Sea of Suspicion Read online

  “So you do expect to find the treasure nearby?” Nancy asked Sean.

  Talia shook her head. “The treasure from these old ships is rarely in one spot—the years and currents spread it over many miles,” she explained. “But the fact that we found the anchor means we’re getting closer to the mother lode.”

  “Mother lode?” George echoed. “What’s that?”

  “It’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” Zach said softly. He leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. “The main pile of treasure—chests of gold and silver bars and chains. It’s what every treasure diver spends his life dreaming about.”

  “What happens after you find the treasure?” Nancy asked, taking a sip of her soup. “Do you share it?”

  “Some get more than others,” Zach snapped, glowering at Sean. “Most of us work for pennies and promises.” He rose from the table. “I’ve got work to do,” he said, and headed for the companionway that led up to the deck.

  “What was that about?” Nancy asked in the silence that followed his exit.

  Sean shifted uncomfortably. “Zach feels he’s entitled to a larger share of the treasure than I’ve promised him,” he said. “The lion’s share of it will go to taxes and the investors. I couldn’t afford to give him a bigger share, even if I wanted to.” He heaved a sigh, and Nancy knew that the pressure of the past couple of days was weighing heavily on him.

  George reached over and playfully shook Sean’s shoulder. “Come on, Mr. Mahoney,” she said, stacking the dirty bowls. “Let’s drown our troubles in a sink of soapy dishwater.”

  “You’ve got a deal,” Sean said, managing a grin.

  While he and George started clearing the table, Nancy turned the case over in her mind. Zach’s outburst made her think. Perhaps she shouldn’t be concentrating wholly on Talia as a suspect. It was obvious now that Zach had his own ax to grind when it came to Sean.

  She stood up abruptly and joined George and Sean at the sink. “I’ll give you a hand with the drying,” she said, grabbing a towel. She continued drying dishes until she saw Talia get up and head topside. “I’d like to look through Zach’s things,” she said quietly to Sean.

  “Why?” he asked in a surprised tone.

  “He was pretty upset when he left the table,” Nancy explained. “It just makes sense to check him out.”

  Sean shook his head. “Zach’s an old buddy of mine from way back—I don’t think he could be involved in any of this,” he said. Then he shrugged. “But if you insist . . .” He tried unsuccessfully to open a nearby storage cabinet. “I guess he locked his stuff up today. He doesn’t usually do that,” Sean said, puzzled. He reached in his pocket and dug out a small silver key. “Fortunately, my master key opens everything on board.”

  “Thanks,” Nancy replied, glancing back to make sure they were still alone.

  Sean understood her concern. “George and I will go up top and make sure Talia and Zach are kept busy,” he told her.

  As soon as she was alone in the galley, Nancy unlocked Zach’s locker and rummaged through his things. She found a “To Do” list that the mate had written and could see right away that Zach’s handwriting didn’t match that on Sean’s note.

  Nancy kept searching. The only unusual item she found was a paperback stuffed into the bottom of his boat bag. It was a book of ghost stories. Zach obviously was a believer when it came to the supernatural, Nancy thought to herself. She relocked the locker with a sigh. If Zach had anything to do with Rusty’s murder or the sabotage of Sean’s boat, the evidence was not there.

  Nancy felt the cabin vibrate as the Lady Jane’s engines were revved up. Sean popped his head into the galley. “We’re heading back to the marina,” he announced. “I want to stay out here and keep searching for the treasure, but I have to meet with my lawyer.” He lowered his voice. “Did you find anything incriminating in Zach’s locker?” he whispered.

  Nancy shook her head. Then she remembered that she hadn’t told him about her suspicions regarding Talia Ortiz. Quickly Nancy described Talia’s meeting with Leif Dorning, and the letter in which she blamed Sean for her brother’s death.

  Sean’s face sagged. “I’m not surprised that Talia blames me for Jaime’s death,” he said. “I blame myself. I should have triple-checked those air tanks that day. But I am surprised by her meeting with Dorning,” he continued with an angry edge to his voice. “I wonder if she’s spilled any confidential information about our expedition.”

