The Caribbean Cruise Caper Read Free Page B

d’Or.”
    Joe’s eyes widened. The yacht David indicated dwarfed all the others in the harbor. It was easily half the length of a football field, with two full decks above the water line.
    Frank gave a soft whistle.
    â€œQuite an impressive barge, isn’t she,” David said with a grin. “Some Greek shipping tycoon had her built back in the fifties for his French girlfriend. Then they broke up. After lots of ups and downs, the Colombe ended up here in the Caribbean as a charter craft.”
    Some of the others stopped to listen to David. When he finished, Sylvie said, “I have heard something else about this boat. I have heard that it is under a curse. Terrible things happen to people who sail on it.”

3 Along Came a Spider
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    Sylvie’s startling statement was followed by a moment of silence. Then several people spoke at once.
    â€œA curse?” Jason said. “Cool! Are there ghosts, too?”
    â€œWhat nonsense!” Elizabeth said. Frank thought she sounded a little uneasy.
    â€œWhere did you hear this, Sylvie?” asked David.
    â€œIt is true, isn’t it?” she demanded. “The Greek millionaire who built it disappeared overboard one night. His body was never found. Others, too, have died mysterious deaths.”
    David raised both hands like a symphony conductor. “Now hold on,” he said. “It’s true that the boat’s first owner vanished at sea. He’d been having some serious money problems. A lot of people thought he must have jumped overboard.”
    â€œWhat about the other deaths?” Lisa asked. Frank saw that she was holding her tape recorder at waist level, where it wasn’t so obvious.
    David rolled his eyes. “People don’t always die in hospitals,” he said. “Sometimes they die in houses or apartments or hotels or airplanes . . . or aboard yachts. That doesn’t mean there’s anything sinister or mysterious about their deaths. Sylvie, where did you get all this curse nonsense?”
    Sylvie looked away. “There was a magazine article,” she muttered.
    â€œHuh!” David exclaimed. “If it’s the same one I’m thinking of, it appeared about four years ago, in a supermarket tabloid. How did you stumble across it?”
    Frank had to listen hard to hear her reply. “It came by mail last week. A photocopy. There was no name or message.”
    â€œDid you notice the postmark?” Frank asked.
    Sylvie shook her head. “No, but I’m pretty sure the stamps were U.S., not Canadian.”
    â€œAnybody else get a copy of this article?” asked Joe, glancing around the circle of listeners. No one responded.
    â€œSome friend who knew you were going on this cruise must have sent it to you,” Jason said.
    â€œSome friend,” Frank murmured to Joe. “With friends like that, who needs an enemy?”
    â€œOkay, listen, people,” David said. “We’re going to have a great time and solve some great puzzles. And if any ghosts or curses try to stop us, they are going to be in major trouble. Right?”
    â€œRight!” the group responded. Boris pumped his fist in the air and cheered.
    â€œThen let’s go on board,” David concluded. “Find your cabins and settle in. We’ll assemble on the afterdeck in half an hour for the official welcome and kickoff.”
    As they walked out along the pier, Joe leaned close to Frank. “I hope no one takes the word kickoff too seriously,” he said.
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    The guest cabins were one level down from the main deck, along either side of a central corridor. Frank and Joe carried their packs down and studied the name tags on the doors.
    Their cabin was partway along the corridor on the port side. David and Evan were on one side of them, and Elizabeth and Sylvie on the other. The cabins on the starboard side were assigned to Cesar and Jason, Boris and