Fifteen minutes later Nancy, Ned, and Stan were on their way to their next stop. Already they'd discovered another piece to the puzzle. The previous Thursday a couple of fishermen had come across the shack and found Bill Jobeson's body in his bed. He had died of natural causes. Since there was no ID on him, Stan's friend had said, he'd been kept in the morgue as a John Doe.
"At least now they can put a name on his cemetery marker," Nancy said quietly.
As they drove, Nancy stared intently at the notes Stan had made of Bill Jobeson's credit card purchases.
"Our bogus Bill Jobeson has made several purchases at the Chessie Marina. That suggests that he's a sailor," she said. "Like Nick Lazlo."
Stan abruptly steered his car onto the side of the road. "Hand me the receiver of my car phone. I'm going to call the Chessie Marina and pretend I'm Bill Jobeson. They might just unknowingly tell us something."
While he dialed, Nancy turned in the car seat. "Maybe by this evening we'll have enough evidence to clear Andy. Then we'll be able to enjoy that moonlight sail Andy suggested." She checked her watch. "We're supposed to meet everyone at the City Dock in two hours."
Ned peered out the car window. "If the weather stays like this, I think it'll be more like a picnic under the clouds." Over the course of the day, gray clouds had begun to cover the sky. Now it was beginning to look as if it might rain.
"Hello, this is Bill Jobeson," Stan spoke into his car phone, bringing Nancy's attention back to his call. "I'm calling about the purchases I made last Friday."
There was a long pause. Nancy watched as Stan's eyes widened. "Thanks," the private investigator said in a level voice. But when he hung up and turned toward Nancy and Ned, he could barely contain his excitement.
"Chessie Marina just gave us the lead we need!" he said. "When I told them I was Bill Jobeson calling about the purchases I'd made last week, they said that the new Sabre Forty sailboat that Ms. O'Halloran and I bought would be ready by tonight!"
For a second, Ned and Nancy were too stunned to speak. "Nick and Leah are in this together?" Nancy finally gasped.
"So that must have been Nick we saw in the parking lot with Leah!" Ned exclaimed. "I never would have recognized him in that disguise."
"We'll soon find out if it was Nick," Stan declared, pulling back onto the road again. "Our next stop is to see Ms. Leah O'Halloran. I think our 'grieving' widow has some explaining to do."
"No one's home," Stan announced a short time later, joining Ned and Nancy on the front porch of Leah O'Halloran's house.
After parking the car across the street from the house, Stan had knocked on the front door. When there was no answer, he'd walked around back while Nancy and Ned waited on the porch.
"The guy at Chessie Marina said the boat wouldn't be ready until tonight," Ned said. "Let's hope that means she's still around."
Standing on tiptoe, Nancy looked into the small square window in the door. "This would be a good time to take a peek inside," she suggested. She opened her shoulder bag, pulled out her lock-picking kit, and quickly opened the door.
Stan chuckled as he stepped inside behind her. "Nice job, Nancy. Anytime you need a partner, give me a call."
Inside, the house was cool and dark. All the curtains had been drawn, and the windows were shut tight. Nancy glanced into the small living room to the left of the foyer. The only furniture was a gray sofa and one end table. It didn't look as if Leah had planned to stay long.
"I'll start upstairs," Nancy said. She sprinted up the steps by twos, while Stan headed for the kitchen.
"I'll stay here as lookout," Ned volunteered.
Upstairs, Nancy looked for the bedroom that seemed the most lived-in. When she stepped into the largest bedroom, she saw two canvas suitcases on the bed. She quickly unzipped a maroon one and ran her hands through the layers of clothes. Shorts, sandals, sundresses, T-shirts. Definitely clothes for a cruise, Nancy decided.
Suddenly her fingers felt something flat and stiff. Closing her hand around two thin rectangular booklets, she pulled them out. She immediately recognized that they were United States passports.
With trembling fingers, Nancy opened the first one. A picture of Leah O'Halloran stared back at her. Dropping it back into the suitcase, Nancy opened the other passport. Even though the person in the photo had a beard, she easily recognized Nick Lazlo. The name on his passport was Bill Jobeson.
"Bingo," Nancy murmured. "We have our proof."