  “It’s possible,” Nancy replied, “which makes her the likely sabotage suspect. Who knows? If Dorning is the one trying to frame you for Rusty’s murder, she might have helped him with that, too.”

  Sean narrowed his green eyes. “I can’t believe that Talia would be involved in something like that.”

  “I hope I’m wrong,” Nancy said quickly. “In any case, I need to gather more evidence before we can confront her with any of this.”

  Just then George appeared behind Sean. “Take a break, you two,” she said, grinning. “Come up top. It’s a glorious day to be out on the water!”

  Nancy accompanied George and Sean topside. George was right—it was a spectacular afternoon. The ocean was blue and calm, broken only by the thinnest whitecaps. A family of dolphins followed them most of the way back to the marina, frolicking playfully as they arched across the Lady Jane’s wake.

  Nancy leaned against the railing and watched, enthralled.

  As they pulled into the marina, Nancy spotted Bess standing on the dock, waving to them. A tall, well-built guy was standing next to her. Something about him was very familiar to Nancy. When she looked at him again, her heart soared. It was Ned!

  Nancy was the first person off the boat. She practically flew onto the dock and into Ned’s waiting arms.

  “Hey, Drew,” Ned whispered into her ear. “I couldn’t stay away from you, it turns out.” He held her tightly against him.

  Nancy buried her face in Ned’s shoulder. She was so happy to see him it made her knees weak. “I’m glad to see you, Ned,” she finally managed to whisper.

  “Is that all you can say?” Ned asked teasingly. He gently lifted her face toward his, and then their lips melted together in a long, sizzling kiss.

  “You have no idea how hard it was for me not to spill the beans about Ned’s coming!” Bess giggled. “Ned and I have been plotting this since before we left River Heights. Thank goodness I had my sunburn to use as an excuse, so I could stay behind and pick him up at the Key West airport.”

  “You took a puddle jumper from Miami?” Nancy asked Ned.

  He nodded. “I only have a few days off, so I wanted to get here as fast as possible,” he explained. “Bess drove me straight here from the airport and explained that you’ve taken on a new case.”

  By now everyone was clustered together on the dock. Nancy introduced Ned to Sean and the crew. “I’ll go to the hotel with you, Ned. Then I’m afraid I’ve got a couple of things to take care of before dinner,” Nancy said, remembering her plan to check out the Sea Scorpion.

  Sean drew her aside. “Take the afternoon off, Nancy,” he said quietly. “You’ve been working hard ever since you got here. I insist you cool it for a little while.”

  “That’s right, Nancy.” George grinned. “That will give Sean the perfect excuse to take a break, too, after he talks to his lawyer.”

  Sean smiled into George’s eyes. “We’ll take that walk on the beach I’ve been promising you.”

  Bess smiled and patted her pocketbook. “I’ve been itching to do a little shopping in Mallory Square,” she said. “One of our guidebooks says it’s the place to buy fabulous hand-printed skirts. I plan to blow a bundle,” she added mischievously.

  “I guess that settles it,” Nancy said to Ned. “We’re on our own for a romantic afternoon.”

  “Sounds really great to me.” Ned grinned.

  After taking Bess to Mallory Square, Nancy and Ned went to the Sunset Cove Inn. Ned picked up his key from the desk
, and he and Nancy took the stairs to his room on the second floor.

  Ned opened the door and dropped his bags. “This is great,” he said, nodding at the view. “I love being able to see the water.”

  They were interrupted by a loud knock on the door just then. Nancy opened it to find a food service cart sitting outside in the hallway.

  “That’s weird,” Ned said, coming up behind her. “We didn’t order anything. They must have brought it to the wrong room.”

  The tray on the serving cart was covered with a large metal warming cover. “I wonder why the waiter didn’t wait to make sure we got this,” he mused, lifting the lid.

  Nancy gasped in horror. “Ned, look at that!” she exclaimed.

  “Ugh!” he cried, dropping the lid. He and Nancy recoiled as they stared down at what lay on the plate.

  Sitting on a bed of lettuce was a hideous human skull! Wedged between its teeth was a note. Gingerly Nancy removed the paper and read its message aloud.

