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

night was meant to suggest that one of the crew, an engineer, interrupted a burglar who killed him to stop him from raising an alarm. That was a false trail. None of you fell for it.”
    â€œThe knot was toward the front,” Boris said. “The victim must have been facing his attacker. How do you get a cord around somebody’s neck from the front unless he knows you?”
    â€œAnd the gun,” Sylvie said. “If I were the criminal and somebody discovered me, I would shoot him. I would not hope to find a piece of electrical cord to strangle him with.”
    Joe was tempted to point out that guns make more noise than strangling cords. He restrained himself. This was David’s show.
    â€œA quarrel among thieves,” Cesar remarked. “But what about the ransom note? I spotted it under the chair. It offered to return the bonds for a quarter of a million dollars. Why would thieves do that?”
    â€œMaybe the bonds are too hard to cash,” Jason suggested. “You know—like counterfeiters who sell their phony bills for a few cents on the dollar.”
    â€œCesar is the only one who mentioned the ransom note,” David announced. “There’s another detail none of you picked up on—the victim’s hands.”
    â€œWhat about them?” Sylvie asked, puzzled.
    â€œWait, wait!” Cesar shouted. He slapped the table. “Of course! The hands were clean, and the nails were manicured. That was no engineer. An engineer would have oily hands and cracked nails. I bet that was the owner of the yacht. He was planning to steal his own bonds, then rip off the insurance company for the ransom! He probably gave the crew the evening off, to get them out of the way. But one of them suspected something and stayed behind.”
    â€œBravo, Cesar,” David said. “You got it.”
    â€œYeah,” Cesar groaned. “I got it today—but not last night, when it would have done me some good.”
    â€œThen the killer was the real engineer, right?” Boris asked. “He changed clothes with the victim to confuse the authorities while he made his escape.”
    â€œHe certainly confused me.” Sylvie laughed.
    A general discussion broke out. Joe and Frank joined in. So did Lisa and even Kenneth. The only one who kept out of it was Elizabeth. Her expressionand body language said she found the whole business childish. Joe wondered why she had entered the contest if that was how she felt. Here was still another puzzle to be solved.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    The second part of the detective contest took place toward the end of the morning. It was a test of observational skills. Everyone gathered around the TV to watch a tape.
    Like the contestants, Frank and Joe watched intently. On the screen, a man and two women met on a street corner. They chatted for a few moments. Two other men approached from opposite directions. One of them bumped into the woman on the left. He muttered an apology and walked away.
    A moment later the woman he had collided with groped in her purse and let out a shriek. The man who was talking with her ran after the one who had bumped her. At that, the tape ended.
    David stood up and passed out questionnaires to the contestants. “Okay,” he said. “No conversation until all of you have finished your responses.”
    Joe took a spare questionnaire from David and gave it a shot. It was not easy. The questions included the clothing and personal appearance of all five people in the scene, what each had said, and exactly what had happened.
    David collected the completed questionnaires and put them in a manila envelope. “Okay—any remarks?”
    â€œThis is kid stuff,” Elizabeth said. “I’m not saying I remembered all those stupid details. Who could? But the important part was simply babyish.”
    â€œWa-a-ah!” Cesar said with a grin. Elizabeth sniffed loudly and looked in the other