"Nancy!" She jumped at the sound of Ned's urgent voice. "Leah's car just turned up the drive."
Quickly Nancy zipped up the first suitcase and opened the second one. If she could just find a brochure or map that gave some clue as to Leah and Nick's destination . . .
Nancy was checking a side pocket of the suitcase when she heard the front door open. Leah was in the house already!
Nancy hoped Ned and Stan had had a chance to hide. Still holding Bill's passport, she zipped up the suitcase. Her heart beating rapidly, she stepped into the hall and frantically looked for a place to hide.
From downstairs came the tap-tapping of high
heels as Leah walked across the wooden floor of the foyer. Nancy caught her breath as she heard the first scrape of a shoe on the staircase. Leah was coming upstairs. In a moment she was going to catch Nancy red-handed!
Chapter Fifteen
The tapping grew louder and quicker. Running as silently as she could, Nancy darted for the front bedroom. She flattened herself against the wall, hiding behind the open door. Then, hardly daring to breathe, she listened.
Sharp footsteps tapped rapidly down the hall and into the other bedroom. "Hi, it's me," Nancy heard a woman's voice say. Leah had to be talking on the phone, Nancy guessed. She had seen one on the bedside table.
"Yeah, that nosy chick and the private eye were in the tavern asking Sheila a lot of questions," Leah was saying.
So Leah had been hanging around the tavern. Which meant she could have been there the night Nancy had been knocked into the water.
"You're right, we have to get out of here now . . . Yeah, fine. Meet you at the marina in an hour."
A few minutes later Nancy heard footsteps in the hall. Leah was going downstairs, Nancy thought. She heard the front door open, close with a loud bang, and then heard it being locked.
Moving from her hiding place, Nancy quickly ran to the front window in the room. Leah was putting the two suitcases into the trunk of her sports car. When Nancy saw her get into the car and start the motor, she hurried downstairs. From the living room window, she could see Leah back the car out of the drive, then turn left and speed off.
Nancy unlocked the front door, then ran onto the porch. Ned was coming around the corner of the house from the back, with Stan right behind him.
"Leah knows we're onto her," Nancy quickly explained. "I heard her tell someone to meet her at the marina in an hour."
"Who's she going to meet?" Stan asked.
Nancy pulled the passport from her purse and held it out to the private investigator. Ned was looking over Stan's shoulder when he opened it, and the two gasped in unison.
"So you were right about Lazlo being alive, Nancy," Ned said, shaking his head in amazement.
"Let's follow Leah to the marina," Stan said. He started across the lawn toward his sedan.
"No!" she blurted out. "If we tip Leah off even more, the two could ditch their current plans and disappear forever."
Stan stopped in his tracks. "You're right." We'd better get to the police instead. After we show them that passport, they're not going to let Mr. Lazlo get very far."
"If they can catch him," Nancy said grimly. "By the time we convince the police, and they notify the Coast Guard, Leah and Nick will have a head start down the Chesapeake Bay."
"So what now?" Ned asked.
Suddenly Nancy had an idea. "Stan, where is Chessie Marina?"
"About two miles south of Annapolis. Why?"
"Andy's meeting us at the City Dock with his sailb
oat," Nancy explained as she started to jog toward Stan's car. "You can drop Ned and me there and then head to the police station. Do everything in your power to convince them that Nick Lazlo is alive and about to disappear to some tropical island."
"And what have you cooked up for us?" Ned asked Nancy when he caught up with her at the car.
"We're going to follow Leah and Nick."
Ned frowned. "But you just said that would tip them off."
Nancy grinned mischievously. "Not if we're tailing them with another boat!"
* * *
"Nick's alive?" Annabel exclaimed when Nancy and Ned met Andy, Bess, Parker, and Annabel at the City Dock and broke the news to them. Throwing back her head, Annabel burst out laughing. Then abruptly her expression hardened. "That no-good, two-timing jerk. I just hope he's not running off with any of my money!"
When she boarded the sailboat, Nancy glanced over at Andy. He seemed stunned. Parker and Bess were sitting next to him in the cockpit. Parker had his arm around Andy's shoulders, trying to comfort him.
