Red Ranger 1

Not only has Bronte not really thought this through, neither has Irene.Bronte seemed to think she just needed to say "I've got benzine poisoning" (even though she only briefly popped into the Diner before it was closed) and she'd magically be handed $50,000 without anyone asking any questions.And Irene seems to be assuming the insurance company will just hand over the money without receiving any medical records.So it seems Dana had met Bronte, just not very much? I guess she must have popped home between shifts. Kirby's attempt to get her housemates to act like grown-ups didn't go very far, since Eden's mentality is still in the playground.I'm not happy with the way Cash kept having a go at Felicity even though Eden's the problem.What exactly has Felicity done wrong, not torn strips off Mackenzie every time she's seen her?

Thank you for the comments, Zig and pembie! CHAPTER NINE Ryder led Bella down the corridor and pointed to a box on the wall…marked Fire Alarm.“There.” Bella examined it and nodded.“And it’s only connected to the staff quarters?” “Right.There’s fire doors that are meant to stop any fire in this part of the ship spreading.And for the next”-he checked his watch-“half an hour, no-one’s on shift so they should all still be in their quarters from last night.” Bella nodded slowly, taking this in.“Are you sure this is going to work?” “If you had $30,000, would you leave it to get burnt?” “Guess not.” “Okay.Give me five minutes to get to the assembly point, then set it off and join me up there.” “Right.”Bella paused for a moment before noting,“Ryder?” “Yeah?” “You were right.This is a crazy idea.” *** Ryder made his way up to the deck.The section he was in was mainly avoided by passengers, since it was marked as the staff emergency assembly area.There wasn’t really anyone else around but it shouldn’t look too suspicious if anyone saw him there. He checked his watch and hoped Bella would play her part. *** A few decks below him, Bella also checked her watch.She had severe reservations about this plan but Ryder was right that it stood a good chance of succeeding.It also felt like the sort of idea she’d come up with.She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. She took a deep breath and hit the fire alarm. *** The alarm was muted up where Ryder was, in order to avoid alarming passengers.He knew it would be ringing below decks though and sure enough, soon the first members of the crew and staff started emerging up onto deck. Ryder moved around as inconspicuously as possible, keeping an eye on everyone that came up.The plan was based on one assumption:That no-one would steal $30,000 and then leave it to potentially be burned in a fire.They had to have the money with them. Ryder saw Archibald directing staff into moving into neat lines for roll call and watched the staff manager as closely as possible but saw nothing.And he couldn’t exactly go up and search him.He looked around, picking out Wendy without seeing anything special.He examined every figure he saw without seeing anything. And then he did.Chase.He was clutching some sort of holdall to his chest.As if it was something very special…Ryder’s mind raced back to that night.He and Bella had seen Chase at the bar, but then they’d left him alone.Plenty of time for Chase to sneak down to the casino after Denzel left… Without really having a clue where he was going with this, Ryder stormed up to his colleague and shoved him.“What’s in the bag, Chase?” Chase had a panicked look in his eyes which confirmed Ryder’s suspicions.“What?” “What’s in the bag?”Ryder wasn’t really good at this physical stuff but he grabbed the bag, pulling at it. Chase continued to hold on to it for dear life.They both pulled at the bag until Ryder took a large tug which had the effect of causing him to fall over backwards and drag Chase down with him.The loss of footing was enough to make them both let go and the bag spun across the floor. Bella must have only just made it up there but she had quickly taken in the situation.The bag ended up at her feet and she quickly scooped it up and poured out the contents:Hundreds of bank notes.“You want to explain this?” Captain Smith came over, saw the triumphant looks on Ryder and Bella’s faces and the horrified one on Chase’s, and quickly reached the obvious conclusion.He looked hard at Chase.“I’d say you definitely have some explaining to do.”

Thanks, I'm glad you're both still guessing! Yes, that seemed like the sort of thing Bella would come up with on the spot and Ryder would have to run with!

Lots of stuff being set up here, interested to see where you go with it.

