028 The Black Widow

  As she entered the navigation room, Nancy saw that her father was there, talking to Brant. Well, she'd have to tell him sometime. She crossed quickly to his side.

  "Dad, hi. Captain Brant. Do either of you know where Mrs. da Silva is?"

  Captain Brant frowned. "Funny you should ask," he replied. "As a matter of fact, I just got word that Nina has left the cruise. Looks like she had some urgent business to attend to in the States, so she took a launch ashore this afternoon and caught a flight to Miami. I was about to tell your father."

  "Left the cruise!" Carson Drew stared at his friend. "But wouldn't she say something to you before taking off like that?"

  Brant shrugged. "I would have expected her to, yes. But Nina's—unpredictable, sometimes. And

  she's had a lot of business to take care of since Hector died. Maybe it just couldn't wait."

  "Even so." Carson shook his head. "I just can't believe she'd go without saying goodbye to—to anyone! Something must have happened."

  Nancy took a deep breath. "I think something has happened," she told both men. "Mrs. da Silva was being threatened by someone aboard this ship. I'm pretty sure I know who it was, but I'd rather not name him until I know why he was threatening her.

  "Yesterday morning I overheard a conversation between her and this person," Nancy went on. "She apparently had some sort of map or document he wanted. Badly. She wouldn't give it up. And he told her he had proof about her double-crossing husband."

  "What does this all mean?" Captain Brant was looking very confused.

  "It means that Mrs. da Silva may well have left in order to shake off a blackmailer. But I don't know what he wanted, or whether he got it."

  "Nancy, why didn't you tell me this before?" Carson asked.

  "I did tell you. Dad, but you didn't want to hear it."

  Carson sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I haven't been acting exactly impartial. I'm sorry, honey."

  "It's okay." Nancy hugged her father. "No apology necessary."

  Captain Brant cleared his throat. "What's our next course of action?"

  "There's not much we can do about Mrs. da Silva. She left of her own free will," Nancy pointed out. "But Vd like to investigate on this end, if you don't mind."

  "Mind? I was about to beg you to look into it." John Brant looked relieved.

  "Good. Now, the first question is, who's in on this? Who told you that Nina was gone?"

  Brant blinked. "Why, it was Randy. Randy Wolfe."

  Randy Wolfe. What was his part in all this? Nancy wondered as she scanned the ballroom for him that evening. What did he know and whose side was he on?

  When she heard that Randy had actually known about Mrs. da Silva's departure, Nancy got a sinking feeling in her stomach. He probably knew when they discussed the case that afternoon. Why hadn't he said anything to her? Could Randy possibly be involved with Ribeiro's scheme?

  "Nancy, you look fantastic!" Melissa Jordan appeared at Nancy's elbow and nodded approvingly. "What a gorgeous gown—that pink looks great on you."

  Nancy smiled. "Thanks, Melissa. You look pretty dazzling yourself. I'm surprised Matt isn't glued to your side."

  "Oh, Matt'll be along," Melissa said, bubbling. "I left him figuring out how to tie his own bow tie." She giggled. "Men are so helpless sometimes!"

  "Speaking of men, have you seen Randy?" Nancy asked, craning her neck to look around the room.

  "Lover boy? I thought you'd had enough of him," Melissa said. "Is this a change of heart? What happened last night?"

  "It's a long story." Nancy wasn't about to spill her guts to anyone—she couldn't risk her words getting back to the wrong person. "Nothing interesting happened. And don't worry, I haven't fallen wildly in love with Randy. Far from it. I just want to finish a conversation we were having today." A conversation we should have had today, she added lo herself.

  "Well, here he comes now. And it doesn't look as if you'll have any trouble attracting his attention. My goodness, but that boy certainly is persistent! Excuse me while I fade away!" Melissa gave Nancy a reassuring pat on the shoulder and moved off.

  "Blue eyes! You look too gorgeous to be true." Randy threaded his way to Nancy's side and took her hand. "Now I know I didn't slave my afternoon away in vain." He waved his free hand expansively about him. "I planned this whole shebang. What do you think?"

