The Nutcracker Ballet Mystery (10 page)

Sweets.”

The dining room was decorated to look like the

enchanted land that Clara and her prince would visit in

the second act of The Nutcracker. The support

columns were wound with red and white crepe paper

to look like candy canes. The walls had been decorated

with paintings of gingerbread houses, glittery cupcakes,

and cherry-topped sundaes. There were Christmas

trees in the corners of the room, decked with candy

canes and lollipops. Since the Land of Sweets was

ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the gala was in

Shana’s honor, the decorations seemed particularly

appropriate.

“Hi, Bess!” Michelle Edwards cried. “Isn’t this

fantastic?” Running up, she took Bess by the hands and

danced her around in a circle.

With a laugh, Bess slowed, then reached down to

hug her. “It’s beautiful, and so are you with that

gorgeous green dress on.”

Michelle’s face suddenly grew serious. “What took

you so long? Shana thought you’d never get here.”

Nancy looked quickly around the room. “Where is

your sister?” she asked.

“She’s over there,” Michelle said, pointing to a pink

ice sculpture of a ballerina. Shana stood in front of it,

surrounded by a cluster of young dancers and their

parents.

“And what about Darci?” Nancy asked.

Michelle looked surprised. “Darci? Oh, she wouldn’t

come.”

“Darci’s not here?” Nancy said, exchanging a

meaningful glance with Bess.

“No.” Michelle frowned. “Darci and Shana had a big

fight before the gala. Darci locked herself in her room

and wouldn’t come out. She wouldn’t even talk to Mom

or Dad. We left for the gala without her.”

Bingo, Nancy thought. Now she just had to find out

about Lawrence.

“Come and look at all the food,” Michelle urged.

Grabbing Bess’s hand, the young girl began to tug her

across the floor.

“I’ll see you in a minute,” Bess called as Michelle

pulled her toward a table full of cakes and cookies.

Nancy nodded and began to walk slowly through the

crowd, searching for Lawrence. He was nowhere in

sight.

“Nancy!” Shana cried when she caught sight of her

friend. Excusing herself to her fans, the dancer hurried

over to Nancy. She looked stunning in an off-the-

shoulder midnight-blue satin sheath.

“Where have you been?” Shana asked. “All these

kids and parents are driving me crazy.”

“Uh, I’ll tell you later,” Nancy replied, looking over

her shoulder. She could see Madame Dugrand talking

to another group of people, gesturing dramatically.

Nancy knew she’d have to find a moment alone with

the directress soon, to tell her what had happened

earlier in the evening.

“Where’s Lawrence?” Nancy asked, turning back to

Shana.

The redhead’s cheeks flushed pink. “That jerk. He

showed up for half an hour to charm everyone, and

then he left, without any explanation.”

“Do you know where he went?” Nancy pressed.

To Nancy’s surprise, Shana suddenly looked as if she

were about to cry. “Why don’t you ask him yourself!”

she said, nodding toward the entrance. Nancy whirled

around. Lawrence was standing in the arched doorway,

arm in arm with a triumphant-looking Darci!

Nancy stared at the newcomers in the doorway. It

appeared that Darci and Lawrence had just arrived—

together. If so, then Nancy was sure the two of them

could have been responsible for sabotaging The

Nutcracker production. Nancy knew she’d have to find

just the right time to confront them.

“Look at those two,” Shana whispered. “Lawrence

struts back in like a peacock, and Darci’s got so much

eye shadow on she looks like a raccoon. She’s trying to

look sophisticated.”

Trying not to appear too obvious, Nancy studied the

couple as they came into the room. Darci was wearing

a short black knit dress that accented her creamy skin

and chestnut hair. But her eyes were slightly puffy, as if

she’d been crying.

Nancy swung her gaze to Lawrence. He looked even

more handsome than usual, dressed in a navy sports

coat and gray pants. Bowing his head right and left, he

greeted all the smiling parents and giggling young girls.

“Really,” Shana grumbled. “You’d think Lawrence

was some kind of celebrity.”

For a second, Nancy glanced back at Shana. Arms

crossed in front of her, Shana glared at the couple as

they walked into the main hall. It looked almost as if

she was jealous of Lawrence and Darci, instead of the

other way around.

“So what did you and Darci fight about before the

gala?” Nancy asked Shana gently.

Leaning closer to Nancy, Shana glanced around to

make sure no one was listening. “Everything,” she said.

“Darci accused me of trying to steal Lawrence away

from her.” Shana rolled her eyes. “Can you believe it?

Why would I want to steal Mr. Steele?” She chuckled

halfheartedly at her joke. “Then I told Darci that I was

tired of all her sulking and little temper tantrums. I

said I wasn’t going to let her and Lawrence ruin the

whole show for Madame.”

“What did she say to that?” Nancy asked.

“Well, Darci claimed she didn’t know what I was

talking about, but I know she was lying. Then she

kicked me out of her bedroom and said she wasn’t

going to go to any stupid party in my honor.”

Nancy thought for a moment. It didn’t sound as if

Darci had planned the argument with Shana in

advance, which meant she probably hadn’t planned to

skip the gala. But that didn’t mean she and Lawrence

hadn’t schemed about breaking into the dance school.

Maybe the argument had fit conveniently into their

plans. That way, only Lawrence had been

conspicuously absent from the gala.

But had Darci been the one who had rammed her

and Bess with the van? Nancy frowned. It was hard to

imagine that Shana’s sister could have been that

ruthless.

Suddenly, Nancy spied Madame alone by the buffet.

