If Looks Could Kill by Carolyn Keene Page A

At any rate, we’ve got him now.”
    â€œHas he confessed?” Logan asked.
    â€œNot yet, sir,” the officer responded. “He keeps insisting he’s innocent.”
    â€œAll right, Jenkins,” Captain Logan said, taking the gun from him. “Take the suspect back to headquarters in Charlotte Amalie. I’ll interview him myself.”
    â€œYes, sir,” Jenkins replied. Saluting Logan, he hurried from the suite to carry out his orders.
    Logan turned and smiled at Nancy. “Well, Ms. Drew,” he said, turning the pistol over in the handkerchief, “it looks as if we’ve solved this case in record time.”
    â€œHow can you be so sure?” Nancy asked him. “Don’t you think that if Kurt were guilty he would have gotten rid of the pistol before you searched his room? He had plenty of time to ditch the gun. Why didn’t he?”
    â€œMs. Drew,” the captain said, his smile vanishing, “at this point I must ask you to leave the rest of the investigation to us. As you said yourself, you should have called us sooner. One person is already dead. I am not inclined to leave a killer at large just because there is a slight chance he is not guilty. At any rate, perhaps we will find his fingerprints on the murder weapon.”
    â€œBut, Captain—” Nancy began.
    â€œMs. Drew!” Logan interrupted. “Please return to your suite now. I will have you sent for if I need anything further from you. Oh, and thank you for these,” he added, indicating the clues she’d given him.
    He opened the door for her, then spoke to a man standing guard outside. “No one is to leave the island until we have a signed confession. And keep an eye on Ms. Drew, here. I don’t want her making any more trouble.”
    Nancy was speechless. She could tell that no matter what she said, Captain Logan was notgoing to listen. Without another word, she marched out of Martika’s suite. By the time she got to her room, she was steaming. She slammed the door behind her as hard as she could.
    â€œNan?” came George’s voice from the bedroom. “Is that you?” Seconds later George and Bess entered the living room in their nightgowns.
    â€œSorry, guys,” Nancy said. “I didn’t mean to make so much noise, but I was angry.”
    â€œWhat’s up, Nan?” George asked.
    Nancy quickly told them about Kurt’s arrest. George was aghast. “He’s innocent!” she said. “Can’t they see that?”
    â€œBut what about the gun, George?” Bess reminded her cousin, putting an arm around her shoulders. “If they found it under his pillow . . .”
    â€œIt could have been planted, Bess,” Nancy cautioned. “I’m not so sure he’s guilty. Kurt may not be a genius, but if he killed Maura, I don’t think he’d be dumb enough to put the murder weapon under his pillow where the police could easily find it.”
    â€œI guess you’re right,” Bess agreed.
    â€œWhy didn’t the killer just toss the gun in the water, anyway? It probably would never have been found,” Nancy continued. “It seems to me that someone is trying to implicate Kurt.”
    â€œNan,” Bess said, “you don’t think it was Derek, do you?”
    â€œI don’t know what to think,” Nancy admitted.Checking her watch, she said, “It’s one-thirty in the morning. I’m exhausted. Let’s get some sleep. There’ll be time to sort things out in the morning.”
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    The next morning, as Nancy and her friends were getting ready for breakfast, there was a knock on the door of their suite. Opening it, Nancy was surprised to see both Martika and Derek.
    â€œMay we come in?” Martika asked.
    â€œOf course,” Nancy said, leading them to the sofa, where they sat down. George and Bess came into the living room, too,