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Chelsea looked unconvinced.

Lenny, half-draped over Flip’s shoulder, said, “Someone should tell Ell about the escaped maniac.”

Naturally, Ellery laughed. Chelsea said, “You only think she’s kidding.”

“Here’s Tosh,” Flip said, and they all turned to watch Tosh ably steering two large suitcases down the gangplank. Thewheels of the luggage thumped noisily on the aluminum and carbon fiber ramp.

Watson, firmly clamped beneath Ellery’s arm, wriggled to get down, shouting enthusiastic greetings, as though Tosh had just returned from an overseas voyage.

“Did you tell him about the homicidal maniac?” Tosh was only slightly out of breath as she rejoined them.

Ellery laughed again.

“He doesn’t believe us,” Lenny said.

Flip said, “Yeah, but really.”

“Oh, comeon.”

Tosh shook her fiery hair back, saying earnestly, “No, Ell, listen. When we got to the ferry terminal there were all these cop cars with flashing lights. We asked what was going on, and one of the officers said a patient had escaped from the Rhode Island State Psychiatric Hospital, and that they had reason to believe he was going to try to get to Buck Island.”

Ellery rolled his eyes. “Okay. Sure. Do they call him the Cat?”

“What?” Tosh was confused. She looked at Flip.

“Or does he have a hook for a hand?”

Flip huffed, but insisted, “We’re not making this up.”

“Okay, maybe it’s a mass hallucination. All that fresh air at once could be dangerous for you city folk.”

“City folk?” retorted Tosh. “Who are you supposed to be? Rilla of the Lighthouse?”

Ellery laughed.

“Okay, but seriously,” Lenny said. “And then once we boarded, the crew came around and checked all our tickets again.”

“Well, there you go,” Ellery said. “We all know the only reason to collect tickets is to prevent homicidal maniacs from enjoying free rides.”

“Okay, but there weren’t that many passengers. And after they checked our tickets, the crew started searching the boat. They were trying to pretend it was standard procedure, but come on! They were checking the lifejacket storage bins. They were obviously looking for someone who shouldn’t have been on board.”

Chelsea said, “We’re not saying he actually gotonthe boat. Just that they were obviously worried he might have.”

Flip said, “I know it sounds like one of those spooky campfire tales, but—”

It seemed some things never changed.

Ellery was half-amused, half-exasperated. “You know, it’s not like I’ve forgotten we didThe Cat and the Canary at Tisch.”

Flip, Tosh, Lenny, and Chelsea all looked at each other with varying degrees of blankness.

Ellery prompted, “Eccentric Uncle Cyrus dies and leaves his estate to his niece Annabelle with the stipulation she has to spend the night in the creepy family mansion, but then when Annabelle and the other heirs arrive at Haunted Hollow, they’re stalked by a mysterious figure they believe to be the Cat, an escapee from the local asylum who’s hiding out in the secret passages.” He had to stop for breath. “Iknowyou remember. Flip was the Cat and Noah played Uncle Cyrus.”

Noah. Wow. He felt a pang at that memory.

“Noah. That’s right,” Flip murmured.

“Oh.” Tosh looked startled. “I do remember. I played Annabelle. You were Charlie.”