Designed for Disaster (6 page)

“What's missing?” Nancy asked.

Cory handed her a list. “I understand that crooks in hick towns like this take their stolen goods to pawnshops,” he said nastily. “You might start there first.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Nancy said. She looked over the list. “We'll be in touch.” To Nicole, she whispered, “I think we'll search the school first. I have a feeling that none of these things ever left the building.”

“Okay,” Nicole whispered back. “I'll try to smooth things over here.”

“Thanks, Nicole,” Bess said.

Nancy checked with Mrs. Corwin to make sure they wouldn't be needed for the next few minutes. Then the Clue Crew left the auditorium.

Just as they were heading down the third-grade hall, Amanda Johnson came running up to them. “Nancy, you're not going to believe this!” she said. She thrust a large paper sack at her. “Mrs. Ramirez just found these things! They were hidden in some boxes stacked inside the cloakroom! She thinks it's the stuff that was stolen from the models.”

Nancy opened the sack. “It is!” she said. She looked at Bess and George. “How are we going to explain this?”

As they headed back toward the auditorium, Bess said, “You don't think someone in our class really did this, do you?”

“I don't know what to think, Bess,” Nancy said.

“If we don't solve this soon, though,” George said, “no one will ever trust the Clue Crew again.”

Nancy nodded.

When they got to the auditorium, the models were practicing their runway walks. When Nicole
got to the end of the runway, Nancy whispered, “We found the missing things!”

Nicole blinked, then whispered back, “That's super!”

In a few minutes Nicole joined them. “Where were they?” she asked.

“Hidden inside boxes in Mrs. Ramirez's cloakroom,” Bess said.

“That's
our
classroom,” George added.

“Oh, that's too bad,” Nicole said. “Well, let me have the sack, and I'll return everything to the models.”

“Oh, Nicole, thank you so much!” Nancy said.

Juliana suddenly called, “Nancy, Bess, George, Deirdre, and Quincy, come up onstage, please!”

For the rest of the morning, the River Heights models practiced their walks and their outfit changes.

During the lunch break, Nancy said, “Why don't you eat with us, Nicole?”

“Oh, I'd love to,” Nicole said. “And please don't worry. The other models were so happy to get their things back that they won't file a police report.”

“That's good to know,” Nancy said.

Mrs. Corwin had arranged for all the models to get their cafeteria trays and take them to the teacher's lounge so they could eat in peace. The River Heights models and Nicole sat in one corner of the room. The other models sat in a far corner. Juliana and Mrs. Corwin sat in the middle.

“You must lead a really interesting life,” Bess said to Nicole. “What's a typical day like?”

Nicole began describing her life as a fashion model. “Of course, there aren't as many fashion shows for tweens and teens as there are for adults,” she said, “so I'm hoping all this pays off and that I get picked up by one of the really top modeling agencies. I want to go to Paris and Rome.”

“Oh, that is so exciting,” Nancy said.

“It would be even more exciting if I could model some of my mother's designs,” Nicole said. “Unfortunately, she's not having much luck placing them with a top fashion designer.”

“That's too bad,” George said.

Later, back in the auditorium, Nancy declared, “After ten walk-throughs and outfit changes, I'm getting really tired.” She looked at her watch. “It's almost time for school to be out. I wish we'd stop for today.”

“Yeah! I never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather be in class,” Bess agreed. “This is really hard work.”

“I thought I was in better shape than this,” George said. “I may need to play more soccer.”

Juliana shouted, “Okay! Okay! We'll stop for a couple hours, but I want everyone back here at seven p.m. The show is tomorrow, and we still have a few things we need to work on.”

“Look what I found!” Everyone turned. Nicole was standing at the back of the auditorium. She
had a pile of clothes in her hands. “It's all the missing outfits!”

“Oh, wonderful, Nicole!” Juliana said. “We really don't need them now for the River Heights show, but I do want to use them for the New York show!”

The Clue Crew rushed over to Nicole.

“Where did you find them?” Nancy asked.

“In one of the gymnasium lockers,” Nicole
said. “I was just wandering around, trying to clear my head, and all of a sudden I saw a piece of blue cloth sticking out from the bottom of a door, so I opened it, and there they were!”

“Bring them here, Nicole!” Juliana called. “I want to see if they're all right.”

