“Whoa!” One of the resort employees had stepped forward for a better look. Now he took a quick step back, his expression alarmed. “Those are lionfish!”
“What’s a lionfish?” Madge demanded.
The employee shook his head. “Terribly venomous,” he said, waving his hands around. “It is a good thing that is only a mannequin in there. If any real person had gone into that water and disturbed them, they surely would have attacked! Very serious!”
Bo let out a low whistle. “Okay, but this pool is way far from the lagoon,” he said. “So how’d those things get in there?”
I was pretty sure I knew. And when I turned and scanned the onlookers, what I saw confirmed my suspicions. Donald was sidling off to one side, unnoticed by anyone else so far.
“It was Donald,” I said, pointing. “Somebody grab him!”
Bo and Jamal looked confused. But when Donald made a break for it, dashing for the nearest gap in the fence surrounding the lap pool, they leaped after him and grabbed him.
“Let me go!” Donald yelled, kicking at them. But he was no match for the two much larger, stronger guys, and after a moment he seemed to give up. “I did it all for you, Sydney!” he cried, twisting around to gaze at her. “We were meant to be together!”
Sydney blinked, looking startled. “What?”
I marched over to Donald. He didn’t even seem to notice me coming. His full attention was focused on Sydney. That meant it was no trouble at all for me to reach over and yank his floppy brown hair right off his head, revealing his gleaming bald scalp.
Bess gasped. “A wig!”
“Sydney,” I said grimly, “meet MrSilhouette.”
“Okay, Nancy.” Akinyi tapped her water glass with a spoon. “It’s been hours since the police took Donald away, and I think we’re all dying to know. How did you figure out it was him? That he was MrSilhouette all along?”
I’d just taken my seat in the dining room. Glancing down the long table, I caught Sydney’s eye. She gave me a barely perceptible nod and smile. She and Vic had been with me, Bess, and George at the local police station for most of the afternoon, so of course they knew the whole story already. But I couldn’t blame the others for being curious. Nearly everyone connected with the filming had gathered together for dinner, and most of them were now staring at me curiously.
“It was the steak thing,” I said, raising my voice enough to make sure everyone could hear me even at the adjoining tables where the crew was seated. “Well, mostly that. Lainie kind of helped too.”
I turned to smile at the makeup artist, who looked confused. “I did?” she said.
“See, Donald never really made it past the least-likely group on the suspect list,” I explained. “That was partly because of his mild-mannered, professional, and helpful act. But it was also because of his floppy head of hair.”
“Oh!” Akinyi nodded. “I see. We knew that MrSilhouette was bald….”
“And so we didn’t seriously consider anyone who had tons of hair like Donald did. Or seemed to,” I finished for her. Then I glanced at Bess and George. “That’s what started bugging me after we talked to Lainie. We really hadn’t considered that if MrSilhouette was hanging around, he could easily be disguising his baldness with a wig.”
“Duh,” George said. “Seems so obvious now, doesn’t it?”
“So it was really Donald causing all the trouble?” Bo asked.
“Right. Except for the stuff Candy did,” George put in. “She was guilty too. But Donald did everything else. The jet fuel, that big light that almost fell on Vic right before the wedding …”
Bess nodded. “He also managed to frame Akinyi and Jamal by planting that so-called evidence in their hotel rooms,” she said. “And he set up Pandora by giving her the note suggesting she perform that Native American knife ritual, pretending it was from the director.”
“He also sent most of the e-mails and texts,” I added. “And the fake RSVP card, and a bunch of other stuff. He was the one who convinced Butch to try to get Vic to climb up that pool waterfall—I actually noticed the two of them talking together right before it all happened, before Bo talked to him, but I didn’t put two and two together then. And of course, Donald was the one who tampered with Vic’s steak after making sure Madge came in at just the right moment to distract the cook so he could snag the tray.” I sighed. “Like George said, it all seems so clear now, looking back. Donald had the access, the opportunity, and as it turns out, the motive—namely, that he was obsessed with Sydney. But it wasn’t until I saw that body in the pool that it all clicked into place.”
“But how?” someone called out from the next table.
“I remembered that Vic said Syd couldn’t find her blue bathing suit, and I guessed that that was because someone had sneaked in and stolen it to set up some new mischief. And since Donald was the one who came running with that story about seeing Syd crying …”
“Which meant it pretty much had to be him who set it up,” Vic said, nodding. “But hey, I forgot to ask earlier, Nance—how’d you know to stop me from diving in?”
“Just a guess.” I smiled at him, trying not to think about what might have happened if he’d managed to dive into that pool anyway. “You’re lucky Butch was close enough to grab you. And that he likes man-handling the talent.”
