"How did you know him?" Joe asked leaning against the dresser and handing her a box of tissues, shocked.

"I knew him through high school," Victoria said blowing her nose. "He was a good friend of mine."

"Did you know he was on the ship?"

"He told me he was going to buy a ticket after I won so we could come together."

"But didn’t you win two tickets?"

"That one was for my other friend, the one who cancelled at the last minute, but Michael wanted to come along anyway."

"Were you and Michael..." Joe tried to choose the right word, "dating?"

"No," Victoria said with a small laugh. "He was my best friend and we both didn’t want to ruin that."

"So, why didn’t you recognize him last night?"

"It was dark. I panicked. I never expected to see anybody like that." Victoria shuddered at the thought.

"I need to find my brother," Joe said.

"Why Joe?"

"It just doesn’t make sense."

"What doesn’t?"

"What’s going on."

"I don’t understand," Victoria said. "Michael was a kind and caring person. He shouldn’t have died while he was still so young."

"Maybe he was killed," Joe suggested.

"Who would want to kill him?"

"Maybe you could tell me."

"And what’s that supposed to mean?" Victoria countered with anger.

At that moment the door opened and Frank walked in. He saw Joe standing and said, "Good, you’re up. We’re supposed to meet Mom and Dad for breakfast."

Frank crossed the room after closing the door to grab a towel from the bathroom to wipe the sweat off his face from his workout. As he turned around, he saw Victoria sitting on Joe’s bed. She looked like she’d been crying.

"Am I interrupting something?" Frank asked slowly.

"No. In fact, you’re just in time. I think we have a mystery on our hands."

"What happened?"

"We found a body on deck last night. It’s a friend of Victoria’s from high school," Joe said giving Frank the condensed version.

"You’re kidding, right?" Frank asked, hopefully.

"I’m serious," Joe replied, gravely putting his hand on Frank’s shoulder and looking him in the eye.

Frank looked back at Victoria. He wasn’t sure about what had gone on, but there was definitely more going on than what Joe was telling him. "I’m going to go get Nancy. She’ll want to help."

Closing the door to the room, Frank moved down the corridor to Nancy’s room which was on the far side of Callie’s. He knocked on the door and when it opened a moment later, he quietly said, "Come with me."

Nancy, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, gave Frank a puzzled look. After grabbing a sweatshirt off her bed, she pulled it over her head and followed Frank back to his room without asking any questions. Frank opened his door and ushered Nancy in. She saw Joe sitting on one bed with Victoria’s head on his shoulder.

She looked at Frank after he closed the door. Joe said, "Nancy, glad you came. I think you need to hear this."

"So, what’s going on?"

"They won’t believe what I have to say," Victoria said with a slight catch in her voice as she turned to Joe. "And your brother doesn’t believe anything I have to say."

"That’s not true," Frank said defensively. "But we need to know the whole story, something I don’t think you’ve told us yet."

Joe went on to explain how they stumbled on the body of her friend and how she didn’t know who it was until this morning. When Joe finished, Victoria took a deep breath and said, "There’s something else you all should know. I’m afraid for my life." She looked down at her hands which she was clenching and unclenching. "For the past six months I’ve been receiving notes threatening my life. I think some nut is after me."

"Is that the reason Michael was on the cruise?" Joe questioned.

Victoria nodded. "He found one of the notes and confronted me about it. When he learned I won this cruise, he insisted I needed to get away. He got a ticket so he could be there in case I needed him, but now he’s dead." She began to sob again.

Joe looked at Frank. "Whoever was sending her the notes may have found out she had a bodyguard. He may have been killed because he was in the way."

"But in who’s way?" Frank wondered out loud.

As Victoria stood up to wash her face with a cold washcloth, Nancy watched her because there was something she couldn’t put her finger on. There was something about Victoria’s story that bothered her. She said, "Guys, I think we need to look into this."

Frank’s eyes went wide with surprise. He couldn’t believe Nancy agreed so quickly. There were too many holes in Victoria’s story. He looked at Nancy again and realized she had agreed to make Victoria feel better.

Joe said, "I’m going to walk Victoria back to her room. She shouldn’t be alone right now."

"All right," Frank said glancing quickly at his watch. "We need to get to breakfast anyway."

"I’ll be there as soon as I can," Joe said getting to his feet. He wrapped his arm around her waist as she left the bathroom and they left the room.

Once the door to the room was closed, Frank looked at Nancy and asked, "What do you think of that?"

"She’s definitely hiding something," Nancy said.

"You got that feeling too," Frank said sitting down on his bed.

"I felt that way last night," Nancy said. "Her story seems incomplete."

"Then why did you agree to look into this?"

"I saw the questioning look in your eyes. I know we’ll figure out what’s going on."

"What I don’t understand is why Victoria didn’t recognize her friend last night when they found him," Frank said.

"That’s something we should talk to Joe about," Nancy said. "Have you heard how he died?"

"I haven’t heard anything, but the ship’s doctor must know."

"It’s a shame we can’t do a background check on Victoria. I’d certainly like to know more about her past."

"Actually, we can," Frank said reaching under his bed. He pulled out a box. "I just happen to bring my laptop along. We always seem to fall into a case whenever we meet up so I thought I would be prepared."

"Will you be able to access the information we want?" Nancy asked as she watched Frank hook up his computer.

"It might take a little while."

"Then I’ll go check with the doctor and see what he has to say."

"Good idea," Frank said as he booted up his computer. "Why don’t we meet later and compare notes."

"All right," Nancy said heading for the door. "I’ll see you later."