“We’ve been kind of busy.”
“Doing what?”
I pulled a cookie from my pocket. “Eating delicious Mermaid Chip Cookies, for one thing!” I took a long, slow, exaggerated bite, just to torture him.
“Being mermaids is hard work,” Jasmine explained. “It’s not like we’re just sitting around on our, uh, tails. We have a lot of stuff we have to do. We’re going to be starring in a show later this week.”
Scooter’s scowl softened into a sly smile. “Wish we could see that!”
Calhoun’s face appeared beside Scooter’s. “Hey!”
I smiled at him. “Hey back!”
“We may have some leads,” he told us.
I paused midbite. “Seriously? That’s great!”
“Lucas knew what he was doing with those hashtags. It seems like just about everybody who was at the race that day took pictures and posted them on social media. There’s this one guy in particular—show them, Lucas.”
Lucas’s pale hand shot into view, holding his phone up for us.
“Um, who exactly are we looking for?” asked Cha Cha.
“See the old guy in the Grateful Dead T-shirt and aviator sunglasses?”
“By the bandstand?” Mackenzie squinted at the screen.
“Yeah. He’s the guy I saw hanging out near the diner, too,” said Lucas. “He shows up in a bunch of the pictures before the race, and then he disappears.”
I chewed on that bit of information. “Does that automatically make him a suspect, though? Maybe he was just passing through.”
“Just passing through near the bandstand? He’s right there when Belinda and Augustus are fooling around with the trophy, and he’s right there when they put it back in the paper bag under the podium. Then he vanishes. Definitely suspicious.”
Lucas had a point.
“So what now?” Jasmine wanted to know.
“Now we see if anyone knows him,” Calhoun told her. “We’re going to start asking around.”
“Excellent work, guys,” I said. “I wish we were there to help you.”
“No you don’t,” said Scooter, scowling again. “You’d rather be right where you are, eating Mermaid Chip Cookies without us.”
I smiled and took another bite. And then I hung up.
CHAPTER 16
At breakfast the next morning, a FedEx truck pulled into the driveway just as we were starting in on big steaming bowls of Delphine’s deluxe oatmeal. Everyone watched with interest as the driver strode up the front path carrying a package. Sirena went to the door to meet him.
“It’s for you, Truly,” she told me a moment later, setting the package down on the sideboard beside a platter of homemade raspberry rhubarb muffins. I started to get up, but she held up her hand. “Breakfast first! Most important meal of the day for mermaids.”
I sighed and sat back down. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You need lots of fuel, ladies. We have a busy day ahead. Zadie and Lenore and I have scheduled extra pool time. We have a lot to learn before the revue this weekend.”
When Sirena finally excused us from the table, I bolted for the sideboard and grabbed my package. I looked at the return address label. It was from Aunt True!
“See you all poolside in five minutes!” said Sirena. “Move your tails, mermaids!”
I dashed down the path to Whelk, where I flung myself on my bunk and tore the wrapping off the package. Inside, a big envelope with my name written on it in my aunt’s bold handwriting was waiting. I pulled out a card featuring an oval picture of a tranquil forest scene—a stand of majestic redwood trees reflected in a pool of water. Tall timber, I thought instantly, and smiled. Aunt True knew how to make a point. A line of her crisp handwriting wound around the oval’s edge: To the Unsinkable Truly Lovejoy, my favorite eldest niece, who really truly knows how to make the best of everything. Inside, she’d written, Don’t ever be afraid to stand out in a crowd. (Even if it’s a crowd of mermaids!)
Aunt True was the best!
I propped the card up on my bedside table and turned my attention to the rest of box’s contents. My aunt had sent maple sugar candy, too! Before I could rummage any further, though, my cousin and friends burst in.
“Where’s your bathing suit?” said Mackenzie. “Hurry up—we’re due at the pool.”
My care package would have to wait.
The rest of the day was a lot like the day before, except that we skipped siesta after lunch in order to squeeze in as much pool time as possible. We paused midafternoon for a snack (homemade energy bars, courtesy of Delphine) and another Esther Williams movie—Easy to Love this time, which had more over-the-top stunts, including Esther doing water-ski jumps and diving from a helicopter. Actually, her stunt double did that one.
“The helicopter scene is the only one she ever used a stuntwoman for,” Zadie told us. “And wisely so. We found out later that she was pregnant at the time.”
For dinner, Delphine whipped up an amazing soup she called “cioppino,” which was full of big chunks of fish, along with scallops and shrimp and clams and mussels. She served it with crusty homemade bread.
“Mermaids have excellent manners,” Sirena told us, “but dipping your bread in the cioppino is allowed.”
As we were finishing, Sirena tapped her glass. “You worked very hard today, and Delphine and I are proud of all of you. As a reward for your efforts, we’re rearranging our evening schedule slightly. Instead of Mer-mopoly and the other games we had planned, we’re moving up one of the academy’s most anticipated activities—Bling Night!”
A chorus of cheers filled the dining room. I looked over at Mackenzie and my friends. They were clearly as clueless as I was.
“Mermaids love bling,” Sirena continued, trotting out another of her fake mermaid facts. She reached into a drawer in the sideboard behind her and pulled out several long sparkly necklaces. She draped them over her head and added a trio of bracelets and half a dozen rings. The result was blinding. “How many of you brought yours with you?”
Every hand around the dining table flew up
