Portrait in Crime (5 page)

Nancy felt awful. Now she understood that Megan thought she was responsible for Nicholas's death.

“So you see,” Megan said softly, raising her tearstained face, “all the rumors are wrong.”

“What was the fight about?” Nancy asked.

“His moods, his strange behavior. He was worried about money, and about Chris's paintings—although he wouldn't explain why.” Megan sighed. “The last couple of weeks he was alive, he walked around with a great weight on him. I wanted him to share his problems with me, but he said he couldn't.”

Nancy believed Megan was telling the truth, but she knew there could be more to the story that Megan didn't even know. For example, Nicholas could have deliberately picked a fight with Megan as an excuse to take the boat out. Perhaps he was involved in something he didn't want her to know about—something illegal, maybe.

Nancy frowned, annoyed with herself. This was all just speculation. She needed facts!

“Can you tell me where it happened?” she asked Megan.

Megan smiled bitterly. “I wish I could forget! It happened near Montauk, the town at the end of the island. Do you want to see?”

“It might help,” Nancy ventured. “If you have time. Don't you have to get to work?”

“I can go in late today,” Megan said, and slipped on a pair of sneakers. She grabbed a pair of low-heeled pumps and her purse and put them in the backseat of Nancy's car.

As Nancy drove Megan out toward Montauk, they chatted about the town. Megan had been in the Hamptons for only four months.

“I hardly qualify as a townie,” Megan explained. “It'll be years before that.”

“People here have deep roots, don't they?” Nancy commented. “I met a woman who told me she was from one of the ‘first families.' They'd been around for generations.”

Megan smiled. “Take this turn,” she directed. “We can get down to the beach this way.”

As the two girls walked along the shore, Megan pointed to some rocks breaking the surface far offshore.

“This whole area is a good fishing spot,” Megan explained as they walked. “Nicholas's boat was ripped up on those rocks—it's still there.”

“Still there?” Nancy was surprised. “You mean it sank?”

Megan nodded, looking at her curiously.

“It's just that I thought boats had to float to be certified by the coast guard,” Nancy explained. “They have all sorts of regulations about having buoyant material in every part of a boat so it can't sink.”

“Not old boats,” Megan corrected her. “They still use some of the old aluminum and steel dories around here. The boat Nicholas was in when he died was aluminum.”

Nancy shaded her eyes. “How deep is the water?”

“It varies. The beaches are shallow, but I think it gets down to about forty-five feet.”

Perfect for scuba diving, Nancy thought. And she had a couple of friends who'd love to go.

Nancy dropped Megan off at work, then went back to her aunt's house to call the police station. According to the desk sergeant, the police had sent divers down, but the boat wasn't salvageable, so they had simply left it underwater. She was told that the sergeant in charge of the investigation was away for two days, but she could call back then if she had more questions.

As Nancy hung up, Bess walked into the kitchen.

“There you are,” Bess said while looking in the refrigerator. She grabbed a can of soda and popped the top open. “Want to come down to the beach with us?”

“Actually, I had another outing in mind,” Nancy said. “Who's ‘us,' by the way?”

“George, Gary, and Tommy,” Bess said.

Nancy playfully poked her friend in the ribs. “So it's getting serious?”

Bess got a dreamy look in her eyes. “Oh, Nan, Tommy is incredible! He's so down-to-earth—he really listens to me when I talk, you know what I mean? Do you think he likes me?”

“I'm positive he does,” Nancy declared. “All you have to do is look at him to see he's got a major crush on you.”

“Well, then, I'd better not leave him pining on the beach,” she said. “So what's this outing you have in mind? Not more waterskiing, I hope.”

“No.” Nancy smiled. “Scuba diving.”

“Why?”

“I'll tell you all together. Okay?” Nancy asked.

Bess rolled her eyes. “Well, everyone will love it. Except me, of course. I'm not certified.”

“You can stay with the boat,” Nancy said. “You know you tan best on the water.”

Still grumbling, Bess headed down to the beach to get the others. They promised to meet at Pete's Dive Shop.

Nancy called the dance institute to see if Sasha was done rehearsing. He had just finished, and she arranged to pick him up in ten minutes.

She explained scuba diving to Sasha on the way to the dive shop. He wasn't certified to dive, either, so he was going to stay with Bess on the boat. As the others tried on their diving gear and waited for their tanks, Nancy explained what they were doing and what she wanted them to look for.

“I want you to search the area for any clue as to what Nicholas was doing out on his boat in the middle of the night. Maybe he really was fishing. But maybe he was trying to get rid of something or pick something up.” She turned to Tommy. “I'd like you to take a look at the engine, if it's still in one piece. Check the steering cable to see if it's been cut. It's a long shot, but we may as well try it.”

“Nancy,” Tommy began. “You should know that these waters are famous for sharks.”

Everyone turned to Tommy in surprise.

“It shouldn't be a problem,” he added quickly. “I just wanted everyone to be aware of it. The biggest great white shark ever recorded was hooked in Montauk Bay.”

Gary looked at Tommy uneasily. “I don't mean to sound like a coward, but my specialty is the air, not the water. Is it safe or isn't it?”

“It should be. There haven't been any reports of shark attacks for a while. If you
do
see one, don't panic, just stay where you are. It's very important to keep still and not thrash around. If you do, they think you're hurt, and they're more likely to come over and investigate.”

“We don't have to go if you don't want to,” Nancy offered. “Should we vote? Who wants to risk it?”

Four hands, including Nancy's, shot up immediately. Bess and Sasha didn't vote.

Nancy smiled. “Then here we go,” she declared.