"I can't believe Nick did this to me," Andy said in a low voice. He sounded furious, but Nancy knew that he must be deeply hurt, as well. His childhood friend and partner had stolen money from their business and then set up Andy to take the rap for a murder that had never even happened.
Suddenly Andy jumped up and grabbed the wheel of the Skipper's Surprise. "Let's go get him," he said tersely. "I want to be face-to-face with that traitor when I ask him why he did this to me—to us," he corrected himself. His steely gaze settled on Annabel, who was still on the dock. She nodded and without a word started to untie the bowline.
The chase was on.
"Chessie Marina's just around the bend!" Andy shouted half an hour later through the increasing wind.
The Skipper's Surprise ripped through the waves of Chesapeake Bay. Thunderheads churned in the darkening sky now, and Nancy could smell approaching rain. The group had donned yellow storm gear and prepared the sailboat for the worst. In the cabin, every loose object had been stowed or secured.
The bad weather might be to their advantage, Nancy reflected as she grabbed for a handhold during a rough pitch. They might be able to tail Leah and Nick without the two knowing.
"So what's the plan?" Annabel called from where she was standing beside Andy at the wheel. "Are we going to try to follow them?"
"Uh, can you drop us off somewhere first?" Bess asked. She and Parker were huddled next to each other in the cockpit. They both looked green.
Nancy reached across the seat and squeezed Bess's hand. Her friend's fingers were ice cold. "Maybe you and Parker should go down into the cabin," Nancy suggested.
Annabel gave Bess and Parker a quick look. "There are some seasickness pills in the medicine chest," she told them. For once, Nancy didn't notice any sarcasm in her voice.
"Good idea," Bess mumbled. She grabbed Parker's hand, and the two stood up. Weaving and swaying with the boat, they clumsily made their way down the ladder and into the galley, then closed the hatch behind them.
"There's the marina!" Andy cried. Nancy could see rows of sailboats and powerboats moored there. "Now what?" Andy asked.
"Now we wait," Nancy told him. Pushing up the sleeve of her slicker, she checked her watch. "If it took Leah an hour to get here, they should have their gear stowed and be ready to sail any minute."
Annabel pointed left toward Chesapeake Bay. "We'll sail in small circles until we see them. We're just north of the marina. They'll be headed south, so they probably won't even look this way."
"And if they do, they won't recognize the Skipper's Surprise, anyway," Andy put in. "It's getting too dark. Besides"—he gestured to the stern of the boat—"I've covered up the name with a tarp."
"Good thinking," Nancy said. "When we catch sight of them, we'll radio the Coast Guard and give them the exact location of Nick and Leah's boat. By then Stan and the police should have informed the Coast Guard of what's going on.
Ned jumped into the cockpit from his perch on the deck, where he had just cast off the starboard jib. "The question is, how are we going to recognize the boat Leah and Nick are on?" he asked.
Andy laughed. "They'll be the only ones besides us crazy enough to head out in the middle of a brewing storm."
"Plus, Stan said the marina mentioned the boat they'd bought was a new Sabre Forty," Nancy added. "Do you know what that looks like?" she asked Andy.
"Sure do. In fact, that's one coming out of the marina now." He nodded to his right.
Nancy had already taken out her binoculars. Now she stood up and looked through them. She could see two figures on board, but their faces were hidden under the hoods of their rain gear. On a hunch, Nancy trained the binoculars on the stern. The boat was aptly named Fooled Them All.
"That has to be Nick and Leah," she decided. "Andy, are you ready to alert the Coast Guard?"
Andy nodded and went below. Just then the wind hit them from all sides.
"Reef the mainsail!" Annabel shouted above the noise.
Immediately Ned leapt for the boom, where he began to roll up part of the mainsail. Annabel turned the wheel, steering the Skipper's Surprise after the Sabre. "Winch in the jib," she directed Nancy. "Then hold on tight. We're going after them!"
"I got the Coast Guard!" Andy announced when he came up the ladder a few minutes later. "Your buddy Stan had them ready and waiting."
Soon after, the rain started to pummel them. Bess and Parker came topside to relieve Ned and Nancy and let them dry off. The Skipper's Surprise was still sailing south. Although Fooled Them All was racing through the storm, Annabel had managed to keep the other boat's navigational lights in sight. But even after an hour, there was no sign of the Coast Guard.