Everyone laughed at that. Even Butch cracked a smile, though he almost immediately let out a snort and pretended to be very busy with his food.
“Anyway,” Vic spoke up, “Donald confessed to everything.”
“Yeah.” George shrugged. “It almost seemed like he was proud of all the chaos he caused.”
Sydney shuddered. “At least he should be in jail for a good long time,” she said. “Nancy, I’ll never be able to thank you enough. I can’t tell you what it means to finally be able to go about my life without having to look over my shoulder all the time.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, thinking of what she’d planned to do if we hadn’t solved the case. With any luck, Vic would never have to know how close he’d come to losing her. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t figure it out sooner, before your wedding was pretty much spoiled.”
“Hey, that reminds me. What about Pandora?” one of Lainie’s fellow makeup artists spoke up. “Does this let her off the hook?”
“I can answer that one,” Bo spoke up. “I called her just before dinner. She’s already been cleared of all charges and allowed to go home.”
“Good,” I said.
But I wasn’t really thinking about Pandora. I was watching Sydney as she turned to smile at Vic. Seeing the look they were giving each other reminded me that even though I’d solved the case, there were still a few loose ends I hadn’t managed to tie up. What had Vic been doing in Akinyi’s bungalow the night before? Why had the guys all lied about that imaginary poker game? What had all that thumping been from inside Akinyi’s bungalow while we were waiting for her to let us in? What had Vic wanted to talk to me about right before Donald sent us all to the lap pool? And come to think of it, there was even that phone call that Vic had hidden from us right after he’d received the photo message from MrSilhouette. He’d said it was from his agent—but was it really?
There were just too many questions left unanswered. I bit my lip as I watched Sydney laugh and tip her face up toward Vic for a kiss, looking more carefree than she had since this whole wedding business had started. I hated the thought that she might be hurt just when she thought she was free to enjoy the rest of her life with the man she loved…. But what was I supposed to do about it?
By the time my friends and I headed for our bungalow, those sorts of dark thoughts had given me the beginning of a headache. “Want to take a walk on the beach before bed?” George asked as we reached the steps leading up to the main walkway.
“Not tonight,” I said, dragging myself up the steps. “I’m ready to hit the sack. It’s been a pretty long day. And we have all week to enjoy the beach and stuff.” That was true. Afte
r we’d solved the case, Daredevils had invited the three of us to stay on at the resort for the rest of the week as a reward.
“Nancy!” someone called from down on the beach.
I looked that way and saw Lainie hurrying toward us. “What is it?” Bess asked her.
“Madge sent me,” Lainie said breathlessly. “She needs to see you three about something—now.” She grimaced. “And you know Madge…. She’s over by the beach volleyball net waiting for you.”
I groaned. “Way over there?” I complained, glancing up the beach, which was nothing but a shadowy blob in the twilight. “That’s, like, a quarter mile down the beach—practically all the way to the jungle!”
“Sorry.” Lainie shrugged. “I’m just the messenger.”
“We know,” Bess told her kindly. Then she glanced at me and George. “What do you say? Want to take that beach walk after all?”
“Might as well,” George joked. “Otherwise Madge will probably come drag us out of our beds in the middle of the night and throw us into the lagoon with the lionfish.”
“There aren’t normally any lionfish in this lagoon,” I said automatically. “That guy at the police station said so. Donald admitted he bought them in a nearby town from some black-market guy who caught them somewhere else.”
Lainie smiled uncertainly. “So are you coming?”
I hesitated, tempted to blow Madge off. It would be dark soon, and we were all exhausted. And I wasn’t really in the mood for the nutty assistant director just then. Not that I ever was, but even the thought of her screechy voice was making my head pound. Surely whatever she wanted to say to us could wait until morning….
Then again, maybe it was easier to go now than to face an extra layer of the assistant director’s irritation the next day. “Fine,” I muttered, my sense of duty overwhelming my exhaustion. “Let’s get it over with. There’s a pillow with my name on it back at the bungalow, and I don’t want to keep it waiting.”
We said good-bye to Lainie and made our way down the beach. It really was pretty that time of the evening, and I was in a slightly better mood by the time the three of us neared the volleyball net. But that mood plummeted again as I glanced around and saw that we were alone.
“Where is she?” I said. “Madge? Hello, Madge? Where are—”
My words were cut off by a large hand clapped over my mouth. I let out a squeak and started to struggle as my arms were pinned to my sides and I was dragged bodily into the jungle. Nearby, I could see two more hooded figures doing the same to my friends.
“Hush!” a voice whispered into my ear. “Please, Nancy. I’m going to let you go, but please don’t scream until we get to explain.”
