What were they doing in there? I wished there was a keyhole or something I could see through. There was only so much I could deduce from their muffled voices.
“Okay, I’m done,” the woman said suddenly.
“Finally,” Andy said. “Let’s get out of here!”
I scrambled away from the door and looked around frantically for a place to hide. To my right, fifty feet in the direction I’d come from, I saw a bank of metal cabinets that I hadn’t noticed earlier. It was my best bet. The only question was whether I could make it there in time. I ran forward, staying light on my feet to make as little noise as possible. I was glad I’d worn rubber-soled flats as opposed to the heels that Bess had encouraged me to wear. I made it to the nearest cabinet and yanked it open.
Behind me I heard the creak of a door opening. At any second, Andy’s and Joanna’s flashlights would catch my feet in their beams!
CHAPTER SIX
A Gamble
I SLIPPED INSIDE THE CABINET and pulled the door closed without latching it; I couldn’t risk making any noise. It was cramped inside. My head was resting against something cylindrical and metallic, and some kind of thick material was scrunched under my side. Whatever it was smelled rubbery, and when I examined it, I noticed it had what seemed to be arms and legs protruding from it. I was pretty sure it was a wet suit, but I didn’t have time to examine it closely.
The only light came from the flashlight beams that shined through the crack in the cabinet door. Joanne and Andy were just inches away from me. I scrunched my eyes closed as their steps grew louder. They were right in front of me now.
Then one set of footsteps stopped abruptly. “Hold on a second,” Joanne said.
“No way!” Andy said. “I need to get back. I held up my end of the deal!”
“My dress is stuck on something!” Joanne exclaimed.
I opened my eyes. I could see through the crack in the door that Joanna’s dress had snagged on the corner of the cabinet.
“What?” Andy said.
“My dress is caught. If I move, it will tear. I can’t bend over in these heels. Can you free it for me?”
Andy sighed. “Fine. But shine your flashlight down there so I can see.”
Joanna did so, and Andy leaned down, just millimeters away from me. If he looked closely into the slightly ajar cabinet door, he would see me hiding. I held my breath.
“Be careful,” Joanne said. “I borrowed this dress! I have to give it back to my friend tomorrow in mint condition.”
“I’m being careful,” Andy grumbled.
I was desperate to take a breath. I could feel my lungs starting to burn. When I was taking swimming lessons, the instructor made us hold our breath for as long as we could. My record was seventy-three seconds. By my estimate, I had currently been holding it for forty seconds, so I knew I could keep going, but that didn’t mean it was going to be pleasant.
Finally Andy got the dress free. “There,” he said. “All set.”
“Thanks,” Joanne said.
Andy stood up and the two of them started walking again. As slowly as I could, I let out the breath I’d been holding. When I heard their footsteps on the stairs, I considered the coast clear.
I quickly opened the cabinet door. As I did so, I knocked over the metal cylinder my head had been pushed against. When I examined it more closely, I saw that it was an oxygen tank. I pulled out the material that I had been on top of and confirmed that it was a wet suit. An oxygen tank and a wet suit?
I fished my phone from my purse and turned on the flashlight. There was a logo on the oxygen tank that read DEEP SEA ADVENTURES. That seemed odd. I knew this was a boat, but I hadn’t heard of anyone going scuba diving in the river. From what I understood, the water was so murky that you couldn’t see much. After a moment, I shook my head. One mystery at a time, I told myself. Find the money, and then you can figure out why there’s scuba gear on the boat.
I stood up and made my way to the room Andy and Joanne had been in earlier.
I tried the handle. The door was extremely heavy, but it was unlocked. I was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. On the one hand, I was glad something was easy, but would they really leave one hundred thousand dollars in an unlocked room?
I entered the room, which seemed to be a storage area. There was stuff everywhere. This wouldn’t be a bad place to hide a bag of money, and Andy could probably sneak it off after we docked under the guise of unloading supplies.
I searched the room as quickly as I could. No money. What were Joanne and Andy doing in here? Something wasn’t adding up, and I could feel myself going in circles. I needed to get back to the main floor and talk this over with Bess and George.
A few minutes later, I was pushing open the door to the main deck. I checked my watch. I’d only been belowdecks for twenty minutes, but it felt like a lot longer. Bess spotted me, and as soon as I saw her face, I knew my makeup must have run while I was sweating in the cabinet. Not to mention the static electricity that had built up in my hair. Oh well. No one ever said being a detective was glamorous!
She pointed toward the ladies’ room, and I met her in there. As soon as I stepped in, Bess locked the door so we could talk without interruption.
“What happened?”
I quickly gave her a recap while Bess applied powder to my face from a compact she had in her purse.
“Do you think they have the money?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “They’re up to something, but I can’t prove that it has anything to do with the money.”
Bess handed me a hairbrush that she’d produced from her purse. “Smooth out that hair,” she said.
“What about you?” I asked. “Did you get a look inside his bag?”