Thanks for the comments, pembie and Zig! CHAPTER EIGHT Ryder once again found himself following Bella down a corridor with an uncomfortable feeling that he was being dragged along on something he was better off staying out of.“Where exactly are we going?”he asked as they headed towards the staff quarters. “What do we know?”Bella replied challengingly. Ryder thought hard about this.“Not a lot?”he offered at last. “We know that the thief and the money are almost certainly still on board,”Bella answered,“Which means the thief must have hidden the money somewhere.Which probably means their cabin!”She held up a key. Ryder asked the question even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.“Where did you get a master key from?” “Maid cart.And I got a list of the quarters as well.So I know Wendy’s is right here.”She paused, unlocked a door and went inside. Ryder somewhat reluctantly followed her.“What makes you think Wendy’s the thief?” “Well, she and Archibald were the only ones I found who had anything suspicious in their history, so it’s probably one of them.Have a look around!” Seeing Bella opening up the wardrobe on the other side of the room, Ryder dutifully looked under the bed before checking in some drawers.“I guess we’re talking a lot of money here.It wouldn’t be that hard to find it.” “Exactly!”Bella was checking through a number of bags.“You can’t exactly put it in your pocket.If it was in here, we’d find it pretty much straightaway!”She looked round, before checking the cabinet on the other side of the bed, then sighed.“I don’t think it’s here.” Ryder nodded slowly.“So we’re checking Archibald’s cabin now?” The disappointed look on Bella’s face turned into a grin.“Now you’re getting it!” *** A few minutes later, they were in Archibald’s cabin, carrying out a search that was proving equally fruitless.“Nothing in here,”Ryder announced as he closed the drawers.He opened up a cupboard door set into the wall and stared in shock.“Woah!” Bella turned round at the exclamation and came to his side.They both stared at what opening the cupboard had revealed:a sturdy-looking door, with a keypad set into it.“Is that a safe?”she asked. “Looks like it,”Ryder confirmed,“Do you know how to open it?” Bella shot him an exasperated look.“How would I know that?” “You used to hang out with River Boys.” “They’re not exactly well known for cracking safes!” Ryder heard a noise out in the corridor and quickly slammed the cupboard shut.He and Bella spun round as the door opened and Archibald stepped in.He stopped at the sight of them, his expression suspicious. “What are you two doing in here?” Ryder tried to think of an excuse.“We, er, we were just…” “We were going to have sex!”Bella blurted out.Ryder stared at her but she just carried on.“We’ve done it in his bed but it’s really cramped in there…” “…and her cabin has all these really weird…teddies,”Ryder attempted,“Puts me right off.” “So, we figured, well, someone as important as you must have one of the best beds on the ship!”Bella grabbed Ryder’s hand and dragged him into sitting down with her.“Wow, that is really comfortable.” Archibald’s expression hadn’t changed.“How did you get in here?” Bella held out the key.“I kind of borrowed this.” Archibald took it from her.“I’ll be putting an official warning in your file, Ryder.And you”-he looked at Bella-“you don’t exactly work here but I’ll be telling the captain about this.Go on, get off with you.” *** As soon as they were in her cabin, Bella sat down heavily on her bed, looking despondent.“You were right.” Ryder wasn’t sure if he’d ever been less happy to hear those words.“I was?” “This whole thing was stupid.I mean, who was I kidding?I’m not a detective, I’m not going to solve a crime.It’s probably not either Wendy or Archibald, and even if it is, they’ve probably hidden the money somewhere I’m not going to find it.What was I thinking?” Ryder had been keen for Bella to drop the whole thing.But now, seeing how upset she was, he was realising he didn’t want that.“Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way,”he suggested. Bella looked up at him, suddenly interested.“What do you mean?” “Well, maybe we don’t need to find the money.Maybe we need to trick the thief into finding it for us.” He took a deep breath.“I think I’ve got a crazy idea of my own.”

...How would that work? Anyway, she didn't say what type she had, just that it had a really long name. Alf's episode count:Suspended. Eden grouses about how inconvenient it was when Cash and Remi didn't get on but fails to realise it would be equally inconvenient for Felicity to go on hating Mackenzie.I know they double-teamed Xander but it does feel like Felicity and Mackenzie have snapped back to being friendly a bit abruptly: I don't really mind, because they've been through a lot together, but it was a bit much for Felicity to suddenly be acting like she cared about Mackenzie and Levi's relationship troubles.Still, at least the hug wasn't about that but about Mackenzie's lingering trauma over her heart troubles.To give Eden a bit of credit, she didn't rant and rave about it to either of them, she just decided to get out of there.A shame that it comes right as she's realising that they can't keep living off Kirby's royalties and whatever she's making from Mali forever! While it was dumb of her to try and avoid the conversation, I wasn't too keen on the way Mackenzie was made out to be wholly in the wrong for being suspicious of Levi.He didn't offer any explanation for why he was being smarmy with someone who wasn't his patient at a hospital he doesn't work at yet, just got defensive and fired off platitudes.He might be sincere at the moment but I think Mackenzie's right to consider him another man making promises he can't keep. I guess you were right, H&Alover, about Bronte not wanting to appear on the videos, as she's quick to jump at Harper's offer to be the face of the appeal! I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on the folks of Summer Bay for taking her at face value, I think most people would just accept a story like that and they're not privy to the secret phone calls. I guess Theo must still be hot property to be able to refill the Diner like that!

