Strangers on a Train

  Contents

  Dear Diary

  CHAPTER ONE Going Ashore

  CHAPTER TWO In the Line of Fire

  CHAPTER THREE Rebuilding the List

  CHAPTER FOUR Unpleasant Surprises

  CHAPTER FIVE Comic Relief

  CHAPTER SIX Sharp Questions

  CHAPTER SEVEN Narrowing the Field

  CHAPTER EIGHT Reservations

  CHAPTER NINE Strange Discoveries

  CHAPTER TEN New Connections

  CHAPTER ELEVEN Final Surprise

  CHAPTER TWELVE Final Answers at Last

  Dear Diary

  Mystery of the Midnight Rider Excerpt

  Dear Diary,

  * * *

  HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

  How did someone ever figure out I was a detective, working undercover?

  Bess, George, and I have been posing as contest-winning passengers aboard the Arctic Star, and I thought I had pretty much solved the mystery on this amazing cruise ship.

  But now it seems as though I’m being targeted. My luggage and laundry have been ransacked, and when we were traveling to Denali, I was almost cut to shreds by jagged glass.

  I always cover my every move. . . .

  Don’t I?

  CHAPTER ONE

  Going Ashore

  “NANCY! DOWN HERE!”

  I hurried down the last few steps to the landing and saw Becca Wright waving as she rushed up the next set of steps toward me. The cruise ship’s atrium stairwell was deserted except for the two of us, just as she’d predicted. Almost everyone aboard the Arctic Star was gathered along the open-air decks watching the view as the ship chugged into the picturesque port of Skagway, Alaska.

  “I don’t have much time,” I told Becca. “Alan thinks I’m in the ladies’ room. He wants to get a photo of all of us at the rail when we dock.”

  “I don’t have much time either.” Becca checked her watch. As the Arctic Star’s assistant cruise director, she was always busy. “I’m supposed to be getting ready for disembarkation right now. But I just found out something I thought you’d want to know right away. The police caught the robber!”

  I gasped, flashing back to the events of the day before yesterday. While the ship was docked in a town called Ketchikan, someone had robbed the shipboard jewelry store.

  “Really, they caught someone already? That’s amazing!” I exclaimed. “Who was it?”

  “A guy named Troy Anderson,” Becca replied, leaning down to pluck a stray bit of lint off the carpet. “I guess he’s well known to the local authorities as a petty thief and general troublemaker type. They caught him over in Juneau trying to fence the stuff he stole.”

  I blinked, taking that in. It wasn’t exactly the answer I’d been expecting. “So he wasn’t a passenger or crew member on the Arctic Star?”

  Becca raked a hand through her dark curls. “Nope. Which is weird, right? I have no idea how he got onboard.” She smiled weakly. “Maybe it’s a good thing you’re still here, Nancy. I hope you’re in the mood for another mystery?”

  The Arctic Star was the flagship of the brand-new Superstar Cruises, and this was its maiden voyage. However, things had gone wrong from the start. Before the start, actually. That was why Becca had called me. We’d known each other for years, and she knew I liked nothing better than investigating a tough mystery. She’d called me in—along with my two best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne—because she was worried that someone was trying to sabotage the new ship.

  And she’d been right. Just a few days into the cruise, I’d nabbed the saboteurs, Vince and Lacey. They were working for a rival cruise line, trying to put Superstar out of business.

  Then the jewelry store robbery happened—after Vince and Lacey were in custody. And I’d realized that maybe the mystery wasn’t over after all.

  “Do you think this Anderson guy had an accomplice on the ship?” I asked. “If so, maybe that person was also responsible for some of the other stuff that’s been going wrong.”

  Becca bit her lip, looking anxious. “I hope not. Because I was really hoping all the trouble would be over after you busted Vince and Lacey.”

  I knew what she meant. I’d been trying to convince myself that the case was solved. That a few dangling loose ends didn’t matter. That those loose ends were just red herrings, easily explained by bad luck, coincidence, whatever.

  What kind of loose ends? Well, for instance, there was the threatening note I’d found in my suitcase the first day onboard. Vince and Lacey claimed to know nothing about that. They also denied being involved in most of the problems that had happened before the ship set sail. And they claimed to know nothing about the fake moose antler from the mini-golf course that had missed crushing me by inches. They also seemed clueless about the angry argument I’d overheard from the ship’s kitchen that had ended in what sounded like a threat: Drop it, John! Or I’ll make sure you never make it to Anchorage. And they insisted that neither of them was the person who’d pushed me off a raised walkway in Ketchikan, sending me tumbling twenty feet down into icy water.

  I shivered, thinking back over the list. It didn’t take an expert detective to realize that the most serious of those incidents seemed to be directed at yours truly.

  “We have to accept that the case might not be over quite yet,” I told Becca. “If the robber does have an accomplice on this ship, he or she might still try to cause more trouble. We’ll have to keep our eyes open for clues.”

  “Do you think—,” Becca began.

  At that moment I heard a clang from the stairwell. I spun around and saw Alan standing on the top step of the flight coming up from below. He was staring up at Becca and me with a strange expression on his face.