  "It's incredible," Nancy said. She wasn't exag-

  gerating. The ballroom had been decorated in green and gold, with huge bouquets of hothouse orchids spilling out of dozens of vases. The moon shone into the room, coaxing rainbows from the many facets of the eight-spoked green glass chandelier that spread across the ceiling.

  "Glad you like it. Come on, let's dance!'' Randy pulled Nancy toward the double doors leading out to the deck.

  "If you're looking for the dance floor, you're going the wrong way," Nancy protested.

  "Remember what I said about dancing by moonlight? I'm still working on you, blue eyes."

  Nancy sighed. She thought he'd given up. Oh, well, it was a perfect opportunity to have a private talk—if only Randy would listen.

  "Did you hear that Mrs. da Silva took off?" she asked casually as they walked along the deck.

  She heard Randy draw in his breath. "Yes," he said. Then, abruptly, he turned to face her. "Nancy, I need to talk to you. Let's go someplace where no one can hear." Randy led her aft along the deck, away from the crowd. Nancy felt a twinge of fear. If Randy was working for Ribeiro, she'd be putting herself in serious danger. But she had to know what he knew!

  Randy threw open the door to the dining room and stood aside for Nancy to pass. Then he closed the door behind them.

  Sitting on the edge of a banquette, Randy took Nancy's hand in one of his. "I can tell you that we're dealing with some desperate and ruthless people," he began. ''Mrs. da Silva was smart to get out when she did."

  He slapped at his neck. "Who'd think there would be mosquitoes this far out to sea?" he grumbled.

  ''Why? What's she been involved in?" Nancy wanted to stay on the subject. "Stop talking in riddles. Just tell me what's going on!"

  "Well," Randy began. Then suddenly he stopped. He gasped, clutching a hand to his neck. "I can't—breathe—"

  He slid to the floor, unconscious.

  "Randy!" Nancy dropped to her knees beside him. "What's wrong?" She leaned over—and saw a tiny feathered dart, sticking out of Randy's neck!

  Chapter Nine

  Nancy grabbed Randy's wrist and desperately tried to find a pulse. She could just feel it, very rapid and very faint under her fingertips.

  Still crouching, she scanned the room for signs of an intruder. Her own life could be in danger, too!

  But there was no one, no sound, other than Randy's labored breathing and the thudding of Nancy's own heart in her ears.

  She couldn't wait any longer. Randy had to have a doctor right away! Jumping up, she ran to the door, yanked it open, and sprinted along the deck to the ballroom.

  Spotting her father and Captain Brant amid the crowd wasn't easy, and precious minutes elapsed before she found them.

  Pushing her way unceremoniously past several dancing couples, Nancy arrived panting at Carson Drew's table.

  "Dad, Captain Brant," she gasped, "no time to explain. Get a doctor and come with me—fast!"

  "But wha—" Captain Brant was startled.

  "Please—it's a matter of life and death," Nancy spoke quietly, trying to convey the sense of urgency without alerting anyone in the crowd nearby.

  The captain made up his mind and nodded. He collected the ship's doctor from a neighboring table and the four of them hurried out.

  Nancy raced ahead, arriving at the empty dining room first. As the three men entered, she looked up from where she was checking Randy's pulse again. He was sprawled in an unnatural position, legs folded awkwardly under him. But his heart was still beating!

  "Nancy," Carson said as the doctor began to remove Randy's white jacket, "wha
t's going on here?"

  "Dad, believe me, if I knew, you'd be the first one I'd tell," Nancy replied ruefully. "All we know is that Mrs. da Silva was being blackmailed —but not for money. It was for something she had, and only she and her blackmailer knew its value.

  "'When we went to ask her about it, it seemed she might be about to tell us something. That's why it seems so weird that she'd pack up and leave so suddenly. But if her blackmailer found out she was about to talk, maybe he threatened her and she lost her nerve. She seized her chance and left while we were in Paranagua and couldn't stop her."

  "But how does Randy figure in this? Does he know anything?" asked Carson Drew, puzzled.

  "I don't know. He said he had something to tell me, but then this happened," Nancy explained. "The blackmailer must have overheard Randy telling me he had some information, so he followed us here. Which means that whatever Randy knows, it must be important enough to make some person try to kill him!"

