063 Mixed Signals (8 page)

Nancy gasped as she checked her watch. She’d been in the room more than fifteen minutes! Putting her ear to the door, Nancy waited until she was sure there was no one around, then she slipped back into the empty hallway.

The next morning Bess was trying to get Nancy to move faster. Bess grabbed her denim jacket off the back of her chair in the student center, where she and Nancy had just finished a quick, late breakfast of muffins and hot cocoa. “Come on, Nan. I don’t want to miss the fair. It’s ten-thirty already.”

“Just a minute,” Nancy told her. “I have to call Dean Jarvis. There’s something I’d like to find out about Susannah Carlson.”

The girls found a campus phone in the student center’s entrance. Checking the campus directory that hung from the booth by a cord, Nancy called Dean Jarvis’s extension. It was Saturday, but to Nancy’s relief, the dean was in.

“This is a delicate matter,” Dean Jarvis said after she told him what she wanted to know. “But if it’ll help your case, I guess I can tell you. Let me access the file.” He put her on hold, and Nancy drummed her fingers against the phone until he came back on the line. “Ms. Carlson was dismissed from Emerson because of a failing grade-point average,” the dean told her.

“She flunked out?” Nancy took a moment to digest the information. “Is there anything else unusual in her record?”

She heard the dean put the phone back down as he keyed in something more. “That’s all the information I have.”

Nancy thanked him, then hung up. “So that’s why Susannah holds such a grudge against Emerson,” she said to Bess after relating what she’d just found out. “But this doesn’t in any way indicate that she would go after Randy to get back at Emerson. I can’t believe she’d do it, but I am going to have to search Tamara’s room today anyway.”

“After the fair,” Bess insisted, grabbing Nancy’s arm. “Like it or not, Drew, you’re going to have some fun today!”

From the student center the girls headed straight for the oval. They overtook Tamara and Zip, who were walking on the path just ahead of them. In their dark jeans, high-top sneakers, and short leather jackets, they looked great, Nancy thought.

“Zip looks different without his Russell letter jacket,” she whispered to Bess.

As they rounded the corner of Ivy Hall, Nancy glimpsed a colorful array of tables and booths. Everything from sweaters to pottery to pillows to leather bags and belts were on sale, and thick crowds of students jammed each booth.

“Nancy!”

Hearing Ned’s familiar voice, Nancy spun around to see her handsome boyfriend, wearing faded blue jeans and an Emerson basketball jacket, jog toward her.

Swinging Nancy around in a hug, he said, “Sorry I missed you at breakfast. I had to go over the order of the floats for the parade this afternoon.”

“That’s okay.” While Bess wandered among the booths, Nancy told Ned about the note she’d received.

“Bess is right—you are in danger,” Ned said gravely when she was done. “Promise you’ll be careful, okay?”

“I always am,” Nancy said, giving him a hug. “What’s the latest on Randy?” she asked, eager to change the subject.

“He says he’s feeling fine. He’s even going to ride on the team float—”

“This fair is great,” said Bess, moving back to them. She held up a sweater with colorful geometric designs on it in one hand, and a belt in the other. “Look what I bought.”

“Uh-oh. Everyone better move fast, before you buy out the whole fair,” Nancy teased.

Bess grinned. “You know I can’t resist a bargain.”

Bess broke off as she heard a cry.

“Help! Help me!”

Spinning around, Nancy glimpsed a flurry of motion behind the shiny glass facade of the modern library building that stood on the opposite side of the oval. Someone had opened one of the windows on the third story. In the open space, she could see two figures struggling.

Nancy squinted, trying to follow the action. Her breath caught in her throat as one of the figures was pushed out the library window an instant later. Beside her, Bess let out a bloodcurdling scream.

A young man wearing an Emerson football team jacket was now dangling from the window ledge! His attacker shoved him, apparently trying to push him from the building.

There was nothing for the player to cling to on the building’s sleek facade except the window ledge.

And there was nothing but cold, hard pavement three stones below the window.

Chapter Eleven

“
H
EY—SOMEONE’S TRYING
to kill Randy!” Bess shouted.

Her heart pounding, Nancy took off at a flat-out run for the library. She was halfway to it when she glanced up again and noticed that the player had shiny blond hair.