  “Alan!” I blurted out, cutting off the rest of Becca’s comment. “I—uh—didn’t hear you coming.”

  I hadn’t seen Alan Thomas coming the first time I’d met him either. Had that really happened only a few short weeks ago? I’d been having lunch with Bess and George at one of our favorite cafés near River Heights University. Suddenly Alan had appeared beside our table, drooling over Bess and begging her to go out with him.

  It wasn’t the first time that type of thing had happened. But it was the first time Bess had said yes. She said it was because she saw something different in Alan. He was different, all right. He was outgoing and cheerful and kind of excitable—nerdy, as George liked to call it. I guess that worked for Bess, because the two of them had been together ever since.

  Then Becca had called, begging me and my friends to come solve her mystery. Our cover story was that we’d won the cruise in a contest. When Alan found out we would be staying in a luxury four-­bedroom suite, he’d practically begged to come along. He was an environmental studies major at the university, and this trip was supposed to give him a head start on his sophomore year research project. That was nice for him, but it made things kind of complicated for the rest of us. See, Becca had sworn us to secrecy—we weren’t supposed to tell a soul why we were really onboard the Arctic Star. Not even Alan. Had I just blown our cover?

  “Nancy! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Alan exclaimed, hurrying toward me. “Did you get lost on the way to the bathroom or something? You’re missing some amazing views.”

  “Nope, I was just chatting with Becca, that’s all.” I forced a smile, studying Alan’s face. Had he overheard what Becca and I were talking about? His gray eyes looked as guileless as ever. Or did they? Something about the way they were peering into min
e made me wonder just how much he’d heard while coming up the stairs. . . .

  I dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. Alan was pretty much an open book. Like I said, he’d declared his adoration of Bess the first time they’d met. In fact, he seemed to blurt out pretty much every thought that entered his head. If he’d heard anything important, I’d know it.

  “We’d better get back out there,” I told him, still smiling. “I don’t want to miss any more scenery.”

  “Smile and say Alaska!” Alan sang out.

  Bess giggled, tossing back her blond hair as the sea breeze whipped it across her face. “No way,” she said. “If I say that, my face will look funny. I’ll stick with the traditional.” She struck a pose leaning against the gleaming brass railing, with the Skagway shoreline behind her. “Cheese!”

  Alan snapped the photo. “Gorgeous!” he exclaimed, hurrying over to let Bess check out the screen on his digital camera.

  George rolled her eyes. “Are we going to stand around here taking pictures all day, or are we actually going to get off this ship and do something?” she grumbled.

  I grabbed her arm and pulled her aside, dodging a few excited passengers who were rushing toward the gangplank leading to the dock below. “Leave Alan alone for a sec,” I said quietly. “I’ve been dying to tell you what Becca just told me.”

  “What?” George immediately looked interested. Shooting a quick glance at Alan to make sure he wasn’t close enough to hear us, she lowered her voice. “Was it about Vince and Lacey? Did they finally fess up to leaving that nasty note in your luggage?”

  Right. That was another unexplained occurrence from earlier in the cruise. The note had read, I HOPE U GET LOST JUST LIKE UR BAG—& THAT U STAY LOST!

  “No. But the cops caught the jewelry thief.” I quickly filled her in.

  When I was finished, George let out a low whistle. “So it wasn’t anyone from the ship? That’s weird.”

  “I know, right? There’s no way he got through security on his own.” I glanced over at the exit station set up near the gangplank. Several crew members were there, dressed in Superstar’s crisp navy-and-silver uniforms, running ship IDs through a scanner as passengers disembarked for the day’s shore stop. Even though the area around the exit was chaotic, with dozens of excited passengers shouting and laughing and eager to start their day in Skagway, the ship’s staff maintained perfect order, channeling each person through the scanner station before ushering him or her down the gangplank. Watching the well-organized procedure made it seem impossible that anyone could board unscanned or undetected.

  “So who helped him get aboard?” George wondered. “He must have an accomplice, right? A crew member, or maybe another passenger?”

  Instead of answering, I cleared my throat loudly. “Get any good shots?” I asked Alan, who was coming toward us with Bess on his heels.

  “Of course.” Alan winked. “It’s easy to get good shots when you have such a beautiful model.”

  George smirked. She doesn’t have much patience for gooey romantic talk. Especially when it came from Alan. “Enough with the photo session,” she said. “Let’s get off this boat and have some fun.”

  “Speaking of fun,” Bess said as we all wandered toward the exit station, “what’s on the agenda for today?”

  “You girls weren’t there when Scott came around at lunch yesterday, so I signed us up for a few things,” Alan said. He glanced around. “Where is Scott, anyway? He said I should check in with him about the exact schedule.”

  “I don’t see him.” I scanned the exit area, which was growing more crowded by the second. Half a dozen raucous redheads—members of a large family reunion—had just entered. I also spotted a few other familiar faces. But I didn’t see the lean, tanned form of Scott, the shore excursion specialist, anywhere.

  A statuesque blond woman in a Superstar uniform saw me looking around and stepped toward me. “May I help you, Ms. Drew?” she asked in a husky voice heavily shaded with an eastern European accent.

