15

The next morning, Zack, Maddie, and Cody were sitting on a cliff, looking out at the ocean, feeling too depressed and miserable to come up with decent wisecracks.

"I have come up with three possible solutions," declared Cody. "Patrick is either the murderer, has already been murdered by one of us, or he is a zombie come back from the dead to take revenge on one of us."

Zack said with disgust, "Where did you get your detective's license—out of a Cracker Jack box?"

"Boys, please let's not fight," said Maddie urgently. "The boat might come for us any hour now."

The two fell silent. Cody cleared his throat. "Anyone hungry?" he said.

"Now that you mention it, I could go for a stack of pancakes," said Zack.

"Would plain old cereal be all right?" said Cody patiently.

Zack was about to object when Maddie put a hand on his shoulder. Zack sighed and nodded.

Cody said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be right back."

As soon as Cody began to march out of sight, Zack said, "Just between you and me, my dear, I have a sneaking suspicion as to which theory of his is the most likely: I think Patrick has been killed...and that he was killed by none other than Cody Blore!"

"Oh no!" gasped Maddie. "He always seemed so nice!"

"Ah, but appearances can be deceiving my dear," said Zack. "I'm sure you know that."

Maddie looked off to the side. "Yes, I do," she said awkwardly.

There was a loud crash, causing Zack and Maddie to jump. "What was that?" said Maddie sharply. "It wasn't an earthquake?"

"No," said Zack, shaking his head. "Let's go take a look."

The two ran up to the house. They looked around, not seeing anything in sight, before Maddie said, "I think the sound came from the other side."

"Yes, that would be a very good explanation," mused Zack. He and Maddie ran around the house, freezing in horror at the sight of Cody Blore lying eagle-sprawled on the ground with a dent in his head, his head horribly bloody and mangled.

"Oh!" cried Maddie, looking as though she was going to be sick.

"Now we know for sure Patrick must be the killer," said Zack firmly. He gestured for her to stay by his side. "Come on, let's go."

As the two began to walk around the island, Maddie said, "What do you suppose we'll do once we're rescued?"

"Oh, I can think of a few things we could do," said Zack with a naughty grin on his face.

"Zack!" gasped Maddie. Then she grinned. "Oh, darling, I was hoping you felt the same way!"

The two shared a heart warming hug that was interrupted when Maddie spotted something over Zack's shoulder. "What's that, in the water?"

"Oh, it's probably just seaweed," said Zack dismissively.

"No," said Maddie, frowning. "It looks like a person. Let's take a closer look."

Zack and Maddie raced down to the beach, wondering what exactly could be floating around in the water. They slowly walked across the sand and up to the body which was now washed on shore.

"It looks like a pile of clothes," remarked Maddie.

"Hang on," said Zack, bending down at the same time Maddie did. "It's not clothes...it's..."

"Patrick!" gasped Maddie.

"Yes," said Zack, looking Maddie square in the eye. "It's Patrick."