It wasn’t Randy but Josh Mitchell dangling there. The figure struggling with Josh was dressed in dark colors, and it looked as if his head was covered with a black ski mask.

As Nancy raced on, the figure inside continued to try to dislodge Josh. Then, suddenly, the attacker disappeared from view. Josh dangled for only a moment longer, then pulled himself inside. An audible sigh of relief rippled through the crowd on the oval.

By the time Nancy reached the door of the library, Ned was beside her. Together they raced inside and stopped short in front of the two elevators, checking the indicator lights above the doors. One car was ascending. The other seemed to be stopped in the basement.

“The stairs!” Nancy cried, nodding across the modern lobby to a sleek wood-and-metal staircase on the far side. “You stay here and stop anyone wearing dark clothes.”

Nancy raced to the stairs, her muscles screaming as she climbed two flights. She didn’t pass anyone on the stairway. As Nancy hurried past the desks, book stacks, and study modules on the third floor, she finally spotted Josh. He was leaning against a table near the window, breathing hard. A handful of students and librarians were clustered around him.

“Josh, are you okay?” Nancy asked.

He glanced at her, obviously disoriented. “Yeah. Just kind of shook up.” Josh swallowed as he straightened the collar of his shirt. “Did you see that creep?” he asked the crowd, scanning the nearby aisles of books. “Where did he go?”

“I didn’t see anybody,” said a blond-haired girl, “but I was doing research on the other side of the floor.”

“Did
any
of you see Josh’s attacker?” Nancy asked each of them. They all shook their heads.

Nancy didn’t wait to hear any more. Josh’s attacker was getting away! She walked carefully down the wide center aisle, checking each narrower aisle of bookcases. She saw no one and decided that the attacker had already left the floor. Racing down to the second floor, then the first, Nancy searched each carefully. There were only a few students, and none of them was wearing dark clothing.

“Any luck, Ned?” Nancy asked as she rejoined her boyfriend by the first-floor elevator bank.

He shook his head. “No one came out. I guess with all the homecoming festivities, today isn’t a big study day on campus. A bunch of people from the fair took the elevator up to see what had happened, though. They included Dean Jarvis and a couple of security guards.”

Nancy let out a sigh of frustration. “It looks like our guy got away. All he had to do was take that ski mask off to fit in. We’ll never be able to pick him out now.” Running a hand through her hair, she added, “Come on, let’s go back up to Josh.”

“I’m afraid I can’t,” Ned said apologetically. “I hate to desert you, but I have to get over to the floats.”

“That’s okay,” Nancy told him. “Bess and I will meet you at the student center for lunch at noon.”

When Nancy returned to the third floor, Josh was surrounded by a larger crowd, which included his father, Dean Jarvis, and two campus security guards. Nancy also noticed Bess standing on the fringe of the group, talking with Zip and Tamara.

Josh seemed to be recounting the details of the attack. “I was sitting at this table, working on a paper, when a guy came up and grabbed me by the collar.”

“Did he say anything?” Coach Mitchell asked his son, shoving his hands in the pockets of his navy warm up suit.

Josh nodded. “He told me that Emerson had to lose Sunday’s game. After that he dragged me to the window and—you know the rest.”

That was the same threat Randy had received, Nancy thought. Didn’t the culprit realize that Josh was suspended from the team roster?

“This business is getting out of hand,” Dean Jarvis stated. “If I had my druthers, I’d cancel that game.”

“Not the homecoming game!” someone said.

“Dean Jarvis,” the coach began, “we have hundreds of alumni visiting campus this week. I don’t think it would be wise to disappoint them by calling off the game.”

“We can’t buckle under now,” Josh added. “I know that this guy is trying to scare the team. But we can’t give him that satisfaction.”

Just then two police officers strode up. Dean Jarvis quickly explained what had happened to Josh and filled the officers in on the earlier attacks against Randy. “I’m considering calling the president to cancel the game, officers. Any advice?”

One of the officers, a gray-haired man with a bristly mustache, shrugged, saying, “There’s no guarantee that this kook will stop being a menace, even if you do cancel the game.”

The second officer—the name on his badge was Pulaski, Nancy noted—was writing vigorously on a clipboard. “Did you recognize this person’s voice?” Officer Pulaski asked Josh.

