The man was Roger Redbeard!
"W-what do you mean, you'll make us walk the plank?" Maggie asked nervously.
Roger Redbeard grinned. "I'm just joking around, kids," he said.
"I like to practice my pirate voice. Aargh!"
Henry glanced at his friends.
He could tell they were thinking the same thing he was.
Had Roger taken their tickets?
"Excuse me, Mr. Redbeard," he said. "Can we ask you a question?"
"Sure." Roger took a sip from the plastic cup he was holding.
"Is it about pirates?"
"Not exactly." Henry cleared his throat.
"We're just wondering where you've been since the last time we saw you."
Roger looked surprised. "I walked downtown to get lunch."
Henry noticed that Roger was holding a plastic cup.
It had a logo printed on it that said SCGS. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason." Henry traded another look with his friends.
"Um, did you see anyone else on the beach while you were walking?"
Roger shrugged. "It's pretty quiet at this end of town.
It's mostly private land. The only person I passed out here was the Jones girl."
"The Jones girl?" Maggie said. "Who's that?"
"Sorry, I don't remember her first name," Roger said.
"But her parents own the general store in town."
Henry realized Roger must be talking about Anna.
"Did she see you?" he asked Roger.
"I doubt it," Roger replied. "She was running through the surf."
He took another sip of his drink. "Is that all you want to know?
Because if you don't have any questions about pirates, I'd better move along."
"Okay. Bye," Henry said.
Roger wandered away, disappearing soon behind some rocks.
Maggie checked to make sure he was gone.
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" she asked.
"He wasn't carrying that cup when we saw him before," Henry reminded her.
"So he probably is telling the truth."
"That means he couldn't have stolen our tickets," Cole said.
"Not necessarily," Maggie argued. "How far away is the town?
It might only take five minutes to walk there. We should ask William or Anna."
"Speaking of Anna, shouldn't she be a suspect?" Henry asked.
"Roger said he saw her running down the beach. That's kind of suspicious."
"Not really," Maggie said.
"She was looking for booty, just like the rest of us."
Henry nodded. "But she was alone, while the rest of us had partners.
And she knew exactly where all the tide pools were.
What if she grabbed the tickets before Luke and Nathan reached the tide pool?" he asked.
Maggie gasped. "You could be right!
Nathan said he and Luke had trouble finding their tide pool."
"But why would she want the tickets?" Cole wondered.
"She's not even interested in pirates."
"That's true." Henry thought back. "She said the legends were stupid."
Just then they heard a shout. Luke was running toward them.
"What is it?" Maggie called. "Did you find the booty?"
"Maybe," Luke replied breathlessly.
"We didn't find anything at the marina.
I told the others I'd run and see if you guys found anything.
But on the way here, I noticed something interesting. Come on!"
He led the way back to the bay.
A rowboat was bobbing in the water just offshore.
A skull-and-crossbones flag was flying from it.
"That's a pirate flag!" Cole exclaimed.
"You guys pull in the boat. I'll run and get the others."
The rowboat was tied to a small dock with strong rope.
Henry, Maggie, and Luke pulled on the rope as Cole ran off.
By the time Cole returned with Nathan, William, and Anna, the boat was on the beach.
"There's a pirate chest on board!" Luke called.
Cole helped Luke lift the chest out of the boat. Then Henry opened it.
"Wow!" he cried when he saw what was inside. "Handheld video game players!
There are seven of them, one for each of us!"
"Are you kidding?" Maggie exclaimed. "Let me see!"
She grabbed one of the players and turned it on.
A picture of a pirate ship appeared on the screen.
"Whoa!" Luke peered over Maggie's shoulder.
"It's already loaded with the Revenge of the Pirate's Ghost game!"
"No way!" Nathan yelled.
"Can I have one?" Cole asked.
The kids each grabbed one of the players. Anna was the last to take one.
"I've been dying to get one of these," she said slowly.
"My parents said they're too expensive, but I've been saving my allowance all summer."
That made Henry stop and think. "You're right, Anna," Henry said.
"These game players are expensive, a lot more expensive than a bunch of movie tickets, even for a premiere."
"Yeah." Nathan sounded distracted as he played with his game. "So what?"
Henry shrugged. "So why would someone steal the tickets, but not this booty?"