  “Oh, hi, Tatjana.” I smiled at her, though I couldn’t help a flash of unease. Tatjana worked for Becca, and she’d almost caught the two of us discussing the case a couple of times. “Um, we were just looking for Scott so we could check about today’s trips.”

  “He is already onshore,” Tatjana replied. “You should be able to find him on the dock once you’ve disembarked.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Bess said with a smile. “Come on, guys. We’d better get in line.”

  We headed across the lobby. “Look, it’s the ABCs,” Alan said, nodding toward three gray-haired women at the back of the line. Alice, Babs, and Coral were experienced cruisers who were seated at our table at dinner.

  “And Tobias,” George added with considerably less enthusiasm.

  I couldn’t help a slight grimace myself when I saw the eight-year-old boy. He was pulling at his mother’s hand as she and her husband chatted with the three older women.

  “Looks like Coral has forgiven him for scaring her half to death with that pet tarantula of his,” Bess whispered with a smirk.

  “I guess so.” I’m not scared of spiders, but I still shuddered a little as I recalled the incident. Tobias had smuggled his tarantula onto the ship, and the hairy eight-legged critter had ended up crawling over the pastries one day at lunch. “That’s only fair, though,” I added. “Vince and Lacey stole Hazel and put her on the buffet, remember? Tobias didn’t have anything to do with it.” I shrugged. “Well, unless you count sneaking the spider onboard in the first place . . .”

  I let my voice trail off, since we’d reached the group by now. The ABCs and Tobias’s parents greeted us cheerfully. Tobias himself ignored us. That was typical. He’d made it clear from the start that he didn’t want to be on the cruise, and his attitude generally varied from sullen to downright obnoxious.

  “Do you young people have some exciting shore activities planned for today?” Babs inquired.

  “I guess so.” George shot a look at Alan. “You’ll have to ask our own personal event planner.”

  Alan grinned and swept into a goofy bow. “At your service.”

  “Are you taking that scenic train trip through the mountains?” Tobias’s mother asked. “We’re really looking forward to that, aren’t we, Tobias?”

  “I guess.” Tobias shrugged, looking less than ­enthusiastic. “Hey, here comes Hiro. He probably wants me to go on some boring tour with him or something.”

  Sure enough, the youth activities coordinator, a young man in navy shorts and a silver-piped polo shirt, was wandering toward us. He spotted Tobias and waved.

  “Have fun onshore, Tobias!” he called. “I’ll see you for movie night tonight, right?”

  “Whatever.” Tobias waved back, then turned to peer at the line in front of us. “When are we getting off this stupid ship, anyway?”

  “Patience, Tobias,” his mother said. “We have to wait our turn.”

  Luckily, that didn’t take long. A few minutes later we were all making our way down the long gangplank together.

  Bess shaded her eyes against the bright morning sun. “This place looks pretty cool.”

  “Oh, it’s supposed to be wonderful,” Coral assured her. “Skagway was an important site during the Klondike gold rush in the late 1800s. The main street is supposed to look like a postcard straight out of that time. We can’t wait to see it!”

  “Sounds like fun, eh, son?” Tobias’s father clapped the boy on the back. “Well, have a nice day, everyone. We’ll see you back on—”

  “Sir! Excuse me, sir!”

  We all turned. A young man in a tidy navy-and-silver uniform was running down the gangplank, apologizing profusely as he pushed past other
passengers. He looked familiar, and when he got closer, I realized he was one of the busboys from the main dining room.

  He skidded to a stop in front of Tobias’s father. “I’m so glad I caught you,” he said breathlessly, holding up a camera. “You left this in the café after breakfast. I’m sure you’ll want it with you today.”

  Tobias’s father’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t even noticed!” he exclaimed, taking the camera. “Thank you so much, young man. You’re right, I’m sure I’ll want to take lots of pictures today.” He fished a couple of bills out of his pocket. “Thank you for tracking me down.”

  “Thank you, sir.” The busboy blushed slightly, then pocketed the money. He glanced around at the rest of us. “I hope you all enjoy your day in Skagway.”

  As he turned toward the gangplank, another man rushed down. “Sanchez! There you are,” he barked out, grabbing the busboy by the arm. “Come with me. Now.”

  My friends were already moving down the dock, chatting with the ABCs. But something about the second man’s behavior made me curious. I took a step after him as he dragged the busboy to a quiet spot behind a trash bin.

  “What is it, boss?” the busboy asked, sounding confused and a little scared.

  No wonder. The second man’s face was livid. It was obvious he was trying to keep his temper under control, but he wasn’t having much luck.

  “I’ll tell you what it is,” he exclaimed, jabbing a finger at the busboy’s chest. “You’re fired, that’s what!”

  CHAPTER TWO

  In the Line of Fire

  “WHAT?” THE BUSBOY’S FACE WENT PALE. “Why? What did I do, boss?”

  “You know what you did. You just thought we’d never find out.” The boss glared at him.

  I winced, feeling sorry for the busboy. He started to protest, looking confused and terrified, and his boss responded, though their voices were too low for me to hear what they were saying anymore. I glanced around for my friends, wondering if they’d noticed what was going on.