard Karl Kidd's loud voice bellow, “It was

  pirates, all right. Who else would be brazen enough to

  rob landlubbers in a posh hotel?”

  “Sounds like you want to invite these cunning

  cutthroats to join the cast,” Daniel joked.

  “Did Weller come to his senses and decide we had

  nothing to do with the robbery?” Andrew asked when

  Nancy came over.

  She grimaced. “Not exactly. In fact, he's probably

  requesting more officers so he can interview

  everybody.”

  Andrew threw his hands up in the air. “That's great.

  More delays. Just what I need on top of a five-

  hundred-dollar repair bill.”

  “Maybe this ship is haunted by the ghost of

  Blackbeard,” Janie said in a spooky-sounding voice.

  “He's telling us he doesn't want this film made.”

  Everyone laughed, except Andrew, who rapped on

  his clipboard. “Attention. We're doing a dress rehearsal

  of scene three in fifteen minutes. Daniel, Selena, and

  George, we need—”

  While Andrew was giving instructions, Nancy

  slipped away. She wanted to do her investigating

  before Weller came back.

  Quickly, she headed down the steps into steerage,

  then down the ladder into the cargo area. This time she

  took a flashlight. If someone had stolen the doubloons,

  he or she might have left a clue. If so, Nancy was

  determined to find it before the police swarmed over

  the ship.

  When she reached the cargo area, she carefully

  searched behind boxes and bags but found nothing

  unusual. Flicking on the flashlight, she went into the

  passageway that led from the cargo area into the belly

  of the ship.

  Nancy shivered. It was dark, damp, and musty. After

  taking ten cautious steps, she beamed the light around,

  trying to get her bearings.

  She was in the top cargo where the pumps were

  located. Passing a section of the huge, round mainmast,

  she stopped and peered into a dark hole that led to the

  ship's hold. Below that was the bilge, the lowest part of

  the ship's hull.

  Nancy shone the light into the hold. She didn't think

  the person fleeing from the cargo area would have

  gone below since he or she would have been trapped.

  Her guess was the person ran for the hatch in the ship's

  bow.

  She made her way along another passage until she

  came to a ladder in a room filled with wooden barrels

  and boxes. Raising the flashlight's beam, she found the

  rectangular outline of the bow hatch. When she

  climbed the ladder, she was able to push up one of the

  doors. Despite what Andrew had said the day before,

  no one had come down and locked it.

  Nancy was climbing down the ladder when a

  movement behind a barrel made her freeze. Heart

  thumping, she aimed the light at the barrel,

  illuminating a scrap of light-colored fabric.

  Nancy stifled a gasp. Someone was hiding behind

  the barrel!

  5. A Crew of Thieves

  Nancy's first thought was to flee up the ladder onto the

  main deck. But she checked herself. She had to find

  out who was hiding in the hold. The person could be

  the key to the burglaries.

  “Who's there?” she called in a firm voice. “Come out

  with your hands in front of you before I call the

  police.”

  “Take it easy,” a deep voice said. A second later a

  man stepped from behind the barrel, his arms held

  away from his sides. “I'm unarmed.”

  Frowning, Nancy kept the light directed on the

  man's face. He blinked, then turned his head away. He

  was dressed casually in a white, short-sleeve shirt and

  jeans. His dark hair was wavy, his skin tan. Nancy

  figured he was in his mid-twenties. An expensive-

  looking camera hung from a strap around his neck.

  “Who are you and what are you doing here?” she

  demanded.

  “I'm Joseph Mascelli, a reporter for the Baltimore

  City Express,” the man explained. “My press card is

  clipped to my shirt pocket.”

  Nancy lowered the beam to the photo on the card,

  which matched the man's face. “What are you doing

  down here?”

  “Uh,” Mascelli began. “I'm trying to get a story on

  the film.”

  Nancy raised one brow. “Good try, but I don't buy

  it. You'd be on deck, interviewing Selena Ramirez.”

  “I took the wrong ladder?” Mascelli quipped.

  “No, and if you don't come up with the right answer,

  I'm going to scream, alerting the cops who are

  boarding right about now. You'll be charged with

  trespassing, since this area is closed off to the public.”

  “In that case, I guess I have no choice.” Still

  squinting, Mascelli turned his head toward her. “Do

  you mind shining that thing somewhere else?”

  Nancy tapped her foot. “I'm waiting.”

  “Al
l right.” Mascelli dropped his arms by his sides. “I

  got an anonymous tip about the burglary at the

  Harborside Hotel. Something about pirates and gold

  doubloons. I figured it had to be connected with the

  film.”

  Another anonymous tip! Nancy bit her lip, trying to

  figure out who was so eager to throw suspicion on the

  movie's cast and crew. When she'd first been alerted to

  someone behind the barrel, she thought she might

  have caught her mysterious snooper. Obviously,

  Mascelli wasn't him—or her.

  “Now, how about telling me who you are?” Mascelli

  asked.

  “The film's assistant director,” Nancy said. “And I

  suggest if you have any other questions, you ask for an

  interview instead of sneaking around the ship.”

  “Good idea.” He pulled a small tape recorder from

  his pocket and clicked it on. “So tell me. Ms., uh . . .”

  “Drew.”

  “Drew. Are the rumors true? Were gold doubloons

  left in the burglarized rooms? Are pirates involved in

  the thefts at the Harborside Hotel?”

  Nancy smiled in mock-innocence. “No comment.

  Now, may I escort you off the ship?”

  With a snort of annoyance, Mascelli switched the

  recorder off. “You really should talk to me. I'll get my

  story one way or another.”

  “You can ask the director of the film, Andrew

  Wagner, for an interview,” she suggested.

  Nancy heard the thudding of hard-soled shoes on

  the deck above. Stepping away from the ladder, she

  gestured to the hatch. “You first.”

  Scowling, Mascelli went up the ladder, pushing

  open both hatch doors. Bright sunshine poured into

  the hold, and when Nancy climbed out, she had to

  shade her eyes.

  Two uniformed officers had boarded with Detective

  Weller. The three men stood talking on the waist,

  unaware that Nancy or Mascelli had just ascended

  from the hold.

  “No one is to leave the ship until everyone has been

  interviewed,” Weller said, loudly enough for Nancy to

  hear. “We need to check out everyone's alibis, noting

  where they were between the hours of midnight and

  one in the morning. My hunch is someone in the cast

  or crew is our thief. And I want to catch that person

  now.”

  Raising his camera to his eye, Mascelli snapped

  several pictures without the officers knowing. Then,

  turning to face Nancy, he gave her a cocky grin. “Well,

  Ms. Drew, it looks as if I got my big scoop after all.”