When Nicole was out of earshot, Nancy turned to Bess and George and said, “That's strange. We searched those lockers ourselves, and we didn't find anything.”

As the models began their last rehearsal for the fashion show, Nancy simply could not shake the feeling that the one final clue that would solve the mystery was right under their noses.

Nancy struggled to concentrate on all the last-minute details about successful modeling that Nicole kept telling them. Unfortunately her brain simply would not let her think about anything else except the case.

Suddenly Nancy stumbled and almost fell off the runway.

“Nancy!” Nicole cried.

Bess and George rushed to Nancy's side.

“Are you all right?” Bess said. “Is anything broken?”

Nancy struggled to sit up. “I'm fine. I'm fine! Nothing's broken!” She looked around. Everyone was staring at her. “How embarrassing,” she whispered to George.

Just then Nicole reached them.

“I'm sorry, Nicole,” Nancy said. “I'm not normally this clumsy. It's just that—”

“Oh, Nancy, please don't worry. You're doing fine,” Nicole interrupted her. “I'm just glad you didn't break your leg!”

“Me too,” Nancy said. George and Bess helped her up.

“Let's just restart your runway walk,” Nicole said.

“Thank you,” Nancy said.

As the girls headed back behind the curtain, they heard Nicole shout, “Cue up the music for the River Heights models from the beginning, all right?”

“She is so nice,” Bess said when they reached the wings. “I'm glad she's the one helping us and not the other models.”

“She really is nice! The other models would probably have pushed Nancy the rest of the way off the runway,” George said. “We're lucky she's on our side.”

Nancy couldn't believe it. That was exactly what had been puzzling her. Nicole was nice, all right! In fact, she seemed
too
nice!

“I wonder why,” Nancy said.

George and Bess looked at her.

“Why
what
?” Bess asked.

“Why is Nicole so nice to us?” Nancy said. “Is it just a cover to hide what she's really doing?”

Bess and George blinked in unison.

“Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?” George said.

“Well, we've exhausted all the other suspects,” Nancy said. “After all, she found the missing clothes in a place where we had already looked. Maybe her being nice is to keep us from suspecting that—”

“Nancy Drew!” Bess said. “Nicole isn't a criminal, she's a model!”

Nancy sighed. “I hope you're right,” she said.

The day of the big River Heights fashion show finally arrived. Nancy, Bess, George, and Deirdre met in a room separate from the other models. Quincy had a curtained-off area next to them, and Peter had agreed to help him make fast changes.

Nancy looked at her watch. “It's almost time,” she said. “I have butterflies!”

“So do we!” the others said.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

When Deirdre opened it, Nicole was standing there.

“You look gorgeous!” Bess said.

Nicole smiled. “Well, I forgot to tell you something,” she said. “You will need a special kind of makeup for the television lights. Otherwise, your faces fade out, and no one can tell who you are.”

“Oh, that can't happen!” Deirdre said. “I want people to recognize me. It's important for my career!”

“Where can we get it?” Nancy asked.

“Follow me,” Nicole said.

They followed Nicole down a hallway to a small room. “I've set up the makeup in here,” she said. “Put it on and then stand outside this door until you're called.”

“Thanks, Nicole,” Deirdre said. “You're super!”

Nicole smiled again. “I'll see you later,” she said.

Everyone quickly started applying the special makeup. Peter helped a reluctant Quincy with his.

Just as they finished, a harried stage director burst inside. “I've been looking all over for you!” he shouted. “Line up! You're on now!”

As they ran down the hallway after the stage director Nancy tried to explain about the makeup.

“Stop talking!” the stage director said. “You're late! Let's move!”

As they lined up they passed Felicity and
Cory, who looked at them and started laughing.

“What's their problem?” Bess asked from the middle of the line.

“They're just jealous,” Deirdre said.

All of a sudden Nancy had a peculiar feeling. She hoped Deirdre was right.

This is it,
Nancy thought as she quickly stepped through the narrow curtain opening and onto the runway. Bess, George, and Quincy were right behind her. Deirdre wanted to be last so she would get the most applause.

Just as the bright lights hit her, Nancy smiled, thinking there would be thunderous applause. Instead, there was loud laughter, and Nancy wondered what in the world was wrong.