Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the canon book characters, and am making no monies from this story. Any Original Characters belong to the author(s).

This story was originally written in the early 2000s. There are many technological differences from today's world. Co-written with RokiaHDA, who wrote back then under the name of Aspen.

Thank you to Cherylann and Max2013 for the feedback!

Ides of August

By EvergreenDreamweaver and RokiaHDA

Chapter 4

Fenton Hardy glanced at his wife just once, a quick May I? look, before he was moving purposefully through the crowd, towards the owner of the angry voice, the person who had just made the accusation about poisoning people! There was no way Fenton could keep out of this, and Laura knew it well. She followed in his wake, shaking her head in amused resignation. I might have known this would happen!

"Excuse me…what's the problem?" Fenton asked the question quietly and courteously, hoping to de-escalate the situation…whatever that situation was! "My name's Fenton Hardy – Is there anything I might do?"

The man he addressed looked to be in his mid-thirties, and had brown hair and blue eyes. He appeared worried and upset and angry, but when Fenton spoke to him, he seemed to calm slightly. Apparently having someone actually listen to him helped, and the cruise ship's personnel evidently hadn't been doing much sympathetic listening.

"I'm Michael Ranson," he said, jerkily, "and the problem is that too many people have gotten sick on this boat recently! And today, my wife was one of them! I'd heard bad stories about this ship, but when I called the cruise line before booking tickets on it, they assured me that everything was all right! They told me that it had just been random acts of malice, and everything had been checked out – double-checked! – and nothing was wrong!" His voice was rising again. "But obviously something is wrong! And I'm not going to put up with being lied to, and I'm not going to stand for my wife being made ill on what was supposed to be a 'memorable day aboard the Royal Tahoe!'" He nearly spat out the quote from the brochure. "Food poisoning is memorable, all right!"

"Why don't you try to calm down a little?" Fenton suggested. "Let's not jump to conclusions. It doesn't look like food poisoning; it's too random. Perhaps the illnesses were caused by something else."

"Yeah!" Ranson exclaimed hotly. "Somebody on the ship trying to kill the passengers!"

The crowd surrounding them stirred and murmured uneasily at this last remark, and there were some frightened gasps. Laura stepped quietly into the group of people for just a moment, to watch the interplay between her husband and Michael Ranson.

"Mr. Ranson, I understand your being upset, but that's a pretty stiff accusation," Fenton commented quietly. "And it's not too likely. I don't see that anyone's been killed…."

While the two men talked, Laura moved silently away from the crowd and sought out the young woman who had just been sick, evidently Michael Ranson's wife. She was standing alone, looking shaken and upset, and Laura felt very sympathetic. Why, she's not much older than Frank! she thought. She can't be more than 22, at the very most. She went up to the pale blonde girl and put her arm about her. The young woman's shoulders quivered slightly at Laura's touch.

"Are you all right, honey?" she asked her gently. "I'm Laura Hardy – is there anything I can do for you?"

The girl turned grateful blue eyes to her. "I'm Erica Ranson," she murmured. "and yes, I'm all right. I'm feeling better now – after…" she smiled a little, and made a gesture towards the side of the boat. "after that."

"Would you like to sit down?" Laura questioned, guiding her gently towards a nearby table. "And – excuse me, could you bring Mrs. Ranson a glass of ginger ale?" she broke off to address a nearby waiter. "You look like sitting down might feel good," she told Erica, with a smile. "My husband is talking to your husband," she added, tilting her head toward Fenton and Michael Ranson, "which is a good excuse for us to chat too."

"My new husband!" Erica said, turning rosy. "We were just married a few days ago. We're on our honeymoon – and Michael is upset, because he wanted everything to be perfect! And it was perfect until today. He's so upset now…."

She seems a little defensive, Laura thought. Perhaps it's because her new husband appears to be at least ten years older than she is…maybe people question it. Or perhaps she's just shy about them being newlyweds…. She watched Erica sip at the ginger ale the waiter brought her. It isn't any of my business if he is or isn't much older than she is, as long as they're happy together. And even that isn't any of my business. At least she's calming down now.

A few moments later, Michael Ranson joined his wife at the table, inquiring solicitously for her well-being. He seemed to have relaxed now that Erica was obviously recovering from her illness, and he made polite conversation with Laura while they waited for Erica to fully recover.

Fenton, loitering unobtrusively, listened to the low-toned conversation two waiters were holding, while they cleared the dining tables.

"Things are sure weird on this ship lately," one said. "The people today weren't the first to get sick."

"There's been like 15 so far," his co-worker agreed. "Just in the last two or three weeks. The police are gonna get involved for sure."

The first speaker cast an uneasy glance about himself. "You know, maybe it might not be a bad idea to look for another job, Marty. Now, while we can! It'll be harder later, if the ship is dry-docked for an investigation, or something. Everyone on the ship will be under suspicion. I don't need that kind of hassle!"

