The Cheating Heart (13 page)

So that gave her a motive for stealing the literature test. Not only that, but Annie had been at the English department office at the right time—Paul had seen her there.

Paul! Nancy's mind clicked even faster. Annie knew Paul from their hometown. Besides Steve Groff, she was the only one of the freshman suspects who also knew Paul DiToma.

Why would she harass him, though? She'd told Brook she was a friend of Paul. Though, as Nancy recalled, Paul said he didn't know her very well.

In the twilight Nancy hurried over to Annie's dorm. She hoped Annie wasn't in now because Nancy needed to find some concrete evidence before she could accuse Annie of stealing the test or harassing Paul.

Nancy took the stairs two at a time up to Annie's room. Pausing before the door, she caught her breath, then knocked.

A voice called from inside, “Come in!”

Nancy turned the doorknob and stepped into the room. Annie's roommate, Claire, sat on the bed, cradling the phone against her shoulder. “Oh, sorry to bother you,” Nancy apologized. “I'm Nancy Drew—I called Annie earlier today.”

As she spoke, she sidled farther into the room toward Annie's bed. She could see Annie's yellow spiral notebook lying right on the pillow. If she could get that, she'd have a sample of Annie's writing. Claire rolled her eyes. “Still trying to borrow that book? Hang on.” She turned away to speak into the phone. “Can I call you back?”

While Claire was murmuring sweet goodbyes, most likely to her boyfriend, Nancy moved to the bed. Facing Claire, she stood in front of the notebook. With one hand, she deftly reached behind herself, grabbed the notebook, and
slipped it up under the back of her baggy navy sweater.

Claire hung up the phone. “Annie's down in the dining hall. What book was it you wanted?”

“Oh, I'll just pop down there and find her, okay?” Nancy said brightly. “Sorry to bother you.” In a flash, she backed out of the room.

Once the door was closed behind her, Nancy took Annie's notebook out of her sweater and clutched it fiercely. She flew down the stairs to the lobby and glanced around nervously. Straight ahead, she could hear a roar of conversation through the doors of the dining hall. Annie was in there—Nancy mustn't let her see her.

An archway to her right led to another set of stairs, descending to the basement. Nancy dashed down the stairs.

In the basement hallway, two doors stood on either side; on one was printed laundry room and on the other study lounge. Remembering how deserted the Omega Chi's study lounge was these days, Nancy decided to slip in there.

The lounge was a long, carpeted room with several armchairs and low tables scattered around. Nancy pulled two armchairs together, then snuggled down onto the carpet behind them. If anyone came into the room, they wouldn't see her right away.

Nancy opened Annie's notebook to the first page. It was the beginning of a journal:

Sunday

Its so cool here at college! The campus is really neat, and my roomate Claire seems really sweet. I just know we are going to be best friends!

The handwriting was large and sloppy, with letters tilting every which way. It looked like the same writing as the two notes, though she'd have to inspect them side by side to be sure.

Before she shut the notebook, she had a sudden thought. Maybe Annie had written in her journal about stealing the test! Nancy couldn't resist the temptation to read on.

My dorm is only a few minutes from Greek Row, I went over there today to see where Paul lives. The Oh Mega Ki house looks like an old castle. I looked for his car but I coun't see it. So when I got back to the dorm I called him. It was so nice to hear his voice again! I just know that things are really going to happen between us now that we are both at Emerson together. It was hard the last two years seeing him only when he came home from school, but I think he really cares for me. Ever since that party at Ryan Kellys when Paul sat and talked with me, I know theres chemistry between us. Now I won't have to just wait until I run into him at the
mall or at Dairy Maid, I can see him every day!

So Annie had a crush on Paul! Well, Nancy thought, I can't blame her. But Paul had said he didn't even know that Annie was on campus until Monday. If she had called him on Sunday, she must have suddenly felt nervous and not spoken to him after he answered. She could have been his mysterious caller!

Hidden behind her chairs, Nancy read on. She lost all sense of her surroundings as she followed Annie's private thoughts. On every page some new piece of the puzzle fell together.

Talked to Rona on the phone tonight, she says she really likes Yale. She said how funny it was she never knew I was even applying to Emerson, Woun't she laugh if she knew I used her grades to get in!

My adviser is such a jerk! I told her I din't want to take those tests to get out of courses, but she said “with my record it shoud be a snap.” Well at least I have the literashure one covered, I was lucky and saw that guy typing it up on the computer. Now if I can just hide the answer sheet good when I go into the test 111 be fine.

I wonder if Paul saw the ad. He just has to
know its from me! I wonder why he has'nt called yet.

I bet that girl who called and wanted to talk to me about the test knows I stole the answers. But I took care of that. This afternoon I saw that cute guy who was typing the test on Monday—he was in the bookstore talking to Paul! I still had my copy of the answers in my notebook, so I waited till he layed his books down and stuck it inside. Now hes the one wholl get in troubel. Hah!

At first, Nancy felt sorry for Annie as she read her deluded version of events. But as she went on, Annie sounded more and more disturbed.

There all in this together! that nosy Nancy girl, her dumb jock boyfriend, and that redhead witch from Thada Pie. Like they dont want Paul to see me any more. But I fixed Brook good, I messed up her skaggy leather jacket—that
thief
who steals boyfriends!

I guess I din't take out the right screws from Brooks seat, I saw her after the concert and she was'nt hurt—too bad!

Paul was at the pizza place with her again! He cant really like her, she was so snotty
about mushrooms on the pizza. I love mushrooms, Paul! Well, maybe she wont like spinach pizza so much after the surprise I stuck in it for her. I hope it slashed her mouth up so good, shell never be able to kiss again.