Mali might be wishing Iluka had just been stealing cars at this point.It does kind of raise the question about how much of what he's said about the Allens is true: Did they get arrested for stolen car parts or not? I felt Mali was a bit harsh in saying Iluka has no chance of turning pro, but he certainly shouldn't be betting anything on it. I thought Iluka walking out on Kirby spelt the end of their romance but she still seemed interested later. Maybe Rose will take her to the gig! Xander asks some pointed questions about Bronte but still seems taken in by her.I guess "autoimmune disease" covers a whole range of things, which is what Bronte's counting on. The episode did at least do a decent job of giving us updates on John and Marilyn when they can't appear!

Well, as it turns out, Iluka didn't steal Justin's car: Never a good idea to take a promo at face value! Still, his suddenly producing a bag full of thousands of dollars hasn't exactly convinced Mali that he's on the straight and narrow.And apparently he doesn't know Rose is a cop? So, apparently Victoria and Elandra haven't been talking about her that much then? He does finally get to ask Kirby out though. I'd have thought Leah would have been able to hear Justin shouting after her, but maybe she thought it'd be quicker to ring him rather than to stop and explain. His mournful "I loved that car" was simultaneously funny and endearing. So, turns out all the illnesses are down to simple wear and tear in the Diner's pipes.Although it was kind of glossed over since most of the characters involved have used up their episodes for the week, at least that means John, Marilyn and anyone else who's ill can be treated. The Diner might have a bit of trouble rebuilding their customer base though... I had to roll my eyes at Remi saying this is Cash's last chance to prove Stevie was right to trust him and feel safe with him. Her being alive might be better proof!

Thanks, both of you! I needed to build up some suspects!

And? The show's makers outright said that they were ignoring Covid because no-one wants to see it on the beaches. Neighbours referenced the travel restrictions (albeit inconsistently) and showed facemask wearing and warning signs.

Other way round, I think. So, yes, as the promo suggested, it turns out that John opening the container didn't affect anything at all, although they don't seem to have got to the bottom of exactly what it is yet apart from it being something at the Diner.I don't think it's necessarily legionnaire's, that was just one possibility Bree suggested that matched the assumed method of contamination and the symptoms: She said there were dozens of others. Bree's incompetence turns out to be even greater than in the previous episode: Not only did she completely fail to trace John's movements and track down anyone he'd been in contact with, but she made assumptions based on a snap judgement and had better hope this isn't airborne, because she's just left Dana, who was perfectly healthy when she came in, shut in a room with a man who's infected for the best part of a day. Oh well, at least it gave us John and Dana's repartee... Incidentally, the guy that collapsed at the Diner previously played a new dad befriended by Rachel Armstrong in 2009! I was very unhappy with the way both Felicity and Eden bullied Remi into going and playing nicey-nice to Cash, as if that's going to be some sort of cure-all...and I really hope it isn't, because Cash knows he screwed up and whether or not Remi agrees should be immaterial, just as a report saying their people should have called his people is immaterial. We seem to be being told that Cash had no way of knowing she was in danger a lot, as if that somehow completely exonerates him. Well, sorry, but his job was to protect her. Was he only supposed to protect her from people who rang up in advance to let him know they were coming? What if some other crazed fan had been inspired by Wickham's actions and decided to take a potshot at her? Cash himself noted he got complacent and didn't keep a proper eye on the court proceedings. Remember when he had his phone set up to let him know if anything was posted online that related to Stevie (even if it was just her sleeping with Remi)? Apparently, at some point he decided not to bother doing any of that and thought he was being paid to stand around on the beach looking vaguely intimidating. And he didn't even get that right!

I don't think it's a case of there being a hard and fast "You can't change your look ever" rule so much as them needing permission.The producers will want to make sure that whatever they do feels in character for who they're playing, and out of sequence filming means it'll need to be done in such a way that their look doesn't switch back and forth.

