Heart of Ice (2 page)

“Yes, I think that would be best. Just take Route Four-ten to Highway One sixty-four and turn right onto Harding. We're two blocks down on the right. You'll see the sign.”

“Great,” Nancy responded. “We'll see you in an hour or so.”

• • •

Fifteen minutes later Nancy and Ned had packed their things and checked out of their hotel. Nancy had even persuaded the inn to refund their money. She'd had to argue with the manager for ten minutes, saying that if the rental shop couldn't provide skis, guests should have the option to check out with a full refund. The manager had finally agreed.

“I feel like we've been traveling for days,” Ned grumbled as he settled into the passenger seat of their car.

“Me, too,” Nancy answered, and pulled the car onto the highway. “And now we've got the break-in at Alpine Adventures to worry about, too.”

Ned sighed. “We're two thousand miles from home and you've managed to find us a crime, Nan,” he said.

“I'm sure it won't be anything big,” Nancy assured him, “and I'm not going to let anything spoil our fun together.”

“Good.” Ned smiled, relieved. “Because this is one vacation where I want you all to myself.”

After a fifty-minute drive, Nancy and Ned parked in front of 120 Harding in Enumclaw.

The Alpine Adventures office was in a one-story brick building with a handsome wooden sign above the door.

Nancy and Ned walked through the door into a large waiting room. Rustic wooden benches lined one wall, and a few pieces of outdoor equipment hung on pegs behind the counter.

An attractive young woman was sitting on the floor of the room with Allison Wheeler. The little girl was paging through a picture book as the woman sifted through the mess of papers strewn everywhere.

“Hi,” she said to Nancy and Ned. She stood up and brushed off her jeans. She was about five feet four and solidly built, with shoulder-length black hair and almond-shaped eyes.

Taking Allison's hand, she walked over to where Nancy and Ned were standing. “I'm Tsu Chung, the assistant guide,” she said, introducing herself. “You must be Nancy and Ned.”

“We are,” Ned replied.

“I'm just trying to make some sense of this mess,” Tsu explained. “Though I'm not sure I'm making any progress,” she added with a laugh.

“I'm sure you've done a lot,” Nancy said to encourage her. Desk drawers were open, with
papers strewn everywhere. A power cable for the missing computer lay on one of the desks.

“Kara and Alex are in the gear room with Logan,” Tsu continued, pointing to a doorway. “They're with the police.”

Just then Kara came through the doorway. “Oh, you're here.” She smiled. “Sorry about the mess.”

“Don't be silly,” Nancy responded, glancing through the door Kara had just come through. Alex and another good-looking man, who Nancy guessed was Logan, were with two police officers. Logan was tall—well over six feet—with broad shoulders, dark curly hair, and dark eyes. “I just hope we're not intruding,” Nancy added.

“Not at all,” Kara answered. “You were invited and it's comforting to have you here,” she added sincerely.

“When did the police get here?” Nancy asked.

“About ten minutes ago,” Kara answered, a sudden edge to her voice. “It took them an hour to show up.”

Nancy put a comforting hand on Kara's arm. “The important thing is that they're here,” she said.

“I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of this,” Ned added, gazing at Kara.

“Ned's right,” Nancy agreed, not sure she liked the way Ned always stared at Kara.

Just then Logan came out of the storage room. “You must be Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson,” he said heartily. “I'm Logan Miller, Alex's right-hand man.”

Nancy and Ned shook hands with Logan. “Looks like you've got quite a mess to straighten out,” Nancy said, nodding toward the area where Tsu had been working.

“No kidding.” Logan sighed and shook his head. “I don't know why anyone would mess with our paperwork—it's just information about our trips. And as far as we can tell they didn't take any of it.”

“When did you realize there had been a break-in?”

“This morning when I came in at eleven-thirty,” Logan answered. “We open at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” he explained.

“When did you close up last night?” Nancy asked.

“I didn't,” he answered. “I was in Olympia for the evening, giving a slide presentation for the Guides' Association,” he explained.

“I closed up,” Tsu added. “I worked late, until about nine o'clock.”

As Tsu finished her sentence, Alex and the police came out of the gear room. “Oh, hi,” he said. “Glad you made it. These are Officers Kelley and Fernandez.”

The men nodded at Nancy and Ned.

“We'd like to ask you a few questions, Ms. Chung,” Officer Fernandez said to Tsu. He was the older of the two officers and seemed to be in charge of the investigation. “Would you care to step into another room?”

“I'd rather stay here, if that's okay,” Tsu replied. “I don't have anything to say that these people can't hear.”

“What time did you close the office last night?” Officer Kelley asked, pulling a small notebook out of his pocket. He dropped his pencil on the floor, and Logan bent to pick it up for him. “Thanks,” Kelley said, a little embarrassed. He was young, maybe twenty-five, and Nancy guessed he was fairly new on the force.

“I was just telling Nancy that I worked until about nine o'clock, doing a gear check.”

“A gear check?” Officer Kelley repeated quizzically.

“Yes. We have a trip this weekend and I was making sure everything was in order,” Tsu explained.

“I see,” Officer Kelley said, nodding. “So you left later than usual, I take it?”

“Yes. I usually leave at around seven o'clock,” Tsu responded, folding her arms across her chest.

“And when you left, you locked up?”

Tsu nodded. “I always double-check the door, because the lock is a little funny.”

Nancy watched as Officer Kelley wrote “funny lock” down in his notebook.

“Did you notice anything unusual before or as you left?” he asked, looking up.

“No.” Tsu shook her head thoughtfully. “Everything was normal.”

