031 Trouble In Tahiti by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene [Keene, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

NANCY WAS STARTLED by the hostile gesture, but she stood her ground. “Is that a threat, Pierre?”

“Take it any way you like.” He pointed firmly at the front door. “Just get out of here!”

Nancy knew she would get nothing more from Pierre. “Let’s go, Bree.” Taking her arm, Nancy led the girl out into the crowded street.

Bree trembled with suppressed anger. “He’s a bum, Nancy. He always was.” She stalked away angrily.

Nancy glanced back at the dive shop. Pierre Panchaud was no friend of the Gordons. As a diver he was certainly familiar with spear guns. But had he killed Lucinda? And, if so, what could his motive possibly have been?

“Where to next?” asked Bree as they headed back to the car.

“I thought we might have a look at the spot where the Southwind was anchored,” Nancy replied. “Tayo found that chain. Perhaps there’s another clue down there.”

“Good idea.” Bree nodded in agreement. “We can rent some scuba gear back at the hotel.”

As they drove back to the Taravao, Nancy mulled over Pierre’s story. The man was certainly unpleasant enough, but Nancy found it hard to think of him as a murderer. Pierre had never even met Lucinda before that summer.

The other suspects had genuinely compelling reasons to kill her. Kristin had hated Bree’s mother. She had considered Lucinda her biggest screen rival.

Nancy reflected again on the obvious fact that Rupert stood to gain much-needed money. And for Brian, Lucinda’s death had been the ticket out of a stormy marriage.

Nancy shook her head as she considered her most recent encounter. Pierre’s story meshed perfectly with the reminiscences of the other Southwind witnesses. All reported the same things—the ferry passing astern, the green light on the buoy, the ringing bell.

Nancy frowned thoughtfully. So Pierre must have been belowdecks that night, just as he had said. The man’s alibi seemed ironclad.

But why did Pierre lie about the Café Chat Noir? And why had those two Frenchmen attacked her after she had casually mentioned Pierre’s name?

Nancy had to wonder if the two men were involved in Lucinda’s murder. If so, how? They were definitely linked to Pierre Panchaud.

Nancy felt more than a little bewildered by so many possibilities and so little proof. But she was not about to give up. Things were just getting interesting.

• • •

After changing Nancy entered the Gordon penthouse suite. She found Amanda Withers on the sofa, prim as ever in a tailored apricot linen suit. She shuffled business papers, her steel-rimmed glasses low on her sharp nose. Nancy paused expectantly in the doorway.

Manda removed her glasses. “Hello, Nancy. Are you looking for Bree?”

“Yes. We’re meeting here.” Nancy took a chair across from the secretary. “She’s renting some scuba tanks so we can have a look at the Southwind’s old anchorage.”

“That again.” With a sigh, Manda set her papers on the coffee table. “Sometimes I don’t think we’ll ever hear the end of it.”

“I guess you’ve seen a lot working for the family all these years,” Nancy commented.

“Indeed I have.

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