"Where are they?" Nancy snapped as she paced along the small aisle in the cabin. The sailboat lurched, and she grabbed the edge of the table to keep from falling. "We can't tail them much longer. This storm's getting too nasty."
"Hey, sit down before you fall," Ned said calmly. Grabbing her arm, he guided Nancy next to him in the booth. "We've got to rest up so we can give Annabel and Andy a break."
"You're right. It's just that if Nick makes it to the Atlantic Ocean, we'll lose him—forever."
Ned slipped his arm around Nancy and held her close. "But at least we have the proof to clear Andy." With a chuckle, he said, "Nick Lazlo, alias Bill Jobeson, will be awfully surprised when he finds out that he doesn't have a passport."
"But by then he'll be too far away for us to do anything." Sighing, Nancy laid her head on Ned's shoulder. His hair was damp from the rain, but his arm felt warm and comforting, and Nancy closed her eyes.
A loud scrape announced the opening of the hatch. "We need you guys up here!" Parker yelled.
Without a word, Ned and Nancy scrambled for their storm gear. When their hoods were fastened, they climbed the ladder to the cockpit.
"What's wrong?" Nancy shouted. Not that she needed to ask. The rain was coming down in sheets. Andy had reefed the mainsail even more, and Parker had taken down the jib. Bess was bailing water from the cockpit, and Annabel's fingers looked as if they were frozen to the wheel.
"We've lost them!" Andy shouted. "I'm going down below to radio their last position to the Coast Guard."
Lost them! The bottom dropped out of Nancy's stomach as a giant wave picked up the boat and dumped it roughly. Grabbing the handrail, Nancy scanned the rough seas in every direction, but it was so dark that she could barely see a few yards beyond the boat.
Her heart sank. In this raging storm, there was no way the Coast Guard would be able to find Nick and Leah's boat. The two were gone forever.
Chapter Sixteen
"I can't believe we lost them!" Annabel cried out. She looked exhausted as she put her forehead down on the steering wheel.
"I wish this rain would just stop/' Bess said in a voice laced with frustration.
As if in answer, the rain suddenly slacked off a little and the wind slowed. Nancy stared at
the dark sky.
"I think it's over," Andy said softly, as though he didn't dare believe it was true.
Nancy reached for Annabel's ice-cold hand and gave it a squeeze. "You did great," she told her.
In the next instant, a bright light blinded Nancy.
"What's going on?" Ned asked from on top of the cabin, where he and Parker had been checking the condition of the mainsail.
"Stay where you are!" a voice commanded through a bullhorn.
Nancy threw up her hands to shield her eyes. Despite the glare, she could make out the shape of a sailboat that had drifted silently up to their starboard side. Its navigational lights had been turned off, and in all the confusion of the storm, no one had noticed it. The floodlight from the other boat made it difficult for her to identify who was speaking on the other boat, but she had a hunch she knew who it was.
Beside her, Annabel sucked in her breath. "Nick Lazlo, you—you—creep!" she shouted furiously.
Someone chuckled from the other boat. By shielding her eyes from the blinding light, Nancy could see the outline of two people standing on the port side of the boat.
"Still so sweet and forgiving, Annabel," Nick Lazlo said sarcastically. "A good sailor, though. I figured I'd lose you hours ago. Too bad you weren't good enough to keep me from circling around behind the Surprise during the storm."
"How did you know it was us?" Nancy asked.
Lazlo aimed the light right in Nancy's eyes. "If it isn't Ms. Drew, the big glitch in my whole plan. If you hadn't been so relentless, things never would have come to this."
"Come to what?" Bess asked in a shaky voice.
Lazlo raised a long, slender object in the air, and Nancy shuddered when she realized that it was a rifle.
"Your shipwreck," Nick stated. "Four or five well-placed holes in your hull and the Skipper's Surprise will sink like a rock."
"You wouldn't dare!" Annabel screeched. "Fm your wife! Andy is your best friend!"
"Was," Nick corrected. "Andy and his conservative ideas about making an honest buck were getting in my way. And you, dear Annabel, were never much of a wife." Reaching out his arm, he grasped the waist of the woman next to him and pulled her closer. "I think Leah and I are much better suited to each other."