Officer Kelley scribbled this down, too. Then he flipped his notebook closed and turned toward Alex.

“Looks like a juvenile prank to me,” he said, clucking his tongue. “Your gear is probably sitting in somebody's basement right now.”

Nancy considered what Kelley had said. Kids would have probably thrown a rock through the large front window to get in. No, she decided, there was more to this than a prank.

“If we get any leads, we'll be sure to let you know,” Officer Fernandez said. “And if you hear anything, just call the station and tell Mrs. Loomis you need to speak with us.”

“All right.” Alex shook the officers' hands before they left.

As soon as the door had closed, Kara spoke. “I don't believe their theory for a second,” she said, and Nancy nodded in agreement. She was intrigued by this crime.

“If you don't need us here anymore, Tsu and I have some errands to run,” Logan said to Alex.

“Fine,” Alex said.

“Would you like to come over for dinner?” Kara asked. “We're having pasta. Ned and Nancy will be there, too.”

“I'd never pass up the chance to eat one of your home-cooked meals, Kara,” Logan replied with an easygoing grin.

“Me, neither,” Tsu agreed. “I'll bring dessert.”

“Great.” Kara nodded.

“So tell me,” Nancy began when she and Ned were alone with the Wheelers. “Why don't you think it was kids who broke into your office?”

“It could be,” Kara admitted. “It's just that we've been having an awful lot of bad coincidences lately.”

“You know,” Nancy said quietly, “I do some private investigating back in River Heights. I might be able to help you find the cause of all this if you give me the details.”

“We couldn't ask you to do that on your vacation,” Kara answered, and Nancy watched the look of relief pass across Ned's face.

“But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to fill you in,” Alex added, waving everyone into the office to sit down.

Nancy and Ned pulled chairs up to one of the two desks and sat down as Kara, who was holding Allison now, began to tell them what had been going on. “About a month ago strange things started happening to me on day trips. Ropes snapped under light conditions and crampons came loose,” she explained.

“Did you say crampons?” Ned asked.

“Yes, the metal spikes that are attached to the bottom of your boots,” Kara explained. “They give traction on the ice. Anyway,
I
thought the incidents were just bad luck, but now I'm not so sure.” Allison squirmed off her mother's lap and ran back into the waiting room to play.

“On top of that,” Alex put in, “this isn't the first break-in we've had. Just before we went on vacation, someone jimmied the lock on the front door, came in, but didn't take anything. I thought it was just a teenage prank. But now these incidents seem more serious. What do you think, Nancy?” he asked.

“I'm not sure,” Nancy answered.

“Alex, could you hand me my cosmetics case? Kara asked, pointing to the top desk drawer. “I could use some lip balm.”

Alex pulled open the top drawer and handed Kara a small flowered pouch.

“Listen,” Kara said, unzipping the case and pulling out a snakelike piece of paper. “We don't want to ruin your vacation, so let's not harp on this.” She glanced down at the paper. “It could just be—”

Kara interrupted herself with a sharp cry. Her face went white as she handed the paper to Nancy.

Things might look bad for Alpine Adventures, but they look a lot worse for you!

O
H, NO,
” N
ANCY SAID
, peering at the note in her hand. This definitely wasn't a prank.

“Are you all right?” Ned asked Kara as Alex put an arm around his wife after scooping up Allison, who had come to see if her mother was all right.

“I'm—I'm fine,” Kara stammered, putting on a bright face for Allison. “It looks like these incidents aren't just bad luck after all.”

“This is rapidly escalating into a serious problem,” Alex said. “Nancy, will you take on our case? I know this is supposed to be your vacation,
but the police don't seem very concerned, and I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to Kara or Allie.”

“Of course I will,” Nancy answered, giving Ned a quick smile. She read the disappointment in his eyes, but he overrode that with a reassuring squeeze of her hand.

Nancy studied the note and considered the paper and handwriting. Unfortunately, the note was hand printed on regular notebook paper in plain block letters. Not much of a clue.

“Okay. What about suspects?” Nancy asked, getting down to business. “Do you have any enemies?”

“No,” Kara answered. “Well, wait. Maybe I do.” She turned to Alex, her eyes wide. “Do you think it could be Anne Bolle?”

“Anne Bolle,” Alex repeated the name.

“Who is she?” Ned asked.

“A woman I used to climb with,” Kara answered. “We were neck and neck on the climbing circuit for years. Then, about four years ago, she was disqualified in a rock-climbing competition for relying on the rope too much during a tricky move. I won the match—and the title of top female climber in the United States. Anne was
furious and blamed me for her carelessness. She could never admit that it was her own mistake that cost her that match.”

“Is she still on the climbing circuit?” Nancy inquired.

“Yes,” Kara answered. “She's been doing very well since I stopped competing.”

“So what would she have against you now?” Nancy wasn't sure she understood the connection.

“Well, the word is out that I'm getting back into competitive climbing,” Kara explained.

“You are?” Ned interjected. “That's great.”

“Where does Anne live?” Nancy asked, getting back to the issue at hand.

“In Utah, but she's in Washington now,” Alex said. “We've asked her to come on the Rainier climb because she's so well known. And because she's a friend of Logan.”

“It's not easy to get professional climbers to come on commercial trips. Their schedules are too hectic,” Kara added.

“Where is Anne staying?” Nancy asked.

“With her friends Sarah and Joshua Jones in Seattle. She's been there about a month,” Kara answered.

“When exactly did things start going wrong?”

“About three weeks ago,” Alex said, suddenly understanding what Nancy was implying. “Do you think she's the culprit?” he asked excitedly.