Strangers on a Train (Nancy Drew Diaries #2)(14)

From there, the three of us took turns telling him the whole story. Alan’s eyes got wider and wider as we talked. When we finished, he let out a loud puff of breath.

"Wow,” he said. “This is insane!” He turned to stare at me. "And you’re some big-time girl detective? I had no idea!”

"Yes, you did,” Bess said. “I know I mentioned it a couple of times. Remember? When we saw that mystery movie on our third date, I told you Nancy would’ve had the case solved in half the time.”

“Oh, okay, right, I guess you did say something like that.” Alan shrugged. “But I didn’t think she was so, you know, serious about it. I mean, I figured her dad’s a hotshot lawyer, so she was probably just goofing around, pretending to investigate his big cases or whatever...”

“Shh,” I hissed, noticing Wendy wandering closer, staring down at the screen on her camera. "Incoming.”

“Huh?” Alan said, his voice sounding way too loud. “Hang on, I have a question—is this the real reason why Nancy is always running off to the bathroom and stuff?”

Bess pinched him on the arm. "Quiet, then,” she murmured. “We have to keep this on the down-low, okay?”

“Oh!” His eyes widened again, and he nodded, shooting a suspicious look around. "I gotcha. Top secret stuff, right?”

I cringed. This was what I’d been afraid of. Alan was so excitable—what if he blurted something out at the wrong time?

Oh well. Whatever happened, we were just going to have to deal with it. Might as well look on the bright side. Four heads were better than three, right? With Alan helping to keep an eye on our suspects, maybe we’d actually crack this case before the end of the trip.

"Come on,” I said once Wendy had passed by, luckily without noticing us. "We can talk more back at the suite later. This could be our once-in-a-lifetime chance to check out this awesome scenery.”





******





“Are you sure you want to go to the show?” Alan asked, straightening his tie and glancing into the mirrored wall in the suite’s entryway. "Wouldn’t you rather take this chance to, you know, sleuth around or whatever while the rest of the passengers are busy?” He waggled his eyebrows meaningfully.

I bit back a sigh. "No, it’s fine,” I said, double-checking to make sure Max was safely out of earshot in one of the bedrooms. “I’m sure most of our suspects will be there tonight. Two birds with one stone and all that.”

"Right.” Bess reached up to flick a speck of lint off Alan’s sleeve. "Besides, I know you’ve been looking forward to seeing Merk’s show, sweetie.”

The idea behind Superstar Cruises was that passengers would get the chance to spend time with the celebrity talent hired as the ship’s entertainment. Unfortunately, the Arctic Star’s main attraction, A-list action star Brock Walker, had canceled at the last minute due to Vince and Lacey’s shenanigans. That had left C-list comedian Merk the Jerk as the ship’s headliner. Tonight was his first performance—his original show had been postponed when Vince and Lacey had sabotaged the chandelier in the ship’s main theater. Now the place was cleaned up and the show was back on.

"We’d better get moving if we want decent seats,” George said, heading for the door. "It’s first come, first served.”

The theater was already crowded when we arrived, but we still managed to find good seats near the front.

"This is going to be awesome!” Alan rubbed his hands together, leaning forward to peer at the stage. “I heard Merk does a really funny bit about cruise fashions.”

“Hmm.” I wasn’t too interested in speculating about the comedian’s set. Instead I was glancing around for our suspects. But I hadn’t spotted any of them by the time the lights dimmed.

“Here we go,” George whispered.

Becca’s boss, Marcelo, stepped out onstage, looking dapper in a dark suit. A smattering of applause greeted his appearance, and he raised both hands and smiled.

“Thank you, thank you,” the cruise director said. "I know we’re all looking forward to having our funny bone tickled by our wonderful celebrity guest, Merk the Jerk. First, though, the captain would like to say a few words. Sir?”

He turned and swept into a gallant bow. Captain Peterson strode out onstage and shook Marcelo’s hand, then took his place at the microphone.

"Good evening, everyone,” he said. "Before we get started with tonight’s entertainment, I want to fill you in on the schedule for the next few days. As you know, the Arctic Star departed Glacier Bay just before dinnertime tonight and is now cruising toward Seward, where we’ll dock for a few days while most of you travel by comfortable motor coach to Anchorage to begin the land tour portion of your trip.”

He went on to explain that some of the ship’s personnel— Scott, Hiro, Tatjana, and several others—would be accompanying us as we visited Anchorage and then traveled north from there to Denali National Park. The rest of the staff, including Becca, Max, and the captain himself, would stay behind to ready the ship for the return voyage down the coast to Vancouver.

“Yikes,” George breathed in my ear. “Sounds like our suspects are splitting up.”