Well, John and Dana's quest to open the container turned out to be a bit anti-climatic...or did it? Because apparently they've just unleashed the bubonic plague on the Bay.It has to be said Bree was spectacularly selective with how she treated people.Xander gets kept in overnight for tests because he had contact with Dana, while Dana is shut away like she's patient zero despite showing no symptoms (and Xander isn't allowed to speak to her even though they've already had contact), but Levi is allowed to just walk out of there after a quick questionnaire despite having physical contact with John (and even interact with a patient!) and apparently Bree made no real attempt to track John's movements and learn he spoke to Marilyn, Roo and Harper (albeit not as intimately as Xander and Dana).I think he can rule her attempt to contain this as an epic fail. Despite my comments on Friday's promo, it seems it's not as simple as "It's all good" for Mackenzie and Levi.She's decided to paper over the cracks, but despite Xander pleading Levi's case, the old adage of "If they can do it with you, they can do it to you" seems to be ringing in her ears. Harper getting a tarot reading from Marilyn...well, it was nice to see her interacting with other characters but she seemed to be hoping to hear she'd meet a tall dark Parata who'd marry her and live happily ever after.

Thank you for the comments, Zig and pembie! CHAPTER SEVEN Bella stood outside the door to Ryder’s cabin, shifting from foot to foot in an irritable manner and checking her watch.She finally banged on it.“Ryder!Are you in there?”She paused a few seconds before knocking again.“Ryder!” Ryder finally opened the door, bleary-eyed but at least fully-clothed.“Bella?Did we have a breakfast appointment?” Bella grabbed his hand and pulled him down the corridor, barely giving him a chance to close the door. “No time.We have people to talk to.You don't have anything else to do, do you?” “Um, I’m not due on shift for another two hours but…” Bella suddenly stopped and grabbed him by the arms.“I have spoken to Emmett and have all the crew’s secrets.Trust me, you do not want to miss this.” *** Ryder tried his hardest to keep up with Bella as she barrelled into the cocktail bar where Wendy was working.The place wasn’t open yet, any more than the casino, so the staff were involved with setting it up.Bella spoke to Ryder quietly.“Follow my lead.”Then she stepped forward with a broad smile on her face.“Wendy, hi!We were just talking about Denzel.” It took Ryder a moment to realise that was meant to be his cue.“Right, yeah.I spoke to him last night. Poor guy.” “It must be so hard to be accused of something like that and he’s so adamant that he’s innocent.” Wendy had the air of someone who wasn’t quite sure why she was having the conversation.“Well, hopefully the truth wiill come out in time.” Bella’s face suddenly hardened.“Well, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?” That comment seemed to throw Wendy.“What do you mean?” “Your last job.Where was it, Melbourne?You were working in a bar and you were accused of stealing. You were given a suspended sentence.” Wendy glared at her.“Fine, so you’ve Googled me.I was stupid and I lost nearly everything.If you think that means I’d do it again, you’re wrong.”She stalked away. Ryder cautiously came up next to Bella.“Was that the whole of your plan?Accuse someone and see how they react?” Bella turned to him, unrepentant.“Right, and it’s a good plan.So good that I’m going to do it again.” Ryder sagged.“I’m not going to like this, am I?” *** “Mr.Beck!”Bella called out. It took Ryder a second to realise she was talking to Archibald.He’d largely forgotten that was his name, given that he had a hard enough time calling him Archibald.He also had a sinking feeling about where this was going. Archibald looked round.“Miss Taylor.” “You know I’ve just been thinking about how isolated we are around here.It’s like we’re cut off from the rest of the world.” “Not entirely,”Archibald argued,“We do have telephone and radio, even internet.” “Yeah but no-one’s going to come here in person.” “Your own addition to the manifest aside, I suppose you’ve got a point.” “We’re not going to see anyone here from, say, Carter and Westman.” Archibald froze at the comment.Ryder did too, even though he didn’t understand it.“I’m sorry?” Archibald asked after a pause. “Carter and Westman.They’re a law firm.They’re currently acting on behalf of the building firm that you hired to do extension work on your house and then decided not to pay.” “They didn’t complete the work to my satisfaction…”Archibald caught himself.“I’m not sure how this is any of your business or how you got this information…” “I’m a photographer, I have my sources.” “…but if you’re attempting to imply something…” “Only that it’s probably useful for you to be out in the middle of an ocean right now.And you could use all the money you can get at the moment.” Archibald met her gaze for a moment, then walked away.Ryder came up to Bella’s side.“So are you done annoying suspects now?” Bella sighed.“You’re right.This has done no good.”Her face lit up.“What we need is evidence!”