  “ ‘Keep away from the Ninfa Marina,’ ” the note warned, “ ‘or you’ll be the next to die!’ ”

  Chapter

  Eight

  NANCY SPRINTED down the hallway, trying to catch whoever had left the skull and note. Her pulse was racing from the shock.

  Nancy reached the end of the hallway and peered down the stairwell. She managed to catch a glimpse of brown hair as the door at the bottom of the stairs was closing.

  “Stop!” Nancy called after him. She flew down the steps, taking them two at a time with Ned right behind her.

  When they reached the bottom, Nancy flung open the door and found herself standing in the gravel parking lot. A car engine roared to life off to her left. A moment later a gray sedan flew past her and peeled out of the parking lot, throwing up a spurt of gravel and dust. Nancy saw the driver—it was the mysterious bearded man.

  Who is that guy? she wondered. She knew she had to find out.

  Nancy turned to Ned.

  “We lost him!” she muttered. “And the license plates were so muddy I couldn’t get a number.” Nancy knew the man had purposely smeared the plates with mud because they had been obliterated the day before, too.

  “Lost who?” Ned asked. “Nancy, what’s this all about? Does he have something to do with this new case?”

  Nancy filled him in on the most recent developments. “The man we were chasing is the same person who followed me to the marina yesterday,” Nancy said. “I don’t know who he is, but I’m sure he’s the one who left that skull outside your door.”

  Nancy and Ned returned to his room to inspect the skull that was still staring up from the serving tray.

  “Obviously the bearded guy is trying to scare me off the case,” Nancy said. “But why?” She walked into Ned’s room and picked up the telephone.

  “Who are you calling?” Ned wanted to know.

  “Room service,” Nancy replied, punching in some numbers. “I want to find out if anyone knew that cart was sent up here.”

  Nancy spoke briefly with the person in charge of room service before hanging up. She looked at Ned. “They don’t have any record of sending an order to this floor, but one of their carts is missing,” she told him. “Our mystery man must have ‘borrowed’ it for his little errand.”

  Nancy then filled Ned in on the other suspects, including Leif Dorning, Talia Ortiz, and Zach Hardwick. “Our bearded man must be working with one of them, but I haven’t been able to figure out how he fits into the whole picture.”

  “What do you want to do now?” Ned asked. “You aren’t about to be scared off the case, are you?”

  “No way.” Nancy shook her head with determination. She peered at the note in her hands. “Wait a minute,” she said. “This handwriting is the same heavy scrawl as that on Sean’s note.”

  “What did Sean’s note say?” Ned asked.

  “Sean found it on his car the day Rusty was killed,” Nancy explained. “It told him to meet Rusty at an old boat house. The same place, of course, where Rusty lay dead.”

  “So you think this bearded guy killed Rusty,” Ned said, more worried now. “Nancy, he could be very dangerous.”

  “I know,” Nancy said. “That’s why it’s important that we nab him as soon as possible.”

  “Well, I’m going to stick to you like glue,” Ned said seriously. “Consider me your personal bodyguard until this is over.”

  “You know I can take care of myself, but I do love the attention.” Nancy threw her arms around her boyfriend and gave him a big bear hug.

  “What’s the next step?” Ned asked.

  “I’ve got to find a way to get on Leif Dorning’s boat,” Nancy said, checking her watch. “Hank Morley told me he saw the bearded man there. I need to find evidence linking Dorning to either the murder or the sabotage. I also need to confirm that Talia is his contact on the Lady Jane. It’s very possible that Dorning is behind this whole thing. I do want to stop by Hank’s place to see if he can remember anything else about the bearded guy that could help us.”

  At five o’clock Nancy and Ned pulled into the parking lot of the King Point Marina. She and Ned walked over to Hank Morley’s diving and engine shop. They found Hank working in a metal shack beside the shop. He was soldering some wires on a small, cigar-shaped craft. It resembled the submersible on the Lady Jane.

  Nancy introduced Ned to the shop owner, then asked, “Is that an underwater submersible, Hank?”

