“Where in the world did she get an idea like that?” Nancy said.
Bess and George shrugged.
“I don’t know, but she really believes it,” Bess said. “She was really angry, too, and I think she has plans to do something about it.”
“Oh, great,” Nancy said.
“I kind of hope we don’t see her at dinner tonight,” George said. “It would be pretty sad if she made a scene.”
Nancy took out her cell phone. “I’d better warn Craig,” she said as she dialed his number. After several rings and no answer, Nancy hung up. “It may be too late,” she said.
“Maybe we should go on deck and watch the fireworks!” Bess said.
“No thanks,” George said. She wasn’t a big fireworks fan.
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Nancy said. “We’re going to dinner tonight, and we’re going to sit at Amber’s table as if nothing has happened—and it hasn’t, as far as Amber is concerned.”
“Okay,” Bess said. “I think I’ll wear something old, in case Amber starts throwing things.”
George laughed, but Nancy forced a half smile. She thought that something like that might be a definite possibility.
They needn’t have worried, though. Later that night when they arrived at the restaurant, Craig met them outside the entrance and told them that Amber wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be at dinner.
“You know, she thinks you and I are seeing each other behind her back—romantically,” Nancy said. “I have no idea where she got that idea.”
Craig looked concerned. “I thought this instant sickness was a little weird,” he said.
“You mean she didn’t throw anything at you?” Bess asked.
“No, she just acted really tired,” Craig said. “Now that I think of it, though, she wasn’t too happy to see me. I thought it was just because she didn’t feel well.…”
Just then Craig was paged over the intercom and asked to go to the reception desk. He told Nancy he’d talk to her later about what they would do when the ship docked at Sturgeon Bay the next morning.
The dinner turned out to be even better than the previous night’s. A couple from Amarillo, Texas—the Lowes—was seated with the girls. Mrs. Lowe told them that they had asked to be moved from their other table to get away from what seemed like the most conceited couple in the world.
“I don’t mind listening to other people talk about themselves,” Mrs. Lowe said, “but when I talk about myself, I expect them to listen to me, too!”
“Makes sense to me,” Bess agreed.
Over dinner Mr. Lowe told the girls all about life on their ranch in the Texas Panhandle. Several times he invited the girls to come out to see them. “We’ve got an airport in Amarillo that even has jets,” he said. “You’d think you were in New York!” He gave them a big wink to show them that he was kidding.
When Nancy finally looked at her watch, she was shocked to see how late it was. “Well, I hate to break up this party, but I’d better call it a night,” she said. “We reach our first port of call in the morning, and I want to be rested so I can enjoy it.”
Everyone else agreed that it was time to turn in, so they all made their way out of the restaurant together. The Lowes had a cabin on deck 3—the same deck as the restaurant—so they said their good-byes to Nancy and her friends at the elevator.
“If you like to shop, you’ll see me tomorrow, because that’s what I’ll be doing,” Mrs. Lowe said. “Shopping until I drop!” She gave them a hearty laugh.
“I’m sure I’ll see you, then, Mrs. Lowe,” Bess said, smirking at George.
On the way up to their deck Nancy said, “I don’t mind telling you I almost had an upset stomach thinking about what might have happened at dinner if Amber had showed up. But this turned out to be one of the best times I’ve had in weeks!”
“I agree,” George said. “Maybe we should take Mr. Lowe up on his invitation to spend a couple of weeks on their ranch.”
“Let’s keep that in mind—maybe for next summer,” Nancy said. “Right now I think we need to look over the Sturgeon Bay and Door County brochures to map out tomorrow.”
Nancy woke up a couple of hours before her friends the next morning because she wanted to see Door County, Wisconsin, as the ship made its way into the harbor.
Door County, Nancy had read, had the look and feel of New England—one of Nancy’s favorite parts of the country. The area was full of rocky coves, small fishing villages, and colorful cherry, apple, plum, and pear orchards. She was really looking forward to exploring the terrain.
Their ship had just started inching around the tip of the peninsula when her cell phone rang. It was Ned.
Nancy thanked him for the bottle of Torino, told him that he shouldn’t have spent that much money, and then asked him how things were going in Oklahoma City.
“I’ve signed up the two clients I came to see, and I’m talking to two more this afternoon,” Ned said. “They’re going to love me back in New York!”
“Great, Ned!” Nancy said. “I am so proud of you.”
They talked for several more minutes. Just before Nancy hung up, she told Ned that she was helping to investigate a mystery but that the girlfriend of the detective thought that Nancy was interested in the detective romantically.
“Well, I’ll be glad to set her straight on that, if you want,” Ned offered.
Nancy laughed. “No thanks. We can handle it! You just take care of your clients in Oklahoma City.”
Just as Nancy ended her conversation with Ned, her cell phone rang again. This time it was Craig.
“We’ll be docking in thirty minutes. Everyone on the crew has something he or she has to do,” he said. He sounded like he was out of breath. “There’s a place called the Sturgeon Bay Restaurant on the first street after you leave the dock area. I’ll meet you there an hour after the ship has docked. We need to talk about the investigation.”
“Okay, but what about Amber?” Nancy asked.
“She’s still not feeling well this morning,” Craig said. “She doesn’t plan to get off the ship. She told me she was going to stay in bed all day.”