“No. I’m sure it was a man, but the voice wasn’t familiar.”

That made sense, Nancy thought to herself. She hadn’t gotten a clear look at the menacing figure, but it would require a lot of strength to physically try to toss Josh out the window. That would probably rule out Danielle and Susannah.

Officer Pulaski tapped his pen against his clipboard. “Out of ink.” He looked over at Josh. “Do you have a pen, kid?”

Josh checked his pockets, then shrugged. “Nothing to write with. Sorry.”

Coach Mitchell reached into his jacket and handed the officer a pen. “Now,” said Officer Pulaski. “Can you describe what the assailant was wearing?”

“His face was covered with a black ski mask . . .” Josh began. His voice trailed off, and Nancy noticed that his eyes were focused on something in the crowd.

A moment later he pointed at Zip Williams. He said, “There. He was dressed just like that—in dark clothes.”

Nancy glanced critically at Zip. His clothes were right, and he certainly had the motive, but he also had an alibi. She had seen him down at the fair just before the attack.

The crowd was silent as the two quarterbacks glared at each other. Zip sneered, then turned and stalked off indignantly, with Tamara right behind him.

Tension hung in the air for a long, silent moment. Finally Dean Jarvis addressed the crowd. “Josh is okay, and the homecoming game will go on as scheduled,” he announced. “Now let’s all move off and leave this matter to the police.”

As the crowd began to disperse, Nancy and Bess lingered behind to hear the police finish their questioning of Josh.

“Ready to go, son?” Coach Mitchell asked as Officer Pulaski tucked his clipboard under his arm. “Let’s get out of here and grab something to eat.”

As the officers and the Mitchells headed for the elevators, Nancy found herself staring at the empty table. Something about it disturbed her, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was. She glanced over at Josh, then back at the table. Finally it hit her.

“That’s strange,” she said aloud. When Bess met her eyes, she explained. “Josh said he was sitting here studying, but he didn’t have any papers or books with him. In fact, he didn’t even have a pen to lend that police officer.”

“No wonder he’s such a lousy student,” Bess commented.

Nancy thoughtfully drummed her fingers on the table. Could it be that simple? Or had Josh lied about coming there to study?

Come on, Drew! she chastised herself the next second. Josh was practically thrown from a library window. Give the guy a break!

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Nancy turned to Bess. “We might as well go back down to the fair.”

The girls made their way downstairs and back to the crowded oval. They threaded their way past the booths, but Nancy hardly paid any attention to the items for sale. Her mind was focused on the details of the case.

Someone was after Randy—and now it looked as if that person was after Josh, too. The message had been consistent—lose Sunday’s game.

What was so important about that game? Someone was going to an awful lot of trouble to make sure that Emerson lost. Maybe it was Susannah’s way of getting revenge against Emerson or Zip’s incredible need to win.

But each of their motives seemed flimsy in light of the seriousness of the crimes. Whoever was behind the attacks was willing to murder in order to make sure Emerson lost the big game. Nancy couldn’t help thinking there was some important piece missing from the puzzle.

“Nan!” Bess’s urgent whisper tore Nancy from her thoughts. “The police are back!”

“What?” Following Bess’s gaze, Nancy spotted Officer Pulaski and his gray-haired partner walking across the oval with a purposeful stride. They wove around a family with two young toddlers, then cut across the lawn.

A moment later the police stepped up to Zip Williams, who was leaning against a tree at the edge of the oval, talking with Tamara.

“Come on,” said Nancy, grabbing Bess’s arm and pulling her toward the group.

As soon as Zip saw the police, he stood up straight and dropped his girlfriend’s hand. Nancy saw him stiffen as Officer Pulaski clapped a hand on his shoulder and spoke to him.

“You’re wanted for questioning down at the station.”

Chapter Twelve

“
W
HAT’S GOING ON
?” Tamara demanded to know, placing a hand protectively on Zip’s arm.

“I didn’t do anything.” Zip shook himself free of Officer Pulaski’s grip.

“We’re not arresting you,” the gray-haired man told Zip. “We just want to ask you a few questions.”

Nancy could see the fury in Zip’s black eyes, but he managed to restrain himself. “I’ll cooperate,” he said firmly, “but I’m telling you, I know nothing about Josh.”