Free Curse of the Arctic Star by Carolyn Keene Page A

place earlier. Anyway, if it’s true—like, if Tobias is really some kind of computer genius—he could have sent those e-mails to Becca and Brock. Maybe he was trying to get the whole cruise shut down so he could go to that amusement park instead. It’s obvious he wants to be anywhere else but here.”
    “They wouldn’t shut down a cruise over a couple of e-mails,” George said.
    I shrugged. “Tobias is just a kid. He wouldn’t necessarilyrealize that. Anyway, that mannequin stunt was pretty childish, if you think about it. And Becca said the drink mix came from the kids’ section, remember? Plus, Tobias was nearby during the moose incident this morning.”
    My friends traded a glance, looking skeptical. I couldn’t really blame them.
    “Okay, so it’s a little far-fetched,” I said. “So are all our other theories so far.”
    “Incoming,” George hissed, glancing over my shoulder.
    Alan was hurrying toward us, holding my glass of soda. I sighed, then pasted on a smile. Further discussion would have to wait.

    “Come on, dude.” Vince the newlywed grinned as he hung at the edge of the pool, his hair slicked back. “We need one more guy for even teams.”
    Alan sat up straight on his lounge chair. It was an hour after lunch, and he’d insisted we all change into our bathing suits and get some sun. I was itching to getaway and do some investigating, but I hadn’t found the right excuse yet.
    “Volleyball, huh?” Alan said, glancing from Vince to the four other guys of various ages out in the pool. “I’m not bad at that, if I do say so myself.”
    A few members of the film crew were nearby, getting shots of passengers enjoying the pool. One of the cameramen came closer, his lens trained on Alan and Vince. “Go on, man,” he called. “This could be great stuff for the ads.”
    Another cameraman was filming the guys in the pool. He glanced over his shoulder at Alan. “You guys’ll be Superstar superstars,” he joked.
    I peered at him over my sunglasses. It was Baraz, the one who’d disappeared so abruptly yesterday.
    “Okay, how can I say no to that?” Alan peeled off his T-shirt and stood up, tugging up the waistband of his swim trunks.
    “Have fun,” Bess said, glancing up from her fashion magazine.
    Alan grinned, dropped a quick kiss on top of herhead, then cannonballed into the pool to loud cheers from the other guys. I sat up, dropped the book I’d been pretending to read, and scooted my lounge chair a little closer to my friends. It was a gorgeous afternoon and the pool was busy, but none of the other sunbathers were close enough to overhear us.
    “Okay, where were we?” I said briskly.
    George looked up from her laptop with a smirk. “You were trying to convince us that an eight-year-old is some kind of criminal mastermind,” she joked.
    I smiled. “Okay, I already admitted that one’s a little bit of a stretch,” I reminded her. “So let’s come up with some other ideas.” I’d spent the past half hour stewing over the case while pretending to read my book, so I was ready. “I’m thinking we shouldn’t focus too much on motives right now—it’s just too random. Instead let’s think about opportunity. Who could have done the things that have happened so far?”
    “Just about anyone on the ship.” George shrugged. “I mean, we’re all stuck in this floating tin can together. Equal opportunity.”
    “Not really.” Bess looked thoughtful. “There weren’t that many people around the mini-golf place this morning. If the bolts on that antler were loose enough to let go just because Alan and I leaned back against the moose’s side, it probably couldn’t have been that way for long, right?”
    “Good point.” I thought back to the incident. “Actually, I did notice something weird right after it happened.”
    “What? Tobias sneaking around with a monkey wrench?” George teased.
    “No. It was when Becca arrived on the scene.”
    Bess cocked an eyebrow. “Hang