  "Well," the doctor said dryly, "whoever it was knew something about South American jungle warfare. This dart is coated with curare, a poison. A little melodramatic but quite effective.

  "Luckily, the dosage was weak. See—you can tell by its consistency." He held up a gauze pad with a sticky black smear on it. "The pure stuff is thicker. A dose of that, and our young man would have been dead. I think he'll make it, if we can just get him to the infirmary."

  "Thank goodness," Nancy said fervently. She watched as the captain and the doctor carefully lifted Randy's limp body and carried him out.

  "Dad, whoever did this wants me out of the way, too. Randy and I didn't think that my run-in with the motorcycle was any accident. The rider had on a full helmet—probably to prevent anyone from seeing his face."

  Carson Drew nodded and gave a wry smile. "I guess I didn't want to believe there was anything criminal going on, especially if it involved Nina. I am sorry, Nancy."

  Together, Nancy and Carson inspected the dining room, looking for any trace of the hidden assailant.

  "You know. Dad," said Nancy suddenly, "I don't understand how someone could have shot that dart from inside the room without my seeing him escape. It had to have happened once we closed the door—but I'm almost positive no one was in the room."

  "Well, Nan," said Carson, "it was dark, don't forget. There's got to be somewhere he could have hidden. But it's late now. Let's figure it out in the morning."

  Nancy still wasn't satisfied, but her father was right. There was nothing more they could do that night. And she did need to get some sleep.

  As they left the room, Carson said, "I'm seeing you safely inside your room. This whole thing is starting to make me very nervous."

  Nancy laughed. "Oh, Dad, don't worry so much."

  Carson Drew sighed. "Fd feel a lot better if we had some tangible evidence to take to the police. This thing is beginning to look like a puzzle with half the pieces missing."

  Something clicked in Nancy's brain. A puzzle! What was that note she had received on their first day aboard, if not a puzzle?

  "Dad, you're a gem. Here Fve had a prime piece of evidence sitting right under my nose, and I didn't see it! I'll check it out and fill you in in the morning!"

  Nancy could barely contain her excitement as she unlocked her cabin door. She said good night to her father hastily, closed the door, and ran to her dressing table. She rummaged through her cosmetics case, where she'd tucked the cryptic note with the spider code.

  It was gone.

  Nancy sat down hard on the bed. She couldn't believe it. The second piece of tangible evidence she'd lost, and it had been practically laid at her feet on the very first day of the cruise!

  Strike two. Drew, she said sourly to herself. That spider drawing was somehow crucial to the whole case and you've let it out of your grasp. One more miss, and you're out!

  Nancy finally realized that she couldn't just sit there all night. She got up and checked the rest of the room. Nothing else was disturbed.

  Going to the cabin door, Nancy opened it and inspected the lock. No sign of forced entry. Well, at least that confirmed her suspicions. Only a crew member would have the master key, so the thief must be employed by the cruise line.

  Once more, the facts pointed to Ribeiro.

  But again, she couldn't seem to get anything on him. She had no hard evidence.

  Nancy stretched wearily. Sitting up all night kicking herself wouldn't help matters. What might help would be a hot bath to relax her.

  She opened the bathroom door and reached for the light switch. As she clicked it on, there was a brilliant blue flash. A tingling surge swept up her arm and through her body like a thousand tiny needles.

  The shadows in the bathroom grew much deeper all of a sudden. The light spilling in from the bedroom shrank to a tiny point. Nancy's hand felt glued to the light switch. With a great effort, she finally did wrench it free.

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter Ten

  NANCY AWOKE WITH a Start. She was lying on cold, hard tiles and couldn't remember how she had gotten there. Then it came back. Someone had tried to electrocute her!

  She tried to get up, but her muscles didn't obey. Her body was tingling, and her legs felt as if they were made of rubber.

  With a groan, Nancy struggled to a sitting position on the bathroom floor. She peered at her watch and gasped. It was past one in the mom-ing. She had been there for an hour!