"You're right," the second waiter concurred. "And it isn't just that, either. If word gets around, and people keep canceling reservations, the boss might start laying people off. Better to quit than be fired!" The two moved to another table, out of Fenton's hearing.

Fenton's curiosity had gotten the better of him by now. He went to find Laura.

He located her sitting and talking to Erica and Michael Ranson. She introduced him to Erica, and he expressed his condolences to the pale blonde girl, but he cast a significant look at his wife that said Come on, I want to talk to you! They excused themselves, and walked out of the dining room once again, to resume their interrupted stroll.

"I picked up some interesting information, while you were chatting up Mrs. Ranson – doesn't she look awfully young to be married to him, by the way?" Fenton related what he had heard the waiters say…and then waited.

Laura's expression took on an amused quality…an 'I knew this was going to happen!' quality. "Darling, I don't have any objections to you looking into this situation…" She paused, laughing at the way his brown eyes lighted up. "but I have one stipulation. I want to help! The whole point of this vacation was for us to spend time together. So if you're going to be investigating this, then I'm going to be right there along with you!"

Fenton chuckled. "You put up a pretty convincing argument." He paused in a shadowed corner and pulled her into his arms. "And I know you're fully capable of helping. So, yes…yes…yes…and welcome to it!" He interspersed the words with light kisses, which were in turn interrupted by their soft shared laughter. The moment was brief, however, for the professional detective in Fenton came to the forefront again, displacing the loving husband. "So, let's get to work. How about interviewing the wait staff? I'll talk to the men, you talk to the women."

The Hardys returned to the dining room where the staff was still clearing up the buffet things and re-setting the tables. They separated, each moving toward an intended target.

Fenton began his quest by speaking with a slender, dark-eyed waiter, who said his name was Miguel. He answered the detective's questions willingly, without hesitation, in softly accented English.

Yes, it had happened before, this bad business of passengers getting terribly ill, for no obvious reasons. Yes, it had been looked into – the Nevada Board of Health came out to the ship, and inspected, but if anything had been found amiss, the staff hadn't been told. He suspected that 'management' was keeping things quiet, so as not to create more bad press. The food was all fresh. The chefs were all bonded and licensed, and had excellent reputations. The ship had been inspected several times, searched rigorously – The Health Department was sure to come again, after today's episode.

"How many people have gotten sick?" Fenton inquired.

Miguel thought about it for a few moments, while his hands deftly put fresh linens and silverware on a table. "Perhaps ten, senor," he concluded, "perhaps more. All in the last two or three weeks. And all different kinds of people – two children, counting the one today…some young people—" he glanced over to where Erica Ranson still sat, with her attentively-watching husband. "some old people; some in between."

"Thank you, Miguel. I'll let you get on with your work." Fenton excused himself, intending to speak with another of the staff, but as he glanced about, Laura caught his eye.

She had spoken to several of the waitresses, but so far hadn't garnered any information. One, a thin blonde who barely looked old enough to be holding down a job, said that she had heard about the incidents, but had been lucky enough to be off work when they happened. Another, a roly-poly brunette whose name tag read 'Brenda,' said that she had only started working for the Royal Tahoe two days before.

But with the third, Laura felt she hit pay dirt. This was a round-featured woman in her forties who said her name was Cecilia, but that she went by 'Cec.' Cec, who had flaming red hair and a ready smile, sobered when Laura began questioning her about the sudden rash of illnesses among the cruise ship's passengers. Laura was cautious in her questioning, she knew how easy it was to frighten off a potential witness if they saw you as a threat to their well-being.

How many years have I been married to Fenton Hardy and heard him talk about that at the dinner table? Laura thought ruefully. Better to stay on the safe side and be cautious, as Fenton always says.

"You bet I saw them! Hon, I'm sure it's one of the waiters!" she whispered. "I'm positive enough that I mentioned it to the boss – but nothing happened, and the guy's still working here."

"What makes you think that?" Laura queried.

"Well, he acts suspicious." Cec replied. She glanced around, as if she expected that same person to appear over her shoulder and stab her in the back. "He's just a kid – but he sorta sneaks around – and he's in places he shouldn't be!"

"What do you mean?"

"I've noticed him in the private alcoves, when the people who were sitting there had gone up on deck." The waitress indicated the little dining areas with a toss of her spectacular hair in their general direction. "And I know for certain, that one time after I'd seen him go in, one of the people who sat there got sick."

At that point, Laura looked around for Fenton; he needed to hear this! Catching his eye, she signaled him over.

As he joined the two women, Laura murmured to him what Cec had told her…and then asked one more question:

"Cec, which waiter is it? Is he in here right now?"

The redhead looked about the room. "That's him!" she exclaimed, pointing – but even as she spoke, the boy in question turned and bolted from the dining room! Fenton sprinted after him, dodging around the chairs and tables, but gaining speed as he went.

Cec and Laura stared at each other in shock, but before they could react further, there came the sound of a crash out on the deck, followed by the ringing shout of "MAN OVERBOARD!"

"Oh, NO! Fenton!" Laura gasped, and raced for the deck.