  “Yeah,” Hank said. “I’m repairing it for a big client.” He patted the submersible’s hull appreciatively. “I wish I could afford high-tech gear like this. My old tub’s docked right there,” he said, pointed to an aging wooden boat that was moored in the waterway just beyond the shop’s front door. Hank lowered his voice. “You hear anything about Sean, Nancy? Have the police figured out who murdered Rusty? No one around here believes Sean did it.”

  “I don’t know anything more than you do, I’m afraid,” Nancy said carefully. She didn’t want to go into details since she still wasn’t sure who the culprit was. She also didn’t want anybody else to find out that she was investigating.

  “Poor Sean,” Hank said. “I’d hate to see him go to jail for something he didn’t do.”

  “Hank, I wanted to try to jog your memory about the bearded man who ran through your shop the other day,” Nancy said. “Can you remember anything else about him—like when it was you last saw him on Dorning’s ship? Could he have been a member of Dorning’s crew?”

  Hank thought for a moment. “I think I saw him there pretty recently,” the shopkeeper said slowly. “But I can’t say for sure.” He paused for a minute to question Nancy. “Do you think that guy had something to do with Rusty’s murder?”

  “It’s possible,” Nancy replied quickly. She said goodbye to Hank and returned to the parking lot with Ned.

  As soon as they got back in the car, Nancy turned to Ned. “Let’s go to the marina where the Sea Scorpion is anchored,” she said. “Maybe I can figure out a way to get on board without being spotted.”

  They drove across the island to a large commercial marina. Nancy scoured the marina for the sleek black boat, but it was nowhere around.

  “Dorning must have gone out for the day,” Nancy said, stifling her disappointment. “We’ll just wait until he comes back in.”

  “Now that we’re here, we might as well order dinner even if it is early,” Ned said, patting his stomach. “I’m really hungry. The lunch I got on the plane would’ve starved a bird.”

  “Good idea,” Nancy agreed.

  She and Ned took a table near the back of the dockside café so they wouldn’t be noticed. Then they feasted on a wonderful meal of broiled sole and roasted potatoes.

  They were still sitting and enjoying the view at sunset. As Nancy was finishing a cup of tea, she spotted the Sea Scorpion heading into port.

  “There’s the boat,” Nancy announced triumphantly. They watched as Dorning and his two crew members quickly tied up the Sea Scorpion. Do
rning locked the big sliding glass door that led into the ship’s main cabin; then everyone disembarked.

  Nancy scanned the crew, hoping to spot the bearded man, but he was nowhere in sight. She glanced at her watch. “Seven-thirty,” she said. “They’re probably done for the day. I just hope they’ll stay gone long enough for me to check out the boat.”

  “How do you plan to get onto her?” Ned asked.

  Nancy pulled out a leather pouch that contained her special lock-picking tools. “I never leave home without them.” She grinned.

  As soon as Dorning and his crew were gone, Nancy and Ned walked onto the dock as if they were tourists taking an after-dinner stroll. Nancy surveyed the Sea Scorpion. The sleek black ship was smaller than the Lady Jane, but it was outfitted with the same high tech treasure-hunting equipment. Nancy hoped there wasn’t a high-tech alarm on board, as well.

  Nancy turned to Ned. “Why don’t you wait for me back on shore—I’ll attract much less attention by myself,” she said.

  Ned nodded. “I’ll move the car down by the last dock, so we can take off when you’re done,” he suggested.

  “Good idea,” Nancy replied, turning and strolling casually onto the Sea Scorpion’s deck.

  Whipping out her lock-picking tools, Nancy quickly got the main door down to the cabins open. She waited a moment, then sighed—no alarm had sounded.

  Nancy stepped boldly down the few steps into what appeared to be the galley. Several wooden doors led off the main cabin into smaller bunkrooms. Nancy opened doors until she found the main stateroom near the front of the ship. She figured it had to be Dorning’s cabin.

  Nancy briskly set about checking out Dorning’s possessions. She peered at the walls, which were plastered with dozens of pictures of Dorning holding various trophies. He isn’t exactly shy about his accomplishments, Nancy thought to herself. Her eye was drawn to one photo in particular. It was a picture of Dorning with Talia Ortiz. They were standing on the deck of the Sea Scorpion—entwined in an embrace!