Bess’s face fell. “That man is impossible,” she said. “I tried every trick in the book. I complimented the bag. I told him I had been looking for a backpack like that for ages. I asked him what material it was made of. When he didn’t know, I asked if I could feel it. He didn’t go for anything!”
I processed what Bess had just said. “You didn’t even get a peek at the bag?” I asked.
“I never got closer than one foot! He never even changed his expression. He really is a professional poker player.” Bess took a step back and appraised my face, giving a small, satisfied nod. “I couldn’t even tell if he was mad that I was asking about the bag. He just kept politely saying no. I felt like an annoying gnat!”
I could relate. Bess and I were in a similar situation. I knew there was something up with Joanne and Andy, just as she knew there was something suspicious in Brett’s bag. But we couldn’t prove that either suspect had anything to do with the missing money.
“Maybe you’ve lost your superpower,” I said.
“Hey,” Bess protested. “Even Superman has a weakness.”
I grinned. “I wish George were here to hear you say that.”
Just then there was a knock on the door. Bess and I looked at each other. We needed to hurry up. But then there was another knock, and another, followed by two short raps. It was our secret knock.
Bess opened the door to find George standing outside, and hustled her in.
“Did I hear you two talking about Superman?” George asked.
“Brett Garner is Bess’s archenemy, her Lex Luthor,” I explained.
“Well,” George said, “I hope he’s not my Lex Luthor, because . . . I’m officially playing him at the final table!”
“What!?” Bess and I shrieked simultaneously.
“Yeah,” George said. “They called time and then they went around the room and picked the four people with the most chips, and I was one of them!”
Bess and I immediately enveloped George in a group hug. She tried to squirm out of it, but we wouldn’t let her.
“Oh my gosh,” Bess said. “That’s amazing!”
“Joanne made it too.”
“How?” I asked. “Joanne was barely at the table. She was downstairs w
ith Andy.”
“Patrick had the second most chips, but he said he was going to let Joanne play the actual final,” George said.
“Is that allowed?” I asked.
George shrugged. “I mean, obviously, it wouldn’t be if this was a professional tournament, but since this is for charity, the rules are much looser. This tournament is just about having fun.”
“That makes sense,” Bess said.
“I’m so happy for you,” I told George. “You worked hard to save up the money to enter this tournament. You really earned this!”
“You guys are going to make me cry,” George said. “And you know how I feel about that!” George does her best not to express her emotions, but really she’s a giant softy. I’ve spotted her crying at a few sappy romantic movies. “What about the case?” she asked, deflecting our attention away from her.
I sighed. “Bad news,” I said. “Brett is officially a suspect.”
“Nancy, that’s crazy!” George said. “Brett is a hugely successful poker player. Why would he steal money from a charity?”
Bess and I quickly caught her up on the letter and the bag. George didn’t say anything for a moment. She looked shell-shocked.
“Well,” she finally said. “I think you’re wrong, but I know the rule. We investigate all possible suspects.”
“The problem now is that we have two solid leads, but no conclusive proof,” I said.
There was a knock on the door. “This isn’t supposed to be locked,” a woman said from the outside. We couldn’t stay holed up in here forever.
“Ordinarily,” I said, “I would pick my top suspect and investigate them until I found evidence proving or disproving their guilt, then move on to the next best suspect. But we only have two hours left. We need to investigate both suspects at the same time.”
“How?” Bess asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said.
There was another knock on the door. “Seriously!” a woman outside yelled. “Open the door!”
“Just a minute!” Bess said. “My friend’s not feeling well.”
There was grumbling from outside.
“We need to come up with something quickly,” Bess said.
“I know a way,” George said quietly.
Bess and I turned to her.
“You take my spot, Nancy.”
“What?” I asked.
“Take my spot at the final table,” George repeated.
CHAPTER SEVEN
All In
“GEORGE, NO,” I SAID. “YOU’VE worked too hard for this.”
“But this way you’ll be able to talk to the players. You’re better at questioning suspects than I am. Finding the money is more important,” George said. “You remember what Joey looked like when we adopted him!”
I nodded. George’s cat had been picked up by River Heights Animal Control howling under a porch during a snowstorm. He was all skin and bones, fighting off a respiratory infection, and he’d even had frostbite on his left ear.
“If Pet Crusaders hadn’t rescued him from the pound, given him antibiotics, and tipped his ear, he would have died,” George said. She wiped her eyes. Bess handed her a tissue. “My life would be way worse without Joey.”
There was another knock on the bathroom door. “Whoever is in there, you need to unlock this door right now,” a woman bellowed from outside.
“That’s Margot,” Bess said. “We have to go.”
Bess unlocked the door to reveal Margot standing with another woman. Margot’s face transformed from furious to hopeful as soon as we opened the door. I knew she wanted to ask about the case, but we couldn’t risk discussing it in front of a stranger.
I shook my head subtly. I didn’t want Margot to get her hopes up.
Her face fell.
I turned to George as we walked back to the main room. “Prep me for this game,” I said. “I need to stay in as long as possible, so I have as much time as I can to probe Joanne and Brett about the money.”