“Come with me, Shana,” Nancy said. “I want to tell

Madame what happened tonight, and you should hear

it, too.”

The two girls wove their way through the groups of

chatting parents. Nancy could hear a few people

grumbling about all the problems that the school was

having.

At the buffet table, Nancy got in line behind the

directress and began to fill her plate with triangle

sandwiches and stuffed mushrooms. “May I speak with

you privately for a minute, Madame?” she asked in a

low voice.

Madame looked up, a wary expression on her face.

“Now, dear? In the middle of the party?”

Nancy nodded. “Yes. It’s important that I talk with

you before the police do.”

At the word “police,” Madame’s eyes flew open and

Shana gasped. Carrying their plates, the three of them

found a quiet spot across the room.

Nancy told Shana and Madame about the Mouse

King surprising them in the prop room and Lawrence

showing up.

“What was Lawrence doing at the school?” Madame

asked, sounding puzzled.

“He said he was just driving by,” Nancy told her.

“It is sort of on the way to our house,” Shana said.

Nancy nodded. “Yes, but Lawrence may have picked

Darci up earlier and taken her to the school.” Nancy

then told Madame and Shana about the van ramming

her and Bess in the Mustang. “Who has keys to the

van?” she asked the directress.

“Why, Lawrence, of course.” Madame thought a

minute, then frowned. “In fact, besides me, he’s the

only one.”

“Unless someone was able to copy the key,” Nancy

pointed out.

Shana shook her head. “I hate to say this, but it must

have been Lawrence. It’s so hard to believe he’d do

something like that. . . .” Her voice trailed away.

“There must be some mistake,” Madame scolded.

“Lawrence has just been angry lately because he

wanted to choreograph the whole show. I can’t blame

him, I suppose, but he’d never do anything to harm me

or the school.”

Nancy wasn’t so sure about that, but she wasn’t

about to tell Madame. First, she needed some concrete

proof.

“Thank you for telling me all of this, Nancy.”

Madame patted her arm. “But I have to mingle with all

of the guests. This is my chance to convince the

parents that the school is just as good as it always was.”

Just then, a band in the front of the room started to

play. At the same time, Lawrence strode through the

crowd and up to Shana. Sweeping one arm in front of

him, he gave a low bow.

“May I have this dance?” Lawrence asked with

exaggerated politeness. When he straightened up,

Nancy could see that he was trying to suppress a smile.

“After all, I am your Cavalier.”

Shana looked at him as if she wasn’t sure if he was

serious or not. “It depends. Are you going to waltz me

into the dessert table? Or toss me over your shoulder

into the shrimp dip?”

Lawrence chuckled. “Only if you want me to,” he

teased. “It might give us good publicity for the show.”

Shana glanced over at Nancy.

“Sounds like an offer you can’t refuse,” Nancy said

lightly. She didn’t blame Shana for hesitating, but she

also didn’t want to arouse Lawrence’s suspicions.

Besides, something in Shana’s expression made Nancy

think that Shana really did want to dance with

Lawrence. Was there more going on between the two

of them than I’d thought? Nancy wondered. Maybe

they didn’t dislike each other so much after all.

“All right.” Shana looked back at Lawrence. “But the

first time you step on my toes, I’m bowing out.”

“It’s a deal,” Lawrence agreed. Shana put her hand

on his arm, and the two of them headed toward the

dance floor. Soon, Lawrence was gracefully twirling

Shana around the other dancers in an old-fashioned

minuet.

“Wow!” Nancy heard someone sigh beside her. Bess

was staring at the couple with dreamy eyes. “Just look

at those two dance. They’re like the prince and

princess in a fairy tale.”

“Or the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Mouse King,”

Nancy commented ruefully. Bess gave her a puzzled

look. But before Nancy could explain that she was

pretty sure that Lawrence had had a hand in the thefts,

she caught sight of Darci Edwards.

Shana’s younger sister was standing with a group of

girls her age. All their eyes were trained on Lawrence

and Shana. The other girls’ expressions were ones of

admiration and delight, but Darci had a look of intense

jealousy on her face. Her eyes were narrowed and her

mouth was set in a grim line.

Suddenly, Darci turned and rushed from the room.

“I’m going to follow Darci,” Nancy told Bess. “It’s

time I found out what’s going on.”

Nancy hurried from the dining room and into the

main lobby. Darci Edwards was nowhere in sight. Then

Nancy saw the door of the ladies room swing shut.

Striding across the oriental rug, Nancy headed down

a short hall and pushed open the door. The lavish

ladies room was empty, but Nancy heard a muffled sob

coming from one of the stalls.

“Darci?” she called softly. “Are you all right? It’s me,

Nancy.”

The sobs stopped abruptly. Someone blew her nose.

“I’m fine.”

Nancy shut the door behind her. “You don’t sound

fine.”

“So? What do you care, anyway? You’re Shana’s

friend.”

“Yes. But I’m also a friend of Madame, and I’m

interested in making sure The Nutcracker production

goes smoothly.”

There was a long pause. “So what does that mean?”

Darci said in an angry voice.

“Why don’t you tell me,” Nancy challenged, folding

her arms. She leaned back against the sink and waited.

Five minutes later, Darci opened the stall door and

peered out. Her mascara had run beneath her eyes,

giving her a haunted look. “Is anyone else here?” she

asked warily. Nancy shook her head. With a sigh, Darci

walked over to the sink. Grabbing a paper towel, she

moistened it and dabbed at her eyes.

“Okay. So it’s no secret that I hate Shana,” Darci

said bitterly. “And why shouldn’t I? She took the part

that should have been mine. Then she stole Lawrence.”