Strangers on a Train (Nancy Drew Diaries #2)(8)

George didn’t answer for a moment, instead clearing her throat loudly. Glancing up, I saw Hiro hurrying down the aisle. He spotted us, too, and smiled.

"Having a nice time?” he asked, pausing and leaning a hand on the back of our seat. "The scenery is spectacular out here, isn’t it? I thought I’d miss the warm blue waters of the Caribbean when I left Jubilee to take this job. But it’s been great to see a new part of the world.”

"You worked for Jubilee before?” I was surprised, though I wasn’t sure why. The cruise industry was really pretty small, and Jubilee Cruise Lines was one of its largest players. A lot of the Arctic Star’s crew, including Becca, had worked for Jubilee before being lured away by Superstar Cruises.

Hiro nodded. “I was assistant cruise director on one of the ships,” he said. "It was a great job, but when I heard Superstar had a spot open for kiddie coordinator, I jumped at it. I love working with kids.” He checked his watch. "Speaking of which, I’d better scoot. Got a bunch of the little rascals waiting for me right now. Enjoy the rest of the ride, ladies.”

"Thanks,” George and I chorused as he hurried off.

"That’s weird,” George said once he was gone.

"What?” I asked.

She shrugged. "Becca’s the assistant cruise director on our ship, right? And I thought you said she was Hiro’s boss. So it sounds like he took a demotion to take this job. Why would someone do that? Especially since it sounds like he was skeptical about leaving the Caribbean to come to Alaska?”

"Good question. But I’m not totally sure Becca is actually his boss,” I said. "I’ll text her right now and ask.”

I pulled out my phone and started tapping out a quick text. "Cool, your phone’s working again,” George said, peering over my shoulder.

"Uh-huh.” My phone had gone dead—or at least temporarily unconscious—after my unplanned dip in the cold waters beneath that walkway in Ketchikan. “After it dried out, it was fine.”

“So are you going to ask Becca about Scott, too?” George asked.

“I think I’ll wait and ask her about that in person.” I tucked the phone away. “Seems too complicated to do via text. Anyway, I guess this means Hiro’s still on the suspect list?”

"Definitely,” George said. “He was around when the moose antler crashed. And you said Becca acted weird when you asked about him that time—maybe she’s suspicious of him too.”

“Maybe.” I thought about that conversation. As soon as I’d mentioned Hiro’s name, Becca had rushed off, claiming she needed to be somewhere. "But if she thinks we should investigate him, why wouldn’t she just say so?”

"Got me.” George shrugged. "Anyway, we already know Scott’s on the list now too. Who else?”

I thought about our previous suspect list. "Well, there’s Wendy.”

"Wendy the Wacko?” George nodded. "Yeah, she’s too weird not to keep on the list, I guess. But actually, I’m thinking it’s more likely to be a crew member than a passenger. Like Scott or Hiro. Or maybe Tatjana—we were suspicious of her before, right? I mean, how would someone like Wendy sneak around the ship causing trouble? She doesn’t exactly blend into the background.” “True. But Wendy still has a decent motive,” I said. “She really wants her blog to be a success. What better way than making sure this cruise is one everybody wants to read about, even if it’s a crime she’s writing about?” I remembered one more suspect we hadn’t discussed yet. “And let’s not forget Fred.”

"Fred? Who’s Fred?”

“Mr. Hawaiian Shirt,” I said. "I forgot to tell you, he turned up right after the busboy got fired and started trying to get involved.” “Weird. The guy acts like he’d rather be working on the ship than traveling on it,” George said. “Pretty sure I’ve seen him in the kitchen more often than I’ve seen him at the pool.”

"Yeah.” I didn’t say anything else, mostly because about a dozen redheads were pouring into the train car. They were all chatting and laughing, and several of them were clutching cameras. They rushed over to the other family reunion members, overflowing into the seats near ours.

One of them, a twentyish young woman with an auburn ponytail, glanced at George and me with a smile. “Hi! You’re from our ship, right?” she said. "Isn’t this fun?”

"Yeah, it’s great,” George said.

Obviously we’d lost our quiet conversation spot. Probably just as well—if George and I stayed away too long, Alan might get suspicious. Especially if he’d heard even a little of my conversation with Becca earlier. He might be clueless, but he wasn’t stupid. I didn’t want to give him any excuse to figure out what was going on behind his back. I sure didn’t want to risk blowing my cover—for Becca’s sake and the safety of the ship’s passengers.

I stood up, returning the redhead’s smile. "Sorry, I think we took your seats,” I told her. “We’d better go find our friends now. See you back on the ship.”

"Wait up a sec, guys,” George said. “I have to tie my shoe.”

"Hurry up,” Alan told her as he, Bess, and I stopped. “Scott said we’re running late, and I don’t want to miss my chance to make my fortune.”