I wonder if that witch Brook screamed when she found the little present I left in her room! If I coud only get a real rope around her stuck-up neck! Then maybe Paul woud understand that Im the only girl for him!

Nancy laid down the notebook, dumbstruck So it was Brook whom Annie was harassing all the time! It was just coincidence that other people—namely Paul and Nancy—were hit instead.

Leafing to the last page, Nancy read on.

I hope Paul was'nt mad about what I did to his car, I din't want to break the window, but I got so mad when I saw him still with that witch. Theres only so much I can take. But I dont want to hurt him—hes my true love. Shes the one who has to pay. Im not going to let her off easy anymore, I have a plan that will fix her for good!

How far would Annie go? Nancy wondered anxiously. This last entry sounded awfully de-ranged.
Had the pressures of so much deception finally made Annie crack?

Nancy slipped the notebook under her sweater again and hurried from the study lounge. She'd have to call Dean Jarvis—maybe he could get Annie some help before she did something awful. But first she'd have to find Brook to warn her.

Nancy jogged back to the Theta Pi house. As she came in the front door, a bunch of girls were sitting in the living room. “Hey, Nancy!” called out Kristin Seidel. “Come on in and join us!”

“Uh, no thanks. Have you seen Brook?” Nancy asked.

“No,” Kristin and the others called back.

Nancy ran up to Brook's room. It was dark. Hoping Brook would be back soon, she switched on the light. Then Nancy reached for the phone to call Ned. She felt guilty for not having been in touch earlier. It was past nine o'clock and she'd said she would call him in a half hour at six.

She groaned when she got a busy signal. Though the red light on Brook's answering machine wasn't blinking, Nancy punched the message button to replay the most recent messages. Maybe Ned had called looking for her, she thought.

The tape on the machine began to play. A bubbly, bright voice filled the room.

“Hi, Brook, this is Annie Mercer. I met you at the Theta Pi open house? Remember how you said you'd love to see my high school yearbooks,
to see pictures of Paul? Well, I have them with me now. Could we meet at the entrance to the library at nine-twenty tonight?

“Don't be late, the library closes at nine-thirty tonight,” Annie added.

With fear stabbing at her heart, Nancy looked down at her watch. It was nine-fifteen now.

She had to get to the library at once. Who knew what Annie's jealousy would lead her to do to Brook.

N
ANCY PAUSED
only long enough to call Ned again. This time he answered. “Nancy, where have you been?” he asked as he heard her voice. “Paul said you'd call me at six-thirty.”

“There's no time to tell you the whole story,” Nancy replied. “But Annie Mercer is our culprit—she stole the test
and
she's been harassing Paul. Only it isn't Paul she's after, it's Brook. Now she's got Brook alone at the library, and I'm afraid she'll do something awful to her!”

“How can I help?” Ned asked quickly. After knowing Nancy for so long, he was used to leaping into action.

“Call campus security and tell them to meet you at the library,” Nancy ordered. “And call Dean Jarvis—tell him we've got a very disturbed
student on our hands. Then you go wait outside the front entrance, and don't let Annie escape.”

“You've got it,” Ned said.

Nancy hung up and raced out the door.

The library was all the way across campus. Sprinting, Nancy felt her lungs burning by the time she made it to the entrance. Two lampposts lit up the small paved area in front of the library. A few low shrubs flanked the two steps leading up to the glass doors.

Looking around as she gasped for breath, Nancy saw no sign of Annie or Brook. And there was no one else around, either.

“Let's hope Brook was smart enough not to come,” Nancy muttered. But she had a feeling that Brook, blinded by her infatuation with Paul, would have fallen for Annie's ruse.

Nancy pulled open the glass door and went in. Just inside the entrance was a small carpeted vestibule, with three turnstiles blocking the way to the main reading room beyond.

A bored-looking guard sat yawning on a chair by the turnstiles. As Nancy began to charge through, the guard looked up. “Library's about to close,” she drawled.

Nancy wheeled around, frustrated. “It's an emergency,” she panted.

“Can I see your ID?” the guard asked.

“I'm not an Emerson student,” Nancy protested, “but please—someone may be in danger!
Call Dean Jarvis—he'll vouch for me.” She gave the guard the dean's home number. “It's okay to call him at home,” she urged when the guard acted reluctant to help.

The guard picked up a black phone, dialed a number, and waited briefly.

She looked apologetically at Nancy. “The line's busy,” she reported.

It must be Ned on the phone with the dean, Nancy thought, groaning inwardly. “Please try again!” she begged. “He'll be off in a minute.”

The guard nodded and patiently dialed again. This time, there was an answer. “Dean, this is Imelda at the library,” she said. “I've got a girl here—” She looked up at Nancy. “What did you say your name was?”

“Nancy Drew!”

“Nancy Drew,” the guard repeated. “And she says—What? . . . Oh, yes, sir. Thanks.” The guard stared at Nancy with sudden respect as she hung up the phone. “He says you can go anywhere you want.”

“Thanks!” Nancy pivoted and raced on into the main reading room, which had high ceilings and was brightly lit. Bookcases ran around all four sides, while the room's interior was occupied by two rows of long tables, hard-backed chairs, and a few clusters of upholstered chairs. Only a few students sat around, and they were packing up to leave. With one careful sweep of
her eyes, Nancy could tell that Brook and Annie weren't there.

She sprinted into a small side room, lined with rows and rows of wooden drawers, which held an immense card catalog. No one was there.

Tiny prickles of fear ran up Nancy's spine—she was beginning to feel desperate. Running to the far side of the reading room, past the long checkout desk, she noticed another room that was full of magazines and newspapers. No one was in there, either.

Nancy stood in the doorway, willing herself to calm down and think clearly. The library was a big building—she'd never find them if she darted around at random. Maybe, if she thought, she could figure out where they would be.