Soon the group was on its way with Tommy driving their borrowed boat. Bess stood beside him at the wheel as he steered toward the accident site. Their blond hair was almost the exact same color. Tommy whispered into Bess's ear, and she nodded back at him, her face glowing. Nancy smiled at them from the bow of the boat where she and Sasha were sitting.

Romance was in the air, all right! Bess and Tommy couldn't keep their eyes off each other. George and Gary had been together longer, and the electricity between them had turned into familiarity, each knowing what the other was thinking. George was positively radiant.

As Nancy watched her two best friends, their laughter rising and falling over the drone of the engine, she felt Sasha's arm slip around her waist. A thrill of emotion ran through her, and without thinking she leaned back against his shoulder.

The sun was beating down and Sasha's strong arm was tight around her. Her heart was pounding in her ears. She closed her eyes and let herself relax against him.

When he turned and her cheek touched his sun-warmed skin, she was startled and her eyes flew open. This was too much, she realized suddenly. Things were moving too fast. Before it went any further, she had to be sure she was doing the right thing. She leaned forward, pretending to study something on the water.

“We're here!” Bess said as Tommy cut the
engine right then. Everyone sprang into action. Sasha threw the anchor overboard and paddled the boat back until the hook caught on the bottom and pulled tight. After double-checking their equipment, the four divers fell backward into the ocean.

Treading water, Nancy cleared her mask and put her regulator in her mouth. She gave Tommy the okay sign, and together they dove, a white burst of bubbles trailing behind them after each breath.

Nancy gazed around, getting used to the feeling of wearing scuba equipment again. Most of the diving she'd done had been in tropical oceans, where the water was clear and swarming with colorful fish. But here the water was cloudy, and she didn't see any fish. In fact, she didn't see any living things, other than herself and her friends. It felt creepy.

Once on the bottom, she could just make out a boat off to their right. It was about fifteen feet away, and all she could really see through the murk was the shadowy outline of a hull. She touched Tommy's arm, and the two of them swam toward it. George caught up to Nancy and signaled that Gary had a cramp in his leg. They were going up. Nancy nodded.

As she and Tommy approached the boat, Tommy began shaking his head at Nancy. He pointed to the hull, then waved his hands vigorously.

Nancy looked around uneasily. Was he warning
her about sharks? she wondered. Then Tommy reached out and wiped his finger across the bow, leaving a mark in the layer of algae that covered the boat.

Nancy nodded. He was telling her that this wasn't the wreck they were looking for. This one had been underwater too long.

Tommy kicked away from the wreck and hung suspended in the water, trying to determine in which direction the current was pulling them.

They set out with the current. Soon Nancy saw the dim outline of another hull.

This time they had found it. Nancy and Tommy swam slowly around the heavy metal boat. It was twisted into the rocks, making it impossible to pry free without heavy equipment. No wonder the police had left it, Nancy thought.

After a half hour Tommy shrugged. Pointing to the engine, he indicated with an okay sign that it was in good condition and the steering cable seemed fine. The gauge on the gas tank, which was lashed into the boat near the engine, showed it was half full.

As Nancy was probing the gaping hole in the bow where the boat had hit the rocks, Tommy signaled to her that he was swimming away for a minute but that he'd be right back. Nancy watched him disappear into a cave.

Nancy felt frustrated as she continued searching the bottom for any clue to the accident. Gradually she began to feel short of breath. She checked the gauge on her tank. It said she had
plenty of air. What was wrong? Was her regulator failing?

Nancy scanned the area. Tommy was nowhere in sight. She estimated the distance to the cave. It was too far to get there easily.

Nancy strained to get a breath, but no air came out of the mouthpiece. She took the regulator out of her mouth and tapped her finger on the valve. She couldn't push it in to release the air. Something was stuck in it. She hit it a couple of times, but it didn't budge.

It was no good. Her regulator was useless, and she was all alone under forty-five feet of water!

G
ET HOLD OF YOURSELF,
D
REW
, Nancy ordered silently. She eyed the surface, wondering if she could make the air in her lungs last. The pressure in her chest was mounting.

Remembering diving procedure, Nancy kicked slowly toward the silvery surface. She let her breath leak out gradually, fighting the impulse to let it go in one burst and grab another breath. Don't let it out, she told herself sternly. There's no more!

When she'd gone up about thirty feet, Nancy did run out of air. She continued to struggle desperately toward the surface, the blood roaring in her ears, red dots dancing across her eyes. She was ready to pass out!

Just as the world was closing in on her and turning black, Nancy broke the surface. Her head thrown back, she gulped in air. Weakly she waved at the boat, bobbing fifty yards away. Her chest burned, her arms and legs weighed a ton, but she was alive!

• • •

“It couldn't have been sabotage,” Nancy insisted for the third time. She hugged her long legs to her chest, a towel draped around her shoulders. “No one knew we were going diving.”

“She's right,” Tommy agreed. “It was just faulty equipment. I should have checked it more carefully.” His usually cheerful face was drawn. Nancy could see he blamed himself for her accident.

“Stop worrying about it. I'm really fine, just a little shaken,” she repeated.

“I can't
believe
I left you alone!” he insisted miserably. “But I wanted to check out that cave. When I came back and found you gone . . .” His voice trailed off.

“Bet you thought she was eaten by a shark,” George joked.

Tommy gave her a stricken look.

Bess put her arm around him sympathetically. “Nancy's okay,” she said. “She can hold her breath longer than anyone I know.”

A quiet and thoughtful group headed back to the dock. Nancy turned the case over in her mind.