With a clattering of pebbles spun out by the tires and a cloud of yellow dust, Eberhart's pickup truck lurched onto the road in the morning.
Bess and George, sitting in Mr. Fisk's car on the road shoulder near Eberhart's house, reacted immediately. All the girls had been taking turns keeping watch, from the afternoon of the previous day to midnight. The time had passed without incident. Now, a couple of hours after resuming their surveillance, there was finally some action. On her cellphone, Bess phoned Nancy and Ivy who were at the Fisks' house.
As all the girls were prepared for stake-out duty there was only a moment's delay as the car passed the house and picked up Nancy and Ivy. Ahead of them on the road they recognized Michael's car.
"What is Eberhart up to?" said George. "He can't escape the police on this little island."
"He's in time for the morning ferry to Haine Island," observed Nancy.
Indeed, Eberhart was not trying to escape. He was driving at a normal speed to the ferry terminal. Soon they passed the ticket booth, paid for their ticket and entered the line-up to wait. They could keep an eye on Eberhart's pickup truck ahead of them and the unmarked police car occupied by Michael and another officer.
"This feels a little weird," said Ivy as the line of cars was loaded onto the ferry. "Everything seems so routine. The ferry's even on time for a change."
"All we can do is wait for someone to make a move," said George. "It makes me a little tense."
"I thought you'd be more used to it than me."
They joined the crowd leaving their cars on the ferry's car deck to make for the passenger lounges. In the stairwell it was impossible to see more than the people immediately ahead and they did not know where Eberhart or the police were.
"We've lost him," murmured Bess.
"Does it matter?" asked Ivy. "It's not that big a boat. We're sure to see him in the passenger seats."
"We do need to find Eberhart though," warned Nancy. "His connection might be on the boat too. They could pass the drugs as easily as handing off a shopping bag."
"Speaking of shopping bags, look." Bess pointed out Eberhart in the aisle running along the starboard side of the ship. He was wearing a bulky jacket and had a backpack on. "He could be carrying all the stuff on him right now."
Eberhart took a seat at the side of the boat. He turned to look at the girls just long enough to register a hostile expression.
"Oh, what happened to the easy-going, fun-loving Horace we used to know?" quipped George.
Bess and George gave all appearances that they had settled down for a boat ride. Nancy looked calm and relaxed but she regularly turned her eyes up in Eberhart's direction. Ivy seemed agitated and restless as if she were impatient for something to happen to end all the waiting. The police officers soon located Eberhart and took up seats nearby. Eberhart got up from his seat just once. The girls were on the edges of their seats ready to follow him when they realized he had only gone to pick up a newspaper.
It was not a pleasant day for a boat trip. The gray overcast had darkened. The breeze that had blown earlier was now a steady cold wind. Whitecaps were on the waves. Nancy wore long pants and a long-sleeved top with a hooded jacket but she wished she had brought a pullover as George had. Summer had abandoned Catriola Island for now.
"He looks so calm, sitting there reading his newspaper," George said. They tried to keep their voices down so as not to be overheard by their adversary. "It's as if he's done this a hundred times."
"Maybe he has," said Bess.
"Yeah, but not with us on his tail."
"What if we're wrong and it's really Podmore, or somebody else?"
"Or maybe they're partners and Eberhart is only acting as a decoy," said George.
"He looks like he's just on his regular business," said Ivy.
"Regular business?" said Nancy.
"Yeah, I mean he has to get rid of that junk from the bathroom renovation."
"Oh no, I just thought of something." Her friends looked at Nancy in some alarm. "The police searched Eberhart's house and the Podmores' house, but they didn't search our house. I mean they didn't look at the fixtures or the pipes that were sitting in the back yard, and neither did we. Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"To see what Eberhart has in his pickup truck."
As the girls hurried to the nearest stairs it was clear that they had not kept their voices quiet enough. Behind them, walking with long strides, was Eberhart. Nancy led them as the girls made a run for it. They hurtled down the steep stairs as fast as they dared go, startling tourists as they went. Nancy pushed aside the heavy metal door to the dimly-lit car deck with a grunt. Vehicles were tightly packed on that level and the girls had to squeeze and twist their way past cars, vans, trucks, buses and trailers.
Eberhart had tied a bright blue plastic cover over the back of his truck. The girls didn't get a chance to look underneath it, though. Just as they arrived at his vehicle they saw Eberhart behind them. His eyes were opened wide and fixed in a rigid menacing glare. He pulled a handgun out of his jacket and raised it high. An elderly woman standing beside her trailer with her husband let out a piercing scream. The girls stood fixed to their positions, not knowing what to do. Then Nancy instinctively ducked behind the pickup truck. The other girls scattered to put steel between themselves and Eberhart. Never one to just hide and hope that danger would pass her by, Nancy rose enough to peer through the windows of the truck. She saw Michael and the other officer at the door to the stairs.
Eberhart looked over his shoulder and saw the police. With surprising lightness on his feet for a man of his size, Eberhart sprinted for the next stairwell. Nancy noticed now that he was no longer wearing his backpack. He disappeared from view and they heard the heavy metallic clang of the stairwell door closing. Michael and his partner were not taking chances however. They pulled out their revolvers. With practiced precision Michael covered his partner as he took up a position against the metal wall. Slowly the other officer slid along the wall before swinging around the corner, gun held at the ready. But Eberhart had truly gone up the stairs.
The girls, either hearing Michael or seeing Nancy standing up, came out from behind their protection. By now there were clumps of frightened bystanders, just becoming aware of the dangerous events unfolding around them. Michael and his partner ran up the stairs. The girls were quick to follow, undeterred by the threat of violence they had just experienced. They were too breathless and excited to talk.
"Michael is going to blame me for inciting Eberhart to this," Nancy thought, "but I didn't realize he was going to follow us. Or pull a gun."
When Nancy reached the level of the main passenger deck she heard the footsteps of one man running up the stairs above her. George was right behind her. Nancy motioned for Ivy and Bess to try that deck while she and George would follow the footsteps to the sun deck above.
When Nancy and George opened the door they were blasted by a cold gust of wind. Fat raindrops were driven into their faces. This deck was mostly uncovered and had a smaller area than the lower ones. With the weather, there were no passengers sitting on the benches or lying on the wooden boxes that contained life-jackets. Only Michael and Eberhart shared the deck with Nancy and George. Nancy spotted Eberhart by the railing.
At first she thought that he had taken a life-jacket from the ferry, but then she realized that he had flung off his jacket and was wearing his own personal flotation device under it. Eberhart looked over the railing and jumped overboard.