  Painfully, Nancy climbed to her feet. Fetching her evening bag from the bed, she shone her tiny flashlight on the bathroom switch. It was sur-

  rounded by black scorch marks, and there were deep gouges in the paint where someone had pried it loose to sabotage the wiring.

  A long shudder ran down Nancy's spine. So now Ribeiro was playing for keeps! It was sheer luck that she had let go of the light switch before the current did any permanent damage.

  Moving shakily, she let herself out of her room and made her way to her father's cabin.

  "Nancy!" Carson Drew's face paled when he saw her at his door. "What happened to you?"

  "I—" Nancy staggered and Carson caught her. "Someone rigged my bathroom light switch." She tried to smile. "I got a pretty good shock, but I think I'm okay."

  'What?" Carson exploded. He picked his daughter up and carried her inside, where he placed her gently on his bed and covered her with a blanket. Then he straightened up, his face dark with anger.

  "Who did this? How did it happen?" he demanded.

  Nancy sighed. "I guess someone broke in during the ball. Everything was fine when I got dressed earlier."

  "But who?'' Carson pressed. "Nancy, do you have any idea who it can be? You've got to tell me!"

  Nancy's mind v/ent back to the knife attacker in Mrs. da Siiva's room. It had to have been

  Ribeiro—but there was something nagging at the back of her mind, some clue that she couldn't quite focus on. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, but it was no use. Her head was spinning.

  Her father noticed that she looked exhausted. "Well/' he said in a gentle voice, "I guess we can talk in the morning. Right now, you'd better get some rest."

  He adjusted Nancy's blanket and stretched out in his armchair. Nancy was too tired to protest.

  Her body aching, she finally fell asleep.

  Nancy had to admit, the world did look a lot better in daylight, after a good breakfast. She reached hungrily for a second piece of toast.

  She told Carson her suspicions about Antonio Ribeiro. At first Carson wanted to go straight to Captain Brant, but Nancy pointed out that without any solid evidence, there was nothing they could do. "We need to see what he'll do next," she argued. "He will slip up sometime."

  "You're right, of course," Carson grumbled. "But I'm not happy about it."

  "Cheer up. Dad. It's a beautiful day," Nancy said with an afiectionate grin.

  Just then. Captain Brant came over to greet them.

  "Captain Brant, how's Randy doing?" Nancy asked quietly.
br />   "Stable, but he's not feeling too well. We^l be transferring him to the naval hospital once we get to Rio/' replied the captain. "What's your next move?"

  "Well," said Nancy carefully, "I do have one question. Did Antonio Ribeiro go ashore at Paranagua yesterday?"

  "Why, no." The captain looked surprised. "He was working on the Rio requisition orders with me almost all day. Why do you ask?"

  Nancy sighed inwardly. So Ribeiro couldn't have been riding the motorcycle in Paranagua after all. "Oh, just checking everyone's whereabouts."

  She said goodbye and wandered out to the observation deck, where she could just make out Sugarloaf, the cone-shaped mountain that stood high above the Rio de Janeiro harbor.

  Just then a scene at the other end of the deck caught Nancy's attention. Antonio Ribeiro was standing with Lynn Ashley, deep in conversation.

  Trying to appear nonchalant, Nancy edged closer to the pair. Since there weren't many other passengers on deck, it wasn't easy to get close enough to hear what they were saying.

  Ribeiro and Lynn weren't noticing much around them. Lynn was shaking her head vigorously, and Ribeiro appeared to be angry.

  Just as Nancy was almost in range, someone called her name. "Nancy, we've been dying to talk to you!''

  Nancy turned to Matt and Melissa Jordan, who looked well rested and fresh in their matching white jogging outfits. Out of the comer of her eye, Nancy saw Ribeiro staring at them with shock. He said something to Lynn and strode away.

  Nancy stifled her annoyance and tried to be polite. "So, you two, we'll be landing in Rio in a couple of hours. Are you excited?"

  "We are excited, but thought we'd play some killer badminton to pass the time. Care to join us?" Matt asked, in the longest sentence Nancy had heard him utter.

  Nancy looked sidelong at Lynn. She was standing and staring out at the ocean with her habitual pout. Nancy didn't see any point in hanging around.