Curse of the Arctic Star Read online

  “You guys go ahead. I’ll hang here and people watch,” I said. “Just tell Bess to grab me some souvenirs if she sees anything good.”

  I turned to gaze out over the railing as he headed after the others. Most of Creek Street was laid out on a gentle curve, following the creek’s meandering course, and I had a pretty good view of the walkways farther along. I rested my elbows on the railing, enjoying the feel of the sun on my face, and idly watched for any sighting of Wendy, Tobias, or Baraz while my mind returned to the case.

  Not that I had any new brainstorms. I felt as if we were going in circles, trying to match up suspects, motives, and most of all opportunity. What did anyone onboard have to gain? Sure, there was Wendy—it was possible that she was drumming up action and scandal so she could report it on her blog and attract more readers. But how did that motive fit in with the threat that had made Brock Walker cancel? She’d mentioned his absence in one of her blog entries, but only briefly.

  Then there was Tobias. He definitely had a motive—he’d made no secret of the fact that he didn’t want to be on the ship. And of course the tarantula incident almost had to be his doing, even if he wouldn’t admit it. But I found it hard to believe he could have pulled off the pool incident so soon after arriving on the ship. And even if we threw his parents into the mix and assumed that they’d overheard me talking somehow, it seemed unlikely that any of them could have slipped that note into my suitcase. Or tampered with the heating and cooling systems on the lower decks, for that matter.

  And what about Hiro? He’d been around for the mini-golf incident, and fairly close by when the “body” had been discovered in the pool. And I was pretty sure that I hadn’t imagined that weird look Becca had given him. If we assumed the spider thing was a red herring, he might have been able to pull off just about everything else. But again, why?

  Chewing my lower lip and squinting out at the sunlight glinting off the water, I tried to figure out if I was missing anything, overlooking any suspects. My mind flashed to Tatjana, who might have overheard me talking about the case. She was clearly several years older than Becca, but had mentioned reporting to her. Did she resent that? Could she be trying to make her up-and-coming young boss look bad, hoping to steal her job? Then I thought about Mr. Hawaiian Shirt, who always seemed to be hanging around behind the scenes and making cryptic comments. Could he have a motive we didn’t know about?

  But no matter how I tried to reorder everything, shuffling and reshuffling suspects, motives, and clues, I just couldn’t put it all together in a way that made sense. All I knew was that someone was causing all sorts of trouble for the Arctic Star, and I needed to figure out who and why before someone really got hurt.

  There was a sudden burst of activity behind me, and I glanced back just in time to see an ocean of red hair flooding my way. It was the family reunion group from the ship. The ABCs, who really did seem to know everything, had informed the table at dinner last night that the family’s name was O’Malley, and that its members hailed from all over the country and even overseas and were more than two dozen strong. I smiled as I watched a four- or five-year-old girl with bright red pigtails race eagerly toward the gift shop where my friends had gone.

  “Mary! Wait for me—you don’t want to slip and fall in the water!” a woman shouted, hurrying after the little girl. She spotted me as she rushed past, and gave me a quick smile of recognition. “Oh, hello!”

  “Hi,” I said, though she was already gone. I squeezed back against the handrail, trying to stay out of the way as the rest of the group crowded past me, shouting and laughing and clearly having a ball.

  Hearing a shriek from somewhere farther down the walkway, I glanced that way, hoping that little Mary hadn’t gotten into trouble. I couldn’t see her or her mother in the ever-shifting crowd, but just then I caught a sudden flurry of movement behind me, just at the corner of my eye.

  “Hey!” I blurted out as I felt something slam into the backs of my knees. My legs buckled, my feet went out from under me, and I went flying backward. I scrabbled for a hold, but it was too late—I felt my lower back bounce off the stiff wood of the railing, and then there was nothing but air between me and the ice-cold water rushing along far below.

  “Help!” I shrieked.

  SPLASH!

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Putting the Pieces Together

  AN HOUR LATER MY TEETH FINALLY STOPPED chattering.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” Bess bent closer, peering anxiously into my face.

