بلک‌برد

Chapter six

The ‘Blackbeard’

On Sunday Bill, Nick and Michelle continued I investigating the case. This time they met in Bill’s room.

“We have to find the Blackbeard and see who it belongs to,” said Bill. “I’m sure there’s a connection between that boat and Mr O’Neil.”

“There’s a Naval Registry office at the port,” said Michelle. “All boats at the port are listed there.”

“Good, let’s go to the port,” said Bill.

The Naval Registry was a small office near the Montego Yacht Club. Michelle went in and talked to the clerk.

“Hello, my name is Michelle Martin and I need some information.

Is the Blackbeard here?”

“Let me check,” said the clerk, as he turned to his computer.

“Here it is - the Blackbeard. It’s at pier number eight; that’s where the biggest yachts are.”

“Can you tell me the name of the owner?”

“Let’s see. it’s Mr Julian Devereau from New Orleans.”

“Julian Devereau” said Michelle, surprised.

“Yes, Julian Devereau. He and his wife are the owners of the new wax museum.”

“OK, thanks for your help,” said Michelle.

She met Bill and Nick outside and told them about the Blackbeard.

“Wow” cried Nick.

“So Julian and Gertrude Devereau are the owners of the wax museum and the Blackbeard,” said Bill.

“And they gave a lot of money for the new park,” said Nick.

“There’s a connection,” said Michelle.

“Why were they following the North Star at sea? And what about the wax museum?” asked Nick. “Why is Rover so attracted to it?”

‘This case is really difficult,’ said Michelle.

“Well,” said Bill, “we know that the Blackbeard is at the port and that Julian Devereau owns the boat and the wax museum.”

There was a moment of silence.

“And we know he’s rich,” said Nick, “but that’s not much.”

“The clerk said that Julian Devereau is from New Orleans,” added Michelle. “Let’s go home and look on the web.”

At home they got on the web and found some interesting information.

Devereau was the owner of a maritime museum in Charleston, South Carolina, and a new art museum in Houston, Texas.

“This man owns three museums - he’s very rich,” said Michelle grinning. “And guess what you find in museums?”

“Artifacts” cried Bill and Nick. “Like the ones O’Neil was looking for!”

“Exactly” said Michelle excitedly.

“So what’s the next step?” asked Nick.

“Hmm,” said Bill, looking at the computer screen. “We have to find a way to get on the Blackbeard. We could find some evidence of Devereau’s connection to this mystery.”

“The Blackbeard’s at pier number eight,” said Michelle. “We can go one evening when the museum is open. I don’t want to meet them face to face!”

“The museum’s always open on Friday and Saturday evenings until 10 p.m.,” said Nick, “and the Devereau’s are there on those evenings.”

“OK” said Bill. “Listen to my plan. On Friday night Nick and I will try to get on the Blackbeard. Michelle, you can sit in the coffee shop across the street from the museum. If the Devereau’s leave the building, call me on my cell phone.”

“Good plan” said Nick.

It was November and almost Thanksgiving, but the three friends could only think about the O’Nell case.

On Friday evening they met in front of the museum. It was cold and windy, and Michelle ordered a cup of hot cocoa at the coffee shop. She watched the museum entrance with her cell phone in her hand, ready to make a call.

There was no one at the port that evening. The boys could hear their footsteps as they walked quickly past the North Star and turned left at pier number eight. The lights of the Blackbeard were on and the two boys stopped behind a van.

“Someone’s on the boat,” whispered Nick. “What shall we do now?”

“Let’s wait here and see what happens,” said Bill.

Suddenly the lights went off. Julian Devereau got off the yacht and into his sports car and drove away.

“Whew” said Bill. They waited a few minutes and then got on the yacht. The glass door was closed but not locked, so it was easy to get in.

“He didn’t lock it. He’s probably coming back soon,” said Nick. “Let’s hurry!”

They turned on their flashlights. It was their first time on a yacht - everything was beautiful and expensive. They started looking everywhere - drawers, cupboards, bookshelves - but they couldn’t find anything.

Bill took a painting off the wall and turned it around, but he found nothing. He did the same with another painting and this time there was an envelope on the back.

“Nick, look at this!” Bill opened the envelope; inside there was a map of the Florida coast and the Bermuda Triangle, with some red pencil marks. It was almost identical to the maps in Mr O’Neil’s house.

“The Devereau’s have Mr O’Neil’s map, and they hid it behind a painting,” said Nick, staring at the map.

“This is evidence that the Devereau’s are connected to Mr O’Neil in some way,” said Bill. “We have to show this map to the police.”

“Will they listen to us?” asked Nick.

“Let’s go and find out” said Bill.

Bill put the empty envelope behind the painting. Then he folded the map and put it in his shirt pocket. They got back onto the pier and quickly left the port. They picked up Michelle, who was still at the coffee shop.

“Hi, guys,” she said. “You found something, didn’t you!”

“Let’s go to Sandy’s Ice Cream Parlor and talk there,” said Bill.