Just like that, I felt myself released. “Hey!” I sputtered as soon as my mouth was free. “Who—”
But I didn’t need to go on. I’d just turned to find Bo, Vic, and Jamal grinning at us. “Sorry about that,” Vic said. “I hope we didn’t scare you too much. But we couldn’t think of any other way to get you out here without tipping off Madge and the camera crew.”
“Huh?” George said, sounding irritated. “What are you talking about?”
Bo checked his watch. “No time to explain now,” he said. “Just come on! Our ATVs are hidden right over there.”
Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves watching as Vic and Sydney prepared to get married—again—in a private ceremony on the beach in that pretty private cove we’d stumbled upon earlier. It looked a lot different from the last time we’d seen it. The whole place was decorated with tons of flowers and sparkling lights, with tiki torches flickering brightly at water’s edge as darkness fell.
“I still can’t believe you guys were planning this all along,” I told Sydney as Bess and Akinyi fiddled with her hair.
“Not us,” Sydney said happily, smoothing the skirt of the plain but elegant white sundress she was wearing. “Just Vic. Well—he had some help.” She turned to smile at Akinyi.
Akinyi smiled back and winked. “It wasn’t easy keeping the secret from you, Syd.” She shot me a look. “Especially with your own private detective snooping around. Plus we had to avoid the cameras at the same time—no easy task.”
I grinned. I’d already figured out that this was what Vic had been trying to tell me back by the pool. He’d realized I was starting to get suspicious and wanted to let me in on the secret before I unwittingly ruined all his plans.
Vic heard us talking and glanced up from tying his shoes nearby. He’d already pulled on a snazzy tuxedo over his shorts and T-shirt.
“Yeah, it was a challenge,” he agreed, straightening up. “But it was totally worth it. I really wanted to do this again, and do it right this time. No cameras. No extra junk. Just the small romantic ceremony Syd always wanted. The wedding of her dreams.” He shot a look at Jamal and Akinyi. “With the people we really care about there to see it this time.”
“This all must have something to do with what happened when we knocked on your door yesterday,” I said to Akinyi. “We were wondering why you didn’t let us in right away—and what all that thumping was about.”
Akinyi shrugged. “I had just returned from here,” she said, glancing around the cove. “My clothes were covered in mud, plus I had some flowers and other things in my cabin that we hadn’t been able to fit in the crates when we brought them out here.” She waved a hand at the decorations all around us. “I needed a moment to hide that stuff, and my dirty clothes.”
“But you forgot about your sandals,” Bess said. “Did you ever manage to get them cleaned up, by the way?”
That brought on a lively discussion between the two of them involving said sandals, which I mostly ignored. I was just happy to finally have the answers to those last, nagging questions. Now I knew why Vic had been sneaking out of Akinyi’s bungalow at midnight. They’d been in there—along with Bo and Jamal—making plans after Sydney was asleep. It also explained why the guys had covered for Vic when they hadn’t been playing poker that day at all. And that phone call Vic had hidden from sight. None of Sydney’s loved ones had been up to anything nefarious after all. They’d been planning this wonderful surprise for her!
Now that everything was out in the open, I couldn’t believe I’d ever suspected Vic and Sydney’s other friends of all those terrible things. At least I hadn’t shared my darker suspicions with Sydney.
“Is everyone ready?” Bo called out, clapping his hands. “If so, would the bride and groom please take your places….”
“Wait, you mean you’re doing the ceremony?” George asked him.
Bo grinned. “Sure. I got a certificate from one of those online places.” He thumped his broad chest with both fists. “I’m fully accredited!”
“Come on, girls.” Sydney grabbed Bess’s hand with one of her own and mine with the other. “Time to be bridesmaids.”
George groaned. “Again?”
Sydney laughed. “At least you don’t have to wear pink this time,” she teased. Then she glanced at Akinyi, dropping our hands to grab both of hers. “And at least this time I get to have the maid of honor I wanted.”
Akinyi squeezed her hands. “I can’t wait.”
All traces of my headache gone, I watched as Sydney and Vic stood hand in hand in front of Bo. Sydney looked beautiful and radiantly happy as she gazed up at the man of her dreams. And Vic looked handsome and adoring as he drank in the sight of his beautiful bride as if he never wanted to look away.
The ceremony was simple, short, and perfect. At the end, as bride and groom kissed, I clapped along with everyone else.
“This is great,” Bess whispered, beaming at the happy couple. “Sydney finally got the sweet, intimate wedding she always wanted.”
George nodded. “And the Daredevils viewing audience will never be the wiser.”
I smiled as Vic dipped Sydney almost to the sand, making her laugh with delight. “Right,” I agreed. “Sometimes secrets can be a good thing!“
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Carolyn Keene, Model Suspect
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