“You’re playing one of the most popular poker games,” George told me, “Texas Hold-’em. It’s the version we usually play with Ned. Every player is dealt two cards, and then the dealer turns over five communal cards in the middle of the table. Whoever has the five best cards between their own personal cards and the communal cards wins.”
“I remember,” I said.
“Do you remember the order of hands?” George asked.
“I think so,” I said. We quickly ran through the hands, from a pair all the way to a royal flush—a ten, jack, queen, king, and ace all in the same suit. I was pretty proud of myself for remembering all the hands, except for a full house, which George had to remind me meant a pair of two cards and three of a kind of another (like a pair of fours and three tens).
“Perfect.” We’d arrived at George’s table, where she picked up her chips, and then headed toward the final table. “The best way to stay in the game as long as possible is to play cautiously. If the two cards the dealer gives you aren’t a pair or two high cards, like an ace and a king, then fold.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
“Don’t bet big unless you see the potential for a fantastic hand, like a pair of aces or kings. If you do have those cards, though, you have to bet big. It’s the only way you’ll build up enough of a stack to keep going when you’re deep into the game.”
“Got it,” I said. We were just a few feet from the final table now. All but two of the seats were filled. Brett and Joanne were seated already, as was Caleb Rainey, the owner of the local outdoor goods store, wearing his signature cowboy hat. One of the empty seats was next to Brett and the other was across the table from him. I glanced under his chair. The backpack was still there. I wanted that seat next to him. The proximity would be helpful to get a peek inside the backpack. I looked up and saw Carla Huerta, who went to school with Ned, walking toward the table. I picked up my pace, Bess and George following behind.
“The most important thing to remember,” George said, “is that you should use the first few hands to get to know the other players. You’ll be good at that. Try to figure out when they’re bluffing and when they have legitimately good hands.”
I nodded, wishing I’d taken George and Ned up on their offers to play poker more frequently. That’s the thing about being a detective: you never know when a skill is going to come in handy. All I could do was my best.
Carla beat me to the table and took the seat next to Brett. I looked at my watch. There were just under two hours until we docked.
With nothing else to do, I took the last remaining seat, across from Brett and Joanne.
George clapped me on the back. “You’ll do great,” she said. “I’ve always said you had the potential to be a fantastic poker player.”
“Remember, Nancy,” Bess whispered into my ear, “you don’t have to win. You just have to stay in until you get the information you need.” I looked at her gratefully. Once again Bess had known instinctively how I was feeling and what to say.
Bess and George retreated to where the rest of the crowd was standing. I saw Mrs. Marvin and Catherine join them. Catherine looked distracted and fidgety.
I glanced around the table, paying close attention to Joanne and Brett. Joanne looked completely relaxed, almost smug. With his sunglasses on, it was hard to tell where Brett was looking, but it felt like he was staring right at me. I felt a shiver go down my back as adrenaline coursed through my veins.
“All right,” the dealer said. “My name is Robert. Congratulations on making the final table of this year’s Pet Crusaders Charity Poker Tournament. The four of you get to test your skills against the one and only Brett Garner. Are you ready to get started?”
All five of us nodded. This time I knew for sure that Brett was staring straight at me.
We put in our antes and Robert dealt the cards. I had a jack of spades and a two of hearts. I folded. Most of us did. Only Carla and Brett stayed in the hand, and Brett ended up winning with two pair. As he sw
ept up his chips, I once again felt his eyes on me.
The next hand, I drew a pair of tens. Not amazing, but enough to see the flop—what we called the dealer turning over the first three communal cards. To my utter delight, a ten was turned over. It took all my effort to not break into a grin as soon as I saw it. I raised my bet.
Joanne matched me, twirling her hair. I studied her face. She was giving nothing away. Mr. Rainey also called.
“I fold,” Carla said, pushing her cards toward the dealer.
“Me too,” Brett said.
Robert flipped the next card—the turn. A two of clubs.
Robert turned to me. “What would you like to do, Nancy? You can bet or check.”
“I bet twenty dollars,” I said, putting the appropriate chip into the pot.
“Too rich for my blood,” Mr. Rainey said, setting his cards down.
“I’ll see where this is going,” Joanne said, twirling her hair. The only read I could get off her face was that she seemed very relaxed. Either she had nothing to do with stealing the money or she was confident in her ability to get away with the crime. The problem was I didn’t know her well enough to be able to tell how she acted in stressful situations.
Robert flipped the last card over, a jack of diamonds. The hand was over. I showed my three of a kind. Joanne flipped over her cards, revealing that all she held was an ace, a very weak hand. She had been bluffing. I thought back through the hand, trying to recall if she had any kind of nervous tic or gesture. If she had a tell when she bluffed, it was possible she had a tell when she lied in real life, which could be helpful to the case. As I took my newly won chips, I remembered that she had twirled her hair. Maybe that was her tell! I needed to find out.
“Isn’t this boat absolutely beautiful?” I asked.
“Gorgeous,” Joanne agreed.