Of course, passengers werethoroughly delighted. And it made London happy to see them happy. She had alsorealized that many of them were perfectly content to have another evening toenjoy the festival.
Wanting to wear somethingcheerful-looking, she had put on her blue dress with the big white polka dotsand thought it looked just fine with her flat blue shoes. She had even found abrightly multicolored collar and leash set for Sir Reggie among the collectionleft by the dog’s previous owner. So far, none of those choices had made herfeel relaxed or at all festive.
When the elevator door opened into the reception area, a sightmet London’s eyes that instantly lifted her spirits. Bryce Yeaton stood waitingfor her, and when he saw her his face lit up in a smile. She thought his casualgray Henley shirt and dark slacks looked perfect for the occasion.
This is a date, she reminded herself in a moment ofgiddiness. Maybe she could relax and have some fun after all.
Reggie’s mood also lifted, and he tugged on his leash as hescampered about in front of Bryce.
“What is it, boy?” Bryce asked mischievously. “What do you want?”
Sir Reggie yapped impatiently as if the answer was obvious—whichof course, it actually was.
Bryce held out his empty right hand.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” Bryce asked.
Sir Reggie barked huffily.
Bryce held out his left hand, which was also empty.
“What about this?” Bryce asked.
This time Sir Reggie growled a little.
Bryce clapped his hands, and one of his specially made dog treatsappeared between his fingertips.
“What about this?” he asked.
Sir Reggie sat up and waved his front legs and barked. Brycetossed the treat to him, and Sir Reggie caught the treat in mid-air.
London laughed and said to Bryce, “I never knew you were anillusionist.”
“Hey, who said anything about illusion?” Bryce said with achuckle. “We master chefs can make anything appear out of thin air, aslong as it’s tasty.”
Bryce offered London his arm, and they continued down thegangway, with Sir Reggie trotting on his leash in front of them. Otherpassengers were also headed off the ship to enjoy the rest of the festival.
“So should I ask you about your day?” Bryce asked. “I mean, doyou want to talk about it?”
For a moment, London wasn’t sure.
She remembered what she’d told him about it on the phone a whileago.
“It’s a long story.”
But did it really have to be such a long story?
There’s no need to go into details, London thought.
“Well, I talked to Detektiv Erlich right after you did,” shesaid. “I’m afraid it didn’t go very well. He just seemed to become more andmore convinced that Audrey and I killed the critic together. Worse, he alsowanted to talk to Audrey, but she’d gone AWOL, we had no idea where. So I wentback to the Maximiliensplatz to find her—which I eventually did. Ibrought her back to talk to him.”
Of course, she was skipping over her scary confrontation withWilly Oberhauser and also Audrey’s chicken suit and lots of other details. Butshe felt as though she was telling him all that really mattered.
She continued, “Then Audrey and I tried to do a littleinvestigating on our own, using the Internet.”
“Did you find anything important?” Bryce said.
“Not really,” London said.
Then with a laugh, she added, “Oh—I did run across a long-lostbeer recipe you might be interested in. I’ll send it to you later.”
Laughing as well, Bryce said, “Well, your Internet search washardly in vain.”
It was night now, and Bamberg looked even more festive than byday, with lots of bright, colored lights falling upon brightly coloredcostumes. London and Bryce paused to listen to an accordionist playing a polka,then continued on their way to the Maximiliensplatz.
“Did I happen to mention that I don’t like Detektiv Erlich?”Bryce said.
“Yes, I believe you did. What sorts of questions did he ask you?”
“I’m sorry to say, he kept trying to get me to tell him somethingthat would incriminate you—and Audrey Bolton as well.”
“I’m not surprised,” London said. “I do hope you answered hisquestions truthfully.”
“Of course. And it wasn’t hard to do. I saw absolutely nothingthat made me even consider the possibility that you might be a murderer.”
“I’m relieved to hear that!” London laughed.
As they entered the boisterous Maximiliensplatz, London,Bryce, and Sir Reggie followed the sound of an oompah band. They soonfound themselves in a large circle of spectators watching a dozen folk dancerscheerfully dressed in dirndls and lederhosen. The crowd wasclapping and singing and yodeling along to the music.
Looking among the spectators, London glimpsed severalfamiliar faces, including Gus and Honey Jarrett, Walter and Agnes Shick, KirbyOswinkle, Letitia, and even Audrey, all of them obviously having a great time.
On the far side of the dancers, London recognized two otherpeople—Bob Turner and Stanley Tedrow.
London smiled as she remembered something Bob had said to Stanleythis afternoon before they had headed back to the ship—that they would come backand “par-TAY like the kids we are at heart.”
Apparently, that was exactly what they were doing.
Or are they?
As London peered among the dancers more carefully, she could seethat Mr. Tedrow had out his pencil and notebook. Then she craned forward and wasalarmed to see who Bob was talking to.
It was the security guard, Willy Oberhauser.
Oh, no, she thought. This isn’t going to end well.
Sure enough, Oberhauser’s face turned red with rage.
Then he gave Bob a vicious shove that sent him staggering amid thedancers, who scattered in all directions.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Without stopping to think, London dropped Sir Reggie’s leash anddashed toward the two belligerent men. The folk dancers had immediately givenup on their performance and joined the watching crowd as Oberhauser approachedBob with clenched fists. The ship’s security man was lurching backward,guarding his face with his hands.
London threw herself right between the two would-be brawlers,spreading her arms to push them apart.
“Hör jetzt auf!” she yelled at Oberhauser.
Then she repeated her command to Bob in
