The Caribbean Cruise Caper Read online

  Everyone stopped talking to listen.

  “The thing is . . .” She stopped to swallow. “Nobody stole my cassettes. I made it up. Then I hid them and pretended to find them.”

  In the silence that followed, Bettina asked, “Why, Lisa?”

  “I wanted to write about it in my article,” Lisa told her. “I figured if I was the victim of a crime and I solved it myself, my article would be so hot that you’d have to run it in Teenway. I’d be on my way to becoming a rich and famous writer, just as I’ve always dreamed.”

  “Not many writers become rich and famous, Lisa,” Bettina said. “But if what they write is true and honest, they have other satisfactions. If they write lies, they have to live with those. And sooner or later their lies catch up with them.”

  “I’m sorry I tried to fool everybody,” Lisa said. Her eyes glistened. “I’m still going to write an article about the cruise. But in it I’m going to explain how I was tempted to do something dishonest. And I’m going to explain how my plan was foiled by two brilliant detectives, Joe and Frank Hardy.”

  “Hey,” Boris called. “How did you foil her plan anyway?”

  “We listened to the last cassette in the series,” Frank said. “It was from yesterday afternoon, when all of us were talking about Chuck’s escape. But how could he have stolen a tape of a conversation that happened after he’d jumped ship?”

  Boris laughed. “Brilliant! And simple, like many brilliant ideas.”

  “Speaking of brilliant,” David said, “I have an important announcement. As you all know, the Teenway teen detective contest is scheduled to continue through two more puzzles. Given everything that’s happened—”

  “Oh, you’re not cancelling it!” Sylvie wailed. “You can’t, not now!”

  “We’re not,” David assured her. “However, having only four finalists still in the contest does make a difference.”

  “I know—you’re going to cut back on the number of prizes,” Boris said gloomily.

  “Not at all,” Bettina assured him. “I just got off a call with my publisher, giving some advance warning of today’s startling developments. We discussed what to do about the prize situation. Our decision was to add a special grand prize to the three awards already offered.”

  The four teen finalists looked at one another. It seemed to Frank that they found it hard to believe what they were hearing.

  “In other words,” David added, “you are all sure to win an award.”

  “Yes-s-ss!” Boris shouted, and turned to give Cesar a high-five. Elizabeth grabbed Sylvie and gave her a big hug. Sylvie was so surprised by Elizabeth’s gesture that she started talking rapidly in French. Kenneth was taking so many pictures that his camera almost smoked.

  “By the way, who’s ahead?” Boris wondered, when the excitement died down.

  “The first puzzle, the body in the captain’s office, was pretty much a wash,” Frank reported. “No outstandingly good—or bad—performances.”

  “And no one spotted the wallet being handed off in the second puzzle,” Joe added. “However, Cesar finished that one ahead on points. He remembered the most details. Sylvie was second.”

  “And as you know,” David said, “Cesar’s solution to the museum caper was clearly the most on target.”

  “I start to detect a pattern,” Boris said. Frank did not think he sounded displeased.

  “But what about real life?” Sylvie said. “This morning, all of us told our solutions to the dirty tricks, and all of us were wrong. But Cesar never said what he had written.”

  “True,” David said. “Cesar, what did you write about this morning’s problem?”

  Cesar shrugged. “Albuquerque is not that far from Fort Worth,” he said. “To fly to New York, I had to change planes at Dallas–Fort Worth. So I knew when Jason made that remark about the airport that he was not who he pretended to be. From that, I assumed that he might be Chuck’s accomplice, who could not have done everything. But unlike Frank and Joe, I did not take the next steps and figure out who he really is and why he did what he did.”

  “Perhaps not, but you did a magnificent job,” Bettina declared. “And you already had a substantial lead in the scores. I’m not going to prejudge the contest—”

  “No, no, please don’t!” David exclaimed. “Frank and Joe and I still have a couple of great puzzles to spring on everyone.”

  “So I won’t say any more,” Bettina concluded. “Except to wish all of the contestants continued good luck.”

  Cesar slapped Frank and Joe on the shoulder. “With these guys on the case,” he said, “solving mysteries is never a matter of luck!”

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First Aladdin Paperbacks edition August 2002

  First Minstrel edition January 1999

  Copyright © 1999 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  ALADDIN PAPERBACKS

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  THE HARDY BOYS and THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERY STORIES are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  ISBN 0-671-02549-X

  ISBN 978-1-4391-1427-8 (eBook)