  “I’ll live,” I assured her, running a hand over my damp hair. I glanced at Alan and smiled. “But it’s a really good thing I had our own personal lifeguard around to save me. Thanks again, Alan.”

  My friends and I were back on the Arctic Star. I was lying on a pool chair on the lido deck, letting the warm sun bake off the last of the bone-shivering chill of my unscheduled dip in the creek. Who knew water could be so cold in the middle of summer? It was a reminder that we really were in Alaska.

  “You’re welcome.” Alan shook his head. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I came out of that gift shop just in time to see you go flying over that railing!”

  “Good thing you did.” George grimaced, picking at a splinter on the lounge chair where she was sitting. “Bess was ready to stay in there and shop till we all dropped, so it would’ve been a while before we even noticed Nancy was missing. And with all those crazy reunion redheads running amuck, who knows if anyone would’ve heard her yelling from way down in the water?”

  I shuddered as I realized, not for the first time over the past hour, how lucky I was not to be badly hurt—or worse. Fortunately, I’d landed in a deep spot in the creek instead of on a rock or something. And I’d managed to paddle over and cling to a piling while I waited for rescue, which had come quickly thanks to Alan’s shouts for help.

  I glanced around the pool area. It was deserted except for us—and occasionally Max, who kept hustling back and forth to fetch me more hot tea or dry towels. Alan had texted him as soon as we’d arrived back onboard, and the butler had appeared almost instantly. And I had George text Becca, telling her not to worry, that I was safe and sound.

  I felt bad for pulling Max away from what was probably supposed to be a few hours off. I felt even worse for wishing I could get rid of Alan so I could discuss the case with Bess and George before the other passengers returned from their day in Ketchikan. Once again, I wondered if I should just bring him in on the secret.

  “It’s weird being practically the only ones onboard, isn’t it?” Bess commented.

  “Yeah.” Shooting a furtive look at Alan, I decided to keep the secret. It was just too complicated to explain, and he wasn’t the type of guy to accept a story like that without asking tons of questions. “Um, I just realized something—I really wanted to pick up a few postcards in Ketchikan. Think I’ve got time to run back to shore before the rest of the passengers come back?”

  “Don’t even think about it, Nancy! You need to rest after what you’ve just been through. Let me run out and get the postcards for you,” Alan insisted—just as I’d hoped he would. “How many do you want?”

  Moments later he’d disappeared in the direction of the exit. George grinned at me. “Nicely done,” she said.

  “Was I that obvious?”

  Bess rolled her eyes. “I wish we could just tell him the truth. I feel bad keeping him in the dark and sneaking around behind his back.”

  “Me too, especially after what just happened,” I admitted. “But come on, we can sit around feeling guilty later. Right now I want to find Becca. Maybe she’ll actually have more than two seconds to talk while everyone’s ashore.”

  My friends traded a look and a smile. “Even a twenty-foot fall into ice-cold Alaskan waters can’t keep our favorite sleuth down for long,” George quipped.

  “Did you expect anything less?” Bess replied.

  “Can I borrow your phone?” I asked George. “Mine’s still drying out.”


  Soon I was texting Becca. Her response came quickly: MEET AT PROMENADE SNACK BAR.

  “Good,” George said, reading the message over my shoulder. “That lady who checked us back onto the ship said that’s the only place serving food until everyone reboards later. And we never did get that snack in town, thanks to the diving detective here.”

  “Ha-ha, very funny.” I quickly texted Becca back to say we were coming, then tossed George’s phone back to her. “Let’s go.”

  When we reached the promenade deck, Becca was standing outside the snack bar, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and looking anxious. As soon as she spotted us, she rushed forward.

  “Nancy, I’m so sorry. Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, as she looked me up and down. Then she leaned in closer and said, “Something else happened.”

  “Wait—you meant there was another incident?” I said. “Did it happen onboard or in town?”

  “Onboard, about an hour ago,” Becca replied. “The big central chandelier in the main theater came down.”

