The Nutcracker Ballet Mystery (9 page)

Bess grabbed for the dashboard. “Can you see who’s

driving?”

Nancy shook her head. “Too far away.”

Just then fat, wet snowflakes began to hit the

windshield. “Oh, great,” Nancy groaned as she flipped

on the wipers. “Just what we don’t need. Brace

yourself, Bess, I’m turning.”

With both hands tight on the steering wheel, Nancy

made a sharp left. The snow was falling faster, and it

was hard to see out the window.

“Did we lose the van?” Bess asked.

“Let’s hope not.” Nancy checked out the side

window. “Can you tell where we are?”

“Yeah,” Bess replied. “It’s that new apartment

complex. You know, the one they advertise as having

Jacuzzis, a health club, and an indoor pool.”

Nancy thought for a minute as the Mustang cruised

down the street. There were three apartment

complexes on each side. “Who from the dance school

would have a place here?” she mused.

“My guess would be Lawrence,” Bess replied. “But I

think this place is pretty expensive.”

Glancing out the window again, Nancy noted that

each complex consisted of four apartment buildings

built around a central court. In the middle of the court

was a pool and some kind of recreation room. The

apartment buildings themselves were three levels high,

with fancy balconies overlooking the pool.

“They do look pretty nice.” Nancy stopped the car at

the end of the main thoroughfare. “So where did the

van go? There’s no way out.”

Bess turned in her seat to look at Nancy. “I think

we’ve been led on a wild goose chase.”

“Maybe.” Nancy turned the Mustang around and

headed back to the main street. “Still, tomorrow I’m

going to check all the addresses of people associated

with the dance school. We may just get lucky.”

Suddenly, as Nancy drove past the second complex

on the right, she heard the roar of a motor close behind

them. She looked in the rearview mirror, but the rear

windshield was covered with heavy snow.

Then she heard another roar. Something smacked

the Mustang’s rear bumper so hard that Nancy and

Bess were both thrown forward.

Bess’s eyes widened. “Someone’s crashing into us!”

she cried fearfully.

“Hold on,” Nancy said in a low voice. She rolled

down her window and shot a look over her shoulder.

The white van was about fifteen feet behind them.

Almost immediately, its motor roared as it headed after

them again.

Sticking her head back inside, Nancy stepped on the

gas, hoping to shoot out of the van’s path. But as she

did, the Mustang’s back wheels spun in the slippery

dusting of snow on the street, and the car fishtailed

forward. Quickly, Nancy wiped off the side mirror. The

van was swerving after them, as if its driver were

determined not to let them get away.

Suddenly, Bess sat up straight in her seat. “Nancy,

stop!” she screamed. “We’re headed for the

intersection!”

Nancy hit the brakes hard. At the same time, she

heard the crunch of bumper against bumper as the van

rammed them from behind. The force sent the

Mustang skidding forward, through the red light and

straight into traffic!

“We’re going to crash!” Bess threw her arms in front of

her face and screamed as the Mustang skated sideways

into the intersection. Horns honked and tires

screeched.

Nancy took her foot off the brake, remembering her

dad’s advice about driving in the snow— slamming on

the brakes would only make the car fishtail like crazy.

Still, Nancy knew Bess was right. There was no way

they were going to get through the intersection without

an accident.

Crunch! The Mustang hit something hard and jolted

to a stop. Nancy’s head snapped back and her seatbelt

dug into her chest. But when she looked around, she

saw with relief that Bess and the car seemed to be all

right. We probably hit a curb, Nancy thought with

relief.

Bess was staring at her in amazement. “We’re still in

one piece,” she said in a shaky voice.

Nancy nodded slowly. “I think we made it.”

“Whew.” Bess’s shoulders slumped and she buried

her head in her hands. “Remind me never to go to a

demolition derby. I’ve been in one already.”

A rapping sound on the window made Nancy look

up. A police officer was staring in at them, his brows

furrowed with concern. Snow covered his police hat.

“Are you ladies all right? That was quite a wild ride

across the intersection.”

“We’re fine,” Nancy replied. “Was anyone hurt?”

The officer shook his head. “Believe it or not, it

appears that we have just a couple of dented fenders.”

Bess leaned forward. “It wasn’t her fault, Officer,”

she said. “A van rammed us from behind.”

“We know. Lucky for you, a witness saw the van hit

you, then take off. They even gave us a license number.

My partner’s calling it in.”

“We already know who the van belongs to,” Nancy

said grimly.

“A jealous boyfriend?” the officer guessed as he

pulled out a pad.

Nancy shook her head. “The van belongs to Madame

Dugrand’s Dance Academy on Mason Street. We think

the person driving it broke into the school.”

The policeman stopped writing. “Hmmm. This is

serious. Let me see what my partner found out. Then

we’ll fill out an accident report.”

When the officer had left, Nancy opened the car

door and walked to the front of the Mustang. Luckily,

the car had only collided with the curb opposite the

entrance to the apartment complex. The two side tires

were crunched against the concrete. It looked as if she

would still be able to drive it. Nancy was thankful they

hadn’t been going very fast when the van rammed

them.

“Is the car okay?” Bess called.

“I guess we lucked out.” Nancy glanced at the

intersection. Fortunately, the Mustang was far enough

off the road so that traffic could move around it. On

the other side of the street were the two police cars,

their red lights flashing. In the middle of the

intersection three cars were piled into each other. A

cluster of people had gathered around them.

