The Caribbean Cruise Caper by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online

doorway slowly and cautiously.
    David was sitting on the floor of the cabin, just inside the door. He had a blue-and-white marble in his hand. Frank saw dozens more marbles scattered across the polished planks.
    The crew member sat up. Frank recognized him.He had handled the mooring line during their departure the day before. “Woo!” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “What hit me?”
    â€œYou slipped on a marble,” David told him. “Sorry about that, ah—what was your name again?”
    â€œChuck . . . Chuck Arneson,” the guy replied. “We’d better pick these up before somebody cracks their skull. How’d they spill anyway?”
    â€œI can make a pretty good guess,” David said. He got to his feet and massaged his hip.
    From behind Frank and Joe, a tiny voice said, “Daddy? I have something to tell you.”
    David sighed. “Yes, Evan? What is it?”
    Evan slipped past Frank and Joe. “Well . . . I heard you and Frank and Joe talking about robbers,” he said. “And I was afraid a bad guy would come in our room. So I put my marbles on the floor to make him fall.”
    â€œIt worked,” David said with grim humor.
    â€œI would have told you,” Evan continued. “But I didn’t know where you were. And then I went up to breakfast and I sort of forgot. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
    â€œI’m fine,” David said. He reached over and tousled his son’s hair. “But next time, check with me before you set any traps for bad guys. Okay?”
    Evan grinned with relief. “You bet!”
    Frank and Joe helped pick up the marbles. Then they returned to the salon with David and Evan. David carried an envelope in his hand. The room fell silent as they went in.
    â€œI’ve looked over your solutions to last night’s crime,” David announced. “They are all worthy tries. I’m going to post them on the bulletin board next to the stairs for you to read. Then, in ten or fifteen minutes, we’ll come together again to talk about the results.”
    The five finalists barely waited for David to tack up the entries before they clustered around to read them. Meanwhile, Lisa cornered Joe. She wanted to know what the commotion had been about earlier. He told her about Evan’s marbles. She asked for a preview of the scores in the contest. Joe admitted he had no idea.
    Lisa wanted his general reactions to the voyage so far. Joe talked about the boat, the sea, the weather, and the great group of contestants. He aimed his words at Lisa’s tape recorder. In his head, however, he was focused on the mystery of the intruder from the night before. Finally he muttered an excuse and went to look for Frank. He found him on the afterdeck.
    â€œNotice anything?” Frank murmured. “No anguished cries from anyone whose entry was altered.”
    â€œSo either nothing was changed or our visitor last night came to touch up his own entry,” Joe replied.
    Frank nodded. “That’s what it looks like. Unless . . . I can’t stop thinking we were meant to notice that someone had fiddled with the entries. But why?”
    Joe had the feeling an answer to Frank’s question was lurking just out of sight. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. “How about this? One of the contestantswas sure he’d messed up. So he decided to push us into throwing out the results. That way his poor showing wouldn’t hurt him. Or her, of course.”
    â€œThat fits,” Frank said slowly. “The funny part is, from what David said, everybody did about the same. So breaking into our cabin was wasted effort.”
    â€œBut whoever did it couldn’t have known that.” Joe glanced inside. “Speaking of David, it looks like he’s ready to start.”
    Joe and Frank returned to the salon. David gave them a nod and a smile. Then he said, “The setup last