  “Came down?” Bess’s eyes widened with alarm. “You mean it fell? The whole thing?”

  “Kaboom.” Becca looked grim. “Luckily, the theater was empty when it happened, so nobody was hurt. But you could hear the crash through half the ship. Freaked out a few of the guests who stayed behind. Plus of course it made a huge mess—broken glass and wiring everywhere. The theater will have to stay closed until it’s cleaned up, which means we’re scrambling to move or reschedule all the events that were supposed to happen there soon, including Merk’s big performance tonight.”

  “Whoa.” I shook my head. “So much for my theory that whoever was causing all the trouble would probably go ashore today.”

  “Please tell me you’re getting closer to figuring out who that person is.” Becca’s voice shook a little. “Because things seem to be escalating, and the guests are starting to notice.”

  I chewed my lip. “Well, most of our suspects were in Ketchikan today as far as we know.” As I said it, I realized that I didn’t really know for sure that Wendy had spent the day in town. I’d spotted her briefly on the dock when we’d disembarked but hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her since. But I put that aside for the moment. “What can you tell me about Scott, the shore excursions guy?”

  “Scott?” Becca looked surprised. “Is he a suspect?”

  “News to me,” Bess put in, raising an eyebrow.

  I shrugged. “I caught him acting a little oddly when I stepped out during the lumberjack show,” I told Bess and George. “I didn’t get a chance to fill you in before my fall.”

  “I don’t know him that well, but I know he’s worked in the industry for a while,” Becca said. “Captain Peterson himself recommended him for the job, actually. He’s not your best suspect, is he?”

  She sounded kind of unimpressed. Unfortunately, I was afraid the rest of the list wasn’t going to change that. “Um, no,” I said. “Like I said, I was just curious after seeing him today. We’ve actually been working a few other leads.”

  “Yeah.” George snorted. “Like our eight-year-old supervillain.”

  “Huh?” Becca said.

  “She means that kid Tobias,” I said, feeling kind of foolish. “Uh, after what happened with his pet spider yesterday, we thought maybe he or his parents could be behind some of the other trouble. We’re also watching Wendy Webster, that travel blogger with the weird glasses.”

  “I know who you mean. Hipster chick. Talks a lot.” Becca nodded. “You really think she could be our culprit?”

  “Maybe,” I said. “We’re also keeping an eye on one of the cameramen, Baraz. He keeps disappearing at odd times, and—what?”

  Becca had started laughing. “You can cross Baraz off your list,” she said. “I actually just found out why he kept disappearing, and it has nothing to do with sabotage.”

  “Really? What?” George asked.

  “He’s deathly seasick!” Becca announced. “Can you believe it? Most people on a cruise ship don’t even realize they’re on the water. But apparently he’s got such a killer case of motion sickness that he’s been having to run off every few minutes to barf over the side of the ship! Poor guy had no idea until it was too late, and I guess for a while he thought he could power through it. But he just fessed up and will be leaving the crew for good here in Ketchikan. Marcelo just told me about it.”

  “Wow,” I said slowly. For a moment I wondered—could Baraz’s motion sickness be a cover story? Maybe he’d guessed that we were onto him and decided to take off before he got caught. “So when did he leave the ship?”

  “Way before the chandelier came down, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Her smile faded, and she sighed. “Baraz definitely isn’t our bad guy. Whoever it is is still out there.”

  “Don’t forget to ask her about that Hiro guy,” Bess said.

  “Oh, right! Thanks for the reminder.” I glanced at Becca. Was it my imagination, or had she visibly started at the mention of Hiro’s name? “So we’ve noticed that youth coordinator guy, Hiro, always seems to be around when there’s trouble. How well do you know him?”

  “Not that well. But I doubt it’s him, either.” Becca glanced at her watch. “Listen, I just remembered I’m supposed to track down the captain about something important. Talk later?”

  “Sure, I guess . . . .” I let my voice trail off, since she was already rushing off down the promenade deck’s broad central aisle.

  “Wow, she was sure in a hurry all of a sudden,” George commented.