Alf's episode count this week:Two.Only Irene, Marilyn, Justin and Bree managed three.Leah and Tane didn't appear at all, although at least we got explanations why. I really don't get why Levi thinks he had the right to play the victim.All Eden did was tell Imogen his new address when she asked, which she didn't have to do but I don't see any reason why she should keep it to herself.And then he even goes into a sulk about Mackenzie not trusting him when he has actually been lying to her.It's probably a good thing that Xander stopped Mackenzie following through on the worst idea he'd ever heard! I get why people find her irritating but I had to smile at Dana's quirky enthusiasm for solving a mystery.Yes, a whole lot of what she did was wildly inappropriate but she does make a perfect sidekick for John, who's equally inclined to take an idea and run with it far more than anyone else would do. Not only did the promo provide a better cliffhanger than the episode, it pretty much resolved what little tension there was over Mackenzie and Levi's fallout by showing them together!

I would say that Dana is someone who has a lot of loyalty to certain people (notably Harper, although she's shown it with John and Tane too) and that being focused on helping them can sometimes cause her to treat other people badly out of thoughtlessness. Anyway, today.At this point I'd say it's almost certain that Bronte is lying about her illness: That fall looked faked (although technically we didn't actually see what happened) and she was very insistent that Irene wasn't to go to the hospital with her.Her suddenly dropping into conversation that there's an experimental treatment that she couldn't possibly afford is a bit of a red flag. John gets involved in Justin and Theo's treasure search but seems to have given up on his idea that he's stumbled upon an international drug operation. Mackenzie and Levi are well and truly in the "honeymoon's over" period, with Mackenzie apparently suspicious on suddenly realising she's shacked up with a married man she doesn't even know that well.It feels like the show's turning Imogen into the bitter ex-wife in order to make us feel sorry for them.

My instinct is that Tom talks about his father at one point but that might be me misremembering!

I'm not sure if that was ever actually mentioned on the show, it was just in early publicity material..

It's been like that for quite a while, although I'm struggling to remember the last time there were four people living there. Was there a point when Irene, Willow, Jasmine and Bella were all there?

Kissing Remi. Stevie's funeral has been delayed by the police investigation but it probably won't last until the trial. Sounds like we can add Leah to the absentee list: Even with Irene back, there's not that many people in the Bay at the moment! I really struggled to follow Marilyn's logic here, and while she's not the clearest thinker, you'd expect Roo to point out the flaws rather than get swept up in the madness.I can understand not wanting food to go to waste, but if she's giving it away free, won't that mean the Diner's lost the money for it anyway? The barbecue did at least seem to be making some money but apparently not as much as normal.So really, how was it ever a possibility that Irene and Leah wouldn't notice how much she's spent? And sure enough, Irene realises as soon as she looks at the week's outgoings. I was not expecting Bree to go running back to Remi that quickly and I was expecting even less for him to be open to the idea given the mixed messages she's been sending him.But I guess I should applaud Remi for dealing with it maturely and noting this isn't the right time for them. Irene's picked up another stray, but we already know from that phone call that Bronte isn't entirely on the level.I thought Harper was pushing it a bit describing herself as Irene's housemate rather than her lodger.

To be honest, while I fully understand Nelson seeing it as a poisoned chalice and getting out of there, I'm not as ready to condemn the producers for wanting to recast as everyone else is.Whilst you'd think they'd have insurance for this sort of thing, in pretty much any walk of life, if someone dies, sooner or later their employer will hire someone else to do their job.Does it being so high profile make a difference? Anyway, that's Nelson seemingly gone (so no apology from Cash, who doesn't appear to have even seen him again).Bree really does seem to be messing with everyone's head at the moment: He forgives her and she turns him down anyway! I guess I can understand Remi (someone else she's sent very mixed signals to) wanting to get out of there and wasn't too keen on Eden sticking her neb in. It is always nice to see Felicity trying to step up and be the caring sibling, even if she did largely end up handing over to Eden.Not that Eden's brilliant plan to force Cash and Remi together was particularly helpful, with Cash seemingly left to pull himself out of this hole on his own. Even Roo comments on Alf and Irene's synchronised filming breaks! So, we get the explanation from Iluka and it seems he isn't too dodgy, although he has a tendency to hang with the wrong crowd.I'm not sure Mali and Rose really need to be that concerned about Kirby. Well, this is even more personal: Tane's slept with someone Felicity considers a friend and who knows very intimate and personal details about her from being involved in the aftermath of her rape. And neither of them seem particularly bothered aside from Harper worrying about herself if Felicity finds out.

