“Is it morning already?” Ned asked, sleepily.

“Sure is,” Nancy said entering the room.

Ned closed the door behind her. He stumbled back to his bed and sat down. He tried to stifle a yawn, but Nancy watched as his jaw popped. Ned asked, “Why do I get this feeling this is a wake up call?”

“I’m sorry, but I have to cancel our breakfast date.”

“Why?” Ned asked, sounding disappointed.

“The Hardy’s and I stumbled onto another case.”

“What happened?” Ned asked, now fully awake.

Nancy explained to Ned what she knew from Frank and Joe. She told Ned how Joe stumbled over a body the night before. She also related what had gone on in the Hardy’s room with Victoria. Nancy finished, “So, now I need to go see the ship’s doctor to see if he can tell us what was the cause of death on the guy Joe came across.”

“And here I hoped for a quiet vacation,” Ned sighed looking at her. “Give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll go with you.”

“Thanks, Ned,” Nancy said with a smile.

* * * * *

Half an hour later, Nancy and Ned arrived at the ship’s doctor’s office. Knocking as they opened the door, they went inside and saw the doctor sitting at a desk at the far side of the room.

“Excuse me,” Nancy said as she walked across the room. She noticed several certificates hanging behind glass from well-known medical universities and pictures of a man with a family, which she assumed to be the doctor’s family.

“Yes?” the doctor asked turning around. He had thick bifocals and seemed to be in his mid-forties with black hair graying at the ends. He name tag read: Dr. Salmer.

“We were wondering if you were the one who examined the body found on the upper deck last night,” Nancy said.

“Yes, I was the one who went up on desk last night.” He looked at Nancy and Ned. “Why do you two want to know?”

“Our friend was trying to revive him when you arrived.”

“Oh, the young man who was so upset. He really was too late to save him,” Dr. Salmer said. “Won’t you have a seat.” Nancy and Ned sat down and he continued. “I hope the young man is all right. It sometimes throws a wrench into people’s lives when they stumble onto a dead body.”

“He’s doing better,” Nancy said. “He was wondering if they guy died of a heart attack. Our friend thought he was so young.”

“It wasn’t a heart attack,” the doctor said. “The guy died from blunt force trauma to the head. Someone struck him on the back of his head so hard he was killed instantly.”

“Wow,” Ned murmured.

“Why are you so interested in how this guy died?” Dr. Salmer asked.

“We want to reassure our friend he did everything he could and it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t revive the guy,” Ned said quickly.

“I can assure you there would’ve been no way he could’ve helped the guy,” Dr. Salmer said. “He had been dead for at least two hours before your friend found him.”

“Thank you,” Nancy said getting to her feet. “We can now reassure our friend.”

“No problem,” Dr. Salmer said and they left his office.

As Nancy and Ned walked along, Nancy said, “Someone had to know Michael was watching over Victoria.”

“But isn’t it possible Victoria did it herself?” Ned asked.

“It’s a possibility,” Nancy said taking hold of Ned’s arm. “Anything is possible since we don’t know that much about her.”

“So, what’s our next step?”

“We wait and see what Frank digs up on his computer,” Nancy said. “But, in the meantime, let’s head for the pool. I need to get my mind off this for a little while.”

“Good idea,” Ned said. “The pool is a great place to relax.”

* * * * *

That evening, Frank and Callie were sitting at a table with Nancy and Ned. The rest of the Hardy’s had eaten earlier and Carson Drew was working out in the gym. The four had just ordered dinner and were starting to eat when Joe came over to the table.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Joe said sitting down between Nancy and Frank.

“Where’ve you been?” Frank asked after taking a sip of water. “I haven’t seen you all day.”

“With Victoria,” Joe said and gave the waiter his order. Once the waiter left, he continued. “She was really upset and I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

“Where is she now?” Nancy asked.

“In her room resting,” Joe said. “She was so bothered by Michael’s death that the doctor gave her something to sleep.”

Frank set his fork down and looked at Joe. He asked, “Joe, are you sure Victoria has told us everything?”

“I believe so,” Joe said. “She really is scared for her life, but I know she feels much better having us look into this.”

“Joe,” Nancy began, “What can you remember about meeting Victoria?”

“We bumped into each other last night after dinner. She was coming out on deck and I was heading inside.” He looked at Nancy. “What’s so important about how we met?”

“We think Victoria is hiding something,” Frank said.

“What?” Joe asked, surprised.

“Hear us out,” Nancy said seeing a look of anger cross Joe’s face. “We found out her friend died from a head injury. He’d been dead for two hours. There was no way you could’ve helped him.”

“That doesn’t explain why you think Victoria is hiding something.” Joe looked at Nancy, then Frank. “She is the victim, not the suspect.”

“We don’t know that much about her,” Frank said soothingly. “We have to look at things carefully.”

“I see where this is going,” Joe said glaring at Frank. “You knew I was having a terrible time, and now that I’ve met someone, you want to ruin it by assuming she committed murder.”

“Joe, we want you to be careful,” Callie said. “We don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Forget it,” Joe said getting to his feet and throwing his napkin on the table. “I’m sorry I even thought of asking for your help.” He looked at Nancy, then Frank. “Either of you.”

Joe stormed out of the dining room leaving the four of them sitting in silence.

Ned was the first to speak. “I think Joe’s fallen for her.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Frank said ruefully shaking his head.

“Who knew he would react that way,” Nancy said.

“I’ve got to talk to him,” Frank said.

“Are you sure?” Callie asked. “Maybe you should just leave him alone for a while.”

“We can’t fight like this.” Frank got to his feet. “I’ll be back.”

Frank left the dining room and went up on deck searching for Joe. He wandered around hoping he’d spot his brother. He felt bad for the way things had turned out and wanted to make amends before things really got out of hand.

Frank was about to walk along the deck by the pool when he heard two people talking. He stopped when he heard a female voice.

Frank heard the sounds of high heels walking away from his hiding place. He waited to hear the other person walk away. After a few minutes, he walked out from where he was hiding and headed in the direction the voices had come from hoping to catch a glimpse of the people who were talking.