  I nodded, feeling uneasy. Was there something Becca wasn’t telling me?

  “Come on,” Bess said. “Let’s go in and grab something to eat while we decide what to do next.”

  We headed into the snack bar. There was a counter at one end where you could order sandwiches and other light fare. A dozen or so tables were scattered around a pleasant little courtyard with a fountain at the center. At the moment the place was nearly deserted, though one table near the fountain was occupied.

  “Check it out, look who’s here,” George said. She raised her voice. “Yo, honeymooners! What’s up?”

  Vince and Lacey glanced up and waved. “Come join us!” Lacey called.

  We got our food and then headed over to their table, though I really would have preferred to sit by ourselves so we could continue our discussion of the case. Then again, what was there to discuss? Our suspect list was pathetic, the saboteur was getting bolder and more dangerous with every stunt, and I was all out of ideas.

  “So you three are back early,” Vince commented as we sat down. “Run out of things to do in Ketchikan?”

  “Something like that,” I said, not really in the mood to discuss my accident. “How has your day been onboard? Pretty quiet?”

  “I wish!” Lacey’s hazel eyes widened. “Did you hear about the chandelier?”

  “Yeah, we heard.” I picked at my sandwich. “Crazy, huh? It’s a brand-new ship, after all. You guys didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious around the time it happened, did you?”

  George shot me a look. I could almost see the thought balloon over her head: Real subtle, detective!

  Luckily, Vince didn’t seem to think the question was weird. “We spent practically all day holed up in the gym, so we haven’t seen a soul except for the attendant.” He chuckled. “It’s always so crowded in there—we figured today was the perfect chance to not have to wait in line for our favorite machines, or share space in the sauna. It was great! Right, honey?”

  “Yeah.” Lacey still looked troubled. “Now I’m thinking we’re lucky the elliptical machine didn’t blow up or something. It’s crazy how many things are going wrong on this ship. Maybe it really is cursed!”

  “I’m sure it’s all simply a series of unfortunate coincidences,” Bess said in her most soothing tone. “It’s just too bad it had to happen on your honeymoon.”

  “Definitely.” Vince checked his watch. “Hey, sweetie, we’d be
tter roll. Iris made us an appointment to get massages before the crowds return, remember? We don’t want to be late.”

  “Okay.” Lacey stood up and smiled wanly at us. “See you at dinner.”

  “Yeah.” Vince slung an arm around her shoulders and grinned. “Don’t let the ABCs eat all the rolls before we get there, okay?”

  After they left, my friends and I sat there and finished our food. We also went back to talking, going over everything that had happened and all our possible suspects. But we still couldn’t come to any new conclusions.

  “It just doesn’t fit,” I mused, picking at my last few fries. “It’s like there’s a puzzle piece missing—some clue or connection we’re not quite getting.”

  George shrugged and popped a pickle slice into her mouth. “Maybe we should bring the ABCs in as junior detectives,” she joked. “I mean, they know everything there is to know about cruising, right? Maybe they could figure it out.”

  Bess sighed. “Or maybe we should just give up and go get a massage too,” she said. “That might help us think about all this more clearly.”

  I stared at her for a moment, then turned to look at George. “The ABCs . . . ,” I murmured, my eyes going wide as that final puzzle piece finally clicked into place in my mind. “That’s it!” I exclaimed.

  “That’s what?” Bess blinked at me. “You don’t think the ABCs are the bad guys, do you?”

  “No, but I think I just figured out who is, thanks to you two.” I jumped to my feet, grabbing my leftovers and flinging them in the general direction of the trash bin. “I just want to check one thing to confirm it before I tell Becca. Come on!”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Busted!

  “ARE YOU GOING TO TELL US WHAT YOU’RE thinking, or what?” George panted as she raced through the halls at my heels.

  “Yeah, spill it, Nancy,” Bess added.

  In response, I just put on another burst of speed. “There’s no time to explain,” I tossed back over my shoulder. “If we hurry, we should be able to get this cleared up before the rest of the passengers come back.”