Nancy grimaced. “Those must be the drivers who

had to brake to avoid us.”

“We should go over and thank them,” Bess said.

“That’s for sure.” Nancy shut her car door, then

walked around to Bess’s side. “Then, after we make out

our accident report, I’d like to go back to the dance

academy. The culprit may have ditched the van back

there.”

Bess sighed. “I should have known you’d say that. I

guess I don’t feel much like going to the gala anymore

anyway. I mean, look at my stockings and shoes,” she

added, glancing down at her snow-caked flats and the

runs that striped her stockings.

“It is getting late,” Nancy said as she walked to the

edge of the road. Traffic was light, but the snow was

still falling steadily. “We’re still going to the gala,

though, Bess, so start getting in the party mood.”

Nancy looked both ways, then sprinted across the road,

calling over her shoulder, “I wouldn’t miss it for

anything!”

Half an hour later, Nancy and Bess pulled onto

Mason Street. When the dance school was in sight,

Nancy switched off the car lights.

Bess grasped Nancy’s sleeve. “Look! The van!”

Nancy peered out the window. She could see the

dim outline of the van through the snow. As she’d

expected, the vehicle was parked in its regular spot.

Nancy turned the Mustang into the parking lot and

stopped about twenty feet behind the van. “We need to

call the police,” Bess said.

Nancy nodded. “You’re right. But first I want to

make sure our culprit’s not here. This time he or she

isn’t getting away.” With those words, Nancy flicked on

the car lights. When they beamed into the back

window of the van, they silhouetted a shape sitting on

the passenger side.

“Somebody’s in there!” Bess’s voice shook.

Nancy opened the car door. “I’m going to take a

closer look.” Nancy pulled on her gloves. “I don’t want

to erase any clues. I’m sure the police will dust for

prints. But I think I know who—or at least what—is in

the van,” she said grimly.

“Are you crazy?” Bess called after her.

Heart pounding, Nancy walked toward the van and

grabbed the handle of the passenger door. She pressed

the knob, then quickly swung the door open.

Immediately, a huge brown furry thing leaped out at

her. Nancy gasped and jumped backward as the Mouse

King headpiece fell to the snowy ground.

Nancy let out her breath. Her hunch had been

correct. Gingerly picking the headpiece up, she carried

it to the Mustang.

Bess rolled her window partway down. “Yuck! Don’t

you dare put that thing in here!”

“Be brave, Bess, because I don’t have any other

place to put it.” Opening her door, Nancy threw the

headpiece into the backseat. “I’m going to look around

a bit.”

Nancy walked back to the van. Right away she saw

that a single pair of footprints led to the road from the

driver’s side. The prints were too small to belong to

Lawrence but probably just right for Darci. Nancy

followed the prints to the street, where the footsteps

met up with another set of tire tracks. Whoever had

been driving the van had been alone until they met

someone in a car.

Nancy retraced her steps to the van. Bess was

standing beside it, her arms wrapped around her chest.

She was shivering. “I refuse to stay in the car with a

giant mouse,” she said.

Nancy laughed. “Then help me look around. I need

to find out what the person was trying to do when we

surprised him or her at the school.” She walked quickly

to the back of the van.

“Good question,” Bess said, following Nancy. “But

why did the person lead us into the apartment

complex, then slam us from behind?”

Nancy shook her head. “It does seem kind of

strange. I think he or she was just trying to scare us

off.” She tried the van’s back double doors and found

they weren’t locked. Nancy peered inside the van.

Except for a spare tire, it was empty.

Bess looked over her shoulder. “Well, if the Mouse

King guy took something from the school, it’s gone

now.”

Placing her hand carefully on the van door, Nancy

hoisted herself into the back of the vehicle. Keeping

low, she made her way to the other side of the spare

tire, where a red glow caught her eye. When Nancy

bent to look closer, she could see that the object was a

smashed Christmas tree ornament.

Nancy held up a piece of the broken ball for Bess to

see.

“Is that one of Mrs. Farnsworth’s ornaments?” Bess

asked in surprise.

“No, it’s one of mine. I recognize the lace I glued

around it,” Nancy said, jumping from the van.

Bess furrowed her brow. “But why would anyone

steal your ornaments?”

“Maybe our thieves just want to ruin the production

any way they can,” Nancy guessed as she shut the van

doors. “But why would anyone chance breaking into

the school tonight just to get some cheap ornaments? It

seems awfully risky.”

“Not that risky,” Bess pointed out. “Whoever it was

probably thought we were all going to be at the gala.”

“You’re right.” Nancy hurried toward the Mustang.

“We need to call the police, then get to the gala

ourselves. We might just find out who else came late to

the party!”

Fifteen minutes later, the girls pulled into the

driveway of the River Heights Country Club. “If Darci

and Lawrence aren’t at the gala yet, we’re definitely on

the right track,” Nancy said.

“And what if they’ve been here the whole time?”

Bess asked.

“Then we’ll have to do some serious detective work,”

Nancy replied as she stopped the car under the club’s

green awning. The parking valet appeared immediately

to open the girls’ doors.

When Nancy and Bess reached the main dining

room where the party was taking place, they both

stopped short in the doorway.

“Oh, Nancy!” Bess exclaimed. “It’s the Land of