Well, Cash overtakes Alf as the person with the most inappropriate reaction to Stevie's death. Where the hell does he get off having a go at Nelson for a decision made by someone else? Nelson has done absolutely nothing wrong, and this comes right after Cash admitting he took his eye off the ball and became complacent:Stevie kept him on because she thought she could trust him and he let her down.The excuse for Wickham being out of jail continues to be laughable, but then judges letting criminals go just because their defence asks nicely seems to be trendy at the moment.Part of me thinks that Nelson inviting Bree to come to Italy with him after a matter of weeks would be pretty out there even without her still being hung up on Remi, but I guess whirlwind romances happen. I am rapidly losing all respect for Harper, which is a shame because I used to quite like her, but her current performance as a rabid Tane fan girl who got lucky with her hero is just pathetic.(Dana calling him a "demigod" pretty much sums up how we're apparently meant to view him, although at least she got on Harper's nerves.)Naturally, Felicity is nice to Harper right after Harper's slept with her husband.Yes, yes, separated, but Tane is such a complete hypocrite on that one, judging Felicity for sleeping with precisely one person while he has sex with every willing warm body he can find, that part of me really does hope she gives both of them both barrels. So we finally meet Mali’s brother. He seemed to make at least a reasonably good first impression on Rose but Mali isn’t fooled for a minute by his “just popped round for a visit” claim.

Yeah, I had to include Emmett in there. I prefer him and Bella to remain friends (although he'd probably be better for her than Nikau) but I like the idea that they're still in contact being photography geeks together.

EastEnders has been on 4 episodes for a long time and has never been more than that except on special occasions (although it is, of course, the only soap without adverts, so in terms of minutes per week it's longer than the commercial stations who do the same). Coronation Street has 3 hour-long episodes. Emmerdale, I think, has 5 episodes including an hour-long one? I definitely don't see Home and Away as out of the ordinary, especially in terms of the UK schedule.

Thanks, pembie! CHAPTER SIX Ryder and Bella had retired to a corner of the deck with a laptop.They were unlikely to be disturbed so they had plenty of time to come up with notes on their investigation.Unfortunately, at that moment, their page was blank.“Why is this so difficult?”Bella moaned. Ryder thought for a moment.“Well…I guess one first step would be to write a list of suspects.” “Great idea!”Bella agreed, before her enthusiasm disappeared slightly,“So…who is there?” “I guess everyone who was working in the casino that night and knew about the takings?” Bella paused over the keyboard.“Names?” “Apart from me and Denzel, there’s, um, Frank, Ewan, Tracey, Glenda, Mike, Travis and, um, Brad.” Bella dutifully wrote the names down.“What about the cocktail waitresses?That Wendy?” “Yeah, she was there,”Ryder agreed,“And a couple of others.Er, Liz and Hannah.” “Anyone else?” “Archibald,”Ryder realised,“Hates it if we call him Archie.He’s in charge of the casino, he must know everything.” “What about the captain and the other officers?” Ryder shook his head.“I doubt it.They don’t tend to get involved in the entertainment side much.” “I’ll put them down anyway.”Bella did so, then looked at the rather long list.“Okay, now we’ve got this, what do we do with them?” “Interview them all?”Ryder suggested. Bella thought about this, then shook her head.“No, you can talk to people if you want but I’ve got a better idea.”She closed up the laptop and tucked it under her arm.“See you later!” *** Bella waited until she’d got back to her cabin and checked she’d got a phone signal before dialling a number.“Emmett?Hi, I need some help.”She opened up her laptop and found the list of suspects.“I need you to run background checks on all these people for me.” Emmett’s confused voice came over her phone.“Sorry, what?” “It’s something Ryder and I are looking into.” “You know I’m not the police, right?” “Yeah but you know people at the cruise company.You can ask around.” She heard Emmett give a resigned sigh.“All right, I’ll see what I can do,”he offered. Bella smiled.“Great!Okay, these are the names…” *** Ryder had headed down to the bar, confident Denzel would still be there.Sure enough, he was sat at a table, nursing a drink.Ryder sat down opposite him.“Hey there,”he greeted him awkwardly. Denzel lifted his eyes momentarily to look at him.“I wasn’t looking for company.” “Shouldn’t have left your cabin then.” Denzel seemed to concede the point.“You’d better be careful.They might think you’re my accomplice.” Ryder looked round nervously.“Why do they think it’s you?” “I don’t know if they do.Just want someone to blame.” Ryder lowered his voice conspiratorially.“If there’s a way to clear your name, I’ll find it.” Denzel actually looked amused as he met his gaze.“Well, that’s all right then.”