"Thanks for lunch," Henry told William's parents a half hour later.
"It was delicious."
"You're welcome, Henry." William's mother smiled.
"And don't worry about the movie tickets that are missing.
We'll investigate what happened to them."
"You should talk to Roger Redbeard first," Nathan said.
"I bet he's the one who took them."
"Yeah!" Cole said.
"He was hanging around when we found our hats, remember?
Maybe he saw the clue then."
"I don't think so," Henry said. "He left before we opened the trunk."
William's father chuckled. "Roger Redbeard?
I'm sure he didn't take your tickets."
William's mother nodded.
"He has a pretty successful business running pirate tours for tourists."
But Maggie wasn't convinced. "He seemed a little weird to me."
William's mother patted her on the arm.
"Just enjoy the rest of the treasure hunt, kids.
We'll figure out what to do about those missing tickets."
The kids headed down to the beach.
Maggie held out the next clue so they could all see it.
It was a drawing of a boat with a pirate flag.
"It looks like our next booty is hidden on a boat," Henry said.
"Hey, William, maybe it's at the Sea Cove Marina where people keep their boats," Luke said.
William just shrugged.
Henry had noticed that he still seemed kind of grumpy.
"We should check the marina." Anna looked at the drawing again.
"But this drawing could also mean that our booty is at the Pirate Ship."
Nathan looked excited. "Pirate ship?"
"It's not a real ship," Luke told him.
"Just a big rock on the northern part of the island."
Anna nodded. "People call it that because it looks like a ship."
She pointed up the beach. "You can see the top of it from here."
"Maybe we should split up again," Henry suggested.
"Cole and Maggie and I will walk to the Pirate Ship.
You guys can walk to the bay and check out the marina."
"Good plan," Luke agreed. "Come on, guys!"
As soon as the others were out of sight, Henry looked at Cole and Maggie.
"I had an ulterior motive for saying we should split up," he said.
"A what?" Maggie asked.
"An ulterior motive," Henry repeated as the three of them walked slowly along the beach.
"It means a secret motive."
"Then why not just say secret motive?" Maggie asked.
"Never mind," Henry said.
"I just meant that I wanted to get The Lemonade Detectives alone so we could talk about the mystery."
"William's parents think someone stumbled across those tickets and grabbed them," said Maggie.
"A crime of opportunity," Cole said.
"Right," Henry said. "But that doesn't really make sense.
This is a private beach. There's hardly anybody out here."
"Except that weird Roger Redbeard," Maggie said.
Henry stepped over some rocks along the beach.
He and his friends were getting closer to the Pirate Ship.
"William's parents don't think Roger did it.
But I think he should be on our suspect list anyway."
"Me too," Cole agreed. "Are there any other suspects?"
"What about Luke?" Maggie said. "He's crazy about pirates.
And he and Nathan were talking about wanting to see that movie."
"True." Henry nodded.
"Plus, he was alone with the booty while Nathan ran to get us, remember?"
Cole's eyes widened. "You're right!
What if Luke opened the box while Nathan was gone?
He could have hidden the tickets somewhere and tossed the gum into the container."
Maggie gasped. "Yes! Especially since he said it's his favorite flavor."
"Wait," Henry said. "I just remembered something else.
When we got to the tide pool, William was already waiting there with Luke.
Do you think Luke had enough time alone to grab the tickets before William showed up?"
"I almost forgot about that!" Cole said. He frowned.
"I wonder why William went to that tide pool instead of finding me.
We were supposed to be a team."
Henry shrugged. "I don't know. But we should ask him what time he got there."
"I have another idea," Maggie said. "What if Luke and Nathan took the tickets?
They're both obsessed with pirates. And they're both dying to see that movie."
"Why would they do that?" Cole asked.
"They would get to see the movie either way.
There were enough tickets in there for all of us."
"True. But maybe they wanted the extra tickets so they could invite some other friends," Maggie said.
"I don't know." Henry stopped and looked up at the Pirate Ship rock.
"Nathan has been acting a little bit strange today," Henry went on.
"But he's such a nice kid. I can't believe he'd—"
Just then someone stepped out from behind the rock.
"What are you kids doing here?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"Talk, or I'll make you walk the plank!"