“Well, that’ll solve one problem, I guess,” Nancy said, “but it still concerns me that she thinks you and I…”
“That’s been taken care of,” Craig assured her. “I had a long talk with her last night.”
“Okay,” Nancy said. “I’ll see you at the Sturgeon Bay Restaurant one hour after the ship has docked.”
Nancy was waiting at a table by the front window of the restaurant when Craig got there. She had already ordered lemonade.
“I thought maybe Amber had changed her mind about staying on the ship,” Nancy said.
“No. I just had some extra chores to do before I could leave,” Craig explained. “Sorry I’m a little late.”
“So what’s the plan?” Nancy asked.
“I’ll continue to check out these three men, even though I’m starting to doubt any of them are our man,” Craig said. “Still, since they fit the profile, I thought I’d see if they do anything suspicious onshore.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Nancy agreed.
“What I want you to do is check out any other suspicious activity among the rest of the passengers,” Craig said.
“Even the women?” Nancy asked, one eyebrow raised. “I thought you didn’t think the thief was a woman.”
“I don’t,” Craig said, “but that doesn’t mean a woman can’t be an accomplice.”
“Well, at least I can be with Bess and George,” Nancy said. “I think they’re beginning to wonder why they came on this trip.”
“Good,” Craig said. He looked at the half-empty lemonade glass. “I’ll pay for that, if you want to go find your friends.”
“Thanks,” Nancy said. “I’ll call your cell phone if I learn anything.”
“Okay,” Craig said.
As Nancy left she was struck by the same feeling she had when she first met Craig. She just didn’t really like him, and she couldn’t figure out why. Was it his treatment of Amber? Was it his attitude toward women? She couldn’t put her finger on it.
Nancy knew where Bess and George were going first: the Apple Orchard, a shop on Main Street. The store sold all kinds of products made out of apples, including dolls with dried-apple heads.
When Nancy got there, Bess and George were looking over a shelf of dolls with faces that were all kinds of incredible shapes. It all depended on how the apple had dried.
“My mother has always wanted one of these. Her grandmother had one that had belonged to her mother,” Bess said. “My mother saw it only a few times, but she said she could never get it out of her mind.”
“It’s amazing what artists can do with things from nature,” Nancy said, holding an apple doll in her hand and looking closely at its face.
“Remember that kid in the tenth grade who painted faces on smashed aluminum cans?” George said. “I was always amazed at the faces he could see in them.”
Bess wrinkled her nose. “Somehow I don’t think this is quite the same thing, George!” she said.
George shrugged. “Art is art, Bess,” she said. “It’s in the eye of the beholder.”
“Well, hello there!”
The three girls turned to see Mrs. Lowe and another woman, who was stunningly dressed.
“Don’t they have some absolutely gorgeous things in here?” Mrs. Lowe said.
“Yes, they do,” Nancy agreed.
“Oh, where are my manners?” Mrs. Lowe said. “Let me introduce my new friend, Laura Houston. Laura’s from New Orleans. Her husband is in Argentina for a month, so Laura decided to come on this cruise.”
Mrs. Houston extended her hand to all three girls. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said.
“Now, that’s somewhere I haven’t been yet,” Nancy said. “Argentina.”
“Oh, I’ve been there several times,” Mrs. Houston said. “I just didn’t want to go this time because my husband went to the coldest part.”
“It’s wintertime down there now, isn’t it?” George asked.
“Exactly,” Mrs. Houston said.
“Isn’t she wearing the most gorgeous outfit? I’d never find anything like that in Amarillo!” Mrs. Lowe said. “Everything matches. Even her fingernail polish!”
“Well, thank you,” Mrs. Houston said. “I got this dress at a shop in New Orleans.” She twirled around. “My husband will probably make me take it back when he gets the bill for it.” She smiled, revealing teeth that almost sparkled. “Oh, well, I’ll just tell him it’s my birthday present or something like that.”
“And that gold necklace you’re wearing is absolutely beautiful,” Bess said. “I love the design.”
Mrs. Houston touched her neck. “I got this in Chicago before the ship left, and I’m getting rather superstitious about it too,” she said. “I’ve had nothing but good luck since I put it on. I don’t think I’ll ever take it off!”
“Well, I want to see some of the other shops,” Mrs. Lowe said. “We’ll compare notes tonight at dinner, yes?”
Nancy, Bess, and George told her that they thought that was a great idea.
Nancy asked Mrs. Houston about joining them, but the well-dressed woman said that she didn’t want to hurt the feelings of the people with whom she was already sitting.
Bess finally decided on a doll for her mother, then the girls spent the remainder of the day checking out the rest of the town’s shops, cafés, galleries, and restaurants.
But Nancy didn’t forget her promise to Craig: that she would keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. It was easy to do, since people had been asked to wear name tags to identify them as passengers on the SS Great Lakes. That way, they could take advantage of special offers from the Sturgeon Bay merchants. But Nancy noticed no suspicious activity whatsoever. All of the passengers seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.
When it came time to return to the ship, the girls were very reluctant to leave.
“This is one place I want to spend some more time in,” Nancy said. “Door County, Wisconsin.”
“Me too,” Bess agreed.
As they climbed up the gangway, Nancy’s cell phone rang. It was Craig again.
“Two new male passengers are boarding the ship here,” he said. “One of them could be our fugitive.”
“Do you know what they look like?” Nancy asked.
“Not so loud,” Craig said. “They’re right behind you.”